A trip to Whit's

One our favorite things to do especially on a hot summer day is to go into Granville and get some Whit's custard. They normally close for a couple of month in the winter. This week they finally opened back up, and we treated Rae to her first cup of Whit's. The flavor of the week is buckeye, so that is a little bonus. Rae's verdict - DELICIOUS!!

I love the photo on the left - eating the ice cream "Chinese" style.

Two Month Update

Has it really been 2 months since Rae became a member of the Dear family?  These 2 months have been a whirlwind of doctor visits, sickness, learning English, and many other crazy things going on in our family.  Rae is understanding a great deal more English than she is saying. She is getting use to being around more people, but still a little shy around males.  She loves to write her name and copy words from books or either off the screen while her dad is preaching.  She did manage to say an almost complete sentence in English this week - "Rae, no apples".  We were going to McDonald's and from the backseat she popped up and said that basically she did not want the apple dippers, but french fries.  We know how much she loves those.

A couple of weeks ago our church blessed with a "shower" for Rae.  She was a little overwhelmed with all the people and all the presents she received.  We are truly blessed and thankful for the outpouring of love on this little girl. 

As far as her health right now, she is doing great.  She has her first permanent tooth coming in, so that is exciting to see.  We had her next appointment with her hematologist today.  Her platelet count is still low, and they cannot seem to find the genesis of it.  Dr. Ranalli is working hard trying to find out taking it step by step ruling things out before jumping into a bunch of tests.  He said she is quite an anomaly and has doctors from Boston to Texas trying to figure out as well. So right now we are trying iron supplements for the next 4 weeks to see if this works. We are thankful we have found Dr. Ranalli, and that Rae is receiving the best care.

Proud Parent Moment

So proud of my AWANA quizzer!

 
This past Saturday was the annual AWANA Bible quizzing.  Our girls have been participating in this event for the past 5 years.  In order to compete you have to have completed the first 4 discoveries in  your book.  This year we only had two T-n-T girls to compete from our church - Emily and her friend Caroline.  This was Emily's 3rd year to go and compete, but this year was a little different.  Emily had been complaining of a sore throat, but I thought it was just drainage from the sinus infection she was getting over, but mom of the year here, waited a couple of days before taking her to the doctor. As luck would have it, we went the morning of the quizzing to make sure it was nothing too bad.  The diagnosis - STREP THROAT - OH NO!!!!  She was devastated that she could not compete and expose others to her germs.  Thanks to dad talking to the kind leader of the event, Jeff, they allowed Emily to come early and quiz alone. She was not eligible to the team award, but she was happy to compete.  She had looked forward to this since the beginning of the AWANA year and had been working hard to get all of her verses memorized.  Also, if she did not compete she could not have competed next year in the 4th book.  We slipped in to the church and were out before the event started.

Despite being sick she received High Honors with only missing 2 questions. She was very excited is looking forward to competing next year in Book 4.  Caroline did awesome as well - she received quiz champion and her team won first place.

CONGRATS GIRLS ON A GREAT QUIZ YEAR!!  Thanks so much to their coach Emily Roth for helping them prepare!!!

Our Family in the News

Last week our family was interviewed by our local newspaper, thanks to our daughter Hannah.  I had asked my oldest girls to write a report on their trip to China.  I gave them both a couple of ideas, and they ran with it.  Hannah being older allowed me to ask for more info from her and to dig deeper.  She wrote a very nice report and posted it on her blog, and thanks to encouragement from one of her friends - she submitted part of it to the newspaper.  I was unaware she had done this until an email popped up in my inbox from a writer for the paper.  We were proud of her for her initiative, and we are always happy to bring to attention the need for adoptive parents. 

Today the article about our family came out in the paper.  We are happy with the article, and how positive it was. We pray that someone will read it, see the need, and feel led to adopt here in the US or internationally.  We want to be a family who is making a difference in the kingdom of God.

Sorry, I couldn't resist posting this picture. If you look closely you can see a little tooth peeking through.

When Love Finds You

This song came out when Noel and I were dating, and it became our song.  We have been celebrating 17 Valentine's Days together.  I think he was going to propose 17 years ago today, but he couldn't wait and did it on Groundhog Day.  I love him more everyday and every year.

It's Official

Guess who has now got her paperwork showing she is an official American citizen?!?!?!

Happy Groundhog Day!!!

It has been amazing weather her in the Midwest for the last couple of days.  Despite being a little cloudy occasionally - we have loved it.  I was able to get my Christmas decorations down and do a little cleanup in the yard.  In addition, the girls have been able to get outside and play.

For Christmas Rae got some nursery rhyme cds, and I have been playing them in the car.  It has been fun listening to her try to sing the songs when she is playing.  Sometime they go between English and Mandarin.  Another new experience - the car wash. VERY FUNNY!

riding her sister's scooter - don't you love the boots!