Ozark Mountain Vacation ~ Day 2

Unfortunately, we woke up early on Wednesday morning to Levi complaining of feeling sick. It wasn't long before it was obvious that he had a little stomach bug. Bless them - it seems that it always happens when we are on vacation. We were able to get him some meds called in, and by lunch he was feeling much better. We ate lunch at the Wing Shack, before heading out of town to our next adventure! We had planned in renting tubes and floating around the river that morning, but it was storming, so we decided to head on north. 

Levi was feeling better!

As we drove through Norfork, we came upon this awesome old house built in the early 1800's! It was right on the river, and it was so fun to look through. 

By mid-afternoon, we'd made it to Mansfield, MO to tour the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder! We love reading the Little House books, and I have been a Laura Ingalls fan since I was a little girl. 

This is the homeplace where Laura and Almanzo settled when Rose was just a baby. This was also the home where she wrote all of the Little House books. It was so neat to see the desk where she sat and wrote each book. 

They built the home room by room, slowly, as they had the money to do so. We weren't able to take any pictures of the inside, but it was so interesting. They've left the house just as it was when she passed away back in 1957. 

Her dishes and pots and pans were out in the kitchen, Almanzo's night shirt was hanging in the bathroom, and her catalogs that she enjoyed reading were on her dresser. 

It was also so fun to see all of the furniture that Almanzo built...rockers and lamps and tables.  

It was such a beautiful home place. I can definitely see why they decided to settle there. :)

We ate dinner at a fun little restaurant called Uncle Roosters. Levi fell asleep once again, and slept through his meal. 

We settled into our hotel that night, excited about the next day's adventures!

Ozark Mountain Vacation ~ Day 1

(Trying to get back in swing of things. I've definitely missed blogging this past year!)

Mom and I decided to take the kids on one last little hoorah before we start getting in back-to-school mode again. Early Tuesday morning, we loaded up and headed out for Mountain View! (We decided to leave Lennox home with Brent because we were doing a few things that would have been hard for him to sit through.)

We had the cutest little cabin waiting on us called "Jailhouse Rock". This was the sweet little bedroom in our cabin. Notice the Elvis curtains ;)

Brody loved that our cabin actually had jail keys! 

Once we got checked in and settled, we decided to walk to the Soda Fountain in the square for lunch and a treat!

We shared a yummy brownie sundae...with 6 spoons! 

After lunch, we enjoyed walking around the square shopping!

Cute little photo op ;) Brooke and Brody

Me and Noni :)

Well, hi there Clint!

These two got wrapped up in a mean game of checkers ;)

Beckett just had to have his picture made here by the very first jail in Mountain View. He thought this was so cool. 

We enjoyed a few hours of swimming, too!

Delicious!

For dinner, we drove out to the White River and are at JoJo's Catfish. It was so good!

Sweet boy fell asleep waiting for his dinner to arrive...and he didn't wake up until the next morning. :)

September Re-Cap

As usual, I am way way behind on the ol' blog here. I do have some posts in the works about Lennox's airport homecoming and how he is doing. But for now, here's a recap of September after Lennox joined our family! 

Beckett turned 5 the day we arrived home from Korea! We were barely holding our eyes open by that night, but we managed to have a little mini-party for him! 

It was so neat watching Lennox take a bath with his brothers that first night home. We'd waited a long time for this. 

The first few weeks, he preferred using his chopsticks every time he ate. I think he's learned the ease of a fork and spoon now, but it was so cute watching him work those chopsticks like a pro. 

Sleeping is much better now, but those first couple weeks were killer. THIS was a precious site. 

Snack time!

A quick little ice cream run with these boys while Lennox was down for a nap one day at home with daddy. 

My four sweets after Lennox's first Sunday at church :)

Soccer season has come and gone - Brody had a great season getting to play with his friends! 

Lennox helps me take the bigger boys to Awanas on Wednesday nights. It won't be long, and he will be ready to join them! 

A post from Brent...Full Circle

Brent wrote this post this week and asked me to post it to the blog. :)

Next Saturday night in the Little Rock Airport, a meeting of four ladies and their sons will mark a major milestone in their lives.  All four will have traveled to and from South Korea twice in one year to meet their sons and take custody.  They are all great friends but would have never met without a chance meeting at the Dillon International Office in Little Rock.

In the spring of 2012, four random couples met at Dillon for an international adoption seminar.  Each couple had chosen adoption for various reasons and was there to learn more about adopting internationally from South Korea.  We were asked questions throughout the day.  Laura answered the questions directed at us, and the husbands seemed to answer most of the questions for the other couples.  On the way home, Laura made the funny comment that the other women didn't seem to talk as much as her. 

A few weeks later, contact information was passed around to keep in touch with the other couples.   Each couple was on a different step in the adoption process, but the timelines were very similar. The ladies started slowly getting to know each other more and checking on each other as the weeks and months went by.  Friendships were created and grew and then proved to be invaluable throughout the rest of the process.  They would encourage and pray for each other as time moved on.  In a way that no one else would understand. 

The ladies that Laura did not think talked very much were the same ladies she ended up talking to every day and relied on constantly for strength to make it to the next step in the adoption process.  They talked often throughout the day.  There is always a running group text message between all of them.  There are still very few days that go by that they are not texting each other.  I am not sure that any of them really worked the last two years.  

In the past few months, three of the ladies have brought their children home.  Kimmie brought Lyle home in June, Kara brought Collyn home in August, and Laura brought Lennox home in September. When Brooke lands in Little Rock with Samuel, it will complete an incredible journey for all four ladies and their boys.  When they take their group photo of them and the boys, tears will be shed.  Tears of happiness, for they are all together with their sons that they have all prayed for the last two years. The boys will be raised by great mothers that are even greater friends.

Our time in Korea with Lennox

We only had two full days in Korea with Lennox (Friday and Saturday). We were originally scheduled to fly home the next Thursday, but because we got his visa and everything completed very quickly, we had our flights changed to Sunday. 

Lennox woke up a happy boy on Friday morning about 7:30. He didn't get upset when he saw that he was still there with us...he just got up and walked into the kitchen asking for milk.  We gave him his bottle, played for a while, then since he seemed to be doing well, we got dressed and headed out for a little breakfast. 

It's hard for me to look back at these pictures and see the uneasy and unsure look on his little face, especially now that we've seen a lot of his personality and know how big he really smiles. :) 

He seemed happiest when we were out and about strolling through the city. Looking back, maybe he was happiest then because he thought we were going to take him back home. But I will say that he didn't get upset when we would return to our hotel, so I think he just really loved playing outside, and it helped keep his mind off of everything. 

One of our favorite things was to walk through one of the smaller palaces. It had a lot of trees and shady areas and was just really pleasant. 

He also really enjoyed the fountains at City Hall! 

The only time he would get sad was at nap time and bedtime. He wouldn't get hysterical, just very sad and would cry quietly. I would just walk around with him on my shoulder, and he would eventually fall asleep. 

We even braved eating out at Bennigan's one night! 

He woke up on Saturday morning and just looked at us like, "Really? I'm still here?" 

He thoroughly enjoyed his Krispy Kreme! :)

And a mid morning nap in Insadong. 

Taking it all in on his last day there. It was so heartbreaking to me to watch him stare out of the window looking at his city, knowing it would be at least a few years before he is able to come back. 

Precious boy watching cartoons from his stroller before bed. 

Sunday morning, getting one last good look. 

We had the hotel van take us to the airport, and he got so upset as we climbed in. I know he just didn't know what was happening or where we were going, and he didn't have good memories of the van from a few days prior. So that probably wasn't the best idea. But we didn't want to take a taxi as his foster father was a taxi driver, and we thought that might upset him as well. He did calm down quickly and even took a little nap as we made the hour drive to Incheon. 

He was all smiles once we got to the airport and got settled! It was very bittersweet leaving South Korea with him - we were so thankful to finally have him with us, but we were sad for all he was leaving behind. South Korea will always have a big part of our hearts.