Shen is a U.S. Citizen

August 27, 2010, will always be a big day for Shen and our entire family! On this day, daddy took an oath on Shen's behalf, citing that, yes, he was physically born in China, but that all allegiances are now to the United States of America! In the oath is that Shen will defend the United States, and even bear arms to do so. It was 'chilling' and heart-warming at the same time, to accept that responsibility for Shen.
Just imagine that it is one week shy of 2 years ago, that daddy ventured to China to pick him up. And, now, he is a Citizen of the United States. What a great country we live in, and thanks to God for all the Blessings He has bestowed on our family.
I will blog in the near future to summarize all the things that we have done this summer, and I'll add some pictures of Shen from the all the activities.
Love to you all,
Jack, Jodie, Connor and Shen

Shen and Benny

It has been so long since we have posted but we have made a few posts on our Facebook page. Daddy is in Seattle today and just felt like putting a picture of Shen with one of his two favorite cats, Benny. Benny is a Himalayan that just likes to cuddle (on HIS terms). In this picture, you can see that Benny has cuddled up to Shen and seems very comfortable.
We have had a great winter and Shen is growing so rapidly. It was cold, with a lot of snow, but we have survived, and are healthy, happy and enjoying the warmer weather of the Spring.
We love you and we will try to continue posting occasionally.
Love,
Jack, Jodie, Connor and Shen

Daddy's Birthday and Thanksgiving

Sorry it's been awhile since we have blogged. Daddy's been traveling and we went to the North Carolina coast with our cousins, the Lauffer's, for Thanksgiving. Attached is the birthday party that mommy, Connor and Shen had for daddy. It was perfect, especially given that daddy doesn't like counting birthdays a whole lot anymore....
Thanksgiving was truly wonderful. Shen got to meet his cousins for the first time, and he especially got to connect with Lily, their daughter, aged 7, who they adopted from China, several years ago. We played on the beach, swam in the ocean (although it was pretty chilly), toured a small town, toured the USS North Carolina Battleship (Shen and Connor REALLY loved that), and generally had some incredible fellowship on an incredible holiday. We are all so thankful for everything that God has bestowed upon us. And, we are especially thankful for all of you.
Just an FYI....we will be updating this more sporadically as time goes on. However, we have begun a Facebook account under daddy's name, so please visit us there and stay in touch.
May God Bless you and Keep you!!
Jack, Jodie, Connor and Shen

This Past Halloween

Although we are a week late in getting this on the blog, it is still worth telling! Last week's Halloween weekend was an incredible amount of fun for our entire family. It started out with Friday night, when Connor and Shen carved their own pumpkin for the holiday festivities the next night. You can the photo of the boys in the garage and big brother showing little brother how to carve a pumpkin.
Halloween began in Algonquin on Saturday at 3:00pm. Shen was VERY excited to be Optimus Prime from Transformers. In fact, he couldn't wait to get his costume on. You can see Shen and Mommy posing on the front porch before he and daddy went trick or treating. Mommy stayed behind and had a fire pit in our driveway, handing out candy to all the halloweeners, while Connor walked with daddy and Shen a little, and then joined his buddy Armin for teeenage trick or treats :).
The boys made one serious haul of candy. In fact, we have already thrown it out, explaining to Shen that it just won't keep that long :)
Sunday, while it is supposed to be a day of rest, especially AFTER Halloween, was not for Shen. He was still so excited to be Optimus Prime that he wore it to Wal Mart so he could show off to people. Note the picture in the middle of Wal Mart! People loved seeing him dressed up and several said, Hi Optimus, or Look, there's Optimus Prime!! It was a great weekend and wonderful family time!!
We hope all of you are well!
Love,
Jack, Jodie, Connor and Shen

Shen's 5th Birthday!!

What a great day! Our little man turned 5 years old today and we think he had one seriously great day! He awoke this morning, and immediately was asked, How old are you? With a huge smile, he held up all five fingers of one hand and said, "FIVE!"
We had a low-keyed party with our good friends, the Wards, and Shen shared his birthday cake with everyone. The birthday boy made out with some great presents too. He got a "Henry" and "James", for his Thomas train set, as well as the Sotor bridge. He also got a big coloring book from Grandma and Grandpa, as well as a Kindergarten learning book, a race car kit from big brother (Connor), some new clothes, and a Holloween costume of "Optimus Prime" from the Transformers. But, the real treat for Shen was Mommy's idea of a Smart Cycle. It hooks up to the TV and he can bicycle away, while learning words, coordination, etc. It's pretty cool!! In fact, he rode it for an hour-and-a-half this afternoon after receiving it.
We took Connor to his rehearsal for his big Chorus Concert tomorrow night!
All in all, a pretty incredible day, and we are just incredibly for God's unbelievable favor on us by giving us Shen. This past 13 months has been life-changing for all of us.
All our love,
Jack, Jodie, Connor and Shen (all 5 years of him)

A Great Fall Weekend

This past week has been a full one! But, over the weekend, Shen has been able to get some great playtime in during the aweseom fall activities held in our community. He got to experience two differenct activities, one a Fall Harvest Festival in Alonguin and the other a fall celebration held at the First Baptist Church in Crystal Lake. At the Church, Shen played all kinds of games but he LOVED sitting in a real fire engine. You can see how much fun he had in the pictures.
Then, we went to the Algonquin Fall Festival and, again, he played games and made a "haul" in prizes. But, the most fun that Shen had at the Fall Festival was playing on the big bounce game where he raced people, large and small, from start to finish. He didn't want to stop and, by the end of the afternoon, he was exhausted.
Summer sure went fast but Shen is now asking how long before it snows....Needless to say, mommy, daddy and Connor are not in a big rush for snow!!!!
We hope all of you are well!
God Bless,
Jack, Jodie, Connor and Shen

Richardson Farm - Year 2

Recently, Connor, Shen and daddy, along with our neighbor, Colin Ward, went to the world's largest corn maze, at Richarson Farms. It is over 11 1/2 miles of corn maze. You can go back to October, 2008, to see our pictures from last year. This year was a beautiful day, with the exception that it had rained for several consecutive days. Thus, the corn field was VERY muddy. Connor even slipped once and fell, but we all had great laughs!!
We had a great time as you can see from the pictures. We spent about an hour in the muddy maze, then in the petting zoo, the slides and go carts. You can see Shen hanging on to one of the gliders and Colin is pushing Shen in the go-cart.
We hope you enjoy the pictures and we pray that all of you are well.
Love,
Jack, Jodie, Connor and Shen