14 is a beautiful birthday

I never knew.

I never dreamed having a daughter turn 14 could evoke so many emotions in one day.

It was a hallowed day for us.

On Sunday, Rosalyn turned 14.

It was joyous

It was somber.

It was happy.

It was sad.

It was a day to rejoice our new beginnings.

It was a day to ponder her losses.

It was a day like no other. Not even all the goodbyes in China compared with the day

our daughter turned 14.

What if???

she hadn't been adopted?

she was still in China?

she didn't have a forever family?

we hadn't been blessed with such a sweet, loving daughtger?

we had missed out on adding an older daughter due to our fears?

we had not been willing to step out in faith, following where He leads us?

Oh My

My heart can't hardly fathom where we would all be without God's hand on our life in

the last 12 months.

I struggle with the losses Rosalyn has had to face in the last month.

I am blessed with the sense of adventure she has shown for all that has changed in 1 short month.

She has been home in Wisconsin for 2 weeks, and she has turned 14.

A milestone for sure in all our lives.

In her old life, it would have been a door closed forever.

I ponder all those that are aging out, without the hope of a forever family.

I ponder the hopes, dreams, fears, and despairs that all come with that 14th  birthday.

In our world, turning 14 is a great thing.

In her homeland,turning 14 without a mama and daddy is NOT a good thing.

I don't know why God has chosen us for this path.

I feel so inadequate, so unable to do all that He has called us to do.

Yet, "I come back to Jesus,

with tears on my face,

and cry out for mercy,

His love and His grace."

And Lord, I pray for Rosalyn,

"You open the window and pour out a blessing.

Shower your power upon us we pray.

Send such a blessing,

we can  not contain it.

Lord, open the windows of heaven today."

This prayer comes from one of my favorites hymns we sing at church, and at home

Open the Windows of Heaven.

Lord, you truly have opened the windows, and showered us with

your love and grace and peace. This adoption could not have gone smoother.

How we thank you for our girl.

Our special, 14 yr old.

Our lovely Rosalyn Hannah Waughtal!

Bless her Lord, heal her, strengthen her, sustain her through her sad times,

through her losses, through her times of grieving.

Hold her in your everlasting arms.

And Thank You for sharing her with us!!!

Love

Mommy and Daddy

what a smile-and what a crew helping her celebrate!!!

our Chinese noodle stir fry with pork that we had for lunch

I am really liking the experiments that I have created for stirfry, and the girls

seem to be enjoying it immensely as well.

Kendell decorating the cake

Isaac got to clean out the last of the frosting-think he liked it??

opening all the cards first

my favorite of her gifts

"Family, the greatest gift in the world"

thank you Adoption Bug t-shirts

everyone gathered around to inspect the cupcake decorating kit

a card making kit

after everyone got to inspect the gifts, we ended the night

with a few games, and a prayer of gratitude in my heart!!!



what a week we have had!!!

It is so hard to believe we have been home 8 days now!

The time has been super busy, as can be imagined with adding 2 new girls to our crew:)

The first 5 days were nothing but "survival" as I was hit heavy  with the emotional "it's over" drain, and of course, the dreaded jet lag too.

I hardly had the camera out, but did manage some adorable pics on the sled hill the other day along with some assorted shots from the last few days.

Overall, I would say we have had exceptional transitioning.

Lili is always happy, unless she is very tired, very hungry, or told no while in one of these states :)

Rose has been busy finding her place as a busy older sister who loves to take care of the littles, as well as help out in the kitchen with whatever jobs need doing.

Her English has improved tremendously since we don't hear any Mandarin anymore.

I mourn that for her, yet, feel it may be best for her to push thru the loss of Mandarin to get a good grasp of the English she has been exposed to for several years, but still had the backup of Mandarin a breath away.

She has her quiet moments, and she has her silly moments, but overall, we see a smiley Rosey way more often than any other state, and for that we are extremely grateful.

WE are humbled by God's goodness to us throughout this month of changes.

WE look forward to what February will bring-2 birthdays-Rose turns 14 on the 5th, and Isaac turns 3 on the 9th.

On the 13th, we celebrate our 22 anniversary.

We have started back to school as of this morning, so I look forward to seeing how they all progress with a regular schedule and more structured days.

Enough of my rambling, time to get on with the pictures.

I suspect this will only happen 1x a week, as my days are FULL, and if Chuck weren't milking tonight, I wouldn't be up this late either, so do check back, even if I miss a few days-there is much that God is doing in our lives, and I really want to share His goodness and mercy, and His abundant blessings!

Lots of love

Chris and all!!

the first time Rose went outside, she helped Kendell feed the calves, and then headed right over to the swing set-

Baba headed back up the sled hill after the little boys took a turn on their sled

Nick and Lili taking a turn together.

a little bit of hot-dogging going on!!

along withLOTS of giggles and laughs

my,this looks like a motley crew!

Only God could do this :)

I loved this, little boys and sisters watching their Baba and brothers

burning out in the garden~

Lili has really taken to having brothers around-even if they demand sharing her favorite toys!!!!

And to think we were worried about how she would take to having so many siblings!!!!

Friday our older ones went to their science co-op. Rose went along, and was a very

studious young lady.

She took wonderful notes, and tried to follow along on the excellent teaching they got

on our immune system!

She was all ears, and gave her full attention-I was very proud of her:)

some play time on Saturday

this is school time for 2 pre-schoolers

lots of playtime, but also lots of learning going on!!!

And they both did very well today.I am thrilled with how

Lili will try anything, and wants to follow instructions

Rose and Tyler doing some simple, lets get back into the groove worksheets before we really hit the textbooks later this week-and they both did VERY well!!!

Isaac is wandering around the livingroom, wanders to the kitchen for some involvement too, and then back to his toys. It was a very full morning, and Nick and Kendell went upstairs to their desks to hit their math and spelling without so many diversions!!!

It's a great day for a tractor ride!

Monday afternoon was a great, warm day, and the children all went out together to do chores, and play.

They also all got into the act of feeding the cows this afternoon, either riding in the tractor or on the TMR~~

Rose was all smiles riding with Kendell, and Lili about flew into the tractor when Daddy stopped and motioned for her to come-she is actually fearless, except for the dogs, and cows, and chickens, and ducks:) But, she is getting better with all of them too-a little at a time!!!!

Nick is standing in the feeder, that's why he is so much taller than the cows-

LOVED all these smiles today!

Is there any better place for kids than on a farm??

So many experiences, so much to learn, opportunities to learn responsibilities

and LOTS of fun!!!

Thanks for stopping by, hoping for more posts yet this week as I want to wrap our time in China with a couple more posts!!!!

Love

Chris



HOME

It seems inconceivable to me, a mama who has lived with a camera in her hands for the last 18 days, to not have 1 decent picture to share with you all of our new family!!!
of course, the sleep deprivation, the travel chaos, the unpacking clutter, the laundry piles, the little boys who now have a mommy in the house again-gee, where DOES my time go???
Not to mention 3 girls adjusting to Wisconsin time, Wis. weather (love the snow) and adjusting to way less computer/ipad time-and SHARING!!!!
Life is good, God is good, and we are all doing amazingly well.
I hope to get some real pics of all of us in the next few days.
2 homeschool field trips and 1 science co-op thrown in for good measure this week, and maybe I can really claim insanity?????
Also need to make a Dr's appt for Lili yet-have been dragging my feet, but her nose is filling up again, 3-4 days of antibiotics was not enough to end this battle, so we will try fitting that in tomorrow!!!
Love to you all-and hang in there, I promise pics in the next couple days-
YAYYY for everyone sleeping thru the night-I think daytime travel has made a difference in the jetlag horrors we have had in the past!!!

Blessings
Chris and ALL

Good-bye Guangzhou

Hello Wisconsin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just a heartfelt thanks that we are headed home, that all is well, that Lili is doing well, that Rose seems very happy to be flying home Sunday!!!

Much to be grateful for!

One more good meal with the Moores, a tiny bit more packing and at 5am Sunday morning, we pile into a van headed to Hong Kong.

At 11am we file into a plane headed for Chicago.

At 11:16 midwest time, we pile out of the plane in Chicago, swarm thru immigration, fly to Madison, and FLY into our family's arms-yes, they will be waiting for us!!!

I am so blessed, so humbled by His goodness to us throughout this entire trip, so THRILLED that we have 2 new daughters, and our family of 9 will be together soon.

I am also slightly looking forward to that good ole American cheeseburger tomorrow night at Culvers on our way home!!! I think food prices will floor me in America again, it has been soooo very reasonable to eat here, but I am so ready to navigate around my own  kitchen again, hug my boys instead of waving at them on Skype, to do my own blog posts, and fight with my own computer issues, instead of the hotel's!!!

All said, God is GOOD, ALL THE TIME-He put a song of praise in this heart of mine!!!

God is good, HE's so good, all the time!!!

Lots of love,

Chris and the girls!!!

Saying goodbye….

to dear friends.

Today is Thursday night!

I am starting to have trouble remembering the time difference-FOR SOME REASON!!!

Our night, your morning of the same day, not that hard, but after 15 days, it's all jumbling together!!!

Prayer has gotten me thru much the past 2 weeks and I am so thankful for how Faithful Father is to answer our smallest needs:)

Today, we said goodbye to little Elliott and his mama and Dada!!

I am sooooo happy that they got to leave GZ today-and at 8 Friday morning, they start their flight back to Charlotte, NC.

They are so special to all of us. We really do need to plan a trip south, and yes, we will be stopping by to see ya all!!!!

Such wonderful parents-and first timers too-loved watching their son come out of his shell and he just exudes joy and delight with everything going on around him-truly a miracle!!!!

Happy trails to you all-and may He hold you in the palm of His hand, and return you safely to your haven in NC!!!

Until we meet again

Love

Chris and the girls

Kendell feeding Elliott his first taste of ice cream-and he loved it!!!

Mama and Daddy having a quick bite to eat before the 3 hour van drive to Hong Kong

Mama getting her final paperwork-the long-awaited VISA!!!!!!

The gang's all here-for a loving good bye!!!

The children all say goodbye to Elliott

This is 1 happy mama!!!

Until we meet again!!! Safe travels dear friends-we love you

and yes, I was crying-happy, rejoicing tears for meeting such

wonderful people on this path He has put us on!!!