The Chau Kids

Something New - A New Blog Site for the Chau Family

2009-09-09T14:49:00.000-07:00

I've decided to try a new blog with Cozi. I've been using Cozi for our family calendar and for lists for about a year now. It's great and has been keeping our family really organized (which is well needed for a family of six almost seven!). Do I sound like an online ad? Anyways, I'm going to try to use their journal for our family updates too. It's a lot simpler and doesn't leave room for comments, so I guess if you really want to leave me a comment you'll have to email me :). If you want to take a look at it, the new site is:

http://family.cozi.com/chaufamily7/

The other great thing is it will automatically generate monthly emails w/ all the picts, so if you just want to be added to our email list, let me know.

Celebrating 4 Years with Lydia

2009-08-18T20:54:00.000-07:00

This Monday was Lydia's "Gotcha Day" - August 17, 2005. It's hard to believe how fast 4 years have past since we first picked her up in Changsha, China. Now she's starting Kindergarten! She's still just as smiley and expressive as day 1. We praise God for placing this special little girl in our lives and allowing her to be part of our family. Of course, to celebrate we had to take her out to Soup Plantation. It's become a tradition after 4 years. Her passion is the MacNCheese of which she gladly ate two huge helpings. She was born Chinese, but just like all American kids she sure has a taste for good old American foods like MacNCheese and Chicken Nuggets!

Gotcha Day August 17, 2005 ----------------------- Playing Dress Up August 2006

Soup Plantation August 17, 2007 ------------------ McDonald's August 17, 2008

This week at Soup Plantation August 17, 2009

And the results are IN . . .

2009-07-23T15:42:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd share the results of our ultrasound from last night. Here's a picture of it's cute little head. Does it look like any of our other children? We think it looks like Micaiah. We won't show you the picture of its other parts :) - but we'll put it this way . . . Micaiah's going to have a BROTHER.

4th of July

2009-07-17T22:14:00.000-07:00

4th of July was celebrated as usual with the families from Pathway Bible Church at Heritage Park. Just like all Santa Clarita days in July it was HOT, but this year was at least bearable (approx. 100F degrees). This year, Kari celebrated her first 4th of July as a US Citizen, but I think she was mostly interested in the bag of Chexmix someone brought. She wasn't keen at all about getting her face painted - it took me about five tries to get a decent looking star on her cheek. Micaiah, of course celebrated by getting himself into a water-fight and ended up completely drenched, which he loved. That evening, the 3 older kids and Mike climbed the hill and stayed to watch the nearby fireworks, but I got smart (and I was still weak from morning sickness) and took Kari home early for a bath and bedtime. I forgot my camera at home that day, but thankfully my sister brought her new fancy Nikon to take picts. Thanks Cheryl!

Happy Birthday Mimi + Mimi's Blog

2009-07-07T18:32:00.001-07:00

It's hard to believe Mimi turned seven last week. Unfortunately she was sick on her actual birthday, but thankfully she was well for her party that she planned to celebrate a few friends for school. Mimi's only seven, but she's a girl after my own heart - she loves LISTS! She made a list for the food she wanted at her party, the crafts she wanted to make, the games she wanted to play, etc. She is really into art and making crafts this year, so the theme of her party was crafts. The girls enjoyed decorating their own aprons, making party hats and painting cute buckets.

After crafts, snacks, playing games, ice cream decorated in the shape of a paint palette (Mimi hates cake), and presents, this was what the party girl looked like.

BTW- not to be outdone by her brother, Mimi has started her own blog :). You can find it at http://mimichausjournal.blogspot.com .

Summer Updates + Micaiah's Blog

2009-06-29T17:19:00.000-07:00

Well, summer started for us over two weeks ago, but morning sickness has had the best of me for the past 8 weeks, so I haven't been up to blogging. Thank God I've reached my 14th week and morning sickness is finally over! The kids have been keeping me on my toes - well, more like keeping me in the driver seat of our minivan driving all over town. Last week the enjoyed VBS at a large local church across town. They loved it. This summer the kids all picked at least one activity, but with four kids, that's a lot of activities! Lydia's doing gymnastics, Mimi's taking ice skating lessons and art lessons, and Micaiah's taking tennis lessons and going to volleyball camp. What's Kari doing? Well, guess she gets to ride all over town with mom :) - she's a real trooper. Oh and of course, lots of swimming. This week is the first week the temps have been in the hundreds. I haven't had a chance to get any picts of the kids swimming yet. I've got to remember to bring my camera!
These are a few picts of the kids with their father's day gifts for Mike. Mimi and Micaiah made him some glass art pictures. Can you tell what they are? Lydia made Mike a picture of himself. Can you see the resemblance?

I know some of you have been checking out Micaiah's blog. In an effort to keep him writing this summer, he's been updating his blog fairly regularly. If you haven't had a chance, I know he'd love to have you take a look and leave a comment or two. Actually, he updates his blog w/ Chau events even more than I do! micaiahsblog.blogspot.com

Kari - Official in the USA

2009-06-09T19:39:00.000-07:00

This past Wednesday was Kari's court date to be adopted in the USA. She was officially adopted in China and recieved her US citizenship in September '08, but we chose to "readopt" her in the US so that she could get a US birth certificate. My parents and Lydia came along to witness the event. The court even gave each girl a teddy bear to match their sweaters - which was nice because for them this was a pretty boring event!

The LA Children's Court is in Montery Park, so the best part of the deal was a delicious Dim Sum meal for lunch! Kari loves ChaSiu Bows - buns filled with BBQ pork. She loved those in China and she still loves them! We had to put a limit on the number she could eat since she was eating non-stop. Then we topped it all off w/ a Boba drink for the ride home :). Kari will have to wait about 15 months or more to get her birth certificate b/c the CA government is a total mess right now, but we're thankful Kari could once again become officially ours even though she's been officially ours for 9 months now.

Graduation

2009-06-02T21:20:00.000-07:00

A major milestone - Lydia graduated from Preschool on Wednesday :). Going into the day, I don't think she had a clue what "graduation" meant. We kept trying to prep her, but being only four she still seemed pretty clueless. Regardless, she hammed it up quiet a bit. I wish I had a photo of this, but she strutted up the isle to her seat flashing what looked like a "peace" sign or a "V" for victory sign with her two fingers. All the parents were laughing and she had this big grin on her face. Turns out the "V" sign to her was - you guessed it - BUNNY EARS! She even flashed her "bunny ears" again when it came time to receive her certificate. Mrs. Cindy awarded her the "Mild Mannered Award". Mike was like, WHAT? How could Lydia be considered "mild mannered"? At home she certainly is NOT mild mannered, but she does come across as being so in the classroom. So, she sang the songs - sort of, got her certificate - while flashing the "bunny ears", and saved the best for last - cake! Oh, I have to add one more thing. In her school yearbook, put together by some of the parents, the children were all asked what they want to be when they grow up. Lydia's answer - "Big Bird". Yes, that in a nutshell is my dear sweet off-the-wall Lydia :).

Blueberries!

2009-05-26T21:13:00.000-07:00

Our family loves three day weekends. With Mike working full-time at his secular job and being involved with ministry part-time and on the weekends, having an extra Monday for a family day together is a special treat. This Memorial Day we headed out to Underwood Family Farms to do some blueberry picking. The kids picked about 5 or 6 pounds of blueberries and had a great time feeding all the farm animals. Kari was especially taken by the goats and couldn't get enough of hand feeding them. The kids like fresh blueberries, but I still have to figure out what we're going to do with some of them - maybe blueberry jam? blueberry scones? blueberry pancakes?

BIG Surprise Bonus

2009-05-20T21:01:00.001-07:00

Well, for those of you who are non-facebook users, I guess you haven't heard the news about the Surprise Bonus we received this month. Not the typical bonus you would expect in the form of a raise or a vacation. It's more like: give birth to two, adopt two, get one bonus baby for free :). Yep, the Chau Kids are now 5. Baby #5 is due to be born around December 30. If you're surprised, so are we. Ever since before we were married, the family plan was to give birth to two children and then to adopt two - Lord willing of course. After Kari arrived in September, we were thrilled. Our plans for our family were complete, or so we thought! Guess God has other plans for us. I'm still a little shocked, oh and very tired and a bit nauseous too. But learning to trust that God has what's best for our family - even beyond what I can see and understand.

I love this picture. My mom's face says it all. It's the moment we told her we were expecting again. She's saying "FIVE?" and my sister, she's saying "WHAT? WHAT?" in her typical Cheryl fashion. It's kind of how we all feel right now.

Shocked and yet Rejoicing.

Going Green

2009-04-27T21:40:00.001-07:00

Well, it's official. The Chau Family is Going Green. :) At the urging of Micaiah, who has been learning about composting at school, we recently started a worm bin and a compost bin. The kids are mostly excited about the worm bin - eagerly saving their banana peels, egg shells, and other scraps for the worms. Did you know that half a pound of worms can devour 1/4 pound of food scraps in one day! Our family easily generates that much green waste, so were hoping our scraps can soon go to good use in our yard.

Heat Wave!

2009-04-23T16:06:00.000-07:00

Well, Spring Break came and went w/o a blogspot post :). But I did have a delightful time w/ my three girls. Micaiah was traveling to AZ and NM with his beloved grandparents for the entire week. We missed him dearly and hoped he would blog (micaiahsblog.blogspot.com), but he and his "Gigi" and "Boppy" were much too busy for blogging! The house was VERY quiet w/o our dear son. The night he bounded back into the house talking non-stop we realized how quiet the house really had been.

So this week the weather decided to take a turn and skipped straight to summer. It was over 95 degrees for two days! Mimi decided it was time to wash the car and Kari was ready to help out. As a family, I think we are really ready for summer vacation.

Happy 40th Birthday Mike!

2009-03-31T10:14:00.001-07:00

My dear husband (very fondly aka "Daddy") turned 40 this weekend. He was greatly encouraged by a surprise fishing trip with some of his closest friends and men from Pathway Bible Church - oh and Micaiah too. Then on Sunday we celebrated with a BBQ at the park. I constantly give thanks and praise to God for allowing me to have such a such a partner in life who loves God and his family so deeply.

Kari @ 18 months

2009-03-12T21:15:00.000-07:00

We were able to enjoy Kari as an infant for about 1 month :). Ever since then she's been going full steam towards being a toddler (or an adult). I think it's the siblings. Whatever they eat, she wants to eat. Whatever they do, she wants to do. This week she turned 18 month and has been with us for 6 months. What a joy she is to us! On Tuesday morning, Lydia was supposed to be doing her chore - emptying the dishwasher. In typical Chau-kid fashion, she declared "I have to go to the bathroom". Ha. All my kids use that one. They conveniently need to go to the bathroom EVERYTIME there is a chore to do. Anyways, Kari decided Lydia was taking to long, so she took over. (This is a 1 minute video, if you want to have a look). I kind of wish she could stay a baby just a little longer, but that doesn't seem to be on her agenda.

The Final Result

Happy Birthday Uncle Eric!

2009-03-09T22:20:00.000-07:00

My younger brother's birthday is Feb. 27. The kids adore their Uncle Eric (maybe it's because he's way cooler than their mother and is a rock star?) . Mimi is the Craft Queen, so she found this craft to make a cardboard guitar from Family Fun Magazine (the perfect magazine for a Craft Queen). We're always really encouraged by her heart to give. She spends hours making things for people. We pray that her heart for giving to others will continue as she matures.

BTW - Eric has a gig next week with Delirious and I'm super proud of him!

Delirious/Future of Forestry Show
House of Blues Anaheim CA
Wednesday, March 18th, 7pm
$23

FoF has less than 100 tickets left to sell that don't have the ticketmaster fees. You can purchase them at:

http://originaldin.com/fofstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=16

They will be for sale for just one week (after March 13th, you will need to go to ticketmaster and/or door charge).

Happy New Year! Xin Nian Kuai Le!

2009-01-27T21:19:00.000-08:00

Her Children Rise Up and Bless Her

2009-01-22T17:17:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Gigi's (Kris's mom) birthday. She's been known as "Gigi" ever since Micaiah gave her the name when he was learning to talk and couldn't pronounce the name "Grammy". Now she's fondly called Gigi by all four of our children AND all the kids at Pathway Bible Church too :). The night our family celebrated Gigi's birthday, Mike asked everyone to share something they appreciated about Gigi and this is a bit of what was shared:

Kari - Gigi changes my diaper and will do anything to make me smile.

Lydia - Gigi plays fairy with me.

Mimi - Gigi plays Gecko on my belly (Mimi's likes being tickled!)

Micaiah - Gigi spoils us.

Cheryl - Mom always thinks of others first.

Michael Moore - She's easy to talk to and has so much to share.

Kris - Mom has a servant's heart. She has set an example for us in serving others. She's always caring for others.

Mike Chau - She's always thinking about us and what we go through.

Dad - She completes me. She's everything I am not.

"Her children rise up and bless her;

Her husband also, and he praises her saying:
Many daughters have done nobly, But you excel them all."
Proverbs 31:28-29

Happy Birthday Gigi!

Time for Tea

2009-01-20T17:29:00.001-08:00

There must be an unwritten rule that every American girl must have a tea party at some point in her life - though I guess I never was "girly" enough to have one in my childhood :). Mimi received a tea set for Christmas and held her first official tea party for a few of her close friends - complete with Evite invitations, making her own grocery list, hand decorated cookies, and meatballs (for all the meat-loving Chau/Chou girls). To her delight, everyone came dressed in their best tea party attire and they had such a lovely time.

She Came To Serve

2009-01-12T21:32:00.001-08:00

One of the highlights of our holiday break was a one week visit with Mike's Mom (affectionately known by our kids as "A-ma"). We were so blessed by her visit. Together with Pathway Bible Church we've been learning and studying through 1 Timothy 5 and have been reminded about our need to care for widows, esp. Mike's mom. With that teaching in mind, we looked forward to our time together as an opportunity to minister to her. Rather than us minister to her though, she used the entire week to minister to our family. We have seen so much growth in her over the past few years and were blessed this past week by her servant heart. She arrived from Seattle at Burbank airport with a suitcase full for supplies for cooking that week (I gladly handed over the duties!). She cooked, she washed dishes, she sewed (and finished the basket of unfinished hemming), and spent quality time with each of the kids. We were also very encouraged to hear of her heart for the local church and her desire to minister to her neighbors and friends. God is so Good.

New Year and a New Look

2009-01-03T22:58:00.000-08:00

I just had to post this picture. Both Lydia and I got a new look :) for the New Year. Her glasses are so hip, I just had to get a pair to keep up. And we decided to go w/ "fringe" for Lydia. She was totally fine w/ the bangs as long as we agreed to keep the rest of her hair LONG. What a little cutie God has given us!

Christmas Highlights

2009-01-01T16:37:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that New Year's Day is already here. Here are just a few pictures of some of the highlights of Christmas 2008 for our family.

On Christmas Sunday, Pathway Bible Church kids acted out Luke Chapters 1 and 2. Micaiah, Mimi, and Lydia were angels. Micaiah and Mimi also had the opportunity to use their piano skills to play a few Christmas carols for us to sing.

This year I got smart. We bought a pre-made gingerbread house and just enjoyed decorating it. That was PERFECT for our kids as their attention span couldn't have lasted much longer.

Christmas morning was nice and quiet (well as quiet as life with 4 kids can be). My parents and sister Cheryl joined us. Later Uncle Michael joined us for dinner. It was raining the entire day, so we spent a lot of time playing new Wii games (we didn't hear any complaints about that!). I just was thankful to have such a day to hang and spend time w/ family. God is good.

One Groomsman, One Ring Bearer, Two Flower Girls, One Squirmy Baby and One Tired Mama!

2008-12-22T22:30:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, our family had the privilege to be part of the wedding of our good friends Mike and Christi. Mike and Christi were very brave and asked 6 children to be part of their wedding day! But all the children did a great job. Lydia and Mimi had a great time dressing up and being part of a such a special event. Micaiah, at 8 years old, declared that this was the last wedding he would EVER be a ring bearer in (he's been in probably 6 weddings so far?!?), but he willingly agreed he would do it for such a special couple. These are just a few of my favorite photos from the day.

Back To Bethlehem

2008-12-15T21:56:00.000-08:00

Last night we took the kids to "Back to Bethlehem" at the Church at Rocky Peak. Our friends the Grandi Family and Mieko, Max, and Hana all joined us. If you haven't been, it's really a great experience (and free too!). Everyone gets a handful of shekels to spend while traveling through the recreated town of Bethlehem. The kids had a great time purchasing spices, bread, nuts, etc. and learning about how Bethlehem might have been at the time of Christ's birth.

Lydia really enjoyed petting the donkey and the live sheep but she was always watching her back for the Roman guards! If you're interested, there's still four more days. You can check out their website at http://www.rockypeak.org/ministryhighlight.asp?ministryHighlight_id=22.

Rabbit's Favorite Carrot Soup

2008-12-12T18:07:00.000-08:00

Lydia's favorite animal is a rabbit. She's always loved bunnies, so when we found this book called "Rabbit's Favorite Carrot Soup" at the library she was pretty excited. The end of the book has a recipe for carrot soup and she decided we should try to make it. She has been really interested in helping in the kitchen lately. The next morning we went out and bought the carrots and celery. We spent the afternoon peeling, boiling, and blending. We had carrot soup for dinner and Lydia was very proud of herself. Only problem, the kids hated it - including Lydia! But this was one meal I didn't have to convince her to finish. She just quitely sat there. Sipping very very slowly (it took her over an hour to finish one small bowl). But every time I took out the camera she put on a smile as if she really loved this carrot soup. It really is pretty tasty, just not to my kids liking (their tastebuds are so Asian!).

I think she was headed to Cancun

2008-12-09T21:51:00.000-08:00

While I was talking on Skype with a friend, Kari and Lydia decided to take off to play in the other room. Ten minutes later, when I went to go get her, I found Kari ready to head out the door. She had her camera around her neck and Mike's cell phone in her hand (he forgot it today). As I scooped her up, she proceeded to show me the nickel she had packed away in her mouth for safe keeping. Hmmm... I think she was headed to Cancun so she could splash in the clean warm waters rather than splash in our toilets which are not nearly as nice.

A Time To Rest

2008-12-02T22:07:00.000-08:00

We took a three day trip down to San Diego just to get away. It's always nice to have time just to focus on our family. We spent some time at the beach, a day at Sea World, and a day just hanging out with my brother Eric and his wife Tamara. Kari did great on her first road trip and even enjoyed the shows at Sea World :) - though she wasn't so keen on the getting sprayed in the Soak Zone!

Feasting on Ramen, Udon, and Sushi Rolls at Teri Cafe!
Too bad Lydia was too wiped out for feasting!

Future of Forestry's #1 Fans

2008-11-25T12:43:00.000-08:00

Our kids adore their Uncle Eric (my younger brother) and though they haven't been able to go to one of his concerts in a while, they are his most avid fans :). It's hard to tell from the pict, but they're all wearing their custom made Future of Forestry band shirts. They probably don't appreciate the quality of Eric's music, but they sure do love their Uncle! Eric just finished his Christmas EP and will be doing a Christmas tour soon. So if you're interested in some great Christmas music, you can check it out at http://www.futureofforestry.com .

Rite of Passage

2008-11-19T17:08:00.001-08:00

Hard to believe that our little baby boy has reached that time in his life, but Tuesday it was official - he has a Brace Face! Here's a before and after picture. Poor little guy is wincing from the pain and surviving on a diet of yogurt, soup and applesauce. One plus is these days you get to pick the colors, so he picked red, blue, yellow and green!

Gotcha Day - Nov. 17, 1985

2008-11-17T08:44:00.000-08:00

My mom recently brought over a big box of all my childhood photos. My kids have enjoyed going through them, as have I. The photos above were ones I was particularly looking for because they were of a very significant event in my life. One that I remember so vividly that it is permanently engraved in my mind. They're not pictures of me with Kari (can you tell by the cool hairstyle and enormous glasses?). They're actually pictures of me holding Cheryl, my baby sister, the moment she arrived from Korea exactly 23 years ago - Cheryl's Gotcha Day. (Gotcha Day is a term adoptees and their families use for the day the child is "gotten" by his/her forever family.) It's probably the moment that adoption became such a beautiful reality for me. One in which the Lord used to help determine for me that adoption was something I wanted to do (Lord willing, of course!). November 17, 1985 Cheryl arrived after a long flight from Korea to our waiting arms. Mine to be exact, as I was the one who was able to scoop her up first. Not sure why my parents let me do that :) - maybe I was pushing and shoving ahead of everyone else?

Cheryl's had several more significant "Gotcha Days" since the day she joined the Owyoung family. Probably the most significant was the day God got a hold of her heart and she gave her heart to Christ at age four, being adopted into the family of God. The other was most recently when she was "gotten" by Mr. Michael Moore. Cheryl was married this past October just over a month ago. I gave this sappy speech, and meant every word of it. I think it was an especially touching time for me because not only was this very special baby sister of mine getting married, but I had also just returned from China ten days before with another beautiful daughter of my own. I could see the full picture. God has been so good as to allow us to adopt two delightful girls, a hope we have had for many years. I too am so thankful the Lord gave me a husband who was willing to share the vision to build our family through adoption - it was something we dreamed of before we were married. Cheryl has grown from this cute chubby smiling baby into a God-fearing woman and God has blessed her with a husband who also loves and fears God. I can only hope that my daughters too will follow in her footsteps. Happy Gotcha Day Cheryl! I love you!

Micaiah and Boppy

2008-11-11T17:22:00.000-08:00

With Micaiah being an 8 year old boy with 3 younger sisters, Mike and my dad have been very purposeful in trying to invest some extra time in him. Micaiah began calling my dad "Boppy" before he was one when he was just learning to talk. Micaiah couldn't say "Grampy" so he called him "Boppy". The name "Boppy" stuck and now continues with all my kids (and the kids at Pathway Bible Church!). Boppy took Micaiah to a civil war reenactment this past weekend. Micaiah really enjoys history, so this was right up his alley. In addition, there were plenty of loud noises, cannons and guns :) - what 8 year old boy wouldn't love that? They both had a great time together. The night before, Micaiah made sure we charged the batteries for his camera (he and Mimi share our old digital camera). These are a few of the photos he took. Micaiah is so blessed to have his grandparents involved in his life.

Some thoughts on the elections

2008-11-07T13:31:00.000-08:00

Everyone's posting a blog on their thoughts on the election, so I figured I'd do that too :). This blog is supposed to be of photos of my kids, so I'll include one of those just to keep w/ the theme. This election really does have to do a lot w/ my kids. This is the first presidential election that Micaiah and Mimi actually know somewhat of what is going on and will probably be the first one they remember. Not only that, it is a monumental time in history with the election of our nation's first African American president. I'm sure they'll remember.

Honestly though, I sometimes fear the direction our nation is going. Not so much for myself, but more for my children. Yet in fear, I am reminded to return to the Scriptures to gain a right perspective on this world around me. Hopefully, if I can keep a Biblical worldview, I can encourage my children to think likewise, even though many of those who surround us lives otherwise. I'm no theologian and surely not a pastor, so what I write are just some of the passages that have encouraged me over the past month or so as I've read my Bible. Maybe I'm not writing this so much for you, but more to get my thoughts straight myself :).

Whether the result of the elections was Obama or McCain, I have to rest in the knowledge that no matter who the people of this country voted for, God is still Sovereignly in control. It is He who puts leaders in the positions they're in.

Romans 13:1 "For there is not authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God".
Proverbs 21:1 "The kings heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes."
The first six chapters of the book of Daniel have been a great encouragement to me as well. Reading the whole book puts all those Bible Stories we heard as kids into context. Daniel lived righteously through the reigning of many different kings and kingdoms - and he often was not treated well because of it! But Daniel knew it was God who allowed these men to rule. "It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings;" (Daniel 2:21).

Regardless of what happens to the US in years to come, I have to remember that my citizenship is in heaven, not here on earth. Philippians 3:17-21 "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ . . . " Though I love my country and want the best for it, when I try to take a more eternal perspective, heaven is my home, not here. My hope is in Christ, not in one man or another. 1 Peter is one of my favorite books of the Bible, and 1:13 always encourages me to keep a right perspective in this life. "Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Daily I have to ask myself, where am I fixing my hope?

Finally, I'm reminded in 1 Timothy 2:1-4 to PRAY. "First of all, then I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity." I think I often discount the fact that prayer does anything, but that's because my view of God is way, way too small. If anything, I should act in obedience to the Scriptures by praying for our nations leaders.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T22:51:00.001-07:00

Honestly, Halloween is my least favorite holiday. Partly because I wait until the last minute to figure out my kids' costumes and then end up stressed out trying to figure out what we should do the night before. This year with 4 costumes needed, I actually set aside a full day on the calendar a week before Halloween to work on costumes. We made it a family event to actually make the kids costumes ourselves. It turned out to be a fun family activity, as we all pitched in to paint, cut, glue, etc. Micaiah decided to be a NintendoDS (for those of you like me that are non-video game junkies - that's a handheld video game device w/ dual screens). Mimi was determined to be a butterfly that had wings that "looked real". And dear Lydia, decided adamantly that she had to be "an orange star." Surprisingly she did not want to be a princess or a fairy - which would have been much easier since we have a big box of those outfits to pick from. Not sure where she got the idea from, but she was the only "orange star" in her whole pre-school class :). Kari had the easiest costume - the hand-me-down bear suit, but she was the cutest ever!
Enjoying the fruit of our labor!

Kari's Blog

2008-10-28T22:34:00.000-07:00

Just to make things straight. During our process to adopt Kari in China we kept a blog. If you'd like to hear the story of how God brought Kari to be a part of our lives, you can take a look at it at http://karisjoychau.blogspot.com. We won't be updating it anymore since Kari is now part of the Chau Kids Chaos, but it's a good record of all that God has done in our and Kari's lives to bring us together.

Lydia Turns 4!

2008-10-28T21:42:00.000-07:00

Not sure if I'll be very good with keeping up w/ this blog, but I figure people mostly want to see pictures anyway, and I can pretty much keep up w/ that. Lydia turned 4 this Monday. It's really hard to believe. We're always working so hard to help her act "like a big girl", but when I actually step back and think about it, I can hardly believe how fast the time has flown by. That little girl we got to know at 9 months old, is now a 4 year old "flying fairy".