Introducing...Grace!

Another Child Waits
I've watched my friends go home from here, to their families, one by one,

Yet here I stay thru all these years, Waiting for you to come.
I know that I'm not perfect, Yet they tell me that I'm bright,

I just wish that you could only look, past what is wrong, to what is right.
I've watched my friends go home from here, I dream of how that'd feel,

A pair of loving arms to hold me, Will this dream ever become real?
I know that I would be home by now, If not for fears of the unknown,

Yet I have many of my own you see, In that you're not alone.
I've watched my friends go home from here, It's happening to Meili today,

But wait! Her Mama has something for me, I take it and don't know what to say.
With trembling hands, I open the book, And peek at what's inside,

A picture of a family, "Can this be true?" I cried!
I've watched my friends go home from here, It's my turn now, it's true,

I linger at the gate for one last time, Then bravely walk on out with you.

(poem by Bev Schwab)

I think anyone who reads our blog has already heard from us about our decision to adopt again (if not, now you do!) Grace is 9 and is from the same orphanage as Eliza! She has been in foster care for about 4 years and attends grade school. We believe she had only one other chance to be adopted at age one, but her condition at that time wasn't perfect, so it fell through. Here is what they wrote about her in her file:

She has a good memory, good at reciting Tang poems and nursery rhymes. She likes singing and dancing. She is outgoing, kind and polite. She often greets people first. She obeys rules. She is always ready to help people and she gets along well with others. Sometimes she is sensitive to sharp sounds, but she has improved a lot. The developmental delay almost disappears. Her ability still needs enhancing in math. Now she attends the local primary school, she does well at school except she has problems with math. She seems to always fail at math tests. Maybe her math skills need enhancing, but not her intellect! Socially she is excellent, she is well mannered, has lots of friends and interacts appropriately with people. We even saw her doing a play for children's day, she is quite an actress! She is independent in daily life. She can eat, go to the bathroom and put on clothes on her own. She is happy to help her brothers and sisters wash their faces and hands, and help her caretaker do housework. She has good hygiene and likes dressing up. She is very adorable.

We got our I-171H this week! Grace has waited long enough for a family, like the child in the poem. Let's hope we don't have to wait much longer for our PA. It is supposed to be coming withing two weeks. We are considering taking our paperwork to Washington DC so we can save some money on authentication.

Our visit with Grandma and Grandpa

Olivia with a "schnoodle" puppy. They are so sweet and she and Eliza had a great time playing with them.

Having fun at Thanksgiving Point!

At the farm with Grandpa Albert. The goats loved us!

Kirk Wins Utah State National Geographic Bee!

"Kirk Earl, an eighth grade student at Oak Canyon, won the state-level National Geographic Bee sponsored by the National Geographic Society. Kirk was one of 100 school-level winners who qualified to participate in the state bee.

In the preliminary round, Kirk was one of 9 students who scored a perfect 8 out of 8 questions and advanced to the final round. In the final round, students are eliminated after two incorrect answers until only 2 students remain. The 2 students then compete in the championship round.

Kirk scored a perfect 3 out of 3 questions in the championship round to become the state champion! He received a $100 prize and earned an all expense paid trip to Washington D.C. to compete for a $25,000 scholarship. The National Geographic Bee national championship is May 20-21, hosted by "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek and will be broadcast nationally on television.

If anyone deserves to win, it is Kirk. He has worked very hard over many years and answered some really challenging questions at the bee. Congratulations Kirk!"


Doug Andersen
Oak Canyon Jr. High

Zach and Eliza

Eliza loves to wear this dress-up!
Zach and Eliza after his storytelling festival

Kirk is turning 14!!!

Tuesday, March 11th is Kirk's Birthday. I can't believe he will be 14! Saturday, yesterday, he had a few friends over for a party. They had a great time eating pizza, playing games, eating more pizza, playing more Wii and then brownies with ice cream for dessert.

Things I love about Kirk...
He's an awesome big brother!
He loves his little sisters and tells them every day!
He loves to read and learn.
The world is an interesting and exciting place to him.
The way he can learn languages. (He knows a little bit of several languages plus quite a bit of Spanish and now, Chinese!)
His patience with little children, especially Eliza!
How he tries to be a good example and stand up for what is right.
That he still tells his mom she's beautiful and says "I love you!"

I'm so glad he's my son!! I love you too Kirk!

Chinese New Year Party!

Eliza in the parade
Zach and his friend Taylor

Olivia, Eliza and Abby (Taylor's sister)

Happy Valentine's Day!

I just have to write about the fun dinner we had last night. My Valentine's tradition is to make a special candlelight dinner for the whole family. This year, Kirk even made menu's for everyone and gave our "restaurant" a name- Valentino's! I thought that was so cute and clever. He also pitched in and made the salad and the drink. Olivia was a great waitress and Zach set the table and made it look beautiful. Eliza inhaled the noodles as fast as she could! I didn't have time to take pictures, what with serving up spaghetti and the chicken parmegana but I did get raves from our customers! And the payment was much better than at a restaurant, hugs covered the bill (also Kirk's idea). Grandma Earl came over and got the whole treatment! It was a fun evening for the whole family.

I love my family and it was fun to share my love with them and let them know how much they mean to me! (Usually, I write a home-made card for each person too, but I didn't remember until the last minute and didn't have time but what with all the hugging and happiness going around no one noticed!!)

Olivia and the kitties...

Olivia with Phantom

(or Phantom Menace as we sometimes call her!)

Look at my new smile!!

(She lost another one last night at the Chinese Restaurant.)

Copper in Eliza's princess chairPhantom on Olivia's new quilt with a little extra blanket thanks to Eliza. She's lucky, Copper usually gets a doll pillow too when he has a nap!

Chili recipe

This is my favorite chili recipe. Without the beans it is similar to a Cincinatti style chili, thin and ready to put over spaghetti noodles. Adding just the refried beans makes it thicker for for a chili dog or burger.

Chile

1 medium onion, diced
2 T. canola oil

2 lbs. ground buffalo

1 small can green chilies
½ small can jalapenos
4-5 garlic cloves, minced

1 can beef broth
½ t. oregano
½ t. thyme
1 t. cumin
¼ t. cinnamon
½ t. allspice
½ t. cardamom
¼ t. coriander
1 t. chipotle powder
1 T. ancho or guajillo powder
3 T. chili powder
1 t. black pepper
3 bay leaves

1 #10 can tomato juice

1 can of red/kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
Or
1 ½ cups of dried beans soaked overnight and cooked until tender

1 can of refried beans

Caramelize the onions in the oil until golden over medium heat. Add the ground meat and brown (make sure that there are browned sections on the meat) on medium high. Add the peppers and garlic. Continue sautéing until most of the liquid is gone and add the beef broth to deglaze the pan. Turn the heat to high, add the spices, and cook down the liquid for a few minutes. Add the tomato juice and beans. After the mixture comes to a boil add the refried beans to thicken.
Total time about 45 minutes.

Option:
The mixture can be added to a Crockpot any time after the pan has been deglazed and the rest of cooking continued there. As soon as the mixture comes to a boil the refried beans can be added and then kept on warm from that point. Makes great leftovers or use over a baked potato or spaghetti noodles.

Our Weekend fun...

We had a three-day weekend, Friday was a teacher-comp day. All the big kids had a friend play and we got our chores done early!

Saturday: we had our much prepared for and anticipated piano Festival. Kirk, Zach and Olivia all got a Superior for their performance! We went out to the Old Spaghetti Factory for lunch for our usual after-festival celebration.

Sunday Snow: Yes, we had more snow...a foot more to be exact (Zach measured). This is the most snow we've had in a few years. It was not fun trying to get to and from church but at least we don't have to drive far! Several church services nearby were actually cancelled, which rarely happens around here.

Biggest News of the Weekend...Olivia lost one of her front teeth!! She is very proud of her new smile. (Pictures will be posted later today when I get the downloaded.)

Awesome Rice Recipe!

I don't have my latest pictures down-loaded, so I thought I would give a meal idea instead! Mike made this up and it is so good! If you haven't liked brown rice in the past you may change your mind after trying this. The flavors and moistness make it yummy for the whole family. Plus it doesn't take much prep time. I like it with pork or chicken chunks the best by the way.


Mike's Rice and Bean Dish

1 medium onion diced
3 cups brown rice

1 t. cumin powder
1 can or 2 cups chopped meat (leftovers are great for this)
1 can green chilies

1 can diced tomatoes

2 cans chicken broth
1 cup water
1T. ground mustard
¼ t. nutmeg
¼ t. cinnamon
2 t. chipotle powder
1 t. thyme
1 t. ground pepper

3 carrots diced
1 can beans (kidney or black) drained and rinsed very well

Salt to taste

Sauté the onion in 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat until caramelized lightly brown. Add the rice and another tablespoon of oil and raise the temperature to medium high and toast the kernels. Add the cumin, meat and green chilies and heat until most of the moisture from the chilies has evaporated. Turn the temperature to high and add the diced tomatoes and smash the tomatoes as they get hot. Add the broth, water, mustard, thyme, nutmeg, cinnamon, chipotle and black pepper. As soon as the liquid starts to boil add the beans and carrots. As soon as the mixture comes to a boil again, cover and turn the temperature to low. Cook over low heat for 50 minutes. Turn off the heat and let sit for 5 minutes before stirring.

Replace the meat with shrimp if desired by adding raw shrimp to the mixture for the last 5-7 minutes of cooking. Add cooked shrimp at the end of cooking during the resting phase.

Family History is Fun!

Grandma Montgomery (Alice) with Kathy, Steve and Lilly

(Aunt Wilma says this photo was probably taken at Carthage MO while Grandpa ,Jack, was serving in WWI)

Dad and his sister Kathy sent a picture of me with me Grandma Montgomery recently. I thought I would return the favor and post one they might enjoy. By the way, I think dad and Scott, my brother, look similar as children. What do you think Montgomery's?

I haven't done much family history lately, but I hope to keep gathering information and do a little at a time. It's fun to learn about our ancestors, especially, when your children find out one of them killed a king in a jousting tournament or sailed on the Titanic, or was buried in a royal cemetery in England! I could go on and on...those are all true stories by the way!

A great man passed away yesterday...

President Gordon B. Hinckley died yesterday in Salt Lake City at 97 years old. He was the 15th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was a great man and prophet of the Lord. I admired his cheerful attitude, love for learning and his ability to stay humble and kind to the end. He truly was an example of Christ-like love.

From a recent article written by him:

"If I may be pardoned for suggesting the obvious, I do so only because the obvious is not observed in so many instances. The obvious includes four imperatives with reference to children: (1) love them, (2) teach them, (3) respect them, and (4) pray with them and for them. "

"Do you want a spirit of love to grow in the world? Then begin within the walls of your own home. Behold your little ones, and see within them the wonders of God, from whose presence they have recently come. "
To read the whole story go to story on LDS.org

Our blog...my "journal"!

OK, so I hate writing in a daily journal but I love to take pictures and work on the computer. Since I've decided mostly my family reads this blog, I'll just combine the two and try to keep up with what is going on in our lives on a regular basis. In other words, time to stop beating myself up over the things I'm not doing and try to improve on the things that I am doing!

Happy Birthday Mom!

New Quilt for Olivia! This last weekend I finished a quilt my sisters and nieces helped me start. It is just a tied flannel quilt but it is so cute and Olivia absolutely loves it! Warm and functional is just what she needed...maybe she won't come crawling in my bed in the wee hours of the morning anymore!

Snow, Snow, Snow...we have so much and we got more this weekend. The older kids went sledding with their cousins yesterday and had lots of fun until Zach lost his gloves and about froze. Poor Zach, he doesn't have any fat on his wiry body! Olivia had snow and ice in her hair but she wasn't too cold.

Mike can cook!!! We had Cheryl and the boys over last night for a Wii party and dinner. Mike saved the day and made an awesome Green Curry with chicken, ham fried rice and even orange rolls for dessert. Thanks honey! Cheryl brought a fabulous Thai soup! I love Indian and Thai food and of course Chinese food if it is the real Chinese style.

Area for improvement... Preparation is important! This isn't necessarily for a major emergency, although it is a possibility, but what if you lose a job or just don't want to have to run to the store at the last minute to make dinner. If you don't have some food storage and a 72 hour kit you should! The basics are simple...a three month supply of food, short term water supply, financial reserve, and a 72 hour kit for each family member in case of emergency. I'll post more info on these areas later.

One Year Ago in Xi'an...

I can't believe it's been a year since we adopted Eliza! Actually, one year and a week. We have had many memories of China recently. Kirk thought this New Year would be boring in comparison to last year. Well, of course it can't compare... last year we were in Beijing for the New Year!


I am just so grateful that we took a leap of faith and followed our hearts to bring Eliza to our family. We've been blessed in so many ways! I have felt very strongly that we were guided to her and I'm so glad we followed those promptings. Prayers are definetly answered, just not always in the way we expect.
Eliza playing in our front yard this week


Thanks Mike for believing in me and my crazy ideas! We are all so thankful that Eliza is part of our family. Our experiences in China and adopting her have changed our lives forever.

Happy New Year! & Year-End Wrap Up

We had a fantastic Christmas time and everyone loved being home from school! In December, Zach turned 11 and we had a party with his friends at the Christa McAuliffe Space Center. (It's like you're on a Star Trek ship). Eliza has been using her princess dress-up shoes (see the picture above) on a daily basis. We had cake and presents for her on Nov. 30th but the whole family came over the second week of December for her and Zachary's birthdays since Grandma Earl was in Hawaii for both of their special days! Also, Grandma Carol came the week before Christmas and we shopped and played non-stop! My camera died, so I need to download some more pix from my old one for our Christmas shots. More to come later this week...