The First Day of School

Chae wrote:

Are you 8 years old?
Have you left the only life you have known and flown more than 9,000 miles with strangers?
Are you going through a 100% change in your lifestyle?
Are you in a place where no one understands what you are saying?
Are you in place that you don’t understand what others are saying to you?

Our son did all of the above and more!!

He came to “America” on 9/12.
He went to Walmart and got too excited at seeing all the toys and groceries.
He experienced his first worship service at church on 9/20.
His first day of school was on 9/23 (11 days after he got home).
His first trip to Great Clips for a haircut on 9/26

He did everything so bravely!!

Today, he met his cousin for the first time and received a batman as a gift. He buckled-up the batman for his safety on the way to the toy store. We decided to introduce him to Toys-R-Us today. We were afraid since the Walmart toy section was too overwhelming for him and he gets too excited every time we visit (we buy food there so we go often…).

Today at Toys-R-Us, we let him know he could pick two toys. We started walking around from the entrance to the end of the store. He studied each toy very carefully, very thoughtfully, very seriously, and very CALMLY. He picked two first and traded as he saw something he liked better. It was amazing how he did today. He has changed so much since 9/1. We had a lot of fun today!

Larry's Blues

Chae Wrote:

Joshua singing “Larry’s Blue” on a microphone made out of TinkerToys.

He loves to sing “If you like to talk to Tomatos…” a VeggieTales song and singing the blues with Larry the Cucumber also from VeggieTales. He giggles and laughs as he is singing and he also shakes his leg. Totally Elvis P.!!!!!

Todd Wrote:

Sorry it has taken awhile to post an update. We got home around 8:30pm Saturday night. After going without sleep for around 36 hours and spending 20+ hours in the air we were exhausted. You can see in the picture who got sleep and who didn’t. It was taken at the Bangkok airport around 3:30am. Joshua handled the trip really well considering it was his first time. It will take time for all of us to adjust and we have our ups and downs. We haven’t done much this week except let Joshua get used to his new home and to having a dog in the house. He has already tried out the pool even though it was cold, too cold for me. He liked the pool noodles Angela bought for him. We went to the park yesterday and then to get ice cream.

A special thanks to our friends from North Carolina for meeting us at the airport and staying the night with us. Joshua was reunited with a friend that he grew up with and to have someone he knew meet him at the airport and also to accompany him home was a big comfort to him but it was more a blessing to us. We can never thank them enough!

Signing Off From Bangkok!

Todd Wrote:

I’m writing this at 10:00pm on Friday (Bangkok Time). We leave for the airport at 2:00am so I doubt we will get much sleep. We arrive back in Lexington at 8:30pm Saturday. We didn’t do much today but work on packing all of our stuff and trying to keep below the weight limit. It’s hard to believe we have been here two weeks. Joshua is worried about the trip; he had a hard time falling to sleep tonight. I think he was afraid we wouldn’t wake him up even though we assured him we would through the social worker. His social workers visited us here at the hotel and brought lunch and a few more gifts for Joshua. You can really tell they sincerely loved him and will miss him a lot. They also brought us a 4GB thumb drive and 4 CDs full of Joshua’s pictures from when he was a baby, his birthday parties, and other special events in his life. We were really thankful to get those so that he will always have them. Also, several of the toys we brought with us for Joshua, he decided to leave for the other children (except the army men, he is taking those with him). He never hesitated in this decision. We thought that was really generous of him. We told him we would buy him the exact toys when we got home.

This is our last post until we get home. Again, I would like to thank everyone for their encouraging comments and prayers during our stay here. They were needed and very much appreciated.

Chae Wrote:

You Have Not Because You Ask Not

Absolutely for no reason, I didn’t even bribe him. All I did was put my face in front of his and point my finger to my cheek and got a noisy kiss. I’m still second but am slowly catching up. I will be the favorite one of these days.

Thank you for all of your comments and prayers, they made a difference.

We're Outta Here!

Todd Wrote:

We have Joshua’s visa and will be on the plane Saturday morning. We went to the visa interview this morning at 8:00am and waited for about 45 minutes for the interview to begin. It really wasn’t an interview at all; we were called to the window, signed some papers, and were told to come back at 3:00pm to pick up the visa. I went back and picked it up with no problems. We will spend the day tomorrow getting everything packed up and will leave for the airport at 2:00am Saturday morning. We’re ready to get home and get Joshua settled. We appreciate everyone’s prayers during our stay here. It has been an experience I will never forget.

Chae Wrote:

Crayola Color Explosion!!

I presented it to Joshua today at the embassy while we were waiting for his Visa interview. He rested his head on my shoulder with a sweet looking face while I was opening the package for him. He was clinging to my arm. Ahh, it was a very short 2 minutes of fame but it was all worth it.
We brought DVDs, toys and coloring books and I surprise him whenever he gets bored. I have run out of all my bribe items except I still have a Barrel of Monkeys. I don’t know if the Monkeys will work or not!!

Today, after the Visa interview, we went back to the facility for Joshua to see his friends and caregivers. We weren’t going to do that at first because the first goodbye was too emotional for all of them. But we realized that Joshua needs it as the time gets closer. We are glad we did it. We bought McDonalds for all the young ones and his friends. They had food together and his rival at the facility gave his t-shirt to Joshua because Joshua wanted to have it (they normally are not friendly to each other). They played some, wrestled some, and group hugged some. No one cried but I saw the sadness behind their smiles. My heart ached. It was thundering and raining while we were there. There was also heavy rain the first day we met Joshua and the director told us that they were very happy for him but also sad that he is leaving. They will miss him so much. She said “even the sky is crying.” The sky is crying again today.

We didn’t see Joshua afraid of rain and thunder during our time together but he was this evening. I think the reality finally hit him. That he is leaving all his mamas, friends, his only home and life he has known for 8 yrs. We didn’t see tears nor did he admit that he is scared but we saw it behind his smile. I look forward to the day when he will be able to freely express his feelings.

PS: Todd and I both have had colds all week and haven't felt well. We are worried that we will pass it on to Joshua which would make the plane ride home even more miserable for him. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

It's Official!

Todd Wrote:

Joshua is now officially part of our family! The DSDW meeting went well. We met our social workers at 8:40am and rode with them to the meeting. We arrived at the meeting around 9:30am and only had to wait around 20 minutes. The actual meeting with the board members only lasted around 10 minutes and everything went well. Joshua did very well. Since we are under the new rules, it takes a little longer to get the final documents from the board so we weren’t able to get Joshua’s visa today. We are scheduled for his visa interview tomorrow (Thurs) morning at 8:00am at the embassy. Hopefully, if all goes well, when we post tomorrow we will have Joshua’s visa in hand. We have been here almost two weeks and are ready to go home.

Chae Wrote:

The kiss that almost stole the DSDW thunder.

This evening mommy got a noisy kiss on the chic, hugs, and “I love you” with a welcome invitation to join the bed time story with Dad. Every evening, Todd has been reading to Joshua from Todd’s NIV Bible and we join hands together to pray. Then I leave the bed and Todd continues with a bed time story from a Children’s Bible. To help us to bond, we both have been laying down with him but normally I wasn’t welcome. But this evening, he made ROOM for me to join in with a hand patting on the bed and gesture to “come on”. The reason? Not the DSDW but the new pool float. Oh, he was happy over the DSDW approval but for Joshua, the float definitely stole the DSDW’s thunder. He not only enjoys his new float he is sleeping with it.

DSDW Tomorrow

Todd Wrote:

Yesterday was a tough day for all of us but especially for Joshua. The social workers came in the evening and helped us communicate with each other. They spent a couple hours with us and then we had dinner together. This was a big help for Joshua and us. Today was much better. The social workers came again today to watch Joshua swim and he was very proud of himself.

Tomorrow is our DSDW board meeting. We have to be there at 9:00am which will be 10:00pm Tuesday evening in the US. We were told we will be going second which means we should be done fairly early. This was surprising because most of the time the older children go towards the end which would have meant waiting a couple hours. We had hoped to be able to get the documents we need from the board meeting and go to the embassy in the afternoon but we were told that because we are under the new rules we won’t receive the final document until late in the evening so we will go to the embassy first thing the next morning. When I was there last week they told me they could finish everything the same day. I hope that is the case and we can fly out as scheduled early Saturday morning. We have a very early flight and will have to leave the hotel around 2:30am.

The picture is of the hotel door man. They are making the Thai sign for hello/thank you. He is a very lively person and is always talking to Joshua. Joshua has come to look forward to seeing him every day. As soon as he sees Joshua coming he yells his name and they shake hands. All of the hotel staff are extremely friendly and helpful and have made our stay here easier.