Happy New Year!

Hi Everyone!
It's almost the last day of 2008,
Our first full year with Noelle - how far she has come! The only time she seems to become intimidated is when she comes in contact with people who are from China. It took me awhile to figure it out, but in China the orphans are looked down on and sometimes ridiculed, and I think all that comes back to her when she hears Mandarin spoken. However, with her Zion friends, with all the love and acceptance that they have shown her -she is happily confident. Ter and I often say how quickly the year has gone, but how we can't imagine our lives without her.
Nick was confirmed, graduated from Zion and has started high school - and he's growing up so much - he's lifting weights and he's starting to look like ....a bigger boy (my baby boy can't be a man, yet!)
Akaela has grown up so much this year, too - she's really starting to "be a girl" - wearing a bit of makeup and enjoying dressing up. Her face has gotten longer, and so have her legs! She has slimmed down and she has a waist! She's almost as tall as I am....
Ter and I are doing great - albeit a few physical issues - but then, as our kids grow older, so do we! But, as we grow older, the distractions fall away and the priorities become so clear - God, family, friends - helping others.
Blessings all - and Happy New Year!
Lisa

A few more pics

Merry Christmas!

Hello all,
I know, I know - I have lost my status as a blogger since it's been so long since I updated. My only excuse is that we have been busy! Nick's basketball games started and one week he had three! He also has practice that starts at 5:30 pm and ends at 8 Pm so poor Ter has become a taxi service! Of course, Akaela has been practicing until 5:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I usually just work until she's done on those days - add in Wednesday night church, and getting ready for Christmas and we were seriously sleep deprived!
I'll try to catch you up on what's been going on -
We had a fun thanksgiving - we actually tried to work at the thanksgiving dinner for people who don't have anywhere to go - but there were five times as many people to help as there were eating, so we stayed around for about an hour and then left. Later we went to Dave and Christine's for an awesome dinner. We stayed late playing Wii and had a blast!
Kristi and I went shopping early on Black Friday and got some good deals, but Walmart was probably the craziest I have ever seen. I forgot my cell phone and had to sit on the water softener salt for about a half hour hoping that Kristi would find me!
Then we had our Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday - the Howsdens joined us and we had a good meal, too.
Times are tough right now - everywhere, but in Automotive, we're really feeling it - we hear about ourselves on the news every day. we've lost about a third of the people at work and are taking an extra long break at Christmas. We kind of feel like we are on a roller coaster - one day they say that the congress will bail out the big 3 then they don't pass it - a bunch of plants will close down then the president might help. All we can do is work hard pray.
Billy and Alex got baptized! It was pretty cool!
Then we decorated the house for Christmas. Noelle got to put the angel on the tree for the first time.
The kids had their Christmas programs. I was amazed how how incredible the Kearney High music program is! Akaela did a great job, too - she had a solo! Noelle was very sweet - her class sang "The First Noel" and every time they sang "Noel" she got the cutest smile on her face!
Ter had surgery on the 22nd - double hernia and he has had quite a time recovering. The doctor scared me to death when he came out to talk to me - he took me into the private room! He said that they got it done, but it was "a bear" and that Ter would be VERY sore - and he was right! Poor guy is still on pain meds - he wanted to do it over Christmas break, but I'm not at all sure that he will be ready to go back to work - we'll see.
We also had our furnace go on the blitz and the night of his surgery, a water pipe broke! Needless to say, he was in no condition to fix it...so we had to call in a plumber. Stressful day! But...we made it through and we'll be getting a new heat pump sometime next week. Thankfully, our old one is still working enough to keep us from freezing!

We had a great Christmas - we got a family gift - a Wii - and the kids are really enjoying it. Ter has even bowled a bit from his recliner!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas!
Blessings,
Lisa

Grandma and the seven dwarfs...sorta

Okay, so three of them were my kids and I'm shorter than at least one of them, but it was kinda catchy, wasn't it?
Last weekend I had the grandkids - plus mine so that made seven!
Ter and Billy both worked Saturday, so it was me and them! I had Nick - 15, Akaela - 13, Breanna - 9, Noelle - 8, Alex and Derek - both 6 and Shane - 3 months! On Friday, I realized that if I was going to get to the grocery store I better do it then, because we wouldn't all fit in the van! :-) I got to really get to know little Shane - so much fun - he likes to be held up high (arms over my shoulder) when he's being burped. He doesn't like to lie on his stomach. He won't focus on you when you're holding him, but he will if someone else is. If you talk sweetly to him, he will smile the sweetest little grin in the world. It's been a long time since I woke up in the night with a little baby - or since we had a baby sleeping in the bed between us.
I had a blast with all the kids - we made turkeys out of their handprints - they got to bake - we made a TON of food - and we got to bond.
At church, I had the big kids sit between the little ones in church to keep them in line - experience talking here! I'll add a few pics - aren't they sweet!
We sure did miss them after they left!
Blessings,
Lisa

Highs and lows

I first saw Barack Obama on Oprah three plus years ago. I had never heard of him before but I listened to what he had to say. He was not running for President then, so what he was saying wasn't for votes, he was just talking to Oprah. He said that he was a person who liked to bring people together, that our country isn't one made up of red states and blue states, but of Americans. He was very humble, low key and what he said made a lot of sense. Of course, I am also a person of mixed races who can see many sides of an issue, and I am all about bringing people together, so it wasn't much of a stretch for me. I had the show taped and asked my dh to come in and listen to it. After watching it, he said, "If that guy would ever run for President, I'd vote for him."
I can't say that I have ever been a person who votes down party lines. I (and most of my family) can't be described as true to the party platforms. I guess I follow my Christian beliefs - and by my definition that means loving one another as He loved us. To me that means that showing discrimination and hatred toward gays is not what God wants us to do..it also means that I am pro-life...so I am somewhere in the middle. I do believe that we are all here to help each other and I try to live that.
This time, I have followed the primaries, watched George Stephenaopolis every week - I have watched all the debates - listened to all the commentaries - read all the stories. I have never, ever been more engaged. My dh registered to vote for the first time in his life.
So...when election day came and Barack Obama won I was beyond elated. I took Wednesday after the election off - had some errands - but also knew that I would be up late on Tuesday - and I knew that I'd be either sad or very happy and I really didn't want to listen to what I was sure would be a lot of negative talk at work. I watched tv - and shed a ton of tears - happy tears that our country has come so far. It felt like all I have worked for for these years has come to pass!
But - after I talked to my dh and my ds and dd about what they had heard at work and school - I was very upset. I know that people here are mostly Republican, and I do not begrudge them their political beliefs, but much of what we have heard was so hateful - some racial remarks, some assasination jokes, horrible stuff. There has been some editorials that have made me sick.
So..it seems that "all that work" I did, has not made much of a difference. Not where I live. Honestly, I have been so disappointed - heartbroken really - that I've seriously considered moving.
Who knows, maybe that is the direction God wants me to take - maybe He is preparing for that - and all this will help me not to feel badly about moving. Or - maybe I'm meant to stay and fight the good fight - you know the one about how God created us all and how we're all His children and we're supposed to love one another - why oh why is that so hard for people to get?
So...I've been a bit manic depressive these days - alternating between elation and deep depression.
It's taken me almost two weeks to write this. I've been holding it in - better to get it out, right?
We'll see.
Lisa

We finally met the group!

There is a group in Mid Nebraska - families that have adopted children from Asia. They meet every few months, but we have always had something else going on until last Saturday! We met at Chromosta Pumpkin Patch and had a blast! Noelle got to ride a pony, and a hay rack, pick a couple of pumpkins out of the field, feed a goat, and have lots of fun with the families and Nick. (Akaela stayed home - she was under the weather)
Here's the group picture. I'll try to add more tomorrow..
Blessings,
Lisa

Isn't she lovely!?

After getting Noelle ready for Halloween - we had a glimpse of what a beautiful woman she will be! What do you think?

Happy Halloween!

Pictures, I hope

Okay... so maybe I have to add one picture at a time!
Here are the beautiful flowers I got for my birthday!

Pictures

For some reason, I cannot add pictures! I keep getting a "not connected to internet" message which is not true as I can move around the internet fine - very frustrating!
Oh well - if you want to see them you can go to snapfish.
Will post more later.
Lisa

It's my party...

So I am 52 now! Okay, my dad says I should start counting backwards so that would make me 50...but I'm kind of excited that in only 3 years I will get that senior discount!
Anyhow, I had a really good day. First Nica gave me an actual kiss when I dropped him off, instead of the kiss his hand and touch my cheek that he has been giving me since he started high school and said, "Happy Birthday, Mom". Then when I got to work, there were flowers on my desk! Billy text messaged me "Happy Birthday Mamacita!" and in the afternoon I got some more beautiful flowers from Katie - see picture! They were so perfect I actually thought they were silk!
Then after work we drove to Cozad to have dinner with Kenny, Kristi and family at a fabulous Italian restaurant. It's just perfect because it's about halfway between Kearney and North Platte. We had a really scrumpcious meal, lots of fun and even a bottle of Asti Spumante! Thanks everyone for a great birthday!

Then today we had a "Marty Party" at church - the kids dressed up and we had games for them - our table was face painting - took a picture of all the kids - it took three groups, there were so many of them! Then they trick or treated through the church. Anyhow, I have a few pictures of them dressed up, too!
Blessings, everyone!
Lisa

Today I got to see a friend of mine who went off to fight in Iraq. He was the first person I knew personally who went. When he went I started really paying attention every time the news mentioned that a Nebraska soldier was hurt, watched with dread every Sunday when George Stephanopoulos showed the "In Memorium" portion of his show. My friend put a familiar face on the soldiers were fighting over there, and who are still. He was hurt, suffered a closed brain injury, and now that he is back, he is not the same person who left. He is angry, tries to joke about things, he's lost his family and he just seems so lost. Tonight, upon reflection, I am saddened more than I can say by all he has lost, by all so many of these young men have lost - their lives irrevocably altered - and I realize that the pride that we all feel for our veterans - the thanks that we give them - is not nearly enough.
Let's keep them all in our prayers,
Lisa

Champions

The Zion Crusaders soccer team won the championship at the Battle Creek tournament this weekend. Saturday was a nice fall day, little breeze, just about right weather - and they won both games. Sunday was cold - the wind was about 40 mph with big gusts - and it started snowing during the second game! Poor kids were out there running their little hearts out - and it was Akaela's last soccer tournament...:-(
The kids had a blast, swimming at the hotel and Alex was a riot in his little floaty bathing suit. The group that went out to dinner with us learned a new old story about Ter and have been teasing him mercilessly about his biscuits ever since.
We had a fun time with the Zion group, as always, and that is what I will miss more than I can say as the kids grow up and move on. We'll just have to make a pact to stay friends and hang out as much as we can, but I am so grateful to have had this time with all of our friends and our kids are all more like cousins or siblings than classmates.
Anyhow it seems I'm a bit melancholy tonite - I best go get some sleep!
Blessings,
Lisa

Oops, I forgot!

So this weekend I was reminded that I never mentioned that I was in a car accident (thanks, JJ!) - On September 23 (I remember because it was Kenny's birthday), after I dropped off the kids, I was in an accident on the way to work. I was driving in the left lane on Hwy 30, when a little gal turned right onto the highway and right into the left lane - where I was. She hit the passenger side of the van, in the front, and squished it enough that we couldn't open the passenger door. I went right to the doctor's office, as my neck started hurting as soon as the adreneline wore off. He sent me directly to physical therapy, which I have been continuing. Some days it does feel better, but lately I have found myself being depressed sometimes about the pain continuing on. I'm just afraid that it will be that way from now on. I guess it's been a down time with the economy and layoffs and all - and the pain isn't horrible -certainly not unbearable - it's just there...and it's starting to wear on me a bit.
But don't worry, I'm hanging in there - so many people have things worse than I do, and I am so aware of it...but that's one of the downfalls of being empathetic, I'm feeling badly for them too! :-)
Anyhow - that's the story of the car accident...
Blessings,
Lisa

...and he went to a ball..

Our youngest son, Nick went to his first high school dance on Saturday night, Kearney High's fall ball. He said he had a lot of fun at the dance,and he did dance with several girls...and he's looking forward to Winter Ball.

How hard it is to believe that our little Nicky-boy is almost all grown up! Is it possible that it's been fifteen years since that little guy came flying into our lives? After losing a baby and then trying for three years, he was a long awaited addition. He was such a good natured little guy, all of his older siblings just loved him to death. I remember Katie saying - after she had been the baby of the family for 10 years - Mom, I just didn't know I'd love him so much! After knowing how fast the big kids grew up, I really took the time to savor the childhoods of the little ones - and now here he is going to his first dance!
I am fiercely protective, much more than his dad, and am warily eyeing those potentially preditory females in public high school!
Dang, I wish I could interview them all before he even speaks to them, but I guess that would be asking a bit much, you think?
I know that I have to let him try his wings a bit, but I don't have to like it!
It was so much easier when he was a toddler and I could keep the dangers of the world out of his reach...


but he has a good head on his shoulders, and a solid base that Zion helped him with...
but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to keep my eye on him!
:-) and heaven knows I'll be praying about it!
Ah motherhood, no rest for the weary....
Blessings!
Lisa

Ouch!

So...a couple of weeks ago, Akaela and I went to have a mother-daughter day...compliments of my sister Deb, who sent me a "pamper yourself" gift of manicure/pedicure to celebrate after receiving my award (wasn't that sweet?)
Akaela and I had a fun day of the spa, and then we went to see a girl movie, "Nights in Rodanthe". Of course, I bawled my head off and had to do the hurried rush to wipe my tears away before the lights came back up. Good movie, though.
Anyhow, the week after that was ultra busy - Akaela had volleyball on Tuesday, a soccer tournament on Friday, then a volleyball tournament on Saturday. On Sunday, I took her in to urgent care because she had been complaining of ingrown toenails and they had started getting pretty icky. They just gave her some ($50) ointment and told her to come back in a week if it didn't get better...so on Friday, we went to a podiatrist. He put both her toes to sleep and cut them out. I guess the gal who did her pedicure cut the nail in a round shape, but didn't get it all, so that they were still growing inside poor Akaela's toe. Anyhow, he wrapped them up in her favorite color purple bandages and when she got home, Ter called them clown toes. She's still pretty sore, and I'm not sure if she'll actually get to play next weekend or not - he yanked the nail out to the root on the sore sides of each big toe. Actually kicking a ball might not be all that comfortable...
If you think of it, say a prayer for my "clown toed" daughter!
Blessings,
Lisa

Some more pics

Here are some family pics from the last few weeks...
Some are of baby Shane - our newest grandson! And Katie was visiting at the Worms Volleyball tournament...

Tough times....

Hi all,
Today at work, somewhere between 60 and 70 people were told that they were going to be temporarily laid off. This is the third layoff in the last year. It's been hard to wait, knowing something would happen, hard to hear who was hit, and hard to imagine how worried and scared they must be. So far, we have both not been chosen, but some of our friends have.
Times are tough all over the world these days. Watching the news is almost painful. The stock market, the economy, today I even read about how the suicide rate is going up because people are losing everything. It is scary, and sad, and upsetting.
Last night, when I was trying unsuccessfully to go to sleep, I wondered how we would make ends meet if we were laid off. We're having a hard time now, without one of our incomes I don't know what we would do. I tried to prepare myself - what would I say - try not to cry till you get home - things like that.

But, a little voice reminded me that if God knows the number of hairs that I have on my head, and if He knows each time a sparrow falls, surely He will take care of us.
This is the scripture that has given me peace. We will be all right. It will work out.

May God's peace give my friends rest, too - all over the world.
Blessings,
Lisa

Volleyball!

Akaela has been playing volleyball. I'm so proud of her! She is a phenomenal player...of course, I might be biased! But honestly, she is not only very good at it, but she is being a leader to the younger girls, encouraging and helpful. I will post a video of her awesome serving.

Some pics

Last time I couldn't add pictures - my computer locked up - so here they are...

and off to Cleveland

So we got home on Monday September 15th...went to work on Tuesday and tried desperately to catch up as much as I could - went home and packed again and after a quick half day at work on Wednesday, I took off for Lincoln, to catch a plane for Cleveland. I had been the Eaton Diversity Council Chair since 2004 and had stepped down when we went to get Noelle. But, I received an email from Glenn Gouldey, Kearney's mentor, asking me to attend the Worldwide Diversity Conference this year anyway - he said that they were having a panel discussion with the 2007 winners of the Excellence in Diversity Awards (Kearney had won the overall award). I asked if I could go and they let me! I was very happy to go, I am very committed to inclusion and diversity, and in the past when I had gone to this conference, I usually had to give a presentation. This time I just had to answer questions! So off I went, not nervous, and happy to connect with old friends and make new ones. The conference has grown over the years - this year it included 30 different plants from about 12 different countries. When I arrived at the Cleveland airport, our friends Eric and Holly Ushiroda met us and introduced their beautiful daughter, Reina to us. Oh my gosh, she is such a little doll! She was a little nervous at first but before we left, she let both Angela and I hold her. I'm so glad that they were able to see us! I miss them!
On Angela and I went to our hotel and out for a great dinner with friends...
The next day was the beginning of the conference and it was a day packed with interesting and thought provoking activities. I wrote notes like I was still the Chair, thought about stopping, and couldn't. So many ideas just flowing around, excitement growing - that conference fires me up, every time. That night we went to the executive dining room at Eaton's Worldwide headquarters high up in the building - the room is incredible - with views of the lake, dark wood, and incredible food. We visited, ate, and sat down to enjoy the awards ceremony. So many were given out to friends near and far. Kearney won the award for Business Impact. Athens won the Overall award. Then they were over, except Joe Palchek didn't stop talking. He said they had another award, a new one - called the Buente award for leadership. Before I knew it, they had called my name! I stumbled up to the front of the room, where I stood while Joe read a page and a half about me and the things the Kearney team accomplished while I was at the helm of the council. It was a surreal few minutes, as I looked around the room, people were smiling at me, giving me the thumbs up, then when Joe finished talking, they all stood up and gave me a standing ovation, for way too long! Lisa Prater and Angela were both crying, and I came mighty close myself, but I was still in the bubble of disbelief. Afterward, everyone came up to me and hugged me and congratulated me. They had such kind things to say, but one really struck me - he said that my passion had helped the cause of diversity and inclusion around the world since others had heard my ideas for several years now - and that they were working to emulate what we had accomplished in Kearney. I had never thought of it that way. I was completely blindsided - the Kearney team had nominated me, and everyone in the room but me knew about the award except me! I didn't know it existed since I was no longer on the team and didn't receive the email. Anyhow, it was probably the best moment that I'll ever have in my work life. It was a good night. :-)
I'll add a few pictures of our trip back and whatever else I have!
Blessings,
Lisa

More Surprises!

The other reason that we took the trip to Oregon was that we bought a car for Nick! The kids didn’t know, so we had some dicey moments not talking about where Noelle and I actually were on Sunday and Monday – when we were actually driving home!
The reason we bought a car in Oregon is that my very generous brother bought a new car, sold his to his mother in law, and we got hers. Basically, they gave us an awesome deal that we just couldn’t say no to. I like to say that God and Uncle Adrian provided Nick with his car! But….that meant a long drive for Noelle and me! We got up early on Sunday morning and took off. We drove down into California and turned East at 80. For lunch we stopped at In n’ Out, Ter’s favorite place to eat in the world. It was awesome, I must admit, and I’m not much of a hamburger fan!
During the long drive, Noelle and I had a lot of time to talk. Some new information emerged about her life in China and about Noelle herself. She told me that she had some sort of white spot on her cheek when she was younger, and that they didn’t think anyone would adopt her until it healed. She also said that they loved her a lot (who wouldn’t) and wanted her to stay, but when she got to be 7 years old they thought she needed to be adopted before it was too late.
By far the most emotional moment came when I asked her if she ever wondered about her “China mom”. She had never mentioned this, and I always knew it would come up someday, but I thought maybe I would broach the subject while we were alone and free of distractions. I didn’t know if she would look at me blankly or answer (as she did once before) that “I don’t have one”. That isn’t what happened. She said, “Mom, I think about it every day.” And burst into tears. She said, “I don’t like to talk about it because it makes me cry.” She said that she thought that her mom wasn’t married and that’s why she gave her up. She was so broken up, my heart was breaking for her. I said, “Do you want me to tell you what I think?” She nodded, tearfully. I said, “I’m not sure, because we can’t know for sure, but I think that she loved you very much so she took you to a place where she knew that you would be taken care of. Maybe she wasn’t married, or maybe she already had a child – in China you can only have one, you know. Anyhow, even though we don’t know who she is, or where she is, we can still pray for her.” She said, “How can we pray for her…we don’t know who she is!” I said, “God knows who she is.” She said, “God knows people in China?” I said, “Absolutely, God knows everyone all over the world. Just like He knows how many hairs are on your head (they had studied that at Zion a couple of weeks ago), He knows every person on this earth. So every day we can pray for your China mom, that He keeps her safe and that she comes to know Him. I told her that I am always here for her to talk to about these things and that all adopted children wonder about their birth moms and it was normal for her to have those feelings. Poor baby – I just hope that I handled it well.
We had lots of fun bonding on our trip - but oh how great it was to finally pull into the driveway on Monday night! I told Ter that it’s a lot further when you’re the only one doing the driving!
All the kids were so happy and excited to see us, and when we told Nick that was his car, he was so happy! He kind of fell against the car and I gave him a hard time about denting it before he drove it. Since then, he has driven around the neighborhood a bit, and also is studying “the book” so he can take his test to get his permit.
Anyhow, I already posted as many pictures as I can for today, so I’ll post a few trip back pictures tomorrow! Still working on catching up!

And More Pics

Here's a few more pictures of the Oregon trip!

More Pics

Here are a few more pictures of the Oregon trip

Surprises

So much has happened since I last updated that I'll need to do this in stages!
I kept quiet on purpose, because I was keeping some secrets! It was hard!
Noelle and I flew out to Medford,Oregon on September 11th. My sister, Tresa, was turning 40 on Saturday the 13th, and we surprised her. It was so much fun! We were able to use our miles accumulated from our trip to China, so we flew for free. We did have to go from Lincoln to Minneapolis to L.A to Medford and it took a long time (we arrived at 10:50 PT - which was 12:50 AM to us). On Friday we went to lunch and hid behind a column while my brother, Adrian, said to Tres - "I'm going to give you one of your presents right now" and out we popped from behind the column. She was quite surprised and happy to see us, especially Noelle, since she hadn't met her yet. We spent just a couple of days with them - and it was awesome. We also got to meet my new nephew, Keith Joseph. My sister Sherri and her husband Russ also flew up from L.A., so there were four of the six of us siblings were together, along with spouses and all the kids, except for Sher's. Noelle got a big dose of the Sue family, and she got everyone straight by the time we left (a big job!). She loved playing video games with Chandler and Carson, Adrian and Loralee's boys - and she really fell hard for MacKenzie, Tresa and Carl's little girl who just turned two. Actually, we all did. She is such a little doll, and we celebrated her birthday along with her moms. Adrian and Loralee have just finished doing their back yard - it is beyond awesome - and Adrian (the greatest USC fan of all time) watched SC beat Ohio State (sorry Eric!)
I'll post a few pictures - and tell more of the story later!
Lisa

Go Huskers!

Hi All,
We rushed through most of our chores last night after we got home - had a late dinner and this morning Ter and Nick left for Lincoln to go to the Husker game! The rest of us went to the "Uptown Art Festival" in Kearney - we went to the Library, where the kids made leaf collages and leaf rubbings - and they each checked out a couple of books. We headed over to the Children's museum, but they were planning on having sidewalk chalk drawings and it was sprinkling, so we left. We went to MONA (Museum of Nebraska Art) where we watched Mr. Miller from Kearney High making pottery on a wheel, then went inside and the kids made edible art - they painted with food dye on cookies. They loved making them and they loved eating them!
Then we headed home so that we could watch the Husker game. After lunch, they went and got their gear on so that they could get in the spirit!
Right now it's halftime and we're winning!
Go Huskers!
Blessings,
Lisa

Amazing!

Last night I had an experience with Noelle that amazed me, maybe more than anything else she has done.
She has a science test coming up - it's on parts of a plant. It's prett detailed...honestly, if I had to take a test on it, I'd have to study.
When I saw what she had to learn, my heart sank.
I know that Noelle has been a bit down about school, because it's so hard for her this year, and I'm not sure yet how much help she is receiving.
I think she is still a bit intimidated by her new teacher - still some bonding to work on there - and I'm sure it's a challenge for the teacher as well - I know she's never had a ESL student before . The words are all harder and she's still got a long way to go in learning English. Every single subject becomes an English lesson - twice the work.
So when I saw how difficult the words were, and she not only had to learn them, but be able to identify their definitions, I'm not ashamed to admit that I wanted to cry for her.
But, I couldn't let that show. I told her to "study" it. She studied for about 5 or 10 minutes.
It was getting late, so I told her, "Let's have a test." I gave her a list of the words and then I read a definition and let her tell me which word it belonged with. She still couldn't say the words, so she would spell them to me.
Do you know that out of 16 words, she only missed 3 on the first try? And two of those three she got on the second try.
I couldn't believe it.
As got the next one and the next one and the next one right, I was incredulous. I actually started wondering if she was psychic and was reading my mind!
I keep going over it and over it in my mind and I can't understand how she could possibly have gotten them correct!
She couldn't read either the words or most of the definitions - so she had to have memorized what they looked like, then as I read them, sounded out what they looked like in her memory and told me which word matched.
However she managed it, it was amazing. And it gave me a glimpse of her future...once she has her English...there'll be no stopping her!
Blessings,
Lisa

S-U-C-C-E-S-S

I mentioned last week that Noelle was struggling a bit with her spelling words. She had written them all five times (I always make the kids do that with their spelling words - even though the teacher doesn't require it), but she didn't know what they were. When I got home, I asked her to read them to me and she couldn't on some. So I had to tell her what the word was, then ask if she knew what it meant - explain what it was, then have her say the word aloud while she practiced writing it. Then we did a spelling test for the six words of the day and if she missed any, she had to write them five more times. She was a bit discouraged at first, but quickly got into the groove. The great news is that.... she got a 105%!!!!! (She got all the bonus words right). I'm so proud of her and she is so thrilled. She had to go to each of us and show us all her paper. She works so hard to do well. What a great kid!

I'll also show a picture of Noelle and Alex. She is having a lot of fun having someone littler than her to play with and keep track of. We know that she had a special little boy in China that she bonded with, and I think she helped a lot with the younger kids in the orphanage. So Alex fits right in and she loves having him around.

Over the Labor Day weekend, I was just sick as a dog. I had some sinus issues along with stomach issues, so I was out of commission for the majority of it. Ter spent the weekend working his little heart out on coating the deck, helping the neighbors unload a truckload of red rock, and putting siding up on the north side of the house (he didn't quite get it finished - but it's getting close). I'm so grateful that God chose to send me a partner that is so handy around the house. He can do anything!

Katie has made her move to Omaha - she transferred and will be starting work tomorrow. All the kids are back in Nebraska, except Ryan.

Oh - I will be going to Cleveland in mid September. Although I have "retired" from the Eaton Diversity Council, I was asked to come again to the Diversity Conference. I guess they are having a Panel Discussion where everyone can ask questions of the winners of the 2007 awards - and I was the Chair during that time, so they asked if I could come. It's always a lot of fun, and very inspirational. I expect it will be hard for me to contain my excitement enough to NOT rejoin the council! I have so many irons in the fire right now, I think that it's best if I don't at this time. But my heart is still in it!

Blessings, all!

Lisa