My two handsome men, Rowland and Carson, headed out to Greeley today to a car show where they showed Rowland’s ‘67 Mustang Ski Country Special. They had a great time looking at old cars, and you can be sure that Rowland’s got lots of looks!

Carson Showing His Dad’s Car

Carson also found “his” car and will be working hard over the next 2 1/2 years to make the grades to earn one. It’s a pretty nice “carrot” to hold in front of him, and I must say, he looks awfully good in it!

Very, Very, Very Cool!

Tonight, we headed to Brunswick Zone for some bowling and pizza. Rowland won, of course, but the kids all said that he was a “professional” so his winning didn’t count! There was lots of laughter, and while I didn’t bowl (because of my fake nails - lame, right?), I did enjoy the 80s music and danced and sang along!

Hollie’s Friend Mike Joining the Fun

Rowland’s “Professional” Form

Proud KeKe

William Doing the Happy Dance

Rowland Helping Jia with Her Bowling Rack

Scary Carson

Holly Giving Carson a Much-Desired Hug (HA!)

Rowland and His Babies

Proof That My Baby is Taller Than His Momma

My momma has been here for 10 days - not nearly long enough. She came out to watch the kids for Rowland and me to take a trip to Boston. (Pictures to come later in the week.) We had a wonderful time together. I love just knowing that my momma’s in the house, that there’s always someone around who wants nothing FROM me and everything FOR me. I love knowing that I can lie down with my head in her lap ANYTIME, and she’ll drop everything and rub my head as long as I’ll lie there. There are no more biased eyes than a momma’s. She thinks I’m beautiful, that everything I do is perfect, that my children are the most well-behaved angels on Earth. She ALWAYS takes my side and hurts when I hurt, laughs when I laugh.

Her visit came at a great time. As I’m going through this “where did my babies go?” and “will they still love me as big people?” and all of the other questions and insecurities, I’ve been more sensitive to stopping and holding my own momma’s hand, giving her that extra hug, telling her how much I love her. For the first time, I truly understand from the depths of my heart what her heart needs. I also understand how much she’ll miss me when she gets on that plane this morning, and I’ll miss her just as much. It seems that as I move into this new phase of life with my own children, my momma’s heart and my heart beat together once again.

I LOVE YOU, MOMMA!!!

Precious, Beautiful Hollie

I must have forgotten to blog about who Hollie is and how she came to be a member of our family. I think I shared a while back about our praying about two 9 year old boys in China who had been abandoned at 7 years old and needed homes. At that time, I felt very overwhelmed with the responsibilities of life with four children, but I wanted to be faithful to God if His desire was for us to add another child to our family. In my heart, I believed that God would tell us “no,” but I still wanted to at least ask His plans for our family. Rowland and I prayed about it and soon discovered that because of my need for antidepressants, we are now unable to adopt from China. The answer was very clear, and yet, I still felt that we had been obedient in allowing God to work in our family as He saw fit, in spite of my being overwhelmed most of the time!

Only about six weeks after we had prayed about these two little boys, we learned of an 18 year old senior at church who needed a home. Due to certain circumstances, she was no longer able to stay with her family and had nowhere to go. Rowland and I had only met Hollie a couple of times and didn’t really know her at all. Immediately, Rowland asked me to pray about bringing her into our home. To each of us, God spoke very clearly that that was indeed His plan. After meeting with Hollie for about an hour one night, we asked her to move in a couple of days later. She moved into Jia’s room, and the little girls share a room now.

I believe as I look back on the time that we prayed about adopting the Chinese boys that God was preparing us to be open to any “child” that He might bring into our family. I teasingly call Hollie my little Chinese boy!

So who is Hollie? She is a beautiful young woman with a precious giggle and a love for life. She has become a special daughter to me, although I would never assume to take the place of her mother. All of my children will tell you that she is their big sister. She and Carson love to “fight,” calling each other “loser” and “dork.” They chase each other around the house, stealing cell phones and laughing hysterically. She paints the little girls’ fingernails and toenails, and they totally adore her. William, too, enjoys having a big sister around. My favorite time with Hollie is when she lies on my bed and lets me rub her head while we talk until she falls asleep. Rowland has taught her to change spark plugs and bead blast something in a car engine. She goes to the church and helps set up for Sunday services and helps me with the first service childrens’ program. She is a part of our family now and forever!

We have enjoyed buying a prom dress and shoes, getting a pedicure and manicures, getting ready for prom complete with pictures, teaching her to drive, taking care of her when she is sick, getting her enrolled in college, holding her when her heart is broken, laughing at her giggles, buying her a car, and just living life with this beautiful girl whom God has placed in our family for this time. While she still has a family, she most definitely has an extra one, too! Hollie is also OUR daughter, OUR sister, OUR friend, and a precious, precious gift from God whom we love as our own - and always will! Thank you, God, for your blessings and for entrusting us with one of your children!

Rowland, Hollie, and Me at the Easter Egg Hunt

Easter Sunday - the Girls

Today was definitely Hollie Day!! She and I went to Front Range Community College in Westminster, and she is officially enrolled in the CNA program!!! College, here she comes! We are all so proud of her! May 22nd is Graduation Day, and we’re already trying to figure out where to take her for her very special day!

Once we got home, Hollie and I took the girls across the street to play in the hot tub. Rowland, never to be outdone, showed up with a Mustang for Hollie, her very own car! The smiles on her face speak volumes, and the squeals of delight have yet to stop. She says she’s sleeping in it, and I think she just might!

Can You Hear the Squeals?

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Rowland Getting Lots of Hugs

The First Test Drive with Me

Pretty Cool!

KeKe Taking Over the Passenger Seat

Hollie’s Friend George Joining in Her Excitement!

Happy Hollie Day, Sweet Princess!!! You deserve it, and you totally rock!!! We love you!!

It’s baseball time again!!!! That means lots of purple, lots of hot dogs, a little bit of beer, lots of hollering, lots of dancing and singing, and hopefully lots of winning games!!! Rowland took Carson, William, and little Kitty to the game this past weekend, and the Rockies won with a little help from their fans!!

All of the eighth graders at Carson’s school have to make a roller coaster each year. There are certain requirements regarding turns, drops, etc., but other than that, creativity is key. Carson, in true Carson fashion, designed a rock’n'roll roller coaster named “Gene’s Tongue” in honor of Gene Simmons. The marble rolled right out of Gene’s mouth and passed through rock’n'roll posters, a pedal, and even a guitar. Great job, Carson!!

Click on the middle of the picture for the video to play!!

As I’m constantly trying to figure out “who” Kitty really is and what really makes her tick, I have come to one realization. I am a REAL Colorado girl! I L-O-V-E the snow! I don’t even mind the cold as long as there is SNOW!!! And we definitely have it! It is so clean, so pure, so absolutely beautiful. I have no idea how much snow we have, but Rowland says it’s about 30 inches, and it’s still snowing! BEAUTIFUL!!!!! I don’t care if it’s the middle of April. A nice, clean coat of snow lifts my spirits. It’s so bright and clean, washing all the old away. From now on when I sing about Jesus’ washing me white as snow, I know EXACTLY what that means!

I try not to take pictures without people, but it’s just too beautiful to neglect.

And My Daughters Still Wear Shorts!

Thank you, God, for raising Your Son from the dead for without His resurrection, His death would have been in vain. Without His Resurrection, we would be destined to a life with no hope of an eternity with You.

All of my children say that Easter is their favorite of all holidays that we celebrate. I’m not sure why exactly, but it is always filled with joy and laughter, the kind that comes from just being together as a family. After church and short naps, we went across the street to Joe and Jeannie’s and enjoyed a wonderful late lunch / early dinner with their family. We waited for our traditional Easter egg hunt until we got home around 6:00. This year, Carson decided to help Jia with her hunting rather than to hunt himself. What a fabulous day!!! Enjoy the pictures!

Our Family with Our Newest “Daughter,” Hollie

Really, Rowland, Purple?

You Know What They Say about Girls with Guitars!

Carson “Supervising”

Sissy on the Hunt

William’s Sharp Eye

Can You Help Me, Daddy?

Jia had her first research paper due today. Yes, she’s in Kindergarten, and yes, I think it’s ridiculous for her to have a research paper, and yes, no one asked my opinion! The instructions for this paper said to go to the library, check out books, and read about the animal of your choice. For extra information, the internet would also be a great resource. The student was to gather pictures from magazines, draw pictures, or print pictures off of the computer, then write a paper about their animal. Also included in the paper was whether the animal was domestic or wild.

Jia chose a turtle. No, we did not go to the library and check out several books to read about turtles. Obviously, her teacher doesn’t have five children at home! In fact, we didn’t even have to get on the internet to do research as Jia already knew about turtles. Keke (surrogate mom for the night) helped Jia find pictures on the internet, print them, and even cut them out. I had the almost overwhelming task of helping my kindergartner write the sentences that she chose while erasing almost every other letter to make certain that all letters were formed correctly and were sitting on the line. Her four sentence report took us an hour to write, and that was after her sister had already helped her write the first sentence!

Today, she’ll present her research paper, and I’ll pack it away proudly in her special box. For more information on turtles, read her paper below!

Jia went for her quarterly check-up at Children’s Hospital to determine how her growth is progressing. She has grown a little over an inch since her last visit in November. The good news is that she is maintaining her curve on the graph, although she is still well below “normal.” She’s 104.5 cm which is right around 40 inches tall. Now that she’s 6 1/2, she’s actually outgrowing (barely but definitely a change) her size 4 jeans. She’s such a precious little peanut!!

The doctor increased her nightly “tall shot” dosage once again, and we’ll be able to stay on these high doses through November of this year. After that, we’ll go to the lower dosage for two years (because we’re in a study), and I’m praying that we’ll still see good results. The doctor told me today that even if the study doesn’t continue past the original four years, Jia would still be a candidate for the growth hormone injections. Hopefully, our insurance would cover the shots, but if not, I’m definitely willing to give up a cruise a year for my baby girl!

Anytime I take Jia anywhere, she seems to always add humor to my life. Today was no exception. Since our appointment had to be re-scheduled because of our cruise, the doctor was working us into her schedule. We waited FOREVER, and of course, this was the first time that I had forgotten to take her a Leapster or Nintendo DS for her to play. She was incredibly bored, and when the doctor came into the room FINALLY, Jia said to her, “We sure have had to wait a long time for you.” I apologized, but in my mind, I was laughing my bootie off!!! Out of the mouths of babes!

Playing in the Water Park on the Ship

Her Hysterical Laugh!

A Little Girl Who Still Loves Her Blankie!