Korea

I though this was really moving and wanted B to be able to read it someday.  I also wanted to share with others. From Prime Minister Chung Un-Chan  Korea Then and Now

Adoption Day

Today is A's adoption day! It has been four  years since he became our son. We spent this day telling him stories of Vietnam  and how this special day played out four years ago on the other side of the  world. I can't believe it has been so long. He has grown so much. He is as  energetic as ever, fighting sleep now even as I write this. He is sweet and  loves to make others laugh, including his baby brother. He is curious and loves  cars or anything with wheels. Happy Adoption Day!

It's Official!

Today we finalized B's adoption. He is officially our son although we have known for a year that he isToday we finalized B's adoption. He is officially our son although we have known for a year that he is our son. It is one year to the day that we first saw his photo and we have now finalized his adoption. We are so happy to be finished with the paperwork process and we can now just enjoy our time as a family. Happy Adoption Day!!

God and Adoption

Here is a link to an interesting post I read on another blog I follow. I think she explains how we view adoption in relationship to god in a very eloquent way. I especially like the quote that "adoption is a redemptive response to a tragedy." In some ways we can share the loss of the original plan with our kids. God's plan A for our family would have been to be a family in the biological sense. Since environment and biology made that impossible for us God led us to an alternate plan. In a perfect world our boys would have been able to be raised by their biological families and remained in their homelands. However since society, politics, economics, personal choice or whatever reason, only their birth families, know made that impossible for them God lead their birth families to an alternate plan. Our new plan for a family lead us to seek adoption while their plan B was decided for them and also included adoption. God brought us together, by opening our hearts and their birth families' hearts to adoption. We share the loss of a biological connection to family with our children. It angers me when people verbalize their opinions about our family situation implying that we were joined as a family because God meant it to be. God allowed us all free will and personal choice made us an adoptive family. Our personal choice was definitely guided by God but not determined by some greater plan. We have always believed biology, not God, made us infertile but that God called our hearts to adoption. We have always believed that poverty, social stigma or a reason we may never know led the boys' birth moms to choose not to parent but that God called their hearts to choose the plan of adoption for them. We would never teach our boys that our God wanted or planned for them to be relinquished by their birth families or that he wanted them to be raised anywhere other than their birth country. Under this assumption, we are teaching our children about taking responsibility for our own lives and that we make a choice to listen to or follow God.Please do all you can to help families stay together such a sponsoring a child or donating to charities that focus on family preservation. For all the children whose families chose not to parent for whatever reason please open your hearts to adoption.

Our Little Tongginator: God and Adoption

Happy Lunar New Year!

Today is the start of the lunar new year.  In Vietnam it is called Tet Nguyen Dan and in Korea it is called Seollal. This  is the year of the Tiger. The lunar new year celebration is a significant one  for both Korea and Vietnam. Although both countries celebrate the solar/western  new year on January 1, the lunar new year is a traditional holiday of great  importance in many Asian countries. Depending upon the country, most people  usually have anywhere from three days to a week off of work and school. Many  people travel back home to celebrate with family. It is a time to welcome  spring, clean your homes, honor ancestors, clear debts and celebrate birthdays.  Traditionally in both Vietnam and Korea all birthdays except the 1st are  celebrated on the lunar new year. It is the day in which everyone turns a year  older. Children are given gifts and huge feasts are prepared. Parades and  fireworks displays are often held.



We try as a family each  year to celebrate this important holiday with our family. We use this time to  teach the children about their heritage and spend time with other adoptive  families. We attempt to prepare traditional Vietnamese and Korean recipes and  usually dress the kids in their traditional clothing.



Happy New  Year!!

Happy Birthday to B!

B is one year old today.  Although he has only been home for 3 1/2 months it feels as if he has been a  member of our family forever. He is adjusting to our family well. He has learned  to do many things over the last three months. He is able to crawl and just  started pulling up to stand last week. He is beginning to communicate using sign  language. He is very cuddly, has quite a temper and is a mama's boy who loves to  play with his big brother. We are so blessed to finally have him with  us.



The boys birthdays are always a bittersweet time for us. As  we celebrate their lives and how happy we are to have them we are always  reminded of birth families, especially their birth moms. Our happiness is a  result of what must be great sorrow for her. We are always reminded of how  blessed we are but can't help but wonder how Burk's birth mother is feeling  today. We vow to spend each day trying to earn these gifts we have been  given.

Our boys with Grampy

These photos are very special to  us as great grandpa Rick is fighting lung cancer. We are so proud of his brave  fight and pray everyday he can beat it. Please pray for him. Please make healthy  lifestyle choices and do all you can to support cancer research.