Don't forget!

I still need people to vote on which name spelling they like best!   Kayci or Kacee?  Take your pick and leave a comment with your choice!

Boat races and...excavating? What a day to spend a Sunday!

Today, we went with some people from our China adoption playgroup and saw some dragon boat races. These are traditional in China, and it is when a group of about 20 or so people (I'm actually not sure, but today each boat had 25 people) get in a boat that is modeled to represent a dragon, and they have races in the lake to see which team/group can row the fastest. Since on one of the episodes that Kenzie and Karli frequently watch of Kai Lan involves her and her friends participating in a dragon boat race, we figured that they would enjoy watching them, and hanging out with other kids there. It was a fun day, and the dragon boats were pretty cool.  As usual, my mom took many photos, and so I'm posting the best (and my favorite) ones on here.  Oh, and if you are wondering what they are doing with those things that look like bricks, they were excavating them.  They were actually "bricks" made up of a softer, powdery substance, and they used picks and brushes to break it apart and dust it off.  Hidden in the brick, that they had to dig out, were a bunch of miniature models of some Terracotta Warriors (like on display at our local museum), and so all of the kids loved getting to find the soldiers and play with them.  It was a very fun craft :)
AND don't forget to scroll down a little bit after these last 2 posts and see the one called "Important".  I need people to leave comments and vote on that one!

p.s. Also, please continue to pray for the missionaries.  Today was the last day of their conference, and so many of them are on their way for more deputation or going back to their field.  Keep them in your prayers!

A very soccer Saturday...

Kylie had her very first soccer game on Saturday. It was blazing hot outside (hey, we live in Texas, what should we expect?!) but her team played very well and won. What a great way to kick off the season! :) Here are the photos from the game:

Important:

Which spelling do you prefer...

○ Kayci

OR...

○ Kacee?

You're probably asking WHY on EARTH am I asking you to vote on name spellings right? Well...that's for us to know and you to find out... ;-)

FOCUS '09

Today was the second day of our annual missions conference at church. This year's theme for the conference is FOCUS. The purpose of the missions conference that my church hosts every year is for various missionaries, both ones that we support and do not support, to come to my church and talk about their field, their prayer needs, what they do, and give their testimonies. We have a guest preacher come in and preach several services, and it is a good time to meet new people and come with your family, and just to meet the incredible people who have surrendered their lives to the mission field for God. You're probably sitting there (if you're reading this) and going, "Wow, okay so why do I care about this?". Well, after sitting at today's part of the conference and going to several sessions to hear different men and their wives speak, and meeting many of the missionaries I didn't get the chance to hear, I decided that I would get their information cards, that way I could post a little bit about them, and so I could have everyone reading this to pray for them and their families and their specific needs. I also am going to put on my sidebar (the items on the right side of my blog) their names and to remind people to pray for them, because what they are doing is truly amazing and glorifying to God.
Here are some of the missionaries that were at the conference toady:

○ The Orrick family -- Richie and Missy Orrick
- They are hoping to get to the country of Wales, in the capital city of Cardiff, by the end of 2010. Wales is a post-Christian country being mostly converted to muslim beliefs, and the people of the country are being taught to mock the Gospel and call it nothing more than a "fairy tale".
- They have two children; Isabella (almost two) and Briton (3)
- Please pray for the funding they need to send them to the people of Wales (the currency exchange rate for pounds is high), for the guidance they need from Christ, for the safety of their family as well as their friends (several veteran missionaries who are already over in Wales doing the works of the Lord), and for them to stay faithful and true to God.

○ Rich and Jan Godinez
- They are missionaries to the country of Paraguay, which is in the middle of South America.
- Please pray that they can continue to glorify God with their evangelism and the churches they have started over there, as well as their safety and the people they are trying to reach, that they would come to the knowledge of their need for a Savior.

○ Chris Meyer and his wife
- He is planning to get to the Dominican republic and start proclaiming the word there, and evangelizing to the people of that country by 2011.
- He has a five-week-old daughter, Gabrielle (Gabby).
- Please pray for him and his family, and that they will be able to gather the finances, and that it will work out okay. Also pray that God will continue to use him in his hometown in Texas before he gets to the Dominican Republic, and that God will keep preparing him for the work he will be doing over there. Pray for his family too, please.

○ The Bandaru family -- David, Leena, Michael, Michelle, Myrtle, and Marcus
- They are missionaries to India, where they have been establishing new Independent Baptist churches (Faith Baptist Mission [1994] and Faith Baptist Church [2004]). They are also training nationals in the country for God's ministry, and have started the Faith Baptist Bible Institute in 1995, and 15 missionaries have been sent out by Faith Baptist Church.
- Please keep their family in your prayers, as well as the churches and missions they have started, the missionaries they have sent out, the people they are currently training, and the Christians of India (persecution is getting pretty bad over there).

○ The Pearcey's -- Kevin and Shanise
- They are planning to go to New York City, and get affiliated in several of the Independent Baptist churches there, and start a ministry called Unashamed for Christ. They will be starting near the Bronx area in a community that is highly Dominican Republic citizens. Their ministry will be an evangelistic ministry that will reach the lost people of diverse NYC and get them baptized and involved with some of the local Baptist churches tehre.
- They have two twin children, a girl and a boy; Braden and Haven (17 months old)
- Please pray that they will be able to get to NYC and begin their work easily and without any interference. Pray that Kevin and Shanise will be guided by the Lord, and that as their children grow and they expand their mission field, that they would be safe, and that God will bless their family.

○ Nick and Meina Cogan
- They are missionaries to China, which is where Meina is from. She is an incredible woman with an incredible testimony. Meina and Nick met when he was studying in China, got married several years ago, and now he has been called to the mission field over there. They are leaving on October 31st for China. Once they get there, they will be involved with some of the local churches and friends/pastors they know over there, as well as evangelizing to the many people of China. China has 1.3 billion people and the majority are atheists. They are hoping to also be involved with the children and schools there.
- They have a 17-month-old son, Merrick.
- Please pray for their family and safety as they train up nationals from China to start and preach in churches, they meet new people, start a new lifestyle there, preach the Gospel, and try to raise their son over there.

Well, that is all of the people I have. Please keep them in your prayers....they are doing some great work, and if they're not already in their "field" yet, they have great plans!

Kayla

Last Night's "Party"

Like I mentioned in my post last night, we had a small birthday party yesterday evening for Karli, in honor of her turning four-years-old. She opened three gifts from us (as seen in the picture); a puzzle, a Littlest Pet Shop character, and some bracelets. And today when mom, Kenzie, and I were shopping in Toys R Us and we got her (Karli) a little purse, which she loves, because she loves purses. Today she had her party in her school class, and she liked that a lot too. And they ate cookies...yumm!!! Anyway, here are the pictures from yesterday evening :)


p.s. I don't know if you can see in the pictures behind Karli, but do you see that Batman lair/cave thing? The Imaginext one? Yep, well that's Kenzie's. Her new favorite thing besides Kai Lan seems to be Batman! Today while out shopping, she got some new Batman toys to go along with that set. She loves the movie too, and for all of the people who say that Batman is scary for younger kids (especially Heath Ledger as the Joker) need to take it up with Kenzie, because not only does she enjoy the movie a lot and can tell us about many scenes from The Dark Knight, but the Joker is her favorite character. I think we'll be having a lot more Batman toys lying around the house in the near future...

Guess what today is...

Today is Karli's birthday! Our little Karli is four-years-old today!!! We are going to let her open a little gift we got at the store this evening, and in a few weeks she will have a birthday party with some family and friends. She is very happy that today is her birthday, and several family members have called to sing to her and such :) Tomorrow she is taking cookies for her pre-K class at school, and they will have a little "party" there.

I Can't Believe She Said That!!!

Kenzie is getting to be very vocal. Sometimes we are surprised at what comes out of her mouth. When she says things like this, it's hard not to laugh. Here are two things she has said this week.

We were shopping and Kenzie was sitting in the front of the grocery cart. She was trying to stand up, and mom said, "Kenzie, I really need you to sit down." Kenzie looked at mom and said, "That not my problem, that your problem." Needless to say, mom was not very happy with her reply.

Another time, Kenzie was whining about something. Mom said, "I really don't like whining." Kenzie stopped whining and said, "Well how bout screaming."

Here are some pictures of Kenzie taken this week. She does her school work while we do ours.

Happy 2 Year Gotcha Day Anniversary Kenzie!!!

Two years ago today, we woke up a family of 5 and went to sleep a family of 6. That Sunday afternoon, we boarded a bus in Nanchang, Jiangxi, China with 8 other families to be united with our new little ones. We walked into the room and immediately saw the 10 babies (There were 2 sets of twins in our group). Some were crying, some were not, but all were adorable. We looked around until we found Kenzie, and fell in love. Her caretaker was holding her, and she was content, not crying. We just stood and stared and talked to her while she stared back. Eventually, they called our name, and handed her over. We had prepared ourselves for screaming, but she did not cry at all. She was perfect. We got a smile a couple of hours later and the rest of the trip went smoothly (especially if there was food in sight). I thank God everyday for his guidance in matching Kenzie with our family. She is a perfect fit.

Here are some photos from Gotcha Day and today.

Entrance to Adoption Area

This was our first picture of Kenzie (with her caretaker).

The room was very crowded with families, babies, and caretakers.

Kayla and Kenzie

Kenzie back at the hotel room

Memorial Day

We spent Memorial Day with our grandparents at their house in East Texas. They have 10 acres, so Keaton and Kylie like to shoot BB guns in their yard. This time Keaton had a new rifle that dad bought him; he did a pretty good job shooting. Kylie had a slingshot and bow-and-arrow that she used. We had a great lunch, enjoyed spending time with family, and played outside. Here are some pictures of our day, including the required family picture (hint, hint).