the flights home

All wore out from squealing most of the 11 hour flight to LA, and then exploring the plane to Minneapolis all in one LONG day

His busy fingers have never stopped grabbing and throwing

Isaiah loves anything with buttons-this plane screen kept him busy for 1/2 the flight, until we all needed a break and he took a nap
waiting for the flight headed home to Minneapolis

our plane that will take us home from Taipei

more to come!!

Monday morning-week 2

Our Sunday afternoon outing-finally an afternoon without rain!

They LOVE to GO!!

brotherly love

This is what Isaiah thought of the Sunday paper-makes a great easel!!

2 happy boys, and one holding his own bottle!

Are you thirsty???

We have had a wonderful stay in Taiwan, but we are soooo ready to come home!

Isaiah is doing very well, starting to show a bit more personality, loves his little brother, starting to get into a bit of trouble, and still sleeping very well.

Isaac has just come leaps and bounds in the last couple days.

He is kicking his legs all the time, and starting to move his legs when he scoots along the floor-almost crawling-I can't believe how much he has changed in such a short time. He is holding his bottle now, smiling all the time, and watches for momma all the time. He is literally into everything, and we are loving it.

His eyes are just glowing, and he is so attentive and observant of everything around him. Chuck keeps saying, it is not even the same kid!!

We are very blessed. Now, if the flight goes smoothly, we get through immigration in good time, and make our connecting flight back to Minneapolis in the 2 1/2 hours we have once we land, we will be thrilled!!

Probably one of the highlights of our weekend was meeting the family who adopted the 4 sisters we fell in love with on the Gladney board last April, 2009. I have to ask permission from Mom and Dad before I put a picture on, but hopefully that will be later this week. Boy, are they BUSY!!! They have a daugher adopted from China 3 years ago, so they have 5 girls under the age of 6!! But do they feel blessed!!

Time to finish packing, and get the boys down for a morning nap-Then we are off to the Handicraft Mall for a few t-shirts, and then off to the airport!!

Blessings

Chuck and Chris

Isaac's first day-more photos

We have found propping him up between pillows helps him sit up by himself-he loves to bang the cups together, and tries stacking them up-drives his big brother crazy because he thinks they are HIS!!

What a little eater-he is literally eating anything and everything

Except his medicine-he is a master at holding it in his mouth and spitting it out

Not very exciting, but what a wonderfully normal day for baby and parents!!

Blessings

Chuck and Chris

Gotcha Day #2!!

Isaac's first day with his family

He is a real curtain climber-his favorite toy is the long curtains that hang in the room!

He loves to pull on them and swing them out, and then he rears himself back and looks at it-quite proud of himself, too.

The worst part is when he flings himself over to watch his handi-work, not so nice when it's the hard tile floor in the kitchen, but a few bumps haven't hurt him yet!!

Grace, the govt social worker for isaiah, was onhand to see us off on Thursday, She is on the right.

Penny, Cathwel's social worker, is on the left, and one of the nurses who loved him very much came down to see us off. She made sure we got a cross necklace for him, as he was baptized in the Catholic church when he was only a few months old, and very sick. She truly cared for him.

The nurses gather to say good-bye!!

We had such a great night with Isaiah, and we just can't be more thankful for how well he is adjusting to everything in his little world. Breakfast was as easy and simple for him as, "Anything you bring me, I will eat it."

We were waiting for Mr Yeh to get us so we could get Isaac, and he just plays quietly, or sits on our lap and looks around. He is very curious, very gentle, and in his own way, very smart.

Our arrival at Cathwel was a bit ordinary-rainy, again, humid, again, and we were hardly there 10 minutes before we had our baby Isaac and were headed back home.

He is a very good traveler. He likes his car seat, he loves a stroller, he tolerates the baby carrier, he loves to eat, and is doing much better with formula now that I am mixing it a bit stronger. He has several meds he needs each day, some for the heart condition, some for the congestion and cough. I will need a notebook just to keep track of all the times and mixtures for both boys, especially on the plane and once back in the US.

We are feeling very blessed tonight, although we are missing the older 3. It seems skyping is definitely beneficial for mom and dad, but the other 3 seem like they are having such a good time, they don't have time to miss us!!

Thankful for another great day

Chuck and Chris

Gotcha Day !

~~~Enjoying Day 1 with Isaiah~~~

Can you say Christmas in June?

Foster Mamas looking over his book from the school

2 foster families, and one FOREVER FAMILY

The entire school gathered to say good-bye-these were all his teachers

He will probably out grow these clothes before he wears them out-if we can even get them all home!!

First meal with Baba and Mama

first bath at the Agora

We have a new son sleeping in our room with us tonight. It has been an action-packed day from the beginning, to the end.

From Meeting the foster families (2) to the entire staff at his school, and saying good-bye to all of them, and being showered with gifts from his foster families, I would say it has been an emotional day for our little Isaiah.

He has gone without naps the last 3 days now, and I am surprised he made it until 8pm tonight.

His meals have been all out of whack, and when I was fixing some simple noodles and cut up weiners for supper tonight, he was all excited and could not stay away from the kitchen. I am not sure it was the best meal I have ever fixed, but it did taste good, even to us, as we have been living off McDonalds the last 3 nights.

We now have more clothes for our 3 yr old than we can carry home. And toys, my, he has had Christmas in June the last couple days.

He ended his day with an hour long bath, he is such a contented little boy, but the sight of his little pruned hands really excited him. It was a blessing to watch him fade off to sleep in my arms tonight, despite a bit of twisting and carrying on, which lasts about 10 seconds.

We are looking forward to the baby coming home with us tomorrow=I am so ready to begin life as a family of 7=we are counting down the days to our homeward bound trip next Monday.

Blessings

Chuck and Chris

Tuesday was a wonderful day

Isaac during his 2 1/2 hr nap

Isaiah and his Baba

Isaiah and HIS computer!!

Typical sibling rivalry-"No Isaac, that is mine!"

Preparing to leave the Jonah House in the morning

We were so blessed today. Our fears and worries yesterday dissipated with a renewed sense of purpose and love today. Chuck read something that really helped both of us see the eternal value and stop focusing on the present (selfish) concerns we had been focused on. We went to Jonah House and our boys were waiting for us. Isaac is such a little peanut, and such a doll. Isaiah is just all smiles and is very gentle and sweet. He blows kissed constantly, and is a very busy little boy-a typical 3 1/2 yr old.

The hardest part of my day, other than returning them at 4 pm, was when we put Isaac down for his nap. His way of comforting himself and getting to sleep is to roll from side to side, quite rapidly, and moaning softly while he does this. It makes me cry, knowing for months, that is how he has comforted himself and gone to sleep. I want to hold him, rock him, and love him, but he needs to accept it from us first. We have already seen great strides in his interest in and concern for us and where we are, but I think we are a long way from rocking him to sleep at night.

He hates his formula, and loves food. I am toying with the idea of trying a different brand, but maybe I should just wait until we get back to the US and buy something there.

We skyped with our 3 children at home Monday night. I think it means more to us than to them, they are so busy and preoccuppied with life there. But Thursday night will be different I am sure, when we skype with the 2 boys with us.

Tomorrow we meet Isaiah's 2 foster families, and attend his therapy sessions. Then, he comes with us forever. We will go to the JonahHouse and visit Isaac for the afternoon, and then come back to the Agora and begin to settle in to a new kind of normal!!

Blessings

Chris

Our Babies!!

MEET OUR BOYS!!

Isaiah loves to slide

Our first glimpse of Isaiah

Mommy and her baby

Isaac loves toys like this

Daddy getting acquainted with his little man

Enjoying a little bottle-he doesn't really like it very much

Adorable

We were delighted to spend a day with our boys yesterday at
the Jonah House in Taipei.

We started out in the morning meeting Penny, the english
speaking social worker at the Jonah House, and then heading right up to the
nursery to meet Isaac. He is surrounded by nurses that really love him. It
appears he was extremely sick a year ago in March-and they almost lost him-and
he is very special to all of them. I will try to get some pictures today of all
of the nurses-it is unbelievable how much they think of him.

AfterIsaac went down for his morning nap, we had a bit of time
to ourselves, which we spent wondering how life was really going to be when we
get home with our 2 boys. I think we have been so busy up to this point we
haven't had much time to ponder the extent of our decision to bring these 2 boys
into our homes and lives. There is a bit of fear and trembling in both of us as
we recognize there will be many hours of doctor visits ahead of us, therpaies of
many different kinds. Isaac is currently in occupational and physical therapy,
Isaiah is in developmentally slow classes.

We had to do some memory work yesterday-how we found these
boys, how we felt led to them, how we prayed and prayed for God to lead us to
our future children and how we alwasy prayed for Him to shut doors we aren't to
go through. Well, He never shut any doors, and other than the paperwork taking
such a long time to arrive, the entire process has been incredibly smooth
and uneventful-even quick-we had Cathwel's approval in 1 day-the court process
was only a month long-we just have to deal with our own fears, and remember we
have 2 little boys who need us very much, and there are 3 waiting at home who
think the world of them and can't wait for them to come home.

In the afternoon, we went upstairs to meet Isaiah, and did he
ever smile when we walked into the room. He loves toys that make noise, or have
lights on them, and he loves to build with legos, and enjoys slides and all
sorts of riding toys. He is a lovely little boy, and he seems very smitten with
his little brother, always wondering where he is and what he is doing.

Today, we will bring them back to the Agora for the day, and
return them to the Jonah House for tonight.

Until later

Chris and Chuck

Monday Morning

A bit fuzzy, but the mountains are beautiful in the background-and it's SUNNY!!

After all these years, I finally need a crib!!!

Our bedroom is literally sorrounded by the city/mountain sites!

We do really enjoy Taipei-it is a fascinating city!

We made it to Taiwan with an very uneventful flight-we actually slept through most of the overseas portion-thankfully!
We both had very little sleep the 2 nights before we left, like 2 hours, and the stress of leaving our farm and the 3 kids at home made for some long hours of apprehension.

But, it was all for naught, as all is going very well.

We meet our boys today, and I don't even have butterflies in my tummy-YET!!

We are staying at the Agora again, but it is different without our other children here with us.

I am thankful for the laptop we just purchased, as it is SOOOO nice to be able to do emails, check news, and skype from the privacy of our own room.

Tonight, we will Skype with the older 3 and find out how it is all going on the farm!

I have a few pictures of the view from our room. We are at the end of the tower, and have surround-the room views of Taipei!
Today, it is sunny, although they are calling for 60% chances of rain every day we are here.

Yesterday, it was rainy and dreary/gray all day. We are thankful for the sunshine today!!

Blessings

Chris and Chuck

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)