details about our kids

We just received an email with more information about our kids! There's much more we'd like to know, but at least it's a start. Here's what they sent us...

Joshua is a size 3-4. He is quiet natured but usually happy.

Patience is a size 2-3, though she might only be in 3's by the time she gets to the States. She is also quiet natured. She seems contemplative a lot of the time. She is very sweet natured. SHE IS POTTY TRAINED [emphasis added by a very happy mommy], but needs to wear a diaper during naps and at night.

Garty is a size 3-6 months, but he will probably be a size 9-12 months by the time he gets to the States. He is growing very fast [i.e. getting a big fat belly that mommy can't wait to tickle]. He is a very good natured baby. He loves sleeping with his blankie, playing with his toys, and being sung to. He drinks Guigos formula (a product of Nestle). He does not like Similac. (He won't drink it.) He now takes his formula with rice cereal mixed inside. This helps him stay full longer.

let's try this again

Hopefully you've already used the links on this page to see our kids. However, after talking with our friend Tom this morning, I (Becky) am once again frustrated that I wasn't able to post our new pictures. I'm going to try again to see if Thursday is my lucky day...

surprise phone call

We got a call from our adoption agency Sunday at 8:30pm. When Becky heard Donna's voice on a Sunday evening, she was petrified that one of the kids was seriously sick. Donna actually had new pictures of the kids and wanted to email them to us right away! We hardly recognized the older 2 kids. It's weird how you build your entire relationship with your kid around the 1 or 2 pictures you have, and then you can't imagine them looking any other way. We're happy that Patience is smiling, but are otherwise not thrilled with her new picture. It's a strange angle that makes her look completely different than the last picture. We love the other 2 pictures though. Garty is starting to look like a little person with a personality! They all look happy! Unfortunately, after trying unsuccessfully to upload the pictures for several hours yesterday, I've now been trying again for 2 hours today. Something is wrong, but I'm not tech savvy enough to fix it. I'll try to add the photos as a link on the right side of the page. Stay tuned!

kid projects

You haven't heard from us much this week because we've been working like maniacs at all hours getting ready for the kids to come home. We're not sure if it's enthusiasm or fear that is spurring us along, but we've been very productive! After running into major delays last Saturday replacing the nursery windows, Peter has been flying along insulating behind trim, running wires for lighting and outlets, and repairing walls so they're ready to paint. Becky is organizing and cleaning out throughout the house. We love our house, but it's been such a construction zone for so long that we no longer notice how unfinished it is. It definitely won't be finished when the kids come home, but we need to make it livable. We're thinking that little things like the electrical outlets hanging out of the walls should probably be taken care of...

Discovery Times Channel

Is there anyone reading this that gets the Discovery Times Channel and would be willing to do us a favor? There is a movie called Liberia: An Uncivil War that we have been wanting to see. It's available for purchase for $30, but it's airing on the Discovery Times Channel several times over the next week. Unfortunately, it's not one of the 6 channels we get. If you would be willing to record the show for us, please let us know so we can send you the showtimes. Thanks!!

get your own cute little African

If you have time and are interested in learning more about the African orphan crisis, check out this short article: http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,645194628,00.html.

update on the kiddos

We just heard that our adoption will be processed in the next group that they're beginning by the end of September, which means that by mid-October Joshua, Patience, and Garty will legally be our kids. Then it will be about 6 weeks until their Liberian passports are issued. As a result, we could be going to pick them up by the end of November or early December!! We knew that this time frame was possible, but now that it's becoming more definite we're getting pretty nervous. We've been waiting so long. Now that it's here, we're not ready. We purposely saved our kid projects for this time frame because we didn't want to be sitting around counting the days. I'm fairly sure that's not going to be a problem! It's going to be an interesting fall at our house.

we're back

It's been about a week since we arrived home from vacation, and we've been very busy getting back to "real" life ever since. It's a shame we can't all go on holiday at once like the French so that no one would miss anything while they're away.

We had a WONDERFUL and relaxing vacation. Arlan and Marcy (the friends we stayed with) called it our "babymoon"... the last chance to get away before our reality changes forever. They took care of us and fed us good food and chauffered us around. It was a tremendous blessing.

Now we're 100% in kid preparation mode. At home this means getting a ton done on the house. Last Saturday Becky repaired our rotting fence (and contracted poison ivy in the process) while Peter worked on cleaning out the garage for the first time since we moved. Now Peter is running wires and installing lighting in the kids' room. Saturday Becky's grandfather will help install windows in their room (so those cute little warm blooded Africans won't freeze to death this winter in the coldest room of the house). The following week and weekend will be dedicated to painting their room with the fun paint from the oops rack at Lowe's and moving all their furniture in. If we accomplish all this in Sept, we'll move on to figuring out how to have hot water all winter (a novel concept) and finishing up the kitchen. We've had the supplies for all these projects for a long time, but we haven't had time to do them. We're so thankful that Peter has had the chance to develop so many useful skills over the past few years. We can't imagine what it would cost to have these jobs done.

The to do list involves plenty of other non-house items as well, so we're going to have a very busy fall. It's the good kind of busy though. The kind with a purpose... and we are really in love with the purpose.