shhh...i'm hunting wrabbits

i have posted before about hiding out when life gets too much. i kept thinking about blogging, but couldn't bring myself to post.

the thought of family and friends not knowing what was new with us was bothering me. i know what it is like to be a blog stalker. i have been stalking www.nogreaterjoymom.blogspot.com for months-sometimes several times a day lately. 

i told myself i wasn't hiding, just had nothing to blog about. 

overwhelmed/in the weeds? nah...shhh...i'm just hunting wrabbits. i'm hunkered down in the weeds, so those pesky wrabbits can't see me. oh say can you say DENIAL?  

i started avoiding people who look forward to my posts so that they wouldn't get a chance to ask me why no posts?

i had lots of excuses. all valid.

i'm busy. can't a girl just be busy?

yet when i looked back to see the last post, it hit me in the gut. i AM hiding and am well aware of why too.

my last post was on 8/10. then i met with an international adoption therapist on 8/13. i can't share the horror of what we learned about one of our daughters here, but it was like the world dropped out from under my feet. how could my child have survived the things the experts say she has experienced? will she ever recover? LORD DRAW HER CLOSE PLEASE. HEAL HER HURT MERCIFUL FATHER.

just two hours later we learned that B is moderately deaf and needs hearing aids. the poor audiologist expected some sort of reaction from me when she broke the news. i didn't have any. i told her that nothing could trump the news i had that morning. i can't imagine much worse. hearing aids? bring 'em on!

so off to ENT, more audiology, physical therapy, ophthalmology, occupational therapy, speech therapy and neurology we go.

it has been a whirlwind of doctors appointments. we have had 11 appointments since the 13th and have over 14 more in the next three weeks. the man at reception at our local children's hospital/medical center stopped me on the way out last week and exclaimed, "wow! you have been here alot lately." i replied, "yup at least twice a week for the next three months." i can now say we are on a first name basis. wonder how he takes his coffee?

can i use my parking garage fees as a tax deduction???

i have become so anxious and overwhelmed. i was waiting on help from God. i do that alot lately. actually, i have never depended on Him so much as i have throughout our adoption journey. if i just sit still and wait, He will send aid, right?

last night i was watching a game show on GSN called the Great American Bible Challenge. teams test their Bible knowledge to win money for charity. anyway this well known verse came up and i let out a huge sigh...

Philippians 4:6-7

New International Version (NIV)

⁶ Do not be anxious about anything,^(A) but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.^{(B) 7} And the peace of God,^(C) which transcends all understanding,^(D) will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

i brought my worries to Him. i had already been anyway, but this time i did so without anxiety. i asked, with peace in my heart, for Him to look after my worries for me. amazing how He answers when we ask in the right way.

today He granted my prayer.

we met with developmental behavior again. upon arrival, i corrected S's paperwork to say she speaks Mandarin, not English, thinking great-no translator today-ugh...just as a translator showed up for us! woohoo.

hey wait a minute, she looks familiar. she mentioned her church and i almost asked her if it was the chinese church nearby, but the doctor came out to get us. just then, the translator saw A's bag from the festival last year and said, "hey, that is my church." my mouth dropped open, "is your last name Fong?" i asked. it was!

we had met at last year's Dragon Boat Festival. we spoke about getting Chinese Bibles and her daughter emailed me several resources. we even looked for her this year at the festival so she could meet the children we had talked about adopting, but unfortunately she wouldn't be there until the afternoon and i was paddling in the afternoon races.

sidebar...what you paddled? yup! i did...heehee. we lost, but it was fun. that's me waving.

back to my regularly scheduled rant...

we had a new doctor this time. it was tricky to talk about the issues we recently learned about in front of all four kids, so we spoke in code. the doctor totally followed me. she was fabulous. she agreed that traditional school is not appropriate for S at this time. big sigh of relief. finally a professional that agrees with me. she said she doesn't often suggest homeschool, but in our special case, we need to be sensitive to this hurt child. trust me...i'd rather her go to school. i don't have what it takes to teach this level of learning disability and teach three other children, but God is working on that for me. He'll figure it all out.

we will wait until all evaluation is completed before making a decision. hopefully we can find an appropriate alternative school that can nurture her as well as teach her. perhaps in a year or two she will have learned so much that i can bring her back home to teach. for now, i will do my best and trust that God will send help when needed. 

mrs. fong walked out with us and asked to be our translator always. woohoo. i could not say yes fast enough. we are even going out to dinner together next tuesday. here is the God part. S's referral for this appointment did not list us as needing a translator, but they ordered one anyway. then, mrs. fong was not even scheduled today, but her friend was. the friend ended up not having a car, so mrs. fong took her case instead. we did not really use translation services today, so she mostly sat and kept the children busy with origami and drawing paper. 

she wasn't there to be our translator. she was there to minister to us- to show us that God is working on it. be patient child!

this is not the classic case of its a small world. it is a miracle. a God sighting. He gifted me another support in my team. i have renewed hope that i have not felt in over three weeks. 

how can anyone go through this process without God? i ask it all the time, because i am consistently shown that He is here. He is at work. He loves us and is caring for us. i am honored that He is. i don't deserve it. i must be soooo annoying with all my belly aching and worry.

when we don't understand the why, the first thing we ought to do is acknowledge God. His plan is bigger than us. last night my parents Skyped me from Ireland, where they are on vacation. my dad told me they are coming home a week early. he broke his leg falling down some stairs. my first reaction was why did that happen halfway through my mom's dream vacation? hmmm...God has something planned. i just know it.

where in your life are you asking "why?" keep your eyes open for He is at work. i'd love to hear some stories of where God has shown up in your life lately. please feel free to post in my comments.

May He guard and guide and bless your holiday weekend!

fun with food

i know some people bake when they are stressed...shout out to you, aunt joanie!

some people eat. some people sleep. others shop.

i get imaginative with the children's snacks. seriously. two weeks ago i made lunch, but served worms and dirt pudding first. then we ate lunch.   

perhaps it is a peace offering for when i am feeling emotionally absent. like a consolation prize on a sorry gameshow. 

"yes, i have had just about enough of you today, but here's a lovely snack. thank you for playing."

i know it is not nutritious, but remember? it is a bribe so that they don't care about the rainy-day-funky-mood i am in.

what is that i hear???  right now i hear three happy kids chatting over rainy day snacks and chocolate rice milk. oh goody...my plot worked ((evil movie type snicker))!

oh and also a shout out to you my friend, J, who bakes...you know who you are...i can't bake, but i make a mean beignet.

a few weeks ago when i was in my serious funk, i snuck out of the house at 6 AM one saturday morning to pull garlic at the farm with my friends. i got home just as the kids were waking up. my mother had given us a box of beignet mix as a souvenir from her New Orleans trip. for those of you not familiar, there is a famous restaurant called Cafe du Monde, who serves these little square donuts doused with powered sugar. visiting there has always been on my bucket list. so thoughtful mom brought them to me.

all you do is add water to the mix and fry. trust me fellow foodies. total yum factor. i trashed my kitchen, but it was soooo worth it.

 

to score your own beignet mix... http://www.cafedumonde.com/beignets

God bless your day!

got veggies??

our family is blessed to belong to a local CSA. us girls harvest veggies every wednesday.

YUM...

poor little A was standing on a wall picking concord grapes when bees in a hive hanging from a tree attacked her. we quickly cut one of the harvested onions in half and applied them to her head and hand. took the sting right out. she was a brave trooper. 

i am starting to think farming is hazardous to her health. since we joined three summers ago, she has been stung by nettles, cut with razorgrass, scraped and bruised her legs climbing on rocks, and now bitten by yellowjackets. 

wait a minute! all those things happened while playing. let me rephrase that...playing at the farm is hazardous to her health. perhaps she should think about doing even more work...snicker snicker.  

when the world shifts

it is funny how things can either stop one or move one.

for months after we brought our adopted children home we were stuck. we were stuck not being able to get social security numbers. we were stuck not having insurance because we had no ss#s. we were stuck not getting our children help with language and speech therapies because we did not enroll them in public school. we couldn't enroll them even if we had wanted to due to not having up-to-date vaccines and unable to get them without insurance.  

i truly felt like a failure as a parent. i had awful feelings of inadequacy. i could not provide for my children. the ugly little voice in my head told me they would be better off if we had not adopted them at all.

i know that is silly and untrue, but the voice started sounding more convincing with each obstacle we encountered. it didn't help having people telling me that we were not doing right by our children.  

it wasn't that we jumped into adoption thinking it would be a piece of cake. during the process, we had made calls to the insurance companies to check on eligibility. we were assured they would be covered the moment they touched down in chicago international airport and became US citizens. we touched base with our pediatrician and were told that they could get therapeutic services outside of the public school system. we watched several friends adopt and not have these issues.

BUT, we did! every step we took, we were being thwarted. i spent three months fighting with the insurance company and public school system. in june we were granted insurance, but nothing else.

then i decided to put it in God's Hands. He knows what He is doing. He placed these children with us. He doesn't make mistakes. patience and trust is what i now was depending on. i could do nothing by myself.

so we waited. and waited. and waited. by our four month anniversary of the children coming home, nothing had been done. we still had no services. plus i was dealing with an awful personal situation in my life. i was drowning. i told my husband that if i knew that a friend of mine was going through this, i would be worried. very worried.

it wasn't that i didn't reach out for help. i did. i felt like i was becoming a whiner. no one could or would help us. i was losing myself. i imagined i was like the photo in the movie Back to the Future, when the main character's siblings were disappearing from the picture. i was slowly disappearing in my own life. everything was getting fuzzy. truth is...i wanted to disappear.

then i had my life shift. after i cleared up the ugliness that i was battling with my friend and was gifted the ability to extend forgiveness and grace, my whole being shifted. i felt at peace. i felt loved by God. i felt that everything was going to be OK.

not that i knew how it was going to be OK, mind you. it was going to be a mystery and i am cool with mysteries.

for years my mother had been telling me that when something is stuck, often something else has to shift to make room for change and growth. things will open up if we deal with the one thing we don't want to have to deal with. i didn't want to have to deal with the haters and negative people. i didn't want to deal with the unpleasant business of making amends.

when i sought spiritual guidance, i was instructed to do as the Bible tells us to. easier said than done in my opinion. but i did. i followed the guidelines and it worked. how people make it through life without an instruction book (the Bible), i don't know. i would be so lost without the Word.

the same week i cleared my life up, i met with my adoption support group. one mom who has been instrumental in my adoption journey (thanks B), advised me to seek out the local Children's Hospital for help. others had also encouraged me to do so, but they had really involved kids who needed immediate medical intervention and they had private insurance. when it came from quiet B, i knew that i had to honor her by taking her advice.

so as afraid as i was, i called. the following day a nice lady returned my call and signed us up for a program to help people in our situation. less than a week later we had a developmental behavior pediatric appointment. the doctor was amazing. she told me that she could tell i was downplaying how hard this has been. she said that i was a really good mom and doing a great job. you know what? i had to be a great mom. i had to be twice the mom i needed to be to deal with doing everything on my own. my husband has been pulling 70+ hour workweeks for most of the summer. i am single parenting in addition to trying to advocate for my children. i have had no choice. it was deal or disappear. thank you God for being with me. it was touch and go there for a bit.

along with my new case worker, the doctor set up an entire list of services we would be getting.

ready for this??

basha:
neurology
physical therapy-scheduled
occupational therapy-scheduled
speech consult
feeding team consult
audiology-scheduled
ophthalmology-scheduled
gastroenterology
dermatology
orthopedics
counseling-scheduled

shianna:
developmental assessment
neurosurgery
opthamology-scheduled
gastroenterology
counseling-scheduled
physical therapy-scheduled
psychology
neurology
and a couple others too

whoa! talk about doors opening. now we are buried under paperwork, tests, and medical appointments. but there is no complaint from me. we will just live the next few months around doctor visits.

we currently have 10 appointments in august and counting. i am thankful that help has arrived. i Praise God for His perfect timing.

i wonder how the children would have adjusted to life as Americans if we had done all this testing and evaluations when they first got home. maybe this was a gift. being able to settle in as a family and establish trust before all the poking and prodding began.

and trust me. they didn't start to really trust us until recently. try getting older children, who don't have a grasp on the language, to allow you to take a stool specimen. that was great fun this week. i will spare you the details, but know that trust helped us accomplish that feat.

and this morning...basha let me finish pulling out her dangling tooth. she has very little response to pain, so she tends to yank teeth that are no where near ready for pulling. she pulled two of her teeth out just weeks after being home. neither was ready to come out. talk about a bloodbath. yikes. so today when it was too painful to complete the pull, E brought her to me. she looked skeptical that i could do it without hurting her. but i am super mom. i put oragel on the gum and then gently pulled the offending tooth. she looked amazed that i did it. she is so used to doing everything for herself that she had little need for a mama. well folks, she has one now. one that will love her, fight for her, provide for her(or die trying), comfort her, care for her, and instruct her.

i knew that going through the fire, handling adversity with grace and dignity(and just a bit of whining), would teach me things i would pass onto my children someday. 

what i learned (or relearned) these last two weeks is this:

trust God over everything else
look to the Bible for help in time of need
clean up messes even if you didn't make the mess to begin with 
the bigger the breakdown-the bigger the breakthrough
when you are stuck, move something else to allow room for shifting
never give up
reach out to friends and loved one-prayer covers all things
love others as God has loved us
forgive

new life

i have been gifted a HUGE blessing from God tonight. thank you to those of you who prayed for me. God has shown me what grace is and what it feels like to genuinely extend it to someone else. i also learned how to love and forgive in a way that i had no idea existed. the situation with the hurt i had been feeling is over. for me it is resolved. please join me in praying for the other person-that they would feel peace and love as i do.

i have gone through a fire and come out on the other side with peace and wisdom. i have learned so many things about myself. i tend to have a low self esteem, but tonight i am proud of myself and the woman that the Lord is shaping me to be...like a bonsai tree. He is pruning and trimming my soul to make it healthy and able to bear good spiritual fruit. i feel lovely. i can't say that i have experienced that feeling many times if ever.

i am a NEW creation.

i am excited about sharing my wisdom with my children someday. i have new skills to teach them. 

i am also excited for when God calls me home. before, i always worried when i thought of death. i would pray that God wasn't through with me yet. i was not done. i was too dirty and soiled to stand before Him. 

news flash!!!! i will always be in beggars clothes before Him, but now i understand and accept His vast love. His forgiveness. His Grace. His promise. 

i eagerly await the day i get to be near my Heavenly Father. i am ready.

for the sake of my children i hope He has plans for me still. i hope He has work yet for me to do for joyous i will sing His praises and answer His call all the remaining days of my life. while i wait, i will continue working towards being a better person, full of compassion, mercy, and love for all my fellow man. i will continue to grow in my faith and be a blessing to this world.  

meanwhile tonight, while He raised me up to be NEW and restored peace to my life...in His faultless plans, he has called a young sister in Christ home. my soul weeps over the loss of nicole.

LORD COMPASSIONATE FATHER, WE COME BEFORE YOU WITH MIXED EMOTIONS. ON ONE HAND, WE REJOICE IN YOUR PROMISE OF EVERLASTING LIFE KNOWING SHE IS WITH YOU...ON THE OTHER WE MOURN THE PASSING FROM THIS LIFE OF YOUNG NICOLE. JEHOVAH SHALOM, PLEASE BLESS HER FAMILY AND LOVED ONES WITH YOUR COMFORT. REVEAL TO ALL WHO LOVED HER THE PLAN YOU HAVE FOR HER EARTHLY LIFE. HELP US TO SEE YOU IN TIMES OF SORROW. FOR HOLY HOLY HOLY ARE YOU LORD. AMEN.

hurting

last week we were away visiting my sister. it was a much needed respite from my life.

we went per request of my hubby. he had a gnarly week planned and asked if we could get away while he was going to be in the weeds. so he was able to work a 73 hour workweek without us being in the house messing up what little sleep he was able to get.

added bonus.. it was a great chance to spend time with my mother and sister's lovely family. it was a perfect opportunity to have the new cousins meet each other. after all, it had been three years since our last visit-too long. it was fun. it was blessed. we will even do it again next summer-God willing. 

BUT, it was also a good time to escape. you see, i have been hiding.

there is someone in my life that violated my trust and said some pretty awful things about my parenting and my adopted children. i know they said it as a defense mechanism, but it put me into a protective state. i spent days crying. sought pastoral counseling. had nightmares. i second guessed God's decision of allowing us two more children to raise. it generally put me into a big ole funky depression.

i stopped writing about adoption and instead focused my blog into more of a scrapbook style. that way this person could not use anything i wrote to their advantage. also they couldn't gain access into my personal life. i was living in fear of what they would do to me and my children. they already had tried messing with my support system.

i considered changing churches. i considered making my blog private. then i thought if i made myself invisible, maybe they would go away and leave me in peace.

today when i took a look at what was really making me depressed...it was the hiding. being evasive with those i was closest to so that they wouldn't mistakenly share information with this person.

i avoided my blog. i forced myself to add blog entries for my stalkers...i mean fans...i mean bloggy friends(i love you all-you know).  the entries were fluffy. there wasn't anything wrong with them. they even probably were a blessing to those whom enjoy reading about our family and how we are getting along.

my blog is my way of getting my thoughts and feelings out of my head and into a place where i can gain new perspective. it is my therapy. why would i let a personal conflict change that? 

yes, fear was a factor, but also, i didn't want others knowing what was going on. i didn't want to hurt the person who was wronging me. i didn't want to use my blog as a weapon. but i did. it was a weapon that hurt me. stuffing my life has damaged me. it distanced me from those who love and support us.

so much has happened in the past month. happy stuff....hurtful stuff...adoption stuff.

so in an effort to reclaim my life, self-esteem, and writing therapy...i will write again. it may not always be funny. but it will be real. it will be mine. hopefully it will help someone else reading it. maybe it will speak to someone who is on the fence about adoption. maybe it will raise up another person who is having a tough day. perhaps it will break another's heart and cause them to champion the plight of the orphan. at the very least, maybe it will move people to lift us up in prayer. 

i prayed just before God told us we were adopting. i said, "LORD, USE ME TO BE YOUR HEART, HANDS, AND MOUTH." He did. just a few short weeks later we started our adoption journey.

so i say now...

LORD, USE MY BLOG, MY COMMUNICATIONS, AND MY EVERYDAY INTERACTIONS TO DO YOUR WORK. USE ME TO SHOW COMPASSION, GRACE, AND JOY TO THOSE WHO NEED IT THE MOST. HELP ME TO GET OVER MYSELF AND BE BOLD IN ALL THINGS FOR YOU.

so now i share...

on our trip to my sister's home many things came out. i knew that by adopting older children, we would hear stories of hard lives coming from their own lips. their lives had to have been hard. no matter how clean and beautiful any one orphanage may be, human life-orphans' lives are not valued in China.

one night i was playing with B and i tapped her rear end with a plastic hanger. just a tiny love tap. she swung around to face me with a challenging look in her eyes. she ripped the hanger from my hand and said, "in China, they went like this and this to me. all over me. i no love hangers." as she proceeded to whip and strike the air Mommy Dearest style and then pointed to her arms, legs, and back. my heart stopped. if she hadn't been able to see me, i would have fallen to me knees. DEAR GOD?! i calmly asked her, "so they hit you with hangers?" and she nodded miming the act once again. i told her that i would never ever hurt her. she is precious to me and i love her and i will not let that happen to her again.

someone beat my sweet girl. the joyful light of my life. they beat her. i did something in play that brought up these ugly memories. my heart broke. again, i knew that there had to have been awful experiences. i had prepared myself for the grafting of "hurt" children into our family. but hearing it and seeing her whipping the air. i will NEVER get that image out of my mind. what if we hadn't said yes to adopting her? would she still get beaten? what would have become of her when she aged out? would she be a beggar? a prostitute? sold for body parts or slavery?

there are some that hold the opinion that adopted children's lives and stories are for them alone. they own them and it is not our right to share them with others. i have tried to be respectful. but really? if your heart isn't broken for the orphan hearing real life stories...if you think adoption is for others and not for you. take another look. can you do without big vacations every year? can you do without grandiose ideas of what your empty nest/retirement will look like? can you imagine loving a child whom you did not birth? can you get over the race to store up earthly treasures?

i am not saying adoption is for everyone. it isn't. but helping orphans is our call. every one's call. give to charities like smile train, or donate to personal adoptions. there is a family racing to bring two teenage girls home and a chip-in fundraiser going on. go give something. http://www.nogreaterjoymom.com/
there is a family working to help raise awareness in India http://humbled-aerni.blogspot.com/
there is a family that just found out that their teenage daughter has brain damage sustained as an infant in China... http://whenlovebringsyoutome.blogspot.com/

what are you doing? is it enough? i say these things with love and not condemnation. my eyes were blind up until a couple of years ago. i don't condemn anyone. i love the orphan. i will advocate for the cause as long as i draw breath.

because miracles happen when we do.


even though my child is starting to share stories of her former life, she also has the capability to love.

other people have been used as instruments of grace. Tim danced with B in China and then passed her off to me. she danced about a measure and then let go, but it was the first time she touched me willingly. you can read about it here...full disclosure. it was only day two of having the children and i was having a tantrum about being in China that day... http://www.provided4.blogspot.com/2012/03/meltdowns-and-progress.html

then B hugged my mother goodbye one night and i teased her that she had never given me a hug...she then gave me my first one. http://www.provided4.blogspot.com/2012/04/state-of-my-heart.html i get goodnight hugs every night now. still no kisses...maybe someday.

well, now God has used my sister and her children for our next breakthrough. the night before leaving NE we told the children that we would be returning home the following day. B cried. what crying? over leaving? does this mean she attached? it is every parent's fear that their child will have attachment disorder. not being able to attach to caregivers causes many issues. scary stuff...here is a wikipedia link... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_disorder#Diagnosis

being able to attach to caregivers is the one thing we all hope our older or hurt children can do. it means that they have a fighting chance of having meaningful relationships and/or marriages. it means that they might be able to be good parents someday. without the ability to attach these things are in question.

so, back to my story...the next day B sobbed leaving my sister's house. she calmed down after a trip to good old McDonalds. shameful tactic, but we had to eat and it did make her stop sniveling. E too for that matter. that night we were unable to get one hotel room, so we divied up the kiddos. mom took E and A and i took the other two. B approached me and asked for a hug. i complied, to which she promptly broke down sobbing. she hung on to me for dear life. i sat on the bed rocking her back and forth while she wept. she said, "i love aunt lori. i love amara, zach, luke, mary...." oh precious Father...she has attached. after she dried her tears, she snuggled with me and watched some television. the dam has broken. now i can't get her off of me. it used to be S who was always all over me. now it is sweet B. A has to compete with two sisters for mom's lap now. i rejoice in it though.

before our trip, i was not allowed to comfort B. if she was sad or hurt she would turn away from me. she hid her tears. they were shameful to her. if i tried to hug her, she would present her back to me and would not hold onto me. know what? she even has been asking for zubbers on her tummy and neck before bed. kisses are getting closer. i wonder whom God will use to open her up to kisses from mommy?

so the graft is taking with that one.

now for the other. S is wayyy more involved than i thought she was initially. her English is not really coming in. she uses phrases, but only as exclamations. she can say some prayers, but i don't think she knows what she is saying. her learning disability is severe. she is almost 14 and cannot do simple math without counting on her fingers. she has watched an ABC video a half dozen times and still cannot recall the sounds they make. i wouldn't have noticed the slow progress if it wasn't for B. she knows her phonics after watching the DVD a few times. she speaks in sentences. she describes things and communicates memories clearly. S cannot seem to learn anything without great difficulty. she kept to herself mostly while at my sister's. she spent hours sorting legos into bins of like colors or shapes. yes, she hugged and kissed her cousins, but that goes with attachment disorder too. affection for anyone. she seemed to like their dog the best. she didn't shed one tear when leaving. just went along with us without any emotion. she is a mystery to me still. i cannot figure her out. looks like some level of Autism. i am seriously struggling with how to school her. where to get her evaluated. how to get a diagnosis. and on and on.

the beauty of it all is that i know God has it all figured out. when i struggle with one child, another gains headway. when my bio kids are having a tough time, God sends in family and friends to lift them up. all is well.

in regards to my personal trials...God is teaching me how to deal with adversity in a manner befitting a Disciple. He is showing me a way that isn't in our nature. i will take what i have learned about myself and others and share my wisdom with my growing family. He gives all Good Gifts for a reason and when we have trouble seeing the Good, we need to keep our chins up, because looking up is looking towards the One who can do all things.

meeting of the cousins

between my sister and i there are 15 children. my mother has not been with all of her grandchildren together in over 6 years. it has been fun to have everyone (except for the husbands) under one roof finally.

meeting my newest niece for the first time

the first day we just visited and let everyone get acclimated to the chaos. by the time we ate dinner and found places for everyone to sleep it was well after 11 PM.

the next day we visited the Omaha Zoo, where my oldest nephew works. a perk of the job is free admission for family members. it was over 100 degrees, but we managed to stay indoors for most of the time. we heard that a giraffe has escaped its enclosure earlier in the day, but had been corralled by the time we got there. that i would have paid to see! we did get to see a baby giraffe and sea lion that had been born recently...too cute.

my sister and i with our children-ages ranging from 5 weeks to 17 years old. well, the kids that is. i am not telling our ages without a signed gag order.

being silly in the desert dome

cooling off at a fountain

touch tank exploring

looking at a whole lotta crab

cuttle fish

A cooling off standing over the air conditioning vent. everyone took a turn puffing up their shorts and dresses.

even though it was a melt your shoes kind of day. we had fun. making memories with family is second only to worshipping the Lord with those you love.