Merry Christmas!

I am often concerned about the world that my children will grow up in. It saddens me that people are trying to take Christ out of Christmas. There are situations when I can tolerate a dose of "Happy Holidays!" or "Seasons Greetings," but when it is constantly bombarding me...it is very upsetting. Regardless of how much the world changes the Christmas season, I will always teach my daughters (yes I said daughters, plural) that Jesus is the reason that we celebrate Christmas. Yes we will do the whole Santa Claus thing. I have been listening to a song by Go Fish named "Its Called Christmas." Please check them out at http://www.gofishguys.com/ and listen to some of the samples of their music. That song has really defined in me a new "crusade," for lack of a better term, to spread the message of Christmas rather than the warped perception that "Christmas" is offensive. In the words of Brad Stein, "...nobody wants to say Christmas! Everything else but Christmas. Why? I know why. You do too. It's because it's got Christ in it, and after 2,000 years, he's still intimidating people. You see, when a religious person says "I am the way", people don't want to hear it! They don't! I say you've got to say Merry Christmas, because it is! You don't believe in it? Fine! But I,I,I have a flash for you: Christianity happens to be the religious heritage of my country whether you like it or not... ...So if you're not a Christian, or you don't like it, and you don't want Christmas celebrated, God bless you! But let me tell you something, if you think you're going to stop me from saying it because it offends you, hey I've got a flash for you: put a helmet on! It's my country too!" Check out the video of the song on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAckfn8yiAQ.

I normally don't go off on such a rant. But I feel like a lot of people out there, believers included, don't have a problem with a de-christification (I just made that up) of Christmas. This once a year event would never have happened had it not been for Christ. Some will agree with me, some won't. So with all that said, I will continue to say "Merry Christmas!" even when someone shoots back with a "Happy Holidays!" I guess we, as believers, could always use it as another opportunity to share the love of Christ and why Christmas is so important. Thanks for listening.

This is such a much sweeter year for us, because Kayli with us now. If you haven't heard the song "Merry Christmas" by Third Day on their "Christmas Offerings" CD, then please check it out. It kind of tells our story. What a powerful message, and I am sure it has inspired many other people to consider adoption. It is nice to have a family of our own and it is even nicer to see that family expanding. Expected to come April 23 is our first biological child, Allyce Annette (that is pronounced uh-leese). I am sure there will be more updates to come concerning the new addition.

Anyway, have a very Merry Christmas! With love from the Alexander family.

Miracle!

I am not much of a writer and have a hard time keeping up with this thing. I have waited to post this news until I have told most if not all of our family and close friends. I am writing this entry, though, to tell of some interesting news. Kayli is going to be a big sister. I have heard it a hundred times since I broke the news to everyone, "I knew this would happen!" or "I have seen this sort of thing happen to other adoptive families!" I haven't. For several years, doctors and specialists have told us that there is very little chance that Michelle will be able to have children. Well, I love it when God proves doctors wrong whether it is about someone's terminal illness or this new thing that we are experiencing. Michelle is fine and Kayli does not understand what it means to be a big sister yet, but we are trying to teach her to share. No one is more surprised about this news than us. We are happy and excited but still very cautious that something may go wrong. I know God will take care of us no matter what happens.

Please pray for us during this very strange and exciting time. I have been taking pictures but I have not had a lot of time to edit much less post any. So until I have more news, God Bless and thank you for your prayers.

A long time coming

I know, I know: "When is Eric going to give us another update?" Well, today is the day. It has been quite a summer so far for Kayli. We have been to Texas, Oklahoma, Nashville, and Florida in the past couple of months. Kayli got to meet her family across the Mississippi from us and see her great grandmothers, great aunts and uncles, and various cousins. It has been a lot of fun...and a lot of driving.

Kayli has also gotten to see Mickey Mouse and Pooh Bear. Our trip to Walt Disney World over the week of the fourth of July was a great trip. We had a great time even though we got a little wet every day. She really enjoyed the spinny rides and seeing the animals on the safari ride. She liked seeing the shows Beauty and the Beast and Festival of the Lion King. There are several pictures on our website http://www.drofaudio.faithweb.com/WDW%20July%2007%20pics.htm or check out www.myspace.com/drofaudio, I have several pictures there too. And I took over 3000 pictures while we were there...it has become a new hobby.

We went to Nashville in May so I could go to a lighting demo for a new line of automated fixtures and we spent some time with Aunt Tammy, Uncle Chris and Stacey. They have been dying to see her since we got back from China.

I hope that we will get to go back in November when I have the opportunity to attend a lighting conference and trade show. Well, thanks for your continued interest in the first year of our daughters time with us. Take care.

Kayli's Excellent Adventure

For me to write this Blog entry could possibly be nothing short of a 450 page book, so I won't bore you with the gory details and try to some up a rather action packed month.

We had the opportunity to go on a mission tour with our youth choir. There were a lot of firsts for our little girl. She had gotten to ride on a bus before so she was a veteran traveler already. She got to see 4 concerts, see the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina (which probably did not surprise her since there were similar sites of rundown buildings in China), she got to go to her first Atlanta Braves game and see the youth choir sing the national anthem (the Braves also won on a very cold day in April), she got to go to her first Disney store, and Build-A-Bear workshop where she built a bunny which was given Kayli's Chinese name (Cha Ji), she got to meet her Uncle Mike, Aunt Traci, and her cousins: Cheyenne and Alexis, she got to go to Pigeon Forge and experience the madness of a massive tourist trap, she got to experience her first hike at Chimney Rock (she didn't do much hiking though) and she got to go swimming a few times. It seems like she has enjoyed nearly everything. She has also made some developmental leaps: she now climbs, crawls, talks (she knows who her Da da is), and she is growing like crazy. Kayli is always making us laugh and surprises us daily with things that she understands and does.

Kayli is going to have the opportunity along with Michelle, Mimi, Poppy, and me to go on a whirlwind trip to Texas and Oklahoma to meet some more of the family. We are looking forward to this trip and are very excited to show off Kayli to more of her new relatives.

I plan to put up some new pictures on the website. They do however take a little time to edit and get down to a reasonable size for them to load quickly.

updates few and far between

I know that I have not put up an update in over a month. Well, I have been a little pre-occupied. We are about to go on a mission trip to Gulf Port, MS for our youth choir tour. We are trying to get Kayli started early. It has been a great month of getting to be Daddy and Mommy. She is starting to jabber, saying Dada and Mama, Hi, and other jibberish plus she has learned to wave. She is still not crawling yet, but does get up on all fours and then goes to make a move and then goes back to scooting on her belly. She is a constant source of smiles and laughs. She keeps us laughing and smiling as well, but it seems she is learning new things daily.

A few weeks ago we did meet up with one of the other adoptive families from our group. Hannah seems to be doing very well with her family and doing some of the same things Kayli is doing. We really miss the other families and seeing how their new daughters are adjusting to their new lives. It is interesting to see how much of a connection to see that we have with adoptive families from our group as well as with ones we have never met. We met a couple in Wal-Mart one day that had a girl from the same province as Kayli.

Please keep praying for those families that are waiting. The wait is getting longer and I see so many disheartening comments on certain websites from those that are discouraged by the length. Pray that China will speed up the process and not go any longer on the wait times. Pray also for the church in China that they will be able to make a difference and show more people the way to Christ. Also pray for us as we go to Gulf Port, that many lives will be changed and that the students will be dilligent in showing the way and providing encouragement to those still affected by the hurricane 2 years ago.

New pictures and New Times

Parenthood has been very, very good to us...so far. We are really enjoying this new life style. Although I had to go to Gulfport for a few days, I was really excited to see Kayli when I got home, just like I am everyday after work. She gets all giggly and bouncy when I come through the door. We play hard and sleep hard. She is sleeping through the night and so are we. It has been really nice having Michelle's parents here to help take care of her for a few weeks.

This Monday Kayli turns 1. It is hard to believe that she has only been with us for a month. It seems like a couple of days ago that we were in China. We are absolutely excited to have her home. I am hoping that before too long that we will be able to start the process for Kayli's siblings. China was a fascinating country and every time I look back over the pictures all I can think of is that day that Kayli was put in our arms. What a sweet moment! I really appreciate those of you who prayed for us during this nearly three year process. We are grateful and could sense the prayers during every moment of our time in China.

There was one interesting thing that I noticed while we were in the conference room receiving the children -- every child was specifically chosen and matched every family perfectly, definitely a God thing. The children either looked or acted like their new parents. In our family, Kayli accepted us and it was just like she was our biological child -- she has my sense of humor, which is scary but fun to watch.

For those of you who check in with us daily, weekly, or centenially, I have posted new pictures on the website of Kayli's new home and of the welcome home shower that she had last week. I hope to have a new podcast showing her new surroundings and of her laughing and playing soon. I also hope to have pictures of her family birthday party up soon after it happens.

The web address is www.drofaudio.faithweb.com . Also check out this site of a family that travelled with us http://youbelong.net/hannah .

God Bless!

We are home!!!

Two nights ago we finally arrived home. It was a pretty good trip except for the delays. Kayli is a seasoned flyer and she did VERY well. Michelle and I are very tired and Kayli is still on China time. She slept all through the night when we got back but last night was a different story...she was ready to play when we were trying to sleep. Anyway, we are happy to be home and are ready for Kayli to get adjusted. Hopefully we will be able to bring her around and show her off soon. I am sure that when she gets adjusted she we be ready to meet her public. Thank you for all of the prayers and well wishes.

Wow what a difference a child makes!

This little girl is such a joy to our lives. She keeps us laughing with her laughter and "cheesy" smile. She is so cute (but that comes from a biased father). She is making major leaps everyday to catch up with her age group. Just in the past few days she has gone from being very sedate to laughing and giggling, to avoiding bedtime by showing something new she can do...spinning in the crib, rolling over and making herself laugh, I think she may even start running tomorrow. She has taken to us quite easily and, as predicted by our facilitators, she will start trusting us by showing us what she can do as that trust builds. I find that works that same way in God's family as well. As we put our faith and trust in Him, we will desire to do more for Him. I can't wait to see what she will do in the next few days.

Now, on a side note. I have seen some rather interesting things in China. Because Chinese New Year is this weekend, we have been able to see a sampling of the celebration. I cannot believe how much more they put into that celebration. For most of us, New Years is a one day deal. Woohoo, it is a new year, let's make some kind of commitment that won't hold through tomorrow. This is a two week celebration for a lot of people. The day we got Kayli, some of the Chinese people were headed home for what they call "reunion day." People who have worked all year, mothers, fathers, grandparents, whoever go home to see their families and present them with gifts and their earnings for that year for the family to live on. I could not imagine spending time away from Michelle and Kayli for that long just to make money for the coming year. But this celebration from what we can see has a lot of similarities to how we would decorate for Christmas. I have seen thousands of Chinese lanterns and fireworks, several outdoor shows, even now someone is programming a laser and light show outside our hotel for this weekend that literally surrounds this little island we are on. Amazing and very cool for a tech guy like me.

Onto the traffic here in China, Carl S., I may not complain about the way you drive ever again (OK maybe not). These people have no regard for traffic laws, pedestrians, other cars or the fact that there is a building with in milimeters of the side of their cars. The interesting thing is that in the time I have been here, I have only seen one accident, no scratched cars, much less dented ones. These people don't multitask while they drive, which is good because I am sure someone would be killed. When we were in Nanchang the other day, however, I did see on the news of a 1000 car pile up in the town we were in and a 60 car pileup in another location. One of these accidents delayed our getting Kayli by a few hours but I am glad she wasn't in a vehicle that was involved nor were we. I have a little website for you to go to if you want to see what we have been through during driving around town, YIKES! The song "Kung Fu Fighting" is the background music for this but you might as well put in Nanchang driving or Beijing driving. I refuse to drive in situations like this...I would be one of those statistics you hear about on the news everyday. Here is the site...enjoy! http://sccreightons.us/morgan/video.htm

The red thread

Today I asked my mother to write the blog entry. I am truly beyond words...but check the site and podcast for pictures and video.

February 11, 2007

Eric asked some time ago if I would add to the blog – he was thinking I would possibly add some historical facts about the places we are seeing in China. I agreed but somehow that part never got done, even though I have spent the past nine weeks checking out the information about China and Jiangxi (Kayli’s province) in particular. It just never came together.

This morning in the hours where I found it impossible to sleep in our Beijing hotel, in the hours before our departure for the city of Nanchang, in the province of Jiangxi, I found myself thinking again about something that China adoptive families often mention, an old Chinese saying about a red thread; it is a theme you will see again and again as you look at adoptive family websites.

Perhaps it came to mind once again after our lunch yesterday in a Chinese restaurant, where there were singers and dancers performing traditional dances for us. At the end of our stay there, they tied a piece of red yarn to each of our wrists. In the dim light of our hotel room this morning, I could see my red thread sitting on the night stand inches from my face and the saying came to mind. I have seen several variations of it, but it goes something like this:

There is a red thread that connects the hearts and lives of those
who are destined to meet. It may bend or twist but will never break.

This saying has nothing to do with Christians really; it is an ancient belief of non-Christian origin. Those of us who profess faith in Jesus Christ know a similar truth: God has a perfect will and a perfect plan for each of our lives.

What does this have to do with Kayli Madison Ling Alexander, our newest family member? Although the Chinese belief is about the red thread link between Kayli, Eric and Michelle and the Edge and Alexander families, we know that God Himself brought Kayli to us as surely as we have ever known anything in our lives.

We knew when, after many years of the disappointment and heartbreak of childlessness, Eric and Michelle made the decision to adopt a child from China. They felt very clearly God’s leading in this decision, and they knew that God already had a child in mind for them.

This was nearly three years ago when they began the paperchase. There were so many, many obstacles in their way throughout the process:
Eric, of Philippine / US military base birth with a US State Department birth certificate, needed multiple copies of his birth certificate. You’ve heard of an act of Congress? This was it.
Michelle, of the smooth, soft hands, had no fingerprints as she was re-fingerprinted multiple times.
A state agency lost one of their precious documents when authenticating their document file, requiring a new document and re-authentication of the file.
Three trips to Washington, DC for authentication there.

And when the paperwork was finally complete, the wait began - the six month wait that turned into month after month of slowdown in the adoption process in China, until finally, fifteen months after the dossier was logged in at the CCAA, we got word that a match had been made. In God’s perfect timing, he brought news of Kayli to us, even as we waited to leave for my mother’s funeral. As Eric mentioned in his letter to Kayli, it was joy on the heels of deepest sorrow.

We knew when Eric and Michelle got the call that day that this was the child He had sent. We knew when we saw her picture later that day, and we have known in the many weeks since that day that she is God’s child for our precious son and daughter-in-law. Today, the day we have waited for, prepared for and prayed for these many months, we have held her, talked to her, played with her, and we know she is God’s child for our family.

It has nothing to do with a red thread – it has only to do with God’s will for this child, for her new parents, for her adoptive family. I will keep the red thread given to me yesterday, not as a reminder of the ancient Chinese saying, but as a reminder of the blessed journey that brought Kayli to us and of the perfection of God’s will. Welcome to our lives, Kayli-girl! You have been in our hearts for a very long time!

Hello from China!

What a ride! I am experiencing some technical difficulties with this blog -- all of my menus are in Chinese and I am not exactly the one to ask to translate it. Anyway, we finally arrived late Thursday evening at least it was here. We hadn't slept much on the plane so we were able to go to sleep pretty quickly. The podcast is still a work in progress, I had a few issues with the power in the room last night (tripped a breaker, blew a fuse or something like that). Anyway, after changing rooms and finally getting to where I could work on the website a little, I was able to post several new pictures. I did not have any time to edit them though for size so they may take a little time to load. The events of the day were: The Great Wall (which is a whole new blog entry by itself), the jade factory, the silk factory, the Summer Palace, and my favorite -- One of Living Hope's orphanages. The Children at the orphanage did a little show for us and were very friendly and had smiles for everyone. It was great.

Once I get the podcast up I will have a little bit of video of the outside of the Olympic arena for the 2008 games which looks like a ball of twisted metal but an interesting design nonetheless. We are going to be parents tomorrow, Sunday, and we are VERY excited -- I am sure it will be hard to sleep tonight (maybe). Keep checking back and I hope that you will be able to see some of our adventures in video soon.

Don't misunderstand

We are welcoming people to meet us at the airport. We are not sure how many people will be there, but several have expressed interest. I think even our personal photographer will be there, Steve Brady. We would like to see as many people as we possibly can and we want her to get to where she recognizes our church family and our friends. I am sure she will have many aunts, uncles, and grandparents in addition to the ones from her new "forever family." Please come if you can we would love to see you just make sure that our biological families can get to her first.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel, it is not a train but a jet ready to go to China!

I told you when that I would post when I had more...I have more. We are officially going to leave Feb. 7 at 9 AM from the Asheville airport and will return to Asheville on Feb 17 at 3:25 PM. The excitement is really getting to be a little on the crazy side. You will probably find us to be really calm right now but that is probably all of the fatigue from the nearly 3 years of being in this madness. It will all be worth it sometime in the middle of this trip when we get to hold that little girl and begin to raise her from that point. Please, please, please pray for us on this long flight. I am not one to usually sit down for that long (nearly 13.5 hours from Detroit to Tokyo). We will be in the air a total of 19 hours and 19 minutes going over there. It is a little shorter coming home 17 hours and 21 minutes. We are not completely sure of the itinerary when we are there but should know something in the next couple of days concerning that. We do have a couple of travel days when we are there. Our trip is actually shorter than most adoption trips to China but I think our agency has all of this figured out. I do feel a little scatter-brained right now because there is a few things left to do and only 7 days to finish it all. I know it will all work out and that God is in control. We are going to spend some quality time at home with her before we bring her out in public but we would be happy to see anyone we can at the airport when we arrive. I hope that she will bond with us quickly and that we can bring her to the church for all to meet her officially before too much time is passes. This will probably be a hard transition for her since the only life she has known is inside that house in Nanchang with her caretaker(s). I am pretty sure that she will start to feel a part of us soon. I know her church family is very excited to meet her but I am not sure how she will take to that crazy place until we get her in the middle of a crowd at some point.

I do check this site and my e-mails everyday so please leave comment, questions, jokes, etc. and I hope to have some sort of response as soon as possible. Just think, in a little over a week you should be able to see lots of pictures and video coming to you from literally the other side of the world.

Return date change

We just found out today that the day we leave China is now one day earlier. We were told in an e-mail today that we will now be leaving on the 17th but we are still not sure when we will arrive back in Asheville. More to come once we find out. However, I guess more people will be able to be at the airport since the Sunday afternoon naps won't happen until the next day. I will post again or change this entry once we find out.

God Bless!

It is official!

We are going to leave for China on February 7 and we are leaving from Asheville. I guess they thought it would be nice for us to catch the superbowl before we left. So anyway, the longest flight out of all 6 planes we will be on is going to be a little over 13 hours, time enough to get in a good nap. We are starting to gear up for the final packing and collecting of things we need before we take off. We are really getting excited now. We are going to be gone until the 18th which just happens to be Chinese New Year so we might have to duck out of the way of the fireworks as we fly out. One interesting thing is that we are going to get to spend a little less than an hour in Japan going over and coming back. I wonder if they have any cheap electronics in the airport that I could get away with before we have to leave...we'll see. So I guess we will see everyone at the airport in Asheville with Kayli on the 18th at around 3:25 in the afternoon - or not since most everyone will be taking Sunday afternoon naps. I am planning on creating a video podcast to show Kayli in full motion video while we are there, hopefully in 5-10 minute segments. I will post instructions and links to the podcast once I get it started. I promise not to show what 18 hours in a plane looks like although it could be interesting on the 15 hours coming back home with a child. Keep sending in the comments and e-mails. I am going to send out a mass e-mail with a shortened version of this blog entry so please check your spam filters and setup your e-mail to accept my messages just in case you don't get it in your regular inbox. Please send me a message and let me know if you would like to be added to my huge e-mail list just in case I don't have your address or if you don't receive the e-mail.

We are approved to travel

We have finally have some information. We have been told that we have been approved to travel. The only question now is, when? Michelle did ask and she found out that it could be sometime in the first or second week of February. That does seem a little long to wait though. I have heard of people travelling a couple of days or a week after the approval. It is possible that we could still travel earlier, though. So stay tuned to this and many other strange adoption stories coming your way soon.

The lack of information is overwhelming

I know that some of you have been visiting almost daily for an update. Well, as I put in the subject line, "the lack of information is overwhelming." We are patiently waiting for our travel approval and to find out when we are going to go. I am afraid that we are going to get the approval and have to travel a few days later, because they will want us to get in and out before Chinese New Year, which is February 18. We can be ready to go fast enough it is just that we tend to forget things when we get in a rush. Our current prayer request is that we will find out soon (the wait won't be as long as it was to get the referral, thankfully) and that we will have enough time to get ready completely before we have to leave. Also please continue to pray for our little China doll as she is waiting for us (although she probably does not know it yet). This new year is holding a new view on life for us and we are excited and apprehensive at the same time. I hope all of you are doing well and we are looking forward to bringing her home for all of you to see her. Please make comments and let me know who all is out there looking at the blog and web page. I see the hits number growing in the stats I receive but I am not sure who is out there. Take care and God bless!

Eric