No Ordinary Moments

Four & A Cake

2012-02-06T16:07:00.000-06:00

The Big Brother is now 4 1/2. Or as Zach would say it--Four and A Cake. Who knows where he got that one! He still likes trains, but has also taken interest in other things. He's fascinated with maps and probably knows more state capitols than momma! He also has been interested in the planets. He'd like to ride in a rocket into space one day, but doesn't want to go to Saturn--he might fall off its ring!!!

Here's a shot of one other thing he's been fascinated with. Take a look....can you guess who he is??? Keep guessing......ok, if you can't figure it out, scroll down....

THE STATUE OF LIBERTY!!!!!!!

LOA in hand!

2012-01-30T09:03:00.001-06:00

Yes, we got our LOA last week. We kept it in our possession for about 12 hours, then mailed it on to USCIS. We anticipate traveling sometime in April!!!!!

LOA on the WAY!

2012-01-24T14:16:00.000-06:00

We FINALLY got the call we've been waiting for! Our Letter of Acceptance (LOA) is the way to Iowa. It should be in hand tomorrow! We had been told the wait time could be 30-90 days to receive LOA from China. We waited 96 days and got the much-waited call on the Chinese New Year. We still have several hoops to jump through, but we anticipate traveling sometime in April 2012 to bring Mason home.

We had the opportunity to celebrate the Chinese New Year with lots of other families who have adopted children from China. It was so neat to look around the room and see how God used adoption to build so many beautiful families. Zach proudly wore his Chinese silk shirt, after I reassured him that it did not have buttons on it (remember, he wears nothing with buttons). We called them "fasteners"!

When asked what his favorite part of the New Year celebration was, he said "wrestling with Michael" (Michael is the big brother of Ethan, who was adopted from China about a year after Zachary).

Here's Zach and new friend, Ruby. Ruby just came home to her forever family in December. Isn't she a doll???

I showed Zach the calendar so he could try to grasp that we still have many days until Mason comes home. He said "but I can't wait that long"!!!! He has many things he wants to teach Mason;) Mom & Dad can't wait til we get to squeeze that little guy and love on him in person!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T21:56:00.000-06:00

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Happy Birthday, Mason!

2011-11-27T15:06:00.001-06:00

Today is a bitter-sweet day. It's the day that Mason entered the world. For that, we rejoice. We thank God for making him! We also are thankful that we received some updated photos of Mason on Thanksgiving Day. These are his official 2 year pictures! Check them out!

You made all the delicate inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Your workmanship is marvelous--and how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. Psalm 139:13-16

How we wish you were home with us on your special day, Mason. We've been thinking about you and praying for you. We even made you a cake. Zachary volunteered to blow out the candles since you weren't able to be here;)

Although you're not here for this birthday, we can rest assured that God has his hand on you. We trust that he is guiding you and supporting you. For that, we are truly thankful.

You both precede and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Psalm 139:5

What We'd Say To You, Mason

2011-11-17T14:35:00.001-06:00

No, we don't have any updates......still waiting for our LOA (letter of acceptance) from China. We can't really do much until that comes in. Once we get that document, we will have a better idea of when we may travel. We are guessing maybe Feb or March 2012??? What we do know is that Mason will soon be turning 2 years old. Nov 27 is his given birthdate. We are sad that we can't celebrate face-to-face, but we will be celebrating here! We'll be dreaming about those birthdays to come.
Until then we continue to pray for our Mason. Daily we thank God for providing for his needs through the orphanage staff. We pray that his physical and emotional needs are getting met. We pray that he would somehow, someway be getting 1:1 attention and love from the workers. We pray that he would have peace that surpasses all understanding.
This song plays on the radio a lot. It makes me think of the boys each time I listen to it. Although we can't tell Mason what we are thinking right now, we can pray for him. We can dream about all the things we WILL be telling him one day...

Sidewalk Prophets - The Words I Would Say

Three in the morning,
And I'm still awake,
So I picked up a pen and a page,
And I started writing,
Just what I'd say,
If we were face to face,
I'd tell you just what you mean to me,
I'd tell you these simple truths.

Be strong in the Lord and,
Never give up hope,
You're going to do great things,
I already know,
God's got His hand on you so,
Don't live life in fear,
Forgive and forget,
But don't forget why you're here,
Take your time and pray,
Thank God for each day,
His love will find a way,
These are the words I would say..............

Fortune Teller?

2011-10-14T15:14:00.000-05:00

I cleaned out some of my old texts in my phone this week. You will never guess what I found! On 10/13/2010 (1 year ago yesterday) I sent Lonnie a text telling him that Zach said we should go to China to get a baby. It was something Zachary thought up all on his own, as Lonnie and I had not been talking about the next adoption with Zach yet.
One year later to the exact day, our agency has our dossier in their hands. They will be sending it to China today!

Where in the world is Mason?

2011-10-14T14:57:00.000-05:00

I was never very good with geography or history. Luckily google and wikipedia can help me out! I did some researching today and found out some info about where Mason is living. He's currently at an orphanage at the Social General Welfare Huiyang District, Huizhou City, Guangdong Province, China. I found this picture of the orphanage:

Huizhou is located at the northeast end of Pearl River Delta, southeast part of Guangdong Province, and facing Daya Bay in China South Sea. The coordinates of Huizhou is 23°05′N 114°22′E. Huizhou borders Guangzhou, Dongguan, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Except Shenzhen, Huizhou is the nearest city from Hong Kong among cities in Mainland China.

Here's a little history for you about Huizhou City: Huizhou (Chinese: 惠州; pinyin: Hùizhōu; Cantonese: Wai⁶zau¹) , historically known as Waichow, is a city located in central Guangdong province of the People's Republic of China. Administered as a prefecture-level city, it has 4,60 million residents in its area of jurisdiction. Its southern part made of Huiyang district is now part off guangzhou-Shenzhen built up area, the biggest built up area in the world with more than 40 million inhabitants encompassing the whole Shenzhen, Dongguan cities and main part of Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhongsghan and small parts of Jiangmen and Huizhou cities. There are two main dialects spoken by local people in Huizhou: Hakka (客家话/客家話) and a Cantonese dialect which is Huizhouhua (惠州话/惠州話). The two dialects are somewhat interrelated and similar so people can easily understand each other. As more newcomers from the other provinces come to work in Huizhou, Mandarin has become the other popular language in Huizhou.

Information about their economy: Huizhou gained benefit from the Chinese economic reform of the late 1980s. The blossoming of the real estate market attracted capital investment from Hong Kong and Taiwan. In the provincial economic development strategy, Huizhou is regarded as a site for a world-class petrochemical industry, as well as a hub for developing information technology, and expanding exports and trade.TCL Corporation is a multinational electronics company headquartered in the city.
Other foreign investors / manufacturing companies:
Desay; Viasystems; WalMart; AEON

Authentication has been completed!

2011-10-08T20:17:00.000-05:00

Just a quick update for all of you that have been praying for us. We found out late last week that ALL of our 14 documents were authenticated in DC!!!!!!!!!!!! YIPPEE!!! Our dossier should arrive in China hopefully yet this month (Oct 2011). Once we get logged in, we can proceed with the necessary processes (other than dossier) to get our son home!

Last week Zach wanted to buy Mason a pumpkin for Halloween. He also wanted to wait to do a fall craft project until Mason could do it with us. Boy, do I wish that Mason would be home before Halloween! We've started telling Zach that it will be after the snow comes, after Christmas, and maybe into Springtime when he gets to meet his brother. Yesterday Zach was able to pump his legs all by himself on the swing--from start to finish. He says that Mason will get to use the "baby swing" and then he can watch Zach pump on the big swing!

Thank you all for praying for the paperwork and for Mason. Thank you, God for hearing our prayers and having it all under control.

Thinking of you, Mason

2011-10-04T14:25:00.000-05:00

Since we said "yes" to you, Mason, we cannot stop thinking and praying for you. We wish we were in China right now, holding you, caring for you, singing over you, dancing with you. In times like this--times when we just want to jump on the plane and get you, we are gladly reminded that our heavenly Father has his hand on you. The following scripture was brought to my attention this morning. I think it fits:

Zephaniah 3:17

¹⁷ The LORD your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.

It's so reassuring to know that God is taking care of Mason. He's rejoicing over him. He's quieting him with his love. His singing over him. Thank you Father!

As we continue to pray for our dossier papers to be approved in Washington DC, we can trust that God has all the details taken care of.

Phillipians 4:6-7
⁶ Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Prayer request, please

2011-09-26T17:45:00.002-05:00

As you read in the prior post, our dossier is on its way to DC to be authenticated through the Chinese Embassy. We just got word from our agency today that some families' documents are being denied at the Embassy because they are older than 6 months. Some of our documents are, indeed, older than 6 months. We ask that you'd pray specifically for all of our documents to be authenticated at the Embassy without any issues this week. It wouldn't be the end of the world if something didn't get through--we'd just have to re-do those particular papers and re-send them. However doing that would just delay our getting Mason even longer. We'd love for everything to go through smoothly so we can get on with this and get our son home as soon as possible.

Thank you!

Introducing.............

2011-09-23T21:35:00.000-05:00

The other day a little boy at the playground asked Zach if he had a brother or sister, to which he replied, "Almost." That response may seem strange to you. In Zach's mind, however, it made perfect sense. You see, Mom and Dad had told him just a few days earlier that he's gonna be a big brother! His brother has already been born, but he's half a world away in China right now.

That's right. We have another son! His Chinese name is Hui He Chuan. We have decided to name him Mason He Chuan Kragel. He was born on 11/27/2009. He's living in an orphanage in Huizhou City, Guangdong province, China. Mason, like Zach, has a cleft lip and palate, however, his lip has already been repaired.

The process this time around is a bit different than last. We received Mason's referral before finishing our dossier. Our papers are on a UPS truck (or plane) as we speak, on the way to Washington DC. After the papers receive a special certificate, we will then send them off to Oregon, where our agency will review. If all looks A OK, they will send the papers to China!

As we are scrambling to get our paperwork completed, we have been preparing Zach for the big day when he meets his new brother. When we first told him about his brother, he asked what his name might be. Mom & Dad weren't sure then. Zach had an idea, though. "What about Kevin?" he asked! If you don't know, Kevin is the bird in the movie "Up." It was a great suggestion, but we decided to go with Mason!

Mason means "stoneworker" and "overcomer."

"To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it." --Revelation 2:17

At the moment we are thinking it will still be 4 - 6 months before we travel. We are super excited to get this kiddo home! We'd appreciate any prayers for him--for God's love, peace, joy and protection to surround him until we meet.

What We've Been Up To.......

2011-08-09T20:00:00.008-05:00

Summer has come and almost gone since our last post. Thought we'd get you all up-to-date with what we've been doing all summer long:

We try to find as much time as possible to play with the cousins. Zach loves hanging out with Rebecca, tagging along with whatever she's up to. He also loves trying to boss Carter around. Don't worry--Carter gives it right back! They are like 2 peas in a pod!

Uncle Darrel had fun showing Zach around the farm. Next time we'll have to stay longer.

Aunt Linda invited us up to help freeze corn. Zachary was a huge help! He husked & washed the corn......anything to play in the water at the sink!

Zachary also got to spend some time at Grandma & Grandpa Kragel's over the summer. It's all fun & games........
........and tractor rides!
Happy 4th Birthday, Zachary!!!!!!!!!!!! We got to celebrate with lots of family and friends--what a blessing!
More cake & ice cream.......
Frosting is Z's favorite part of the cake!

Zach decided he wanted his first ever "friends" birthday party. He chose to go to the waterpark at the Ramada Hotel in Des Moines. He chose 2 good buddies, Brahm & Tyler, to swim with him. He had a blast!

We've also gotten the chance to just hang out at home and play. Papa Ron came to play games and color one day, which was a nice surprise.

We checked out the High-Trestle Bridge on Daddy's birthday. Zach rode his bike one mile to get there. What a trooper!
Summer also means lots of time in the water--the pool, the beach, or the sprinkler. Thank goodness Zachary's good friend Ethan likes the water, too.
Cousins Sam & Raquel are growing up so fast. Zach likes to watch them sing, dance, and just be goofy. Zach says that when he gets bigger, he's gonna be a dancer! Watch out swing choir, here we come!
Of course we've spent time fishing with Grandma Karen. Zachary seems to always catch several fish each time we go fishin'!
Grandpa Al even let Z-man drive the boat!
For months Zach has asked to go to a "carnival". We broke down and took him to Adventureland. He LOVED it. Back at home he studies the Adventureland map, remembering each ride that he went on, and planning our next visit!
We have been blessed with so many great friends and family members. Thanks for sharing time with us this summer. What fun memories we have made! Stay tuned for upcoming posts with pictures from the State Fair & Z's first day of preschool!!!!!!!!

2nd Gotcha Day Anniversary

2011-05-28T15:01:00.011-05:00

We headed to St. Louis for our family vacation a few weeks ago. We had a great time! There are tons of kid-oriented activities to do (no, not the beer tour!). We celebrated our 2 year Gotcha Day Anniversary while on vacation. This was probably Zachary's favorite day of the trip. We spent a lot of time at the Magic House children's museum,which he loved! He also had one of his favorite foods for lunch at the Cheese-ology Macaroni & Cheese restaurant--they ONLY serve mac & cheese (some more unique than others). In some ways it seems like just yesterday that we were in China, holding our son for the first time. It's hard to remember what our days were like before Zachary! There is never a dull moment at the Kragel house. Thanks to God for creating our unique family! It was definitely worth the wait!

When asked what he wants to do when he grows up, Zach has a hard time choosing between doctor, ambulance "helper" or "worker guy at the grape restaurant" (AKA Olive Garden).
Mom & Dad enjoyed seeing the animals at the St. Louis Zoo. Zachary got bored with the animals. Instead his favorites were the carousel, the train, and face painting!
Can't go to St. Louis without going to the arch. Zachary thought the elevator ride to the top was cool. He asked if we could do it again "tomorrow."
These shots were taken in Pella, the day after the tulip festival. On Mother's Day we walked around looking at all the tulips. Did you know the yellow ones smell like bananas? The purple ones like grapes???!!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-25T21:10:00.001-05:00

Hope you took some time to reflect upon the true meaning of Easter. Zachary has been learning about Easter here at home, as well as at church. A friend recommended making "Resurrection Rolls" so we gave that a try last week. The process involved wrapping a marshmallow (Jesus) in a crescent roll, then putting him in the tomb (cooking it in the oven). After pretending that he's been in there for 3 days, we took it out to cool. Zachary announced when he opened up his roll that "Jesus melted!" Although this was not quite the intended lesson, I am hoping that Zachary learned a bit of the messy truth about Easter: Jesus is still alive!

Here are a few of our Easter photos from 2011. Enjoy!

Jester Park egg hunting with Dad

Hiking with mom & dad at Jester on Easter

Easter Egg Hunt with the neighborhood kiddos

Zach was the winner of an Easter coloring contest at Dahl's. He won this basket & a ham!

Zach's Mom

2011-01-28T21:21:00.002-06:00

I [Lonnie] thought of our house when I read this quote from Theodore Roosevelt from 1905.

No piled-up wealth, no splendor of material growth, no brilliance of artistic development, will permanently avail any people unless its home life is healthy ...

No ordinary work done by a man is either as hard or as responsible as the work of a woman who is bringing up a family of small children; for upon her time and strength demands are made not only every hour of the day but often every hour of the night ...

The woman who is a good wife, a good mother, is entitled to our respect as is no one else.

Couldn't agree more.

I want some "L & M's"

2011-01-19T15:07:00.009-06:00

Zach has been coming up with quite the expressions lately. His Aunt Marcia has him hooked on chocolate. Recently he discovered M&M's, but is still learning how to pronounce the name;)

Here's a little of what we've been up to lately:
****Building a snowman with Rebecca and her friend Eva****

***Learning how to play board games & card games. Zach loves to watch Papa Ron & all the guys play cards. *****

****Swimming. He's still a fish! Swim lessons start up again in a few weeks****

****Learning about the real meaning of Christmas. Zach even got to sing in his first Christmas program at church. He talks all the time now about wanting to sing on stage again. Every now and then he belts out Away in a Manger or Happy Birthday, his two favorite Christmas songs from the program. ****

****Learning to play the violin like Collin****

****Sledding, sledding and more sledding! This picture was taken the first time sledding this season. But now he is brave enough to go down on his own and even carry his sled back up himself!!!****

****Growing up way too fast, just like his cousins****
Happy Winter Everyone! Stay safe & warm!

Fun & Games

2010-11-30T13:23:00.006-06:00

It's been fun to watch Zachary grow--he's sure getting taller. His Aunt Allyson thinks that he may be the next 7 ft Chinese basketball player!!! As he grows, so does his imagination. He loves pretending to sing and dance on stage "like at Bible School". He also pretends to "help people" in his "ambulance". He continues to love music. He and Daddy still get out their guitars to play together. Over the weekend he even got to play Uncle Marty's drums. On Friday he received an early Christmas gift from Grandma & Grandpa-- a train set. He's been chatting away as he pushes Thomas and his favorite cars around the tracks.

A few of Zachary's Favorite Things....

2010-10-23T21:07:00.012-05:00

Fall is such a fun time of year. Zachary got to pick apples for the first time last month with Grandma Karen. I think he sampled every kind of apple in the orchard! The next day they made some yummy apple pie.

Zachary absolutely LOVES trains. He turns any activity into a train--from food to bathing. Daddy's been teaching him more about engines and cabooses. He loved the Train Depot in Council Bluffs because he actually got to sit in an engine and climb into a car!

Pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins. Zachary loves pumpkins all year long, so he's extra excited this time of year. He's showing off the "Scary" pumpkin that he and daddy carved (you can't really see it in this photo because he put the eye and nose pieces back in; he thought it was like a puzzle).

Uncle Tim was having just as much fun carving the pumpkin as Zachary. Cousin Collin was excited to be using the knife on his own! How did he grow up so fast??!

Valla's pumpkin patch in Omaha was a blast. Here Zachary is doing an imitation of Collin.
The 3 youngest cousins........

Doing his Bible School dance moves on the train tracks!

We got to enjoy a little bit of hiking at the Ledges last month.....it was a fun time (until we got back to the car and found the car window busted out!!)

Isn't it fun to live in Iowa? We often take the change of seasons for granted. Our friend Denise is doing a 3 yr mission trip in Egypt; she reminds me how fortunate we are to have 4 seasons. In Egypt it looks and feels the same all year long. This time of year reminds me of how God is constantly at work in us and around us. Happy Fall!!!

August Fun

2010-08-30T14:10:00.012-05:00

Summer is winding down but the fun hasn't stopped! We got to hang out at Aunt Linda & Uncle Darrel's farm for Darrel's birthday party last weekend . Zachary liked looking at Linda's pumpkin patch, chasing her kitty, walking down to watch the train go by, roasting marshmellows, and seeing Darrel's combines. He also liked looking at all the "sweet corn" in the fields;) The farm sure looks nice after they worked so hard to clean things up following last year's hail storm.

A few weeks ago we went to the Iowa State Fair. Cousin Rebecca and her best friend Eva were so excited to take Zachary down the big slide. He loved it! Too bad it cost $2.50 each time he went down!! The sky glider was a hit, as well as milking the cow, Little Hands on the Farm, the corn dog and ice cream cone.

We also spent a few days at Mahoney State Park again. We went last fall but wanted to go again to try out the pool. We all had fun on the wave pool. Zach had no fear each time the waves crashed into him and knocked him down!

Hope you all are having a wonderful summer!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Zachary!

2010-08-03T14:23:00.003-05:00

Zachary has been looking forward to his birthday for a few months. He's even been practicing singing Happy Birthday to himself!!! We remember last year when he really had no idea what a birthday was and was clueless about blowing out candles. A lot has changed in the last year! So far he has gotten to blow out candles twice already today (and the day is only half over)! We had candles in a blueberry muffin this morning, then candles in rice krispy bars with some church friends this afternoon. Tonight the three of us will do something special together.

Momma heard one of her favorite songs on the radio this morning. It's by the Sidewalk Prophets. I thought it was a good birthday message for our big boy:

Be strong in the LORD and,
Never give up hope,
You're going to do great things,
I already know,
God's got His hand on you so,
Don't live life in fear,
Forgive and forget,
But don't forget why you're here,
Take your time and pray,
Thank God for each day,
His love will find a way,
These are the words I would say

Happy Birthday, Zachary. We love you!!!

What we've been up to......

2010-08-02T13:55:00.011-05:00

It's been awhile since we've done a post.....we'll try to give some highlights from the last several weeks:

We had our block party last night. The firetruck and ambulance came so the kids could climb in and check out the equipment. Zach got an ambulance from his Aunt Allyson, Uncle Marty and cousins Sam and Raquel so we've been talking about how an ambulance helps people with "owies". He was interested in looking at it but wouldn't climb in. He liked the firetruck a bit better and wasn't scared to get in and out of it.

We closed off the street for the block party so the kids could run/bike laps in the street. Zach is only interested in any sort of bike for about 20 seconds, then he'd rather run. One neighbor boy must of felt sorry for him not riding on a bike so he offered to give Zach a ride in a wagon. Before we knew it, all the kids were in wagons! Where are the helmets!!??!!

A few weeks ago we headed to KC to Tim and Emily's. We were lucky to see Collin play baseball and dive in his diving competition.

We headed to the Indianola balloon races on Saturday. Rebecca joined us. We ended up parking at the highschool to watch the balloons since by the time we got close to the launch site the balloons had already lifted off (it took us 1 hr to get through the town of Indianola due to all the traffic). We had a good time and even got to see some land.

Zach got to check out Daddy's binoculars.....

Zachary also got to participate in VBS for the first time. He went 4 evenings at the NorthBranch station. His favorite part was the music and dancing......."rock this party.....everybody dance now".....

We spent a weekend with the Kragel family at Grandpa Dick and Grandma Phyllis' house. It was fun to have everyone together again. Zachary's challenge for the weekend was remembering Sam and Raquel's names. He had it down by the 2nd day!

We had an early bday party at Grandma & Grandpa's. The candles and party hats were Z's favorite part of the party!

First tractor ride with Daddy & Grandpa Dick...

More Summer Fun

2010-07-08T14:46:00.011-05:00

We have managed to find some fun things to do despite all the rain we have been getting lately. A few days ago we got to see George at the bookstore. Zachary is getting past the Elmo stage (thank goodness) and has started to like George even more, along with Thomas the Train. He was very excited to see Curious George and even sat to listen to the story. When George had to leave because "he was getting tired" Zachary immediately said that George is going to go have some applesauce---this is always Zachary's request before nap or bedtime!

We spent the 4th of July weekend at Grandma Karen's. Collin and Zachary got the fun job of cleaning all the veggies that they picked in the garden.

Zachary's first experience picking vegetables from the garden. He had a good eye for finding the green beans and peas. He was shocked to see where potatoes and carrots came from!

We had a day of good weather on Saturday for fishing and roasting marshmellows. He wanted to make sure we all got nice & sticky!

This was Zachary's first time fishing. He even got 2 fish--just needed some help reeling them in. Uncle Tim tried to get him to kiss the fish but he didn't want anything to do with that!

After fishing we checked out the new miniature train at Missouri Valley. I think Zachary enjoyed it a bit more than Collin! It was the longest train ride ever. And for only 2 bucks!!! He has been practicing his wave these days, can you tell?

Our good friend Tammy found this book at a garage sale. I think we read it at least 3 times a day. This day Zachary read it to Mouse, then rocked him to sleep.

On Father's Day we headed out to Big Creek for boating. We thought we'd start small with a paddle boat although Zach was requesting a "BIG" one.

Hope you are all having a great summer!

The Days of Summer

2010-06-24T15:09:00.005-05:00

Summer is officially here and we have been lovin' it!

A few weeks ago Zachary got to ride a horsey with his friends and had a time of his life. Now every time we see a horse he wants to ride it! Gotta love the helmet!!!

Zach wanted to help Daddy put up the ceiling fan. He was a big help! Mainly he just wanted his picture taken as he held the tools up high. Look close---no more diapers!

We had fun at an outdoor concert in Grimes a few weeks ago. We ran into Jodi and Rebecca which was a nice surprise!

Check out the new haircut for summer. We needed to find a way to cool this boy down a bit.

Zach and his friends....

Guess What???!!

2010-06-11T06:57:00.003-05:00

Zachary had another appt in Iowa City Wed June 9. You can see the results below in the photos. The one on the left was taken about a month after his surgery when we noticed the hole. The one on the right was taken this week. See the healing God has done??!! What a miracle! Dr. Canaday was pleasantly surprised.......he rarely, if ever sees these heal like Zach's did!

O Lord what great miracles you do! Psalm 92:5
Thank you all for your prayers!!!!

Gotcha Day

2010-05-18T20:50:00.008-05:00

It was one year ago today that we got to meet, hold, hug and kiss our son for the first time. In some ways it seems like Zachary has been with us for years. In other ways it seems like this past year has flown by. So much has happened over the last 365 days. It's amazing to sit back and think about all we have done and experienced. Here are just a few things:

we finalized Zachary's adoption in China
we flew home from China with our baby boy--no complications with the flights despite the H1N1 going around
Zachary adjusted to his new family, food, home, toys, etc without any difficulties
Zachary was able to stop sucking his thumb so he could undergo his cleft lip surgery
one of the best surgeons in the country repaired Zachary's cleft lip in November; it looks amazing
as a family, we have made so many memories of "firsts"--playing in the snow & sledding; swimming; walking in grass; eating ice cream; riding a horsey; swinging at playgrounds; enjoying underdogs; hiking in the woods on Daddy's back; fingerpainting; smashing bugs; throwing rocks in the water
Zachary's cleft palate was repaired 6 weeks ago; it continues to heal & Zachary was able to start eating with a spoon today!!!

We could go on and on with this list. The most amazing thing to see as we look back over this past year is how God has had his hand on us long before we were a family. He hand picked our son for us, watched over him in China, and has continued to watch over us, guide us and protect us over the past year.

2010-05-13T13:41:00.008-05:00

Thought we'd show you what we've been up to the last several weeks.....

We re-finalized Zachary's adoption. This is something our agency recommends, although the adoption was final in China. This way we have a local paper trail if ever needed.

Zachary got cousin Collin's old swing set. Uncle Tim and Daddy put it together last weekend. Zachary loves it! He especially likes the glider and asks for "more" and "higher" every time!
Cousin Collin will have to come and play on the swing set when he's in town. I think he had fun playing on it with Zachary--he may miss it!

Daddy and Zachary had fun while Momma was at work. He's had this pirate costume for 6 months and was always scared to wear it. Not any more!
Doesn't he look like he's 5 yrs old here?????!!!!!
Zachary's first pony ride at the circus a few weeks ago. He's still talkin about it.
We've been to the zoo a lot lately. This day we went with our good friends Brahm and Heather. Zach is always looking for the elephants; this is the only one we could find at our zoo!

Goodbye Magic Bullet

2010-05-11T13:34:00.002-05:00

Zachary had his 5 week follow up appt with Dr Canady yesterday. We got great news. The hole in Zachary's palate is healing; it's smaller than it was 2 weeks ago. The dr progressed Zachary's diet from cup diet to a soft diet which he can eat with his fingers. Because his stitches have not dissolved completely yet, he needs to wait one more week before he has hard, chewy food. So in one week he will get to eat pizza and crackers. For now he is enjoying lunch meat, canned fruit, pancakes, and more antibiotic!
The dr said that Zach may or may not need another surgery in the next year. He doubts that the hole will heal completely on its own. However if it is not impacting his speech, he may not need it repaired. We plan to have him checked out with the AEA for a speech evaluation to see if he would qualify for some speech therapy. Momma can do some therapy at home, but it may work out best for everyone if someone else provides the majority of his therapy. He has some things going on with his speech that have nothing to do with his palate....just developmental delays and delays from learning English later in life.
Thank you for all of your prayers. We know that God heard your prayers. We thank him for having his hand on Zachary at all times. We look to him and his plan for Zachary; he has all the details figured out!

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T19:33:00.002-05:00

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there. This was my first Mother's Day with Zachary. Last year we were packing for China, but had not yet met our son. What a blessing God had given us with Zachary. As I sit and think about how blessed I have been by having Zachary in my life, my heart can't help but be a bit sad for Zachary's biological mother. There is a woman across the world who has an empty place in her heart .......she does not know what a great smile Zachary has; she doesn't know what his voice sounds like when he sings; she does not know that he loves Curious George. But one thing I do know is that almost two years ago she made the hardest decision in her life. She choose to place Zachary for adoption, in order to give him the surgeries he needed; surgeries she probably could not afford. She made this decision out of love. And for that I am so grateful. I often look at Zachary and wonder what his biological mother looks like. She must have a beautiful smile and a soft heart; she passed those onto Zachary.

So today and all other Mother's Days in the future, I will always think of her and say a prayer of thanksgiving for the great love for her biological son. Because of her, I got to be Zachary's momma.

Post Op Appointment

2010-04-28T13:29:00.000-05:00

As some of you may or may not have heard by now, we had our follow up appt Monday in Iowa City for Zach's cleft palate repair. Dr Canady said all is healing but one area. He thinks that Zach got an infection at some point which caused part of the palate not to heal. So there is a 4 mm hole still in the palate, near the back of his mouth.

We are very thankful that the rest of his mouth looks great. We are also thankful for Dr Canady and his team--they are quite a group of professionals.

For the next 2 weeks we will continue on Zach's cup diet--we aren't quite done with the magic bullet yet!!! He will start on an antibiotic again--so we can continue eating ice cream every day;) He will also continue with the arm restraints. We go back in 2 weeks--May 10.

Right now we are asking for prayers for Zachary--for physical healing of that hole. Dr Canady says sometimes holes (he called it a fistula) can heal enough so that it's not significant (not affecting speech or swallow). He says usually they don't heal all the way closed. We are praying for God to do a miracle and close it all the way---so another surgery is not needed.

Zach has been quite a trooper through this all. Momma and Daddy were more disappointed about the news than he was! He's just going with the flow. Thank you all for your words of encouragement and your prayers. Regardless of the outcome, we will be thankful for soooo many blessings....

I look to the Lord for His help. Micah 7:7

Stuck In the Mud!

2010-04-20T20:05:00.005-05:00

You thrill me Lord with all you have done for me! I sing for joy because of what you have done. Psalm 92:4

The latest on Zachary: Our big boy is sleeping through the night and is no longer needing pain medications. We no longer have to eat in shifts (Nancy would eat her supper in 3 minutes while she was liquifying Zachary's; Lonnie would eat when Zach was done--so he didn't see our solid food). Now we can sit down together and eat--Zach is not offended by seeing Momma & Daddy's solid food and utensils. He is eating much better---we don't have to bribe him for each bite like we did 2 weeks ago! Zachary has even been feeding himself lately. We take off one arm restraint and he uses that hand to feed himself with his cups. He has not tried putting his hand in his mouth when we have the restraint off. We keep a close eye on him, just in case he tries though!!! We head back to Iowa City next Monday afternoon.....only 17 more "cup meals" for Zachary, but who's counting?!! If all looks well he should be released to eat a soft diet with a spoon and to get rid of the arm restraints!

Those arm restraints haven't really slowed Zachary down at all. He can still throw rocks and sticks into the water, jump, run super fast and swing. He has recently learned about underdogs so he looooooves the swing.

Hope you enjoy these photos....you should have been there when he got stuck in the mud and Daddy had to pull him out!

Throwing rocks with Daddy on sturdy ground....

A slide into the mud with Daddy to the rescue!

Recovering From Surgery

2010-04-11T17:31:00.004-05:00

We had been preparing Zachary for his cleft surgery for months. We told him that "the doctor is going to fix the hole in your mouth". Most of you probably have never even seen what his cleft palate looked like before surgery. Here is a shot:

It's pretty amazing to see what it looks like now. You'll have to check it out the next time you see him. It still looks pretty gory after surgery so we won't post a current shot; it heals more and more each day.

A lot of you have been asking how we are all doing after surgery. All things considered, we are doing well. We think Zach has a pretty good understanding of what's going on with his mouth and why he is drinking his food again and wearing arm restraints. The first night home he refused to eat/drink anything--he was just plain mad. Each day since then he's gotten more cooperative.

The first few days after surgery it was very quiet around the house. Zachary must have had a strange feeling in his mouth, along with some pain. He didn't swallow his saliva much--he held it in his mouth until it ran out. He couldn't do much talking with a mouthful of saliva! Now he's back to chatting away. He's just a bit tired and whiny but nothing like he was initially after his lip surgery. The biggest struggle has been getting him to take his antibiotic and pain medicine. Since he won't take it by the syringe like most kids do, we have to try to hide it in his food. Of course that makes the food taste nasty, so he doesn't want to eat. We have discovered that ice cream masks the taste of the meds, so we are enjoying shakes twice a day! Every now and then he asks to eat crackers or apples, or to use a plate or a spoon. It's sure hard saying no to those requests, but only a few weeks to go on this cup diet. We go back to the surgeon on April 26. Can't wait!

Zach's having a hard time staying asleep at night---he'll get himself rolled onto his stomach but then can't roll back over since his arms are in the restraints. We get up a few times a night and roll him back over and cover him with his favorite blanket.

Each day we see more sparkle back in his eyes......this weekend he's been running, jumping and playing--with close supervision of course. Thank you all for your prayers. Keep them coming!

Here are a few more shots of us waiting for surgery:

Post Op

2010-04-06T22:50:00.002-05:00

Couldn't be more proud of my wife today. She was a great comfort to Zachary after his surgery and managed to get him to take his meds when he really didn't want to. Zachary couldn't have had a better mommy today or any day.

Thankful to be on this great adventure.

Fun & Games

2010-03-25T13:52:00.005-05:00

We got away for a weekend of fun a few weeks ago. Zachary was excited when he found out he got to go swimming. He continues to get even more daring in the water. Now he will jump off the side to Daddy, putting his entire body down in the water and floating up whenever he wants. He has also started to swim with his head under water, with help from Daddy. We are hoping to get him into another swim lesson class in May.
Think he's milking the cow? Not quite. He thought it would be more fun to put grocery items in and out of the bucket under the cow!
The children's museum we went to had an old fire truck. Zach had fun dressing up like the fire fighter and driving the truck.

Seems like Zachary turns everything into a game these days. "Game" is his favorite word as of late. Not only does he play games like Twister but also games such as putting his orange peel in and out of a napkin, taking turns blowing bubbles, and making a snowman out of his banana. He thinks all of these activities are games:) He did get to watch a real game last weekend--UNI basketball. Momma taught him to cheer "UNI". He's got that one down now!

Music continues to be a source of joy for Zachary. We often hear him singing "Twinkle Twinkle" or the "ABC song". He's starting to tell us when he doesn't like something we are singing--he shakes his head "no" while saying "like". It's cute now.....

Otherwise things have been pretty quiet this week. We are all trying to stay healthy in preparation for Zachary's next surgery on April 6. Dr Canady will repair Zachary's cleft palate. We have been talking about the doctor fixing the hole in the top of his mouth--trying to prepare him for simple understanding of the upcoming surgery.

Hard to believe that Easter is just next weekend. We pray that each of you will take time to reflect on the significance of this holiday. Remember Jesus died for YOU.

Is Spring Here Yet????

2010-02-21T16:50:00.007-06:00

We continue to be amazed at how fast our little Zachary is growing up! Daddy has been busy making DVD's of all of the video we have shot since we brought Zachary home. He's growing right before our eyes......we don't really notice each day, but looking back we can see how he's changed!

Zach still loves to eat! Sometimes he gets special snacks on the stool rather than his booster seat. He thinks that is pretty fun.
He also likes playing doctor and fire fighter. Our friend Tammy got these costumes for him after Halloween. She also got him a pirate costume, but so far the only one who's put that one on is his monkey!!!

Zach likes to say he's going to "work" or to get groceries; he always pretends he's buying bananas, milk or diapers. He knows as well as we do that those 3 items go fast in this house!
Daddy is teaching Zach his musical skills. Each time we get out the guitar he makes a funny face at momma, shakes his head and says "how". And she says, "You're right, momma doesn't know how to play the guitar, but Daddy does!"
Our new family photo. Thinking about using this for Christmas cards next year.....

Snow Days

2010-01-26T15:12:00.005-06:00

Did you hear that we've gotten 41 inches of snow since Oct 1??? That is just crazy. Thought we'd show you what we've been up to during all the snow days recently:

Christmas with PaPa Ron & Theresa

2010-01-18T14:50:00.005-06:00

Two weekends ago we traveled to PaPa Ron's and Theresa's for our Hansen Christmas. We all bundled up and stayed warm, despite the 35 below windchills that weekend!!!

The Monday before we went to PaPa's, Zach had his follow up appointment in Iowa City. Dr Canady said that everything was healing as he wanted. We shouldn't have to go back until his next surgery which is on April 6. Dr. Canady gave Zach the OK to go swimming again; we just had to get him some special ear gear. He enjoyed swimming with his cousins at the pool that weekend. Daddy is going to take Zach to swim class in a few weeks for more swimming; he's like a fish!

Cousin Collin always has something fun up his sleeve. This time it was Pom Poms....on the head.

Zach's speech and language continues to develop. It is getting easier for Mom and Dad to understand him. Our favorite Zach-ism lately is "mup momma". He says this to Mom when he's requesting being lifted up. Guess you just have to hear it;) It will be interesting to hear if/how Zach's speech changes after his cleft palate surgery in April. Right now his speech sounds a bit nasal because he has a hole in the roof of his mouth--he can't stop the air from leaking up into his nose. That makes his p and b sounds come out like m's. So when he say's "please" is sounds more like "meeez". The surgery itself with fix some of it, but there is a good chance he will need some speech therapy as well, to help him develop the correct way of saying sounds.

Weekend With the Penaluna's

2010-01-18T14:26:00.004-06:00

Last weekend Nancy's college roommate Steph and her family (husband Mike and kids Peyton, Parker & Preston) came to visit. Zachary was on cloud 9 from the time they pulled into the drive until they left the next day. He loved following them around the house and imitating whatever they did. He wasn't so sure about Preston's dinosaurs, but warmed up to them a bit by the time they left;)

Steph and Peyton are used to living with a house of boys! They gladly gave us some of the twin's old toys--I think they brought the loudest toys ever. We'll be putting tape over the speakers of some of those toys;)

The kids liked rolling around on the air mattresses before we got them put away in the morning. Peyton did a nice job helping out with Zachary. You can tell she's the big sister at her house!

Zachary had to "ook" at whatever the twins were playing with. At one point he thought about climbing into Mike's lap to see the game the boys were playing with. Don't think Mike could handle 3 boys in his lap!!!

The weather even cooperated and we got to go sledding on Sunday. No one got hurt, even though there was one incident with a tree and several falls off the sled! We had a great time with everyone and can't wait til our next weekend together.

Cousin Carter's Birthday Party

2010-01-04T20:25:00.001-06:00

Zachary was invited to his very first birthday party. Cousin Carter turned 1 on Dec 26. We were so excited to go celebrate with him. He's had a rough year, but is a very happy and healthy boy now. Zachary got to be Carter's big helper--showing him how to eat the frosting on his cake, helping him open his gifts, and even playing with his new toys. All in all, he did a very good job sharing toys with his cousin.

Zachary also had fun play Connect Four with Papa Ron at the party. He didn't really like it when Papa made all of the checkers fall though!

The Kragel Christmas Celebration

2010-01-04T19:58:00.005-06:00

Since central and western Iowa got dumped on with snow & ice on Christmas, our Kragel celebration was shortened this year. Instead of going to Grandma & Grandpa Kragels on Christmas afternoon, we stayed home all weekend in Ankeny to celebrate Christmas. We started off with Christmas Eve service at NorthBranch on Thursday night. Then on Friday the three of us opened a few gifts and started a few of our own Christmas traditions. The rest of the Kragel gang (Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Marty, Aunt Allyson, and cousins Sam & Raquel) came to our place on Sunday.

Zach took full advantage of having two cousins to play with! He requested sitting on cousin Raquel's lap for his snack time.

Zach learns to cheese it up for the camera.....

Zachary wasn't too rushed with opening presents. He liked to open one, play with it for awhile, and eventually would get around to asking for another one to open.

Not sure who had more fun with these blocks---my vote is Daddy.

Diaper Boy, Ears and Christmas Cookies

2009-12-23T15:23:00.010-06:00

There's never a boring day here at the Kragel house. Lately Zach has been wanting to run around and play with only his diaper on. He thinks it's the most fun thing ever. Mom and Dad are bundled up with tons of clothes and Zach is nice and warm, just in his diaper!

The other thing he's been up to lately is finding things to stick into his ears. One day it was fish crackers; this day he decided on the Mr Potato Head ears.

Last weekend we celebrated Christmas at Grandma Karen's and Grandpa Al's. Daddy and Zachary learned how to make cut out cookies. Cousin Collin and Grandma taught them a few things.
We also got to go sledding again. Zach loved being pulled on the sled. Uncle Tim, Aunt Jodi, Cousins Collin & Rebecca, Momma & Daddy got quite a workout pulling him back up the hill each time. Thirty some pounds started to get heavy!!!
We wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. Take time to reflect upon the reason for the season. Everyone drive safely if you are traveling.

Kicking Around the House

2009-12-03T15:23:00.004-06:00

What's new with our boy? He's been having fun looking at the Christmas lights, both at home and around the neighborhood. He says "wow" when he really likes what he sees! He also likes snowmen. We haven't shown him Santa yet; his fear of masks may send him through the roof! He's also been having fun playing with a nativity set, carrying each piece from one spot to another. His favorite piece is the "Baby" (aka Jesus)!
Other than that, the ZMan is growing like a weed. These cute jammas won't fit him much longer!

First Thanksgiving Dinner, Pumpkin Pie included!

2009-12-03T14:49:00.012-06:00

This post is a bit late, but here are some pictures from Thanksgiving. Zach had fun playing with all of his cousins, aunts & uncles at Grandma Karen and Grandpa Al's. Cousin Carter was even there to join in on the fun. Check out the guy's group picture on the bottom; if you look closely you will see Carter behind Zach. He is doing very well, 2 months after his open heart surgery.

He is still in the phase of wanting to help with everything so we put him to work with the vacuum & making buns. Do you think this phase will last another 10 years???

Turkey Day!

2009-11-25T20:39:00.002-06:00

The above shot was taken today (Wed)--the scar is a bit more noticeable due to his recent face plant. The shot below was taken on Sunday, prior to the face plant; the scar was barely noticeable then!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!! This year the Kragel family has sooooo many things to be thankful for. It's hard to imagine that last Thanksgiving we did not even know our son. We were praying for God to bring us a child but had our doubts about China. We became impatient with God's timing and started looking into a domestic adoption. We felt lost, confused but still hopeful that God hadn't forgotten about us.

Now one year later we have an amazing son. We are thankful that God made us wait for him. Now looking back it, we can hardly remember what life was like without Zachary. God has brought us so much joy, love, and laughter through Zachary. He blesses us everyday!

We are CERTAIN that God had his hand of protection over Zachary during his recovery from his lip surgery. As mentioned in the last blog post, Zach pulled off the super glue and a few stitches 10 days after surgery when he wiggled out of his arm restraint. No damage was done. Now this week our boy who doesn't like to sit still did a nose dive into the wall in his bedroom. He learned what ouch meant that day (Monday). Sure enough he hit his nose and lip. The lip swelled up quite a bit and the nose bled. We called Iowa City and they said that everything should be healed from the surgery so not to worry. Today he looks a bit bruised from that fall but we don't think any damage was done. Praise God for that one!

So on this Thanksgiving weekend, we pray that you would take time to recognize your blessings even if you are lost and frustrated as we were last year. God is an amazing God and his timing is always for a reason.

He's Free!

2009-11-17T13:48:00.001-06:00

Yesterday's appointment went well. Dr Canady was pleased with how things looked; turns out that Zach didn't harm anything when he got out of his arm restraint and pulled off the super glue and a few stitches last Friday! The doctors snipped off the bolsters and pulled an assortment of little things out of his nose. We had no idea how much he was packing up there.

No more arm cuffs. No more liquid diet. No more sleeping only on his back. We are back to normal. The Dr did say it will still be healing for the next week, so we're going to do mittens at bed times, so he doesn't pick, explore, etc. too much.

The next surgery (for the palate) is scheduled for April. We will enjoy our freedom until then;)

Thanks for all your prayers, words of encouragement and activity ideas over the last few weeks.

The Smiles are Back

2009-11-11T20:09:00.003-06:00

Each day Zachary gets a little more energy and a little more anxious to run, run, run. He has accepted his new diet and the arm cuffs, so he's much more content now. Mom is making considerable efforts to keep Zachary sleeping on his back. She goes into his room throughout the night to check in and turn him over when needed.
It's so nice to see Zachary smiling & laughing again. His eyes look much better too--the swelling is gone and the sparkle is back. He's turned into a big boy all of a sudden!

The rest of the herd is off camera eating their cup lunches, "just like Zachary."

Can't wait to put those arm cuffs in the garbage and run and wrestle! We go back to Iowa City on Monday to get the bolsters out of the nose and maybe stitches out of the lip. We probably still have 2 more weeks left of the arm restraints. Not sure how long this diet has to continue; we will know more on Monday.

Our Brave Boy

2009-11-05T21:02:00.003-06:00

Here are a couple of shots of Zachary the day after his surgery. The green arm cuffs are designed so he can't bend his arms and touch his stitches or bolsters. The bolsters are the three things you see on the top of his nose. They hold the shape of his nose while it heals.

Thank you for all your prayers. We are confident Zachary has been pretty comfortable throughout, i.e. low or no pain. Although he has had to accept a liquid diet...no crackers; drat.

If you're wondering how he's doing now, Mamma put him down for a nap today and went downstairs and listened in on the monitor. Within a few minutes she could here him jumping on his bed. So she went back up to get him settled down to sleep.

We are being extremely cautious with his stitches, as we were warned during the thumb sucking meeting that if the stitches separate, we will have quite a mess. So we're trying to do calm things as much as possible; movies, books, stroller rides, etc. and not let him do much moving around without a hand on him. No face plants allowed!

We have a follow up appointment on Nov 16 to have the bolsters removed. The arm cuffs stay on for three weeks. So we have a ways to go, but it's good to have a goal.

Let's hope we don't have to puree the turkey on Thanksgiving!

Home from Surgery

2009-11-04T22:41:00.001-06:00

Just a quick note to say that we're home from Ia City. Surgery went very well--only 2 hrs instead of 3.5. They ended up putting tubes in the ears too in order to prevent ear infections while he's healing. They did some work on his nose too. He looks pretty different. He's been a trooper through it all. He has to wear arm splints at all times in order to keep his hands and toys away from the face while everything heals. Getting the boy dressed and keeping his hands out of his face is a challenge. Also right now we aren't letting him walk on his own, as we don't want him to fall and do a face plant. He's on a "cup diet" which means he can only drink his food. That's been interesting! He's a bit picky on what pureed liquid foods he will drink. Plus he's not too hip on the medicine so we are having to find foods to put it in and hope he can't taste it!
Of interest, his favorite word right now is "no". He says it very clearly! Before surgery he really didn't say no very often and really couldn't pronounce it well. That's changed;)

Thanks everyone for your prayers. Keep em comin'.

Weekend on the Farm

2009-10-29T14:49:00.005-05:00

Last weekend we went to Grandpa Dick and Grandma Phyllis' house. Saturday we stayed inside since it was raining. Grandma & Grandpa had fun reading him books before bed; he slept 12 hours that night! He's still working on his 2 yr molars, so his sleep schedule is a bit off right now.

Sunday we got to go outside to play. Although it was wet from Saturday's rain, Zach still got the chance to play in the leaf pile, sit in Grandpa's combine, play with some corn, ride in the little red wagon, and chase a kitty around.

We head to Ia City on Monday. Surgery is still scheduled for Tuesday Nov 3rd. Our next entry will be with some post surgery photos. Thank you for all your prayers as we head into this next chapter in Zachary's life.

Pumpkins & Snow!

2009-10-16T14:09:00.011-05:00

Carving Zach's first pumpkin with Uncle Tim and Aunt Jodi's help.

Wow! Is this supposed to come off?

Snuggling up with Grandma Karen and cousins Rebecca & Collin at the pumpkin patch after snow last weekend!

Helpin' mom & dad pick out the pumpkin to carve.

Zach's first time sledding with cousin Collin. He wanted "more" of that!

Building a snowman. But why does he have a pumpkin head???

Zach's first time touching snow. Brrr!

Feeding the horses at Mahoney State Park (the day before the snow). The horse nibbled Zach's finger--he's got an owie to prove it!

Climbing up the stairs at the look out tower at Mahoney State Park. He climbed up and down all 107 stairs, just holding momma's hand!

What's new with Zachary lately? He's big into pointing out every single pumpkin he sees. He has also discovered Elmo, which really helps keep him occupied when Momma is making supper! He continues to say/sign "help", however has switched from always asking for help to now offering to help with a lot of things mom or dad is doing. His speech is becoming a bit easier to understand. Mom is working on getting him to say his "m" sounds at the beginning of words. That speech pathologist in her never quits! Another cute thing he does lately: he stops whatever he happens to be doing, folds his hands, and requests that we pray. So precious! Speaking of praying, his surgery is set for November 3rd. You can keep him in your prayers as we move forward with that.

Orchard Season

2009-09-24T20:42:00.009-05:00

One advantage of having Zac's surgery pushed back is that we have been able enjoy some fall activities before the snow flies.

A couple of weekends ago we went to Center Grove Orchard near Cambridge. Zachary visited the homes of the three little pigs, watched goats, chickens, pigs, and horses, and we picked up our first round of Honey Crisp apples (amongst many other things). The ironic thing is that two farm kids (Nancy & Lonnie) actually PAID to visit a farm. Sheesh.

In the meantime, we have been in Thumb Sucking Boot Camp. After about a week we were able to stop putting anything on Zac's thumb during the day. At night and during naps we are still using the mittens although they are usually dry when we get him out of bed. So it doesn't appear as though he is trying to suck through the mitten (although we do add some athletic tape and Mavala in strategic places to assist).

At this point, as we're getting ready for bed, Zachary will point to the mittens when it's time to put them on. He thinks they're pretty cool. As we're putting on the Mavala, he will grin and whisper, "ackey." It is truely ackey.

It is just amazing how quickly this little boy adapts to things. We are so thankful for him.

Dad & Zac get lift-off on the jumping pillow.

Zachary doing the back float in the corn pool.

Can you believe it!? We found this cool circle of rocks to stand in at Saylorville. It doesn't get any better than this.

No family resemblance, but the pictures don't lie. --Brian Andreas

Sticks & Mittens

2009-09-09T14:09:00.003-05:00

All a boy needs is some sand to play in (or eat) and a stick! Taken at the Ledges on Labor Day.

Look--Zach found a bigger stick at Saylorville!

Dad showin' Zachary how to throw rocks into the lake. He was content doing that for an hour!

If you haven't heard, Zach's lip surgery has been rescheduled. It is now November 3rd. We went up last Thursday for our pre op appointment. The surgeon recommended we help Zach stop thumb sucking or we'll "have a big mess on our hands" after surgery. The thumb sucking would likely pull out all the stitches, requiring yet another surgery to fix it. Although mom and dad were frustrated by yet another schedule change and for not being told this information in July, it will all work out for good. This way Zachary can enjoy all the fun outdoor fall activities without worrying about having to try to sit still and heal. Daddy said it well the other day--keep in mind that the cleft lip and palate are what God used to bring Zach into our family; God tugged at our heart to be open to a child with a cleft lip/palate and he brought us an amazing son! Remembering that helps us be thankful and patient with all the schedule changes and thumb sucking challenges! Currently we are using mittens at nap time/bedtime and Tabasco sauce during the day to rid this habit. We know that God is helping out big time as Zach is not grumpy by all this. In fact he gladly accepts the mittens as part of his night time routine!

The Countdown

2009-09-02T13:22:00.007-05:00

Mom and Zach wrestling in the grass at Jester Park.

Dad & Zach being goofy.

Hiking with Dad at Jester Park after the Pelican Festival.

Givin' Momma another big wet smooch!

Zachary continues to explore his world. His latest favorites are turning lights on/off, pointing out trucks on the road or airplanes flying by, snuggling with his Teddy Bears, singing the spider song, and opening/closing doors. His joy and laughter are such gifts!

Surgery got moved again. It is now set for the day after Labor Day. Six days and counting. We still go up tomorrow for his pre op appt where we will find out more details about the surgery.

Iowa City

2009-08-21T14:30:00.001-05:00

Turns out that Zachary and his little cousin Carter will be in Iowa City the same week. Carter's appointment for his heart valve surgery got moved back a week and Zach's got moved up a week. Zachary will have his cleft lip repaired on Sept 4. We go up the day before for a pre-op appointment. Carter will be leaving about the time we arrive. Please keep both of these boys in your prayers.

Dad took Zach for his 2 year check up and shots this week. He gained almost 4 pounds in less than 3 months. He is now 26.7 lbs and 32 inches tall. He can now reach the pedals on his tricycle but is still working on the coordination for pedaling. His feet have grown a lot in the last month, as his little toes now reach the very end of his stinky sandals (yes stinky--that's what happens to shoes when sweaty feet wear them!). Dr. Gavin just laughed when we asked how to get him to stop sucking his thumb. Apparently it is too soon to expect a toddler to give up the thumb, so we will just deal with it after surgery.

Zachary continues to love eating fruit! In fact he spit out the brownies that Aunt Marcia made him and requested grapes instead! He also prefers applesauce over ice cream!

We continue to spend a lot of time outside--in the sandbox, blowing bubbles, picking up sticks or rocks, and taking time to smell the flowers (or maybe blowing on the flowers with his nose).

The Thumb

2009-08-05T15:17:00.001-05:00

One more thing about Iowa City--the surgeon suggested that we get Zach to stop sucking his thumb by his surgery. Remember, the surgery is only a month away. We tried taping the thumbs. It worked like a charm--for 4 hours that is. Then he peeled the tape off the right thumb so he could suck his way to sleep! He is working on another tooth right now. After that comes in we may try another attempt at breaking this habit. Any suggestions anyone???

Iowa City Consultation

2009-08-05T15:10:00.001-05:00

Zach had his first appointment in Iowa City on July 27. The day before we went to the Children's Museum in the mall. Zachary loved it! He loved playing in the pizza restaurant, grocery store, and farm. Think Godfather's would hire him???? After the museum we met some friends at our hotel and went swimming. Zach is a little fish. He loves getting dunked. He really wants to venture off on his own!

The week before the appointment we practiced opening our mouth and saying "ah" with the doctor's kit Grandma Karen gave him. We also practiced taking our temp, listening to heart and lungs, etc. The practice paid off! Zach was a trooper. He didn't cry when they took his temp and got his weight (now 27 lbs). He didn't like the intern doctor trying to look in his mouth, but he let the surgeon look. He had fun playing with the audiologists too, as he got a hearing test done. He eared an A+ on that test! We also met with a speech-language pathologist who said that Zach is doing very well with his speech and language right now. The surgeon suggested that we go ahead with his surgeries as soon as possible since this is a prime time for developing language. He explained that we don't want Zachary to get in the habit of incorrectly saying sounds, given his cleft lip and palate.

Zachary's lip will be repaired with one surgery now (Sept 10) and then another into adolescence to even out scar tissue. He will have his cleft palate repaired in March. That should be the only surgery needed on the palate. After permanent teeth come in, they will start working on his teeth.

Mom and Dad don't even notice the cleft lip when we see our little Zachary. All we see is his amazing smile. So many people tell us that his eyes even smile! What a gift of joy God has placed in his heart! Although we don't notice the cleft lip, he will still look so different after it is repaired.

More Party Shots

2009-07-23T13:58:00.001-05:00

Party Time!

2009-07-23T13:49:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday (7/19/09) Zach had his very first party. We celebrated his baptism and also his birthday--it was an early birthday party, as his birthday isn't actually until 8/03. He had lots of family and friends come to celebrate with him. During the baptism, Cheerios kept him content. He even seemed to enjoy having the water poured over his head! He got to wear his traditional Chinese silk outfit for the baptism. From church we headed to a picnic area at Saylorville Lake. He played hard on the playground, tried to blow out birthday candles, and learned how to unwrap gifts. It was a busy day! A few nights later he caught up on his sleep--Mommy woke him up after 12 hours.

Besides partying, Zachary continues to love exploring. Maybe we should have named him Curious George. Daddy was surprised when he saw Zach chomping on a worm at the playground last Saturday!!! At the beach yesterday he had fun collecting rocks & sticks and playing in the sand with his friends. He also continues to love music. His dancing just keeps gettin better everyday!

We head to Iowa City on Monday July 27 for a consultation with the Cleft Team. Please keep Zachary in your prayers as deals with upcoming appointments, surgeries, etc.

Iowa Sweet Corn

2009-07-13T19:33:00.001-05:00

Aunt Jodi and cousin Rebecca thought it was time that Zachary try some sweet corn. They brought some over last week. Zach enjoyed husking the corn. He was kinda sad when that job was all over. Maybe we can get him a job in Grimes;) I don't think he realized it was food when he was working on the husking project. Next time he will probably try to eat it while he husks!

He LOVED eating the corn! Daddy tried to get him to eat it off the cob--it may work better next year;)

Zachary is starting to become a bit choosier with his food these days. He has now decided he does not like green beans, cantaloupe, chili beans, and tomatoes. He still has a very good appetite but is not gorging himself as he used to. He will even leave food on his plate some days, which in China he never did.

On another note, we continue to be thankful for God's timing with our trip to China. Complications from the Swine Flu continue to delay travel for some adopting families. Various adoption agencies are still recommending that families postpone their travel to China, due to the risk of being quarantined while there. We have so many things to be thankful for!

Enjoying Summer

2009-07-13T13:22:00.001-05:00

Zachary spent the 4th of July meeting more cousins (Samantha & Raquel), Aunt Allyson, Uncle Marty, and great grandma. He loved all the attention! He even got to go swimming in a "real" pool for the first time. He loved having Daddy dunk his head under the water. Who knows, maybe we have an Olympian swimmer on our hands:) He didn't stay up for the fireworks; he didn't even budge when Grandpa and Uncle Marty set off the fireworks on the farm.

A little sponge....

2009-07-01T14:15:00.000-05:00

Zachary continues to be a little sponge, soaking up all the things he hears and sees around him. This week he started signing "help"--it is so funny to watch him do it--he puts his entire body into signing it! Last week when it was so hot, he started saying "hot day" every time we got in and out of the car. He loves having the wind blow in his hair, especially if we are driving with the windows down in the car. He lifts up his hands and feels the breeze. So precious!

Mom and dad continue to be blessed with tons of hugs and kisses from Zach. We figure he must have been given lots of love in the orphanage and foster home. They taught him how to pass on that love. We are very thankful for that. Zachary gave some kisses to cousin Carter this week. He is fascinated by his soft baby skin! Zach didn't like it when Carter gave him a big wet slobbery kiss back though--not real found of the slobber apparently!

We went to the carousel in Des Moines over the weekend. Zachary was pretty scared. Not sure if it was the loud music or the animals. He had a tight grip on Daddy when we stood and watched other kids ride it. We didn't ride this time; maybe another time.

Today Zachary painted for the first time. He made a painting (using glitter glue and Qtip) of fireworks during his music class. He also got to play the cymbals in class, which he loved!

Have a safe and relaxing 4th of July!

More Father's Day Weekend Pics

2009-06-23T21:26:00.000-05:00

Father's Day Weekend

2009-06-23T21:24:00.001-05:00

We ventured out to celebrate Father's Day last weekend. Saturday we went to Riemen Gardens to see the flowers and their dinosaur exhibit. Since we were in Ames we HAD to stop at Hickory Park for lunch. This was our first dining out experience since we returned from China. Zach was a trooper. Normally, he gets a little impatient when he knows food is coming, but he stayed content by eating raisins and looking around at all the people and pictures until our food came.

On Sunday we decided to try the hiking pack that friends gave us. We went to Jester Park and hiked on some trails. Zachary loved being up high! Dad got quite the workout! After hiking we played in the water at the play area. We didn't come prepared with a swimsuit, but Zach had fun splashing in his clothes and shoes.

Zachary had his first experience in a real pool today. We met some friends at ChildServe to swim in a warm indoor pool. Mom and Zach really enjoyed the warm water. He liked being able to touch and walk in part of it; then mom carried him around the other parts of the pool. He especially liked watching the other kids there.

We don't believe in coincidences

2009-06-23T21:20:00.001-05:00

God taught us so many things while we waited for his timing to grow our family. It is neat to look back through our journals and blog entries and compare them to what was happening in Zachary's world at the time.......

November 4, 2006: Nancy & Lonnie went to an adoption fair. Initially we thought about waiting a few more months before submitting our application to our agency of choice (Holt), but we decided to proceed with the adoption process. China was the country that God put on our hearts. Nine months later, Zachary was born.

August 3 2007: Zachary was born in Shanxi Province, China.
August 2007: Nancy & Lonnie vacationed in northern Minnesota. This is where they purchased the first item for the future nursery--the Brian Andreas Print "Such Small Things". It says the following: For a long time, there were only your footprints & laughter in our dreams & even from such small things, we knew we could not wait to love you forever.

December 2007-December 2008: Zachary moved from the orphanage into foster care. The foster family and God prepared his heart for being in a forever family one day.
December 2007-December 2008: God prepared Nancy & Lonnie's hearts for modifying their adoption dream. He planted seeds of possibly adopting a child of either sex (not just girl as initially thought) as well as considering a child with minor correctable health concerns.

August 3, 2008: Zachary turned one!
August 2008: Mom and Dad really struggled with waiting on God's timing to build their family. Mom re-read the book The Dream Giver and was reminded how the wasteland is not a waste. She blogged her frustrations on August 10, 2008.

December 2008: Zachary came back to the orphanage and was ready for his forever family.
December 2008: Doors closed for Nancy & Lonnie to adopt other kids--both domestic and from China. Christmas day Nancy & Lonnie informed Holt that they would be interested in adopting a child with cleft lip/palate.

January 2009: Nancy & Lonnie got a referral on Zachary

May 18, 2009: Zachary joined his forever family!

The above journey is full of God's fingerprints. I like what 1 Peter 4:12 says: Friends, when life gets really difficult, don't jump to the conclusion that God isn't on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner. (The Message)

We went through some tough spots and sometimes we questioned if God was "still on the job". Now looking back we KNOW he WAS and IS on the job. We thank him for the refining he did in our hearts. Give Him the glory.

Cousins

2009-06-19T13:54:00.001-05:00

We went to cousin Kyle's baseball game this week. Zachary wasn't too impressed by the game, but he loved walking around with aunt Linda, looking at the flowers. She event taught him to say "flower"! Other favorite words of late include hi, bye, oh boy, look, hey. We continue to teach words with sign language, which he is picking up quickly. "More", "eat", "please" and "all done" are signed frequently. Zachary's comprehension of English improves daily as well.

Zachary likes to watch Bandit when he comes out to investigate. He does not like it when Bandit sits near his toys. He must think that Bandito is going to steal some of his favorite toys!

Attached are some photos of Zachary playing with cousins Collin & Rebecca. They are thrilled to have an addition to the family. Now they are no longer the youngest! Zach is excited to meet more cousins in the upcoming weeks!

First Swim

2009-06-19T13:53:00.001-05:00

Since it has been so hot and humid this week, we got out the little pool and went for a swim. OK, maybe not a swim--more like splashing. Zach loved it. Mom also got out the sprinkler but he wasn't so sure about that.

Zachary and Dad came down with a cold last weekend. So we have been practicing blowing the nose. Dad has it down pat;) Zachary has picked up on it pretty well too. He can blow on command--works pretty well unless he decides to do it spontaneously when he is in his car seat, out of reach of mom or dad!

Zachary experienced his first sitter this week. Aunt Marcia came over to play for a few hours while Mom & Dad celebrated their anniversary. He did great with her.

First Haircut!!!

2009-06-16T14:18:00.001-05:00

We assume Zachary had his hair cut in China--most likely shaved. Aunt Marcia graciously volunteered to give Zach his first haircut with scissors! He did super well. First he watched mom get her haircut. Next we placed him on mom's lap to sit for a haircut, but he couldn't sit still! So we bribed him with Cheerios in his booster seat. Amazing how it worked! Aunt Marcia gave him a full haircut. He likely ate a bit of hair while eating those Cheerios, but it didn't hurt him. Hopefully this cut will keep the busy man cool. He is one hot dude!

A few more family photos.....

2009-06-11T14:20:00.001-05:00

Playin' With Family

2009-06-11T14:18:00.001-05:00

Thought we'd post some family photos from the last few weeks. Zachary has been enjoying meeting his extended family. He is a very social boy, once he realizes you aren't going to take his toys!

Besides meeting all kinds of friends and family, Zachary has had a ball exploring at several parks in the neighborhood. He has mastered walking/running on the grass without fear and has progressed to being fearless of pebbles and wood chips as well! He loves to play with (mainly watch) other kids. We imagine he used to play with kids at the orphanage a lot. So mom and Zach have had several play dates the past few weeks. It's been good for both!

Some "firsts" the last couple weeks include going to church, playing in the basement, experiencing new food (ice cream, hot dog, broccoli), and being licked by the neighbor dog!

Feel free to stop by and play. You will fall in love with this little guy when you meet him. His smile and laugh melt your heart!

Cats, Swinging & Grass

2009-06-02T21:03:00.000-05:00

Everyone keeps asking "How are the cats adjusting???" Bandit has been exhausted. He comes out briefly to see what Zachary is all about, lets him touch him a bit, then goes into the bedroom to sleep. Storm hides in our bedroom til it's quiet (nap time or bedtime), then he comes out for some lovin'.

We have been introducing the house slowly to Zachary. Too much space seems to overwhelm him. As of now, he has only seen his room, his bathroom, the kitchen and dining room. We have not gone down to the basement yet, nor to our bedroom/bathroom. He has been getting more comfortable with these areas, now exploring on his own. He is beginning to cry when mom or dad leave the room. Our social worker tells us it's a good sign that he's attaching to us.

We assume that Zachary had never seen grass until Iowa. When we first came home he wanted nothing to do with it. He wouldn't even step on it. Dad coaxed him onto the grass last night; tonight he was running all around on it, pushing his Tonka truck around. Other "firsts" we have enjoyed the last few days include playing on the swing and slide at the park.

Zach is still adjusting to the time change. Saturday and Sunday nights were a bit rough, but we made it through. Then yesterday he had his first experience at the pediatrician---2 shots, blood test, urine sample, TB test, etc. Today he was worn out!

He has been excited to meet aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmas, grandpas, and friends since we have been back. He is such a social guy! Can't wait for you all to meet him.

Videos from China

2009-06-01T09:45:00.007-05:00

We took video while we were in China, but had no way of posting it to the blog as we could not access YouTube or the blog in China (or any video sharing website).

We received Zachary on May 18. The Story Time and the Playing Blocks video are from May 19 when we got him laughing and playing. The First Steps video is from May 20 when he decided he felt safe enough to walk around without us. It was the end of a progression of gaining autonomy from mom and dad and fun for us to watch him motor around beaming!

Home!

2009-05-29T15:28:00.001-05:00

We started the day Thursday by heading to the Hong Kong airport at 10am. We rolled into the garage at 10:30pm Iowa time (11:30am China time). 25 hours of travel! The big flight was from Hong Kong to Chicago--14.5 hours. The plane we were on had some mechanical issues on the tarmac so we sat there for an additional hour and a half.

Zachary did pretty well. He played a lot and at times was frustrated with no place to really walk around, but slept for 9 of the 16 hours we were on the plane. We built a little tent over his seat which kept it dark for him.

So good to be home. Thank you for all your comments, prayers and well-wishes. We checked our email everyday to see what you wrote. Helped us to feel connected while we were gone.

Feel free come on over and meet Zachary. Just give us a call so we make sure it's not during nap time ;)

more zoo pics

2009-05-26T20:26:00.001-05:00

More zoo pics including Zachary passed out at the exit. It was past nap time and draining pointing at all of those animals.

Zoo & safari

2009-05-26T20:18:00.000-05:00

Yesterday (Tuesday) we went to the Guangzhou zoo and safari. The Guangzhou zoo is the largest in China. We saw just about every kind of animal you can think of including giraffes, lions, wolves, rhinos, koala bears, etc. The pandas are the prize of this zoo. They have 10. Five are their own and five have been moved to this zoo from the part of China that had the earthquake last year. Zachary got the biggest kick out of seeing the baby lion cubs.

Today we will be going to an "exit meeting" with our agency where we will learn about the final steps of our trip. We will also be getting Zachary's visa and going to an "oath taking" ceremony. From there we get on the train for Hong Kong. Last week there was a case of the H1N1 (swine flu) discovered on the train in Hong Kong. We have heard that the officials are being very cautious as a result. We anticipate having our temp checked several times on the train. Please pray that no one on our train has a temp!

We'll stay over night at the airport hotel and fly out at 12:45p Thursday morning arriving in Chicago at 2:15pm Thursday. That doesn't seem to add up on a 14.5 hour flight. We'll get home at 6:15pm on Thursday. Really, really looking forward to being in our house versus a hotel room!

We look forward to introducing you all to Zachary in the upcoming weeks. We are hoping to get us all adjusted to US time this coming weekend.

Medical Check

2009-05-25T08:20:00.001-05:00

Today (Monday) we had Zachary's medical check. This is a requirement for the adoption process. Basically they checked his height & weight, attempted to look in his mouth, and listened to his heart. I am not sure that they told us anything new, except his weight (23 lbs). The nurse made him very mad when she tried to look in his mouth. He had quite the meltdown. After that she tried to test his hearing in a very scientific way--squeezing a squeaky toy on each side of his head. She was concerned why he would not turn toward this toy.....maybe it had something to do with him crying hysterically! Anyway, we made it through and got the necessary documents to move to the next step of the process. That's for his visa. Holt takes our paperwork over tomorrow to get that ball rolling.

Yesterday we borrowed (yes, for free) a stroller from a local store. Zach seems to like the rides and mom and dad's muscles and joints are liking the relief as well! We took a stroll down the road to a German restaurant for supper tonight. The food was a nice change from the Asian foods of late. We are looking forward to meat and potato meals back home!

Zachary has slowed down a bit on his eating. He must have figured out that we are going to provide him with what he needs. We still get a little bit of gruff from him when we take his bib off, but much less than a week ago. We even found some foods that he does not like (potatoes, carrots, and yogurt).

It's hard to believe that we just met this little guy one week ago. He has really changed over the week. This Psalms seems appropriate as we look back on what God has done.... (Psalms 29 from Psalms Now by Leslie F Brandt)

We need to give credit to whom credit is due.
God is alive, and He deserves our perpetual praises.
There is a reason for rejoicing.
There is a God to worship and love.

The skies and the forests manifest His beauty.
The sweep of the ocean represent His power.
The gigantic bodies suspended in our universe portray His majesty.
The wind and the rain, the lightening and the thunder, the creatures that inhabit
the land, the flowers that brighten our lives, all this comes from the hand of God.

The glory is not ours but God's.

Even the achievements of human hand, mind, and machine come through the wisdom
and power of the eternal God.
The contributions of science;
the fields ripe for harvest;
the control of water, air, and space;
the establishment of our great institutions--
these also reflect the glory of God.

Let us give credit to whom credit is due.

The Big Toy Room

2009-05-24T09:17:00.000-05:00

Hello from humid, rainy Guangzhou. It's been raining for two days solid--not off and on for two days, but a steady rain fall for two days. So we are becoming quite good w/ umbrellas (which the hotel provides).

Have to give a big thumbs up to the toy company Mattel. There is big room in the hotel full of Mattel toys where parents can take their kids and turn them loose. Zach loves it and it's been good to see how he interacts with other kids. Downtime in our room has been spent wrestling and tickling. We love to hear Zach's laughs during these times.

On Saturday, we had an orientation with our agency where we turned in some of the paperwork we've been toiling over for years. Good to see it put to use.

Today (Sunday) we went to church. Both services were full (Nancy went to the first, I went to the second). The services were somewhat similar to what we do at home. Although the first was in Chinese and the second was both English and Chinese.

Tonight we had supper with the group of families from Holt. It has been fun to watch how the kids are attaching to the parents. Every family in our group has a child from Holt's Children of Promise program. This is a program established to help kids with special medical needs find a forever family. What a blessing for the parents and children both!

A few random photos

2009-05-22T20:29:00.001-05:00

A few random shots!

Travel to Guangzhou

2009-05-22T19:34:00.001-05:00

On Thursday, we went to a park in Taiyuan. The park was huge, encircled a lake, and was filled with people in the middle of the afternoon. There were people playing instruments, taking music lessons, singing, playing hackey sack, playing a card game that looked like dominoes, and sitting around in groups talking. We seldom see a person alone anywhere; there is definitely a great sense of community--all over China--and we have been treated with kindness and consideration throughout our trip.

At one point at the park a gentlemen asked us about Zachary which brought others over to hear what was being said. Our guide was with us and translated everything. They said he was a lucky boy and gave us the 'thumbs up' which we've received several times now. This happened twice at the park.

Today (Friday) we traveled from Taiyuan to Guangzhou. It was about a three hour plane ride and Zachary's first (and our first w/ a two year old). He squawked a few times, but really did very well. We were able to provide entertainment (aka Cheerios and tearing a barf bag to shreds) and he played his standard game of loading blocks into a bag and taking them out again. The two cities vary a lot from one another. Taiyuan (population 3 million) is an industrial city where as Guangzhou (population 10 million) is a city thriving on trade. We are staying at the White Swan Hotel which is separated from the mainland by a water way, so it's sort of on an island. There is little traffic and nice places to walk. Much quieter than Taiyuan which was a lot like New York City in terms of traffic and honking horns. The White Swam is a famous for housing people adopting in China due to its proximity to the American Consulate where we will be doing more paperwork for what will ultimately be his visa.

Zachary continues to blossom each day, showing us more and more personality. Tonight momma received the best gift ever---a kiss smack on her lips from her son!

Safe Enough to Walk!

2009-05-20T19:44:00.001-05:00

Each day we find that Zachary feels more and more comfortable with us. Today he decided he felt safe enough to let go of mom & dad and walk around the hotel room. He was motorin' around this afternoon before nap time. Our arm muscles were happy for some relief:)

Zachary's appetite has not slowed down a bit. In fact, he ate more than mom and dad at bfast this morning. The hotel here has a good mix of typical Chinese bfast food and American food. He likes to eat dumplings, stewed buns, eggs and fruit. You should see him when he is motioning for more food. He takes his pointer finger and politely taps his plate. We cracked up laughing when he started doing this. We are trying to teach him the sign for "more" instead.....

We went on a tour of Jinci Temple today. It was first built in the Western Zhour Dynsaty (the 11th century BC) to worship Duke SHunyu of Jin State. The temple has remains of sculptures and stone tablets from several Dynsasties. It was interesting to hear stories of how the Chinese people worshiped these gods. Even today while we were there we saw people paying respects to the Gods and leaving treasures at their altar.

This morning we met a few people from the US and Britain. It was a relief to speak English at full speed!

We'll be leaving for Guanzhou on Friday morning for the final leg of our trip. We'll get all of Zach's visa paperwork done there. We now have his passport.

He's warming up!

2009-05-19T17:08:00.001-05:00

Zachary must have been exhausted after his long day traveling to meet us. After sleeping 11 hours in his crib, we had to wake him so we could get ready to go to our appt at the Civil Affairs Office. The appointment went very well this morning. We got all the documents signed and application submitted for his Chinese passport.

After that we got to experience Walmart. Let's just say that it is comparable to the Walmart's in the US!

We have gotten the chance to play a few more games with Zachary (rolling the ball, peek-a-boo with his book). We have seen some more smiles and lots more eye contact. He tried to teach Mom & Dad a new game this morning, which involved throwing his little truck and then having us chase after it ;)

He loves to be held. In fact we basically hold him all the time except when sleeping or eating. That allows us the chance for some good bonding. He is an excellent eater! He probably was only allowed a limited amount of food at the orphanage, so now he is in heaven eating as much as he can. We are trying to figure out how much to let him eat at each meal. He basically eats anything we are eating and drinks from a bottle.

At lunch today we ate at a Shanghainese restaurant in the hotel. They must have thought we were making a mess at the meal because they brought us 3 wet wash clothes and a pair of plastic gloves (must have thought it was strange that mom used her hands to feed him at times).

By the end of the day, Zach was showing a lot more personality, pointing and squealing, babbling on about everything he was seeing and doing and lots of eye contact.

I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD" (1 Samuel 1:26-27).

We got him!

2009-05-18T08:17:00.001-05:00

At long last, we have Zachary.

I am having trouble getting photos to attach to my email (which is how I'm posting), so I put a link to photos below.

We'll give more details later, but the short version is that he was pretty scared and would not make any eye contact, didn't move, didn't make a sound. After we got back to the hotel, we have him a few toys and got him giggling a little bit playing ball. Sometimes we couldn't tell if he was laughing or crying. I think it was both. I don't think he wanted to let his guard down.

For photos, click on this link.

We'll write more later. Have a meeting in the morning (Tues) to get his passport in the works.

Updated pictures of Zach

2009-05-17T06:08:00.001-05:00

We received some updated information for Zach today and some new pictures. We only received prints so I took pictures of the pictures so I could post them. We will get the real thing tomorrow.

Also received details on what he eats, his eating schedule, sleeping schedule, nap, etc. So now we have some background on his routine.

We leave the hotel at 5:30am tomorrow morning (Monday) to go to the airport to travel to Taiyuan in Shanxi province SW of Beijing.

We are being taken care of at every turn by our agency. They make sure we know our schedule, when to be where, who our guide will be, what to eat, what not to eat, etc. And they speak very good English. Takes all the pressure off of being in a unfamiliar place.

Hopefully, next time we post, it will be with Zach in tow. We are scheduled to get him at 2pm on Monday.

More pictures

2009-05-16T17:24:00.000-05:00

Follow this link for more pictures.

Beijing and the Great Wall

2009-05-16T08:32:00.000-05:00

We actually arrived in Beijing a day earlier than required, both to ensure that we arrived before our orientation on Sunday and to do some sightseeing.

Our first stop was the Great Wall of China. It is mind-boggling how difficult this must have been to build. It goes on as far as the eye can see in either direction and up steep mountains. Our tour-guide "Happy" told us that it is 8,841 km long (or about 5,500 miles). That's why it's one of the 7 wonders of the world!

Next we went to Hutong; an old neighborhood in Beijing. Parts of Hutong are 500 years old (consider that America was founded about 230 years ago). The streets are very narrow and residents do not have bathrooms in their houses, they share community bathrooms. Mostly older generations live there, as the younger generations want their own bathrooms. We got to tour this area riding in a rickshaw (a bicycle w/ a "carriage" on the back).

Tonight we visited "Snack Street" filled with such dilectibles as fried sheep kidneys, something that looked like fried mice, and squid on a stick (eat your heart out Iowa State Fair). We opted to eat at McDonald's.

Overall, Beijing is very western. Most people speak English and the newer parts of the city look just like American cities. You wouldn't believe all the bicycles here. Happy tells us that there are about 10 million cars and 9 million bikes in Beijing alone. Wow! Guess how many helmets we saw....0!

Sunday (tomorrow) we have an orientation where we will get more information on Zach and perhaps a new picture. One of the families in our group received their little girl a couple of days ago, so playing with her today has made us even more anxious to get to Monday. The other 3 families get their child on Monday as well, just from a different area in China than us.

Adventures in Flying

2009-05-16T08:21:00.001-05:00

[It appears we cannot view our blog from China, so hope the pics are attaching okay as we are emailing our posts to the blog]. If you comment, all comments are emailed to us, so we will see them.

We had been wondering which direction we would fly to reach Beijing; east or west. It's about the same distance either way. However, we received a nice surprise when we took off and realized we were headed north.

Our flight went directly over the North Pole, so we were able to enjoy some scenery during the flight. Oh, and it was broad daylight the entire way.

At the Beijing airport, we were asked to remain on the plane while quarantine officials came on board and took everyone's temperature (remember the H1N1 virus is still out there). I would estimate there were about 300 people on board. So everyone was 'shot' on the forehead with some kind of laser thermometer. About 15 rows in front of us a man was running a fever. So we had to wait while new group of quarantine officials came on board. These officials were completely decked out in what one passenger called "Ghost Buster suits." It took around two hours to get all of this done.

As they did their work my only thought was that they were going to quarantine the entire plane. However, they simply took the 10 or so rows around him and those people got off the plane first and were rechecked and released. The rest of us deplaned after them.

We slept only a few minutes on the flight, so we were exhausted when we finally got to the hotel at 6pm China time (5am Central time). That means we were traveling for closing to 24 hours straight. Yikes! After eating and showering we passed out and slept all night--which is day time in Iowa.

Leaving Tomorrow!

2009-05-13T14:03:00.001-05:00

We are all packed and ready to go! Thank you all for your prayers for the Kragel family. Please continue to pray for us as we are in China. Today we got word that China has increased public health screening at airports for all passengers and quarantined several hundred travelers for observation, including one family traveling to adopt their child. We ask for God's protection and peace over us and all the families currently traveling to bring their child home.

When Love Takes You In

2009-05-12T12:59:00.001-05:00

Zachary--This song says it all. Know that we're dreaming of you and counting down the days until we meet!

I know you've heard the stories
But they all sound too good to be true
You've heard about a place called home
But there doesn't seem to be one for you
So one more night you cry yourself to sleep
And drift off to a distant dream

Where love takes you in and everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in

And somewhere while you're sleeping
Someone else is dreaming too
Counting down the days until
They hold you close and say I love you
And like the rain that falls into the sea
In a moment what has been is lost in what will be

When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart

And this love will never let you go
There is nothing that could ever
cause this love to lose its hold

When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in it takes you in for good
When love takes you in

Steven Curtis Chapman \ When Love Takes You In

Love you ~ Mom & Dad