tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33523322493043024782012-01-20T07:49:39.896-06:00Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy, Nehemiah and Karringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433726965640030742noreply@blogger.comBlogger1621100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352332249304302478.post-53502293148644808832012-01-15T14:49:00.007-06:002012-01-20T07:49:39.910-06:00

"Natasha, is that a vintage key necklace you are wearing?" "WHY YES IT IS, thank you for asking!" Welcome to the Keys and Bones fundraiser!All proceeds will help send my mom and I to Vietnam with www.glocalventures.org in March. The goal is to raise $200 towards our trip. I am not a professional photographer, I just did my best taking these pictures, hopefully when you receive your necklace in

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We have been a forever family for three years! He is such a treasure."Arise [from your bed], cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches; pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift up your hands toward Him for the lives of your young children, who faint from hunger at the head of every street." Lamentations 2:19The Perryman

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Adam and I headed to New Mexico and Colorado for our 10th wedding anniversary. Our parents took care of the 3 kiddo's and let us run away together. Five nights of quiet, 6 days of driving all over the place soaking in scenes like this...I have a friend who wants to move to CO. Found her the most perfect piece of land.Went to a natural waterfall out in the middle of nowhere. And wouldn't you know

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This summer was a season of ART!One of my faithful clients wanted a quilt slipcover for her 5 x 5 foot ottoman. She purchased all the fabrics and I set to work cutting, ironing, pinning and sewing. It took about 25 hours of work. Which really is not that much and it was really fun! (Reminded me to get on the ball making quilts for my kiddos.)She also had me antique an old vase for her to match

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Adoption Day- September 7, 2006Five years later...Avi Joy said that she wanted to end our photo session with one last picture by the rabbits. : )How GREAT is this precious gift from above.The P's.

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My girls making backyard grass boats.This picture perfectly describes little joyjoy. So quite, yet completely expressive!Express yo'self.Avi Joy started piano school at Janelle Whitby's School of music. She is in a class of eight children. They sing, play music games, color music sheets and play the piano. Here she is learning the sounds of "papa bear, mama bear and baby bear" on the piano.It is

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Fourth of July. Looking at this picture just brings a smile to my face. I counted and 12 of these kids joined their families through adoption. So fun to have such a colorful party! Thank you lil' Roo for hosting.We had Rabbit Fest in our backyard this summer. Here Sarah is holding a new little baby rabbit that Heather pulled out of its den.Swim lessons for all 3 kiddos at ORU.All our peanuts are

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Our finalization court date was July 15, 2011. Pictured below is our family along with our social worker, Rachel Lee and the honorable Judge Fransein. Judge Fransein made our time in court extra special by sharing her OWN adoption story! Legally Karrington Perryman. Video (25 minutes) of our adoption finalization in court! full from adam perryman on Vimeo.First day of school 2010 First day of

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Perryman Adoption from The Church at BattleCreek on Vimeo.

Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy, Nehemiah and Karringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433726965640030742noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352332249304302478.post-7141741932437352182011-07-24T20:44:00.009-05:002011-08-01T22:11:40.712-05:00

May 2010- The baby we met at the OKC Zoo.June 2010- First visit at our home.July 2010- Moving from foster home into her new home.August 2010- Starting school (Part time at a local school, part time homeschool).September 2010-Working on becoming a family.October 2010- Pocahontas for Halloween.November 2010- Our first Thanksgiving in MO.December 2010- Our first Christmas together.January 2011-

Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy, Nehemiah and Karringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433726965640030742noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352332249304302478.post-62924582061675707402011-05-28T14:07:00.012-05:002011-06-13T13:29:20.484-05:00

Let's get this blogpost started right! (Let's get this blogpost started quickly, right?! Maybe one of you got that : )SOOO to start this off right, I must honor boys and vitamins and nipples. Apparently, the perfect trifecta. This was what I saw at 7am while fixing breakfast! My word. He. Is. Funny.For the kids birthday this year we asked for outside bikes and a scooter!All 3 kiddos with their

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Within the last 3 weeks we have had 4 birthdays, this includes my dad.Miss Avi Joy turned 5 years old!Nehemiah turned 3.And Miss Beautiful turned 13! YES I know, a real picture. It has been a year with no pics or names. But I allowed myself to break this rule for her birthday : )This was her exactly one year ago this week, the day we met. Boy has the Lord changed her both inside and out. On track

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We have been residing at our hotel now for over 6 weeks. I will admit I am getting weary, but we are trying to keep our spirits bright. We all love our hot showers, free breakfasts and not washing towels, but my favorite thing by far is our beautiful third floor sunsets!This is how you have a good time after living in a 10 x 10 living room. I truly love the moments when I am in the middle of

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PART ONEA week ago today I woke up and headed to the kitchen to fix breakfast. I immediately noticed a huge brown stain on the ceiling about 3 x 3 feet that was dripping. Then I looked over at the kitchen table and see that it is covered with water and is also leaking from the ceiling. Since it was it was dripping only in those two rooms and it happened to be above the two bathrooms, we were

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Sum Hop Day fun at Incredible Pizza.Barbie and our new carpet go well together- they can stand on their own.Soup and Sandwiches with the Butter crew. I was able to -temporarily- fix my baby fever by loving on 6 week old baby Caroline.Miss Beautiful playing teacher to all her students. (Keep in mind that Andrew and Samuel are wearing short sleeves- it is the weekend before the snowstorm!)Lunar New

Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy, Nehemiah and Karringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433726965640030742noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352332249304302478.post-77670996125919810002011-01-06T07:35:00.008-06:002011-01-06T08:25:52.140-06:00

Two years ago today, January 6, 2009, we were in the beautiful country of Vietnam adopting our baby boy. The phrase Sum Hop in Vietnamese means, "To unite, to come together".Our Sum Hop 2011 pictures in traditional Ao Doi.I do not think I have shared a recap of his adoption story, so here it goes...Avi Joy was an infant and we had been home for only 6 months when we started the process for our

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Avi Joy and Nehemiah recently started wearing each other clothes for dress up time. I never expected to see them come downstairs one morning both dressed in Avi Joy's princess panties. I laughed so hard it started the ball rolling. They went to Nehemiah's room to get his undies. What is funny to me here, well besides the obvious, is that N's are on backwards. (Oh and I love that they are holding

Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy, Nehemiah and Karringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433726965640030742noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352332249304302478.post-22045769821878497972010-12-10T20:37:00.006-06:002010-12-15T21:56:52.937-06:00

"What's in a name? That which we call a roseby any other name would smell as sweet." Juliet Capulet "God has highly exalted Jesus and has freely bestowed on Him the Name that is above every Name." Philippians 2:9Name, Names, Naming- has been on my mind.For several months we have been praying together about changing Miss Beautiful's name after she is adopted. We realize this is a very

Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy, Nehemiah and Karringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433726965640030742noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352332249304302478.post-84713578457875553402010-12-04T14:39:00.012-06:002010-12-05T20:34:12.816-06:00

Let's begin with amazing news!In October, our church holds a fall retreat for the teens. This year the theme was Hide and Seek. Teaching the kids about people groups throughout the world that have to "hide" their faith (such as hosting underground churches or being undercover missionaries) and "seek" the Lord during persecution, for protection and for boldness.I really did want her to attend, but

Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy, Nehemiah and Karringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433726965640030742noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352332249304302478.post-37928132617801308972010-11-05T15:27:00.004-05:002010-11-05T18:59:54.750-05:00

I have a mom friend (of 7) who pulls a creative "Rewind" technique with her kiddos. Such as, they come down down for breakfast with a sour attitude, "Uh, Rewind," she will say. They will have to go back upstairs and come back down for breakfast with a changed attitude.I LOATHE just surviving. I like to enjoy my days and children!But this week, I was having noneya of it. I needed a total Rewind

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Well, I feel somewhat settled enough to actually catch up on our blog this afternoon, but I still have a twinge of guilt that I am not cleaning house or unpacking boxes. I know the latter is never ending, so I decided to stop and share a post today. Thank you to you all who have called, stopped by, babysat and prayed for us during this time of great transition. And I know two friends have asked

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All NEW PICS (May, June, July, August and Sum Hop)We have been counting down the days till we move and are now in the home stretch... 4 nights left. This week I have said things like: this is my last Friday or my last time to drive home from Vietnamese lessons from this direction. Basically, sappy stuff. I am not super sentimental, but have definitely been reminiscing about the last 9 years and

Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy, Nehemiah and Karringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433726965640030742noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352332249304302478.post-62661880916442814372010-09-07T10:08:00.006-05:002010-09-07T20:02:31.628-05:00

Four years ago today, September 7, 2006, we were standing in court in Ninh Thuan, Vietnam, becoming a forever family.We are filled with deep gratitude thinking upon our great love for Avi Joy. We are beyond blessed to have her as our daughter. And as I told her so today, she responded, "Yeah, and I am not anybody elses."She is our girl through and through and we are so thankful to the Lord and to

Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy, Nehemiah and Karringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433726965640030742noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352332249304302478.post-16721204078456217862010-08-30T16:20:00.012-05:002010-09-01T16:06:27.141-05:00

Because of our upcoming move we are going on a spending freeze for the month of September!Like most all families, there have been hard months for us of course. I remember the first month I stayed home when we went from 2 incomes to 1, (and we had added a child), Adam called and said, "We have $80, do not spend another dime!"Well we all are forced to spend-no-more-or-else at some time, but this is

Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy, Nehemiah and Karringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433726965640030742noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352332249304302478.post-24161484480016619762010-08-22T13:42:00.009-05:002010-08-22T17:41:53.858-05:00

Well before we get on with the pics, which I know is the main reason you are here, I must share some good news... we sold our house! After 4+ months of hearing the crickets (more like hearing the words, "we hate your steep driveway"), we had several showings on Saturday morning and not 1, nor 2, but 3 couples made offers on our house! Wow. I have learned so much. I plan to blog about this process

Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy, Nehemiah and Karringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433726965640030742noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352332249304302478.post-69091753474259413272010-07-27T19:17:00.005-05:002010-07-27T21:20:49.667-05:00

Hello Readers. Thanks for checking in.Miss Beautiful moved in last Saturday, so we have been a family for 10 days.For those playing catch up, this is the child of our heart. We started the process with the state to adopt an older child from foster care last August and now Beautiful, age 12, half Native American, half African American is living in our home. We cannot share her real name until

Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy, Nehemiah and Karringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433726965640030742noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352332249304302478.post-91316507231902034582010-07-16T19:53:00.005-05:002010-07-16T21:16:20.139-05:00

Well, from here on out, we will be a family of 5.Miss Beautiful will be joining our family tomorrow. It was scheduled for the end of July, but everyone (being our social workers, counselors, foster family and us) all felt that the time had come for her to move in.We have an all day journey ahead of us to pick her up (about 5 hours one way). We will visit with her foster grandparents and have

Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy, Nehemiah and Karringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433726965640030742noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352332249304302478.post-5056205702886838502010-07-11T19:38:00.013-05:002010-07-11T21:02:42.898-05:00

ALL MARCH PICSALL APRIL PICS(I am a wee bit behind, hopefully May-July will be coming soon!)Several things broke around our house (remote, printer, weed-eater, my van's engine vacuum, phone- so many things... weird!) BUT it did not get us down because this was a super wonderful week!We started off by enjoying some time with the Butter's family. Everything is better with butter, right?! She is

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It is getting very hard to not show pictures of my sweet Beautiful on our blog. We are now sharing them in person, but you know, it's just hard to actually see everyone that you want to show! I mean, hello- proud mama syndrome, I want to show everybody!!!Ok, now that is off my chest, I will move on.We headed to church this morning and our church is participating in One Prayer. It was kinda odd

Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy, Nehemiah and Karringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433726965640030742noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352332249304302478.post-53008423453332992392010-06-16T17:39:00.006-05:002010-06-16T21:40:58.864-05:00

We are in the swing of our summer schedule. We work heritage camps every other week and on the other weeks, attend a group playdate. We enjoy outings like a local splash-pad, reading at the park and going the zoo. It is a wonderful time for the mom's to catch up... everyone knows that playdates are not really for the kids!I would like to add, just in case you were thinking of inviting me to a zoo

Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy, Nehemiah and Karringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433726965640030742noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352332249304302478.post-57386051383979477912010-06-13T19:22:00.016-05:002010-06-13T21:47:15.129-05:00

Once a year we have the privilege of attending Vietnam Camp. It is a family camp designed for kiddos who were born in Vietnam to come together to celebrate their birthland through immersion in the Vietnamese culture. We strive to do this through exposing them to the beauty of Vietnamese food, song, dance, crafts, dress and playing with other Vietnamese children.This year was so enjoyable for our

Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy, Nehemiah and Karringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433726965640030742noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352332249304302478.post-55156684043485069092010-06-04T15:46:00.006-05:002010-06-05T16:37:40.248-05:00

Miss K was here for three days this week. Of course we were excited and had butterflies about our visit. When she arrived I gave her a tour of the house and showed her her bedroom. I told her about the quilt I made for her and how I had been waiting for her to see it.When you have three kids at home and really want to have family time together, you have to plan and think of things to do! We did

Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy, Nehemiah and Karringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433726965640030742noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352332249304302478.post-38720331465007347912010-05-28T15:00:00.000-05:002010-05-28T14:58:01.120-05:00

I LOVE Mom Tips!I so enjoy listening and talking with mom's about what makes their life better or easier and getting wise advice on everything from discipline techniques to healthy cooking.I need women in my life to give me their mom tips because for one, I (shall I say the word... hate) or maybe reallllly dislike, reading parenting books. I read my bible and fiction, other than that I get about

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Beginnings. Adoption news...Last August we shared how we started the process of adopting our third child. We felt deeply that God placed an older child in our hearts though a domestic adoption, so we headed in that direction. (Even though at times it seemed easier and more comfortable to stick with international adoption or even pursue pregnancy, but it was clear we were in the right spot!)At

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Well today is little squirts birthday. Here is my "silly monkey" (from his p.j.'s) hanging out with us at Lowes.Super ticklish boy.Miss Joy Joy wore her new princess outfit from her grandma.Miss Anna. We LOVE Miss Anna. She is Avi Joy's Vietnamese teacher at church. I made her a pair of earrings as a gift for the end of the year. She put them on when I gave them to her, the light blues ones in

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Want a great craft idea that will surely make someone smile??When you send a package, let your kiddo's paint on it or make hand prints all over. Having craft time with your wee-ones and accomplishing sending a personalized gift in the mail at the same time.I know my new cousin will enjoy his present. Little- I mean big, Thomas was born yesterday, 9 lbs 6oz! Congrat's Uncle Robert and Aunt Amy on

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Our little Avi Joy turned four years old on April 23rd! We head out to St. Louis every year to celebrate my dad's birthday and both our kiddos birthday's with all our MO family. My aunt made lasagna and my uncle bought her flowers for her birthday.The last few moments of her birthday day...heading off to bed in dress-up clothes- her hello kitty leo. She truly lives up to the meaning of her name,

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Let's start off with some quotes about gardening shall we?"Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint, and the soil and sky as canvas." Elizabeth Murray"I was determined to know beans." Henry David Thoreau"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt." Margaret AtwoodWell, the earth did become my canvas over the last month. And I am determined to know beans, I

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We started off Easter weekend by dropping off our kiddos at the Homans on Friday night. As you can see they SO enjoyed playing dress-up with one another. Love Andrews leo and the combo of princess and ski wear. We headed to our community group leaders house to take communion together and watch The Passion of the Christ.On Saturday we boiled our eggs. It was neat to open the egg carton and see a

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We attended our first DHS adoption party today. It was about 2 hours away, so we headed out the door this morning about 8am. Adam's parents watched the kiddos all day as we didn't plan on being home until about 5pm. They were excited about having a grandparents day. They ended up visiting their great-grandparents, seeing the animals at Atwoods and having Ol' McDonalds for lunch. And lucky us,

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ALL JAN PICSALL FEB PICSWe started doing school one day a week with Avi Joy. For Christmas she got a preschool workbook and literally craves doing her workbook. It's basically matching, tracing, what doesn't belong, sorting and such. I really like it too. We plan on doing one day a week until August then we will start 2 days a week. I am a sllllooowww to start kind-of-mom with school.Daily we do

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We have been working on her baby quilt and something fun we have discovered is cutting off the sleeves of her baby clothes and wearing them as leg and arm warmers. I will let the next four pictures speak for themselves. Melt my heart!The best kind of sharing!Hanging with Kerrie at a Vietnam Camp meeting. He is talking on her cell phone and taking notes. Good thing she is used to an active

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Family and Friends, (Please make sure you see the video and pictures!)The time our team spent in Haiti was nothing short of remarkable! The Haitians hunger and dependence on God during such dire circumstances was truly inspiring and humbling. It was a life-changing gift to serve these beautiful people and I want to say thank you for all your support and prayers for our team, myself and my family.

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I picked up this wooden baby highchair at a Just Between Friends sale. It was a seven dollar investment and I had big plans for this little chair. It only took me like 15 months to actually come up with something to paint on it, but then the vision came, Adam left for Haiti and I worked on the chair! Nothing like a little "free time" to push one to create!I decided to write "mẹ thương con" in

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Happy Tet, Chinese New Year and Valentines Day!Our friend, Pastor Le, invited us to join his local Vietnamese church for their Lunar New Year luncheon on Sunday. They had a full buffet of delicious Vietnamese food. Along with all the "normal" VN foods there were several traditional Tet items served only for the New Year. I have read about these, but not seen/tasted them in person. We tried all

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Well, after 8 days and 7 nights, Adam is home from Haiti. He was chosen to go on a relief team with Thirst No More Ministries with our church. It was a team of eight people and they worked doing everything from providing medical care and sorting supplies to distributing food/water. We are slowly working on putting together a post of pictures and commentary to show everyone... so look forward to

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We enjoyed celebrating our 5th Lunar New Year's with Dillon International over the weekend. The first year we attended was in 2006 while we were in process in with Kazakhstan. (Pilot program for Dillon that closed and we ended up switching to Vietnam and the rest is history as you know.)My favorite part -besides that all the money goes to OrphanCare - is that everyone gets to dress in their

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Here is my favorite picture of our 3 days inside. My kiddos loving on each other. My favorite because they generally did more crying, whining and 'I am just so tired of you' type attitudes, so I am relishing on this hug.This was Nehemiah. Cutting 6 teeth, not eating or sleeping well, constant fussing, running nose and has a cold. And he made it well known that if his mother dared to walk through

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Before I jump into camp, I want to extend an invitation for local (or any) families to attend a Vietnamese lunch for Lunar New Year. We have two local Vietnamese churches in Tulsa and both have invited us to celebrate with them on February 14th at noon. They have a huge lunch, games and fellowship. Our family attends St. Joseph's as we are enrolled in their language school. We get to see them all

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Here is a little shout out to Party of Four. Nehemiah has been totally gaga over baby Drew's picture that dropped of the fridge this week. He has been carrying it around for 3 days saying, "Baby, baby." It has now been folded, wrinkled, kissed on and stuck in every pocket. Baby Drew has been well loved!Sweet girl and all her 10,000 faces. My mom and I went to Nam Hai market this week to find her

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Sister and BrotherWrestlingPeeking over the couchPlaying games for Sum Hop DayFavorite activity is PlaydoughLighting her 5th birthday cake candlesLove those curls, in her robe with a unicorn sticker."With your hat turned sideways" Think A.I. Here...Cookin with mamaGaming with daddyMore cookie dough pllleeaase!Funny face competitionWe know where they came up with the phrase"Oh Brother!""I will

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My day in a nutshell.Today is our second staffing with DHS. (We shared what a staffing was a while back...)And mama was attacked hard core. Lies and fears, all straight from hell.BUT lots of prayers were said for our family, for future kiddos and peace that passes all understanding.Some will not "get" this. That is ok. My husband and support team understand where I am weak. Supermom was

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YEAR ONE IN PICTURESSum Họp in Vietnamese means, "To unite, to come together."ONE year ago today, January 6th, we were united with our child forever!As part of our celebration we dressed Nehemiah in a traditional Vietnamese Ao Doi and took pictures.I went to a craft show a few years ago and saw a sign that said:BOY: A noise covered in dirt.I laughed then, but now I reallllly get it.Our boy is

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ALL DECEMBER/CHRISTMAS PICSALL CHICAGO PICSBe prepared. THIS IS A LOOOONNG POST : )This year we decided we would take a winter family vacation to Chicago. We have both always wanted to visit the city, but we were either saving to adopt/had a new baby or the summer plans to travel just didn't work out. But the way this calendar year fell Adam would get more time off than usual, so we ran with the

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Merry Christmas!As most have heard we were snowed in for Christmas. Our usual family visits were canceled. It was the first time in Adam's life that he was not with his parents at his grandparents house on Christmas Day. WILD! My Christmases were different every year as both my mom and dad's sides live out of state. We did end up getting to see my mom, step-dad and sis in the afternoon. It was

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We had all kinds of big plans tonight... heading to church then our annual family CE Party, but because of the weather all things were canceled. Including Christmas Day at the grandparents with family!Here is our backyard covered in beautiful snow. (Only pretty because I don't have to be out in it!)We were able to go to the Homan's this week and make cookies. We accidentally left the flour out

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We were able to take pictures of the Butter Family last week. Avi Joy asked me yesterday why she only had two cousins. We talked all about it and she said she wished she had more. Then she said, "You know, Alicia has a lot of kids, maybe they can be my cousins..." So Alicia, your four now have some new cousins!This is my funny of the week...I sent out Christmas cards and let the kids play with

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OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, and FAMILY PICTURESADVENT CALENDAR part ONE and TWOWell the good kind- not the real staph, but STAFF!ADOPTION NEWS:TODAY is the first time our family will be "staffed" with DHS.This means that all the case workers will have a staff meeting with all the children's case workers. This staffing happens once a month and today is the day!They will talk about all the children that are

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My grandparents celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary this year!They had 5 children. (Ummm, within 6 years I might add. Oh, and my grandma was only 24 when she had her 5th!)Who then had 9 children altogether (grandchildren).Who then had 4 children and growing (great grand-children).Our family has walked through losing precious family members... All my great-grandparents, my uncle and cousin

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The Torres Tidbits came over this week. We had a grand time until I tried to Mason's picture. He is going to have get over this phase because he is too handsome to not be photographed. Here is the littlest tidbit... Addison.You have got to LOVE a friend who will love on your children like their own. Amanda has this ability with many children in her life. We have known this family for over 10

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Last month I forgot to post that we re-finalized Nehemiah's adoption in court. This is a great step to take and it allowed us to change his name from his birth name to Nehemiah and get started on getting him a new citizenship, social security card, passport and all that other legal stuff.Ummm just check this pic out...Step 1: Take a bath and get all cleanStep 2: Climb on top of the tableStep 3:

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We started out our Halloween week with reading a book called "The Pumpkin Gospel." It was a great book to read before carving a pumpkin... the gist is that we are the pumpkin, God opens us up, takes all the yuck out, carves us a new life and sets His light inside us.We carved our first pumpkin. I love Avi Joy's expression here. Adam told her to take the top off and look inside the pumpkin- you

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As we shared we are in process of adopting an older child. We have been working hard on getting all the details squared away so when the day comes, it will be a smooth transition. Our first step was to let Avi Joy and Nehemiah share a room. Then focus on changing his room to our new kiddo's room. We are setting the room up as if it is a girl. If it is not, then it will be Avi Joy's room and the

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Avi Joy had her first dance "recital" today! Enjoy a quick video of their performance...Here are all the little girls in her class. She talks about several of these girls, but she always wants to stand next to her sweet friend Akeelah, in the black leo.We also had some fun in the sun this week (before it got too cold/rainy to play outside). This series of pictures was my favorite. We see all

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As we shared in this post, we truly love sharing our child's life story. Avi Joy INSISTED that she know Nehemiah's adoption story as well. It was just the push I needed to get his adoption book finished and printed. Hopefully this will inspire you to write down and share your child's forever story with them...Here is our ham. He can go from screaming mad to happy baby faster than any other child

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ALL SEPTEMBER PICSPiggy-back rides with NanNa. Nehemiah's idea of this game was being set on NanNa in front of sister then nosediving onto the floor. Repeat.The power of Dora. For him, it was the power of the snack, then off to play. But this week he did start screaming backpack and map.We celebrated my niece, Annabelle's, 2nd birthday this week. We have 1, 2, 3, and 4 year olds on Adam's side of

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Every year, on the first Sunday in October, Adam's family has a big reunion. We had a wonderful day spent with those we love, not to mention the delicious food that spanned six tables.Here are a few of their second cousins, Darion, Jake and Will.Lil' linebacker enjoyed some football.Heather and I have a blessed friendship. We were in the delivery room together (so to speak) when we adopted our

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Practice makes perfect for little ones learning to paint their own nails. I realize this is a daring move, but boy did she think painting her own toenails was the coolest thing ever! We are starting to work with Avi Joy on writing her letters. At least the ones in her name... she loves learning, reading, writing and pretty much anything that has to do with education, so she is easy to teach. She

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One thing I enjoy about school are the projects. Specifically ones that are for the "child" to complete that the parent actually has to make for their kiddo. I was so excited to make an "All About Me" page with Avi Joy. We picked pictures, had them printed, cut/glued a collage then wrote captions under each one. So FUN!We were blessed again with an outdoor toy. My in-laws neighbors (same ones who

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ALL AUGUST PICS AVI JOY IN REVIEW/SUM HOP PICS 2009 (Some of our favorite pictures and all our Sum Hop day pictures. Each Sum Hop we will post our favorites from the last year. Since we didn't do this until this year, you will see the fav's from the last three years.) Sum Hop in Vietnamese means, "To unite, to come together."Three years ago, September 7, 2006, we united as a family. We were in a

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As you may know we are in process of adopting a 5-6 year old child. This will probably happen in the middle of the school year (or sooner or later- you know crazy adoption time).My thoughts now are that I will not take in my child and enroll them into public school the next day. Which I would, by law, have to do. We will need time to bond and she/he will most likely need to play "catch up" so to

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Last week we pulled a dress rehearsal. And it was not fun.I knew that school started last week. Well, she only goes on Tuesdays but since school started that week we got up, got ready, drove to school and no one was there! We were both sad and both cried! It was the first week for kids who attend Wed-Fri, but we had to wait until the next week to attend on Tuesday.Here is her official first day

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We spent some time earlier this week playing dress-up at our favorite Asian market. They have the cutest Ao Doi (Vietnamese dresses), shoes, parasols, non la (conical hat) and of course lots of "fun" foods. We went home with some cute hair clips and some Vietnamese goldfish (like our regular goldfish snack but they are salted).Nehemiah has discovered all the fun things in our drawers. He is now

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"And she said to him, 'As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.' And he worshiped the LORD there." Hannah's Dedication of Samuel, 1 Samuel 1:27

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ALL JULY PICTURESMy POOR BABY! Why oh WHY do her mosquito bites turn out like this??Day one- it swells up like a baseball hit her.Day two- fever.Day three- blister.Urrrr.We took her to the Dr. yesterday and they basically said: use bug spray and double dose of Benadryl. We have tried everything. Good thing it only happens with half of the bites. But they leave a nasty scar!Adam's parents

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We were blessed to spend the weekend with the Pierce family!!!Shannon and I met the first week of college in '97. We have walked through life together: maturing, graduating, marriage, kiddos and everything in between.They serve on the Stumo staff at OSU. They have a heart for God and the people of India. We love them dearly!My friends Bernadette and Aisha came over to babysit all our children so

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We are pregnant.Sike.Just wanted to get you excited that we are expecting.OK, in the adoption world that we are in, being "with child", pregnant on paper or knowing that you have a child growing in your heart are all the same.God builds families in many different ways and the "way" a child is brought to your home is usually amazing, but the end result is just a beautiful family.Let's all agree

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I have yet to enter an iHeartFaces contest, but when I saw it was "At the Beach" this week I could not resist.I LOVE all our beach pictures from Sept 08 when Avi Joy was a flower girl in my cousin's wedding in FL. Barefoot wedding at sunset, beyond beautiful!All my true favorites were of her back though- she was watching the waves, but those cannot be entered in iHeartFaces. The faces must be

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We had many fun things planned for the summer and we just crossed the finish line!Last week we worked Dillon Internationals final heritage camp.We loved Vietnam, India and China camp and Korea was no exception.All the children (17 in our class) were precious and I always love meeting colorful families & hearing their stories.This little guy's name is Jake. I have had him in my class for 3 years

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And here is our story...Two families were called by the Lord to adopt children.During the wait, the two mom's became great friends.After waiting a LONG time, they both traveled within a few weeks of each other to this beautiful center on the other side of the world.Inside, and up a winding staircase were two cribs, holding two handsome boys.They were best friends and shared everything from

Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy, Nehemiah and Karringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433726965640030742noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352332249304302478.post-43013244593097346832009-07-17T13:23:00.003-05:002009-07-17T14:34:18.045-05:00

In the summer of 2005 I started teaching little artists at "Creative Kids Art Camp." This idea originally came as a fund-raiser during Avi Joy's adoption and since I was teaching 1,000 students, finding children to attend was not an issue.It was a huge blessing to us that first summer and we have enjoyed it in the summers following.This year the idea was a bit different. Since I am away from the

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Late Wed night (July 15th) Nehemiah took his first steps! He was very proud of his-little-self!As of now, the walking position looks like this: arms up, huge grin and literally, baby steps. Watching her daddy mow the lawn when she should have been sleeping.(But seriously cute)This week we caught up with some old friends, the Butefish family. We enjoyed a p.j. breakfast of "Biscuits with Chocolate

Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy, Nehemiah and Karringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433726965640030742noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352332249304302478.post-88167964175151565852009-07-12T19:16:00.003-05:002009-07-12T20:00:42.588-05:00

In the heat of the day you will find our kiddo's not wearing much. We are a "free" family that is for sure. We have some peeps in our life that do not like us posting naked-ish photos, but this photo was just too cute not to share. Avi Joy was laying on the bar as we were cooking and cleaning. She is a doll I must say.These two pictures I took this week are my new favorites.And here we were

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We had a great afternoon with our neighborhood kiddos. Avi Joy truly loves Lexi, Sungbum and Jiho. When we came outside to play, the older kids had set-up a 25 cent Gatorade stand. They ran door to door asking people to come over. The cop across the street was happy to hand over a dollar! The kids actually said they were rich.My favorite picture of the afternoon. Lexi and Sungbum. She recently

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ALL JUNE PICTURESHappy Birthday Sarah!!!I remember long ago two wee-ones enjoyed their bottles on the floor.Sarah turned four on July 3rd! We had a wonderful time celebrating at her party. We ate, swam and partied in the cool of the summer. It was a weird 78 degrees, very unlike the 100's we had during the week. It has been a blessing to our family to watch you grow up!We headed out to the

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This morning we had our Vietnam Camp Debriefing at Dillon. I happened to look up the word debriefing to make sure I was spelling it correctly and the definition cracked me up:"A semi-structured conversation with someone who has just experienced a stressful or traumatic event, the purpose is to allow them to talk about their experience."SO HERE GOES OUR TALK!What was liked:Meeting other families/

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We headed out to Jenks this morning for a Riverwalk playdate. The kids played at the splashpad then we had lunch on the amphitheater stage!Each playdate I have posted pictures and each time I picked a favorite. This one of Karsyn is precious. She actually got the 1st, 2nd and 3rd favorites this time. She was having a cute day!Oh the tushie love.I spoiled the moms with Sweet and Salty Bars. (

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From There to Here... Avi Joy's Story(She has on her Vietnam-p.j.'s in the video. Everyone wears these lightweight long sleeve/pant type p.j.'s all over Vietnam!)We had a great time working at India Camp last week.Here is Avi Joy with her two favorite friends, Jadyn and Steven.(Jadyn- India, Steven- China, but sis is Indian)"Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him."Yes,"

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We were beyond blessed to tag-along on a business trip with Adam to Grapevine, TX. This was our family's four day summer vacation... (Seriously beyond amazed that God knew we wanted a mini-vacation but didn't have the resources to take one, He provides- or provided thorough Adam's work anyway!)We stayed at the beautiful Gaylord Texan. The inside looks like San Antonio's Riverwalk, but completely

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Happy Fathers Day Adam!We started the day by hanging out with Adam' s grandpa, dad and brother. Here are all the men on his side plus their little ones. We enjoyed a wonderful homemade lunch and played for a couple of hours with their cousins.Then I surprised Adam with a night out. We were blessed that the Fishers came over to babysit. We started the evening with a Fathers Day Package through

Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy, Nehemiah and Karringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433726965640030742noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352332249304302478.post-11682450125886446262009-06-18T13:31:00.004-05:002009-06-18T14:03:39.501-05:00

Today we had our second Summer Fun playdate. We have a local splash pad, so we all headed over to play in the water followed by lunch at the adjacent park. Jen, Kristina, Lindsey, Kristin, Sarah, Kim and Allison (along with 15 children between us) were all able to make it. The weather was truly perfect.Jen's daughter Maddie, 7 months.Avi Joy's favorite spot.Lindsey's son James. He introduced Avi

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ALL PICTURES(Get ready. Set. Go. This is a whopper of a post)Over the weekend of June 12 -13th Dillon International held the 3rd Annual Vietnam Family Heritage Camp. There were over 75 children in attendance (Vietnamese children and their siblings- either biological or adopted from other countries) A total of 200 people.All camp attendee's have had a child born in Vietnam join their family. There

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The Real Thing... Vietnamese Street VendorVietnam families,If this will not get your kiddo excited, I do not know what will!?!Vietnamese Street Vendor Obstacle Course.It is going to be a grand time.I think I could make crafts like this every day!Natasha

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While Nehemiah slept we girls whipped up a "Natasha Special" (made-up recipe). This is our tradition when Adam heads out of town. This business trip was only one night, but we spoil ourselves anyway. We decided on Lemon Sugar Cookies, fresh zest and icing...And ohhh boy were they good!Decided on a new camera. We got the Canon Rebel T1i. The whole only looking through the viewfinder (on full-auto)

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ALL MAY PICTURESMy college roommate Vanessa had a baby yesterday. They named him Isaac. She told me how they chose the name... she said, "When they told me I was going to have a third boy, I laughed. Thinking about how my house will be so full of joy with three boys. Isaac means, "laughter," it seemed perfect." Is that not precious!Isaac Henry Jones with the Woods and Perryman crew.We did a big

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We went shopping with Adam for some new glasses. We have had eye Dr. app'ts for both kiddos and so far they say they will both need glasses. Nehemiah by age 3, Avi Joy by age 7. How they know this, I do not know, but here is a sneak peak of my little eight-eyes.Avi Joy the superstar in glasses (think Mary Katherine Gallagher here)We headed to the kids great-grandparents house for some Saturday

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Avi Joy has been obsessed with brides lately. She wants to hear all about when I was a bride, how her dad asked my dad if he could marry me, how her "dadam" (Dad + Adam) gave me a ring, how brides dance with grooms... at our last Homan playdate, she actually grabbed Andrew and said, "Andrew, I need a groom to dance with!"Here Avi Joy is dressed-up in one of my slips as a bride.My girlfriend

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Happy Mothers Day to all! (and to those who are waiting!)We had a great weekend. We started off by going to a parade in our hometown. The kiddo's really enjoyed the band and free candy.Avi Joy LOVED the pony ride. She will not take off the "I rode a pony at the fair" sticker from her shirt. We enjoyed lots of greasy fair food and ran into friends, past co-workers and students.Then Sunday we

Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy, Nehemiah and Karringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433726965640030742noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352332249304302478.post-21679742997105710922009-05-08T14:20:00.004-05:002009-05-08T18:39:24.386-05:00

Avi Joy: Enjoy's dress-up, pose-off's, splashing in puddles and talking, lots of talking.Nehemiah: Enjoys being tickled and rocked. He loves taking baths and sharing water with the dog.I ADORE these two peanuts. BUT...I read this today and I think it just about sums it up..."LORD GIVE ME PATIENCE TO ENDURE MY BLESSINGS!"Here is a more accurate picture of their disposition this week.ANDAvi Joy's '

Adam, Natasha, Avi Joy, Nehemiah and Karringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09433726965640030742noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3352332249304302478.post-30062499884343003052009-05-04T05:46:00.002-05:002009-05-04T05:54:50.956-05:00

So my son busted my lip yesterday. We were playing and a remote flew into my lip. Apparently I was blinking or taking a mini-nap because I didn't see it coming at all. Just felt BAM on my lip. The swelling went down after some ice, but I have a nice blue bruise.I have had other mommy injuries and I am sure this won't be the last. But, being a broken record here, my son is very strong!THANK YOU

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