The below photos are from yesterdays fun outings. The boys went to a museum to try to hide from the heat & humidity. Its been hovering around 100 with drizzle rain & thunder.
They are enjoying each other's company & growing closer every day.
Caleb ordered this for everyone for dinner last night- some kind of chicken dish. Can you see the chicken head on the left? Art & Zach were brave. They said it wasn't too bad.
They navigated the subway & found a bookstore they had heard about. They are on the hunt for some great books for Mercy & Caleb.
Today is Caleb's 14th birthday! We already love this boy so much. Only God can do all of this. Amazing! We spoke by Facetime tonight. It was great fun. We spent some time practicing Happy Birthday in Mandarin. Meredith taught the kids last year. We were able to do it again with Mercy's help this year. We couldn't get the video to load. So sad... would love for you to see the kids sing! Precious!
Facetime with the birthday boy tonight!
On the home front..... oh this little girl is just too cute!
breakfast
dinner
Jacob is doing such a good job being a big boy while Baba & Zach are gone. He wants to do all the "boy" jobs. He is such a precious guy. Look at the trashcan helper for today!
This bed (below) is such big news for our family. We have been battling insurance for months regarding a medical bed for our girlie. She had outgrown her crib (read: climbs, crawls, roams), but is not safe to sleep in a big kid bed yet. This little lady often wakes multiple times a night. Sleep has been a major issue for our girl over the past 2.5 years.
Recently, we learned about an organization here in Little Rock called Ican. They recycle used hospital equipment and help folks in this area. We called a couple of months ago to inquire about getting an enclosed toddle hospital bed. They said it was not a common donation, but that they had 2 that had just come in. They said they were in pieces but we could come get them both & decide if they would work for our girl. Art was able to put 1 bed together out of all the pieces (yes, he is our superhero)! It was missing hardware & a top canopy but we were able to add those pieces.
The canopy was shipped to our house this week. Some dear friends came over to install it all in the bedroom. We now have a safe, amazing, near new, enclosed hospital bed for our girlie.
Please praise God with us. This is a very expensive purchase we would not have been able to make on our own. We are in awe again & again as the Lord provides for our family. He is faithful.
Huge praise in all of this.... She LOVES it!
Bethany slept better in the last two nights than ever before. We are feeling so very grateful!
Thank you for continuing to pray for Mama at home & Baba in China. We are holding on to Jesus with all of our hearts.
Jen for all the Powells
1. Zach will never forget this experience! What a wonderful growing time for him!
ReplyDelete2. I can already see a change in Caleb! It's incredible what the love of a family can do!
3. Are Mercy and Zoey still fluent in their Mandarin? Helping Caleb learn English will give them such confidence!
4. BJ is such a doll. Praise God for His provision, for security for her, and more rest for all of you!
5. I love your blog. It brings me such joy!
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ReplyDeleteThanks so much Emily!! Loved reading your note! Mercy is still fluent & will likely be for the rest of her life. She reads/speaks/writes Mandarin frequently. We think Caleb will keep his also. That makes us really happy! The others are not fluent, but do use some key words. We all speak a crazy mix in our home. Zach & Allie both study mandarin for their 2nd language. They have a great personal tutor with Mercy! :) Thank you for praying & celebrating with us.
ReplyDeleteWe have friends here with a boy with Down Syndrome who fought so hard for a safe bed for their son. Sadly they were denied but because it was a necessity they bought it. Now they are raising money to help other families get similar beds! Theirs has literally changed their lives! I'm so excited for you! I love every update!
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