Two Boston and Beyond

Back to School Part 2

2011-08-29T07:40:00.000-07:00

Today was Boston's first day of preschool and here's his picture before he got on the bus! He was very excited for this big step and we're so proud of him!

Back to School

2011-08-24T06:51:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day of third grade for Jacob and Hannah! They were very excited to begin school and we did have a great 11 weeks of summer vacation. Here are two pictures from this morning.

Family Day 2011

2011-06-01T06:53:00.000-07:00

Two years ago today - on June 1, 2009 - Boston became a Stenstrom and we became a family of five! The picture below is from that day in RMI - right after court.

Now here's a recent picture of Boston, now 4.5 years old!

And here are Jacob, Boston and Hannah together. Fun to think back on our time in RMI in June 2009 and even more fun to see our kids together now every day!

Catching up!

2011-01-24T11:09:00.001-08:00

Hi! Happy New Year! It's been over 4 months since my last blog post . I'll catch up a bit with some pictures from the fall and aim to post a bit more often in 2011. Below is a picture of our three kiddos at Christmastime (Jacob 8, Hannah 7, Boston 4).

Boston had a bad fall in the kitchen at home in December and this is how he looked the next morning after Urgent Care gave him 3 stitches!

Our family together on Thanksgiving Day - with a big big smile from Boston!

Jacob as a Ninja for Halloween:

Hannah as a bumblebee for Halloween. Boston was not interested in dressing up for Halloween, but he did like the candy that was around for Halloween!

Eyes and Language

2010-09-16T07:05:00.000-07:00

Boston had his first eye exam yesterday. On the way there, I was thinking back to how the eye doctor would test Jacob and Hannah when they were younger - - and it was by showing them cards with pictures for them to name. I wondered if Boston, with his developing English, would be able to name those cards. Well, I didn't need to give it a moment of concern. Here's what happened!

The doctor showed Boston a picture of a house and Boston said "home". Great. Next came a picture of a car. Boston said "Honda"! Since our cars are both Hondas - it was another winner. Then a picture of a tree, which he identified correctly. Next came a picture of a birthday cake. Boston said "Jacob" and then began singing Happy Birthday! I told the doctor that Jacob's birthday was the next day and so Boston was right on it!

School

2010-08-25T06:51:00.000-07:00

This morning was the first day of second grade for Jacob and Hannah! They were out of bed and dressed at 6:00 am! They were very very excited for the start of second grade!

We'll hear after school how the first day went in their individual second grade classes - but we're off to a good start here for sure!

Boston's Family Day

2010-06-03T06:20:00.001-07:00

This is a picture of the first time we met Boston - on May 30, 2009, in the Marshall Islands.

He officially became a Stenstrom on June 1, 2009! We are celebrating and remembering our first year together! Below are some more recent pictures of our growing boy! We love him and are so very thankful for our family!

Jacob and Hannah will finish First Grade tomorrow! We are looking forward to the summer ahead and a change in schedule. Here's a picture of all three kids taken on Memorial Day in Minnesota!

Birthday fun

2010-05-12T19:03:00.001-07:00

Hannah turned 7 just a few weeks ago! It was a fun birthday for sure. She wanted a shark on her birthday cake. Peter remembered me saying I was never decorating another birthday cake again, but I must have forgotten that! Below is a picture of the cake after it was finished late Saturday evening, before her party on Sunday. But this shark was not content to stay on the cake. Late Saturday night, the shark portion of the cake cracked and fell apart.
Peter helped me to put skewers into the cake to try and keep it together for the party. It looks a bit like something out of "Jaws" and a shark being harpooned. But Hannah laughed about it and we ate the cake anyway.

Happy Birthday sweet Hannah! You are seven years old, and almost done with first grade! This past year you've learned to read, tell time, add and subtract. You just lost your 10th baby tooth this week, you are excited about learning Tae Kwon Do, and you are growing into a young lady! What a joy it is to know and love you!!

Spring Break and Tractors

2010-03-29T06:28:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone - Our county farm bureau hosted a Touch-A-Tractor event this weekend. The kids enjoyed climbing all over the huge pieces of farm equipment! Here are a few pictures of the fun:

It's been awhile!

2010-03-09T15:03:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone! Sorry that I haven't posted to this blog in more than three months! Here are a few pictures from a morning of sledding just two weeks ago. Today feels more like a spring day, and the snowman pictured at the end is now almost completely melted in our front yard! I'll aim to post again soon with another update! Bye for now - Lois

November 2009

2009-11-28T13:44:00.000-08:00

November began for us with Boston's 3rd birthday and our parent/child dedication for him at church. We had a baseball theme for his birthday, since balls were one of the first things we knew Boston enjoyed when we met him back in May 2009. A special treat was to have the Minnesota Stenstroms visiting for a long weekend and all the fun. Below is a picture of Boston blowing out his candles:Here's Boston enjoying the cheese of a Chicago style-pizza for his birthday dinner.
We've had mild weather and have enjoyed more time outside in November than usual
The big kids have had a break from school this whole week of Thanksgiving so we've enjoyed some extra fun things, a trip to the zoo, the dentist (okay maybe not so fun!) and visiting family and friends.

Boston really likes playing with Zoe, our niece Andrea's dog. He calls her "woo woo".

We had a nice Thanksgiving Day celebration and below are two pictures of the kids enjoying their play at the Modicas.

Happy December ahead. I'll try and update the blog again soon! Lois for us 5

October fun

2009-11-01T16:36:00.001-08:00

Hi Everyone - Can hardly believe the whole month of October is past. The kids all had influenza, plus a few other things...and so for almost 2 weeks they were at home except for doctor's visits. Lots of resting, watching movies, reading, etc. We are so thankful that they are all healthy again!

We had to cancel a lot of activities while the kids were sick, but the month still brought lots of great things. We enjoyed celebrating at some fun parties for two friends' birthdays this month. Also enjoyed seeing some of the beautiful fall color around the neighborhood and at the Morton Arboretum. We celebrated Hispanic Heritage month with our playgroup friends, and the big kids had some Taekwondo lessons and Jacob had some drum lessons. Boston started his first story time session at our local library too. A school Halloween party finished off the month and was a lot of fun. Although this room parent was GLAD when the party was over!! Below is a picture of the kids from Halloween yesterday. Jacob and Boston were football players, and Hannah was the fairy princess Fawn. They had a great time trick-or-treating even though it was a cold day. Bye for now - Happy November! Love, Lois

September scenes 9/30/09

2009-09-28T19:03:00.000-07:00

Today marks three months since we arrived home from RMI as a family of five. We've had a great month of September. Jacob and Hannah are enjoying first grade. We celebrated Jacob's 7th birthday with family and friends. We have enjoyed beautiful weather and some fun Fall traditions like apple picking. Enjoy the photos!

A happy and healthy Boston playing in Grandma & Grandpa's yard this week.

Bowler Hannah!

Jacob's family birthday party - dinosaur theme!

Apple picking and apple eating!

Boston enjoying some ice cream for Jacob's birthday!

Jacob, Hannah and Boston - in their RMI tshirts and in grass skirts. Celebrating at our friends' for their son's "Kemmen" (a big 1st birthday party- Marshallese tradition). The kids were getting a hula lesson at the party.

Wishing you all a great start to October and the fall! Love, Lois

Six years ago today!

2009-09-02T06:45:00.001-07:00

Six years ago today, on September 2, 2003, Peter and I arrived in Majuro, Marshall Islands. We checked into MIR (same hotel as our 2009 trip), rented a car and drove to this house where we met Jacob and Hannah for the first time! Jacob was 11 months old and Hannah was 4 months old. Our agency provided this home for waiting birth families, so Jacob and Hannah had been living in the same home for several months already. I thought you might enjoy these pictures of Jacob and Hannah as babies, as I am reminiscing today. The babies are growing up and are busy in first grade as I type this. Little Miss Hannah! Jacob and Peter

Hannah and Peter

All of us after Jacob's court date (same Judge presided in 2003 and 2009 for us!)

"reading" books together

Since we were all back in RMI this June 2009 to bring Boston home, the sights and sounds of our first RMI trip are very fresh. Doesn't hurt that the hotel curtains and bedspreads were exactly the same in 03 and 09!!

New USA citizens Hannah and Jacob in the Honolulu airport 10/1/2003 waiting to come home! ( This double stroller was great for us. After lots of miles and even some rust, it went into the trash just before the 2009 RMI trip! )

Here we are in O'Hare airport with the family that came to welcome us all home on 10/2/2003!

We are so very thankful to God for how he has brought our family together! Thanks for sharing in our joy! Love, Lois

New beginnings

2009-08-26T10:18:00.000-07:00

Almost three months ago - Jacob and Hannah had their last day of kindergarten. They were absent the last 8 days of kindergarten because of our trip to the Marshall Islands. In those three months we travelled thousands of miles, visited their birth country and birth families, brought Boston into our family and home, and began our new life as a family of 5.

Today Jacob and Hannah began 1st grade. What a big step for them both - and very exciting to see them ready for it! Peter worked from home this morning until the big kids got on the bus. Boston was very curious about the bus and where Jacob and Hannah were all day.

The first day of first grade was a hit with both Jacob and Hannah. They got off the bus (again in the rain) and came home hungry to finish their lunches! Hannah told me it was "lovely" that I sent them food that they liked, but that spoons were not allowed at lunch! So glad I spent the money for the good bpa-free thermoses! She had not eaten her alphabet soup, and Jacob hadn't gotten to finish his mac & cheese. I've emailed with their teacher since and learned that food requiring spoons is fine for lunch - but is not allowed for morning snack...so just a misunderstanding! Jacob said it was all fun and he had lots of important work to do at his desk. He also said that the day went by fast! Hannah said that it was so much fun, she thought it was the 100th day of school (a big party day in kindergarten). With the rain today they couldn't go outside for recess - but they even said indoor recess in their classroom was fun.

Hannah and Jacob posing for a picture before heading to the bus this morning in the rain.

Boston and Peter waiting on the front step to wave goodbye to the bus one more time as it heads to school a few stops after ours....

Boston playing with the grocery bags after a trip for groceries this morning.

Here are a few other pictures from our terrific summer!

Fun in the sun with the North Carolina cousins Anna & Jared at Lake Michigan earlier in August
All three kids passed out in the car on the way home from more fun with the North Carolina cousins and other family. (I was at a stoplight when I took the picture - fyi!)

Fun with the Minnesota Stenstrom cousins Isabella and Maxwell at Brookfield Zoo just this past weekend!
Hope the new beginnings in your lives this fall are going well too! Here's to the second day of First Grade!!

Love, Lois

August Fun

2009-08-07T10:23:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone - Hello from our family. We are fine here and enjoying the last weeks of summer before school begins again. We've had great weather and have spent time at parks and splash pads and the pool.

The kids and I just spent part of two days in Michigan with family - enjoying the sun, sand and water at the beach, and blueberry picking. There were 7 cousins together on the beach - ages 4 months to 6 years old! Here's our first-time blueberry picker, ready with his bucket.

Here's Jacob and then Hannah enjoying the wavy and cool Lake Michigan water!

Boston and Jacob are searching for something in the creek. After our Michigan trip - Hannah was ready to get a short new haircut for 1st grade!

Bye for now! Lois for us 5

July at home

2009-07-22T16:38:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone - We are all fine here and thankful for the past three weeks of our new "normal life" since coming home from RMI. We learned from a family that is currently in RMI that there is water rationing going on now there - and they only can use the water in the hotel for 5 hours each day. Here are some pictures of what we've been up to lately!

Here's Boston in his new Cubs hat and shirt (thanks to Daniel & Tina!) - while playing empty-water bottle/splash ball baseball at home on 7/8/09! He wanted to put the new shirt and hat on immediately after opening them. He has had a lot of fun getting to know the extended family, our playgroup friends, and our routines at home.

It was fun to introduce Boston to our Kane County Fair - here are the kids as we took a break from the rides and listened to some music at the Fair on 7/15/09.

Here are Jacob and Hannah with their new stuffed friends while at "Build-A-Bear" for a friend's birthday party 7/19/09:

And here are our three happy kids - playing after music class and lunch with friends! Thanks Kerry for the photo!

Bye for now!

Settling in to Life at home 7/9/09

2009-07-03T11:11:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone - Now that we have been home for nine days, we are feeling like we have adjusted back to the time change, etc. Here are some more pictures from our airport homecoming and some random pictures from our first days at home. Boston is doing well and seems to be enjoying every new experience! I'll try and update the blog again in a week or so! Lois
Above are pictures of some of the airport greeters before we arrived. We actually came in a different door than they were expecting - so we saw them before they saw us!

A happy Boston on Peter's shoulders at the airport - sorry Peter you were caught mid expression!!
Boston with Auntie Joyce above

Boston playing with Maddie

Boston with Kerry

Boston in his pjs and in the laundry basket

Boston in the squeeze of siblings!

HOME!

2009-06-30T18:08:00.000-07:00

WE'RE HOME! It feels great to be home - our new family of 5!

About 12:30pm on Tuesday 6/30/09, our flight from San Francisco touched down at O'hare. It had been 36 hours since we left our hotel in RMI (on their Monday night). Only about 8 of those hours were spent in a hotel, the rest of the time was waiting in the airports and riding on airplanes! Changing the dates of our flights home from RMI with two different airlines proved very very challenging. So it was terrific for us that we were ready to leave RMI two days before our original scheduled departure date....but Continental and United didn't agree!! Our bags came to Chicago on a flight we did not get on, and we spent 5 hours after not getting on that stand-by flight getting to know the Honolulu airport (mostly Gate area #8!!) The two pictures below are of the kids and the hours waiting in the Honolulu airport!

Two overnight flights in a row are tough - but Boston slept almost every minute of the three flights (RMI to Honolulu, Honolulu to San Fran, and San Fran to Chicago) and Jacob and Hannah slept a good part of all three flights.

It was fantastic to be met at the airport in Chicago by family and friends. We came into the baggage claim area from a different door than they expected. So we saw all of them before they saw us!

We came home to more balloons, flowers, signs for the kids on their rooms from their friends, a refrigerator full of food, etc. We are catching up on our sleep and adjusting to the time change too. Hannah slept from 7:30pm Tuesday night until 10:00am on Wednesday morning, just getting up once. She's never slept that long in her whole life!

To land at O'Hare airport to 64 degree temperatures was a nice feeling too! Today on July 1st the temps. have been the coolest here for this date since 1930. Boston has probably never felt such cool temps. He also has never seen a microwave working, or a stove - from his staring at them at home.

I'll post again soon with more homecoming pictures! Love, Lois

Back in the USA!

2009-06-29T12:44:00.000-07:00

Hello from Hawaii on Monday morning June 29th! We had a good finish to our stay in RMI spending our last day (also Monday June 29th!) returning the rental car, picking up Boston's VISA packet from the US Embassy (and getting yelled at by a guard for taking a picture of the outside of the embassy!), having lunch with our new American friends there, saying goodbyes to friends made at the hotel and the restaurant we ate at most often, and packing. The next two photos are of Jacob and Boston's birth families who travelled to the airport to see us off and the Joneses and Harveys who also came for the fun (and for the heads up for what happens there - for their own departures in weeks to come!)

Here we are in front of the Amata Kabua airport in Majuro - visiting before checking in. The beautiful hand made necklaces we are wearing were gifts from the birth families and also our security guard friend at the hotel. Checking in for the flight was exciting, as the airlines wanted a document I had already packed in a suitcase that had already gone through security....and they wanted me to open Boston's VISA packet that the embassy had said not to open. Then their computer went down, and so our five boarding passes had to be prepared by hand. End result - the plane was loaded and waiting for us and another passenger or two....and people were in some of our seats - just a riot. It was similar to our last flight out of RMI in 2003....you walk across the tarmack in the dark to the waiting plane - and people are calling to you from a fence outside the airport....birth families, friends - and we just waved back as we climbed the steps to the plane.

Boston did well on the flight - his first time on an airplane! He cried hard for probably 5-10 minutes after the flight attendant told Peter to buckle him into his seat. As soon as Peter picked him back up and held him - Boston fell asleep and slept the entire 5 hours until we were off the plane in Hawaii. Below are two pictures of our newest USA citizen, plus a tired Peter, Hannah and Jacob as we waited for the rest of the passengers to be processed before Boston's immigrant VISA was processed. Boston also had his first escalator and elevator rides in the airport this morning after immigration. This morning as he looked out the 11th floor hotel room window - we realized he's never seen mountains, tall buildings, cars going fast, etc. In fact as we walked off the plane this morning to the customs/border area - two Marshallese women in front of us were stopped in their tracks. They had never been on an escalator before (we figured out) and were standing there not sure what to do, as the line of people formed behind them. The pilots were behind the ladies and told them to just "jump"!

Well, I need to next get on the phone with United to sort out our flights the rest of the way home. We have been in Hawaii about 8 hours and spent about 2 hours in the airport processing and getting to the hotel. Jacob is still sleeping, but the rest of us slept about 4 - 5 hours. Once we find out when we are leaving here later today - we'll see what else we can do while in Hawaii for the day.

The time change will be messing us up for awhile. We left RMI on the evening of Monday June 29th, and flew through the night and arrived in Honolulu at 2:30am on the morning of Monday June 29th! It's going to be our day that is two days long!

I'll post again when we get home and settled. Bye for now - so great to be back in the states! Love, Lois

Sunday June 28, 2009 - day #31 away from home

2009-06-27T13:23:00.001-07:00

Hey Everyone! This will be my last post from the Marshall Islands!

We had a good morning at church (the picture of J & H above is from outside church with the breeze off the water cooling us off), and then enjoyed a Chinese buffet lunch with Gordon and his family, along with two other families from their church. The restaurant gave us the VIP room. It had a beautiful view of the water and palm trees, and it was nice that Boston could run around the room and not get into too much trouble! Peter said he hadn't eaten this much at a meal since probably Christmas! And, this was the sixth restaurant we had eaten at while on RMI - - a change from the three restaurants we ate at in 2003! The picture below of me and Boston is from lunch today!

When I said goodbye to Gordon and family today - I got all choked up. It really surprised me, because being in RMI is hard some days and I have been ready to go home for awhile. But their kindness and hospitality have just made this trip even more enjoyable for us. We anticipate Jacob and Hannah will have some mixed emotions when we leave tomorrow as well.

After lunch, we headed over to Jacob's birth family's home to say goodbye to his birth grandmother. Both Jacob and Boston's birth families have said they might come to the airport tomorrow night, but the grandmother is not up to it physically. I did not bring any goodies to pass out to the kids at this neighborhood - because I knew it was going to be a brief visit and I am out of suckers, tootsie rolls and gum. As we were sitting and the kids were kind of gathering around me - I realized my mistake. So I dug in my purse and passed out every Tic Tac left in the container!!

Then by 3pm we were back to the hotel for the rest of the day. Peter took the kids swimming and I got a lot of packing done. We were going to have a bring-your-own-dinner gathering in the Harvey's hotel room here, but as we were leaving - Boston's birth mother came to our door, along with Denise one of her nieces. We invited them in and cancelled with the Harveys. Denise was helpful in translating for us and we did learn more about Boston's life before we met him. Also, learned another interesting cultural thing. When we host people in our hotel room - we always offer for them to sit on the beds...but they never do - they always sit on the floor. There is one chair in our room and three double beds - so we have plenty of bed-sitting space and not enough floor space for all of us to sit. Denise explained tonight that it is a Marshallese custom to never sit on someone's bed. I told her we don't usually sit on other people's beds at home either - but in the hotel room there isn't much other choice! I love seeing how Boston is grabbing to include Jacob in the picture below with his birth mother Emcilla. Yes, those are suitcases stacked up in the background!

Well, it is time to publish this post and head upstairs to bed. We are in pretty good shape for getting on the hotel shuttle at 5pm tomorrow to head to the airport here. But then we were remembering the day we left the island back in October 2003....it was one surprise after another, visitors, etc. I'm sure tomorrow will be very interesting. Thank you for following our journey here - and our welcoming Boston to the family! I will post again sometime in Hawaii. Our flight leaves for Hawaii at 8pm tomorrow night 6/29. We fly about 5 hours and arrive in Hawaii in the middle of the night there, but during the early morning hours of the same day that we left RMI. We lost a day on the way here, but we will pick it up again when our Monday June 29th is actually two days long!

Below is a picture of Jacob and Boston at book time before bed last night! Jacob is smiling as you can tell by his eyes - and Boston is grabbing his cheek and saying "cheese". Sweet dreams everyone. I know I'm dreaming of sleeping in our own bed in just a few days!! Love, Lois

Saturday - our 5th one in Majuro

2009-06-26T13:29:00.001-07:00

Hi on Saturday evening June 27, 2009! Before I forget - I need to tell you two things. That odd tide change we saw at Laura Beach this week is something that happens here once a month. Peter learned this from one of the security guards here at MIR. And, the other day while taking this picture below with Hannah - we saw a nice car with the license plate 00001 at the entrance to the hotel. I figured it must be someone important to have such a special license. Sure enough, we learned that it was the President of the country's car. We never saw him - just his car!

This morning I called DHL just to be sure our packet from Manila was here in Majuro. They couldn't find it - so we had a few moments wondering if we would really be here longer next week. We decided to go to the DHL office here and they did find that the package is here - waiting for delivery to the embassy Monday morning. What a relief!! Now I can really change our flights to Hawaii, reservations in Hawaii, and flights from Hawaii home.

Next we headed toward the airport, as a flight gets in from Hawaii on Saturday mornings - the same one we came in on 5 Saturdays ago! We thought it would be good for Boston to at least see an airplane before we get on one! We found a nice spot to watch the landing, just past the end of the run way. A small "Air Kirabati"plane landed while we were there and Boston loved that - but we found out that the Continental plane from Hawaii was 2 hours late - so we didn't wait. Both of our other USA families happened to drive by while we were waiting, and visited briefly. They were each travelling to Laura Beach today. Fun to be seeing friends along the way. The three pictures below were taken at the little lagoon along the ocean where we waited to watch the plane land. Jacob was climbing a palm tree:

Peter was placing Boston on one of the Palm Tree branches:

Hannah and Jacob were wading in the lagoon we found.

This afternoon was more swimming for the big kids - and in some rain again. Boston liked wandering around the pool area in the rain. An early dinner and back to the hotel for the evening. (at dinner, Boston had a horribly messy diaper...there are no changing areas in any bathrooms here, no counter space to even lay him down with something under him, and the floor was dirty and buggy. So I changed the diaper with him standing up in the ladies room. He was fine with it and we got it done!) We saw our first rainbow after dinner and it was beautiful. Back in 2003, we saw rainbows often - so we've been wanting to see some this time too. It was a fun way to end our day.

Bye for now - Thanks for keeping up with our long journey here. Lots of days have been not-too-exciting, but the scenery is beautiful and we have enjoyed the time together. Love, Lois

Friday June 26, 2009

2009-06-26T02:08:00.001-07:00

Hi on Friday night! Our papers should be on the plane that came to Majuro this evening. We hope to pick them up from the embassy on Monday and be on the Monday night 6/29 flight to Honolulu!

Peter and the boys went to the playground this morning while Hannah and I went to the Continental office to change our tickets for home. Then we visited Boston's birth family and took them to lunch. He had fun with us all together and it was great to see him with both families. He was sad when we dropped them off after lunch (11 people -4 adults and 7 kids - in our rental car on the way back to their home - because we asked a neighbor and her son to come along and help with translation!) but this was definitely his best transition all month. It had been 6 days since we'd seen his birth family. Here is Boston with one of his sisters and his birth mother at lunch.

This afternoon the big kids went swimming and accomplished some new things. For Jacob - it was swimming the dog paddle the whole length of the pool, from shallow to deep end. For Hannah - it was jumping into the pool and letting herself go underwater before standing up! Fun to see these things and know they learned them here! Here is a picture of Hannah from the pool, plus the view of the hotel from the pool, and the view of the lagoon from the pool today.

After Boston's nap - we were all down in the gazebo that you see in the picture above and visited with our new friends. We all had dinner together and here is a picture of the 3 older kids after dinner.

We had a good day and it's exciting that this will be our last weekend here! Bye for now - Love, Lois

Thursday night June 25, 2009

2009-06-25T01:53:00.000-07:00

Hello! We learned this afternoon that our papers are in Guam now! It's exciting that they are moving across the Pacific Ocean to us!

Today was one of our hottest days here. We never see a temperature reading, so we just rate the days on how quickly glasses and cameras fog up, or how quickly we all get hot and sweaty once we leave the hotel room. Peter rated today as the hottest day so far! We took a trip to Payless this morning for supplies - maybe our last trip there before heading home. And we bought another pair of the 25 cent tennis shoes for Hannah. Yes, we found these cute Ked-type shoes there last week for 25 cents. Today we bought another pair in a bigger size for the future. Below is a picture of Boston and Hannah trying out a new bubble blowing set this morning on the lanai.

Peter and Boston stayed in the room for naps this afternoon and I took the kids to the pool. It started raining just after we got all sunscreened and were heading down the stairs. Oh well - the kids still had a great afternoon at the pool, I watched them from the shelter of the outdoor covered patio here. Then the Joneses and the Harveys joined us for a part of the afternoon there, and we had dinner together at the hotel. It was great to get to know these families better, and to talk about our experiences here. It has been a gift to have their company this week!

Below is a picture of us from the end of our dinner with the beautiful Marshallese artwork and woodwork in the background.

This is the Jones family from Virginia - with their 5 year old daughter (who enjoyed the pool with Jacob and Hannah this afternoon) and their new 10 week old daughter (who is a sweetie but only showed the back of her head for this picture!)

This is the Harvey family from Oregon, with their 11 month old daughter.

Here are Peter and Boston enjoying a little ice cream at the end of dinner! Boston has the big spoon ready to dig in.
Bye for now - Love, Lois

Wednesday night, Day #27 away from home

2009-06-24T02:02:00.000-07:00

Good evening!

It’s Wednesday evening here….it was rainy most of the day here today and cooler than normal – maybe only 80 and humid. We got our DHL tracking number today from the embassy – and learned that our papers have now been to Hong Kong and Seoul Korea, since leaving Manila on Tuesday afternoon.

The video above is from this morning in the room. The kids are sitting on the inside edge of the sliding glass door, and trying to sing the Marshallese tune of "Happy Birthday". It isn't anyone's birthday here - just a silly way to start the day. Hannah isn't singing much because she still had her vitamin in her mouth to chew. Jacob is very excited during the video, as you'll see...but I thought you'd enjoy seeing these three and Boston singing and clapping, hugging the kids, etc.

This morning I looked at the RMI guidebook for ideas of things to do today. We headed off to the Alele Museum, to see some examples of Marshallese canoes and learn some history. It took us a few drive bys to find the museum and when we went to go in – the sign on the door said “come back when we are open!” The hours were 9-12 and we were there at almost 10am…oh well. I laughed at the sign. We learned since that it took another about 5 tries to find the museum open, but that it was worth the trip. So, we'll probably try again! We have time.

After our museum try, Hannah spotted the tuna can rental car (which the Jones family is renting now) at EZ Price Mart, so we pulled in there and visited with them awhile. We promised them we were not stalking them – we were just bored! We thought about bowling, but the Majuro Bowl was not yet open.

Peter and the boys came back to the hotel and took a walk, and Hannah went with me to try and get my hair cut. The picture of Hannah above is of her almost curly hair in the rain and humidity today. Couldn’t get the haircut done with the time we had left, but we took some pictures downtown and found swim rings to replace ours which sprang leaks here.

I thought you would enjoy the picture of this chicken restaurant. Isn’t it a complete take off of Kentucky Fried Chicken?! The colors and everything! And instead of being the “colonel” in the picture, the chicken mascot is the “Marshall!” and it says that on his tie. The other pictures are of the bank and post office, to give you a sense of the downtown area.

At noon (yes, it was a long morning!) we went to visit Jacob’s birth family again. I practiced my 10 – 15 Marshallese words, and we all appreciated the Grandmother's new fan oscillating and making a breeze! We passed out gum to the 25 or so kids that were around playing there. Eomi and Danny gave us each a gift of jewelry . You can see Hannah and Jacob’s necklaces in the picture below – as they are sitting with Eomi and Danny, and their two little boys.
Back at the hotel, I stayed in the room so Boston could nap, and Peter took the kids swimming in the rain. Tonight we met up with the two other American families for dinner. It was a great time - even though with 6 adults and 6 kids not everyone was sitting at the table during all of the dinner! We are going to think of other ways to get together in the days ahead so the kids can play and we can visit. It was wonderful for us to be together with these other families - as we are all going through the same experiences.

Bye for now - thanks for keeping up on our adventure. Love, Lois

Tuesday - a day at the beach

2009-06-23T02:15:00.001-07:00

Hello on Tuesday evening in RMI! This morning we took Boston back to the doctor for a recheck, since he had finished his antibiotics. Thank God that the pneumonia is gone! That was great news to start our day. Then we headed to Laura Beach for our 3rd visit there. The beach was completely different than the last two visits and we have to learn from the locals here how it happens. Peter thinks it might be called a lunar tide or something....an enormous part of the beach that was underwater before was now uncovered....coral, and all kinds of things were exposed. People from the area were walking way out and collecting shells and other treasures. It was more like a swimming pool in places, because Jacob and Peter were both jumping in from the shore/beach - so there was no wading into the water - it was more like sliding or jumping in, with the first step being 3 - 4 feet deep. It was a lot of fun - windy, sunny, and fascinating. As the water changed and the tide came in - we could see the coral farther out be covered by the water almost before our eyes, and the locals folks combing the coral had gone to shore. The fallen tree in the picture above was in the water last week and the trees behind the log are near where we parked. Jacob was jumping off of it into the water for fun. Today that tree was a long long way from the water's edge. It was such a surprise to us. Below are Jacob and Hannah enjoying their time in the clear and warm water.

And below is Boston in his big sun hat enjoying the time too!

And here is a long distance picture of the beach after the tide came in - the boys enjoying running on the sand.

We came back to the hotel, cleaned up and then Hannah and I went out to dinner by ourselves, and the guys stayed back in the room and ordered a pizza. We learned this afternoon that our papers are leaving Manila today by DHL. They will go to Guam and then here to RMI. When the papers arrive - we can be on the next flight out....any Monday, Wednesday or Friday night! It seems like we might be leaving here next Monday night then - we'll keep you posted!

A second family from the states arrived today to adopt their 11 month old daughter. It is nice to have these families here in the same hotel, and we look forward to spending some more time with them once they are done with their first few days of court, embassy, etc. Nice to be the veterans and on the home stretch here. Bye for now - I'm off to the 3rd floor, room 341 and join the rest of the family for a night of sleep! Love, Lois

Monday, Monday June 22, 2009

2009-06-22T02:02:00.000-07:00

Hi on Monday evening in RMI! No news on our paper work progress today. I spoke to the U.S. Embassy contact here twice today and they are calling and emailing Manila to see where the papers are...but no answer yet. We continue to wait and pray. We did a grocery run this morning and spent a little time at the playground. Here's a picture of the kids waiting for our room to be cleaned this morning - they were hot and sweaty and ready to get inside the air conditioning.

We did have a very special experience this morning. We had just been visiting with the Joneses, the new family who arrived last night - and they got the call that the facilitator was in the lobby for their first meeting with their 10-week old daughter and the foster caregiver. We quickly left their room--but got to see the beautiful little girl on our way down the hall!

Hannah is still not feeling quite herself - we had another quiet afternoon and even Jacob didn't want to go swimming today! The time here is dragging and wearing on all of us. The kids have done really well with all the things they have experienced here, but it's been a lot to deal with at times. Peter said today that he couldn't WAIT to get back to work! Yes, I think that was after he waited in the car with all three kids while I ran back into the grocery store for one thing we forgot!!

Here is a scenery shot for you today too - we enjoyed watching some ocean waves crashing the shore before dinner tonight.

We had dinner with the Joneses and that was very fun. They took this photo for us in the lobby of the restaurant. I see now that the camera caught Boston reaching up to that cabinet above the fish tank - he is a fun and curious boy. Tonight getting everyone ready for bed - he was anxious for his bath, pulling on his clothes, etc. I was putting the dinner leftovers in the fridge before starting the water in the tub. He came over to me, turned my face to his with his hand, and said "MaMa tu tu" (bath)! I loved that and we did go right to the tub then. Of course, he calls Peter MaMa also! Bye for now - Sending our love across the miles of ocean and land between us! Lois

The Longest Day - June 21, 2009

2009-06-21T02:15:00.000-07:00

Hello on Sunday evening! I have a bit of catch-up to do... Saturday morning Peter took the boys to the playground while and Hannah and I did an errand to buy Peter an RMI t-shirt for Father's Day. That secret errand didn't stay secret very long. Jacob (in the yellow shirt below) got to shoot baskets with some bigger boys and he really enjoyed that. The playground and basketball court is on the grounds of the College of the Marshall Islands, a two-year college here.
Saturday afternoon, after a nap for Boston and a couple games of Uno and Memory for the rest of us, we went to Jacob’s birth home and visited with his birth grandmother and some of his aunts. It rained off and on all day yesterday and today – our only 2 days in a row here that the kids did not go swimming. On the way back to the hotel we stopped for an early dinner, then baths and books and bed. Even here, so very far from home, our days have some routine which I think helps us all. Boston loves his bath, in fact he gets excited any time anyone takes a bath or shower. We've learned to say "go to the bath?" in Marshallese - and he just beams when we say it!

This morning Peter took Jacob and Hannah out to breakfast and they all had fun doing that. Boston and I stayed back in the room to play and give Jacob and Hannah some special time with Peter. Our church service this morning had lots of special parts to celebrate Father’s Day. At one point, the women of the church sang some songs, then presented each father with a towel, with gifts tied all over it. It’s a beach towel rolled tightly into a tube shape…then on Peter’s towel were razors, gum, a toothbrush, “beauty skin cloth” and deodorant all tied onto the towel with ribbons. The towel is worn around the neck. The man in front of us, who I think is an ambassador for Taiwan handed Jacob a Kit Kat that he took off his towel. Jacob was glad for the treat during church, but what a mess to share a partly melted Kit Kat with your sister! He didn’t have to share with Boston as he had already fallen asleep on Peter’s shoulder. After two hours of the service, the pastor began to preach, and then there was going to be a celebration afterwards with food for Father’s Day too. Hannah had gotten a headache, so we left before the service was completely over. I think Hannah just got overheated in church this morning. She and I spent the afternoon in the hotel room with her resting, us reading books, coloring, watching a dvd, etc. Peter and the boys kept our appointment to visit Jacob’s birth mother Eomi this afternoon - but couldn't find her - so we'll try again another day for that.

I have to tell you a little more about Boston too - he is quite the athlete - with water bottle baseball in the room, etc. He loves to walk to the outside/hallway door of the hotel room and stand there with his back to it - facing the sliding glass doors at the other end of the room. He then runs with all his might across the length of the room and into Peter's arms, laughing so hard! I told Peter it looks like a pole vaulter running that full-out sprint, only there is no pole at the other end for us - but a sliding glass door, lanai and 3 floors down to the ocean! I'll try and get a video to post another time of this fun.

Due to summer travel - Continental Airlines has added a fourth flight each week from Hawaii to Majuro arriving here on Sunday afternoons. A family from the east coast arrived late this afternoon to adopt their daughter this week. We had a chance to meet them tonight at our hotel and visit briefly. It was fun to be able to give them a gallon of water so that they didn't have to run to the store tonight, and also answer a few of those first questions. They have a 5 year old daughter named Grace. Jacob, Hannah and Grace were playing together within minutes of meeting each other. We are looking forward to getting to know them in the days ahead. My current question is -- now that there are four flights into RMI each week, why are there still only three flights out of RMI each week. Where do all those other people go?

Below is a picture I took after dinner tonight. I think the restful afternoon did us all good. Tonight at dinner, when we were the only people in the Tide Table restaurant (they served a big Father's Day brunch earlier and so all the usuals must have already eaten at brunch!), Jacob asked me why our servers always say "please enjoy your dinner". I told him it was because they hoped you liked your food and wanted to come back again. He then said very seriously "but Mom, we come back here every day!" We all had a good laugh at that.

It was a good Father's Day here. Hope the same is true for all of you!

Tomorrow morning we’ll call the US Embassy and see if there is any news of our papers in Manila. Is this our last week here? I told Peter that we could be packed and ready to go in two hours – truly! Bye for now - Love, Lois

Happy Fathers' Day a bit early!

2009-06-20T02:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture from this morning on the lanai, showing Boston some bubbles! The kids have their RMI shirts on - bright colors with the flag on the back.

It's Saturday night in RMI, 9:30pm and I'm the last person left in the restaurant at our hotel using the wireless internet. So I'll keep this short for now - Sending our love across the miles on Father's Day, wishing my Dad and Peter's Dad a very happy Father's Day. So grateful for Peter and his love and care for our three kids!

I'll post more tomorrow...but Peter is taking Jacob and Hannah out to breakfast tomorrow before church. It will be great for them to have him to themselves for a bit. I'll miss my usual posting to the blog at breakfast time, but promise to post later on Sunday here.

Love, Lois

The Fourth Saturday - June 20, 2009

2009-06-18T22:22:00.000-07:00

Good morning again - We arrived here in Majuro four Saturdays ago! Not that I'm counting (!), but this is day 23rd gone from home now. Above is the video from Laura Beach of all the kids ganging up on Peter - it's silly but fun - hope you enjoy it!

Friday morning we drove over to Boston's birth family's home and visited with them. A neighbor who had gone to high school in California was there - and she helped us a lot with translation. It was great to be in their home, to see a bit of what their daily life is....Emcilla was making pancakes when we arrived - one at a time on a hot plate. It took her almost an hour to make the pile of pancakes. They didn't want to go to lunch with us yesterday, so we made plans for that next Friday. I thought that I passed out my last batch of dum dum suckers to all the kids in that neighborhood yesterday - but when we got back to the hotel, I found one more whole bag of dum dum suckers!! Shouldn't be too hard to pass those out in the rest of the time we are here, because I am only bringing a few on the plane trip home just in case. Boston was sad when we left his birth family, but had the best transition afterwards so far. I thank God for how well this has been going - to live with us but visit his birth family occasionally. We 5 went out to lunch afterwards and the kids were all so well behaved. Boston literally fell asleep while eating his ramen - I saw his head bobbing right into the bowl! Boston is really affectionate with us all and seems comfortable and not afraid. He loves the routine of our daily activities here - running to get his shoes on whenever it is time to leave the hotel room, having taken over Hannah's water cup as his own, and other fun things.

In the afternoon we were all down by the beach at the lagoon and the kids had a lot of fun swimming. Mamwich, one of the security guards that we have gotten to know here, was hosting his church's youth group for a picnic and boat rides. He had just given us a big plate of bbq chicken, hot dog, rice and potato salad...and Boston and I made a trip upstairs to put it in the frig to eat it later. We were walking into our hotel room, and I looked out into the lagoon as always, and there goes Mamwich paddling a canoe and the boy in the front of it was Jacob! We hurried back down to take photos, but the ride was already over by then. Jacob loved hearing that I saw him from our 3rd floor lanai doors, and he was thrilled to have been asked by Mamwich to go on the canoe ride. The two pictures below are of the lagoon swimmers yesterday, some boats way off in the distance, and then the canoe Jacob went for a ride on - but in this picture it was other kids' turn.

The picture above was of Jacob and Hannah talking about something at the water's edge. I thought it was cute. And below is our happy Boston who loves to run around the beach investigating rocks and bugs and the taste of sand.

Showers and early jammies for the kids after the late afternoon lagoon swimming, and a quiet evening in the hotel room. The power went out for awhile this afternoon and the room quickly heated up. I was thankful when it came back on - we are very grateful for the air conditioning here.

No plans for today - some errands, and perhaps visiting Jacob's birth family again. Bye for now - Love, Lois

Friday June 19, 2009

2009-06-18T02:45:00.001-07:00

Good morning on Friday. It rained this morning, but has already cleared and the sun is shining as I type. We had a terrific day at Laura Beach yesterday (top picture). One of the odd things for us here is how public everything is...and Peter and I are pretty private people. So we drive up to that chain link strand that is the gate to Laura Beach, and Hannah and I got out of the car to pay the lady our $4.50 for the entry fee. Then the questions start - the lady asks me if Hannah is Marshallese, and then asks me who her birth mother is. I'm thinking come on - we are an hour from the downtown of Majuro, 30,000 people live here, she was born six years ago - you can't possibly know Hannah's birth mother...but she was sure that she did!!

Here are some other random pictures - sorry some of them are not zoomed in better - it was so bright on the beach - I could not see much on the camera display! Hannah (above) was in the water the whole time - couldn't be bothered with eating lunch until we were on the way home, and then she promptly fell asleep in the back seat after she ate a sandwich. Boston was saying something very serious to us in the picture below as he ate his pbj sandwich. He really enjoys eating and that has been fun. Just two nights ago at dinner - he saw the cup of soup I had ordered for myself and ate it all. The soup of the day was chicken vegetable, but when it arrived the server said it was really beef tomato. Whatever you called it - Boston loved it and all the veggies in it. So then last night we ordered him soup again - it was "beef noodles" soup and he ate it all. Fun to see him enjoying new things. He really likes chicken (bao) and rice. He uses the chicken pieces like my Armenian Uncle Abe used bread at a meal - as a utensil almost. Boston takes a piece of chicken, scoops up some rice with it, kind of balls it together and then puts both things in his mouth.

Jacob had a great time at Laura Beach swimming, jumping off this fallen tree, throwing a coconut like a football in the water, etc. He was the first one to sleep last night - four hours playing in the ocean tired out even energetic Jacob!

At one point when all five of us were in the crystal clear water - Peter said this was the most fun he's had the whole trip so far - and I had to agree. We had the beach to ourselves for almost the whole four hours we were there. And you might have noticed that the kids always have shirts on - the custom here is to swim in your clothes... We just throw tshirts over swim suits to get the same effect.

I tried uploading a video from yesterday, but it is still uploading after 30 minutes. I will try again another time to post it here, maybe when I have a faster connection.

Today we are taking Boston's birth family to lunch. It's been 5 days since we have seen them. Boston will be thrilled to see them, and then sad to leave them again, but this process seems to be working as he adjusts to our family. Bye for now - Love, Lois

Thursday morning - off to Laura Beach

2009-06-17T02:22:00.001-07:00

Hello on Thursday morning 6/18/09. We are all doing well here and looking forward to going to Laura Beach today. Yesterday we went back to Dr. Pinano, the doctor we know here - and he checked out the lungs and cough of Boston, Peter, Jacob and Hannah. Boston still has pneumonia, but we aren't finished with the antibiotics yet - so we'll go back to the doctor after those finish. Everyone else is okay - just colds and chlorine irritation from the pool for Jacob. We're thankful that our health here has been so good. And the doctor charged us $20 total - must be a family rate. The doctor was at the Lion's Club annual meeting last Sunday too - just so interesting to see people who live and work here. After the doctor and some playground time, we found a new place to get closer to the ocean (by the bridge for those of you who have been here!) and these next two pictures are from that spot.

Later in the afternoon after swimming in the lagoon here at the hotel, Annie and Joshua stopped by with a gift for Hannah. They came to dinner with us too - and here is their picture with Hannah before our goodbyes. They are leaving tomorrow for an outer island and so we might not see them again while we are here. We have had almost daily opportunities to visit with them in the past two weeks - and are thankful especially for Hannah to have these connections.
The sunset last night was especially beautiful - here's a picture of the boys on the lanai and then a shot of the sunset too.

Until tomorrow - bye for now from the islands! Love, Lois

Wednesday Day #20

2009-06-16T12:49:00.000-07:00

Hello on Wednesday morning. It is our 20th day gone from home! The picture above is of a pretty white flower that grows on the trees all around the hotel. I don't know the name of it.

Some random funny things this morning – the other night when I was downstairs checking email from the hotel restaurant…from the bar area was coming very loud and enthusiastic karaoke… off key and in another language. To hear Frank Sinatra’s “I did it my way” – just made me smile! Speaking of music – one day last week on a taxi ride somewhere – the music playing on the car radio had a catchy Marshallese tune and the words “please mama, please daddy, please don’t smoke the marijuana”. Peter and I just exchanged glances and the kids were oblivious to it as there is so much else to see along the road here. But then this morning as Peter was having his coffee on the lanai - he actually smelled some marijuana - so I guess that is why the song is popular here?!

We went to a playground in the morning yesterday on the grounds of the College of the Marshall Islands (a two year college). The kids enjoyed it and Jacob even made a couple quick friends who were eating freeze pops and gummi bears and shared with him as soon as they saw him. It is a great thing here how sharing seems just part of the culture. After Peter’s birthday dinner last week – there were some things left on some plates – and people just helped themselves to whatever they wanted. Maddy told us that was very Marshallese – not to waste the food, but if you want it, go ahead and eat it.

The pics are from the playground – Boston enjoyed climbing up the stairs and going down the slide over and over. He has his BOSTON Red Sox hat on in these pictures - thanks Dave M!

Boston seems to be really healing from the pneumonia. Jacob has had a cough, but we think it is due to the chlorine in the hotel pool. He is under the water so much while in the pool. He seems better since we haven’t been in the pool for three days – but in the ocean instead. Hannah and I both have colds, but not bad ones. Peter is going to see the doctor today as he is fighting some bug. That’s the medical report….

Weather is same as always – warm, humid, and mostly blue skies.

Hotel room is same as always – smallish for 5 people, ants are always waiting for any hint of food, but we are doing fine with it. Peter and the kids invented a baseball game in the room using an empty water bottle for the bat and a dry splash ball for the baseball. Jacob has gotten several home runs, Hannah enjoys being the catcher, and Boston hits pretty well too.

Well, the two tall stacks of pancakes are ready for me to take back up to the room to the rest of the family. Love to you all across the miles - thanks for keeping up with us through this adventure. Lois

Papers arrived in Manila

2009-06-15T12:52:00.001-07:00

Hi on Tuesday morning in Majuro 6/16/09! We learned yesterday that Boston's paperwork has arrived in Manila! Hurray! The paperwork left Honolulu on Friday 6/12/09 and went to California, Alaska, Guangzhou China, and then to Manila. You have to love Fed Ex and their efficiency! Tracking the documents on the Fed Ex website - I appreciate all the detail when it tells me moment by moment where the packet is - in the sorting facility, on a delivery truck, and finally signed for by the person at it's destination. It could be a couple weeks of processing in Manila - but we are hoping and praying for the quickest turn around. Once the papers arrive back here - we can leave for home.

Yesterday morning we drove around the island a little bit in our rental car. No more tuna can rental car - now we have one with a failing muffler - but the price is right! The two pictures below are from us pulling off to the side of the road, and following a path down toward the water on the oceanside.

Peter got a hair cut yesterday morning - our friends Gordon and Marissa have a salon here and we had gotten to know the main worker there. Well it was the longest (time-wise) haircut Peter ever had - (the kids and I were waiting outside at a picnic table and I kept thinking he must be chatting after the haircut because almost an hour had passed) and probably the shortest his hair has ever been. It looks good - but he is ringed in white skin all around his neck and ears - where he has tanned, and now the hair is shorter than that - so he has a white outline! And, would you believe it was just $10 for the cut. Maybe we'll all visit there in the next weeks ahead!

While Boston napped in the afternoon, Peter and Jacob stayed back with him in the room. Hannah and I went and met with the birth mother of friends from home, and got to deliver some gifts to her. I realized this is the fourth set of birth families that we have taken to the Tide Table restaurant. They have been very welcoming of us and all our guests!

For dinner last night we went to "Special Restaurant". Isn't that name great!? Someone had recommended it for their fried fish with brown sauce. We were the only ones there, the server phoned the chef, and he walked in the front door and started cooking. The kids and I had ramen (boring but safe) and Peter ordered their signature fish dish. I should have taken a picture! The whole fish was lying on his back - with his head up and mouth wide open. The fish's belly was open with veggies and sauce there. The kids loved looking at the fish, his eyes, teeth, etc. Peter said it tasted good. I was content to just look at it!

The picture below is of the kids while we waited outside for Peter to finish up....they had finished their food and were ready to get going. Boston looks a little squished between the kids - and he was hot and sweaty...but we were having a good time. While we were out there, the chef came outside and walked up to a little store window in the same building and bought many ramen packets. I guess we bought out his supply and he needed more.

Bye for now - Love, Lois

It was a Sunday to remember!

2009-06-14T02:13:00.000-07:00

Good morning on Monday June 15th here in RMI. We had a great day yesterday - starting with seeing the Filipino Independence Day parade on our way to church. The cars and floats were beautifully decorated with huge palm fronds/pantanus and balloons and ribbons. We appreciated our church service. When the power went out part way through the service, the guy playing the keyboard just got his guitar and kept right on playing.

After church Gordon and his family took us as their guests to the Lion's Club annual meeting. We rode on a beautiful 30+ foot yacht about 30 minutes across the lagoon to Enemanit - a beautiful private beach. The boat ride and time at Enemanit were thanks to a local businessman supporting the Lion's Club. While the club had it's annual meeting, we enjoyed the beautiful clear waters of the ocean. It rained on the way over, and several other times during the afternoon - but the sun kept coming back out between the rain showers too. Then the 25 of us that were there enjoyed a delicious potluck lunch to go with the chicken they barbequed over an open flame right on the beach. There was a big thatched roof pavillion and several bamboo wood and thatched roof little shelters to stay in to get out of the rain. It would be a good movie set for sure, because that is what it felt like - something out of a movie or novel.

The five of us above, waiting for the boat to launch and all the supplies to be loaded. Boston and Jacob were finishing a PB & J sandwich to tide them over until the big lunch.

This is the boat docked at Enemanit.

Jacob and Hannah enjoying the ride from the back of the boat on the way to Enemanit. The beautiful sandy beach above, full of interesting shells, roosters, chickens, pigs and dogs. Below you see Boston laughing in the water with Gordon's mother-in-law Donjean.

Here's a video of Boston running down the beach and into Peter's arms. What a terrific time we had and in such a beautiful place. Bye for now - Lois for us five

Sunday June 14, 2009

2009-06-13T02:33:00.000-07:00

Good Sunday morning to you all from the Marshall Islands! We are off to church in a little while, and then Gordon and his family have invited us on a boat excursion to another atoll for the afternoon. It should be a very fun day.

Here is a shot from last night of Hannah on the balcony just before sunset. She has enjoyed the almost daily visits from her birth mother and 1/2 brother. As we were leaving the grocery store yesterday afternoon, a lady came up to us and said she was Hannah's cousin. She recognized Hannah from pictures she'd seen of her.

We spent the morning on errands, and selecting a gift for Boston's birth family. Then we spent time in their courtyard and playing with all the kids. We brought Capri Sun juice pouches and balloons which were a hit. Boston had a great time seeing his birth family and playing with all the neighborhood kids too. He was sad, of course, when we left them....but it seems to be an easier transition each time. We won't see them again for 5 full days now and we'll keep adding a day between our visits. From all we read before this trip - this is our best idea for how to help Boston in his attachment to our family.

Yesterday at dinner - one of the servers came over to us because she said she recognized Jacob and Hannah from when they were babies. Her sister was one of the other birth moms placing a child at the same time we were here in 2003. We got to know her sister and those kids on that visit, and so it was fun to hear now what that family was up to. Maybe I'm a slow learner - but it still surprises me how many people know us, our kids, or are related to our kids or to someone they know!

Jacob was having a bath after dinner last night - and Boston really wanted to climb in with him. So here are the boys posing for one quick tub shot. Boston was much browner than Jacob when we first met him, but all this time in the sunshine here and Jacob has quickly caught up.

All three kids are doing great. Boston is responding well to his pneumonia meds and seems to be feeling much much better. Hannah switches between being mothering and hovering to Boston, to then being bothered if he gets into her "stuff". Jacob is fighting a cold but doesn't want to miss a thing or an opportunity to go and do things outside of the hotel. That is true of all of us - the hotel room has been fine, (we are especially thankful for the air conditioning) but it is nice to get away from it every day too! So with that - I'll sign off for today and hope to have lots of pictures and news tomorrow about our Sunday afternoon adventure to another island. Love, Lois

Day 16 Saturday June 13th

2009-06-11T21:52:00.001-07:00

Aren't these bright colors and beautiful faces on these kids just great! I took this picture after lunch yesterday Friday...the kids are Miley (9) and Brandon (7), birth cousins to Jacob. We took Jacob's birth mother Eomi, her husband, their two little boys, and these two cousins to lunch. This was taken sitting outside and waiting for a taxi in the downtown area. The four big kids had such fun together at one end of the table playing travel sized connect four, cards, coloring, mazes, etc. It is amazing how quickly the kids connect and how well they all get along.

On the taxi ride back to the hotel after our errands and lunch, the lady in the front seat told me that she was 2 months pregnant and would come and visit me tomorrow at the hotel to talk about making an adoption plan for her baby to one of our friends in the States! I had note paper with me and so wrote down the facilitator's name here. She can work directly with her and I am not part of that process. Obviously there must be a big sign outside the hotel that says "Peter and Lois are in Room 341!" Even strangers seem to know who we are, why we are here, and where to find us!

I have to share a battle that has been going on here. And, I don't mean the NBA basketball game (which was on LIVE satelite tv via ESPN yesterday during our lunch!). Peter decided that he wanted to start having cereal for breakfast in the room several days back. So - he chose a box of Raisin Bran for $5.50 at Payless, and we already had some milk in the frig in the room. We also bought a plastic bowl, and had brought plastic ware from home - so he was all set. He really enjoyed that bowl of cereal one day a couple days ago. He carefully closed up the inner bag tightly....but the ants here are especially sensitive and have a big sweet tooth. The next day he went to have his cereal - the whole bag was crawling inside with these tiny ants. Okay - 1 for the ants, 0 for Peter. So - we decided we must need to use these heavy duty Ziploc storage bags we have (not just the freezer type bags - the heavy thick blue ones). Peter purchased a 2nd box of Raisin Bran and again enjoyed just one bowl of it one day, before finding that even tightly closed, without the box, and inside the heavy zipped bag - his cereal was crawling with ants. So now it is 2 for the ants, $11 spent for 2 bowls of cereal, and Peter is done with this project!!!

Yesterday morning we had a lot of waiting and standing in lines - got a cell phone for one of our kids' birth mothers, made a trip to the bank for more singles, then opened a new post office box for the birth mothers to use so that we can keep in touch with them

I guess we should be thankful it is only ants we battle in our room. In the post office yesterday we heard lots of stories about critters while we were in line. One man said his son sent them some special flour via the mail, and something miscommunication happened so that it was not picked up from the post office here for a week. In that time - rats dug holes into both ends of the box and ate all the flour!

Boston seems to be feeling better after a whole day on his meds for the pneumonia. The big kids spent time in the ocean just past our hotel pool yesterday at a small sandy area. The hotel hosted a big dinner around the pool for 100 people from the Ministry of Education here, so the kids were asked to leave the pool (so the staff could prep and set up) soon after Peter took them down there yesterday afternoon. They were just as happy to try out this little beach area with Peter and 50 new Marshallese kid friends while Boston was napping upstairs and I was sorting papers, and trying to stay a little organized! I'll leave you with this new picture of Boston - a laughing and fun guy.

Last night we ordered a pizza from the hotel for dinner in the room and were going to get the kids to bed at a good time. Hannah's birth Mom and son stopped by for a visit which the kids love. She brought us coconuts from their yard. Can't you see this excitement through a kids' eyes - bed time is looming, but then you hear a knock on the door and know that you get to play more and with a new friend! Although the surprise visits are not my first choice - Peter and I are very thankful for all the time we have had with our kids' birth families during this trip. Our papers are still in Hawaii as of this morning - so I hope the lawyer can contact someone there and get the papers moving toward Manila soon.

Today we plan to visit Boston's birth family, get some more supplies and maybe rent a car again for the weekend. Tomorrow is church and then a boat trip to an outer island with our lawyer and family. Signing off for now - Love, Lois for us 5

Morning, Afternoon and Evening, now Day #15 Friday

2009-06-11T13:21:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone - here is a picture of Peter and the kids from yesterday morning...before the doctor for Boston. We brought some balloons for our little birthday celebration which have been a big hit with all the kids.

Thanks for all the comments you are posting on the blog. We are enjoying those. Yesterday seemed to be maintenance day on the island here. At the hotel - they washed down the outside of the stucco walls and cement hall ways from the 3rd/top floor where we are, down to the ground floor. The whole hotel seemed to be dripping with water. Then we also saw the big tall palm trees outside the hotel get pruned. The workers would climb a ladder part way up the tree, then climb up the trunk of the tree to the top, while carrying a big knife. At the top, they would hack away and palm fronds and coconuts would go crashing to the street below. When done, the worker would drop the knife to the ground and then climb down so quickly and easily - it was amazing. Then we learned that yesterday was a planned power outage from 8am - 5pm. It is something they do every few months.

After pool time for Jacob & Hannah, and a nap for Boston - here are the 3 kids sitting on Jacob's bed (which is a 3rd double mattress added to our room on the floor, jammed between the sliding glass door to the lanai on one side, and Hannah's double bed on the other side) watching a DVD on the laptop. I think it was Boston's first time watching a DVD - and it was a video of kids singing kids songs. He loved it. How about those curtains over the slider!? The curtains and the bedspreads are the same exact ones from 2003!

Boston does not like taking the medicine for his pneumonia (no surprises there!), but did sleep better last night and continues to be pleasant and fun, even though dragging. He stayed on Peter's shoulder most of our birthday dinner last night - so didn't spread his germs too far. We were 16 at dinner last night - Maddy and 2 of her girls, Gordon and 4 of his family, and then Hannah's birth mom and her family. Annie stopped by to visit just as we were getting ready to go to dinner, so they came along too. Below is a picture of us 5 in the lobby of the restaurant.

It was a good day celebrating Peter's birthday and getting Boston started on meds. The days here pass a lot slower than the days at home, but Friday is underway now. Bye until next time! Love, Lois

Pneumonia

2009-06-10T16:38:00.000-07:00

Hi - just a quick post - we decided to take Boston to the doctor today because his cough is not getting better. He does have pneumonia, so we got an antibiotic and decongestant/cough medicine from Dr. Pinano. Boston is napping now back in the room with Peter. I figured out that the wireless internet reaches to the pool area so I could post this quick update while watching Hannah and Jacob in the pool, and ask you all to pray for Boston. He has still been a pleasant little boy, but not as perky and not sleeping as well at night.

There was heavy rain last night and this morning, so a lot of the island doesn't have power. Talking to the security guard just now by the pool, he said the hotel has one power line that was not affected - so we are still enjoying power (mainly the air conditioning!) here. The clinic didn't have power either, but the doctor just examined Boston by the light of the open door. We just showed up without an appointment, he saw us, gave us the two medicines - and we paid $17.50 total.

Happy Birthday to Peter!

2009-06-10T12:29:00.000-07:00

It's Thursday morning here - June 11th.... Peter's birthday!
Here is a picture from dinner last night. Forgettable food - but fun being together as our family of 5, at a restaurant with one of those big lazy susans on the table. It provided lots of pre dinner entertainment for the kids to spin things around on it! How special it is for us to celebrate Peter's birthday here in RMI. Tonight we are hosting dinner for our lawyer Gordon and his family, plus our facilitator Maddy and her family. We have been married almost 15 years, and Peter was my best friend before we started dating. He is a Godly man, a wonderful friend, a terrific father, a loving husband and one of the hardest workers ever.

Above is a picture of Hannah by the pool yesterday afternoon - while taking a swimming break for a snack of Cheddar Bunnies. Boston did NOT like the Cheddar Bunnies, but is willing to taste almost anything. Jacob, on the other hand, cannot be bothered to stop swimming for a snack. He goes full speed in the pool until it's time to leave and go back to the room.

Above is a picture of the boys on the balcony from a few days back. Boston is having lots of fun with all of us - but especially loves to follow the kids around and do whatever they are doing. Yesterday morning I blew up a balloon and he played with that off and on throughout the day. He has seen volleyball played - it was very clear by how he stood and sort of served the balloon as if it was a volleyball, and wanted us to hit it back to him. I think spending his early days around that big tree in his community he learned a lot of things from the other kids and hours of play. He has also been giving us lots of kisses and singing some songs for us.

And here is a picture of the tuna can rental car. It's hard to compare it by itself in this picture to the size of another car - but that is Jacob in the background at the base of the tree.

Yesterday morning we walked over to the grocery store, the Bank of Guam (for quarters for laundry and dollar bills for taxis), and the post office. It's great that they are all in a row in one spot. Then we took a taxi back to the hotel since now we had all our bags of supplies and water to carry. The taxi drive asked right away about Boston - because, guess what!? He was one of Boston's birth uncles!

Bye for now from the islands. It's raining here this morning, but I'm sure it will soon end and the sun will be shining brightly soon. Love, Lois

Wednesday day #13 - unexpected visitors

2009-06-09T13:11:00.000-07:00

Good morning! Here's Boston from yesterday afternoon, after his nap, when he and I joined Hannah, Jacob and Peter down by the pool. Where he is standing is a decorative planter area, with a drop off to the ocean right behind him -- so that's why you see Peter's arm in the picture too!

Then here is that same view minus Boston - hope you can see how clear the water is and how much colorful coral is just underneath the surface.

The big highlight of our day for Jacob and Hannah was several hours at the pool.

It was a very low key day yesterday... In the morning we did a few errands and also made one delivery for friends from home, to get a gift to the birth mother of their son. After pool time, showers, returning the rental car and an early dinner - the kids were in pjs, we were reading books and then a knock came at the door. It was Hannah's birth mother, her husband and son. We explained that it was almost bed time for our kids but did invite them in for a bit. Our early bed time, where our kids are in bed by 8pm - is odd to them and seems really early. With the heat of the day, and sometimes sleeping in the day to escape the heat - we learned that folks here stay up much later in the evening and night. It makes sense because once the sun goes down, it does get a little bit cooler. Anyway - I was proud of Peter and I because we were able to communicate with them - "thanks for coming and visiting, but now we have to get our kids to bed" (who were now very wild having gotten to play with 3 year old Joshua for a bit now right before bed!) This family is waiting for a boat to be repaired so that they can travel back to an outer atoll where more of their family lives. Every day it seems they are hopeful the boat will be ready but it isn't.

Then we had one other unexpected visitor - a really really big bug - on the wall in the room after the kids were asleep. Peter could not reach it - swatted it with a towel but then lost track of it. We think it is a cockroach on steriods, and have seen one another time in the room. Tropics and bugs go together.

Bye for now - I checked DHL and our papers are at their 2nd stop in Honolulu Hawaii. After that they will go to Manila, Philippines. Hannah told me yesterday that she can't remember what our house looks like at home!! Funny how for the kids this time in RMI seems even longer to them! But we are trying to make the most of every day and have lots of fun along the way. Boston is a lot of fun and is doing great. Love, Lois

Tuesday, day #12, more sunshine and blue skies!

2009-06-08T02:13:00.000-07:00

Jacob with his birth mother Eomi, her husband and two of their sons:

Hannah, Ashley, Melissa, and Boston with a sucker in his mouth - don't know girl on right's name. Emcilla & girls' home:

Jacob on the left with some new play mates and Ashley by the big tree in the courtyard

Yesterday/Monday was another interesting day here. We went in the morning to visit Boston's birth family. Our facilitator Maddy led us there, and then had to leave to help a birth mother with a sick baby. Emcilla and her 3 girls live in an area of homes around a big big tree. We are learning that the folks here spend most of the day outside, and don't stay inside the hot houses. This big tree gave quite a bit of shade and there were about 25 kids playing outside when we arrived. We brought suckers and fruit leathers to share - and gave out every single piece. The fruit leathers weren't the best idea in the heat- but the kids loved them even though they were hard to get out of the packaging. Boston was happy to see his birth mom and sisters, and played with all the neighbor kids too. Our kids quickly started up a game of tag, I played hand clapping games with some of the kids, and led many verses of "if you're happy and you know it", "head shoulders knees and toes", etc. These sweet little kids just ate up the attention - it was darling to connect with these beautiful children. They were all sharing a bag of uncooked ramen noodles when we arrived, crunching it like a snack. Three of the girls really learned the "do you know exactly how to eat an oreo" hand clap game I taught them, and were teaching it to the others. They were proud of their new skills and so receptive to the praise. Peter gave many airplane rides, swinging kids through the air, etc... Then we took Emcilla and the girls to lunch....yes - 9 of us (3 adults and 6 kids) in our little tuna can rental car. We were quite the attraction at the restaurant....stares and lots of questions. The server asked if we had 6 children. Then we dropped Emcilla and girls off at their home and went back to the hotel to re stock the snack give-a-ways. Boston had a hard time leaving their- it was his hardest transition yet. But he got past it and we went on to have a good time the rest of the day. We have asked for 4 days next without seeing the birth family - so feel these four days will help Boston in his bonding to us, as the past 3 days without seeing his birth family seemed to help. We also are so thankful to be learning about Boston's first two years and what his life was like.

Later we headed to Jacob's birth family's home and one of the aunts rode with us to where Jacob's birth mom, her husband, and two of her little boys were. We visited briefly there and made plans to take them to lunch later this week. Then we went back to where Jacob's birth grandmother lives - and she does not even have a fan in the stifling heat of this little home. So we went to EZ Price Mart and bought a fan, a screwdriver and an extension cord. While Peter put the fan together for her - I drove to the store and bought some cold pops for everyone. Such a simple thing - and we were able to get it done right then. The Grandma was so appreciative. She lost her husband to death last year, and has been recovering from a stroke herself.

We went to an early dinner at Tide Table - had good food and a relaxing time. Then back to the hotel for showers, books and bed. Today is our 12th day gone from home. It is going to be a pool day for sure - already promised the kids! Bye for now - Love, Lois

Day #11 begins

2009-06-07T01:52:00.000-07:00

Good morning! We had a great day yesterday/Sunday. We went to church with our Lawyer Gordon and his family. It's the same church we visited in September 2003. So lots of memories came back for me, from when I first was there, holding 4 month old Hannah and feeling the heat of an upstairs church with no fans! Yesterday they had fans and windows open, the ocean is right in the background - a very beautiful scene. We appreciated being in a worship service with English speaking people from Fiji, Samoa, Taiwan, Philippines, Japan, Marshall Islands and the USA. After the two hour church service, with lots and lots of singing, we went to Gordon and Marissa's home for the afternoon. They hosted us so graciously and fed us delicious food too. Peter said it was the best meal he has had in months....no offense to my cooking. Well, I didn't take any offense, because I had to agree with him!! It was wonderful to be able to swim in the ocean, sit around and visit on the patio overlooking the sea, and to talk in English so easily. We learned more about the island and the customs, and just had a lot of fun. It was a gift. Gordon (born in India) & Marissa (born in the Philippines) have a 10 month old boy named Jacob, plus Marissa's sister (from an outer island) and mother (from the Philippines) were visiting. Soon after we finished our lunch and getting ready to go swimming, I saw the mom and sister working in the kitchen again. They were preparing a snack for us for later. That snack was homemade pizza and spaghetti - and we all ate it after swimming - delicious and unique with some Filipino flavorings.

Above is a picture of our Lil' Champ, as his shirt says, from yesterday afternoon. Boston may be saying "hi" here or may have just thrown something across the room. Yes, he does have quite an arm for throwing. He also amazes me that he lets us wipe his runny nose without ever turning away or complaining. He has the longest eyelashes - but they are also straight with no curve at all - interesting. He is doing well interacting with us and getting used to and sometimes even enjoying some of the daily routines like baths and brushing teeth. He is not very interested in the ocean - although Peter did get him laughing by dragging his toes through the water. Gordon told us that most Marshallese children have probably never even left their neighborhoods, let alone travelled to Laura Beach or somewhere else on the island.

Here is bathing beauty Miss Hannah having just come out of our swimming and jumping waves in the ocean yesterday afternoon. She was trying out the hammock here on Gordon & Marissa's patio. She is feeling fine and having lots of fun here. Typically Hannah - she is noticing lots of things about the styles and customs here.

This was the view from Gordon and Marissa's back yard/patio! Other than lots of rocks and coral to get over to swim (the kids wore their flip flops the whole time and Marissa loaned me a pair of water shoes) - it was a fantastic swimming place with clear water and fun waves. And the water temperature is perfect - no shock of cold when you get in the water. And although the view from their home is priceless - the home was simple and comfortable - so interesting to see how a working family here lives.

I liked this shot of quiet Jacob studying the ocean Sunday before lunch and before swimming. After that he never stopped moving and fell asleep so quickly at bed time last night - after his swimming and playing all afternoon. I stayed in the water with him for awhile, then when Hannah started shivering, she and I went in, and Gordon stayed out in the water with Jacob for a long time more. A neighbor girl came in the water too - and so Jacob could not have enjoyed himself more, playing in the water and talking - our island born boy back in the waters of his homeland.

This was taken outside the church Sunday morning. Boston is looking so very serious - but overall very fun of the five of us. We were given the beautiful flower leis as gifts because we were the visitors at church that morning.

Well, I am the only one downstairs here for breakfast this morning. The kids were watching Animal Planet on tv when I left, so that sounded better to them than waiting for a slow service breakfast down here. Free wireless internet in the restaurant here is great for us to keep in touch for sure (and a big improvement from 2003 when you had to use the hotel computer in the lobby and pay by the 1/2 hour for internet) - but for kids a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while watching tv can't be beat. There is a coffeemaker in the room so Peter can make his morning coffee with our bottled water. Today we plan to visit Boston's birth family - hopefully by going to their home....and then we are also planning to visit again with Jacob's birth family. One of Jacob's birth aunts is one of the servers here in the restaurant. It is amazing how everyone knows everyone on the island - or at least it seems that way to me. Bye for now - Sending our love across the miles and miles of ocean! Lois

Hi on Sunday morning as we look over the ocean

2009-06-06T12:35:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone - Hannah and I are down stairs in the restaurant eating breakfast. Peter and the boys are staying back in the room and having pb & j sandwiches for breakfast instead. We are leaving in a bit for church and visiting with our lawyer Gordon and his family. We are looking forward to that.

The pictures above are from Saturday afternoon. The lady is Hannah's birth mother Annie. The 4th kid is Hannah's 1/2 brother Joshua. But to explain the pictures - I have to back track. We ran some errands yesterday morning, and returned our rental car for one that was almost 1/2 the price. Well - sometimes you do get what you pay for. This current rental car is so tiny - you just have to laugh. And it is a stick shift which Peter never learned - so I'm trying to drive it without giving all of us whiplash. The front seat passenger can't get out of the car without someone opening it from the outside, because the inside handle is busted. The back seat passenger on the driver's side can't get in the car because the outside handle is broken. It feels like you are driving in a big empty tuna can.

After our morning errands/shopping (bought some beautiful woven handicrafts for home) - Hannah had a headache and a fever. She and Boston stayed back in the room with Peter and both napped. Jacob went with me to get some more groceries (there is a small frig in room so we can't buy much at once and bugs come on any food that is out) and pick up the tuna can rental car. We had just returned to the room, H & B were still sleeping and we had a knock at the door. Hannah's birth mother Annie, her husband and her 3 year old son Joshua stopped by. Annie brought Hannah two beautiful gifts (a vase made out of shells and a big beautiful sea shell) which is the first picture above. Then they stayed and visited for hours. You can imagine that the visiting is especially interesting with our language barrier and with 8 people in a hotel room! But we did learn several Marshallese phrases which have already helped us communicate with Boston. Eventually we all went to dinner, then we stopped by Jacob's birth family's home to reschedule our visit with them for another day - since it didn't happen yesterday. Then back to the hotel for bed. At the store earlier - I had purchased a snickers bar for myself and a kit kat for Peter - a taste of home. I ate mine last night in the dark with a cold Diet Coke in a can while Peter and I were talking about the day and the kids were already asleep. Simple pleasure for sure! I told Peter I needed that snickers like someone needs a drug!

From the second picture - you can see that the kids had a great time playing together. In fact - since there are kids around everywhere here, our kids are playing with kids everywhere. In the morning, while I was looking at the woven handicrafts, and Peter was standing outside the store with the kids (since Boston didn't get the look but don't touch idea inside the store!), the kids made new friends and played for those few minutes. And as you can see from Hannah's silly crossed eyes in the 2nd picture - she was feeling fine again after her rest. Maybe she was just overheated earlier from being out in the heat in the morning. Jacob and Hannah both complain about the heat here at times.

Okay - must finish this and get upstairs and packed up for the day. Kommol tata - which means thank you in Marshallese! Love, Lois

Rain, pigs and moving shells

2009-06-05T02:42:00.000-07:00

Hi from Majuro, RMI - Here is a picture of Boston from Laura Beach yesterday! He had a great time playing in the sand, but ran from the water and did not want it to touch his toes.

Here is a picture of Peter and the kids from Laura Beach yesterday, Friday 6/5!

Jacob really enjoyed swimming in the ocean!

Here's Hannah enjoying the breeze on the beach!

Once we decided to head to Laura Beach for the day yesterday, we had a hard time finding a rental car. The third place we tried had one car available and Jacob and Hannah and I had a fiasco of a taxi ride getting to the rental car place. The driver stopped for directions 3 times and took us to three places that were not where we wanted to go. We had a good laugh.

The trip to the Beach takes about an hour and it is about 40 miles away. It felt like we were going to drive off into the ocean. This atoll is not wide anyway - at its widest point it is 1/4 mile wide. So at its narrow points - the road seemed the only thing breaking up the ocean all around us.

I was thinking there would be one of those brown "state park" informational signs saying "Laura Beach". How silly of me. We drove until the road stopped. Then there was a chain blocking the road so we could not go further. We turned around and asked two local girls where the beach was. They told us that chain barrier was it....and you pay to enter at the house next to that gate. So we went back - paid our $4.50 to get in (Boston was only 50 cents!), and the lady and her daughter moved the chain so we could drive closer to the beach.

Eating a peanut butter and jam sandwich in the front seat of the car with your 6 year old son is a lot of fun on an adventure in the rain to the beach, as we watched the pigs, roosters, dogs, cats and lots of other activity on the side of the road. With no front air bags in the rental car and no seat belt laws for kids here - Jacob and Hannah were thrilled to each have a turn riding in the front seat of the car! Yes, it started to rain as we headed to the beach - but it didn't matter. Boston had a nap on Peter's lap on the way there. We waited for the rain to slow and then had a great time for a couple hours at the beach with drizzle off and on. Then on the way home - the tootsie roll eating contest between the girls in the front seat and the 3 boys in the back seat is the stuff great memories are made of. Yes, Boston does like tootsie rolls and does not like raisins so far.

The beach was beautiful even without the sunshine. The sand was a lot of crushed shells, we saw fish in the ocean, the kids swam, we dug in the sand, and watched the waves. Some of the shells along the beach sprouted legs and moved which was fun to watch too. It was a great day for our family of five. We came back to the hotel, had showers, and drove to a different restaurant for dinner. I learned that a big bowl of ramen for dinner keeps Boston very occupied as he eats it strand by strand!

In other trivia - Banana pancakes are out here for days now - guess there is a shortage of bananas. And last night at dinner - I asked about dessert (as the main dinner left me a little to be desired still) and all the desserts were described to me in detail - but then I was told they didn't have any of them. Funny. And how the post office can be icey cold, but the grocery store right next door is painfully hot - these are just other curiousities to me here. I have learned that I can get a load of laundry in and out if I do it right after we get up in the morning, before housekeeping starts...but it is fun to walk in the laundry room in the morning and step on a big old bone that some animal has been chewing on from the night before.

Island life continues - weekend ahead. Thanks for keeping in touch with us! Love, Lois

Friday

2009-06-04T02:45:00.001-07:00

Hi from three cuties in the Marshall Islands - this picture was from Thursday 6/4/09 -goofing around on the bed. This picture was from Tuesday morning i think - 6/2/09. Jacob and Hannah in pjs and Boston still in the clothes he came to us with....for him to have something familiar that first day especially.

We are down at breakfast as usual. Hannah is coloring her velvet art book, Jacob, Peter and Boston are wandering around outside on the patio. We are going to try and rent a car today for the weekend - and head off to Laura Beach today - 35 miles away I believe. We tried to go there once before on our last trip, but didn't make it due to a hungry baby girl, etc.! It will be great to have some time together just for fun and just our new family of 5.

We spent time yesterday separately with all three kids' birth families. We got lots of good pictures and communicated as well as possible with the language barrier. I have given out a LOT of dum dum suckers and am so glad we brought so many this time to share. Amazing how a sucker is a draw to every kid. It is amazing to me how everyone on the island seems to know everyone else. It's small, but still about 30,000 people....yet the taxi driver on the way to Jacob's birth family's home (as best we remembered from before) was able to get us all the way there once we gave him the family name.

Well I will send this for now and hope to have some more scenery pictures tomorrow if we do get to the beach. Our papers left the island yesterday via DHL to Guam, Honolulu and then Manila! Love, Lois

Thursday morning hello

2009-06-03T13:58:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone - The first picture above is from yesterday afternoon - hanging around the hotel room and playing. Next is the view from our hotel room balcony this morning 6/4/09! Sunshine, blue skies, and water that is many shades of blue and green.

As we were walking the couple blocks from our hotel to get our water and supplies yesterday, a man on the street asked us about Hannah, because he recognized her from the photos we have sent in the past to Annie, Hannah's birth mom. This man was Annie's father - Hannah's birth grandfather! Annie, her 3 year old son, and her father came to the hotel to visit in the afternoon then. It was great to be able to connect with them, because they are leaving tomorrow for the remote island where they live (no electricity, etc). We hope to see them again today - but did have a good visit yesterday looking at pictures, taking new ones, etc. Hannah did really well with the visit and is very proud of a hair comb that Annie was wearing, and then gave to Hannah.

The weirdest thing happened last night - Boston got completely underneath our bed and was asleep there! We have a little bed made up for him on the floor next to my side of the bed - just between the bed and the walls - it's soft and cozy and he's done well there, moving around some but sleeping great through the nights. Last night about 2am I woke up and could not see him. I thought I must be dreaming - checked the whole room and could not find him. Then I turned on the bathroom lights and started looking under the bed. I could not reach him he was so far under our bed - sleeping away! It was so frightening! So then I had to wake Peter up and tell him what happened. Peter's first comment (from his half asleep stage mind you) was that Boston was sleeping fine there. I told him we HAD to get him out - what if he woke up, popped up his head, was disoriented, frightened or hurt. Peter was able to reach Boston and gently pull him out. Boston only cried out once and went right back to sleep - but then I lined up all our 2.5 gallon jugs of water to block the opening to go under the bed so that doesn't happen again. The first thing Jacob and Hannah asked this morning was why the water was all by the bed - - Peter told them I was REALLY thirsty in the night! I'm not laughing about the whole thing yet - still such an odd feeling to wake up to - but it will be a great story to tell Boston when he is older and much too big to fit under the bed.

Sending that fax yesterday took about 30 minutes, and doing one load of laundry took over 2 hours. Peter says we are spoiled with the conveniences at home - probably!! It has been good to see Boston more happy than sad lately, and engaging more and more in play and interacting with us. I am going to send this now and hope to write more tomorrow. It took an hour just to get on line this morning - so the kids are long done with breakfast and walking around outside with Peter. Love, Lois

Ocean life

2009-06-02T12:21:00.000-07:00

Hi from Majuro - the breakfast order is in the kitchen and Peter and the 3 kids are outside on the patio exploring. Hannah has already run in here to tell me she saw a crab in the ocean. This is the start of day #6 of our journey here. It must have rained overnight because everything is dripping wet this morning! We don't hear the rain with our air conditioner running all night long.

Yesterday morning we walked over to the copy place across the street to make some copies for the U.S. Embassy appointment. We came back to find the birth family and a neighbor waiting for us. We visited some in the room and served some of our many snacks! Then we got a call from the lawyer to come to his office to prep for the embassy visit, so went there. Then back to the hotel for a bit, then the lawyer picked us up and took us to the Embassy. Just as last time - I love being in the US Embassy and seeing the President's picture hanging there. The picture of Peter and the kids above is in front of the hotel - waiting for our ride to the embassy.

Anyway - Embassy appointment went great - truly a breeze - birth mother interview, nice people, we had all the papers ready - no surprises. The kids were running around the embassy as if they had played there lots of times before. Jacob and Hannah were all eyes at the security we had to go through to get into the Embassy. The security was very interested in my epi pen and what it was used for. After the Embassy appointment, we went right to DHL and got the package of Boston's immigration documents ready to ship to Guam, Honolulu and then Manila. What a relief it is to be done with those first few days of business! Now we wait. The DHL package will leave here on Thursday - as that is the next flight out. After the embassy we all went to the pool, then brought some dinner back to the room. Showers and baths for all the kids - Boston did NOT like his so we did it super quick! He also did NOT like brushing his teeth! All the kids were asleep by 8pm and slept thru the night til about 6am. It was the best night of sleep for all of us since the trip began.

Boston is doing well - he had two really hard times yesterday when he saw his birth mother and then she left again. We have asked that we not see the birth family now for these next two days to give Boston a really good start in getting to know us. Then we will continue to add days between visits for Boston's attachment to us. Today we just have some errands to do, grocery store, laundry, a fax to our health insurance. That's it. We hope to begin visiting birth families for Jacob and Hannah too.

Well, breakfast is done - Boston enjoyed his short stack of pancakes! He has a good appetite and had chicken and rice for dinner last night. The clothes we brought that are 24 mo and 2T fit him well. He likes the toys we brought - but then also likes the vitamin bottle and shaking it to make noise. Bye for now! I'll send this with our love and thanks for supporting us on this journey! Lois

Boston Caleb Stenstrom

2009-06-01T12:46:00.000-07:00

Hello on Tuesday afternoon! I tried to post this morning, but was unsuccessful - so will try again now around 1pm here. Peter and the three kids are back in the room. When I left, Jacob, Hannah and Boston each had a sucker in their mouth and had just found some kids tv to watch. Looking out the windows here - the lagoon/ocean is just 10 feet away and beautifully blue! Today is bright sunshine and hot....the previous three days have been overcast and rainy at times.

Court yesterday went really well - One hour and 15 minutes....The birth mother was called first on the witness stand, then me, then Peter - then it was done. The picture above is in front of the Judge's bench after it was done. You can see that Boston was not impressed with the proceedings - he fell asleep during court and had a nap.

The hours after court were a flurry of car rides - getting his passport pictures, a celebration lunch with the birth mother, lawyer and others involved in the process here; getting Boston's new birth certificate; applying for his Marshallese passport; and seeing the doctor for his immigration physical. The facilitator here and the lawyer are exceptional people - we accomplished in hours yesterday what took DAYS the last time we were here! About 5:30pm we were together as our family of 5 in our hotel room. Boston is a brave little boy, but obviously is having some really sad times. He also has perked up at times and played hard with all of us. We are so thankful to God that he slept the whole night through!

This morning we went to the lawyer's office to go over all the papers for today's appointment. And the passport that was to be expedited for Boston was not yet done - but thanks to the lawyer's history - he just called the attorney general (who signs the passport) and got it done before their office closed at noon for the lunch break. I guess no one showed up to work today at that passport office, so things came to a halt! Island time!

I'll keep this short because we have to leave soon for our US Embassy appointment at 2pm today - the last big step in the paperwork process here. It will also be another time for Boston to see his birth mother, since she has to be interviewed as well....so we realize these days will be full of happy and sad times.

Boston is a darling boy - has a great twinkle in his eyes, can throw great from both arms, (as we threw stuffed animals and koosh balls in the room yesterday), babbles, laughs, loves playing with Jacob and Hannah....and enjoys food - especially candy and MOUNTAIN DEW! Yikes!

Thanks for your love and prayers and support across all these miles! More tomorrow! Love, Lois for the FIVE of us

Court day arrives!

2009-05-31T12:09:00.001-07:00

Emcilla, Boston and Hannah

Hannah, Jacob, Ashley and Toline

Ashley, Boston and Jacob

Good morning! We are at breakfast and then will head out to get our taxi to the Court House. Yesterday late afternoon we met with our lawyer and he went over in detail everything for today's proceedings. We will have the same judge as we had for adopting Jacob and Hannah in September 2003. We learned that the judge is really fitting us in - he initially wanted the court date to be last Friday and the lawyer told him we'd need more time to arrive here! The lawyer is a great guy and was very thorough. Emcilla and Boston were also at the lawyer's with us. Then all 10 of us came back to the hotel for dinner -Maddy the facilitator/translator from our agency, us four, then Emcilla and Boston, and Emcilla's other three children - all girls: Ashley age 10, Melissa age 6, and Toline age 3.5! We had a great time over dinner - Boston and the kids all had a great time playing, laughing - just so great to see. Boston was the most animated we have seen him yet. Emcilla also had him call me MaMa which was very sweet! Jacob and Hannah were following Boston around, and feeding him from their plates, etc. Pictures above are from dinner last night. Peter and I were talking this morning that this process is almost surreal - that today Boston officially becomes a Stenstrom! It was just on January 8, 2009 that we applied to JOH to return to the Marshall Islands to adopt another child. Here we are going to court to adopt Boston on June 1, 2009. We are thankful to God for paving the way for every step of this process!

Peter took the kids to the pool yesterday while I waited for housekeeping (we did get another mattress in the room and so are staying put and giving up on the mystery suites!) At the pool, Peter and the kids had more time to visit with Jacob's aunt who works in the restaurant, and also met one of her daughters, a cousin of Jacob's! When Jacob met Boston's sisters last night, I heard him tell them: I was born here, you know! It's great to see him so very proud of his heritage. Okay - breakfast is done, and I need to sign off for now! Love, Lois

Sunday afternoon in the Marshall Islands

2009-05-30T18:10:00.000-07:00

Our three kids on the balcony of our hotel room, overlooking the lagoon! Boston with his first of several dum dum lollipops Saturday afternoon in our room.

the four of us arriving at the airport in Majuro, Marshall Islands Saturday morning 5/30/09:

Hi everyone – It is Sunday afternoon here and we have all been awake since 3am local time! Hopefully each day we’ll adjust to the local time a bit more! The kids are both napping right now and so this is my chance to update the blog. So much has happened since we left Hawaii! I am sitting in the hotel restaurant where I found they have free wireless internet. It took awhile to get to this point with technology and language barriers!!

We landed here in the rain yesterday morning about 10:30am. As we were coming in for the landing, I told Hannah “this is where you were born!” She said “oh, it’s that little?!” When we got to the immigration/border official for entry to the country – he said to Jacob: “welcome back buddy!” Jacob loved being recognized as Marshallese right away.

After immigration we were greeted by masked health care workers who had us fill out forms about Swine Flu exposure. Then we all had our temps taken in our ears, and when they were normal, we were off to collect our luggage next. The returning RMI residents were all getting some type of shot in this same line. Then we went to customs, where the official asked if we were moving to the island – that was his comment on all our luggage! Four people and four bags didn’t seem like so much to me – we brought more than this on our last trip here!! We tried to take some pictures at the airport – but the humidity fogged up the lens almost every time. The best one is posted above.

The hotel van driver was the same gentleman who had helped us when we were here in Sept. 2003, and we have met some other people from our past trip too. We recognized some places on the ride from the airport – but many new things have been built. We checked in and then walked to the grocery store to get water and some other supplies. The grocery store is named PAYLESS, but could certainly be called pay MORE (compared to home!) Peter was interested to see how many specialty food items the store carried, like ones that his company represents. Inside the grocery store it was hotter than it was outside.

Then - for the highlight of Day #2 of this adventure - yesterday afternoon our facilitator Maddy brought Boston and his birth mother to our room. Boston was very shy and afraid of us…but we just watched him and kept a distance. We visited with his birth mother through Maddy’s translating. He burst into tears at the flash of the first picture I took of him. After awhile, he did enjoy the dum dum suckers I offered him, plus some little cars to play with. Besides playing with the cars up and down the floor, he lined up all 5 cars in a row – which was very fun to see. He also tapped his suckers together like drumsticks and I thought how surprised he’ll be when he sees and hears Jacob’s drums played at home! He is a beautiful little boy and we are anxious to get to know him more!

Maddy brought two of her daughters too – and the 4 bigger kids were having a great time together. Boston was watching them and sometimes saying some words. Boston also really liked being outside on our balcony overlooking the lagoon, with the breeze in his face. By the time our visit was winding up – I was sitting near Boston and his birth mom was back inside the room. It was a great first visit and we learned a lot about his birth family. He has three sisters, and we are looking forward to meeting them today. We taking the family to dinner today.

We are also supposed to meet with the lawyer today and maybe rent a car and maybe see about moving to a suite. Something mysterious is up with the suites – no one can even talk about them it seems – today when I asked if anyone would be checking out of a suite in the next few days – I was told I’d have to make an appointment to speak to the boss. These must be some kind of nice rooms! All we want is a little more room for 5 of us to sleep starting Monday night! A rollaway bed or 2 or even cots would be perfect - but no luck with that yet.

We went to church this morning - small English service. We are going swimming later – which the kids can not wait to do – in the hotel pool. It is school graduation time here – so there is a lot of activity around the hotel with parties and balloons and cakes we saw last night. We have eaten some good things already – I had macadamia nut crusted mahi mahi for dinner last night – and Peter had banana pancakes with coconut syrup for breakfast this morning.

In just the time of breakfast today at the hotel - we met one of Jacob’s birth aunts, and someone else who knows Hannah’s birth family. We are really thankful for these connections already and look forward to spending some time with the families during our stay here.

Seeing the island through the kids eyes is amazing. Jacob is more excited than I have ever seen him. Both kids enjoyed playing with Boston yesterday too.

So – goodbye for now from the islands….”one of the most unique places in the world – made up of 29 coral atolls and 5 single islands spread out over an exclusive economic zone of nearly 1 million square miles!” There’s your dose of RMI history for today from our guidebook! The guidebook is interesting, even if not the most accurate! We arrived at church today when it was more than 1/2 over, since the guidebook had the wrong time. We are enjoying the taxi rides too - $1 or $2 gets us all to church or back to the hotel with bags of supplies and water jugs too heavy to carry. With gasoline here being $5+ a gallon - the taxi system is great. With love from across the Pacific Ocean! Lois

Aloha!

2009-05-28T19:11:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone - We are here in beautiful Honolulu Hawaii! It's 4pm here and 9pm at home. Peter and the kids just headed out to find us some dinner. We had a good flight here and are excited about flying to the Marshall Islands in the morning! These pictures are from outside the airport in Honolulu with our piles of luggage as we were waiting for the hotel shuttle earlier this afternoon. Day #1 of this adventure has gone well. Stay tuned for more news!

Three more days!

2009-05-24T18:30:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! With just a week's notice of our travel date, we are getting ready for our trip to the Marshall Islands. We leave home on Thursday morning May 28th for Hawaii....and then we leave Hawaii the next morning May 29th for Majuro in the Marshall Islands, crossing the international date line and arriving there on Saturday May 30th. Our court date to adopt Boston is Monday June 1st. Thanks to Kerry for setting up this blog for us! We'll try to post lots of news and pictures from our trip! Here's a picture of Jacob and Hannah in their big brother/big sister shirts, plus our referral picture of Boston!