Update about travel buddy family's son's surgery

I know that many of you have been praying for little "G" who was adopted along with Wyatt and that you were aware that he had his surgery this past week. I just received an email from his Mom and wanted to post some of it here for you to read. He had an above the knee amputation to eventually allow him to have a fully functioning prosthetic leg. Here is a few of her own words.

"The first night was very hard as once the nerve block wore off, he was in severe pain. With the pain came fear unlike any other I have seen. I looked into his eyes and saw my little boy in outrageous pain frosted with utter panic and fear. His eyes darted in terror and his body trembled with agony. He could not form words and he flailed his arms in the direction of his right femur. His oxygen saturation dropped to the 70s and he turned ashen. His nurse quickly flew out the door to retrieve some additional pain medication (the big guns) to place in Braxton’s IV. I asked Braxton if he would like for me to pray for him as I really had no idea what else I could do. Evidently the nerve blocker had worn off and our room was full of the demons of pain, fear, and uncertainty. Braxton shook his head “Yes” I prayed as Braxton tried to gain self-control. His eyes were full of angst and worry while his body was assaulted by the ugly monster called pain. As the nurse came back into the room, he worked rapidly like an experienced superhero not getting his cape caught in any of the monitors and medical equipment. Soon strong pain medication was fighting its way up through Braxton’s IV tubing and into his veins. I stroked Braxton’s cheek and whispered comforting words into his ears. He looked deep into my eyes and I could see that he was looking to me for the strength that he was battling to find. As his eyes locked with mine, I knew that as he needed courage, faith, hope, and love reflected back to him. In the dark and cold of this hospital room, I needed to trust Jesus in this moment so that Braxton could find comfort in my resolve. Though the atmosphere was chaotic and even scary, I dug deep and boldly told Braxton that everything was going to be okay. I reminded him that we could trust Jesus and that Jesus would hold him closely in his arms to get him through this difficult time. Braxton’s eyes continued to lock with mine and I could see the courage begin to seep into him. He began to settle and the crying ceased. Like a soldier confidently loading and preparing his gun for battle, Braxton grabbed his little flashlight and clicked it on. He reached for his favorite soft, comforting stuffed animal, MingMing the monkey. He clutched his blanket and confidently put his oxygen mask back on. He sat there in the dark of the night with me and with his little flashlight in his hand beaming light into the dark room, he said with resolve, “I am going to be brave.” Despite my best efforts, tears rebelled and came rushing down my face. I kissed him on the forehead and said, “Yes, buddy! Jesus is here with us and this is hard...but you can choose to be brave. You can feel frightened and you can be in pain and you can still be brave. I am so proud of you!” It was a rough night, but one that I will never forget. In the dark of the night, Braxton learned to trust Jesus to a whole new level."

Braxton is now home doing well and is recovering in a body cast. He will have stitches and cast off about 2 weeks and will have his first evaluation for a prosthetic leg. Please continue to keep them in your prayers. We are so blessed to be a part of this amazing transformation in these little guy's lives!

Counting down to surgery

We are now one week from surgery and my mind is buzzing with all the fine details of readying Wyatt, the children we'll leave with grandparents, the household and the business. On top of that, I have a fever now and my head and neck have been invaded by alien beings kind of like noisy frat boys mixed with a cattle prod type sensation. I digress, but that's kind of how things have been here lately: regular life with digressions of traveling to PA for a new piece of equipment, equipment breaking down, mice invading our house with the onset of cool weather, the possibility of a free, nice horse, trying to ward off the H1N1 virus all around us here and starting in on wrap up tax planning for the year, to name a few.

Sounds easy, but here's just the mouse digression: woke up with mouse running across my neck one morning (hello, there's mice in the house), trouble sleeping (probably because there's a mouse in the house), go downstairs to find 2 mice flitting around the living room (bright idea - lets see if the cat can catch them...baaaaaaad idea at 2 a.m. - me running first, mouse second, cat in hot pursuit), set trap and set out poison (leads to sick mouse trying to bite Mike when he's to dispose of it) and then the quiet (are they really gone or are they mutating?). What is it with VA farm houses in the fall? I know there's a neon sign on our roof that beckons vermin and reptiles to "come, dine, live out your retirement years in our dry, warm basement with shuffle board and Bingo night every Wed."

I decided to experiment with giving God all the fine details of my life this week. I still make lists, but I don't hypervigilate (isn't that a fun word I just made up) to make sure I don't forget anything. I give God my day, ask Him to guide me and have decided if I forget something its forgivable. Letting go of perfection and going for the process of living. Basically I'm experimenting with actually trusting God with the minute to minute stuff instead of taking it all on myself in my typical bootstrappy kind of way. I'll let you know how it works out. This past week threw a lot of curves and I'm less stressed about them all than I used to be but still more stressed than I want to be.

My prayer for Wyatt and all of us is that we will be healthy going into and out of this surgery and may God bless the operative hands and minds! I am hoping for smooth sailing all the way through surgery, 2 weeks of a liquid diet and 3 weeks of "quiet activity". Knowing Wyatt (the sidekick) and our dear little Abbie (the instigator of all mischief), I'm betting this will be an interesting ride though. Padlock the fridge and move everything up 3 shelves? Put lead in their shoes to make jumping difficult? Eureka! Sand is soft and Floridians are into smoothies so doesn't this call for a beach vacation/recovery time? Excuse me. "Hey Mike, I've got a great idea!"

Fall 09 so far

Photos taken by a talented friend!

When did that happen?

As time goes on and we continue on with the business of everyday life, "new" begs to be noticed in the little occurrences. Abbie was overheard playing with Wyatt last week and instead of calling him by name, she kept calling him "brother" over and over, every chance she had like she was finally laying claim to him and he belonged to her. That night as she snuggled under the covers, I asked her what she thought of her brother and she said "I like him." Perhaps that doesn't sound so profound, but it does to an adoptive mother attempting to smoothly integrate a family of unique, strong personalities who've overcome great odds so far in their short lives.

Old habits of relating are being broken. Instead of starting in angst and continuing on into bigger conflict, I notice hesitation, consideration and offers of amnesty. "I'm sorry" and "I forgive you" are sweet words to hear after many weeks of staking territory and determining how many resources these other little people take up in the equation of Mom, Dad, household and toys. There is the deeply felt longing for the sister they don't see often, but know is good, is theirs and that somehow the sun shines brighter when she holds them and speaks her love into their large need.

We spend a lot of time in the car, so many battles are fought and many lessons are learned there. What sweet joy to my heart to see Anna fall asleep and Wyatt protectively put his arm around her neck, cradle her head on his shoulder and relax into a sweet, peaceful smile. Love deepening. Bonds being forged in the heat of fire and the cooling breeze of forgiveness. In moments where I stop the business in my mind, the never ending "to do" lists, the exhausting "ought to" lists, and I actually am in the moment, purely focused on the nuance of interaction between the three, I see a spark of what will be in adulthood when Mike and I are heritage and they have assumed the roles we now hold. The view is filled with hope and sweet promise that they will stand the test of time together.

Wyatt on his way to the Shriners Hospital.

We have our first surgery date

waiting for Abbie to be done with preschool
the dining out experience
Wyatt and Daddy during silage harvest

We were very impressed with the Shriners Hospital staff yesterday and have made a date for Wyatt's first palate surgery on Nov 10. He will need 3 surgeries within the next year or 2. The hard palate will be repaired first, then 4 to 6 months later, he will have the soft palate repaired and then later, cosmetic surgery and perhaps a pharyngeal flap. The big concern is Wyatt's speech development at this point. We are to see UVA's Adoption Clinic in October and will have his hearing screened among other things so I'm anxious to find out how well he hears. I know he hears pretty well though just from interacting with him.

We realized we need to buy him a Leapster or something for the trips to Boston. It was a very hard trip for an active little boy the way we traveled this last time (via Dulles). It was 12 hours of travel for a 2 hour appointment basically. That's a long time for a 3 year old to be good and controlled. Luckily most people around us were amused watching us try to deal with our energetic little "tigger" as the Shriners staff dubbed him.

Our first cruising week!

Abbie's "Promotion Sunday" moment of moving to the 4-5 year old classroom


A lot of things were added to our schedule this week along with a lot more structure to our time. We've started cheer leading through a local church sponsored program, preschool and Anna's gymnastics. We started home school last week with a new curriculum and so far so good on that. I'm racking up the miles on my car, but things seem to falling into place. We still have one more gymnastics class to add for all the kids and we're adding a home school coop on Fridays. The kids are noncommittal about the coop and I'm nervous because I have to teach a class and don't consider myself a classroom manager at all. I think I'm in for some growth/stretching this year. Hopefully they'll like being a part of the coop. It's kind of an experiment for our family. Of course this time of year I seriously weigh all options for the next year and wonder what we'll end up doing.

I am happy to say that with the adjustments made (see last blog), Wyatt had a very good week. Abbie and he are actually playing together peaceably more often than not and he is learning to share. I am seeing the strengthening of one trait I picked up on a little those first few weeks home - he is a caregiver. He indicates through motions and sometimes English when a family member (even Abbie) still hasn't been given food for a meal, or their vitamin or whatever he knows everyone should be doing together. He seems genuinely concerned by his communication and the look on his face. I think he'll make a good husband and father someday if that's what he chooses. For now, our biggest challenge with him is in the form of church. He doesn't do well yet with unstructured nursery playtime during the service. He grabs a toy or goes after someone else's toy that he desires and then its like watching one of those wild animal shows where the one lion has its captured prey and is watchfully keeping the other lions at bay. This does not go over well. I sang with the Praise Team Sunday and since we decided maybe the best option was to keep him in the service, he was up in the balcony for most of the service, then decided he needed some Mommy time and took off running. I looked up during offertory in time to see him climbing up onto the platform with us. I ended up having him with me for the offertory and last song. Thankfully most of the comments I've heard from people is that they found it very amusing. I know this nursery thing is going to take an earnest amount of time to resolve. One day he'll surprise us by getting along with the others and that will definitely mean a MccyD's celebratory stop after church!

We're in the middle of corn silage harvest here and Wyatt and Daddy have been in "boy" heaven harvesting together out in the fields. Wyatt is so intense about grabbing his shoes and snack and running out the door with Daddy. He's so important! When he comes home again, he walks in the house like he's 16 years old and his confidence level is sky high. He seems peaceful then (if I tried to put a word to it.) Mike and I marvel at God's provision as it seems He reached into China and plucked out the little boy who ended up literally being a "little Mike" in his interests. Nothing interests both Mike and Wyatt more than machinery that moves. The bigger, the more power, the better! They even grunt like "Tim the Tool Man Taylor" when they're together. Its entertaining to have another "man" around the house to say the least.

We're at cruising altitude now (I think)

Abbie loved her first day at preschool! Wyatt was very worried about why we left Abbie at that building with all those little kids and just exactly what was she doing there. He became very naughty on the car ride home until all of a sudden he said, "Abbie working" and I said "yes". His eureka moment. No, we didn't leave her at an orphanage or wherever else he was worried about. We dropped her off at "work" and we would have her back "later".

I've discovered that he becomes very naughty when he's stressed. His behavior was so sweet last week while he was sick (all the experienced Mom's chuckle now) and then he came back with his horns showing on Saturday and Monday. I prayed. God jogged a memory of a dear friend of mine talking to me about training my green broke horse years ago. (I'm famous with my children for relating child raising to horse training - they think its a hoot.) Anyway, she said that if the horse is acting up, most of the time its the trainer's fault. So I started thinking "what have I done differently this weekend" and all of a sudden it hit me....less face time. When Wyatt was sick, I held him, talked to him, face time galore, doted on him. Then when he recovered, I was waaaaaaaaayyyyy behind in work and hit the ground running (my house looked like Florida post hurricane season and there were bills, taxes, sick loved ones, etc.). I was treating Wyatt like a kid who'd been here years and he acted out. So as any parent will tell you, each child is an ongoing experiment... I tried giving him more face time today, more hugs, more intense attention and wow, what a difference that made. We had a good day today! Abbie and he played together really well for them! Isn't God amazing? I asked and He reminded me of training horses :o) See kids, God agrees with me that horses and children aren't so different after all.

We received an appointment for Shriner's Hospital

We just got a call that Shriner's in Boston will review Wyatt's case and evaluate him for treatment in September. We are very excited about this!

I waved the white flag today

We started our home school year this morning... it started with a short Bible story. So far so good.

Then Anna and Abbie began to simultaneously ask questions about their work while Wyatt scrambled between the two to figure out what was going on. Abbie demanded to work in a spelling book (she doesn't know her letters yet) while Wyatt demanded to be like Abbie, though judging by his expression, he wasn't sure exactly what he was asking for. I bravely set everyone up in their spots with crayons, books, pencils and paper and we went to work. Within 10 minutes, a fight ensued over the crayon box: Wyatt was done with coloring, Abbie was done with Wyatt and Anna was cranking out the work with a deaf ear and blind eye. 10 minutes later, the Abbie/Wyatt match was heating up, Anna was still working, and I was beginning to get that gut feeling inside that this was not going to work out as visions of chaotic months ahead flashed before me. 10 minutes later, Abbie was yelling while Wyatt was silently throwing up all over himself and the carpet (he had a fever too) as Abbie continued to expound on what's hers (everything) and what he cannot have (everything). I cleaned up the vomit, cleaned up Wyatt and began speaking what has become a mantra for Abbie - "share PLEAZZZZZZZZZZE". 20 minutes later, Abbie and Wyatt were separated to their respective rooms for quiet play while I checked on Anna's work (finally). I really wanted to hide in the closet at this point. So I did what any sanity craving home school mother would do...I got out the yellow pages, found a church preschool I knew was good and called immediately. Do you have any openings pleazzzzzzzzzzzzze. It was meant to be because this preschool, which normally has a waiting list and students signed up years in advance, happened to have an opening for a 4 year old! We went to open house tonight and Abbie is very excited to be enrolled in preschool!

Things that I want to remember

A friend of mine posted the cutest picture of her kid pouting and got me to thinking about what I'd like to remember when the kids are older. Pictures of their pouts is definitely a must (after all, mamas see pouts a lot when kids are little.) I'd like to remember the way Wyatt wakes up and comes at me with a huge smile, saying "Mama" over and over followed by bear hugs and kisses. The way Abbie baits Wyatt with her toys, then launches the artillery when he comes after it. War ensues, and they stand crying with open mouthed abandon as if their hearts were breaking until I intervene to restore justice and order. 15 minutes of peace and quiet until skirmish # 41 of the day. Goodness, is it noon already?!

It's been 4 weeks at home now. The first week boasted a skirmish every 5 - 10 minutes with Anna's or my or Mike's eyes constantly on Wyatt to make sure his curiosity and inventive spirit didn't lead him into peril. There were lots of fights with his sister, but not many injuries.

There's the toddler belief that Momma's are magic. I was outside watching Wyatt bicycle the other day and suddenly heard Abbie crying earnestly in the house. I came in to find her lying at the bottom of the stairs (every mother's pulse check moment). "Abbie, did you fall down the stairs?" "YES! ALL THE WAY DOWN!"(wailing). "Does anything hurt bad?" "NO! MOMMA, WHY DIDN'T YOU CATCH ME WHEN YOU HEARD ME FALLING?!" Even Wyatt somehow believes that when Momma kisses the boo boo, its magically all better.

The idiosyncrasies of a child newly adopted from orphanage care: although Wyatt's learned many new words and seems to understand much more than he can communicate back, he still speaks to me primarily in Mandarin. Today we were on a very long drive to pick up a skid steer part for Daddy and on the way back, I heard Wyatt trying to tell me something softly in Mandarin. Then he fell silent. Imagine my surprise to open his door when we finally arrived home and find him, his car seat and the seat of the van covered in chocolaty vomit. Silent vomiting is one of the many surprises a child from an orphanage will bring into your life. Finding his stash of hoarded food behind the sofa cushions and his cache of toys taken from the sisters under the head of his bed makes me ache for the little boy who still does not trust others to meet his needs or be fair.

I want to remember that he needs a toy car in his hand to fall asleep at night and that he squeals like a delighted baby when he's excited and happy. Then there was our first sit down, dine in meal at a local restaurant where I stifled sympathetic giggles while watching Mike try to deal with Abbie on one side and Wyatt on the other using their busy little hands, pens, silverware, food and toy cars for evil. I turned to an embarrassed Anna and stated, "Someday you'll all be civilized teenagers and we'll be dining somewhere nice and will reminisce about this moment. We'll have good stories to tell on those two!" She grinned and took a deep calming breath.

My phone conversations seem to be interrupted and harried these days. My emails incoherent as I pound them out and push "send". My dress and hair are unkempt most days and I've forgotten make-up more times than I ever have in my entire adult life. My "me" time is nonexistent for the most part and prayer is spoken in snatches under my breath as I put out fires and restore order. My pride is taking a beating but my joy as a mother has reached new heights.

Day 3 Peekaboo

Wyatt's song in Guangzhou

Picture Day

First week home of forever

We have our first week at home behind us and are happy to say it went well. I know Wyatt is wearing a pink helmet, but we have been, after all, a family of females up to now and some things are naturally passed down. I also had to include the redneck shot of the week. Don't worry Mom, he couldn't start it. :-)

We know that we are so blessed: blessed to know such wonderful friends and family, blessed to have giving and sweet children, and blessed to receive our son and watch him grow, learn, give high fives and bear hugs and absorb what it means to be part of a forever family. He is doing very well with this transition as are our other children. There have been some interesting moments along the way, but they are far outweighed by the joy of knowing Wyatt as a part of our family.

Watching Wyatt run down the stairs after Anna and Abbie to tell Daddy goodnight chokes me up. Seeing Wyatt laughing at Abbie's "car dancing" in my rear view mirror puts a song in my heart. Seeing Anna exchanging sweet smiles with Wyatt is a sterling moment. All are greater than any personal accomplishment in their vibrant richness of color.

This has been a week of firsts for Wyatt. He has learned that food on the table is to be shared even if one throws a tantrum to get all of the sweet corn. He has learned that house plants are very chewy and not that tasty. He has learned to sing the "pick up" song during our 10 minute dash pick up time each evening. He has learned that Baba goes to work every day and though we miss him, he does return home. He's learned he has lots of family and friends. He has learned that Mom is more stubborn that he is so he might as well give in and do what I want him to do. He has learned that banging his head on the floor does not get him what he wants or any extra attention (after being moved to a soft place). He's learned that no matter what, good or bad, there's lots of affection and love and we're all in this together.

My thoughts have gelled over the past week about our trip to China and the people we met along the way. First I want to say that our travel companion family was a key factor in the joy and success of our journey. We enjoyed our guides and felt cared for, but our travel companions wove many beautiful colors into the fabric of our journey that we will never forget. They taught us lessons, they shared deep moments and they sought joy and God's provision at every opportunity. We miss them so much already. Wyatt has asked for them and looks so confused when I ineptly try to explain that they don't live nearby. We also experienced adopted children who were no longer pictures on a waiting child website but were flesh and blood along with their adoptive parents and siblings. It was like witnessing a miracle of creation...the creating of families, the creating of relationship where there had been none and the beginning of legacies for future generations to come. Some of this creating appeared to be a somewhat painful process at times, but mostly it was sweet with an aroma of God's grace surrounding it. We met Chinese Christians who long for the freedom to home school their children. One person longed to come to America for the freedom to home educate his son, to teach him creativity and Christian principles and broaden his horizons. We met Chinese Christians who glowed with an inner beauty of light and love that was remarkable and very apparent. We met young women who had many layers to their personalities as they tried to appear to be one thing by day, but we sadly surmised, were required to be another thing at other times.

We laughed a lot, we cried some and we chose to wait in faith. We chose peace as your prayers lifted us up. We learned to lay down our rights, to be stripped to the necessity of trusting God for every step of the path and learning the sweetness of letting all go as we run the race to the finish. In picking our former duties and patterns back up, we approach them with new insight and an increased desire that we would please God in every moment by living through Him and not in our own strength to our own ends. Habits of self reliance and worry are hard to break but we've tasted "freedom" in helplessness and total reliance on Him and know that's where joy and peace lies. I watch my growing family and my heart swells with gratitude, praise, joy and contentment. Our family is complete....for today ;-)

Today is the "welcome to America" doctor appt

Wyatt is doing better: no fevers, riding his trike and swimming timidly in the pool. This leads us to his first ever yearly check up with our wonderful family doctor. Bad news is that there will be a lot of testing today. Wyatt will not be thrilled with that. Wish us luck!

And the crazy ride continues but sei la vie

Wyatt and Abbie with Pop in the tractor.

I haven't written the past couple days because well, we're in the thick of unpredictable life. Things had been going really, really well with Wyatt and the kids, then Friday night he started with a fever around 102. We gave him Motrin and thought we'd see how it went in the morning. He woke up with a fever of 103.3 and so began the "wait and see" that every parent knows so well. Calling your on-call doc on the holiday weekend twice a day with the update and then "wait and see". He got up to 104.4 yesterday evening. We set alarms and got up every 3 to 4 hours to dose him with overlapping Motrin and Tylenol. Then the doctor finally saw us around noon today. The verdict is most likely Roseola: 2 more days of high fever followed by a rash.

In the meantime yesterday, I tripped over Wyatt while carrying out Abbie's bicycle and messed up my right foot. Then I had to go to an outpatient ER for x-rays while Mike cared for the kids. No broken bones, but my foot is swollen and still very painful. Hopefully its nothing interesting. Good thing Wyatt isn't interested in playing "chase" right now!

So, that's how its going. We're feeling our jetlag while getting up every few hours for medication purposes. He's playing quietly when the fever is not so high. We're hoping for a quick resolution.

travel pix

We are home and still standing. PTL!

We arrived at our last airport on July 1st and 11:30 p.m. and were met by KK, Jo, Anna, Abbie and my Mom and Dad. What a glorious site they all were! I held it together the whole journey home (almost 30 hours of travel) until we were on that last plane coming into Richmond. Tears of gratitude overwhelmed me, but then I fought it so hard because no one on that puddle jumper would know why I was crying. I didn't want them to think it was because Wyatt had been so naughty when we loaded on. LOL

Anna had Wyatt giggling and talking within 10 minutes of leaving the airport. His first meal...Taco Bell late night drive through. He loved it! KK drove us home and then the kids stayed up and played with each other till 02:00 a.m. What a wonderful time we had!

Praise God we are home! Praise God it happened! Big high five everybody!

This will probably be my final email out of China. We leave very early tomorrow to catch our first flight to Shanghai.

My heart is full of so many emotions and my head is juggling so many balls right now
making that transition back to our life in the States. I want to thank all of you for your prayers and thoughts. Thank you for praying for my Mom, our kids and for our travel companions as well. As brothers and sisters under the same Father, we are connected in so many ways even across the miles.

I have met so many adoptive parents here. For some, this is their first adoption and for most others, this is their 3rd or 4rth. Almost all of them are believers and are
committing to children with special needs now. Looking back over our previous journeys here, this hasn't been the case. For Mike and I, we have been so blessed beyond words by all of our precious children. We are amazed at how God has selected each one (whether biological or adopted) and has knit us together as a family. Saying "yes" to the Father sometimes feels like sky diving, but our joy and peace has increased with each new "yes" (after the fear and trembling part =) LOL. You've had our backs and we look forward to returning the blessing someday.

I wanted to share something I keep reading over and over that takes on many shades of meaning if you look at it from an orphan's perspective."Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say this - those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them
from their distress. He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, forhe satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things." Ps. 107:1-9

I pray it may be so with every orphan looking for a place to dwell.

Today we finished the birth of Wyatt into our family with the citizenship Swearing In Ceremony. We weren't allowed to take pictures there so I'll try to describe it a little. We went through security and past many waiting Chinese citizens applying for visas, into a large room of chairs filled with American families adopting children of every size and age. There were 2 girls who were turning 14 years old tomorrow. There were babies and school age children. There was a family on their 5th adoption. All were happy and expectant. Children played, parents gabbed, new brothers and sisters interacted in such a beautiful way. We were put through a final paperwork check of passports and visas and then went back to our seats. Wyatt was totally intimidated and clung to me. The consulate representative, an American woman, came out and told us all to rise and raise our right hand. We repeated an oath that all our documents were correct and truthful and then that was that. Emotion overwhelmed me as we crossed the finish line. This was a difficult birth, but one full of joy nonetheless. We are celebrating tonight!

I'm hopeful our journey home will be uneventful and not have too many Wyatt inspired
chases. I will be able to post many things to our blogsite when we return.

Looking forward to seeing you all. I can't wait to hear about your new divinely inspired sky diving experiences!

Final days and counting

Today our guide successfully navigated our consulate appointment for us so we are on the other side of all the paperwork and will have one more official event tomorrow, the Swearing In Ceremony for new citizens. We'll then receive the remaining documents we will need to get Wyatt on the plane and then onto American soil.

I wanted you to see the normal view of Wyatt and Michael that I have as we walk through the streets here. I also wanted to include our new morning ritual (yes, that's Starbucks Mike Osmond!). The architecture here reminds me of Southern plantation homes like around S.C. Its beautiful here, so many brides and grooms come everyday to get their wedding photos taken on the street.

We had a huge scare today with Wyatt. He's run a high f-ver the past 2 days from the
vaccines (flu, MMR, DPT, pneumococcal, varicella, and HIB). Today he wasn't feverish and acted ornery, but more normal than he had since the shots. Then shortly after naptime began, he began a series of what seemed to be violent night terrors in his sleep. We couldn't get him to calm or really focus when he was in the middle of one and he was totally revulsed by any touch and was violently moving his legs. This lasted off and on for ~ 1.5 hours. So we moved him to our bed and I laid down beside him and fell asleep when he finally settled. He was like this from 1:00 to 5:00 and at 5:00 we tried to wake him to prepare to go to supper and because now we were getting worried. He doesn't sleep this long. We couldn't wake him. We tried cold water, rubbing his chest, tapping his feet, moving him around and speaking to him but he was a rag doll. His eyes would loll back into his head and he would go out again when we would try to rouse him. I felt like I couldn't breathe. I called our travel buddy, Tamera, to come help us and give her opinion. Here we are 9,000 miles from home and at the mercy of their medical system if we chose to use it. We had been trying to wake him for ~ 15 minutes when Tamera came in. She began to help try to wake him and expressed concern as well. We finally got him to open his eyes and focus on us after about 5 more minutes, but he still was a rag doll. I
called our guide and asked him to come. Then Tamera hit her knees and prayed over Wyatt. Within 15 more minutes, he was sitting up, eating a cracker and beginning to talk a little. 5 minutes later he was standing up. Bob, our guide, called a doctor here and he said to watch Wyatt overnight as he had had fevers and 6 vaccines and was now able to walk and talk. We went to supper with Bob and our traveling companions and Wyatt ate the best he's eaten since the shots and has been our old Wyatt ever since: very physically active, happy, expressive and playful. The big turning point in Wyatt's condition was immediately after Tamera prayed over him. Which leads me to my final request for you back home. Please pray the other family and us home. There has been so much spiritual battle this trip. Mike and I had not prayed much the past couple days as were being laid back and recuperating before the big travel home. The lack of communication with our Father was clearly a mistake. I praise our wonderful Father who so graciously delivered our son from whatever was wrong without us having to go further for care. I praise Him for a healthy son who is now alert and active and acting normal. I praise Him for being with us(Romans 8:38 & 39) even a world away and for providing for us today in the shape of our dear travel friends and our guide. I am grateful for your prayers and phone calls and emails. We appreciate you all soooooo much! Our thoughts and prayers are with you as well!

If you would like to help foreign born orphans adopted by Americans, please contact your government representative and ask them to abolish the policy that these orphans cannot immigrate to the States until their vaccinations are caught up and they have a TB test. This could lead to them receiving 6 or more vaccines on one day or the family being delayed by several weeks to months in bringing the child home even after the child is legally theirs.

May our Father bless you abundantly and surround you with His love.

We're eating what?

We're on the downhill slope and are picking up speed. We had today (Sat) and will have tomorrow (Sun) off and are enjoying kicking back, shopping, walking around and hanging out. I love Guangzhou. Its a very picturesque, old world, easy going kind of place. Europeans have been in and out of here for hundreds of years so there's some familiar architecture and the locals take Westerners in stride (so no more being the uncomfortable focus of everyone's attention everywhere we go).

Bob took us on a 5 minute walk to a Chinese restaurant on the mainland tonight (we are staying on an island). The Wong's older kids love to try exotic foods. So for those of you who know me well, this might come as a shock to you....I went to a restaurant tonight that specialized in snake dishes. Yes I did. I really did. You walk by the snake tanks (hundreds of creepy, live snakes) to the dining area. Then you go pick out the snake you want to eat and they grab him and fillet him up and fry him. I would have tried eating snake, but they were unfortunately for me fried in peanut oil. I was so sad to miss this opportunity! Somehow the dish of fried snake kept ending up in front of me though. I actually picked a piece up with my chop sticks for that all important kodak moment. Thank goodness they didn't put the head on the plate because that might have put me over the edge. Anyway the food was wonderful and cheap (finally) and we had a great time. Lots of laughter!

On the plane ride down here, we were served a meal of a cold Asian bun surrounding cold sausage, an appetizer of pickled fruit and a banana. Very interesting. The appetizer was packaged like a moist towlette so I didn't realize it was food until the brown juice hit my hand. Ewww.

Wyatt has responded to his 6 vaccinations as you would expect he would. Hopefully that problem will be resolved by Wed. a.m. when we fly out. Poor boy. It was dreadful of course. The ENT doctor told us he was deaf because he sat like a frozen statue in front of her and would not respond to anything she did. My experience is that children raised in orphanges go into their shell when they feel threatened (which is exactly what he did). I am happy to assure you that he is not deaf and can hear soft voices and is picking up some English words. Silly doctor. We are starting to see that Wyatt is shy (at least for now.) He talks non-stop in the room and when we're alone, but when we're out he clams up and won't talk to anyone, including us. He has this cute, husky little boys voice. There's a certain song he likes to sing complete with hand motions. He finishes and claps for himself and says something like "yay".

Today I met a Chr-n man who is living here and had the most wonderful conversation with him. He is like a beautiful light shining in the darkness. In every step of our journey this time we have met some individuals who internally shine in everything they do. This gives me hope. I have also seen things that make me suspect possibilities that leave me sick and deeply grieved. I suppose it is no different in any region of the world these days.

I am learning a lot from various sections of the 6th and 9th chapter of Luke this week. (Luke 6:20-26, 9:48, 9:59-62.) Partly due to our journey and partly in watching the Wongs deal with their loss while continuing on the journey they've been called to. The meaning is deeper and clearer with these verses as I watch them lived out in our traveling companions who now have 7 children and are still open to whatever God has for them in the future. We feel honored to be traveling with them.

Have a blessed Sabbath!