What is WITH these people!!!???

Can't a brother just get a bubble bath?

(This is a rare pic of all the FOCUS staff babies. All the dads are off staff retreating. The moms decided to combine the chaos for our "un-retreat"!)

Keepin' it real....

I don't want to paint the picture that all is roses around here. The kids are all having their own adjustment issues. Hannah is more fussy, Hudson is a bit antagonistic and Joshua is quite needy. I'm not getting a lot of sleep at night, and Rusty starts a very difficult class on Tuesday. Bible study group members have been put on the back burner, and thank you notes need to be written. Not to mention that I haven't opened my mail for a long time. I had a few quite moments, so I checked the blog of a friend who traveled with us to get her daughter. She lamented about school starting, and how things were such a mess at home... how the business of life was difficult. Here was my comment....

Boy how I can relate!! Even though I didn't send anyone off to school today (no one is old enough) I kind of secretly wished I could. The house was a mess, laundry is piled up and this tends to stress me out. By the time Rusty came home, I wasn't the patient Mom that I want to be. As he walked in the door I yelled, "The house is a MESS!!!" To which he replied in a cheery, who cares, it doesn't matter tone of voice, "GREAT!!" I immediately countered in my don't ruin my pity party with your good attitude tone, "NO, it's not GREAT!"
Last night when the kids were finally all asleep, Isaiah 58 was refreshing for me...if I break the yokes of wickedness and release those in captivity, if I spend myself on behalf of the hungry, homeless poor... the Lord will strengthen my frame. I will be like a well watered garden, called repairer of broken walls. Joshua is requiring a lot of my time energy and attention right now. It wasn't long ago that he was the hungry, homeless poor under the yoke. He's no longer an orphan, but he has broken walls that need to be repaired!! Praise the Lord that he has promised to strengthen my frame and make this dirt clod of a Mom a well watered garden!

GOTCHA a month ago!!

It's been a month since we got our sweet boy!! He's just an amazing little guy, bursting with personality, kisses and smiles!

This month hasn't been without its challenges, but overall we're all adjusting well.

I'm quite busy as a mom with three kids, and would love to tell you more about what's going on,

but I honestly don't have the time. Just wanted to make note of and celebrate our first month anniversary..... enjoy the pics!

A little trip to the park on a Sunday afternoon.

I like to climb the slides!

Helping Dad mow the grass in my sling!

I love to swing on our new tree swing!!

They already let me fall off this thing once.

My brother, sister and new friend Emma.

Mom and I got on the swing together today and sister said, "Mom, if you hear some loud cracks that means it's time for you to get off!"

I met my Grandma and Grandpa when I flew home. Last weekend I got to meet my PaPaw and Grandma Doris. They're really great! They gave me everything I wanted!

I'm proud to be an American, even if I've been adopted by red necks!

I've also gained two pounds since I got home! I don't sleep so great yet. And, I'm on my second round of antibiotics for my ears. I plan to get a tube put in one of them soon (the other one doesn't need one because it has a huge hole). I'm also learning that throwing myself on the floor, screaming and kicking doesn't get me much around here.

Don't forget to come celebrate my adoption and second birthday with me on September 13th!!

Last Day in China

Our last day in China turned out to be quite an adventure!! We spent the morning packing up all of our suitcases, then met the Caros and Kemps for one last chance to eat at the Uigher (wee-gur) restaurant. The food was delish, which made the intense heat bearable. After lunch we headed back for a photo of all the families in our travel group.

From there we headed to the White Swan Hotel, for a red couch photo of all our kids. The red couch in this hotel has become the traditional place to take pics of the groups of kids being adopted. Lets just say I've seen better.... ours was rushed and included lots of tears and maybe a few boogers!. What we won't put our kids through in the name of tradition!

After that we drove nearly an hour to the new office of the US Consulate. Unfortunately they didn't let us take photos in the office, so you'll just have to picture it. We went through tight security and entered a room of probably forty adopting families. We were all asked to stand up and raise our right hand to swear that all the documents we submitted for immigration were true and accurate. That was it.... pretty anti-climactic. Once we did that we were handed a brown envelope (containing all the important and necessary documents needed for Joshua's immigration) with the following instructions.... DO NOT OPEN!..... guard with your life....this is the most important thing other than your child you need to take home.... this is very important!!!!!.....You HAVE to have this to get your child into America.... Present this UNOPENED brown envelope to the first immigration officer you meet at your first entrance into the US..... Guard with your life..... Do not loose this.... this is important........... ( you get the point?)

Well here's a pic of us outside the Consulate just moments after having it handed to us! Don't we look happy!? We're so relieved.... that was the last step in China to complete... now we just had to insure that we got our child and this precious brown envelope home.

Take a good look at this pic, because it's the last time we saw that brown envelope until the next morning..... ummmm..... one of us (who will remain un-named to protect the guilty) did not guard said brown envelope with his/her life. It wasn't until almost 10 pm that night when we were packing the last minute things that it was deemed to be missing. Can you say PANIC!!!!!? Can you say furiously unpack all your bags in a mad search for it!!!?

We finally got a hold of our guide who then called our bus driver, waking him and asking him to get out of bed to go search the bus.

After what seemed like hours, we heard back from the bus driver that he had found the brown envelope. Our guide suggested that it might be nice of us to reimburse the driver for his taxi ride. You better believe he got reimbursed!!! He could have ridden across China in a taxi with what we slipped him! (not really, but almost).

Guangzhou's Shopping

Well things got a little hectic the last two days in China before we flew home, so I'll catch you up on our crazy shenanigans.

Second to the last day in China we were supposed to hang out around our hotel rooms until noon while our guides went to the Consulate to file our paperwork for Joshua's immigration. They needed us to be available in case they had questions. Once everything was complete, we met up with the Kemps for some last minute shopping on Shamian Island.

Shamian Island was where the consulate used to be located so all adoptions out of China were completed there. As a result, the island is full of souvenir shops that cater to the adoptive families.... they sell lots of squeaky shoes, silk outfits... and love to see those Americans show up who don't know how to bargain!! It also has some really neat architecture and bronze sculptures.

First stop was Lucy's Diner, a great place to get a cheeseburger and fries!

After that, the power shopping began!! After purchasing a few things on our lists, we convinced the Kemps to venture off the island to look for a deal on pearls. This was a true taste of culture! You're lucky we didn't come home with some dried seahorses or snake skins for you! Too bad this is not a scratch n' sniff blog, the pics might not do it justice!!

Good pic of the happy little couple here (the kids not the dads!! Although Phillip and Rusty did make quite a pair!)

Dried bones anyone?

How about some dried bugs?

Or, dried seahorses?

Partial to snake skins?

Maybe pearls are more your style!!

Macy Li get a little lovin' from her Daddy.

We finished off the evening with our travel group at the Banana Leaf (see previous post).

{I must give credit where credit is due... some of these great pics, especially the gross ones were either taken by Phillip of Glamour Shots by Phillip or his beautiful assistant, Rhonda.}

Please save the date!!!

We have much to celebrate, and we want you to join us!!!

What are we celebrating?: Joshua's adoption and second birthday!

When: Saturday, September 13th (probably 7 pm)

Where: River Community Church

Who: All of you who have been a part of our journey (even you blog stalkers and lurkers who don't know us.... you're welcome too!)

More details to come!!!

Team Cryer has new WWF member!

Hudson and Hannah have a long winning streak as a tag team against Daddy in the wrestling ring. Looks like they'll be even harder to beat now that they've got fresh blood!

They're dropping like flies around here!!!

Joshua here again... blogging because my Mom's a little stretched. You see, my bro and sissy have had some nasty virus with fevers since Saturday. I've been keeping my parents up a lot during the night because of jet lag, and now my Dad has a fever too!

Here's a pic of my sibs, they're smiling even though they have fevers because Mom is letting them watch non-stop t.v. (Don't laugh at my brother... he's got a girl shirt on because he needed a wardrobe change in the middle of the night and we couldn't find more jammies for him.)

I'd put a pic of my Dad in bed too, but he's got his shirt off, and he doesn't want to make his new friend, Phillip insecure.
Mom's called in some reinforcements for tonight... a cute girl named Heather... sure hope we hit it off ok, because my Mom needs some sleep. I'm sure under other circumstances my parents wouldn't allow me to be up such late hours with such a catch of a girl, but apparently these are desperate times!!!

Joshua Shen here reporting from the homefront...

Hi all my friends out there in who are addicted to my blog and missing your fix!! My parents are jet lagging and haven't been posting, so I thought I'd give all of you a quick blog post. Been missin' me? Thought so!!! Anyway, I'll catch you up to date on what's been happening. I flew into Wichita's Mid-Continent Airport about 4pm on Wednesday and immediately met a whole bunch of new friends. There were kids galore, lots of big people and some crying ladies. My favorite were two little blonde martians who rushed me and haven't left me alone since. Here's a pic of them.

So, I think I'm really gonna like my new home. There are tons of toys and plenty of room to run!

Back to that jet lag... Dad looks a little tired here. My preferred wake-up time is 3am. By then, I've tossed and turned for an hour or so and I'm ready to rock 'n roll!!! Mom and Dad aren't too hip on the rolling that early, so we compromise and do some rocking (after they squirt something from modern science in my mouth to help me sleep). We rock for awhile and I nod off for another hour or so... but not too long... don't want to waste daylight!

Yesterday I went to a fun sprinkler park to meet some of my future buds. I ventured out pretty quickly and liked the water until the snacks came out. After that, I pretty much hung out around the Mommas because they kept talking about how adorable I was, and Ms. Amy wanted to "eat me up." I didn't mind the comments, 'cuz they all had some great snacks and they kept 'em commin'!

I still eat about an elephant a day, and Grandma says I'm getting a second chin. Last night my new family celebrated me at dinner. They grilled some T-bones and had a bunch of other good stuff. Grandma even made a peach cobbler! I passed on everything though, since mom had boiled me some eggs and made the most delicious congee!!!

Well, that's about it. I'm pretty much lovin' life right now as the center of attention! I plan to go to church tomorrow. Can't wait to meet more people who are thrilled I'm finally here!

Oh, one more thing.... here's a little shout out to my Southern friend Macy Li.... I'm glad you're loving your new life too, and I really miss your leftovers!!!