A bit about the Himsels

In July 2011, we were drawn to a posting by our adoption agency of a little girl that was soon to "age out" of the orphanage in China, and they were hoping to find her family before her birthday in February, when she would no longer be eligible for adoption. After reviewing the information, giving it alot of thought and prayers, we knew she was to be our daughter. So we started the paperwork chase to bring her home. But God had a bigger plan in mind for the Himsels. Along the way, we decided to pursue adopting a little boy, and that journey actually led us to two little boys, who are 18 months and 14 months old. All three children are located in the Guizhou province. We are excited to be so close to bringing home Ella (Jinglan), William, and Ethan, and we hope you follow along with our journey.



Saturday, July 28, 2012

Holiday World Fun

Our adoption agency had their annual reunion event recently at Holiday World. The older kids really enjoyed the amusement park and water park. We took the opportunity to go down to Patoka Lake a few days earlier, and shared a cabin with a couple of other families attending the reunion. We had a wonderful time despite the heat and the huge crowds at Holiday World. I think the older kids enjoyed the cabin almost as much as the water park. We had three full bedrooms for the adults, and a large loft with 5 beds in it for the older kids and they had a ball - It was a big slumber party!
We rented a pontoon boat for the day and Ella was very excited
Andrew enjoying the ride
Ella got her chance to drive the boat - although she enjoyed herself, Mama and Dad are pretty sure it will be quite awhile before she's ready to drive a car!
Andrew could barely wait for his turn at the wheel
After our boat ride, we spent the evening with Chris' Great Aunt Ruby.  She was very excited to meet the kids.
Ella's very first amusement park ride.  Since she tends to get car sick, we were a bit worried. But she came off the ride all smiles and gave us the thumbs up!
Another great ride!
Andrew exiting the Raging Rapids ride excited to have gotten so wet!
Ethan's water park fun
Since William is so quick to play in the toilet water every chance he gets (including the time he took Mama's iPhone for a swim), it came as no surprise that he would have the most fun at the water park!

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Trying to stay cool

This weather in Indiana is most unusual right now. We're on our 4th day of 100+ degree temps, and the past two weeks have found most days quite close to 100. There has been little rain and our yards look more like Arizona terrain than Indiana grasslands. All of the kiddos have been stir crazy, especially the little guys. They want to play outside so badly, but when it's still 99 degrees at 7:30 pm, it's just too hot for them. Unless of course you throw a little water play in the mix. Our kiddos love playing in the sprinkler, and even though today was unbearably hot, they all seemed to love cooling off. William, my little guy who was so afraid of water when he got his first bath in China, has come so far. He's the first one to run through the sprinkler, and makes sure he gets the wettest.