8th Anniversary of Gotcha Day

Yesterday was the 8-year anniversary of Shen joining our family. It was 8 years ago that he and I met for the first time in China, and what a blessing it has been to our family to have Shen as our son and Connor's brother. I thought i would just post a couple of pictures to show how much he has grown. One picture is from his green belt testing for Karate and the other is on a 6-mile hike in Rocky Mountain National Park that we did in August.

Shen's New Friends Summer, 2014

Shen has met some new friends this summer. They are Ryan and Kyle Cavnar. Here are the 3 boys at Brookfield Zoo....Pretty cool!

Firsts

Well, it's been a long time since I've posted, but there have been a lot of 'Firsts' for Shen in 2014. Take a look at the photos with this post. There's his first time fishing, Connor's High School Grauduation, and receiving the Mr Hustle Award at Basketball Camp.

Shen's First Bike Ride

Memorial Day Weekend, 2012 - A big time for Shen! It was this weekend that Shen and his dad went on a 2-mile bike ride. Connor had already played the big role of teaching Shen how to ride his bike, and maintain balance. But, on Saturday and Sunday of this weekend, Shen and dad worked on getting started on his own, keeping the bike going, and making turns. Then, it was time for t

he big day, an actual bike ride. We walked our bikes up to the bike path, and then Shen led with dad following. We had to stop 6 times (intentionally) to practice stopping and walking our bikes across streets. All in all, a BIG weekend and Shen was simply elated about his first REAL bike ride. Here are some picutes from the weekend! Enjoy!

Summer's Ending

What a fast summer this has been! After a brutally cold winter, and a short, very wet spring, we hit summer hard. Shen had a great summer. First, he went with the Brewer family to Florida (while mommy and daddy spent their 10th anniversary in the Tetons). Then, the family went on an Alaskan Cruise, where Shen saw a Lumberjack show, 11 whales (both Orca and Humpback), panned for gold, and got to pet some sled dog puppies. Once back from Alaska, he went to soccer camp for a week and had a GREAT TIME (Please see the attached picture).
During the entire summer, we realized that Shen's hearing had gotten worse, and sure enough, he had to have the tubes re-inserted. So, in early August and just prior to school starting (August 15 - really early), he had tubes inserted in his ears. You can see the attached picture as he was leaving the hospital that morning.
School has started, homework has started, and the temperatures are falling. Life is Great!!
Love,
Jack, Jodie, Connor and Shen

Summer's Ending

Summer's Ending

Shen's First Campout & Father's Day 2011

Shen and daddy recently went on a Father/Son campout with the men and their sons from our church, The Chapel. There were about 12 dads and their sons, and we had a great time. We had a bonfire, roasted smores, ate a great dinner together, and Shen even got to go on his first kayak ride. Attached is a picture of Shen in the Kayak. It was a little dark but he LOVED the kayak ride. And, he and daddy had a great time on the campout!!
On Father's Day, Connor, Shen and Jodie gave dad a great day!! But, the highlight was watching Connor and Shen eat the colored frosting on the monster chocolate chip cookie they bought me. To see how much fun we all had, note the picture of the boys sticking out their tongues to record for posterity!! A GREAT Father's Day!!

Shen's First Baby Tooth & Kung Fu Panda 2

Two big events for Shen this past month: He lost his first baby tooth, and the tooth fairy brought him $5 (I 'think' that is only for the first tooth). My, how inflation has happened. Daddy remembers getting a dime for his baby teeth! You can see the picture of the big boy holding his tooth in his palm, and also smiling with the tooth missing.
Also, Shen was VERY excited to see Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D!! As we exited the theater, the Panda was waiting, so we got a picture of the Panda with Shen.
Enjoy!!

Shen's First Organizaed Sport

This past Spring, Shen got very involved in sport for the first time. He had a great time, and did very well. He learned ball handling skills of dribbling and passing, and scored several times throughout the season. All in all, he did really well, and had a great time. Jodie and I were REALLY proud of him, how he connected with his teammates, how he supported them when he may not have been on the field, and how he celebrated their successes on the field. The highlight (for daddy) was arriving at O'Hare one day late from a speaking engagement, getting home and, while still wearing his suit, saw Shen score his first goal ever. Daddy raised his arms in triumph, and Shen wanted to know why daddy raised his arms like that :). A GREAT Experience for Shen!!! Here are a couple of pictures to celebrate the beginning of sport in Shen's life. In the 2nd picture, Shen is # 25!

Star of the Week

This is big week coming up for Shen! although i haven't blogged in awhile, i feel it's important to get this one in. Each week a student in Shen's Kindergarten class is named Star of the Week. Mommy has worked VERY hard with Shen on getting his poster done. The poster has some of Shen's writings as well as photos showing him in China and then with his Forever Family.
He is so excited to have this poster done, and to be able to show it to his little friends at school. I am going to attach a photo of his poster when we get it finished.
Each day, he gets to take something to school for Show 'N Tell. On Tuesday, he took Buzz Lightyear - his favorite toy "to infinity and beyond." On Wednesday, he took Carrot, his stuffed animal, bunny, that is special because mommy surprised him with bunny last year. He sleeps with Carrot every night, and loves the bunny. On Thursday, he took his Lego Truck, that he put together all by himself (with only a little help from big brother, Connor). He is so good at building things!!
Love to all,
Jack, Jodie, Connor and Shen

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

Final Social Worker Visit & Johnny Appleseed

We have certainly had a lot going on the last few days!! Today was a big, big day for the Groppel household. Our social worker, Amy Trotter, whom we love, did her final review of our home and Shen's progress. She gave us the great news that we are done with the adoption "process." Can I hear a big 'YIPPPEEE!" through the land??!! As we were going through this last interview, mommy and daddy actually broke down a couple of times because we were able to reflect on the past year and what it has been like with this little man in our home. It was a great experience and we are so thankful that we had Amy, our first social worker Pam Gaston (who retired during the process - it was that long - just kidding...), for Sunnyridge Family Center in Illinois and for Harrah's International Mission. Harrah's was our adoption service and they actually went out of business this past summer.
This past weekend we went to the Johnny Appleseed Festival (which we went to one year ago - you can see pictures back in the blog). I have included some pictures. Shen went pumpking bowling and got a strike, then received a little pumpkin for his achievement. He petted some animals; you can see him with the sheep. He rode the tractor barrel train and he also rode his first horse. I'm not sure there is a future cowboy but he did seem pretty comfortable for his first time in the saddle.
We hope and pray that all of you are well.
Love,
Jack, Jodie, Connor and Shen

Mommy, Connor and Shen - One Year Anniversary

Hello Friends! Today is a big day for our household! It was one year ago today at 5:30 in the afternoon that Shan and daddy pulled into the driveway on their trip from China. It was at that moment when Shen met his FOREVER mommy and big brother.
The past year has gone really fast; so fast in fact that it's hard to imagine Shen has been with us for a whole year. He is just such a big part of our family and it feels like he has always been with us. Without doubt, God created this relationship within our family. Wa feel truly blessed and are honored to share this moment with all of you!
God Bless You!
Jack, Jodie, Connor and Shen