Photos From the Past Weeks...

Our Yard Is Covered in a Blanket of White

It was so exciting for us Southern Californians. It hailed (the biggest pieces Colette has ever seen) during dinner last night. It lasted a long time so the kids all went outside and road boogie boards down our hill. We hope there's not a lot of damage to our yard plants or local crops. But boy was it fun! The fun lasted until everyone got wet and cold then we threw all 3 kids into the tub (Hazel the Beagle refused to get bathed).

Ahhh, the sweet sounds of sleep...

Those of you who have never dealt with children with sleep issues may not fully understand our pure joy. Rachel is finally sleeping in her own bed, in her own room 8:00 p.m.- 6:00 a.m. Mom and dad could no longer stand the all night battle for the bed. A couple of weeks ago we all had colds. Rachel would snort and we would wake up. We would cough and she would wake up. Enough is enough. We decided to move her to her own space (and out of ours). We had only 2 rough nights of adjustment. But for the past week she has been doing great. If she wakes in the middle of the night, she puts herself back to sleep within 20 minutes. We think that's pretty good and Rachel seems to be more refreshed and happy in the mornings. So here's a photo of her smiling in her sleeper PJs.

Big Brother New Year's Resolutions...

We celebrated a "New York" New Year (a reasonable 9:00 p.m. our time). The boys wrote a joint resolution...

"No babies aloud but Rachel can come in if only she does not destroy our Lego creations."

Sounds like another overly ambitious resolution to us. We wish all our friends a healthy and happy new year!

Happy Holidays to All!

We have been having a busy and fun Christmas. Grandma Mary and Grandpa made the trip out here to visit and enjoy our chaotic holiday. We've been to some great parties and sat down for a chat with Santa (Rachel was not fond of Santa). The International Adoption Group party was particularly special this year with Rachel being able to spend time with some of her fellow adoptees. God bless you all as you venture into 2008!

A Visit with Cousin Jason

We took Rachel on her longest car ride since we adopted her. We all went to visit Jason at City of Hope Medical Center about 1 1/2 hours away. Rachel slept most of the time in the car. The grounds at City of Hope are beautiful with lots of space for the kids to run. Jason is on the mend and really seems to be in a good place both spiritually and physically. He enjoys feeding the tree squirrels. The photo is of Jason feeding Rachel the peanuts he keeps on hand for the squirrels... sorry squirrels. The boys liked picking apples just their size (we're still eating them). Rachel liked the putting green next to Jason's cabin.We tried not to wear Jason out so we left before dinner. We hope to have Jason home for Christmas. Keep those prayers coming.

Fall fun!

Finally our mornings have a chilly bite in the air. The kids enjoy "seeing their breath" when they head off to school. Halloween went by in a flash (especially for Captain Hook, Peter Pan and "Stinkerbell"). We had a quiet Thanksgiving with Colette's brother, Uncle Curt, and his family. Aunt Simone cooked her turkey in a brown paper bag, greased with Crisco on the inside. It tasted awesome. Rachel just toddled around while the boys played "boy stuff". Jeff wasn't too thrilled when Colette informed him that the Christmas lights go up this weekend (it's never too soon for Xmas lights according to Colette). Happy fall and almost Christmas to everyone.

Smokey Days and Walking Babies

We have been closed in the house with the air filters blasting Sunday-Wed. The fires aren't close but the Santa Ana winds blew the smoke and ash all the way here. Today seems clear enough to let the kids outside for a bit. While we've been closed in Rachel has been walking all over the place. She's toddling back and forth between us and soooooo proud of herself. She also cut 3 more teeth bringing the total up to 4 up top and 4 down below. Now she really can say "cheese" in the 100's of photos we take of her.

Happy Birthday Rachel!

On October 2 our baby will be one. My how time flies when you've only been with her for 1 1/2 months. She's healthy and happy and full of spunk (a good thing in a house of men). She's starting to take a few assisted steps. Oh, and she LOVED her birthday cake.

Happy birthday baby Rachel!!!!!

A Home Under Siege...

We call her "Baby Godzilla". She's adept at taking down large cities (Lego creations) in a single wave of her arm or swish of her backside. That's right folks, Rachel is on the move. She still whines when Colette leaves the room. But now she can find her. She's crawling and pulling herself up to stand. She was just waiting to achieve all the important milestones in front of us... her forever family. We think she says "Dada" and "dog". She knows baby sign language for "more" and "up". She waves bye bye and hello to everyone, claps her hands, and gives slimy kisses. She a little sponge when it comes to mimicking us. Just a note: Jeff's freaky leg bites are healed and he is now able to resume working on the house (shown here sealing the new tile with Rachel helping). He probably should have milked his injuries a little longer to avoid getting back to reality.

Our Nephew Continues His Battle

If you haven't read about our nephew, Jason, please see previous posts regarding his battle against Leukemia. He was just admitted earlier this week to City of Hope in Duarte, CA to continue his battle. This will be a very tough time as he will undergo radiation, then more chemo then on Wed., September 5 Jason will receive a bone marrow transplant from his sister, Nicole. Please pray for them both to find strength this coming week. Jeff and I haven't been able to spend nearly as much time with Jason as we would have liked to this summer. We get very nervous about giving him germs from our little germ carriers at home. We know, however, that he knows we love him, we're praying for him and we know he can beat this disease.

We are so grateful...

We are grateful for friends and family who came through for us this summer. We feel truly blessed by those who have touched our lives and continue to do so. Thank you to those who helped us in big ways and those who lent a hand to make our lives just a little easier, less worrisome and so enriched. If we forget to thank you please know that your generosity and caring ways are not forgotten... we're just a little sleep deprived.



Thank you to our families. You did a beautiful job decorating our house with so much pink we thought the Pepto Bismal factory exploded. Also thanks for loving our boys when we were too far away to physically do so. They had a great time with you and they are still divulging your family secrets to us at the dinner table.



Thank you to our friends who helped us with the final push for our final house inspection. Jeff had injured his back and in order to switch the bedrooms around (thus making room for a baby) we had to depend upon your help. Rachel's room is beautiful and so is our new master suite.



Thank you to friends who helped pull the weight while we were in China. T-ball Coach Bruce went above and beyond the call of duty (we hope the six-pack helped). Play dates with friends were a great distraction for the boys.

Thank you for the post-adoption support. Thank you to our MOMS Club friends and EPC friends for the great dinners some of you provided. Rachel is still working through her "Velcro Baby" issues and it's impossible for Colette to cook hot meals with her hanging around (literally).



Thank you to our neighbors who had to find new and creative ways to keep Hazel the Beagle from jumping the fence. If Jeff builds the fence up any higher, we'll have to get another permit from the city.



Thank you to all those who made donations. To Faith and Hope and Ryley for all your girly hand-me-downs. Rachel loves wearing all things pink and lavender and your old clothes are perfect for her. To our MOMS Club friends who donated supplies for Rachel's orphanage in China- the director was so grateful. And other friends who answered so many of our S.O.S.'s for baby stuff and tiny clothes (we think she's gained 3 pounds since we received her- all that yummy American food and proper nutrition do wonders you know).

The past few months have been an emotional blur for us. Without the support of family and friends we would have really struggled through the tough times. We feel so blessed by all of you and your influence in our lives. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Colette, Jeff and Clan

First Day of School

We were all really looking forward to the first day of school. The boys each entered their classrooms like old pros. Julian has Gabriel's teacher from last year so he's very familiar with the routine etc. Gabriel has many of his favorite classmates from last year in this year's class. Unfortunately, now Colette has several hours in the morning when Rachel's main source of entertainment is gone. Maybe she'll warm up to the dog.

Rachel is settling in...

Rachel acts like she's always been here. She even lets Colette out of her sight when the boys really distract her. She LOVES all the food we have given her. She's almost starting to crawl and her chest congestion sounds a lot better.

Images of China

Here are some additional memories of our trip to China...

Trying to get the family back on track

Yesterday was Gabe's 7th birthday. He lost his 5th tooth in the middle of the night. His favorite birthday gifts were Star Wars Legos sets. Rachel is still getting up and staying up in the middle of the night. We're trying to keep her and us awake as much as possible during the day. She still is wrestling with her cold. Jeff is recovering from a minor medical procedure... long story short- he got bit twice on the knee by an unknown Chinese bug and the bites became inflamed and infected to the point of needing to be drained by our doctor. We'll get the results of the culture tomorrow. Grandpa and Grandma Mary did a great job holding down the fort while we were gone.

Home at last!

Guangzhou, China to Hong Kong to San Francisco to LAX plus a 1 1/2 hour drive and... we're home. It was so wonderful to be picked up at the airport by Colette's brother, Mark and family. They brought our boys along too (see photo). So much love for such a little girl. So the good ol' USA has a brand new citizen...

Rachel Celeste Xinjin (Shin Jin)

Health Status: Eating American food and loving it. Photo is of her having her first cold pizza (at 2:00 a.m.) with daddy. Has a chest cold and ear infection.

Happiness status: Very pleased with her entertaining brothers, not too sure about the dog. Very displeased that our little house is so vast and mommy keeps hiding somewhere in it ( to do laundry and such).

Sleep Status: What sleep? Jeff and Colette take turns as much as Rachel allows. It's 1:00 a.m. here but she lets us know that it's day time in China.

Thank goodness she's cute... even at 1:00 a.m.

Blessed by the monks

We took her to a Buddhist temple to be blessed by the monks. The temple was beautiful and so was the ceremony.

The Many Moods of Mei Mei

She has gained 2 pounds since we got her. She's also getting stronger and more vocal... in a good way.

Showing off her 2 teeth (and a noodle stuck to her cheek).

She was not thrilled with wearing the pretty purple shoes we bought her.

Happy with daddy... aslong as she's looking at mommy.

Ready for a swim. Thanks for the swimsuit Amber.