Hello Out There!

Hello everyone!  It may be hard for you to believe, but I really am back after a long blogging break.  I was never totally gone, as I was around the blogging world, checking out a few blogs and occasionally commenting.  Why the LONG blogging break?  The truth is...I have no idea.  :)  I never made a conscious decision to just stop blogging.  It just happened.


So what have we been up to all this time?  Oh goodness.  The holidays happened, in all of their glory and they were wonderful.  We had such wonderful times with family and friends.  Winter's been happening here in our lovely Minnesota.  The trouble is, it just keeps on happening!


We had family photos taken a few days before Christmas.  This was Alan's idea, and I'm so glad we were able to do this.  Here are a couple of them.  

This is the whole family.  Kaitlyn and Chris are on the left side of the photo, Lauryn and Aaron are on the right. Bryan is at the top and Jadyn is in the middle.

Here are our 4 children: Kaitlyn, Jadyn, Bryan, and Lauryn.  I love this!  I am so proud to be their mom.


Our Jadyn is still doing well.  She had her 6th birthday back in December.  She has thoroughly been enjoying her Kindergarten year. Just last week, we celebrated her Gotcha Day.  She has been home for 5 years.  Amazing how quickly the time has passed.  She has been such a blessing in our lives.  She constantly keeps us on our toes.  At lunch time today, she asked me how long beavers can hold their breath.  Oh my, the things that constantly swirl around in that girl's head.


Weight loss has been happening here at our house.  I am very pleased about that.  We are so happy to be living healthier lives.  Alan and I started dieting back in the late summer.  I have lost 25 pounds and he has lost....wait for it.....over 80 pounds!  I am so happy for him!  He looks great.  Together we have lost a whole person.  :)  


One of the most exciting things that has been happening in our lives during the past few months is that we have started another amazing China adoption journey.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Some of you know about this, and some do not.  Really, we have only told our family and also friends who live around here.  Okay, so a few others know too.  We have just never made any kind of public announcement.  We haven't blogged about it or put it on Facebook.  


We have accepted the referral of a 4 year old boy.  He lives in Zhejiang, China.  While I would love to post his photo here, I will not until I know I am allowed to do so.  Trust me, he is super cute.  :) We are just thrilled at the possibility of becoming his family.  We would like to name him Evan Joshua.  We chose his name for it's meaning.  Evan means God is gracious.  Joshua means God rescues. We began this journey because we know it's what God wants us to do, to bring another beautiful child home from China. Rejoice with us, and please pray with us that Evan will join our family.  


Blessings to you all.