13.1 miles

WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!! Big day, my friends.

This is my bud, Rach. She rocks the house. I loved running the half marathon with her. It was truly an emotional experience; all the training, the race day, us pushing each other, her encouraging me....I joked (but it kinda wasn't a joke) that it's like a running marriage. I'm glad I'm running married to ya', Rach!

Today in particular it was just so fantastic to have a friend that is right there with you. Such a metaphor for life. When I thought I had nothing left to give, she was right there with me, pushing me to do more, knowing that we have full confidence in Christ.

This is something I could have never done in my own strength, so it truly was a worship experience.

After the race....we did it! (Picture us yelling WOOHOOO in our best Vicki voice----Real Houswives of Orange County shout out :)

My family is so amazing. My husband and three kiddos were right there to cheer me on. They had all made handmade signs and made me cry. I love them so.

Check my eldest's sign....so sweet and so humorous. The third sign over says "You need a bath!"
Seriously....she has FIVE girls people and she just did a half marathon and still looks that cute.
Our buddies that we met up with. Oh, I love them! (Missing several other buddies that we didn't have a camera to take pics with!)

The race experience is just so fantastic. People are lining the streets and cheering you on, even though they don't know you. All the racers are encouraging each other all along the way too. It's so great, people would pass by and so "You're doin great" or "I'm so proud of you." One of my favorite parts was people holding funny signs, some of which I can't write on here (they were hilarious though) and one of my favorites was a lady about my age, cute as could be standing along the side of the road ready to cheer us on (I think maybe her husband was running in the race) and her sign read "If this was easy, I would be doing it." Hehe. A poignant moment was when I ran by a lady and her back read "I'm running in memory of my husband." Another was a lady about my age and hers said "Running in memory of my mom." I ran by her and told her she was an inspiration.

I pictured that everyone there cheering was cheering for me, it was fabulous. I kept saying "Thank you, thank you" to everyone I passed. Yep, I was the one looking at people's names on their tags and yelling "Way to go (insert name)" Or, "Way to go, runners!" Or, "We can do this people!", "We conquered 8 miles so far." Yea, I'm a dork.

This was one fantastic day and I am sooooo glad it's over. I'm contemplating doing the full marathon next year......or, maybe not :)

I'm a CITIZEN of the U.S. :)

Wha? Oh, I forgot to tell you, Jee can read :) He is a genius, you know.


Our amazingly wonderful good friend and social worker, Kimberly (below). She has become quite a good friend. Through the process she was my shoulder cry person, my friend, our home study provider, the person who introduced us to our son, a friend who walked through very difficult times with us, a psychiatrist, and today a photographer!!! Woman of many talents. Our attorney (above) was awesome as well. Her own children are adopted from China through our same agency and Kimberly's babies are from Korea. It is so nice to be surrounded and supported by people who have walked through what we have been walking through.


Jee and his buddy.
It's official....what we've known in our hearts since before Jee was born....he is OURS forever, officially. He is a U.S. citizen and we are awaiting his new birth certificate. Wooohooooo...special day. Today we finalized Jee's adoption in court. We also went to get his new birth certificate. What a great day!

Easter with Mim

I'm pretty sure Mim has the cutest grandkids on the planet....

I LOVE these photos....the shear joy of running outside knowing that their are eggs to find and find fast.

These photos really and truly show my eldest's personality to a tee. Pure energetic enthusiastic joyful energy. *Yes, I know I said energy twice....have you met my big boy? I do wish I had such a zest for life.

And still with energy, but waiting in the back of the line and coming after all the other children,here comes Ree. Honestly, a beautiful picture of my sweet, compassionate, tender-hearted lovely young lady :)

Ponesy has taken TWELVE steps all on his OWN!!!!!! I haven't seen him do it quite yet but my sis promises that he really has done it (she has independent confirmation). He had a little setback after a minor surgery (which ended up not being so minor of course with the ponesy pants). But, I am sure he will be back on his feet in no time. The sweetest thing, when my sis called me to announce this big accomplishment of him actually taking steps she said that her eldest wanted to tell me but said that his eyes were too filled with tears and that he couldn't talk to his nunny. Oh, I love that kid. He was thrilled for his brother! Way to go ponesy ponesy.


Again, love this pic....fully showing the big boy's personality. He had hidden the eggs and there is one that all his cousins can't find. That look he has is actually sheer bliss knowing that his cousins are standing right on top of it and can't seem to find it.

Jee has mastered the phrase "MY!", translated means "mine...keep your hands off." Oh, the depravity of it all. Nice that this is one of his very first words.

Presenting, for your entertainment...

An Evening of Oral Interpretation and Broadway Review

Starring: The most talented children in all the world

Directed and Produced by: The most talented directors/acting coaches/choreographer in the world (hehe....I'm making myself laugh)

My big boy's favorite stage move-arms open wide (almost jazz hands esque) singing his heart out. I'm so proud of him! :)
Check out the red head far right...seriously, I'm in love with her.

The big boy performing his oral interpretation "Sister for Sale" by Shel Silverstein.
Ree's fan club...thanks friends for coming!!
Ree got to come to class and break the rules a little. She wasn't quite old enough but since mama was teacher she got to sneak in. It was the sweetest thing in all the world to see how the other, older little students took her under their wing. It was literally like she was the little star, a little mascot. They would follow her everywhere and be there to help take care of her. When she would get nervous while performing her monologue their little faces would just beam enthusiasm and encouragement to her. It was precious. It warmed my heart.

During our practices if anyone would get nervous I would have them look out over the audience (that was full of their peers, their best buds) and I would say "Ok, look out at your friends and friends in the audience I want you to raise your hand if you love _________ and they would always respond by all raising their hands and smiling at the person on stage." It was really and honestly a picture of friendship. These kids blessed my heart every single week.

Not to mention I got to teach alongside teacher extroidenare!!! (an extra bonus is that she is one of my besties).

What an extraordinary semester this was!!!! I hadn't taught or coached drama since we had moved a few years ago so when the opportunity arose to teach alongside one of my best friends, teaching homeschooled kids that I already loved (not even counting the two that belong to me)....wow!!! I knew it would be fantastic but I really had no idea it would be such a blessing. It renewed my love for coaching drama, although I had never coached this young of students. They were truly such an honor to work with. I know I learned WAYYYY more than I could have ever taught them. Every week I looked forward to it so much.

Our acting troupe is called "The Playroom Theatre Company". This semester we did something a little different than we had in the past. Instead of a full musical or play each child got to perform some type of oral interpretation; monologue, prose, poetry, or duet. Then, my buddy Rach choreographed three broadway musical numbers and each child got to be in one. The songs they performed were: "TEAM" from You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, "I'd do Anything" from Oliver!, and "Oh the Thinks You Can Think" from Seussical the Musical. My big boy's monologue was "Sister for Sale!" and he performed as JoJo in Thinks. Ree performed "Snuggle Puppy" by Sandra Boynton and was the Sour Kangaroo in Thinks.

All the children did a fantastic job and I am just overjoyed with the experience we had this semester! I love you Playroom Theatre Company!!!!

We are TRUTH. Part TWO.

Jee arriving home. This is our family below (I know, nuts). He was a part of our family for long before he was born.He has no idea what he was in for.....
A few weeks ago, this is when I was scolding him for doing something naughty. Oh good grief, what is a mom supposed to do with that face!?!?!?

It would simply take forever to write out our full story and all of the details may be too much for you to read and soak in. So, here is a shortened version.

MJ and I knew for many years (before we were married, in fact) that God was putting the call of adoption on our hearts. We both had a heart for the orphan. In 2007, MJ took a trip to Haiti where he was working with the most beautiful children who were without a forever home, no mommy and daddy to tuck them in at night. At that same time, I was home taking care of my babies during the day and not sleeping at night. I was pouring over the faces of the orphans around the world. When he returned home and said "I think now is the time, we've talked about this for years, we should follow through and answer God's calling." I knew he was right. A few weeks later we put our adoption application part 1 in the mail.

It was a long journey, friends. It was a hard journey. By far the most difficult labor I have ever experienced (yes, this includes drug-free labor, pushing, etc!). There were times when I thought we couldn't make it through. There were times where I said "I will NEVER EVER do this again." I remember one day taking benadryl after leaving the US Citizenship and Immigration office because I had cried so much that I just needed to sleep it off so I could compose myself for my other children. We experienced huge lows in the process. One of the biggest was Jee being badly injured while in Korea-15,000 miles away from me.

Now that Jee is home, he is fully and completely ours. He's a toot...yep. He slick wears me out....yep. He's got issues....yep (he's two...come on!...I've got issues and I am 34!)

So, has the process gotten easy since he's been home? NO WAY. It's hard. Parenting is a ton of work. It's plum exhausting. I cannot imagine how difficult it would be to be a single parent dealing with a child who has emotional scarring from their sweet little short lives like the story that many of us have been reading about little Artyem. It would be emotionally and physically exhausting I am sure. However, once you adopt a child, it is for life. For good. Until death do you part. It isn't even for 18 years, or until they are out of you home. It's for a lifetime. Parenting lasts forever.

The child who is adopted has been through a lot of heartbreak in his little life. He may not even know why he is feeling a certain way, or why he is behaving "badly." I try so hard (and really can't even fathom) what it would feel like to be ripped away from your country, culture, the people, the woman/family who loved and cared for you for 9 months, tugged out of the arms of the only caregiver you have ever known (orphanage nannies or foster family). How would you feel is someone came and stole you away from everything you've ever known? It would be like you had been kidnapped. It would be incredibly difficult, friends.

It fumes me what has happened to this poor little guy. It could impact international adoption globally. There are millions of orphans all over the world who need your help. Please do not let the one bad apple, or the one bad story ruin it for you.

Do something today to help orphans worldwide. If you are a believer, you are called to do something now. Do something big. Answer the call.

We are TRUTH. Adoption Blogger Day.

Below is an email from our agency:

The outrageous treatment of Artyem by his adoptive family has rightfully resulted in outrage by the Governments of Russia and the United States and all who care about children. The tragedy has cast a light on intercountry adoption that says it is not safe, the system failed and adopted children cause insurmountable problems. The heartbreak of Artyem Saviliev's abandonment has once again elevated a singular incident to a level which may result in the suspension of intercountry adoption. Suspending adoption, even temporarily, will only cause thousands of children to suffer the debilitating effects of life in an orphanage.

You, the community of adoptees, adoptive parents, adoptive grandparents, child welfare professionals and child advocates know that the outrageous and indefensible actions of one parent are not indicative of how children are treated by adoptive families. You know that families who encounter difficulties do not simply abandon their child. You know that help is available, that solutions are found and that families can thrive. And you know that suspending adoption does not protect children but only subjects them to the depravity of an institution...and an entire life without a family.

You, the adoption community know the truth. You live the truth. You are the truth.

My Bigzah Boy

Happy Birthday bigzah boy!!!! Mommy loves you and I can't believe you are a two year old!!!