One Year Ago!!

It just does not seem possible-one year ago, we had our first glimpse of our tornado!!

All the anticipation, all the agonizing waiting, all the wondering, praying, and waiting some more-

It seems that the trouble of that time in Taiwan last year is only a vague memory-Tyler's horrid behavior, his fears, his non-stop running away from us, his biting, hitting and "bah" to his momma-along with the horrible mess-up with our paperwork, and the sleepless nights in the Agora as I spent countless hours on the computer, or phone trying to reach people in the states who could rectify our problem!

Now, one year later, all I really remember are the hugs, the snuggles, the "Mommy" that I hear all day long, the "ein you" that we all hear at any time of the day or night, and the endless smiles and giggles that come from our boy!!

How wonderful is that???

The memories of Taiwan are not what we had hoped for, but the photos are a great reminder of the beauty of the country, and the tremulous first days as a family of 5, the endless flight home, and now, we have an adorable 4 1/2 year old who is so firmly entrenched in our family, and our extended family, and we know we serve a GREAT GOD who orchestrated this entire thing, from the very beginning. The first days of agonizing over which program in Taiwan-Cathwel or TWCA, and His constant provision as He lead us through all the long waits for a referral, (and our potential leaving this program for a referral from Russia, only one day before we got THE CALL) the endless court times, the problem paperwork, the tough initial weeks-He is faithful, and He has provided abundantly, and we are continuously amazed at how much He loves us.

While we have come a long way in the last year, we have only one to thank for all of it, and to Our Amazing and Awesome Heavenly Father, we give you thanks and praise for our family!

The pictures that follow are not in any particular order-as I found them, I loaded them-so enjoy our walk down memory lane-I have shed a few tears as I have looked at them, and they are tears of joy and thanks!

Our favorite place in Taiwan-the Geo Park

the first day home, and he is already the center of attention, and loving it!!

A tired little boy, who really had NO CLUE what was happening to him-his first night with us!

Exploring around the Agora

Thank goodness for those bubbles-what a great way to entertain a little boy those first days!

We are forever thankful to Tyler's foster mom

Our first glimpse of our new son!!

If you only knew how seldom this boy sleeps-and to catch him sleeping in an airport!

On our way out of Seattle!

Little Leo-Happy one year to you big boy!!

Love you guys!

family time at the Grand Hotel

Tyla and Baba on the last leg of our journey home

Adorable!

OOOHHH, Ica Cream is COLD!!
Now it is his FAVORITE dessert

Hard to believe he was that small

Lounging around at the Agora

Thanks for stopping by on our one year anniversary day-We are so BLESSED!!

In Him

Chuck, Chris, Nick, Kendell and Tyla (aka Tyler)

Tyler's Readoption if Finally Complete!

On Tuesday, March 3, 2009, one week before our Family Anniversary, we completed Tyler's readoption in the state of Wisconsin. It was quite painless and not even very hard to get the paperwork done, but did require a nearly $300 bill from the social worker to complete the report required by the courts-although I know that is fairly reasonable compared to other adoptive families' stories.

We really only needed the readopt to legally change his name-not to make him ours-it was kind of cute on Tuesday morning-we had the whole day off chores, and that does not happen very often at all, so when Tyler woke up, we were all in the house. He climbed in bed with "Daddy" (it's very rarely Baba" anymore-and told him, "I want to go see the man who will make me Tyler Waughtal forever"

He has an extreme abhorrence for anything to do with Taiwan at the moment, and when we had explained that his name was not really Tyler yet, he was furious and would not allow any further discussion about his Taiwanese name.

So, we are pleased that "Tyler" is now official, and we are feeling blessed to have almost a year with our little man!

The judge presented Tyler with the choise of teddy bears following his readoption-he was all smiles when he was showing it off to us in the car.
Ourside the courthouse-yes it was very cold, and a very bright sun, hence not many smiles

It was an old courthouse-not a sign around that we could take our picture by, but we are happy!!

Check back next week, as there will be much to say about our one year anniversary!!

We will take a trip down memory lane and ponder the entire adoption experience!

Blessings

Chris

More Thanks

It is time to recognize more of the everyday things around me that I need to be rejoicing in-for we are to "count it all joy!" Even though that is a tough thing to do some days, looking for those little things in everyday life that we know we can rejoice in and be thankful for really helps to deal with the blows that come each day too!

21. a day off the farm

22. a safe time of travel-seeing areas of the countryside we have not been through for quite a while

23. a visit to the accountant-and a TAX REFUND

24. Record milk prices last year-coupled with record expenses that brought about the tax refund

25. Time with Grandma

26. The smiles of a happy 4 1/2 yr old while playing

27. The smiles of a 10 yr old while doing school work on the road

28. The smiles of an almost 10 yr old as she learns along the way

29. The gift of homeschooling my children-no matter where we are

30. March is here, and spring is COMING!! Oh Happy Dance!!

Blessings

Chris

Greenhouse Fun

We have been getting our hands into the dirt already. And it was a lot of fun too-the children really enjoy helping our friends who have a greenhouse, and filling pots with dirt and potting new baby plants was a very good therapy for us since the weather has been relentless, ruthless, and bitter cold for 2 months now.

They tell us it was the coldest winter on record for 28 years for Hillsboro-YIPPEE-the best news is that we are through it, and now we find out JUST HOW COLD IT REALLY WAS!!!

We hope to go back again next week and help with more planting-It is really making me itch to get going on the garden-yes it is a couple months off, but planning ahead never hurt a guy! Plus, it kind of helps to have something warm to think about on these still not-so-warm days of early March.

I am sure playingin the dirt is just in a kid's nature-they are always all smiles!

Tyler and his friend " 'Turah" (short for Katurah) they managed to find lots of fun things to do for the couple hours the rest of us worked

It is so much fun to work in a warm greenhouse (outside it was 17 degrees Friday) and to be amongst GREEN

Nick is quite a worker, always looking for things to help out with

Tyler did get into the act a bit too-when he wasn't playing with 'Turah!!

Blessings

Chris