One month later...

Today is our one month anniversary for our Gotcha Day with Aaselia! One month ago today, we held her in our arms for the first time. One month ago today we realized just how small of a diaper an almost 2 year old can wear. One month ago today, all of our lives changed.

One month ago today, this is the face that we saw. She was sad, alone, confused and catching a cold. She couldn't understand anything that we were saying. She was quiet...hardly made a noise. She didn't have the muscle strength to walk due to her long stay in the hospital. Her entire world was turned upside down.


Today, it's a different story...and she's a different kid. She understands quite a bit of what we're saying. She's going out of her comfort zone more and more often. She can play by herself for a little while while I'm doing laundry. She LOVES going on walks! She loves to play in the playhouse in the backyard. She plays pretend and wrestles with her brothers. She gets jealous when someone else is on my lap. She still loves it when I make Chinese noodles and Lo Mein. She laughs throughout the day. And the first thing I hear at 2:45 when the three kids walk in the door is, "Is Aaselia up yet?"


We're a family of 6. We're a family that is loving her culture...Twerp #1's favorite market is 99 Ranch up in Irvine. He loves to pick out her next snack to try and really loves the samples they make at the store. Aaselia - Twerp #4 - is a joy to our family. I'm sure things will change so much more over the next few months. I promise that I'll get back to blogging regularly. After 3 weeks of being home, I can't blame it on the jet jag anymore, huh?!?


It's been awhile since I've written here...or since I've written anywhere! I was really good about blogging in China, but when you're up at 4:30 every morning and having a hard time sleeping on the hard beds, you'll blog whenever you can.

But now that we're home, it's a little harder to get things done. I mean, I've had a hard time staying caught up with the laundry and homework, not to mention blogging! I have to admit that the hardest time of the day for me is from 3:00 - 6:00. One child waking up from a nap (and so cute you'd just want to cuddle with her for the next hour or two!), three kids needing help with homework, dinner to make, a floor to sweep, snacks to hand out, more homework "guidance," a pile of cheerios to pick up, mail to sort through, soccer to get to, reading with all three children for their daily homework, spelling tests...it just goes on and on. But we're having a blast and just starting to get into the swing of things.

God bless you all!

We're Outta Here!

So...we're leaving in 13 hours for China, baby! We're leaving tonight, but won't get to Beijing until Thursday! We're going to be blogging from China, but due to the "Great Firewall of China" we can't use this website. We'll be posting all about our trip at www.babyjellybeans.com. Search for margala in the last name field and you can see what we're doing and the first pictures we have of Aaselia!

We'll be back in 2 weeks...so I'll post here after the 29th of September. God bless, ya'll.

Love Without Boundaries

As Stephen and I have been pursuing our adoption with the paperwork and waiting and reading and living through other people's blogs, there is one charity that pops up all over the place. It's called Love Without Boundaries. They are dedicated to helping orphans in China as they find their forever families. They support thousands of orphans in China: medically, educationally, nutritionally. It's run on a completely volunteer basis: more than 97% of the funds they receive go directly to help orphans.

They also have a book that uses the imagery of "the red thread," a popular belief in the adoption community, to show how our lives become entwined with our children's, as adoption weaves a beautiful tapestry of love and family. The moving photos and essays in this volume, again submitted by parents from around the world, talk about discovering the thread that connects us with our adoptive children, weaving the fabric as our children become integrated into our families, and cherishing the intricate tapestry that evolves.

For $5 for postage, you too can read these amazing stories.

Go to www.lovewithoutboundaries.com for more information

By the way, for those of you that are counting, there are only 5 more days until we leave for CHINA!

A Trip to Alexandria, MN

It’s been a busy August. I spent much of my month in Minnesota for our family reunion on my Mother’s side of the family. We get together every 4 years and this time we had around 170 people join us at Mount Carmel just outside of Alexandria, MN. I thought I’d share some pictures of that week.

Fist of all, you should know that Stephen wasn’t able to join us in MN this year. He needed to save his vacation time for our trip to China coming up in a couple of weeks…so I went alone with the kids. My sister also had the same tickets that I had (given that we were supposed to be in China that week), so she was able to help me get through the airport and hand with one kid on the plane. Very nice.

We spent a couple of days in the Twin Cities with my Aunt Lori and Uncle Keith. I should have taken a picture of the outside of their home. On the outside, it’s just a plain house…no fancy gargoyles on the outside or anything like that. But…once you walk inside, you just feel home. It’s an amazing experience. Thank you Keith and Lori for making us feel comfortable and for letting us stay with you. You definitely helped to make the trip something special!

Then, on Sunday we all went up to the lake for the week. This is the main lodge/dining hall at Mount Carmel. It’s beautiful and can feed a small army! My parents along with a lot of the “first generation” were able to stay right in the lodge and they had air conditioning and no steps to climb. It’s a great place and completely winterized. (That doesn’t mean too much for us Californian’s, but it does to those of you in the Midwest!)
This is my beautiful cabin! It was amazing. It was much smaller than my home, but much nicer too! There were heated bathroom floors (didn’t use) and a huge tub (multiple families used!) and a nice kitchen and living room where I could bribe family to come and visit me in the evenings with chips and popcorn and pop. It was a great and wonderful place to spend the week. On top of that, I had a commanding view of the lake and the beach and the playground. I could send the kids off to play and not have to worry about them at all. Perfect.
This is the cross that is just down the hill from the chapel. It’s the first thing I think about when I think of Mt. Carmel. It’s a nice place to sit and think and pray.
We had family activities in the afternoon…this is a picture of the Eikum/Merrifield team playing against the Nelson/? Family in volleyball. Twerp #1 and a cousin loved to play and did really well serving the ball from mid-court. Fun.
We also had a lot of time to spend with family. This is a picture of my mother and her 1st cousin. Man, they look so much alike! Their smile and laugh and just the way they get along.
Finally, a picture of the first generation. These are my grandparents, Lloyd and Fran Eikum…along with Twerp #3. My grandmother was one of 9 children and that is who comprises the family reunion…all of those descendants. I love spending time with my grandparents, I only wish that they lived closer so I could visit them once a week. The things I learn from them and the things I learn about myself are something to be cherished.
Well…it’s only a little taste of our time in MN, and I’ll have to write a little more later. Only 11 more days until we leave for China!

How God Works...

I am amazed at how God works sometimes. I'm not sure why I'm so amazed, but I am. He continually surprises me at the "order" of things. He continually shows me how my ways are not His ways...

Stephen and I were pretty disappointed that we couldn't leave for China tonight. But one of the gifts that I have is to often see the bright side...the silver lining so to speak. It didn't take me long to realize that I'd be able to go to our family reunion. Ahhhh, the chance to hear Great is Thy Faithfulness in 4 part harmony with 175 people singing strong! To spend quality time with my 90 and 94 year old grandparents. This will probably be the last reunion that they will both attend (not to be negative, Grandma) and it will be a memory to treasure forever. I'm gonna get to spend time with my Aunts and Uncles, cousins, friends...I'll be able to spend quality time with my 3 kids before I add a fourth. There will be good times.

I checked the ticket prices for our trip to China in September. The tickets are a full $1200 cheaper PER PERSON! Holy smokes, we're gonna save a bundle. And then there are the little things. Like, I can take the kids for their dentist appointment with only 3 of them at the same time...don't have to have Huan Qin in the stroller that time. I can get my own doctor appointments done with before we go to China... There are all these seemingly little things that will fit in exactly the 2 1/2 weeks between my trip to Minnesota and my trip to China.

God Is Good! He knows what we need before we even ask. He knows what perfect timing is before I can even think to ask. We're gonna have the perfect trip in September...I just know it. Please continue to keep little Huan Qin in your prayers. Pray that she continues to grow and fill out. Pray that her nutrition is just what she needs and that she gets strong and continues to improve. For now, Stephen and I praise God for what He is doing in our lives and the lives of our children.