...And you may ask yourself - What is that beautiful house? And you may ask yourself - Where does that highway go? And you may ask yourself - Am I right? ...am I wrong? And you may tell yourself - My God!...what have I done? (Talking Heads, 1980)
Nine years ago Mark and I set off on a journey. It was a journey that would embed the children of China into our hearts forever and teach us that God's plan is WAY better than our plan. It has been a journey into faith, obedience and abundant blessings. Over the past nine years we have seen God's hand at work in our lives as we traveled through the wilderness in search of His plan for our lives upon this earth. In April of this year God revealed the next chapter of the Lucas story. Join us as we embark once again on another leg in this Marvelous expedition.
Well, - I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I can still update the blog. The bad news is that my computer crashes every time I try to attach pictures. So, you will have wait until I get to a new city or go home or find a new computer or just throw this one out the window before I can post pics. However – here is the 411 of our day.
Today was a BIG day. Today we went back to DongGuan. CFGM arranged for Mikey’s foster family to be there as well as two other girls, ‘Ruby’ and ‘Maribeth’ that have been placed with families. We met at the orphanage and had some time to just spend talking with the family and the other children. Mikey was a little nervous at first – but soon realized that he was not staying so he began playing with his foster sisters. It was a great time for Mikey and we felt so blessed to be able to have this closure for him. We exchanged some gifts, ate oranges and bananas and then we took everyone out to McDonalds for lunch. The little ones had a blast.
‘Maribeth’ is sooo beautiful. She was so shy but has the most radiant smile when she finally smiles. I wish she had spoken to us a bit more but I could tell she has a very sweet disposition.
‘Ruby’ –Ruby was such an impressive little girl. You couldn’t help but to feel happy when she was in the room. She had such a big smile and engaged us in conversation. She speaks pretty good English and understood quite a bit of what I said to her. She made sure to remind me that her birthday is coming up and to tell her mom and dad! When I asked her what she wanted she said “I don’t care – maybe just a cake”. She is a delightful little girl and we felt blessed to be able to meet her.
Mikey’s foster sisters are incredible! He has 2 sisters. One is 7 and one is 5. My goal is to find homes for both of them now. Let me say that if you saw either girl in person there would be no question that they are very good kids. Neither one has paperwork ready yet – so don’t start emailing me yet - but when it is ready I hope we will be able to find their families. {The little one already someone looking and once they see these pictures it should be a no brainer – right Andrea?}
The 5 year old is an absolute hoot. She hammed it up for me and had a great time at McDonalds with us.
Well, I know all you want is pictures – so here you go. {ha ha made you look…no pictures!}
Here are some more pics from today. Mikey is a big ham and loves to show off for everyone. I think he and Zoe are going to be best buddies for sure.
Today we went to the medical clinic and had his physical and shots done. He had 5 shots and didn't cry. He winced a little – but took them all like a champion.
I don't really know how to describe how well he is doing. He is beginning to test a couple of boundaries – but understands no and takes it all in stride. He keeps wanting to call his foster sister (whose paperwork will be ready in February {Andrea, hint hint}) so he picks up the phone and starts pushing buttons all the time. A quick redirect is all it takes and he is on to something else. The Leapster is a huge hit! He loves that thing and wants to take it with him wherever he goes. I am glad we remembered the headphones so we don't have to listen to it all the time.
We are doing great and can't wait for everyone back home to finally meet this amazing boy.
Well, we couldn't have asked for a smoother transition. No matter how much we prayed for this day and asked that that Mikey would have a knowing in his heart that we were Mama and Baba - we still had some anxiety. However, once again we shown that He is faithful to His word. Mikey shook hands with us and looked us right in the eyes and said Mama and Baba. Mark picked him up out of his chair and he was all smiles. The first thing he asked us was "Where are my sisters?" Let me tell you - this kid is sharp and boy can he eat! I think he ate half a chicken at dinner! He looks small, but he is solid weight. He probably weighs more than Valerie and Vanessa.
We are getting ready for bed - so let me go ahead and show you what you are waiting to see. I am very proud to introduce to all of you David Michael Lucas - AKA MIKEY.
I have no idea how long the Nativity set has been like this - but apparently Zoe thought that our Lord and Saviour might be more comfortable with some furniture in the stable. Those are the wisemen catching up on some sleep on the beds in the back. I imagine the walk to Bethlehem was very tiring and they probably appreciate having a comfortable mattress to sleep on.
Unfortunately we can't take the space shuttle to China - that would be really cool - but we have secured dates and airline tickets. We will be leaving Dec 26 and meeting Mikey on the 28th as soon as we get off the plane. Our film entourage (Cherry) will be there to film the entire process.
So IF we can get a travel approval quickly and IF we can get a consulate appointment for Dec 29th, then we will be leaving on Dec 17th for Hong Kong. That means we will miss V,V &Z's Christmas karate demonstration and promotion, but hopefully they will forgive us.
Over the past two weeks I have called many, many 'officials' and seemed to be getting nowhere. No one was making any progress and no one would return a call. My friend gave me a whole list of numbers of people who had important titles and direct lines to their desks. I talked to one of them, and she couldn't help me - but pointed me to another thatshould be able to help. I got lots of voicemail and no call backs. By 5:00 I was so ready to just hang it up. I was frustrated, angry and wallowing in self-pity. My CFGM encoouraged me to call the original office (Office A) one more time to see if I could get someone to help me. For whatever reason - I did. Who knew that there was a night shift and that the compassionate people work then?
I talked to a very nice lady who was very helpful and quickly directed me to my new friend Ben. Ben looked up my cable and said everything was in it including the 'missing document'. It had always been there. The missing document was towards the end - but it was there. However - he assured me he would be happy to re-cable the file within a few minutes. Sure enough - within 15 minutes CFGM told me that the A5 was signed and ready to be picked up.
Hmmm - if only Office B had used RULE #9 and looked at the whole scan! Oh well - on to the next step.
Here is another video from the vault. This was SEVEN years ago! I can't believe how much they have grown. I am so proud of all three of my girls and am so thankful that Mikey will soon have them as sisters.
This video is rated G (for God inspired) the password is valandvan
At our house, we have a list of family rules listed on the refrigerator. Rule #9 is Use your Brain. The girls have heard this one a lot and i think that it should be a life strategy more than just a family rule. One of my biggest pet peeves is people who don't use common sense & logic.
Here is a basic Economics quiz to help illustrate this point (this is completely hypothetical, of course) Say a very important international transaction is taking place. A certain number of documents needs to be cabled from one office to another office before the transaction can be finalized. Office A forgets to send one of the documents. Office B cannot sign off on the documents until all of the documents are received. Office A and B both work for the same large international corporation. Office C cannot authorize shipment until they have received notification (A5) from Office B.
Utilizing rule #9 - what would be the most logical thing for Office B to do?
a) notify Office A asap that a document is missing and please resend the cable b) do nothing and wait for Office A to notice they didn't send it c) tell the end user to contact Office A and go to lunch
If you chose answer A - you probably passed Business 101. If you chose b or c, you probably have a career ahead of you at Office A or B.
Question #2 (again utilizing rule #9) The end user contacts Office A and notifies them that all of the required documents did not reach their intended destination at Office B. You politely ask that they re-cable the missing document so that the transaction can be finalized and the product will reach the end user in a more timely manner . What is the most appropriate answer?
a) Of course! I am so sorry this happened. Please forgive us. b) I wish I could, but I was in the middle of updating my Facebook status. c) Ma'am, you are not authorized to request that - it needs to be requested from Office B.
If you picked 'c' - welcome to my life. Stay tuned for more exciting drama in the story of Mikey's homecoming.
Don't they still make the PeeChees with the multiplication cheat sheet? My favorite was the basketball players on the back...... I loved to draw long hair on the runners and make the football player fall off a cliff. I miss Pee Chees.
Well, CFGM has reported that the LOA was sent out Tuesday, which is actually Wednesday, so it should arrive on Friday, which is really Saturday so that means Monday. Did everyone follow that?
I am now in official "Holycr*pI'mgoingtoChinatopickupanotherchildandIhaven'tdoneanythingyet" mode. Do you think he is going to be mad at us when he finds out it is really cold here? I bought him a really cute little winter hat. I guess all I need now is everything else! Mama's going shopping this weekend!
Look what my friend Andrea got for us! I love, love, love them!! We have has mismatched, hodgepodge christmas stockings forever and now we have a matching set.
That's right - they are already up! There is a pretty good chance that we may not be here for Christmas so around here - Christmas is going to start in October. Merry Christmas everyone!
My Chinese Fairy-godmother has informed me that our LOA should be coming very soon. Now to fastrack the I800 and we are set. I spent yesterday on the phone trying to locate Officer Miller - but no one could seem to find her. They can see her desk....but she is never there. No one seems to know anything. Do you think officer Miller may be trapped in the copy room and need help? Did she quit and forgot to tell anyone. Or - maybe, just maybe, she wanted some quiet time to go over my paperwork without any distractions so she locked herself in the closet with a protien bar, a bottle of water and my precious paperwork. Oh wait - she doesn't have my paperwork yet - she must be trapped in the copy room. I will call for help!
This had been a good week. I am officially a great aunt! (i think) My niece, Sarah, and her husband Andrew welcomed Max into the world on Wednesday. We have all been waiting for the big arrival and we are so excited to finally know he is here. Max will live in Montana so we won't get to meet him until November.
WELCOME TO THE WORLD MAX! I hope you like it here!
And then......Look what I found in my inbox this morning. My Chinese fairy godmother got these for us. Look at that handsome kid. I found 18 new pics in my inbox this morning - but here are the highlights.
Dinner Time! Do you think he will ever like chicken nuggets after getting this spread?
Ummm, are they pointing a gun at me? You can see that MY perfect child prefers to play with the fighter jet rather than handguns. That's my boy.
Just look at him showing off his muscular physique, nimble athletic ability and then sipping on an ice cold coke after a tough workout! Watch out girls - here comes Mikey!
First day of school. Not just that - but first day at a new school. They did great and they say it seems like they have been there forever. I have been walking them to school for now. Eventually, I am sure I will begin to cramp their style and they will want to walk themselves. I have already staked out bushes to hide in so I can spy on them in the event of a mutiny, but for now - I will revel in the glory of them still loving to have mom with them. Long live cool moms 4 ever!
Last night I dreamed we were getting ready to go pick up Mikey and the CDC had now decided that adoptive parents must get a TB test before travelling. Of course, my test came out positive and so did the chest x-ray. The doctor showed me the xray and i could see a pencil size black dot on the xray (like I know what TB looks like on an xray anyway) and I just kept telling him that I wasn't sick! He insisted that the xray was right and that I would have to take treatments and wouldn't be able to travel. I knew I was dreaming - but felt compelled to explain myself anyway. I told him the black dot was because I smoked cigarettes when I was in my 20's. It seemed logical to me - but good ol' Dr. No Chance insisted that smoking causes TB and I should have known better.
Zoe Crashed her two wheeler last night. She has been riding a bike w/o training wheels for about 4 months now. If you don't know Zoe - she has a brilliant career ahead of her in either acting or law. She can argue her case better than most Harvard grads and can reenact every episode of Zack & Cody and perform info-mercials better than Billy Mays. (BTW - she is quite distraught over his death.) Let's just hope she never discovers the Sham Wow guy.
So last night she crashed on her bike. It was a pretty good crash and she hit her lip on the handlebars and had a bloody nose and bloody lip. She also landed on the top side of her hands (I have no idea how) and scratched them up pretty good. This was her very first bike crash and I know she was pretty scared as well as hurt. Zoe is only six and I was a little concerned. Mark did the five point inspection for internal injuries and broken bones and determined she would live - but would be a little sore for a day or two. Just then the reality of this hit her - and she poured on the drama!
QUOTE # 1 - While crying hysterically "Why o' why did this have to happen to me?? I JUST WANT MY LIFE BACK!"
QUOTE #2 - While sobbing dramatically "This is the worst day ever! I wish Jesus would come RIGHT NOW and take me home!"
I love this girl so much... This morning she looked like the Collagen fairy visited her. The drama has ceased and she has moved on to something else. The bike crash loosened up the already loose tooth she had. Vanessa pulled it out for her so that was today's monumental moment.
The girls are playing a game. I think we watch too much HGTV at our house. They are playing "Property Virgins". One of them is Sandra and the other two are out buying their first home. What have I done?
