by April Kelley
Last week, Benji and I made our way downtown to see his kidney doc. It had been a blissful couple of months since we’d seen him last, with only the monthly blood draws to remind us of the seriousness of our dear boy’s condition. He “looks” so healthy on the outside; it’s natural for us to excuse away the little things that begin to … Read More Expectant Hope
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by April Kelley
Welcome back to our family’s blog! I’ll admit it. I’m an avid Facebook user. Don’t judge me! It is the place I most conveniently store my thoughts, surface emotions and memories. Over the years, it has become a digital scrapbook of sorts. Until now, that’s also been where I’ve kept my updates on two things very near and dear to my heart: all … Read More Welcome Back!
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by April Kelley
While we waited the many months to bring the girls home, I wrote a couple of blog posts introducing our girls. Rick and I realized today that we had not yet done that for Silas. So, it is with great delight that we introduce you to our Son. 🙂 Meet Silas James! Silas was born on April 15th, 2013, in Zhengzhou City, China, in … Read More Meet Silas James
by April Kelley
There is a biblical narrative in Genesis 32 where Jacob is engaged for a night in a divine wrestling match. 24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. 25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out … Read More My Adoption Hero
by April Kelley
Hao La. This phrase was used much in our time while in China – it means, “It’s ok.” April and I were wanting to learn some Chinese phrases that would be a particular comfort to our children and we were told that ‘hao la’ is equivalent to our ‘it’s ok’. When the girls would cry through the night, “Hao la.” When Faith would not … Read More Everybody Say, “Hao La!”
by April Kelley
Our trip home started at 4 p.m. on Thursday afternoon (EST), 5 a.m. China time. We had already packed the night before and had little to do the morning we left but to set the luggage out for the bellhops to pick up and take downstairs. Our van left at 7:00 a.m. on a beautiful morning in Guangzhou. We arrived at the Guangzhou airport, said … Read More Home. Sweet Home.
by April Kelley
April writes: It’s our last night in China! And today was such a great day. We woke up this morning to gorgeous weather…sunny skies and fair temperatures. The weather was so beautiful that we decided to venture out to Shamian Island. Many adoptive families remember this place fondly as it is where they stayed in years past while their adoptions were in the final … Read More Last night in China!
by April Kelley
The U.S. Consulate appointment went well this morning. Faith fussed a bit on the ride over but all-in-all, we were thankful to get through the process in relative short order. The girls will not become U.S. citizens until the plane touches down in Detroit on Friday evening. It was good to see the American flag at the U.S. Consulate. There were hundreds of people … Read More Two nights to go!
by April Kelley
Tuesday evening has come, just three more nights until we leave for home! Tomorrow we go to the U.S. Consulate here in Guangzhou to take ‘the oath’ whereby we swear to love and care for our new daughters. The little ones have been such a wonderful joy and I believe that they have adjusted more quickly to us than we have adjusted to them. … Read More Total sweetness!
by April Kelley
We had the medical checkup yesterday (Monday) for the girls. The children were taken to four different stations to check vitals, be examined, weighed, etc. For children over two years old, the final station is where their blood is drawn to test for TB. The clinic does not allow the parents back when the blood is drawn so all you can hear is their … Read More A rough day at the clinic
by April Kelley
I was unable to add pictures to the post yesterday. Here are a few we’ve taken in the past 48 hours. Hope is very much a drama queen. A hungry drama queen – she has food in most of her pictures!
by April Kelley
We have made it to the final week. We arrived safely in Guangzhou yesterday. April and I have been exhausted – we were still trying to get adjusted time wise, the girls have have taken a little getting used to and the busyness of toddling ‘twins’ has made for a combination that has really thrown us for a loop. Graceann has been a champ, she … Read More Final Week in China
sojourning His path 