Just Some Pics

It's Amanda here...just going to update some pictures here for my mom.

Below: One big happy family

 Below: Daniel and Jaiden smiling for a picture on Easter!

 Below: Eric and Brandon on Easter!

 Below: The 2 cuties all smiles to try on some b-ball uniforms!

 Below: Trying to cool off...see how Eric's getting the hand of being a Hood?

 (aka learning the b-ball ways)

JOSH HOOD HONORED FOR ESSAY

In the Longview area, there is an annual writing competition for all Juniors. It is called Laws Of Life and is basically a free writing competition where the students write about some "Law" they have learned during their life. Josh chose to write about his buddy from the BMH China camp this summer. He was chosen as one of the top 2 from his school and then moved on to compete against all the other juniors from the other area schools. LeTourneau University and the Longview News Journal support this competition and had judges read all of the finalists from the many different schools. They had a big dinner to announce all of the winners and Josh Hood won second place over all!!! Everyone that heard his story and compared it to the first place winner thought he should have won 1st place, but we are very proud of him regardless. The prize was a $4000 scholarship. Following is his winning masterpiece:

Hope for the Hopeless

The dreaded moment has arrived. We knew from the start this day would creep up, but it all seems so short. The bus is here. Our hands are seemingly touching through glass, emotion flowing through streams of tears as our hearts break. We realize we may never see each other’s faces again, but yet a connection remains as his bus fades from sight. I then realize I am not alone. Seventeen others are going through the very same thing as I, yet my heart feels the sensation to scream. I am shattered, not out of anger but out of pain for the teenage orphan whom I befriended and loved for one week.

Rewind with me and imagine for a moment what life was like for Li Wei, this 15 year old Chinese orphan whom I befriended. He had a fairly normal childhood. Of course he had his ups and downs, trying to maintain good grades while meandering through the challenges of middle school. Completely oblivious to tragedy and strife, he felt safe and secure his whole life. Then the unimaginable happened as he was abruptly awoken in the middle of the night. His heart plummeted as he was told his parents were seriously injured in a mining accident. A thousand thoughts raced through his mind as he approached the hospital. Tears of dreadful anticipation were soon met with a blow as the doctor uttered the words, “Your parents have already passed.” Overcome by feelings, he cried alone, with no one to comfort him. He is eventually forced to leave behind all that he had ever known and go to a place of uncertainty, an orphanage. As the weeks turned into months, he began to feel somewhat accustomed to this new life, but he constantly longed to be loved. He slowly became reserved and shy, especially toward strangers. Soon after, he found himself arriving at a summer camp run by a group of seemingly crazy people with white faces. At first he found it peculiar to be paired up with another orphan, a foreigner, and a Chinese translator. As the week progressed, however, he surprisingly found himself beginning to change. He discovered enjoying simple activities like coloring, which brought back many long lost memories. Suddenly he found himself feeling very connected to this, now not-so-strange American. Love, something he had not experienced in a long time, was suddenly becoming familiar once again. A conflict resulted, however, for unbeknown to him, his heart was soon to break once again. For that bus, which brought him to this week full of love and hope, will soon take him back to what he tried to forget, the orphanage. Nevertheless, he felt transformed both inside and out, by bonding with a complete stranger.

After going through such a roller coaster of emotions with me, you are able to get a glimpse of the life of Li Wei, a Chinese orphan, with whom I was able to spend a week on a mission trip. We had an incredible time together singing songs, playing Uno, and just being there for each other. Some might have thought of the language barrier as an obstacle, but we used it as an opportunity to play many games of soccer and catch. One thing will always ring in my memory. He approached me one night before going to bed and said sincerely, “Wo ai ni” (I love you). In speaking those words, a complete stranger radically transformed my life forever. Throughout the length of just five days, a complete stranger had become like a brother to me.

In the summer of 2011, I got to experience firsthand what my orphan buddy, as well as countless others, had to endure and suffer through their entire lives. It was truly incredible to see the hange from shy and reserved, to happy and outgoing. Hearts were mended from years of the absence of love, lives were transformed through the power of God, and American foreigners were made to see the longing these Chinese orphans have to be loved. To fly across the globe was an experience in and of itself, but to be a part of this orphan’s life was simply priceless.

In reality, however, the pain is real. Those tears cried as the bus faded from sight are an almost haunting reminder of how delicate and significant life is. The future of my 15-year- old little buddy is not bright. He will have to live with the label “orphan” hovering over his head for the rest of his life. The grim reality is that most likely he will never get a job outside of the orphanage, and most likely he will never again experience the same kind of unconditional love.

There are literally millions of children who, like Li Wei, end up spending their entire lives without the love and support a family provides. Consequently, many of these hopeless will remain so, unless driven by compassion, we give them real hope through the power of adoption. My two youngest siblings were also once orphans in China. They were both abandoned at birth; one due to gender and one due to a minor disability. I thank God that my parents took the step of faith to adopt. They have greatly impacted and blessed my family in countless ways, and I pray that many others will consider the calling and blessing of adoption. To give hope to the hopeless, family to those without, and love to the unloved, is a challenge only for those willing to take a risk that will radically transform their life, as it did mine.

ADJUSTING AT HOME:
This is our 6th day at home, and we're adjusting fairly well. Sorry it took us so long to get some family pix up. Most of us are close to sleeping through the night already. Brandon is the best sleeper...but Eric is still waking up quite early. I'm still a little brain dead evidently though, as I have been noticing things every day that would be good to post about, and right now I can't think of any of them. One of the biggest changes we are noticing as a family is how busy the bathroom is with 9 family members! That's why Josh wanted to post the funny pix of the bathroom sign. We actually took that pix in China, but it aptly applies to our own home!

FAMOUS LOCAL "WORLD TRAVELER" WINS ESSAY CONTEST:
Watch for a post of Josh's winning essay about his China mission trip last summer. Josh, our 17 year old son, connected with his 15 year old orphan buddy at camp and has quite a story to tell. We hope to post his complete essay very soon. Watch for that post and enjoy. We're so proud of him.

The Family

HOME SWEET HOME

We arrived home after a long trip and are glad to be home! We have a lot of adjusting to do and will post more later but wanted to let you know that we arrived fine. Thank you all for your prayers!
Sorry no pictures, too tired. We will do some later.

FINAL UPDATE FROM CHINA

END IN SIGHT

Friday, March 16 marks the end of nearly 3 weeks in China. It has been an incredible trip in many ways. What started with Andrew, Amy and Mike leaving White Oak concludes with Andrew, Amy, Mike, Eric and Brandon returning to White Oak. Today we submitted Eric and Brandon’s paperwork for them to get their US Visa and their documentation to become US Citizens. They will become US Citizens when we arrive at the airport in San Francisco late Friday night. Our travel plans are as follows:

· leave Guangzhou at 10:20 pm Friday March 16 (9:20 am CST); Arrive in Hong Kong at 10:15 pm;
· leave Hong Kong at 1:00 am Saturday March 17; Arrive in San Francisco 10:00 pm Friday March 16;
· leave San Francisco 12:35 am Saturday March 17; Arrive in Dallas at 5:45 am.

As you think of us, please pray for our flights. Also pray that we would get a little sleep on the trip. Thank you to those of you that have said you have been praying. We look forward to seeing many of you in the coming days. Sorry no pictures today. Lord willing, the next pictures we post should have some of all 9 of us!

We want to thank Josh and Amanda for faithfully posting these posts and pictures every day since we cannot access blog sites from China. We would like to also thank both of our parents (Urban & Ardella Gathman and Harold and Pat Hood) for their help in watching the 4 Hoods that did not come with us – you were a valuable part of this trip.

Pictures of "THE HIKE"

Above: taking a much needed break!

Above: enduring the LONG hike UP and UP and UP

Above: Mike and Amy on the hike

Above: Brandon and the Chinese squat

Above: The Three Musketeers

UPDATE

Today our only “engagement” was a mid-afternoon appointment to test the boys TB results. Thankfully they both passed without having to do a chest X-ray. We took the morning to go to a park that we had been to when we were here with Jaiden. The pictures are from our trek. Anything look familiar Jaiden??

TRIVIAL TIDBITS

· On this trip we’ve used planes, bullet trains, subways, taxis, black taxis (“illegal” taxi), metro taxis, vans, cable cars, city bus, and our own 2 feet!

· Squatty potty: I (Amy) try to avoid these, but have had to use 2 or 3 so far. It always feels like a first time, as you just never get used to those. Quite frankly, the western toilets (where available) are usually much dirtier than squatties…apparently the Chinese can’t stand to sit on them, so they “hover”and make a mess! It’s very annoying. Ok, I’m sure that’s TMI (too much information)!

· Toothbrushing 101 is coming along well. Unfortunately, now that we’ve established one method, it’s time to go home and learn a new one. i.e. We can’t use tap water here, so we boil the water to rinse our mouth and rinse our toothbrush. They still do a LOT of spitting since they don’t like the taste of Crest. Definitely going to get to the Dentist soon!

· Eric and Andrew (and sometimes Brandon) constantly play the “winner” game. Anything and everything can be turned into a race…going up the steps, getting to the elevator, etc. etc., so the first one there says “winner”! On the LONG trip home (in airports, etc.) we’re going to have to eliminate this game though, as we don’t want to lose track of anyone!

· Brandon and Eric enjoy talking at bedtime when the lights are out. We can’t seem to shut them up. And they choose to not understand what the word “whisper” means. I’m sure there is some good bonding going on, but Andrew is worried how he will ever get to sleep once we are home (as all 3 will share a room). We may just have to put them to bed early so they can get their talk time in. :)

· Religion: Brandon is being exposed to both Protestant and Catholic Christianity. So he bows his head while we pray…and then crosses himself when finished (just like Eric does).

· Airport security: If you want to sneak something through security in the US, put it in your carry on. In China, put it in your shoes. i.e. They don’t make you take off your shoes to go through security in China…but they will confiscate your PLASTIC toy nerf gun! It was meant to be Brandon’s birthday gift, so that was extra frustrating. I told them to take it home and give it to their kids instead of throwing it away!

· Being pushy and having no personal space is just a way of life here. And if you’re going to use the subway, you better join right in.

· Lots of people stare at us and some tend to stare at Andrew (the blond boy) in particular. Today some teenagers took a picture of him. What was funny though, is that the teenage boy who was pointing at Andrew’s hair had orange hair himself (not to mention several earrings)! We decided that if anyone stared at us longer than “4” seconds, we would smile and say Hi or Ni hao.

· God’s grace is sufficient…and we are so blessed to know Jesus! Adoption has so many correlations with the gospel… We are all orphans until we meet Jesus… We can’t reach our full potential without our Father’s help… We may have had a rough beginning, but we were chosen… Assimilating into a family (or into God’s family) is a process and takes time. Bonding doesn’t usually happen instantly…we need to intentionally spend time together. The future may be a big question mark, but we know Who holds the future. Walking by faith means continually stepping out there even when you don’t know where the next step will land. Yes, adoption and the Christian life have many correlations!

Zoo Pictures

Above: the whole gang

Above: the famous panda bear

Above: Amy and the boys

Above: an elephant ;)

UPDATE

Today was a free day. So we spent the day visiting the Guangzhou zoo. This was Brandon’s choice as he had never been to a zoo before. Both boys greatly enjoyed themselves and took lots of pictures. It also seemed to wear out all 3 boys which is helpful. At times it can be challenging keeping 3 sixth graders occupied and reasonably controlled in a hotel room. They are all doing great but it will be good to be home so they can burn energy playing basketball, jumping on the trampoline, riding skateboards/ripsticks, etc.

It has been fun this trip experiencing the public transportation systems in Beijing, Shanghai, and now Guangzhou (taxis, subways, city buses and bullet trains). Guangzhou has a fairly new subway system and is relatively easy to use. It is amazing how many people they move each day – the subways are quite full even in the middle of the day. One day we were riding in Guangzhou close to rush hour and it was pretty full, but our guide said it would be even worse in another ½ hour – packed so that you could hardly move – we were glad to not be part of that. It is also amazing how many people are walking and riding bikes. It is little wonder why you don’t see many overweight people here with all the exercise they get walking around!

We are waiting for the results of Eric and Brandon's TB tests (go back on Wednesday). Our final steps are Thursday we have an appointment at the US Consulate to do paperwork to request Eric and Brandon’s Visas for entry into the US and then Friday we will receive their passports with the needed Visa.

PICTURES

Above: Brandon, Andrew, and Eric skyping us back home!!

Above: Eric getting a check up

Above: Brandon getting a check up

Above: Brandon getting his eyesight checked

Above: Andrew with a (chinese) basketball. Surprise, Surprise!! :)

MEDICALS AND SHOTS

Ok, this was not a fun experience. It was frustrating, and I’m so glad to be done with it. Fortunately the boys only needed 2 shots each…flu and tetanus. But they tried to say they needed 3 or 4!…until I argued. It’s not supposed to be debatable. It should be black and white…only what they need. So it was very frustrating to even have to attempt to argue. Oh, and they got their TB test done today. So we go back on Wed. to have it checked. (Eric didn’t like any of the shots.) Please pray that they won’t show a reaction and have to have a chest x-ray. Their medical exam was also rather intrusive to the boys, so we are all glad to have this day behind us. We plan to go to the zoo tomorrow (trusting it won’t rain) which will be a first for Brandon. Had a brief English lesson today and realize we have a long road ahead of us. On a scale of 1 to 5, I’d say Eric is about a 2 or 2.5 and Brandon is barely a 1. Both are teachable though, so I know it will come with time and intentionality.

TOLERANCE: Two weeks is normally the longest a typical adoption trip takes. Ours (with 2 boys in 2 provinces) is almost 3 weeks. Needless to say, my tolerance level is dwindling. I guess this is preparing us for going home. Appreciate your prayers for patience, endurance, continued good health, no TB reactions, and 4 more days of bonding with our boys before we get back to a full house.

Church in China

On Shamian Island in Guanzhou.

These observations belong to Andrew… Today we went to Shamian island, that is about 30 minutes from our hotel. We went shopping at a few different stores on the side of the road there. One of which is named Andy’s shop. I got a picture in front of the sign. The things I miss most of my everyday life includes playing Basketball in the driveway, playing basketball on the trampoline, just doing different things on the trampoline, and, kind of a weird one, the music I listen to… K-love and KVNE. Probably most of all, although even if I was in White Oak I still wouldn’t be able to participate in, is my Basketball team. Every day of the week I would look forward to our 9:00, 10:00, and 11:00 o clock games (but don’t mention the practices, I’m just joking, they were challenging but fun). The league just ended so I’m sure all of my friends/teammates are missing it to. The food isn’t that bad, but I do like dumplings better than noodles.The now Chinese/American,Andrew

CHURCH IN CHINA

We went to Shamian Island today in hopes that we could attend the same church we had attended on Jaiden’s adoption trip. Fortunately, they still meet there and provide a service that is in both Chinese and English. It was packed again. Although we did not hear the “gospel”, it had a good message and a good testimony by a lady who had become a believer. After the service we discovered a wonderful bookstore that the church apparently runs where we found several Chinese/English Bibles and books for way cheaper than we could in the US. Then we shopped some more and found a great deal on a Samsonite suitcase to help us take our extra Bibles and books home. J Shamian Island is definitely the place to buy luggage! We felt “at home” on Shamian Island because this is a little Island (just across the Pearl River from Guangzhou) that caters to adoptive families. This is where our hotel was on our 2 previous adoption trips, so we knew our way around fairly well. We came across a man that looked familiar and asked him if he was Andy (one of the shop owners). Instead, he was Jordan (another one of the shop owners that we had met on a previous trip.) You’ll never guess who recognized him! Amy…the one who can’t remember anything! He then led us to his shop to give the kids a free calligraphy picture of their name and meaning. We shopped at his shop and visited, and he helped teach the boys how to use one of his toys. We bought one and have enjoyed perfecting its use here in our hotel room. Fortunately, it hasn’t broken anything… yet! Jordan (the shop owner) is a Christian, so we had that in common too. Then we intentionally ate at Lucy’s, for old-time-sake, and picked up a few souvenirs before heading back to our hotel. Unfortunately, it was quite cool and rainy, so we aren’t warming up in Guangzhou like we thought we would be.

Pictures

Sorry these are so much later than the post but finally have time to put them on. The descriptions are on the last post. Hope you like them!! i did! :) (amanda)

Arrived in Guangzhou

GUANGZHOU: The last leg of the trip. We made it to Guangzhou today with no hiccups. Thank you, Lord! We were leary since we don’t have Eric’s passport yet and didn’t have a guide with us, but it worked. Guangzhou is where we get the boys’ medical check-ups, shots (hopefully none are needed), have our appointment at the U.S. Consulate, and pick up the boys visas. All American adoptions end up here, so we are beginning to see a lot of Westerners here for adoption. Tomorrow is a free day, and we are hoping to catch the church service on Shamian Island. We attended church there for Jaiden’s adoption, missed it due to Daniel’s emergency Doctor’s visit on his adoption trip, and hope to make it again this time. Their service is in both Chinese and English and was packed the last time we went. Then we’ll see if Lucy’s is still in business for lunch…a popular restaurant on Shamian Island. Today was Eric’s 2nd airplane ride (his first was on Monday)…and Brandon’s 1stplane ride. The pictures today show:

-Amy and the boys in the back seat of the taxi on the way to the airport.

-The boys wearing their matching jackets…Brandon’s foster sister graciously bought these for the boys.

-The boys on the internet at a Ctrip shop in the Shanghai airport. Eric even got to QQ with 2 of his friends who were online at the time!·

-The boys on the airplane. Notice the shirt Andrew is wearing…this is in honor of the White Oak Boys Basketball team that made it to state and will be playing for the state championship in a few hours. Go Roughnecks!!! (Have fun, Josh!)

-Mike helping the boys enter some new words in their notebooks. (These notebooks are for journaling, new English words, questions they want to ask or things they want to remember to share once they come across someone who can translate.)

Preliminary observation: So far we would say Eric reminds us more of a Daniel and Brandon reminds us more of a Jaiden. Eric is fast and wants to be first, just like Daniel. Brandon is more thoughtful and deliberate…and even eats slow like Jaiden. So we think of Daniel and Jaiden often and miss you too, Amanda and Josh! And thanks, Amanda and Josh, for posting these updates for us!
(will try to update the pictures when i have time but needing to run-Amanda)

March 9

We are nearly packed and ready for an early morning trip to the airport. We fly tomorrow (Saturday)morning to Guangzhou for the last leg of our 4 city tour of China. This flight will be a little more interesting as it will be the first time that we have gotten ourselves to the airport and checked in without any assistance from a Chinese speaking helper. One item of prayer is that we do not have Eric’s passport yet which is the standard form of identification for adoptees. We have been told it should be no problem checking him in for his ticket based on the other adoption paperwork we have, but if they have any questions at the airport we trust the Lord will provide English speaking assistance. It is so amazing how frustrating it can be when you have such limited ability to communicate with someone else due to a language barrier.

Thanks to all that are praying and we look forward to next communicating from Guangzhou.

Shanghai Pictures

Above: from right to left: Brandon's foster dad, Brandon, foster mom, foster parent's grandson, and daughter

Above: Wei translating during the talk with Brandon's former foster parents

Above: Brandon talking to foster mom

Above: Brandon enjoying some Chinese food (who knows what that is...)

Above: Andrew enjoying some dumplings

Above: Eric enjoying some Chinese food

Above: Mike and Amy....taking a picture :P

Above: the triplets :)

Above: Wei, the three boys, and Amy taking a picture at one of the sights Wei showed them

Above: Walking through Shanghai and seeing real China

Above: Eric and Brandon enjoying the sun (somewhere in that smog)

Earlier Post

On a few posts back there was a picture of Andrew with a Kansas State sweatshirt on pointing to it and doing the "wildcat sign". I was told to update and say the reason for that picture.

Directly from Andrew, "That one's for you, Cameron!"

hahaha sorry if you don't understand.

MEETING BRANDON'S FOSTER FAMILY!

Wow, that was an experience! We got to meet Brandon’s foster parents, their adult daughter, and the daughter’s 8 y.o. son today. We visited here at our hotel for 2 hours, then walked to McD’s for a snack, then came back to the hotel pool to watch the boys swim. They left around 7:30pm. They are very, very gracious, appreciative, loving people. We can tell Brandon was very loved. It was quite emotional at times. When they arrived and when they left, it made Brandon cry. That’s the first time we’ve seen him get emotional. Our friend, Wei, was a wonderful interpreter for us. It was touching to hear that his foster father (who works as a cook at Brandon’s school) used to eat lunch with Brandon every day. Now he eats alone and can’t even finish his meal because he misses eating with Brandon! They truly loved him. They want to stay in touch with Brandon and with us via QQ or Skype. It almost feels like they want an open “adoption”, which I’m normally not in favor of…but when it’s across the ocean, and someone that has been a positive blessing to our child for “10” years, I think that’s different. I also think there’s possibly a lot more to this than just the adoption of a child (not that that’s not huge enough). I wonder if this doesn’t also include a friendship that will open doors to the gospel which could influence a whole circle of people that don’t yet know Him.

SHANGHAI TOURISTS: We also toured around Shanghai today with Wei’s wonderful help…ate some really good Chinese food…toured a popular garden…saw The Bund… rode a city bus…and walked the streets of Shanghai. Every bit of it was an experience!

GETTING WEARY AT TIMES: International travel is hard to begin with… then add in the realization that we still have a long road ahead of us (to bond and teach the language to 2 boys before we can really begin to share our hearts with each other), plus add in the adoption details such as the fact that Eric’s passport still hasn’t caught up with us yet and the fact that someone else’s goof just cost us an additional $600…. and add in the fact that we’re way out of our comfort zone…. and not in control of many things….and have 8 days to go…and you have 2 parents that are starting to get weary… and when we’re weary we don’t handle those glitches as graciously as we should. Thanks for your prayers, dear friends and family, they are not going to waste! We’ve come to realize one good reason to be stretched – to help us feel and relate (in some small way) to what our new sons are going to feel as they transition to America…(being out of control, not knowing the language, missing home, feeling out of place, etc.) No small adjustment for anyone, let alone 11 year old boys!

FAMILY DEVOTIONS: On a more positive note, we had family devotions last night for the first time. I had reminded Eric that Father Luke gave him a New Testament in Chinese and English and suggested he get it out. He later picked it up and began to read starting with Matthew. He read about 6 chapters until I interrupted and picked a verse we could “talk” about. I referenced how I had asked for salt at KFC earlier and we talked about how we (the Hood family and Eric) are salt and light to Brandon, since we know Jesus and Brandon doesn’t. Then Brandon came in (from his shower) and we all read John 3:16 in English and Chinese and briefly “talked” about it. We pray for Eric’s continued growth in his faith (he was confirmed in the Catholic church last year), for Brandon’s salvation, and for God to use Eric in a special way to be the Chinese speaking link to Brandon’s understanding of the gospel.

TRIVIA QUESTION: How is it that the Chinese can eat real spicy foods and yet not be able to handle the taste of Crest toothpaste?

Answer: It’s all what you’re used to. It doesn’t appear that our boys have grown up brushing their teeth, so we literally started with Toothbrushing 101 and are progressing well already. They’re very compliant boys. We say brush your teeth…and they do it. Exception: We say go take a shower…Brandon says ok…Eric says “do I have to?”

Pictures

Brandon!!!!

IT’S OFFICIAL: Brandon is ours!At some point in the midst of this morning’s paperwork, Brandon officially became a Hood! And when it was time for Brandon to write his “statement,” he didn’t hesitate! (Kids over “10” have to write their own statement that they do, in fact, want to be adopted by us.) So this is a point of confirming their “decision”to be adopted. Thus, we were relieved this didn’t cause any emotional trauma. BRANDON’S FOSTER PARENTS: Yesterday Brandon (we still call him Fengmao) asked if he could call his foster parents to assure them he was doing ok. So this afternoon our guide helped him call. (We were pleased to learn they gave him all their phone #s, QQ number, address, and email address…Hmmm, I wonder why the orphanage told us he didn’t have internet at home!?!) We briefly got to talk to his foster mother too. She was very appreciative of us adopting him. Then I ventured out there, not knowing if it would be allowed, and asked if they would like to get together to meet each other. They said yes! So our friend, Wei, helped us make arrangements and we plan to meet them tomorrow (Thurs.) afternoon. This is an unexpected blessing. What a treat to meet the gracious people that have loved and raised Brandon for the past 10 years. (And I assume they’re curious to meet us too.) We already agreed we both want to stay in touch, so this will help us get to know one another. If things go as planned, we will get to meet the parents, their adult daughter (who lives with them), and her son (who is 8 and was Brandon’s “little brother”). Pray that we can quickly start a relationship that we can continue and eventually share the Truth through. (We have no indication that Brandon has been exposed at all to Christianity.) Eric was very exposed due to the Catholic connection through China Little Flower, but Brandon even asked “why” when we said we were ready to pray before dinner. Eric is turning out to be our translator! His English is quite limited, and yet he knows enough to help us figure things out. So he is even helping us communicate with Brandon! All 3 boys are doing well together. It definitely was the right thing to bring Andrew along on this trip. They swim, play ball, play games, and slurp noodles together…all without hesitation. Brandon and Eric are compliant, easy-going kids…and I’m sure we’ll see more and more personality come out as the days go by.Oh, and today was Brandon’s 12 birthday! What a way to spend your birthday…by getting adopted! We “celebrated” tonight by letting Brandon pick where to eat…and went to KFC. That was an experience ordering. After the meal, Andrew and Eric went up to order birthday ice-cream cones…and they all ate those without hesitating. What a great day!

Getting Brandon Pictures!!!

Above: Andrew and Eric on the computer

Above: Andrew and Eric on the airplane to Shanghai to get Brandon
Above: Meeting Brandon (isn't he tall??!!!)

Above: the whole gang (except for us 4 back at home)

Above: (I think they are looking at a book of pics of Brandon)

Above: Brandon using a translator to communicate

Above: Already introducing indoor basketball (a Hood necessity)

Above: Eric enjoying a swim

Above: Brandon testing the waters