These pictures are from our LAST weekend in China! We definitely had a great time, but at this point we were very ready to show Ben our home, sleep in our own beds again, and also eat in our own kitchen! (going out to eat for every meal here with 3 young kids was somewhat stressful at times as you can imagine!) The weather was really nice the last weekend so we decided to lay low and hit up the pool. We very quickly learned at the pool that Ben has NO fear when it comes to the water- so I know who I need to watch this summer ;) He loves splashing around and has the most hilarious "swimming face" that he makes when he is pretending to swim with Dan. When we were in Shaiman we got some matching shirts for the boys so naturally I tried to take some pictures of them. You can see in the pictures that Cole's shirt says "di di" which means little brother, Jake's shirt says, "ge ge" which means big brother, and Ben's shirt says, "Made in China." :) All the local families here had a blast reading the shirts and following the boys around. I can't tell you how many people looked at us and with big smiles and a laugh say "3 boys!" Most families here have just one child, at most 2, so we look like quite the crazy family over here!
This is a "Thank you" I wrote on our China Facebook group when we returned home. I'm not sure if down the road we will have this Facebook group so I wanted to post it here so I remembered ALL the wonderful people who played a part in helping us transition home with Ben. Our China trip was SUCH a great experience but definitely tiring with the boys. I honestly can't imagine not bringing them, but I know bringing them definitely made the trip a little more complicated (going out to eat, adjusting to sleep, etc). I think both would have been hard, and in the end, I am still glad we decided to bring them. And I'm so glad we brought Dan's dad :) We NEVER would have made it through with out him! So, here is the Thank you I wrote and the last of our pictures from China!!
Sitting here in our own home with our three boys sleeping just doesn't seem like reality. These past 3 weeks have been such a whirl wind and this experience has been one of the best and hardest things we have ever done. And to top it all off, after traveling for over 24 hours with flights and connections, we came home to a house FULL of food, groceries, snacks, COFFEE, decorations, chalk messages, gifts from parties we sadly had to miss while in China, fun welcome home signs, flowers, and my favorite soap from some of our sweetest friends. And THEN our friends also FINISHED THE BASEBOARDS IN OUR HOME WHILE WE WERE GONE. I just can't even you guys. We have felt so incredibly loved and supported by our family, friends, neighbors, and church through this ENTIRE adoption and this just tops everything off.
I was looking over the blog post that I wrote over two years ago when we announced that we were adopting and there were two quotes that stuck out to me from that post. The first is Tozer's: "God is looking for people through whom He can do the impossible. What a pity we plan to do only the things that we can do by ourselves." Oh friends this couldn't be truer of our adoption. God has showed us over and over again that He will give us His supernatural strength, and He will even provide MORE support and encouragement that we need. This has been displayed through the abundance of prayers, encouragement, gifts, and financial support we have received by all of you.
And my favorite quote that I think I will cling to for the rest of my life when I think about our sweet Ben and adopting him is this one: "So, if you are called to adopt, count yourself greatly blessed. As bearers of the Good News, called to adoption, we get to participate in His magnificent plan to redeem what this world has trampled on. What a merciful and loving God we serve. And if the journey gets difficult- and IT WILL- just remember that it's His thing, this orphan care movement. And He will finish what He has started. Because these children are His beloved."
This. All of this and more. I count it a privilege to document our experience because it displays what only God can do- not what Dan and I can do. We are so thankful He has called us to play a part in the orphan care movement and feel incredibly inadequate to do so, but as we stated before, this is His thing. And He will give us all we need to care for His sweet kiddos.
So thank you. Thank you to
Larry Cinadr for coming on this trip with us and enduring nights of holding and walking with a fussy and crying Cole. For bringing us countless Starbucks at 5am. For the late night runs to Walmart to get milk. For sacrificing your back to carry our kids and luggage. For giving up your sleep, coffee, American food (even though you embraced the noodles with me!) and many other comforts to help us on our journey. You are SO loved!
To
Lifeline Children's Services- our adoption agency that prepared us in every possible way. For the countless prayers they prayed for us over the phone and how they held our hand every step of the way. We had the best experience with them and we are so thankful for them!
I know I've said it before, and I'm SURE it's the mom coming out in me, but thank you everyone who brought us groceries and who has already signed up to bring us meals these next couple weeks! To
Becca Everding and
Rachael Schupbach who decorated our home and brought us groceries and meals and also our sweet neighbors who also brought us groceries and meals before we even stepped foot into our home, to
Andy Everding and
Brian Schupbach who finished our BASEBOARDS while we were gone, to
Catherine Johnson who set up a meal plan for us. This jet lag is WAY harder than I anticipated- especially on the little ones- and those thoughtful details have been so helpful in many ways.
There are just too many people to thank who have provided financially for us- but you ALL know who you are! From the many fundraisers we had by friends in New York, Chicago, Ohio, and Indiana, to the Amazon and Starbucks gift cards, to the car seats, cribs, and to the families who felt called to give because they care for the orphans and loved our little man. And to the many families who entrusted me to take your photos and in turn supported our adoption in that way- you have have been such a blessing to me because I was able to do something I love to help bring Ben home! We are beyond thankful for all of you and truly could not have completed this journey without you.
And lastly but of course not least, to
Dan Cinadr. It has been such a privilege to go through this process with him - whether it's getting up in the middle of the night to rock Ben while I sleep, patiently holding him as he cries, tickling and playing karate with him (Ben's new favorite thing haha), enduring early consulate appointments after a night with the stomach bug, giving me 30 minutes to shop alone at the H&M in China for a new shirt
🙂 (He knows my love language and would have given me an afternoon if he could have!), and encouraging me in my new role as a mom of three boys- there isn't ANY other person I would rather have by my side as we went through this process. I have felt so loved and blessed by him.
I know I haven't mentioned everyone individually and I SO wish I could. Our wonderful family has been such a huge support to us and there are literally hundreds of cards, texts, emails, and phone calls we have gotten over the past two years from friends- all of which we will keep and can't wait to show Ben some day. This adoption has been so much bigger than our small family and I am so excited to show Ben just how much he was loved by all of you when he sees that there were SO many people involved in his adoption.
I hope you all get the message- we are so incredibly thankful for all of you and your support. "Praise the Lord for He has done excellent things; Let this be known throughout the earth." Isaiah 12:5
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