“Look Out Below!!!!!”

Cuz the Yokom Crew was on the loose the last 4 days WITH skis and snowboards on!

What fun filled days…

• Pit stop in Brrrrmidji to see our good friends, the Rautios!  Lunch and then sledding.  Let me just say Cameron hill in Bemidji puts Edgewood to shame!  The hill was super steep and fast and included “jumps” and trees!  I said many times, “Thank goodness the ER in Bemidji is in network for our health insurance!”  By some miracle, we managed to have 8 kid fun and NO injuries!  The Bemidji Pioneer, AKA Janna, was on location with camera…

Pretty sure my face speaks volumes about the quality of Cameron hill :)

You don’t just get that POOF of snow on a normal hill as Ryan demonstrates so nicely!

 

   

        

 

   Leave it to the baby of the Rautio family to figure out the safest plan to executing the hill!  Way to think on your feet bum-bum Matthew!

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Swimming at our hotel…breakthrough for Miss Jayne…she LOVED it!  Sigh of relief because we live at the pool in the summer! 

• Skiing and snowboarding!  It is no small task to get our crew geared up for the hill, but we did it 3 days in a row.  The kids did awesome, and everything went surprisingly smooth.  The fact we can do a trip like this one month after Jayne has been home simply amazes us!
• Caleb—snowboarded the whole time.  He was super patient when the little kids wanted to do the runs too.  He was completely pumped when Dad let him and Luke do a run all on their own today (the rules, I found out later, “Stay out of the trees?!*”)…Caleb’s smile was ear to ear when they got back down and he told every detail of the run!
• Luke—learned to snowboard today!  He hung up his skis this morning, tried boarding on the J bar hill and then headed up on a green run and came down FURIOUS.  After two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, he decided to try it again, and he kept getting better and better the rest of the day!
• Mark—Oh Mark…the world is going to pass him by and he will not even notice!  Mark skis very well WHEN he skis.  If he could choose, he would spend his time in the gift shop or cafeteria…no worries, he doesn’t get to choose!  Mark does very well with minimal effort.
• Jayne—was a little apprehensive at first, but each time she put her skis on she got a little more daring and a little better.  By today, she was going up on the J bar all by herself.  She did sometimes start her victory jig (hips shaking) and arms in the air prior to truly getting to the bottom of the hill…wipe out, but 32 pounds falls pretty lightly and back up she would go.  She is very coordinated and competitive.  Mark didn’t notice, but Jayne would race her to the J bar and down the hill…winning every time!
• Brynn—our little skier did 8 runs yesterday!  Her poor little legs!  She did take about a 30 minute snoozer while Mom held her in the lodge yesterday (I enjoyed every minute of it cuz I always think, “this may be the last time my baby does this”).  Brynn also spent a lot of time requesting that her picture be taken and that she gets pink goggles…one must look the part!

 

SO MUCH family fun…loved it!

Two years ago today…

We met Zhang Wu Zhi

I remember the phone call as if it was today! 

That was February 23rd, 2010…

This is February 23rd, 2012

Yes, it is clear to see that Brynn Wu Zhi was meant to be ours…

our daughter, our sister, our love for two years as of today!

We have caught Spring Fever!

    

 

   

Blink

That weekend is over!

Caleb (and Coach Dad) had 3 basketball games on Saturday in Dilworth. 

Mom and the other 4 kids met Amy and Shane for a Caribou Coffee Cocoa outing (So good to catch up!  Shockingly, Amy came with numerous gifts…one was a stuffed dog.  Even more shockingly, I was able to capture a picture of Jayne without her new dog!) 

Pizza Ranch outing with Papa, Gram, Uncle Andy and cousins followed by Fight the Frost Games Galore Jump-a-thon at the Dome picking up Uncle Bob, Aunt Mel and cousins along the way.  All 9 kids had a blast!  Jayne showed NO FEAR, and Brynn wasn’t far behind!  Luke waited 45 minutes to climb the inflatable volcano.  Trey and Mark were attached at the hip.  Brody preferred to play cautiously in the toddler section.  And Caleb spent a good amount of time taking Jayne on which ever blow up she pointed at.  Surprisingly we came home with the 5 kids that belong to us! 

Sunday School and church (Caleb and Luke sang during the service…or should I say Luke sang, Caleb was too cool to truly sing).

Playing outside!!

BIG WalMart run…Mark went along with Mom.  He was very “helpful”.  With Mark’s help, we came home with corndogs like Eric has :), lunchables and enough cereal to feed all of North Fargo.  After our cart was overflowing with cereal, Mark spotted Fruit Loops with marshmallows.  I said, “Our cart is too full of cereal.”  Mark said, “I have two hands...I can carry it.” 

Blink

That weekend is over and all are sound asleep in their beds with dreams of Fruit Loops with marshmallows dancing in their heads!

LOVE—Valentine’s Day!

LOVE—The annual T-shirt the kids made for Mom!

Favorite Quote: “You Rock” (obviously one of the best compliments one could hope for!)

LOVE—The heart shaped pizza we eat for supper every Valentine’s Day!

(Why does pizza in the shape of a heart just taste so much better than when it is a circle?!*)

 

LOVE—That our dentist referred us to an orthodontist in town whose website said he volunteers for the Fargo Cleft Lip and Palate Clinic.  What?!*  Brynn has been home almost 2 years, and we did not know such a place exists?!*  LOVE—that the girls saw 9 specialists today back to back to back all specializing and networking us into the Fargo cleft health community that we did not know existed! 

Our Jayne will need lots of interventions…this is not a surprise.  As Dr. Crago, oral surgeon, said today, “If you look at a whole pie, you say there is no way I can eat that whole thing.  But if you look at it a bite at a time, it is manageable.  Jayne will have beautiful results, we just need to decide when to bite and when to wait.”  LOVE—Dr. Crago (and a lot of specialists we met today).  First need is dental surgery (which we knew from last week) and the team today encouraged us to tag-team ENT surgery (adenoids, tubes) on top of the dental surgery.  I had tried to organize this last week, but the earliest appointment Dr. Frisk had was May 10th.  Well, wouldn’t you know it Dr. Crago is friends with Dr. Frisk…doesn’t this speak volumes at many levels!  Hooray for networking!

 

And finally, LOVE—

We did it!

Another “Jesus Birthday” on our calendars.

Yep, We did it!

Kate Olivia Lehr was baptized today!

She looked just beautiful in her long, white sweater dress.

Of course, all of Kate’s fans (AKA cousins and her brother) were present for her big day!

Uff duh, pretty sure our pews were known as the rowdy section!

After the baptism, we went to Kate’s house for a super yummy lunch.  The kids all did so good on such a big day.  About an hour after being at Kate’s house, Jayne stumbled upon Tucker, the dogs, water dish.  She gasped and pointed…eyes open WIDE!  Another dog for Jayne to harass Love!

 

A picture of our whole handful…Yep, We did it!

Mom on camera, Dad on entertainment and kids in great moods…YAHOO!

Of course there was numerous attempts…

 

Can you pick out Luke, on the red team?  Hint…look close to the floor :)

Our Luke may be short, but at his first basketball game this weekend he hustled, got a couple of shots off and played great defense…anyone who has attended a sporting event of Luke’s in the past will understand the need to extrapolate on his performance :)

Luke’s First Basketball Game…Yep, We did it!

(PS: point guard may be our “spot”…Luke dribbles rather low to the ground…makes it harder to steal!)

Luke’s fans enjoying a little licorice in between their cheers!

 

And lastly, we needed some R & R this week cuz Jayne had lots of doctoring (general pediatrician, social worker 1 month post placement visit, dentist and speech)…Yep, We did it!  (and we will continue to do it next week).  Luckily, there is always someone near to cuddle when you need a little extra lovin’!

“S” is for S-uper weekend

1) S-uper guests…The Jenkins family (the boys were pumped to see Dad Jenkins cuz “he is awesome at video games”), The Lehr family (I will only mention once that my almost 3 year old nephew asked, “What are those things in the snow?”…sleds…uff duh), Uncle Andy and kids, Papa, and the Sauvageau family (we knew they were coming at 1 pm today, and at 11:06 am Caleb said, “I can’t hardly wait any longer for Garret to get here…I am so excited”)!   Of note, Jayne does think that it is a birthday party whenever guests come over, so she sings “Happy Birthday” to each visitor!

 

The boys “patiently” waiting for the Sauvageaus!

2) S-ledding…Jayne and Brody’s first time (no comment Brody’s dad and mom…HA!)…Both loved it, and I am still not sure how we got them OFF of the sledding hill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3) S-ixth place…while we were sledding, Coach Chris and BB player Caleb were at a basketball tournament in Wahpeton (cuz we just don’t have any teams we can play in Fargo…wink).  Caleb stated, “We were lucky enough to get sixth place.  There were more teams then six there, and we never won a game, but we still got sixth.” (we didn’t burst his bubble…wink).

4) S-ocial worker visit this week…must have a picture of Jayne with her mother in father in the home environment.  Mom promises to try NOT to fight with the social worker this time ;)  

 

 

Brynn snuck in for a picture…sometimes we have to pinch ourselves that these two cuties are ours :)

 

 

 

5) S-kating with the S-avy Crew…who would ever think it could be too warm for skating on February 5th, BUT the ice was in poor shape because it is just too nice outside!  A wild and fun time with our fabulous friends who we just don’t get to see enough!  The kids had a BLAST…playing, skating, eating, playing football, watching football, playing piano, playing beauty shop with Tricia and Mom’s hair and just being kids! 

 

6) S-uper bowl…if someone could explain to me WHY boys pick a favorite team, cuz that favorite team NEVER seems to win, then I would understand why my Patriot’s fan, Luke, is crying himself to sleep…bummer :(  Maybe next year…