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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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!

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".