Monkey's 7th birthday was last week. He was very excited, of course. As the time drew closer for Dad to get home from work, it got harder and harder to wait. He curled up with big brother Random and learned how to text while he was waiting! Here were a couple of our less successful attempts to get pictures with his birthday gifts. 
By the time we got the nicer one, I think the back end of every animal in the house had made it into one photo or another. Never a dull moment here!
Afterwards, we were given instructions on how to use it and care for it at home. On the way home, we listened as she talked to her aunt and cousin on the phone; hearing her say "I can hear things I've never heard before!" brought tears to my eyes. We take so much for granted!
It's very, very tiny and will completely hide beneath her hair. The other two posts that you see will be used for a prosthetic ear. 
Meeting a real horse for the very first time:
Playing croquet at my dad's 70th birthday party:
The Rainforest Cafe:
We are all really, really going to miss her. She has fit into our family like she belongs here and it is going to be hard to say good-bye on Monday. We are trying hard to remember the saying by Dr. Suess, "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."
Tianyu- THANK YOU for coming! We've had such a good time with you and hope this is just the start of a lifelong friendship!
On Monday, she turned 12 years old. We celebrated with a lunch out with friends on Sunday, lunch out with relatives on Monday, and with gifts and cupcakes Monday evening.
Nine years ago today, my daughter was one day old. I did not know her then. She was born into a place very different than the one she now lives in. There were hardships that brought her out of that place and into another, but I do know that she was always precious, always loved, and always wanted.
He is all that a puppy should be - cute, clumsy, playful, a little rocket of energy, a professional "outputter", and a whole lot of work! After a very rough first night, he is settling in well and enjoying all of the attention that living in a larger family can bring.
Shortly after that, we noticed our cat Squeakers lounging in the branches of our Christmas tree.
It was a special morning because one of the two red roses at the front of the sanctuary was for Monkey. Last week, on his way home from AWANA, he asked Jesus into his heart. Our church honors each person who makes that decision with a red rose. After this picture was taken, the prayer team which was already up front, took a moment to pray for our young son - that he will continue to grow in his faith and will serve God for the rest of his life. 
Math was followed by some phonics games where he had to match his upper and lower case letters, and practice writing the letter Aa. We are trying out a new phonics program this year. I loved the one I've used in the past, but after having taught through it three times I was very ready for something different. 
He worked hard right up until the end, but once the books were away, he started telling me that it was hot in here, and he laid down on a pillow on the floor and stayed there. Those of you who know him in real life know that laying around is NOT something this child does when he is healthy. So the poor little guy has spent the afternoon sitting in the bowl chair and generally looking and feeling miserable. His older brothers have decided that he must be sick of school already. 
Seely's youth pastor took several moments to speak quiet words of blessing and to pray for him. 
And then down he went.
Followed by a hug to a man who has meant alot to him.
Then it was Random's turn.
His youth pastor also took a few moments for a prayer and some quiet words of blessing.
And then down he went. 
And back up with a smile.
Just a few minutes later, Seely was accepted into the membership at our church. 
And after quite a bit of splashing around, decided on this one. It makes just the right amount of water noise and still has a fun "play factor" when they stick their fingers in.
This is our view from the deck.
Grandma bought him this scooter toy, where you sort of wiggle back and forth and the scooter moves forward. You should've heard him giggle when he realized he got to drive "for real".
Obviously, big brother has not yet perfected the motion.
The smile (even in a blurry picture) says it all.
He has a toy gun and tin can shooting "alley". Need I say more?
Early this afternoon, we said good-bye to Sae. She and her 28 classmates are headed back to Japan after 3 1/2 busy weeks in America. It always amazes me just how quiet a house can seem when only 7 people now live in it (even when that 8th person didn't make a lot of noise!). Please pray for safety as she travels home. 
On Wednesday morning, I was the guest speaker for the group of Japanese students. I spoke about one of my great passions - adoption. Adoption is extremly uncommon in Japan, so they are always very good listeners; and for the second time in a row, I have made a good number of these young people cry simply by sharing our stories and travel videos. It's truly a privilege to be able to talk with them, and to see their hearts so moved.
On Saturday, we headed off to the Mall of America with Sae for some shopping and sight-seeing. And even though it's expensive, we always love to eat at the RainForest Cafe (which Monkey affectionately calls "The Monkey Restaurant" because of the robotic monkeys singing and swinging in the trees).
Yesterday, the girls had their family birthday party with their cousin. The three girls have birthdays within about 2 1/2 weeks of each other, so we have a party together every year. This year, I actually missed their party, because Monkey is having some pretty major asthma trouble and needed to take a trip to urgent care.
And the biggest excitement of this past week is not neccessarily a good one. Lily took off her prosthetic ear on Saturday night, and her post area was grossly infected and draining all sorts of really not lovely "stuff". We cleaned it up (I'll spare you the details), put on her strong, prescription antibiotic ointment, and sent her off to bed. By Sunday morning, the area was not at all improved, and was so red and swollen that the skin had started to cover over her top ear post. We immediately placed a call to her surgeon, who ordered more antibiotics, and we are to see them Tuesday morning for an evaluation. If the skin that's currently over the post does not recede, she will need surgery to re-expose the top post before she will be able to wear her prosthetic again. The surgeon's best guess is a 50/50 chance of needing further surgery or not. Please pray that this will clear up without it. 
People ask us if it hurts her, but Lily really does not complain very much about it. I think after having several surgeries in the area, that most of the nerves are gone or damaged and she just really feels very little there. They have also found that children who experienced a lot of early neglect simply do not feel and process pain like the rest of us do...and she has an extremely high pain tolerance....which leads us to the next problem. We had her well-check visit this morning with our pediatrician (God bless him, he never freaks out over her ear post infections which are rare enough that most docs never even see one!), and discover that she has an ear infection in her hearing ear. She had told me there was some "popping" in that ear over the weekend, but said there was no pain/discomfort. I had told her to let me know right away if it hurt at all, and I'd get her in to a doctor, and she never said that it hurt. Whether she really didn't feel pain, or whether it just didn't "connect" in her brain, I don't really know. Anyways, her antibiotic was changed to one that will cover both skin and ear infections, and her ENT surgeon will take a look at that too tomorrow when we are there. 
