Day 4- Poor Baby

I think all the excitement caught up with Peter today. He woke up crying that he was hungry but I could tell it was something else. He tried to eat then started crying. I asked him if he felt sick and he said yes. The poor thing got sick then (made it to the bathroom) and then slept for an hour. The American food has caught up with him along with jet lag. He just laid down on me and rested. (Do not freak ELO people. He does NOT have a stomach bug. His stomach is getting used to America!) During this time the Curfman's showed up so Andrew and Caroline could work on science and Colin and Abi could work on their ELO work. When Peter woke up, he was back to Peter again. We bought several historical figure books in China that are in English and Chinese. Because of this, we are able to "read" them together. He loved reading about the Wright brothers today. I was so excited! Aunt Jessi had bought him an airplane for Christmas so all the kids (who were mostly done with their work) headed out to play with it. It was nice to see them all get along so well. Abi came in and worked for awhile by herself and Caroline left to get braces. Peter and Colin played outside for awhile. They got along well but Peter did keep looking for Abi. ;-) Everyone came in and had lunch while watching Tom and Jerry. We found out that Peter does not like Mac and Cheese. :-( We tried a bit of school this afternoon and did the best we could. Andrew went to the ortho and all the kids slept on the way there and the way home. They are all still so tired! I spent the afternoon downloading pictures and Peter wanted to be right beside me building Legos. He was finally able to talk to my dad, who has not met him, and it was cute. Peter could play Legos for hours. He has a great imagination. We had dinner and Peter was so excited to eat. He does not like mashed potatoes though. He loved the broccoli and meat. He asked us for a bowl at one point and pointed to the butter. We were all confused but gave him some anyways. He tried and almost spit it out. LOL He thought it was ice cream! So after dinner, we rewarded him with ice cream. Well, his daddy did after he begged. ;-) We tried to prepare Peter for ELO but all he could focus on was mommy was not teaching him. I could not get him to understand that I would be there. We finally called Eric Hood who told him all about it. He was all smiles after that. We started preparing his backpack and he indicated he wanted to call Eric again. He talked to him quiet awhile and when (daddy) Eric asked him what Peter had asked, Eric told us that he wanted to know if he would have homework! That boy!!! No pictures today but I'm sure I will tomorrow. First day of ELO!

Day 3- The first day of .... ??? grade!

School...the day we have been working toward just almost as long as gotcha day! Since I had no idea what grade Peter would actually be in and what he would know, I have had many different ideas in my head. Of course, those were ideas in my head. LOL A & A have not done school in a couple of months due to many different reasons so it was a big day. We started out simple with numbers and letters. Peter does well for about 30 minutes. We had a rough 30 minutes after he was "done" and he figured out quickly that mommy was tired of that. We couldn't get the Rosetta Stone to download so we stopped for the day. Enough was enough! He went outside and played and I was fine with that. It's only Day 3! That evening Peter was invited to his first birthday party. It was a very small, low key party for Blue, the Raffray's new son. Peter was so excited about seeing his friends again! It was refreshing to visit with 2 other families who have adopted older boys and encouraging to see two boys who have been here for 10 months and how far they have come.

Day 2-Let's go praise the Lord!

On Sunday we took Peter to church for the first time on Sunday! It was a big day for all of us. Our church was so supportive during our adoption and so many of them went above and beyond to help us. (as did many others!) We couldn't wait to show him off. Eric had to be there early to learn how to open the building since he opens next month so that left me getting the kids ready. I knew Peter would be very hungry so I made sure to get up and cook breakfast. That is so not me! But I did it. Go me! We made it right on time and the kids were thrilled about seeing their friends in class. Peter and I went and visited some of our friends who were headed into 1st service then I introduced him to his class that he will be joining next week. He will be going with Abi because he will be more comfortable. After that we just visited with other stragglers around the church while waiting for second service to start. I know I talked to people but I don't remember much of the conversations. Silly jet lag!Peter did very well in church. He did get a bit bored but did well with it. We were very proud of him.

Peter all dressed for church

Abi in her beautiful dress from China Chelsea joined us in church as did my brother Christopher. Christopher came down to help my dad and stepmom because my dad has really hurt his back. We were excited to see him, despite the circumstances. After lunch we came home and a family lunch together. Leftovers!! Yummy! Then we took our first family pictures! So exciting!

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While I love Awana and I was very bummed that youth was cancelled on Sunday nights, I must say I am enjoying not getting out the rest of the day. There is no rushing around and we can really enjoy our day. We lounged around the rest of the day. The kids played legos, Eric and I took turns napping and we just enjoyed being together. We also introduced Peter to Blue Bell ice cream. He loved it!

First full day in America

We were all exhausted and slept until 9:30. We would have done more but Sears felt it was important to call us multiple times around 9:15. :-/ Raegan, let Nathan know he slept with the Angry Bird pillow! Peter, Abi and Sissy the dog came and crawled into bed with me for awhile. It was a sweet moment. :-) Andrew rolled out of bed eventually and we all dressed. Peter tried cereal and I'm not sure he cared for it. We lazed around while alternating playing with Peter. Andrew and Eric were both starting to feel better which was nice. Jet lag really hit all of us today. Well, except Peter. ;-) So we all took turns playing and introducing Peter to new things. Abi and Peter took turns showing him what they do for chores. Not all their chores, just feeding animals. I kept doing laundry and cleaning house so I could stay awake. We finished unpacking everything which was a great feeling. We gave Peter his scooter and he was so excited.

He and Abi played outside for a long time. Peter has warmed up to Sophie (our bigger outside dog) and loves the fact she will "hug" him if he pats his chest. This is a big improvement from yesterday. He played with his remote control car then "built" his lego car that Nathan bought him. I use the term built loosely because he kept handing it to Andrew to do. Finally at the end he gained more confidence.

Peter also talked with Uncle Franklin, Aunt Jessi, Lewis and Penny on Skype while he built. Well, as much as Peter talks. He told them he was hungry, money, money, money, and repeated everything that they said, especially Lewis. ;-) During this time D showed up! Peter did very well with him and warmed up to him quickly. I wanted to start cooking tonight so Peter could see that is what mommy does. We all made personal pan pizzas and then sat down and enjoyed it. I am sure that many adopting parents would be shocked to know that we allowed a non-family member to sit down with us for our first family meal. But Taisha (who was at work) and D are our family. We want Peter to understand how important they are to us. We do not think he has any confusion of who his immediate family is. He recognizes it from pictures and will only say all five of our names. D taught Peter a new phrase, "Come on! Come on!" while Andrew and D were playing. D and I danced around the kitchen for awhile which Peter found very funny. Everyone is now getting ready for bed. I think we are all very tired. Andrew and Abi continue to do well with Peter. He calls for them constantly and they get exhausted but keep good attitudes about it. Peter likes to slap Abi and we have been addressing it since day 1. Today Eric let him know he meant business and used his sternest voice and then used the translator to make sure he understood. I think he finally got it. Peter knows its wrong because he will tell her he's sorry as soon as he hits her. Peter loves Sissy and follows her everywhere. She is not warming up to him as quickly but we have let her know that she may not act like that or she will be outside. I think she got the message. ;-)

Sweet Homecoming

Today was our first full day as a family at our home in America. But first we must talk about our homecoming! Chelsea met us in Dallas the night before and Peter was so excited to see her! And so were we! We visited for awhile, but apparently to loud for some of the other residents at the hotel. Oh well. While there, I noticed that Andrew was a little hot. He had not been feeling well but I chalked it up to jet lag. I took his temperature and it was 102! Yikes. Everyone settled down and we finally slept. We slept so hard that we didn't wake up until housekeeping knocked on our door at 10:30! Yikes again! We had 30 minutes to get ready and we did it! We headed home and grabbed some Sonic on the way home. I could already tell a difference on how I felt after eating American food. :-/ I hadn't earned this food! As we pulled into our driveway we were greeted by so many family and friends with welcome home signs and many in Chinese!!! What a treat! We hopped out and introduced Peter around. We were thrilled that there were 6 other Chinese (4 that spoke the language!) Americans here. I think it helped Peter some also. We visited with everyone then came into the house where we were greeted with more surprises. We had 2 dinners, a cake, candy, balloons, streamers, and signs all over our kitchen!! What a blessing! Then to Peter's (and Andrew's) room. WOW!! The boy has more clothes than Andrew and Abi! Our families outdid themselves with buying him clothes and toys. He was so excited. He kept saying, "WOW!, Wow!" Everyone left and Eric (who was also not well) and Andrew went to bed. Abi and I showed Peter around and he wandered around the house for the rest of the evening. He was in astonishment over everything; the ice maker on the door, the computers, the dogs, the rabbits, the games, the books, the rooms, the shower, everything! It was so fun to watch. We offered him dinner and he refused both because he said the soup was hot (it wasn't) and the pulled pork would make him fat. What?! Well Abi and I grabbed some yummy Nanny soup and watched some MeTV. Peter finally came around and decided on the pulled pork after seeing the picture on the bread that looked like a hamburger. (Thank you Laura!) Taisha came to visit for awhile and it was great to see her! We missed her and D. Peter did well with her which we were happy about. We unpacked 4 suitcases out of seven and headed to bed feeling very blessed!

We're getting on a jet plane...

and coming home tomorrow. Up until today I was ok with being gone. But today it hit. It's time to go home! We went to Shamin (sp??) island this morning to shop. It was a beautiful little island with some great shops. This is where all the adoptions used to take place so since they moved some of the government buildings the shops have lost a lot of business. Because of this, they are willing to bargain more. For some reason, I was very overwhelmed with the shopping. I should have had a list. There were several things I wanted for our family and yet I bought for others. WHY?!?! Our son lives here and this is his culture yet I bought for others. I am trying hard not to think about it. I had a mini melt down after we left a shop and had paid bookoos of money for some wonderful items, yet none were really for us. I am more ok with it now but I am still a little sick about it. It's not like I can run to Walmart and get these things. Oh well...it's just things! Life will go on!! Funny how my tone has changed from the beginning of the emails, huh? I have always loved buying for others so it was fun. As we were packing we noticed that some of the items were wrong. It's kind of a big deal because of what the gifts are. But I am not going to worry over it! They will understand. I hope... I hope I do not sound bitter about this. It's a bit like the feeling after you go black Friday shopping and you realized you forgot your top 5 items that your kids really wanted. So are any of you heading to China to adopt soon?? ;-) I have a list! I guess it was really for the best because even with our extra suitcase we are out of room and over our bag weight limit and bag limit. Golly, I sound like I had a bad time don't I?? It was fun and I cannot wait to share what we bought! It's just time to go home! This evening was much better. We had a very nice dinner with the Raffray's. Peter believes that Adam is the funniest guy ever. Blue is very good with Peter and that warms my heart. They were so sweet and brought a cake to celebrate the boys adoption! I am still in awe of how all that worked out. Having them here has been wonderful. We didn't see each other much but knowing we were here experiencing the same things at the same time was awesome. I wish I would have worked out with Wendy more. I kept falling asleep at 8! This will be a memory we will always treasure. Peter has loved meeting all the families and for some reason, has handpicked a select few he really likes. We never really spoke with them but he always made a point to go up to them and try to talk. So he made sure we connected with one family tonight so we can "call" (I could not explain FB) them. ;-) Some things I will miss about China... 1. Peter being in his home country. I am very sad for what he is leaving. This is all he has ever known. We know he is very excited about coming to the US but we know he will mourn in time. 2. Healthy people everywhere. I have yet to see an overweight person. Seriously. It's very refreshing. It makes you want to eat healthier, get out and walk more and take better care of yourself. Noe one talks about their weight. They love to eat but eat well. They get out and have fun exercising at their little parks with fun equipment. I will miss seeing that. 3. Having breakfast ready every single morning and my bed made for me. Luxury... 4. The view. This is a huge city and it's spectacular from our room. The buildings everywhere with the mts. in the background. 5. Learning new things 6. The food! The food has been out of this world. Seriously. We are going to miss it! 7. This hotel!! It's beautiful. And the movie channels What I will not miss.. 1. Feeling like I am always dizzy. Eric and I have both dealt with this since our plane landed. Must be inner ear 2. Not understanding the language, especially when they talk with my son and he looks uncomfortable. Not cool.. 3. Wondering if I can drink the water and keeping my mouth closed tightly while showering. 4. Seeing myself when I shower. The mirror is right in front of a glass shower. This is wrong on many levels. 5. The bed..Maybe one other reason Chinese people are so skinny is because their beds are so uncomfortable that they don't want to be in them long. I do want to clarify the welcome home. We will be home sometime between 1 and 3. The welcome will not last from 1-3. It will be a quick welcome (maybe 30 minutes at the most) We do not want to overwhelm Peter but want him to see how wanted he is! Our family (Eric, Aimee, Chelsea, Andrew, Abi and Peter) will be the only ones to enter the house. We want him to understand who lives there. If we all go in, that could be a little confusing for him. We know that grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins are very excited about spending time with him and we promise that will happen. But with just coming home, he needs a little time. Landing in China for me was a bit overwhelming and I knew I wasn't moving here, who my family was, and that I was loved. He does not get all that yet. But please do not let this stop you. We would love to see you all and cannot wait to show off Peter!! Prayer Requests: 1. Our flights-they will be on time with no weather delays or air traffic delays. Our flights are not back to back so we have a little bit of time but big delays could be bad for us. You could toss in extra leg room also! ;-) 2. Health and sleep for everyone on the plane. Eric is fighting a cold. He is using all he has to battle it. Peter and I both deal with motion sickness and have trouble sleeping on the flights. It's hard to communicate how long the flight really is to Peter so pray he does ok also. 3. Two of the families we have become close to are traveling with littles ones. They have asked for you to please pray for them also. They are the Musgrove and Ankrich families. There are several other families who will be doing other things so I know they would appreciate being lifted up also. 4. Good transition for Peter and us when we get home. We will have a new time change, new son, new lots of things. Pray for mercy, grace, understanding but most of all love! Thank you for following our journey! If time allows, I plan to still blog about how things are going periodically. I would post pictures but the camera is packed and I just do not have the energy to find it! We love you all and you will never know how much we truly appreciate all you have done for us!! The next time you hear from me, we will be on US soil! And Peter will be a US citizen! Loving Him, Aimee for the Akin's

A Day of somethings and nothings

Today was our consulate appointment! I was mistaken and said in the previous email that Peter would need to sign something today saying he wanted to be adopted. He actually did that in his province. (Thanks for the help Wendy!) He did have to sign one piece of paper because of his age but it was no big deal. Thankfully we were the third family to be called because Peter was getting a little tired. He was also dealing with being car sick. We are hoping to get something for that tomorrow. It was neat being in the room with so many other adoptive families and saying our oath together. It was not an adoption oath but it was still neat. After our consulate appointment we headed to a huge bookstore. Miko was with us so she was able to tell us where to go which was very helpful. I found some great books to use in school that are Chinese and English. (29 books in all!) One is a phonics book and the others are historical figures with activities in the back. Having these will be helpful because we can "read" together and learn at the same time. We found some Charlie Brown books in Chinese and English for my nephews. The younger ones may not really get it but one day they will really like it. We bought some other books for Peter (Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Stacey, I remember you saying that Caden likes those) Trumpet of the Swan, Charlotte's Web, and some comics) and looked for the Great Book. No such luck. I was very sad. We came back to the hotel and did nothing for a long time. It was so nice. We closed all the curtains and put in some movies while everyone napped on and off. After that we went and fed the fish in the garden then came back to get ready for our dinner cruise. We met up with Miko and one of the other Lifeline families to go to the dinner cruise. We had a wonderful surprise waiting for us. Miko had found a Great Book for Peter. What a gift! We put it back in the room (under Miko's suggestion) and headed to the dinner cruise. Peter fell asleep on my lap on the way. :-) The boat was very nice and the buffet dinner was very good. We all stuffed ourselves then went on the deck to see GZ. It is such a pretty city. There are so many big buildings here that it's crazy. They had a clown for entertainment and the kids loved that. We came back to the hotel and now we are all laughing at Peter as he tells Eric different things as he showers, mainly OK! LOL He just came out with his shirt tucked in his boxers, made a super hero stance, then attacked Abi with a balloon sword. Never a dull moment... Peter made a point to sit with Rebecca, one of the Lifeline guides, at breakfast this morning so he could ask her all about coming to the US. He seems very excited and ask every day about when we are leaving. He is also very excited about seeing Chelsea when we land. We are thankful she is coming! We can't wait to see her. She is also bringing our luggage carrier which we forgot and we are coming home with LOTS. We will not have room in the car for everyone. I'm not sure if I have mentioned this but we would like to have families to welcome us home. So many of you worked so hard and prayed so hard for us and we know you are anxious for a glance. We are unsure of the time but it will be Friday afternoon. We will post it on FB when we know more of a time. We are hoping to give you a 2 1/2 hr. warning. We are thinking between 1 -3. We know he would love to see Welcome Home signs! We would love to see our family and friends also. We have missed you all! Now we do ask that you do not hug Peter. This is not against you whatsoever. It's just part of the bonding. He is still figuring out who we all are. If you slip and hug him, no big deal! He is so cute you will want to. ;-) We just want a quick meet and greet, a picture with everyone, then we will bid you farewell. Only family in the house! ;-) For now...We hope to see you there!!! I'm not sure if we have mentioned this or not but Peter has told us he is 10, as did his caregivers. He was also in grade 4. This is pretty consistent with what we are observing. We will not make a final decision until we visit the Dr and dentist but if he is indeed 10, when we re-adopt him in America (to obtain a US birth certificate) we will change that on his paperwork. We were assured it's not big deal. Tomorrow we visit the island and then we pack! I can't believe we are coming home! Please start praying for flights to go well and be on time. Pray that Peter does well on the flights and with the transition. He gets over stimulated easily so we try to keep it low key for him if we can. If we can't, we make sure we are holding his hand and reassuring him. Pray that I do well also. I am not be the best person to fly with and I really struggle with it. I do not sleep at all and struggle with getting sick very easily. We are coming home on a 777 so we are hoping for more leg room! Not much longer!!! I will try very hard to do a picture post tomorrow. Loving Him, Aimee for the Akin's

Animals, Donuts, and Toys! Oh My!

Zoo day! We got up this morning so excited. Our guide told us it was a small zoo but small to her was huge to us. We only saw one part of the zoo and we were there 2 hours. We saw a panda, lions, (some who were getting a bit to friendly) red pandas, chimpanzees, cute little monkeys, huge bears, white tigers, tigers, dolphins, sea lions, and beluga whales. We decided to do the ocean show because that's one thing we can't do at our zoo. We think Peter really enjoyed that. He took picture after picture. It was a lot to take in for him also so he was very tired after that; mentally and physically. Our guide had offered to take us to eat authentic Chinese food today and we are so glad we took her up on the offer! It was fabulous!!! The dumplings, oh my! I loved them. The pork was to die for and even the venison was good. We went with another Lifeline family and had a great time. The cost was the cheapest we have had so far which shocked us because it was so good. We hung out in the room this afternoon and I may have napped. Then Peter, Andrew and I went to gardens to let Peter run then headed across the street to buy an extra piece of luggage ($32!!!) and red envelopes for Chinese New Year. We will be celebrating this each year so we are learning the traditions. I need to learn to make dumplings by February 10th. The red envelopes are for the kids. They will bring us a cup of tea and then we hand them the envelopes with money in it and give them good wishes. (Prayers for our family) We bought enough for our nieces and nephews to participate also. So Jessi, I think you should come down! ;-) We went back to the supermarket because we were out of water. Again. We decided to explore the entire thing which was five floors. The top floor had a Dunkin' Donuts and we had to try it. We bought 3 donuts and a water for $5.50. Cheapest dessert ever! Peter devoured his donut which had a custard on top of it and we all shared an oreo donut and chocolate filled donut. Yummy!! Whoever said I was going to lose weight here was crazy. I am hoping that all the walking I am doing is counteracting it. We bought a few decorations for Chinese New Year and headed to the toys. Peter has asked for the last 2 days for a telescope. I'm sure the one we bought is cheaply made and may not meet his expectations but this mommy could not say no. He kept putting his hand up and making the motion for a telescope and asking, "Mommy? In a minute?" How could I say no to that?! It also has a microscope. It's a learning tool so I am happy he is interested in learning. Abi found a Chinese Barbie set that she really wanted. I am so happy she bought a toy! She is at that in between stage and I assured her that it's ok. Then I saw it. The thing we had to buy. My nieces adore princess dolls. My niece Isabelle loves Minnie Mouse and bathing suits also. In front of me was a Chinese Barbie doll in a Minnie Mouse bathing suit!! Oh. My. Word! She had to have it! I found Penny an adorable Chinese barbie in a beautiful dress. I cannot wait to see their faces when they get them. We are really hoping to find something for our nephews soon. We have had no luck on that. So pray we find them something soon. I have five of them to buy for. I could buy for my nieces all day but there is not much for boys. So for all of you who have told me not to worry about money, maybe you should start praying that I will now stop spending! I need to remember that this is a once in a lifetime trip (according to Eric we will be back to get a little girl so maybe we will be back) and we need to buy things we cannot buy at home. Or things that are cheaper here than home. So I can justify it a bit. A bit. Tomorrow is our consulate appointment (!!!) and we are visiting the book store the Hood's told us about. Pray that all goes well at the consulate. The guide will be explaining to Peter exactly what he is signing and what will happen. He keeps asking about the airplane and how many days until we go so we think he has an understanding. Pray he signs the papers and is excited about his new life. Also pray we have no issues with his visa and our flights. Beijing has a lot of snow right now and we have noticed that flights get cancelled very easily here. Love you all and we appreciate your prayers more than you know!! Loving Him, Aimee for the Akin's

*Some more Peter'isms

Peter has learned a favorite phrase of mine: In a minute! This evening when I called his name, he yelled back, "In a minute!" HA! He also asked about something and I was about to tell him in a minute but he beat me. But added his own sigh to it. ;-) On the plane ride here, he was closely following the safety instructions. The man next to me continued to talk on his phone as we were taxiing down the runway. Peter grabbed the safety guide, pointed at the cell phone with the x, pointed to the man and shook his head at me. I laughed and he said, "shh!" I think the man noticed and put his phone up. Peter made the "whew" sign and wiped his forehead. Peter also decided he needed to go to the bathroom as soon as we took off. I wasn't sure when he could go (everything was in Chinese on this flight basically or the English was sketchy) so the kind cell phone man next to me tried to help. He jumped up, grabbed an attendant, and soon we had blankets! LOL I finally got someone to understand and all was good. While shopping yesterday, Peter saw a crucifix. He was very excited to show us this and made the sign of Jesus on the cross. So it seems he knows about this also. Yay!

Day ??- A taste of home

Day ??- A taste of home We were able to do some shopping today which was a lot of fun. But first we started with worship in our room. We read some verses and sang "Jesus Loves Me." Peter seemed to know that song! We finished with prayer. Peter is doing so well with prayer time and even waits at meal times now before eating. :-) We tried very hard to include Chelsea during this with face time but it failed. Oh well. After that we headed to Walking Street to buy some "cheap" items. We bought several gifts for the women and girls, found something for Peter's side of the room, Abi found a dress, the boys bought matching dragon rings and we found Peter and Abi two pairs of shoes each. We also bought several DVD's that we can watch together. They will subtitle in both languages and you can also listen in the language that you choose. This will be great for all of us! We bought him the entire Stars Wars collection because we all love Star Wars. Gotta start the boy out right! :-) The DVD's were very inexpensive. Speaking of inexpensive, we thought we had brought more than enough money but oops, we didn't. Not to China but to the stores. ;-) Luckily our translator Miko was able to convince a store we had already visited to take our credit card and give us the money back. We are so thankful for that because Peter still needed shoes at this point. After that we headed to the room, snacked a bit and worked on some models that I brought. Andrew finally was able to go and get his remote control helicopter that he's been eyeing. Michelle and Valerie, if you are reading this, please tell your boys they are now closer to making their drone. ha! We then started walking to a park that Miko had told us about. It was quiet a walk and the park was unlike anything we had ever seen. While very different, we all enjoyed it very much. It had amusement park rides, which Peter said a very big no to, open areas to play games, beautiful outdoor structures where people were singing, a small lake with paddle boats and a small area with outdoor exercise equipment. We all had a blast playing on those. Andrew tried out his helicopter then we headed to dinner. Dinner was a taste of home tonight. There is a great Mexican food restaurant that we had been advised to try and we are so glad we did. We felt like we were at home. The food was very authentic. Eric commented that he never thought Mexican music would make him feel at home. LOL While there Peter was hamming it up. I cannot wait to share the videos we made. He tried sour cream (NO) and then added salt & pepper to it to see if it would make it better. NO! Then he put salt and pepper in the ketchup and sucked it in his straw! I recorded this and his face is hilarious!! We were laughing so hard we were crying. He then started telling us his new word which is money and making the hand motion for money. He will move his eyebrows up and down while saying it and it's just so funny. We came back to the hotel and now everyone is enjoying Kung Fu Panda 2 on HBO. This is after Peter picked his nose on the way home, wouldn't stop when I asked (told) him to, then when something was on his finger he freaked out. I told him that sometimes mommy is not as dumb as he thinks. He just looked at me sheepishly. Then we were in the room, he started counting to throw his water bottle, I said no and then it landed next to feet. He screamed sorry and ran away! That boy!! He is honestly doing very well. He is affectionate and loving. We are trying to teach him no thank you. He says no to everything, even when he means yes or just when he's sitting down and it's quiet. His laugh is very loud! He is still quiet dramatic about everything. When we told him we were heading out this afternoon, he pretended to stab himself and fell on the floor. I think that meant he wanted to stay here. I could be wrong though. ;-) He keeps us laughing and when we are stern, he does listen. He does not like it but he will obey. Eventually. He says "Oh no!" and "Wow!" a lot. The little things amaze him and it's so fun to see that. Even Andrew and Abi are enjoying that. Andrew has been taking a lot of video himself of Peter because he makes him laugh. When Peter isn't getting into his things or making Andrew chase him down. ;-) It seems that all the families are pairing up here and going out. We haven't met anyone we really "click" with. The other Lifeline families are super nice but both adopted younger babies. We have yet to see the Raffray's but plan to find them tomorrow and try to hook up at one point. We are really enjoying our time as a family though and loving the bonding that we are getting. All of the other families are very sweet and it's especially great to exchange a few words in the lobby or a store. It's like you are all part of the same club and have this mutual understanding. We are so glad to be part of this club now!! Tomorrow is zoo day! Enjoy your day of worship! I get confused on the days and just remembered that today is your Sunday! Thank you for the continued prayers!!! Loving Him, Aimee for the Akin's

Peter

Just some little Peter observations...Peter does not enjoy crowds. He enjoys being with us all in the room. When we are out and about, he will continously grab onto Eric and I and looks nervous. He is dramatic about little injuries just like his older brother. He does not like shots at all but does not complain and gets over it quickly. He loves, loves, loves fruit. He ate 4 bananas for breakfast and around 10 pieces of watermelon. He also likes vienna sausages, the Chinese type. He is OCD about everything having a place. I will treasure it because it will end. It did for Andrew. ;-) He panics about his pants falling down as he should because he is one skinny dude. LOL He wants to know the plan always and doesn't like surprises. He is truly appreciative of gifts. He is one fireball of energy and needs to run it off once a day at least. He is a jokester and can even joke without our language. Math is not his subject but he is super smart. He loves the smaller things and appreciates them. He gets shy when a lot of people are around but also seems to adapt very easily to new situations. He gets car sick and cannot handle flying well. I feel your pain buddy. He thinks Abi is his built in playmate and honestly, they have hit it off since the beginning. When things need to be fixed, he runs to Andrew. Andrew is great about helping him and is getting used to being a big brother to a little brother without getting to aggravated. He loves to make faces and communicates best that way. I look forward to reading this in a year and seeing all that has changed or stayed the same!

All I'm saying is heated toilet seat..

This is not an update. Just something I was thinking about and wanted to record. As we were out walking tonight, we came across a woman on a bridge holding a baby and needing money. She didn't ask, just sat there quietly with her head bowed down. Who knows what circumstances drove her to have to do this. My heart broke as I thought of Peter's mom. Did she do the same thing? Did she try every thing in her power to keep her sweet baby boy? Did she believe the orphanage was a better choice for him? Was her choice made out of love? I truly believe it was. I have not seen the selfishness here that I see in America. I'm sure if we stayed longer we would but I mainly see a people that do not have a choice or think they are doing what is best. They are not choosing a lifestyle of drugs, abuse, or selfishness. They have to make a choice and it's made of out love. So tonight as I look at my new son, I think about his other mommy. How sad for her not to hear the beautiful word I hear coming from his mouth every 10 minutes. How sad that she will not have him grab her hand just for the reassurance that she is just there as he has been doing. She cannot look into those beautiful eyes and have him raise an eyebrow and give her that little mischevious grin. She will not get to tuck him into bed at night and hear him say "I love you" back to her. But my prayer is that one day we will be able to meet and I can tell her thank you for choosing life. Thank you for giving me this opportunity. And may she know that I harbor no bad feelings toward her. Just a sadness that she will miss out on so much. Hello! I'm doing an early update today because I think we will all crash early tonight! Our new hotel in GZ is unbelievable. Honestly it's incredible. We've stayed in nice hotels but nothing like this. We have an executive suite which has a living room, bedroom, office, dressing room/closet, and huge bathroom. We even have an exercise bike! The toilet seat is heated. Heated!! All of the kids are awestruck! There is a beautiful garden which we can gasp at when we eat our awesome breakfast. Peter's medicals were this morning. He did very well. He had three shots. He was so big. He started crying a bit but he did very well. He initiated holding my hand which warmed my heart. He did not like having to take off his pants and made sure mommy stepped out of the room. ;-) We were able to talk to many other adoptive families, three that are here with our agency, and really enjoyed that. It was neat talking to the seasoned veterans and feeling lost with the other rookies. We were also able to get some questions answered about some of his medicals. He has a big scar on his back and we were a bit curious. He was burned and through his translator and nurse we found out the story. I think it involved him being curious. ;-) The poor thing..it's a very big scar and I am sure that it was painful. They also asked us his hydrocyphalous which is stated in the paperwork. We are pretty sure he does not have that as were the nurses there but want us to double check back in the states. The Dr. also said his cleft palate was fixed and he needed no more surgery. Hmm...I don't think so but at least he can eat! We made a quick run to the supermarket where we let Peter get 4 cars. He was so excited that they were all for him!! He hugged me tight and said thank you!!! So precious. He is still initiating much of the affection which we are so excited about. He is bonding well with A & A. They are doing very well with him. After his shots, they both distracted him after telling him how well he did and giving him candy. It's so nice to see them working hard at this also. He says their names constantly and wants them to share every experience with him. I am off to meet our guide for more paperwork! We are trying to decide what to do tomorrow..either the International church or some authentic shopping which we have not done at all. It really is not an easy choice! Pray that Peter's TB test comes back well. We should know Monday. Thank you for praying for all of us and sharing our journey! We love you all! I will send pictures soon! I promise!! Oh and please pray for my dad. My stepmom mentioned he has hurt his back. He went to the chiropractor but it's still a bit sore from what I understand. My parents are falling apart while we're gone!! ;-) Loving Him, Aimee for the Akin's

short and sweet

We made it to Ghoungzhou. Finally. Our flight was delayed and we did not get into our room until 12 a.m. Peter loved his first flight. His head did bother him a bit and he did not care for that. We already feel more comfortable because we have an itinerary and a map of places to eat that are in a good price range. We are not going blind!! Woo hoo!! Tomorrow starts early with medicals. Pray that all goes smoothly. We also told our true story to our translator of how we met Peter. Probably shouldn't have been so honest. ;-) I think I am up next for the shower. Yay!

Peters First English Phrase

Peter said his first English phrase that we taught him last night: I'm hungry!! I was so excited!! He also leaned over and kissed my hand all on his own. :-)The other morning Peter made the motion of sleeping, started snoring then pointed at Andrew. We laughed so hard, even Andrew. Peter woke up the other night confused and when he saw Eric, he grabbed his facial hair and fell asleep like that. His facial hair brings Eric comfort. ;-) Yesterday Abi misplaced a lego that Peter wanted and he would look at her throughout the day and make a fist and act like he was going to get her. He was so excited that he could be part of a "joke." He so badly wants to communicate with us and I love that!!

Day 4- Science that hardly works & Lego's

Today we made plans to visit the local children's science museum. We thought this would be a good way for our family to all have fun together. It was four stories of fun! But the problem was either we were to dumb to figure out the exhibits or they didn't work. LOL I want to believe the latter but know better than to dismiss the first. We all had a great time and Peter enjoyed pushing each and every button that he could. It really was a lot of fun and we are thankful Andrew spotted it the first day and insisted on going back. There were several school girls there his age and Rita told us they were giggling over the cute boy! (Andrew) They even took a picture of him. He thought it was funny! We came back to the hotel and enjoyed a nice lunch and finished watching Cars 2. We finally figured out that you could do English subtitles which really helped because Eric and I had not seen it yet. We pulled out the legos and all the kids played for hours. Peter has quiet an imagination and it was fun to watch all the kids play. By the end of their play time they had combined all their efforts to make one big project. John, one of our translators, brought our final paperwork for this leg of the trip and he walked us over to the Raffray's hotel. We had ran into LJ, Adam, Blue and their translator at the museum and they told us that Wendy was not feeling well. We took her some POOF (for all the oil users) and visited for a while with them. We walked back to our hotel to have our last dinner in Jinan. We wanted to dine in the Chinese restaurant in the hotel but they avoided letting us in there (?) and instead escorted us to the buffet. It was very good and we all enjoyed it which was great because the dinner cost us....$150!!! What the what?! We knew it would be expensive but my stars. Eric tried to write it off as we are on vacation but this cheap mom is having a hard time with some of the money we are spending. There has been no in between so far for us. It's either way cheap or way expensive so maybe it's evening out? I'm trying hard not be be a fuddy duddy but considering we have probably shorted 2 straighteners, 2 DS chargers, (not yours Aunt Brandy!) and lost an iPod, we may be spending more when we get home! Oh well...it's all in His hands! He has brought here and He provided every step of the way so I am not going to panic. Right? Right! I'm not sure we ever shared this but we still had multiple people stopping by right before we left. What a blessing! We thought we had it all but after we counted it, we were still about $800 short. We received every single bit of it before we left. He answers...all the time.... Speaking of answering, Happy 12th Heavenly Birthday Hannah Banana!!! I cannot believe it's been 12 years. If you would have told me 12 years ago I would look back and say that Hannah passing away was a gift and blessing, I would have slapped you then kicked you until you didn't move. Yes, I felt that strongly about it. But it was. Had Hannah lived, would we have had Abi? Would we have pursued adoption? Would Eric and I be together? Would we have started attending FBC? But most especially, would our faith be where it is now? Probably not. Walking through that valley taught us so many lessons. There were some hard years but I wouldn't change them now for anything. Her short little life made a huge impact. What a blessing to know where she is! As I told Abi this morning, I have no worries with Hannah. She's never experienced heartache or pain. All she has known is joy. What a wonderful thing to know as a parent. And we know that she is in Heaven waiting on us. Our other children have the free will to make the choice and we pray they make the right one. So if you are walking a dark valley right now and you think God is not listening, wait on Him. Sometimes it seems the wait is forever but it's worth it. The lessons you will learn and His answer will be worth it. And I know that Hannah, Ms. Debbie and all our other loved ones are gathered around with Jesus enjoying chocolate pie because Ms. Debbie can now have it without getting sick! And she's probably laughing and saying how she knows it will not get her fat! ;-) A big thank you to Stacey and Jeff who are taking flowers to Hannah's grave for us. This is the first year that our family will not be able to do this and it's weird to think about it. But she must have flowers and a balloon. Thanks for not letting me look like the bad mom of the cemetery!! Sorry this was so long!! Keep lifting us up! Bonding is going well but every day holds a new challenge. We move on to Ghouzhong (SP?) tomorrow. Peter's first adventure on an airplane. He has talked about it a lot today. We think he is very excited! One week until we return home and start our "normal" life tomorrow. We are lifting you all up also!! Adding this for Aimee.. SOOO sweet Peter showed me all the items that he had brought from the orphanage. My eyes almost teared up thinking that he had all he owned is in this small backpack. And he kept insisting on sharing it with us. Think about all that you own. I would have to rent 4-5 storage buildings for my "needs." And he's carrying it in one backpack and giving it away. He seemed a bit sad as we looked through his picture album. He had letters from his friends at the orphanage but he wanted to keep them for himself. I understand. He needs to have some things for himself. Plus, he doesn't trust us all the way. That's understandable. Slowly but surely Loving Him, Aimee for the Akin's

The weather was a bit better today (as good as it can be in smoggy China) so we were able to go sightseeing this morning. Peter had us laughing as he explained through hand motions and sounds that "Annu" (Andrew) snores very loudly at night. LOL He cracked himself up. We ate another delicious breakfast and headed out with Rita to see some of the historical sights of Jinan. We went to see the place that honors the liberation of Jinan. The building was beautiful and full of wonderful artifacts. Rita did a great job explaining the history and the city of Jinan. The building was located near a spring and we went down to it. There were many older gentlemen getting water from the spring to take home. The kids all took turns drawing water and enjoyed doing that. We then went to the lake nearby where we were able to see more old buildings and enjoy some beautiful music from some musicians there. Rita told some more stories and it's neat to hear about a city that is 2,000 years old. And Americans are proud of their history. ;-) We then went to a very sacred place...a Chinese Wal-Mart. :-) LOL Wow! Very interesting....You must enter on one story and exit on another, the clothes are another story and it was just all around different! We bought a few things to bring home and to keep in our room here and then said goodbye to Rita for the day. We headed out on our own to eat lunch and walked around to find a restaurant. During this, we walked through the Chinese market which are on the side streets. The front streets are full of beautiful shops but the Chinese market is a whole nother world. We walked down it for 2 minutes and turned around. There were so many people, so many strange food smells and it was overwhelming. Even Peter did not care for it. When we came out, he said, "Wooh" and looked very relieved. So we found a Pizza Hut! It was very upscale! While there we witnessed another argument. We have seen an argument in public each day we have been here. It's so strange because no one gets involved. The first day we were here we saw a man trying to go after a woman and her friends were trying to help her. Someone threw a brick at the man!! Yesterday there was a confrontation at the mall. And today a man was being very ugly to a woman. He forced her into a car against her own will. She even tried to jump out when they took off. And no one did a thing. It broke my heart. I wish I had known some language so I could have helped this poor woman. We also realized that Peter probably has a blood sugar problem. He sinks fast when he's hungry. We will probably need to carry some healthy snacks for him. They brought out our pizzas (3 in all and we ordered 2, language barriers!!) and it was YUMMY! I wish our Pizza Hut was this good. We headed back and vegged a moment with video games. We brought some blow dart guns from the $1 store and decided to play with them. And this is where we some the strongwilled Peter come out. He did not want to put the video games up. He kept saying NO, NO, NO and wailing. But once he saw it was fun, he joined in. He was laughing so hard! We all laughed so hard at him. He had played this before because he understood barriers and teams. It warmed our hearts to see him team up with Andrew. He would scream "Annu" and bring him darts so they could win. And Peter initiated the team with Andrew. We then thought we could teach him Go Fish and once again met with huge resistance. We decided not to put up a big fight and thought he would join in. Nope. He wanted the video games. So we have another strong willed child in our midsts. We will deal with this more when we get home because we are still very early in the game. After that, some of us napped then we ate dinner in our room. It's nice to know that Peter enjoys Wheat Thins and Progresso soup! He eats very healthy food and I hope that rubs off on us. He and Abi are playing dart games again and videoing it. Peter is cracking himself up as he records himself shooting the camera. He just asked me what I was doing and I told him I was writing a hello, how are you letter. We are trying to explain what hello, how are you is each day. He continues to mock what we say. Earlier I was telling Eric to let something go and Peter was sitting there playing video games and he popped up and said "Let it go!" HA!!! Continue to lift up our sleeping and bonding. He seems to be bonding very well with us and has told Rita that he likes us a lot. He has no problems initiating hugs with us, holding our hands or just a simple touch. Earlier we had to have the translator tell him he cannot pop Abi underneath the hiney, not on but to near for us. He thinks that is funny. Lift up Abi also. She gets a lot of stares due to her hair and being a girl. She spends a lot of time with hats on. We had a man stare at her forever through the window at Pizza Hut until Eric finally made a "I'm watching you gesture" at him through the window. He finally walked away. None are ever threatening but it scares her. I've broken out in hives so there is something that I'm allergic to here. Who knows what that is?! LOL Also lift up Eric's guys that are working with him. Everything is going well and they are doing a great job while we are gone but I know that Eric and the guys would appreciate the extra prayers. (I'm not going to code to much because Amy H. said we should be ok! Sorry mom!) We have also started praying with Peter. He does understand what we are doing so that is a plus. We hope to get him a New Testament in our next city when we visit a church there. Lift Peter up as we start this journey! We haven't ran into the Raffray's again but we did email and they said things were going well with Blue which is good to hear .We will post more pics tomorrow! I hope our updates are not too boring! I miss talking with my friends and I miss seeing all the cute kids! I hope ELO went well for those who started back. Love you all!! Aimee for the Akin's

Today was another good day! We had chosen to go sightseeing in the afternoon in order to sleep late. I truly admire the Chinese work ethic but not when it involves jack hammering right under our hotel room at 7 a.m.! I think I have had maybe 15 hours of sleep since Friday night. I'm a little tired and cranky. I'm trying hard not to be. Because Eric and I are only world travelers in our mind, we opted to stay in the room until we had our translator. It's very confusing to walk around here. And it's very, very cold. We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast yet again. We found out there were a lot more options than we thought and we all enjoyed it. When we returned to the room we got out the legos that we had brought. Peter clapped in excitement! The kids played with them for about 2 hours. We started watching Cars 2 in Chinese while we waiting on Rita, our translator. Once we met up with Rita she mentioned the fog was dangerous today and we did not need to be outside long. That sounds nothing like the fog we are accustomed to so I now owe Amy Hood an apology. This is smog, not fog. You were right Mrs. Hood! So no sightseeing. Peter has been asking for more clothes so we asked her to help with that. We braved it and went across the way to a department store. Now this is where it was interesting. Their shopping is so different. It's divided by brands and split into little sections all over with each section having about 6 workers in that little space. Way to many workers. And they do not carry shirts like we are accustomed to. We really needed to buy Peter a few long sleeve t-shirts and one pair of jeans because he only came with what he had on. That did not happen. He ended up with lined jeans and 2 very nice polo shirts. Guess how much? $150!!! Where's Walmart when you need it? 20 minutes down the road apparently but with the bad weather and no van, well, Peter now owns some very nice clothing. Oh well! He needed it. Did I mention it's freezing here? You also buy your item, get a receipt, take the receipt back to a worker then get your item. And you have to barter. I was so very confused. We are so thankful for Rita! We came back and played with these little motorcycles that we bought. Oh, I hope you all get to see the video I sent. He loved them!! He laughed so hard. We finally broke down after that and let him play some video games. We are trying to not let him do to much so we don't set a pattern but honestly, there isn't much for us to do here. It's just to darn cold and smoggy. I'm sure the Raffray's are world traveling it but I'm a wimp! LOL I wish I had that adventurous spirit. Plus, we're still a bit tired. So let's just go with we're tired, not boring! We walked across the street, without a translator I might add!, to KFC for dinner and fed everyone for $22 including dessert. Thank you Lord!! That was needed after that shopping trip. ;-) The kids are all vegging out to games before showers. We're trying to limit, I promise! It will be easier once we are home to limit. I think. Tomorrow we are going to a lake. If the weather is ok. They are very concerned about the weather. But I do understand why. Abi was having a hard time breathing after shopping. We are enjoying our time together. Peter is a bit relaxed because we are still in "his" environment. He's still working hard on communicating with us and is willing to keep trying. I admire that. He got a big kick out of Andrew trying to speak Chinese. ;-) Until tomorrow...thank you for lifting us all up!! Please continue to do so. Selfishly, I could really use some sleep! Lift up our bonding time! Peter is active (he's our little Colin Curfman and Isaac Hill rolled into one! So he is quiet funny!!!) and his hands always need to be moving. He does not enjoy being still. I"m babbling and I'm tired...so good night and until tomorrow. We love you all!! Oh and please lift my parents (mom and stepdad) up. They were involved in an accident. They are ok, YAY!, but their car is totaled. Thanks! Loving Him, Aimee for the Akin's

Hello! Finally writing! Our flights went very well. There was not a lot of room but we made it work. Just when you thought you were going to lose it, the plane landed. Luckily we only had a hour lay over and 30 minute flight before reaching Jinan. (Little sidenote: Andrew's Ipod was lost on a flight. He is so sad over this. I am sad for him because he paid for half of it, had several pictures on there, some to show Peter of our home life, and had invested his own money in games and music. He could use some Good Thoughts on this subject if you think about it) It's very cold here. And foggy. Boy is it foggy!! When we were picked up we were given a nice surprise. Our translator asked if we would like to go ahead and get Peter. Um, YEAH!!! So when we arrived at the hotel, he and his caregivers met us in the lobby!! What a moment!! It was a bit awkward because he is older and we are all strangers to him. He did quickly warm up to us though. Sadly our cameras were still in the luggage so no pictures of that moment. They caregivers and translators came up to our room (our upgraded room since the pool is broken. It's huge! 3 bathrooms, 2 bedrooms, living room. Peter may not like our home!) and with our signatures put on a piece of paper, he was allowed to stay! He showed us picture album and he also brought us gift he had bought with his own money. Precious. He also had several pictures of his growing up years and that was so exciting to see. His orphanage did a fabulous job of taking pictures and taking care of him. It's obvious they really care for their children. We took some time looking through his things, gave him his pj's and went to bed. It was 11 at night here and we had not had any sleep. At all. We all slept about 4 hours on Friday night so exhaustion set in. Morning came quickly at 6:45. We had to be ready by 8:30 to fill our paperwork. Our breakfast was superb and we found out that Peter likes orange juice. We met his caregivers and started the paperwork process. I must mention the traffic here. I've never seen such...craziness! You hear about it but nothing prepares you for it!! There are no rules whatsoever. You drive your car, scooter, bike, or walk wherever you want. So insane. We arrived at the first office and there were the Raffray's!!! SO exciting! We had the translators explain to the boys that they would see each other. As the translator was explaining to Peter about homeschooling, she kept commenting on how smart I was to have majored in every subject. :-) If she only knew. HA! I tried to explain but I sort of liked how highly she thought of me so I stopped. Peter had been hanging on Eric a lot because he is used to him. At some point during this, he started to notice me. He asked the translator a bunch of questions about me. He started to hold my hand and pat my back. Precious mommy moments. He is trying to also figure out our names. It's adorable to hear him try and remember who we are. He will look at me and say Dad, not Abi, no Mom!! LOL He and Abi hit it off very quickly. Andrew has always been standoffish but we know they will have plenty of time since they are sharing a room. We had lunch at a fabulous restaurant where we drank the (boiled) water and used a real toilet! So happy about that. We finished up our paperwork and headed to the supermarket. That was just crazy. And this is where you all yell at the screen because I forgot my camera in the van!! And I do not get it back until tomorrow. But we are going to try and upload Abi's pics. We looked for clothes but they were way to expensive. I'm not paying those prices for clothes! I need a Target! Between the supermarket and paperwork, Peters caregivers left. He was very sad but they did a great job helping him transition. They hugged, cried for a moment, then she guided him to me. He's doing well now but you can see a bit of sadness. I don't blame him one bit! I would be super sad too. A little about Peter...he is very active and mischevious. He likes to laugh and play but he will tone it down when we ask. It's not bad enough to complain about. Just all boy. He LOVES video games and technology. LOVES them. He's playing a game as I type this. He begs all the time and we have to tell him not right now. He also loves cameras. So grandma's if you are itching to buy something, he would probably want one of his own. Abi will get sick of sharing. He loves the color red, cherries, banana's, Jackie Chan movies,and angry birds. He wears a size 12 in target clothes so he is right about the same size as Abi's friends. He clearly cares about others. His caregivers mentioned that to us but we have seen it ourselves. At the supermarket, he wanted to only buy chips as his snack because he remembered Abi liked them. He then let Abi and Andrew pick out the flavors. He likes to help. He is trying hard to speak English. He repeats what we say often. He learned English in school and BMH prepared him to communicate if he doesn't know. His speech is obviously affected by the cleft palate. And that is where all the time with Paris has helped us! He sounds a lot like her but we can make it out because we are so used to trying to figure out Paris talk. He saw a picture of them (Curfman girls) and looked at it for a while. We told him about the Hoods and if I ever get unpacked I will show him their letters. ;-) If we get the pictures uploaded, look for Chels to post! She gets first dibs. We are struggling with phone calls and texting so lift that up please. Please lift up our bonding time. He showed me his necklace of Buddha earlier and made the motions of p aying to him. Hmmm....yeah, lift that up to please! I'm off to drag video game head (and it's not Andrew) off the iPad and make him communicate! This is the longest update (I hope!) so enjoy. Love though our Father, Aimee for the Akin's *If someone could post our blog on CHEC, I would appreciate it. Love you all~~

Here is the first official Picture of Peter with his New Family, Minus his Biggest sister of course. I will be updating the blog for Aimee while she is gone. God is good all the time Mimi

Thank you!

Because of all our incredible family and friends, and mostly our Sovereign Lord, we are fully funded for our trip!! Praise the Lord! He answers!! And Peter has a completed puzzle! God is good. We cannot express to each of you how much we appreciate all the hard work, the money, and the prayers you have given us. (I'm very sorry if you did not get a thank you note. Please know that I did have very good intentions!!) Because of you all, Peter has the opportunity to be in a family, to celebrate Christmas, Easter and birthdays with us, to have a chance to get a great education but most importantly, to have the opportunity to know and accept our Lord and Savior. We love you all very much and cannot wait to share our families next adventure with you!-Eric, Aimee, Chelsea, Andrew, Peter, and Abi

Bring Peter Home!!