Five years later... March 24, 2014

Chelsea, Emmy, Britti, Christie and Roger on the Great Wall of China-- 3/21/09

Our very first Family Day-- March 23, 2009

Chelsea Meagan, Roger, Ellie-Kate, Christie, Emmy, and Britti

 

Hi everyone--

 

Lots of memories in the past five years... We've chronicled many of them on this blog... Now, five years later, our family has grown so close. It's really hard to imagine a time when Ellie-Kate wasn't one of the sisters.

 

Now, five years later, Britti is 27. She's earned her master's degree, worked at Disney, landed a great job as Athens County 4-H Extension agent, and met her future husband. Britti and Ramon will get married on May 2, and Ellie-Kate will be an amazingly adorable flower girl. Britti has done such an awesome job with extension, nabbing several grants, completely revamping the 4-H program, and presenting at the state level. She's doing great...

 

Now, five years later, Chelsea Meagan is 19 year old sophomore at Baylor University, majoring in accounting. She's busy with her sorority (ADPi) and just got accepted for the Baylor Student Activities Council. She's looking forward to a summer filled with a study abroad experience with the OU Global Consulting Program in Germany and coaching tennis camp back up at the College of Wooster. Chelsea is also doing well...

 

Now, five years later, Emmy is a 13 year old eighth grader, getting ready to graduate from middle school and looking forward to all that high school has to offer. Emmy is an accomplished cello player, and she'll perform as Britti walks down the aisle. She plays French horn, basketball, and soccer, and she has a great ability to do stuff on the computer. It'll be interesting to see where she focuses her time and talents. Emmy has so much potential, and she's doing great...

 

Now, five years later, Ellie-Kate is an incredible six year old kindergartener. She has tons of friends from kindergarten and pre-school. She loves Daisy Girl Scouts, 4-H, basketball, soccer, softball, and Sparkies at AWANA. She enjoys watching Paw Patrol and pretty much everything on Disney Channel as well as cheering for Baylor, Huskers, and Cowboys and listening to the Frozen soundtrack. She loves to color and play with balloons and ride her scooter outside. Her very favorite things involve being active and being outside. Perhaps most importantly, she adores her mommy, daddy, and sisters. 

 

Now, five years later, we have this very cool family, complete with incredible memories and filled with great anticipation for cool moments to come. Again, thank you for caring about our family! It's been an awesome five years :)

 

Fondly--

 

Christie

 

 



More Family Day pictures... March 23, 2014

Ellie-Kate in "Progress"

Emmy and Ellie-Kate in the Ocean area

Emmy, Britti, and Ellie-Kate

Roger, Emmy, and Ellie-Kate try to construct a water pipeline in "Ocean."

Emmy, Ellie-Kate, and Britti

Emmy and Ellie-Kate at Rat Basketball

Emmy, Britti, and Ellie-Kate in "Adventure"

Ellie-Kate on the climbing wall in the play area

Ellie-Kate

Ellie-Kate and Britti

Ellie-Kate on "crutches" in the play area

Emmy, Ellie-Kate, and Britti

Christie and Ellie-Kate

Emmy, Ellie-Kate, Chuckie Cheese, and Britti

Britti won 100 tickets :) She's headed to Vegas!

Ellie-Kate and Roger on the Cars ride

Emmy, Christie, Ellie-Kate, Britti, and Roger

Family Day-- March 23, 2014

Ellie-Kate in the Gadget area of COSI

 

Mommy and Ellie-Kate

 

Brittany in the Gadget Cafe

 

Chelsea, Brittany, and Ellie-Kate

Emmy, Ellie-Kate, and Brittany in Progress of COSI

Ellie-Kate in Progress of COSI

 

 

Hi everyone--

 

We had an awesome Family Day!! We all had a great time at COSI and then at Chuckie Cheese. We're really tired and getting ready to head to bed so I'll upload more photos and news tomorrow...

 

Can't believe that it's been five years since we first held our precious Ellie-Kate in our arms... When I tucked her in tonight, I realized just how grateful that I am to have her home, in our house, in her own bed, rather than five years ago when we were still in hotels.

 

Praise God for the gift of Ellie-Kate!! He has blessed us in such powerful ways-- always and, especially with everything pertaining to Ellie-Kate. Thank you, Lord, for this awesome journey!!

 

Christie

Sister Sleepover-- March 22, 2014

Brittany, Ellie-Kate, and Emmy enjoy a sleepover in the basement. They watched "Frozen" in the afternoon, and they're going to fall asleep to "Despicable Me 2." What a blessing that the girls can just relax and enjoy time together, especially on the eve of our fifth Family Day!!

March 21, 2014-- Daisy Girl Scout meeting

"Yummy" snack-- worms and bird eggs in mud (or chocolate pudding, malted candy, and gummy worms) :)

The Daisy Girl Scouts celebrate spring with their lovely spring pictures.

The Daisy Girl Scouts rocked their pajamas from the Morrison-Gordon all-school Pajama Day.

Memories of our time in Beijing... five years ago... March 22, 2014

 

Hi everyone--

 

It's really hard to imagine that it's already been five years... Five years since we traveled to China... five years since we were on a pretty cramped airplane... five years since we landed, got in a hot van, drove through a very smelly Beijing to our hotel... Five years since we were amazed with the regal beauty of the hotel but more than a little shocked by our inability to communicate with the staff... Five years since Emmy and I pretty much lived on Do Si Dos... Five years since we visited the Forbidden Castle, ate lunch in an authentic Hutung home, shopped in the silk market, watched an incredible acrobatics show, ate at a Pizza Hut (after the guide noticed that I wasn't really eating Chinese food), visited the Living Hope orphanage, toured the Crow's Nest, and, yes, climbed the Great Wall of China. What incredible, once-in-a-lifetime memories...

 

On this day, five years ago, we flew from Beijing to Kunming, and we were stunned at the behavior on the flight. (Everyone got up even though the flight attendants told them not to do so.) We were shocked at the beyond crowded and congested Kunming Walmart, and we craved just a bit of home. We tried to find a Pizza Hut, and, not having any luck, we ended up at an amazing pizza place quite near our hotel-- Pizza da Rocco... our last supper as a family of five...

 

I tried to sleep, but I struggled. I wondered what it was going to be like with our new baby girl and what our lives would be like... I couldn't have even begun to imagine just how amazing that it was going to be...

 

Excited to celebrate our fifth family day tomorrow!!

 

Christie

Memories... March 17, 2014

Hi everyone--

Five years ago, we left right after Chelsea got done with play practice and headed up to Columbus. Along the way, I thought about possibly doing something to celebrate St. Patrick's Day after we got to the big city. Instead, we hit the Taco Bell drive-through in Nelsonville and went straight to the hotel. After all, we had to be up very early, catch the Hampton Inn shuttle to the airport, and make a 6 a.m. flight.

I remember dragging our huge suitcases through the hotel and trying our best not to get too much out of them for the quick overnight stay. I remember being a bit nervous about the upcoming flights, but mostly in terms of catching them and ensuring that our suitcases made weight... I recall keeping my mind firmly on Ellie-Kate. We were going to get our baby. The entire adoption process had been a strange sort of labor, and the trip would be a most unusual "birth"-- the birth of our new family. Through each step of the way, we were being changed, shaped, transformed.

Oddly, I remember not worrying about flying over large bodies of water or traveling in a small plane to DC-- details that would have stressed me out before. God soothed my nerves and bolstered my strength and stamina. He provided us with what we needed, every step of the way.

As I look back, the entire adoption process and, especially, our journey were such amazing testaments of God's love, plan, and power. I couldn't have done any of it without Him, and I felt His hand through every step and move that we made. He guided us right to Ellie-Kate and provided us with the physical, emotional, and spiritual resources to travel, literally, around the world and back. Praise God for His constant provision, care, and love!!

As I reflect back on this day, five years ago, I recall the eve of our family's biggest adventure and the loving, guiding hand of our Lord. In the 60 months that have passed since, I admit that I haven't always felt as close as I did in those days before and during China, and I realize that God hasn't gone anywhere during those times. I need to do a better job of relying on Him, trusting Him, and seeking Him. What wonderous blessings await when I do... All I have to do is look into Ellie-Kate's eyes if I ever forget. She's such a miracle and incredible gift...

Happy Anniversary of the start of our adventure...

Christie