A Frenzy of Firsts

Tonight I am taking a break from the daily grind to update you on some of the "firsts" that Samuel has enjoyed.  On April 30th, Samuel's cousins from his daddy's side of the family came to visit him for the first time.

 On May 1st, Samuel enjoyed his first trip to the St. Louis Zoo with his Uncle Nick, Aunt Katie and 3 cousins.

On May 2nd, Samuel enjoyed his first trip to church where he was welcomed by so many people.

On May 3rd, Samuel had his first trip to his doctor's office.  He liked some of the visit, definitely DID NOT LIKE having his blood drawn.  It took 2 different visits with 3 adults to hold him down for a combined 1 hour and 30 minutes as 3 different lab technicians attempted to draw his blood with only one lab technician succeeding both times.

On May 11th, Samuel was visited by his first friend from the U.S., Judd the Bud

On May 14th, Samuel went out to eat with his daddy and mommy for the first time at Bully's BBQ.

On  May 15th, Samuel met Grandpa and Grandma Myers for the first time.

Here is a picture of 3 generations of Myers.

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On May 28th, Samuel received his first haircut.

On May 29th, Samuel met Grandpa and Grandma Boyd for the first time.

On May 31st, Samuel went to his first parade.  It was so cute watching our new U.S. citizen waving the American flag!

On June 3rd, Samuel encountered his first dog.  His name was Skittles.

On June 5th, Samuel took his first road trip to Louisville, KY to visit his friends Joel and Lee-Anne.

Here he is with his friend Lee-Anne and her daughter that they adopted from China.

On June 6th, Samuel had a blast celebrating adoption for the first time with six other children in Louisville, KY

It was at the celebration where he went swimming for the first time and LOVED it.  He swam in the pool for 1 hour and 30 minutes with Daddy and a friend who was adopted from China.

On June 7th, Samuel took his first trip with our youth group to Six Flags, St. Louis.

He rode his first few amusement park rides.  The first one was the S.S. Feathersword Play Ship

Then he rode Daffy Duck's Hot Air Balloons.

He liked swimming with Daddy and Mommy in the kiddie pool at Hurricane Harbor.

After swimming he rode on the SFSTL Railroad.

And he finished his day off with a fun ride on the Ferris Wheel.

Next week Samuel will take his first mission trip with our youth group to Shepherds Ministries in Wisconsin.

The Cost of Adoption...Are We Really Considering the Cost?

This is an extremely powerful article that was given to me and I pray that it will impact your life!  It was written by Jeremy R. Haskins, however, I took liberty in changing the passages of Scripture used at the end of the article.  I believe that the verses in James are more appropriate and applicable for us than the passage Jeremy chose.  Enjoy!

Last night an older gentlemen at church cornered me and asked, “How much does it cost to adopt from Ethiopia?”  When I answered the question, the man looked as if he would literally pass out.  He then acted amazed that anyone could actually do it.

I began thinking about the reality that no one acts so shocked when they find out how much we pay for our cars and houses. And yet, the cost of an adoption is a cost for which we have no context to consider.

It’s true that one of the very first questions folks have to ask when considering adoption is, “How much does it cost?”  The issue of finances is probably the biggest obstacle families face when adopting. Most families will spend the majority of the process raising funds, while trying to figure out how to pay pressing fees.  Obviously, families who want to adopt will have to consider the financial cost.  But, is there a far greater cost we are all failing to consider?

The sad reality is that there are many couples choosing not to adopt because they feel the money just isn’t available.  There are others who are refusing to help support them because it feels irrelevant, even when it comes to the enterprise of kingdom investments.  Meanwhile, we all seem to be thinking hard about how to squeeze enough money out of our monthly budgets for fast food and new cell phone apps.

When it comes to caring for orphaned children around the world, the cost is far greater than anything we could ever imagine.  Whether you are the face of love for a child without a family or you help give so some else can be, the issue is not the money.  The issue is obeying Jesus. The cost is one of ignoring Him and His brothers and sisters who presently languish in abandonment. (James 1:27 and James 4:17) 

Asked of God

We named our son SAMUEL because of the Biblical meaning of the name..."ASKED OF GOD."  (1 Samuel 1:1-20)  We prayed for 9 years 4 months and 18 days for a child and God answered our prayers with a beautiful son.  Samuel is God's child and we desire to raise him to love, worship and serve the Lord (1 Samuel 1:26-28).

Zàijiàn Taiwan

On Tuesday night, April 27th, we said our final goodbye to Chad, Cole, Alicia, Caitlyn and Allyson Edwards.  We were so thankful for them opening their home to us and showing their city to us.  We love you and miss you and look forward to the day we can all go to a Cardinals game together!

 

We flew out of Taiwan on Eva Air at 11:55 PM.  We recommend this airline to anyone traveling to the far east.  

Samuel slept for 9 1/2 hours in this bassinet on the flight to Los Angeles.  

Samuel got his first stamp in his passport on this trip home!  

It was such a special moment to walk out the door of the LAX airport and stand on American soil with our son for the first time.

We were really, really tired.  We had a four hour layover in LAX.  I slept with Samuel on the floor of the airport.

We were thrilled to reach our final leg of the journey home...Dallas/Fort Worth to St. Louis.  

 

 We were greeted by several church family and friends at the St. Louis airport.  They even had a welcome sign for us at our home!  Thank you again to everyone who made this day extra special for us!

 We went for a brief walk around our neighborhood with Samuel and introduced him to some of our neighbors.

To end this tiring, but wonderful day, we had devotions together before going to bed.

We loved our trip to Taiwan and all the experiences that came with it, but like Dorthy said, "There's no place like home...there's no place like home."

A Tremendous Tuesday in Taipei

On April 27th, Jen Jen and Janet took us to some more sights in Taipei.  First stop was a delicious lunch at Genghis Khan Mongolian BBQ.  Samuel enjoyed his first taxi ride to the restaurant.

After enjoying great food and fellowship, we took another taxi to the National Palace Museum in Taipei.  http://www.npm.gov.tw/en/home.htm

Samuel enjoyed a free stroller ride through the crowded museum.  I think the tourists in the museum spent more time observing Samuel instead of the beautiful jade, ivory and wood carvings.

After the museum, we took another taxi to the Miramar Ferris Wheel in Taiwan.  We enjoyed a 25 minute ride seeing the great city of Taipei from above. 

Samuel enjoyed his first merry-go-round ride with Mommy and Jen Jen here, too.

This was a fun-filled, action-packed day.  It sure did wear our little boy out.  He fell asleep in his Mommy's arms walking through the Subway to our train ride back to the apartment.

At the apartment, we said our final goodbyes to our great friends, Jen Jen and Janet.  We love you both.  We miss you!  Thank you for all the love you gave to Samuel these last eight months and for everything you did to make our trip to the great country of Taiwan extra special!