Sweet Nash is 5!

It's hard to believe that our little Nash is 5 years old. I remember the day that we got our referral for him and how excited we were that God had surprised us with a toddler and a baby. I loved Nashy's sweet eyes. Sunday after church, Abbey and I took Nash out to eat to the place of his choice. Demos' Restaurant because it had spaghetti. Again, a boy after my own heart.




The waiter brought Nash a piece of cake with a candle. Nash loved all of the attention. He was very much into getting one on one attention.




We also had to go to Target so that Nash could pick out his birthday presents. He had a lot of fun going down the toy aisles, but his concept of money isn't quite refined yet. We stopped for yogurt and then had to head back home. It was a great day getting to hang out with our favorite five year old.




That first day that we met him I think that we were all scared to death. Sweet Nash only knew Chinese and we didn't know any. He was timid and reluctant to come to us at first. I remember that he had a little black car and that provided our first inroad as father and son.




Those first few months were tough as Nash learned to love and trust us. He and Reed were immediately brothers though. They still are best friends (most of the time) and love each other so much. By the time Nash turned 3, six months after we came home with him, he was fully assimilated into the LandLife. He knew English and loved his family.




Nash's fourth birthday came just before we left last year to go get Tuck. Wow! Our lives have changed, but definitely for the better. I can't imagine life without Nash. He is kind and compassionate. He is so thoughtful and loving. And he still has the cutest dimples in the world.




And now our Nash is five. His fifth birthday was special to Abbey and me because we got him on the day he turned 2.5 years old. I've never actually discussed this with other adoptive parents, but I've always kept up with when we had our kids longer than anyone else had. So, when Reed was 13 months old, it meant he had been ours the longer than he was in Taiwan. Same thing when Will and Tuck turned 9 months old. But for Nash, it has taken 2.5 years for us to be able to say he has been ours the longest!

Although he has been fully ours since the day we first knew he existed, it's special to know that we now had him longer than he was in
Taiwan! We love that boy and thank God for him.

Annual Valentine's Breakfast

On Valentine's night, we hosted our annual Valentine's breakfast. It was fun as usual.

Our guests for the evening in no particular order were the Parks (new for 2013), the Davidsons, Uncle Bill, and Miss Candace.




We had lots of good food. On the menu: Uncle Bill's Famous Cheese Grits, Jay Sensitive Breakfast Casserole, Michelle's knock your socks off cinnamon rolls, Carah's Berry Fruit Mixture, Abbey's super strawberry cupcakes, Miss Candace's drive thru chicken minis, pancakes, and 3 pounds of bacon.







Danny and Bill practiced their glamor shots.




We were glad that Jay wasn't on call so they could spend time with us. Our boys love their boys.




Abbey made super yummy strawberry cupcakes.




Meghan perfected the bend and snap (a Facebook favorite amongst the girls at our church).




Christopher and Nash together are like gasoline and kerosine. They can ally cause a raucous. He is a super sweet kid. He always gives me a hug and he always sneaks into our van after church.




Kaleb and Will are great friends. They are the opposite of Christopher and Nash.




Well ... Almost.




Best buddies.




Michelle practiced her bend and snap.

Chinese New Year: Day 3

The most exciting part of the Chinese New Year celebration was the fact that Deana and Luke Pan, the missionaries who changed our lives were there for it.




This is the picture of the Morning Light Ministries board.




We did a very moving cardboard testimony presentation during the morning service in our church. It was very emotional.




I love that Will's sign was upside down. That is so characteristic of our life.




Sweet Morgan has grown up so much. He is Hilarious.




I loved this sign "when there hasn't been a way ... God created a Wei!"




I love little Zoe. She is beautiful and from North Carolina these days. I think she was a crowd favorite.




Ellie was able to join us on Sunday. She is beautiful.







Of course, no event is complete without Uncle Bill.

Chinese New Year 2013: Day 2

This sweet baby came to the reunion all the way from Washington state. I remember the day she was born. Isn't she beautiful?




These guys came from Oklahoma to get to the reunion. They were glad to get out of the car and running around.




Wei and his mom were happy in their super cute red shirts.




This was a huge crowd of cuteness. I believe that we had 31 Taiwanese kids on Saturday. We added another one on Sunday. It was amazing to have so many together.




Mr. Austin can't wait for his little guy to come home from Taiwan. It is a hard wait, but he is doing well.




Lola came to be a part of the big event. She is always a big help. We are so thankful for her.







We enjoyed the photo booth. Nash and Will especially enjoyed the Chinese items.




They are so funny.




We were excited to see the Ponatoski's again. We traveled to get Tuck together. It was wonderful to see baby Kai again.

Chinese New Year 2013: Night 1

This year, our Chinese New Year celebration started on Friday night at Cock of the Walk. It was a great time for Abbey and I to meet some of the babies that we have had a little part in bringing home. The above picture is Nathan. He's adorable.




Abbey took charge of telling everyone how the food would be served. To bad the restaurant didn't get the memo.




Will was thrilled to see so many of his Taiwanese brothers.




It was almost too much Taiwanese cuteness in the room.




It was great to catch up with some of the cuties that we already knew and others that we have only known through Facebook.




Baby Wei is Tuck's best friend since they are in the nursery together in church.




It was wonderful to get to see everyone.

Growing Up Is Hard to Do

I'm going to deviate from the normal nature of this blog to give you an update about us. We usually post pictures of the kids, but sometimes I wonder if people think that we do anything besides take pictures of our boys.

Every couple of months I get an itch to look at a new house. I know that sounds silly, but I do. Abbey and I have always loved old houses and our town is full of beautiful old houses.

A couple of weeks ago, Abbey came home from a run and told me that there was a really neat craftsman that had been renovated that she ran past. So it wasn't long that I found myself on realtracs and looking at a beautiful renovated house.




Thankfully, our realtor is a friend and he doesn't seem to mind that we are constantly dreaming about our dream home. We went to look at the house and fell in love. It was built in 1901 and has been totally remolded. It is absolutely amazing.

The problem is that the price is too high in my opinion. WAY TOO HIGH! Other problems are wrong school zone, busy street, and no garage. But it is absolutely amazing house.

That got me to look at other houses in the historic district and I came upen another amazing house. This one, larger, lower priced and on a beautiful street. Brandon took us to see it yesterday.




The house was remolded as well ... In 1979. It was in good condition though and had a garage. The issue was again, the schools and the fact that it is an enormous house in need of updating. Just too much of a risk for us. The house was built in 1894.

Truthfully, sometimes I get discontent in what we've been blessed with. We have a beautiful home that is more than adequate for our family. We (mostly me) just get antsy to keep up with the Joneses.

We need to get into better financial place and also the thought of listing our home with four young sons is overwhelming. So we are going to stay out for now and enjoy what God has blessed us with. I think ultimately we are going to build a house that will be great for our family.

Christmas with Uncle Bill

The boys got great presents for Christmas. They weren't able to get Uncle
Bill's presents before Christmas so they had to wait.




Nashy was super excited to open another present.




Tuck really was excited too.




Uncle Bill got the boys a new TV for their room that we are going to mount on the wall.




The boys were so excited. The boys also got their own little stockings and they had socks, underwear, and a flashlight.

Everyone should have an Uncle Bill.