Laptop Problems

We have run into computer problems. The laptop screen has gone completely blank on us and all of the files we need for the website are on it. You will have to follow the rest of our journey here. I am typing this on the hotel computer so I will not be able to upload any pictures tonight. We are hoping to be able to borrow a laptop the rest of the trip just to be able to upload a few pictures. Shannon is so upset she sent me down to post tonights update.
Anyway, today was pretty uneventful. We had most of the day free so a few of the couples and us went to the park. It was very beautiful and fun to see the Chinese people just being themselves. We were stopped many times and took pictures with some giggly teenage girls (just like American girls). They were very friendly and fun. After that we took a taxi to Wal Mart to get some baby supplies. No matter where I go I cannot get away from Wal Mart. Ugh! We then went to McDonalds which sounded very good after so many Chinese meals. The donkey meat may have caught up to me because I was sick to my stomach for half the night last night. I actually just think it was all the spicy food I have been eating. I then did about an hours worth of paperwork which was extremely tedious. Last we got some additional information about Sage. We received a picture of Sage the day they brought her in wearing the clothes that they had given to us. We both we teary eyed. We also received her finding add which shows when they tried to find the parents. Very neat.
Last, we had another pizza party. The last one was so much fun that we decided to do it again and we had more fun than we should be allowed.
Sorry, if this is not as entertaining, but writing is really not my thing. While I have the chance I thought I would post a few things that I believe guys would be interested in. These are just random thoughts.
1) You see almost no American made cars here. Most are Honda or Toyota but not brands you see in the states. Most of the taxis are to my surpise either Hyunda Elentra's or Volkswagon Jettas. They must be cheaper here.
2) Staring is not taboo here. It is not unusual if you are on the sidewalk having a conversation for someone to come about a foot from you and just stare. It takes some getting used to because my natural reaction is to always turn to them to see what they need. They just continue to stare. Very weird.
3) All driving signs and stoplights are only a guideline. It is survival of the fittest. They just go until about an inch away and then someone stops. This includes pedestrians and bikes. However, nobody every gets mad because if they are able to cut in front of you it is your fault for letting them!
4) A couple of interesting food items. They do not put Soy sauce on their food. They think it is weird when we ask. They use it only to cook with. They think it is way too salty. Also, they have never heard of Crab Rangoon so it is definately not a Chinse thing. The local specialty here is Pigeon. We passed on it, but I have tried donkey, lamb, and shark. The most disgusting thing I tried was a big hunk of Calamri. It looked like a big fat noodle, but when you bite down juice squishes out and it is very hard to chew. The only time my gag relex was tested.
5) The big sports here are ping pong, badmitten, soccer, and basketball. They have highlights on these every night.
6) They show most of the American movies here, but with Chinese caption at the bottom so we can watch movies on HBO with no problem. They also have ESPN sportscenter with different hosts and highlights.
7) The most popular TV show is "Super Girls" which is basically American Idol with only female singers.
8) The most popular weekend event is karaoke. They like to sing period. At the parks you will see a group of 20 or so singing together impromptu.
9) The vendors here are unbelievably aggressive. They put a toy in Sage's hand we she grabs and then they ask for the money. We also had a guy that walked 3 block with Shannon trying to get her to buy a Rolex for $5. Sometimes it is easier to just pay the $2 or $3 which is the point. Some people beg with their babies.
I am sure I will think of others but these were some random thoughts. Shannon should be posting tomorrow night. Please keep praying for us.

And we are Off!

We are now moving to our website for our travel posts. Please join us as we meet our Sage! www.laxtonkids.com

We're Leaving on a Jet Plane...

In less than 48 hours we will board our first flight towards our daughter. Wow! We are ready, oh so ready. Not only are the bags packed, the house is scrubbed, the closets are organized, the lists are made for the grandparents, we are ready. I have little moments of panic that creep in. The thought of being away from my children for 18 days, breaks my heart. That is so long! Sure there have been moments this week, MANY moments, that the idea of quiet has made me smile! And I know they are going to have a blast! They are going to get so spoiled and I am so glad that they are going to have 18 days to build forever memories w/ their grandparents. But we will miss them terribly. There are the panic moments of "please let the plane stay in the air as it should". Or please let my luggage make it to China. But those fears are few and the JOY I feel outweighs all of them that is for sure. I am going to hold my baby! For 18 months we have wondered so many things. What does Sage look like? What does she sound like? Does she have hair now? When she smiles, what is that like, or the sound of her laugh? Does she eat food, does she gulp down her bottles? Does she sleep on her belly and who is holding her when she cries? What does she feel like when she is in your arms? Soon there will be no more wondering. She will be in my arms forever and every question will be answered. How Great is our God?
So, Monday we go. Our flight leaves St louis at 2pm. We will be in China on Wednesday at 11am. For you here that is about 10pm here on Tuesday night. We will be updating at our website which is www.laxtonkids.com I hope you will join us on our journey to Sage!

100 Good Wishes Quilt

I copied this off of another blog, lets give it a try...

Sage: "Mommy, my family and friends must not love me as much as Ellies family does."

Me: Sage why would you say that, of course everyone loves you.

Sage: " Well then why does Ellie have 200 wishes on her 100 good wishes quilt and i only have 50?"

So, there you have it, is that enough guilt for you yet?? ;) I do have dreams of getting this quilt made, by someone else of course. But in order to do that, I HAVE to have at least 100 squares, and I am still not there yet! I realize you have only had 18 MONTHS to work on your quilt squares and wishes, and for some, that might not be enough time, but we all now know, She is a SHE and SHE is coming home in just a few more weeks!!! So....If you have no idea what I am talking about, please visit our website and read all the directions for the quilt at www.laxtonkids.com. If you need our address, just email me at laxton@htc.net
Unfortunatley right now, there is no way I can exchange squares if you are looking to swap, sorry!
So, when Sage is older and looking through her special book of wishes, will you be in there? ;)

Tickets Are Booked!! (updated)

Someone, not sure how, we ended up doing upgraded tickets. I guess leaving someone behind results in something good? ;) So we will be flying in the reclining seats w/ slippers and the works! Here is the plan...

depart St Louis Monday August 14th 1:58PM
Arrive Denver, Co 3:12 PM
Depart Denver 5:21 PM
Arrive Los Angeles , Ca 6:46PM
Depart LA 11:50 PM
Arrive Guangzhou , China 6:20Am (yep, that flight is 15hours and 30 minutes, YIKES!)
Depart Guangzhou, China 8:20AM Arrive Bejing 10:55AM
I don't have all the in flight details, but here is the coming home info...
Depart ChinaWednesday August 30th 9:00PM
Arrive LAX Wednesday August 30th 6:50 PM (do you catch that time/date thing?)
Spend night in LAX
Depart Lax Thursday August 31st 9:20 am
Arrive Denver 1240pm
Depart Denver 3:23Pm
ARRIVE ST LOUIS 6:22PM

I will post all flight numbers on our website. But if you add it up, we will be flying a total of 22 hours to get to China. And i think it is 32 hours from the time we leave St Louis till we land in Bejing. Think that will wear me out enough that I might actually sleep? ;)

Here We Come Sage!!

We got our appointment we were praying for. We will leave for China on August 14th and return on the 31st. I think. We are working on flights now, but just wanted to pass the word. We should have Sage in our arms around the 20th, we think. So only 11 more nights till we leave!! YEAH!!!

Updates on our Sage

After writing about our little princess this morning, we got an email w/ updates on her growth! Sadly no pictures, as we had hoped, but information is a good thing!!
Sounds like we have a tiny little girl waiting for us! Sage is 14 pounds and 25 1/2 inchese long. Her little foot is 4 inches!! She also has 2 teeth. I am very thankful for this information on her. Mainly it tells me she is ok. She is still there waiting for us. Don't you wonder how much of that weight is in her cheeks still?

Chen Yi Qiao

I keep meaning to post about this but always run out of time... If you missed Sawyer's birthday pictures, scroll down the next post!
While we were in St Paul, Mark was able to talk to one of his co-workers there, who is Chinese. He showed her Sage's chinese name and asked her about the "symbols" because at the chinese restaraunt the night of referral, our waitress there said what her symbol was did not match. His coworker agreed, but said she would look it up. So she did and said that it was very similar to another symbol so yes Chen was her last name. Which of course we knew because that is where she is, the Chenzhou Childrens Welfare Institue. ANYWAYS... The coworker also told Mark that her name was so beautiful. She said that Yi means always andQiao was the name of 2 beautiful princess during the 3 kingdoms era of China known for their beauty. She said anyone in China would recognize her name as "always beautiful". And her name is said Chen E Chow. Our agency said they probably call her Qiao Qiao. Isn't that SO neat? While we were in St Paul Mark called me to tell me the story and I just wept as I thought of that. Of course we knew she was a princess! But did you get her name by "luck"? Do they just pull it out of a hat and rotate the names? From our other translation I would say it is because they wished her a beautiful life, maybe they thought she was beautiful, as of course we do!
And that is my prayer for Yi Qiao soon to be our Sage. She may not be a "princess" in the China sense, but we know w/ out a doubt she is a princess, because she belongs to our Father above, who is King of Kings! We pray that her life will always be beautiful and that she will be as beautiful inside as we think she is on the outside. I believe that God has big plans for the life of His little princess. I am SO thankful He allowed me to be a part of His amazing plan.

Happy Birthday Sawyer!

Today Sawyer is 6! Hard to believe our boy is so old! Sunday we celebrated w/ family and friends with his party at Krispey Kreme. His choice of location. He had a great time! All the kids were able to go back and tour the kitchen, and then the best part, this tub is the donut cake. They fill it w/ donuts, bring out the whip cream, sprinkles chocolate syrup and let the kids make a mess! Sawyer was on sugar high all day and night! The first picture is where they let the kids(and adults!) test making a chocolate glazed sprinkle donut, YUM!! As you can see, Sawyer dipped his ENTIRE hand into the chocolate! At least he did not climb in, which if you know Sawyer, he just might have tried it.
Today we had lunch at Chuck E Cheese w/ my cousin Dawn and her kids Colby & Dalayna. Fun till the bus of 90 kids came in to play. That was our sign to leave! In just a few more weeks Sawyer will start kindergarten! I am thankful I was home to share his birthday with him, however sad to miss that special day of school. However, we know he will do fine and the Grandmas' & Grandpas will spoil them rotten and make the day very special. Next week we are going in to see his desk, put some of his stuff away etc.. Will make me feel a little better.
So... What does TA mean? Well as anything else does in the adoption, WAIT some more!! TA is travel approval, which china had to give us. They are now working on setting up our appointments at the consulate, which is where they tell us in China we can bring Sage home. Once we know the date on that, which we hope to know tomorrow? we will know when we can leave here. We are praying on the week of the 14th still. That would mean only missing 1 week of school. But we really feel like our lifes are on hold right now till we have those dates. Can't book tickets, parents can't book vacation w/ kids, can't make babysitting plans, etc and so on. PLEASE pray that we could get the dates we want, as the most important thing is getting to Sage. And if we go as planned, we would get her on her 9 month birthday!! It would put us home labor day weekend, which would be a nice long weekend for the kids from school.
One last note, the suitcases are getting there w/ packing. This might be a bad sign tho. We weighed our large suitcase tonight, and it weighed in at 42 pounds, that is w/ none of our clothes in it! I think 40 pounds is our limit! I will try to post pictures soon of our packing chaos!! Even w/ all the helpful tips i am getting, I am still obviously overpacking!

WE GOT TA!!!

Just got word that our travel approval is here!!! Hopefully by days end we will have ALL details!!! Praise the Lord!

And the Decision is....

Makenna is going to stay home, and will not travel to China with us. And I say that w/ out breaking into crying as I have been all week!. It has been a long week of many tears, but most of all many prayers. We made this decision as a family. We got many opinions from everyone, which we wanted. But when it came down to it, Mark and I agreed, our number 1 priority of this trip, was Sage. Could we give 100% of ourselves to Sage, if we were worried about Makenna missing school, worried about Makenna being bored etc.. And Makenna agreed. She is excited about going on vacation w/ her Grandma and Grandpa while we are gone, and getting to be back in school on time w/ her friends. It is amazing, the peace we all seem to feel here. God is so GREAT isn't He? If we are just willing to lay it down at His feet, He will make it clear.
Thank you for all your support and your prayers for us over this decision. We ask that you keep them coming for all 3 kids. They have NEVER been away from us like this before. And Sawyer will start kindergarten w/ out me, Makenna 3rd grade. I am sad, but I know that God knew our travel dates LONG ago, and so I just continue to trust that He is going to see us through.

Vacation Pictures

If you scroll down, you can go back through our posts from our trip and I added some pictures. Check out that volcano, doesn't it look YUMMY!! Though I am STILL working that off, along w/ all the other foods we dined on! Worth every bite!

A No Win Situation...

We still do not know when we will be in China for sure, but today we got a message that said they hope to have us there around August 17th. We would get Sage on the 20th. Her 9 month birthday! This could change by a week later. So here is our dilema. The entire time we had planned to take Makenna with us. She wants to go, is EXCITED to go. And part of us wants her to go. What a trip of a lifetime! However, missing your first week of 3rd grade, possibly your first 2 weeks, seems like a big deal. And she is torn over this also. She loves school, misses her friends, misses the routine. So we have been leaning towards maybe she should stay home. It would be alot easier trip on us if she did not go in many ways. I think she would do pretty well overall, but there are going to be times when she won't. There are going to be times that I won't do well! I am literally sick over this. I wish she could go for part of it, and fly home early. I just feel like I can't win. If we take her, she misses that much school. If we don't take her, will I feel guilty over it the rest of my life? So please pray for us as we struggle over this decision. We have to make it NOW!

Happy Birthday Sage!

Today, July 20th, our Sage is 8 months old. How I long to be with her to celebrate another month in her little life. To take a picture to celebrate this birthday. To record all the things she is doing. To snuggle with her and kiss those chunky cheeks! Please pray for us that we will be with her before she turns 9 months old. In honor of Sage, we went back to the mall of course! For lunch I ate chinese, the kids don't go for that. And we went back to Build a Bear. On Monday we made our first animal, and the plan was that was that. The kids had made a bear for Malaine while they waited for her to be born, so of course they wanted to do one for Sage, but not the same bear as they did for Malaine. The kids chose the BIG bunny. And they had fun stuffing it, fluffing it, and we all kissed a heart and made a wish for Sage and stuffed it into the Bunny. They chose the red white and blue outfit for the bunny to wear. And they named the bunny Faith. Before we even started the adoption God placed Hebrews 11:1 on my heart and I have repeated that verse over and over through this neverending wait. "Now FAITH is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see". When Mark seemed so against me in the beginning, I had Faith that God had spoke adoption to me for a reason and that He would speak to Mark. When the wait went on and on, it took ALOT of Faith to hold on and trust in Our Father, but I was certain of what I hoped for and I trusted that God would give me what He promised. So we all agreed that Faith seemed the perfect name for our bunny, who was waiting for the little gift we still have yet to see! After getting Faith done and the more I thought about it, i wished I had insisted the kids chose a smaller animal, so that Sage could actually hold it and not be scared of its size! So today, to celebrate Sage's 8 month birthday, we went back. And stuffed the velvet little bear. And had just as much fun(ok to be honest, build a bear is NUTS and 3 kids fighting over who does what, only slightly fun!) but we now have a small bear that is very kid friendly and who is named Qiao Qiao. Which we are guessing is what they are calling Sage in China. We plan to take this little bear w/ us to China and we are planning on playing w/ her, sleeping w/ so that she will be a part of us to give to Sage.
Please pray for our Sage. That she is healthy and being loved on. Please pray we get our travel approval quickly. While we have enjoyed our week, we are all anxious to get home and start working on our packing for China. And last please pray for her birth mother & father. I can't help but wonder, as my heart cries for missing her so much this day, does her birthmother hurt to? We both have sad hearts over this little girl that we can't hold. My day is coming though, and she will be in my arms. Her birth mother will never get that.
Happy Birthday Sweet Sage.

The Park at Mall of America

Sorry, no pictures, will try to add them in the morning. Last year the park was called Camp Snoopy, and everything had a Snoopy Theme. I guess there was some thing w/ $ and keeping the name so now all snoopy is gone. But the kids were not sad, still had their same favorite rides. It is the perfect park for our kids. Makenna can ride everything, Sawyer everything but one ride. It was crowded, but the lines were not bad. Poor Malaine will be 10 before she gets to ride anything but kiddy rides, she is so short. Which is ok w/ her, she is not the daredevil that her siblings are. She will be happy to have Sage w/ her hanging out in the younger area!
It is always a challenge trying to take all 3 kids to the park during the day while Mark works. I am exhausted trying to keep up w/ them all, and I can't even imagine if we tried this next year. I am not sure i will be that brave on my own. i told Mark we should have brought along our favorite babysitter, (who is so kindly watching our dog back home!), but another person involves another room blah, blah, blah... The only real problem i had was at lunch. We were eating in the food court, and as soon as we sit down malaine announces she has to go to the bathroom. So what does a mom do? I won't even admit it, but lets just say it all worked out fine!
i did get a lecture from some "nice" man when Sawyer got on the escalator ahead of me, before i was ready so he came running UP the escalator to get back to me. The man said" i hope you know these are dangerous". And so I, w/ my "nice Christian attitude" said, Yes, I realize that and I don't make it a habit of letting my children play on them, thank you very much. What i really wanted to say was, yes, i am going crazy here w/ all these kids, can you help me get them down the steps in a safe way? It was a man by the way, another mom, would have been nicer, i hope!
Of course this area has so many visitors from around the world. And so we saw lots of little asian girls. One family was waiting on a ride next to me, and seeing those girls, just made my heart cry. I started thinking, here we are having a blast, and our daughter and sister is sitting half way around the world, in an orphange. So I did what any good mommy would do. Took the kids out to the mall for a quick shopping trip and bought Sage some clothes. Doesn't make up for her not being here of course, but buying her things makes me feel like we are getting closer to actually putting these clothes on her.
Mark did join us at the park after work and the kids had fun taking him on all their favorite rides. We finished the night w/ dinner at The Rainforest Cafe. We had The Volcano for dessert. Sinful is all i can say! YUM! It is alot of fun, they bring it out and all the waiters yell VOLCANO and it is all lit up and sparkly and the kids thought it was amazing. Sugar high before bed always a good thing!
We did get calls from home about the terrible storms. My parents said our trampoline was around the neighborhood. Bummer. I feel bad everyone is w/ out power there. Thankful I am here! Prayerfully the air will be back on tomorrow for everyone. Just an FYI, we are not able to access our e-mail from here, so if you are trying to reach me, you have to comment here. Off to try to sleep off some calories, sure!

Last Vacation as a Family of 5!

Makenna & Malaine at the ski show.
Forever Mama's Boy!
To much for Malaine to check out at the Lodge!
Our Pirates at the Ski Show!

In June we had planned to go up North w/ Mark while he was in training for work. Thankfully the trip was cancelled since our referral came the week we should have been gone. Lucky for us he was still able to schedule a week to work from St Paul, Mn. And this is the week! We left our house on Friday and stayed 2 nights on the drive up at the Wisconsin Dells. We had a blast! We stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge which was wonderful. Our room was very nice, the place has waterparks everywhere. FUN, lots of FUN! We did go and see a ski show while there which was ok. the kids liked it, but it was hot. And on the drive out we wasted our money on Ripleys Believe it or Not. Cost a fortune and we were done w/ in an hour. The Dells is somewhere we would go back to for sure.
Sunday we drove on up to St Paul. We are staying close to the Mall of America. Mark drives into work and the kids and I take the shuttle over to the mall. i would like to think i am walking off all the junk we are eating, but I have a feeling not. There are so many good places to eat! Sunday we had Famous Dave's BBQ. Monday we had steak. Tonight we ate Bubba Gumps. I LOVE thier food and it is such a fun place to eat! The kids have been begging for Rainforest Cafe so that is tomorrow. Lunch was a fabulous italian place. So much for sticking to my diet. We have shopped, made a bunny at build a bear for Sage(more on that later), shopped, played, been swimming and shopped some more!
I added a few pictures from the Dells. Tomorrow we will spend the day at the Park inside the mall so hopefully more pictures to come!

2 Weeks Down..

i can't stand not having her picture at the top of the blog! 2 weeks down since referral. How many days till we hear something? ANYTHING!! Please continue to pray for Sage, especially for her health. We are praying for updates. Greedy isn't it? 2 weeks ago we finally get her pictures, now we ask for more! But these pictures are so old, they were taken in April. I know babies change alot in 3 months. I would just like to see her now and especially to know that she is doing well. Our agency requests pictures and measurements , but never knows if they will get them.
We have Sage's crib up in our room. We are quickly filling it w/ all things China. I am supposed to pack light. And I am trying, really trying. But what if... Any tips on packing, PLEASE pass them on!

From the Mouth of Sawyer

Sawyer finished up his first year of coach pitch last week. Not sure he is headed for a career in baseball!
On the drive to church Sunday, each of the kids had a picture of Sage to "show off" to their friends. Sawyer says, "This baby is not that dark". We replied that she will probably look darker in person and might get darker as she is older. Sawyer"Oh, so right now she just looks like a regular person" Of course this is said w/ all innocence of a 5 year old, and so it was a little funny. However, we might need to have a lesson in being "politically correct" in our house before Sage is home!

One Week Down!

Beautiful Glass Art from Mark's parents on referral day.
Sweet Card from our friends the Harriss Family
Chocolate ladybugs, musical ladybugs and sweet girl ribbon from Aunt Judy & Uncle Ray.
Ladybug Purse, pen and bear from our friends the Dickmann Family.
The kids got ladybug suckers from Megan our babysitter.

Mark & I both agreed, last week was the LONGEST in the adoption process so far! We were busy, but it just seems like we have had Sage's picture forever already! Mark asked on Friday, shouldn't we have our travel packet, shouldn't we be filling out paperwork? Oh yeah, it has only been 5 days. Sigh... So right now we just wait. We wait to hear from China that we can go. And I think that you typically hear in about 3-4 weeks. Then travel about 3-4 weeks later. We are ready, oh so ready! We have Sage pictures everywhere. We blew them up to large sizes, so we can study every tiny minute detail about her. By the way, her little nails are long and she is scratching her face! I need to be there so i can cut those for her. We really hope we get updated pictures and measurements before travel. We are in love with this picture, and yet she probably looks nothing like it! We can't wait to see if she has hair!
We hope everyone has a very Happy 4th of July!

Song That is Playing

Or if it is not playing, hit play on the left! I have had quite a few people asking about the song, Isn't it perfect? I repasted the words that I had posted back in January so below is that entry. Crazy to think that at that time, Sage was just a little newborn baby, 2 months old.



Smile

Because I like to torture myself as much as possible, every song I listen to turns into an adoption song. I heard this one way back and just thought it was perfect. It is by Chris Rice and it is called Smile. He wrote it talking about the day he meets Jesus. Of course I long for that day also. But for now, I have changed the words just a bit for Sage.

How far are you? How close am I?
I know the words are true but I don't feel them inside.
Still I believe, you'll never leave
So where are you now?

Your all i want, you are all I know
Your breath is breathing in my soul
Still I am grasping, aching asking
Where are you now?

I just want to be with you
Just want this waiting to be over
I just want to be with you
and it helps to know that day is getting closer

Every minute takes an hour
Every inch feels like a mile
Till I won't have to imagine
And I finally get to see you Smile

My jouney's here, but my heart is there
So i dream and wait and keep the faith while your prepared
For our destiny, till you come home to me
Oh please make it soon

I just want to be with you
I just want this waiting to be over
I just want to be with you
And it helps to know the day is getting closer

Every minute takes an hour
Every inch feels like a mile
Till I wont' have to imagine
And I finally get to see you smile

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