I Hear We need an Update

Well, I've heard from several folks that we need to update everyone on how things have gone since we got home, so here goes: Here are a few more pictures from Red Sqare. Vonda just loves the pictures of Allie. They look like she is just on a routine school field trip TO RUSSIA! Arrival: We had a great crowd of friends and family to meet us at the Nashville airport even though our flights got rearranged. We were so excited to get to see everyone and for everyone to see our Jack, we could hardly stand it. But we still had to stop in the concourse for Vonda to change Jack into his welcome to America outfit. As you may recall, he had gone through almost all of his outfits on the way to the US. Vonda had held this one out special. There were tears of joy all around when we made it out of the secured area. We look back now at those pictures and realize how skinny and scared Jack looked. He's come a long way. The first few days home were pretty hard with jetlag and mixed up sleeping schedules, but we enjoyed all the visits and the food from friends. First Church Visit: Since we got home on a Sunday, we didn't go to church the first day. On Wednesday of that week, we took Jack to Smith Springs. He was a celebrity. Introduced from the pulpit and the grandmothers fought over who got to show him off the most. On Sunday of that week, we went to Otter Creek. Jack was welcomed by Tim during the announcements, and I held him up like Simba for all to see. Everyone applauded. It was so sweet. He was quite the celebrity there as well as everyone just made over him like you wouldn't believe. During all of these celebrity moments, I have to say that our Allie was the sweetest, most mature little girl you've ever seen. We've seen no jealousy from her which is unbelievable. (I think I've been more jealous than she has). Halloween: For his first Halloween, Jack was a "Jack" O' Lantern. Allie went as a 50's girl. He enjoyed his first vist to the pumpkin farm and settled right in to his new surroundings. Birthday Blowout: Well we knew we wanted to have a welcome home party for Jack, and since his birthday is November 14, we decided to combine the two. Vonda went all out and planned an All American Cowboy Cookout. We asked Beecher and Becky to bring their pony over for the smaller kids to ride. Well they thought it would be better if they brought all five of their horses! The kids absolutely loved riding. I'm not too sure what Jack thought, but he seemed to enjoy them as well. We had straw bales set up, a campfire with marshmallows, chili and hot dogs. It was a blast. Did I mention that we invited about 100 people and that they all showed up? They just kept coming. It was so crowded, Gramps had to stick his head through the window to see Jack blow out his candle. I know everyone thought we were crazy to throw this big of a party that Jack won't even remember, but we just had to show him off. I can't tell you how blessed we feel to have gotten to experience this process and for God to have worked so actively in our lives. We just feel like we need to shout from the rooftops so we did a little shouting... What's going on now?: Well, we're settling into a routine. Allie's had her sixth birthday. Jack and Allie have been to see Santa at Otter Creek. They've both had their pictures made at Tim Jones (and they're beautiful by the way). Jack took two steps yesterday. He's gotten pretty good at standing for a few seconds. When he falls down, we're supposed to clap for him. If we don't, he gives us a look. He's still taking a bottle and has gained 4 pounds in two months. He says Mama, my parents claim he says dog and when I try to get him to say DaDa, he still says Mama. He wakes up happy, a little too early happy for us, but we're adjusting to that too. We would never have dreamed how much God had in store for us for 2004. We have been so blessed by friends and family. Jack has been showered with gifts and love by so many. We've often said if we'd had another child naturally, it sure wouldn't have been as big a deal. We will never forget this time in our lives when God extended our family. Maybe we'll blog again someday, only time will tell..... Merry Christmas, Steve, Vonda, Allie and Jack