Merry Christmas!!!

I know, you are saying, "Jill, it's long past Christmas. You are a little late."  Well, if you live in America, that may be true. But if you live in Ukraine, you are waking up very soon and it will be Christmas Day! So, Merry Christmas to Mama Tanya, Papa Igor, and my missionary friend, Max. :-)

Here's our Christmas letter.  (And no, I did not have it done before Dec. 25th. Oh well.) Happy New Year!!! I pray it will be a blessed year for all of you. (You should be able to click on the photos to enlarge them.)

Just a side note...when compiling this letter, I looked at what I wrote last year for each child. Not a lot has changed. But Jonathan's said something about being a very laid back baby. HA!  That is so NOT true anymore. :-) And I thought Elijah was the stubborn one... Jonathan has definitely learned being in a family has many, many advantages. One of them is being able to express your opinion about life. As his OT says, "Not all stages of development are pleasant ones." So true. We love him through it all though! Each one of our children are true blessings in our lives.

12.12.12, Sarah, Opie Taylor and MORE!

If you have been reading for awhile (well, at least 13 months), you may remember that I like these fun dates. The last two - 10.10.10 and 11.11.11 were significant for us in the adoption world.  On 10.10.10, our amazing church family held a benefit for our family to raise funds for Elijah's adoption.  On 11.11.11, we completed Jonathan's readoption with a court date.  What does 12.12.12 bring us in our adoption world???  Ummm...nothing.  :-/  Maybe we'll talk about adopting again...we'll see. :-)

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It's been quite awhile since I've posted anything on here about the boys, or any of the kids for that matter.  Sorry about that! Unfortunately, today will not be the day for that.  We are having fun with Christmas preparations and I'm trying to not get too stressed out about things. The boys have both had ENT check-ups and Elijah has had his vision checked. No big news there. I'll update more on that soon hopefully.

I'm so, SOOO very proud of Sarah!!!  She is currently in the middle of a 3-week stint helping to provide childcare for a large adopting family.  The family is adopting none other than sweet Maxim that I mentioned a few times here! She flew alone and even navigated O'Hare by herself!  I miss her terribly though. I can't say it's been easy for her, but she is learning a lot and is grateful for the experience.  You can peek in on what she's been doing HERE. It would be great if you would leave her an encouraging comment or two.  Stay tuned for a very, VERY funny video.  I'll let her post it on her blog first, but you will NOT be able to keep a straight face...I promise.

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Wanna see "Opie Taylor" in the flesh (if you are local)???? :-) Well, come to the "Mayberry Miracle" this weekend!  Our dear son, Isaac, has been working hard on playing the role of Opie in our church's Christmas production, based on the Andy Griffith show. Go HERE for more information. The Friday night performance is sold out and a few tickets remain for Saturday at 2pm and 7pm. So don't delay! This play is very well written and produced, and shares the real reason for the season.


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For all you homeschoolers out there! Please check out this AMAZING sale that ends tonight!!! Even if you only use a couple of things from this extensive collection, it will be well worth the $12 bucks.

Happy Birthday R & R!!!

(Has it really been a week since I blogged? Oops! A huge thank you to Sarah for uploading this photos for me, even starting the blog post for me. Without her, you would probably never see pictures of my kids! Thanks Sarah!)

My beautiful two youngest daughters celebrate their birthdays just two days apart. Rachel came home from the hospital on Rebekah's 3rd birthday. She still believes it's the best birthday present she'll ever have. :-)

We invited family and a few friends over on Sunday for cake. Sarah and her BFF, Rachel, made the awesome birthday cake on Saturday afternoon. It was FOUR layers with homemade butter cream frosting. Yum!!!

Rachel is 3 and Rebekah is 6!

We lit half of the cake first and sang to Rebekah, then did the other half for Rachel.
I love Elijah's reaction when we sign "Happy Birthday". As soon as we are done, he claps and  blows as hard as he can, whether he is near any candles or not! :-)

The beautiful 4 layer cake!!! It almost didn't fit on the plates.

 The girls' brothers got in on the fun too of course!

Rebekah was very excited to have her own duct tape so she can make creations just like her big sister, Anna.

$6 for 6 years old from Gma and Gpa

A new bike! She learned to ride w/o training wheels this summer. She's very excited! 

After the guests left, the training wheels came off and the kick stand went on - outside of course.

Rebekah G and Rebekah B

Rachel G and Rachel B

Nana (friend from church) and Rachel

The birthday girls with their grandparents

with Mom and Dad

Down Syndrome Awareness Walk Today!

We had a wonderful time today raising awareness for Down syndrome! It was a bit chilly but we were dressed for it and managed just fine. A huge KUDOS to the DSAW-Fox Cities board and volunteers. The walk gets better and better every year and they do a great job!!

I was humbled by all of the friends that came today to support our family and celebrate our children. Thank you so much!!!! We love you all!

Here are some great photos from Ashley. She is so talented. Thanks so much Ash for sending them so quickly!

Anna and "Big" Rebekah

Isaac

So cute! Isaac being a big brother to Carter.

Our whole "Triple Trouble Team"
I think we ended up with over 40 people! Wow!! We are so blessed! These 3 boys have a lot of folks who love them.
(You can click on the photo to enlarge it.)

Brothers!!!

Four handsome Ukrainian boys!!!

We thought it would be fun to get all of the Ukrainian kids together!
From left to right: Lucas from Krivoy Rog, Carter from Kiev, Jonathan from Kramatorsk, Elijah from Simferopol, and Lilya from Kiev (her and Carter were in the same orphanage). Lilya is a true blooded Ukrainian and did not want to sit on the ground, so that's why Sarah is in the photo too. :-) Or maybe it's because she's a proper young lady.
What an amazing blessing to have all five of these precious treasures in one place!!!!

Sadie and Rebekah

AHHHHHHHH! A great way to end a great day!

Happy 5th Birthday, Elijah!!!

Yes, Elijah is 5 years old! I can hardly believe it! Yesterday, we had a very small birthday party with grandparents. And today, Elijah and I skyped with "Mama Tanya" and "Papa Igor", his biological parents. What an incredible blessing that was! I'm so thrilled we are able to have contact with his parents. Elijah was so cute...I definitely think he remembers his parents. He was giving Mama Tanya kisses on the computer monitor. :-) We also got to say hello to his grandpa and grandma. We are very blessed indeed. He showed them the sign for "I love you" and mama and papa. I was trying to get him to count to 5, name his colors, and  say his ABCs but he doesn't like to "show off" you know.  LOL

Often adoptive parents are sad their adopted child never celebrated any birthdays in the orphanage - their birthday was just like any other day. I was thrilled last year when Mama Tanya told us they visited Elijah every year on his birthday and brought in treats for the entire grouppa! Yay!!! So not only did Elijah get treats...

but Shea did...



and maybe even Gideon did too!  (Gideon was only allowed to participate in grouppa "parties" on a very limited basis though. :-( )


Elijah was/is loved by his bio parents and I'm forever grateful for their willingness to list Elijah for international adoption!

Sarah did a wonderful post about Elijah's birthday too. http://matthew18vs14.blogspot.com/2012/09/happy-birthday-elijah.html  She included a lot of pictures from our recent trip to Bay Beach amusement park (that I have not blogged yet...will I ever catch up? Doubtful!) But let me tell you...Elijah is a total thrill seeker!  On the Tilt-a-whirl, he had his hands in the air, laughing hysterically. At the end of every ride, I had to peel him out as he kept signing and saying "More! More!" :-)

I hope you enjoy some photos from Elijah's birthday party yesterday.

Anna made and decorated the cake for me! She did a great job!

He couldn't wait until the end of the song to blow his candles out. How fun the candles were for him! Every time he hears the "Happy Birthday" song, he blows hard then claps "Yay!" Very cute!

Can you believe it??? I have two five-year olds - well for about 6 weeks anyway!
(I also have two two-year olds! :-)) 

Fun monkey card!

And this...from "Auntie Crackers" and PD.......
hmmm....I think that Auntie Crackers needs one of these at HER house for grandson, Carter!
I put clear tape over the speaker and that helped...a little...
I must say Elijah really likes it though...

Alphabet toy from Grandma and Grandpa
I love Leap Frog toys!

Elijah was giving us a concert. Rachel insisted on helping...

Happy Birthday Elijah! We love you so very much and are so blessed to have you in our lives. Thank you for being who you are! You have taught us so much!

(I'll try to post a complete update on Elijah's growth, health, and development after his 5 year check up on Friday.)