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We celebrated Chinese New Year this afternoon with our local FCC group (Families with Children from China).  It’s always special to remind ourselves of the culture of two of our kiddos and to be with other “like” families.

Ami was so awed by the dancers and loved that she got to practice with them.

These two buddies also lived at Shepherd’s field with Elijah.  They are now brothers.  So neat that they are so close to where we live!

With five kids we have to keep things fairly organized around here, but with all the snow we’ve had these last three weeks the mitten/glove/hat/scarf mess has grown out of control…..that is until yesterday.  I give all credit to my pal, Laurie, for posting this idea on her blog.  I think it’s the best idea since sliced bread.  This was the best $15 I have spent at Wal-Mart in a long time.

Yes, it’s an over-the-door shoe organizer and it has seven rows with six pockets in each.  Each person has their own row.  In the summer I can see soccer shin guards, baseball caps, sunglasses, and other little surprises the kids might stick in their pockets.  Just perfect!

On another note, Grandma Wolfe left today.  The kids enjoyed lots of crocheting and playing games with her.  We’ll look forward to getting to see her and Grandpa again this summer.

We had a fun day remembering the events of a year ago.  Chris, Elijah, and I had a lunch date at Pizza Hut, then for dinner Grandma took us out to eat.  The boys were also given their swords that they picked out last year in Guangzhou.  If you ever visit Jordan’s on the island and see a hole in his nice leather couch……yep, that’s why the boys waited a year to receive their swords!  After our family devotions this evening we watched the DVD of Gotcha Day.  It was neat to remember and feel again the excitement we all shared.  We are blessed.

One year ago today we landed in China, with much anticipation, to meet our new son and brother.  We pulled up to Shepherd’s Field shortly thereafter and waited just a few short minutes for him to get out of school and head over to the Inn to meet us.  The kids spotted him walking across the courtyard towards our building and could hardly contain themselves.  Oh, what a special day that was, the day that we got Elijah, and he got us.

As I reflect back on the changes Elijah has been through in the last three years of his life, I am amazed all over again at the resilient spirit that he possesses.  From living with family, to abandonment on the streets, to orphanage, to major heart surgery, to a new family, to leaving behind all that’s familiar, to new citizenship, to new language, to new food,…. I stand in awe.  What I see in my son is joy, love, exuberance, curiosity, adventure, excitement, compassion.  Those are not the words I would have thought would have described someone that has walked in his shoes.  But God.

This year has not been without some bumps and trials.  We have all had to make adjustments.  We have all had to learn more patience.  We have all had to learn to be more selfless.  We have all learned more about the amazing love it must have taken our heavenly Father to want to adopt each of us into His family.  To steal some words from a special friend, I have loved him from the moment I saw his picture, but learning to like him is taking longer than I ever would have imagined.  That’s pretty raw and hard to admit, but that’s the truth of it.  Adoption is amazing, but it is not without it’s struggles.  We’re not perfect and we’re still working on things, but with His grace we’re learning to like each other more and more every day.

Despite any struggles, I also have to say that this last year has gone better than I ever could have imagined.  We had prepared ourselves and educated ourselves on what an older child adoption might be like, but the reality is that we have more than beaten the odds.  Elijah is an amazing, happy, obedient, helpful, and loving child.  We are blessed to have him in our Wolfe family.  We are so thankful that God leveled mountains, broke through gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron to bring us this treasure.  (Is 45:2-3, Our faith verses that brought us to Elijah.)  Happy Gotcha Day, Elijah.

(I’ll post some pictures later of our Gotcha Day celebrations, we’ve got plans!)

We spent a fun couple of days with the Wolfe side of the family in KC for a late Christmas and New Year celebration.  Thanks Kevin and Alicia for stretching your walls and bubbles to host all the Wolfe pack.

Ami and Elle are interacting more and more each time we get together.  They can cook up some secrets and fun as any pair of almost four year old’s can do.  This was our first chance to see the “new” Zane.  He’s as cute as ever and I think he looks more like his Daddy now when he flashes his dimples. 

We brought Grandma back with us and will host her for a few more days before she heads back to Russia.  We’re about ready to get back into our “normal” routine after our time off for the holidays.  We’re looking forward to how the Lord leads in this new decade!

We woke up again this morning to fresh snow falling and a beautiful new blanket on the ground.  I love how the snow sticks to the trees in our woods, making everything look so sparkling clean.  The kids were outside as soon as they could get there and have been enjoying sledding down our backyard.

We’re heading out to spend New Year’s with the Wolfe family soon.  Thankfully our awesome neighbor used his John Deere and plowed our drive for us.