~Ellye's 6th Birthday & Eli's One Year GOTCHA DAY~

Daddy & his Double Blessings!

EllyeKate & daddy!

EllyeKate on her special day!

Eli & Momma on his 1year Gotcha Day Celebration!

January 10th is a HUGE day of celebration in the Schrink household!We have 2 awesome reasons to celebrate the day! We have been doubly blessed! On January 10, 2006, inYangjiang, China, a beautiful baby girl was born, and due to reasons we will never know, placed at the gate of Beishan Park, where she was found by one of the orphanage personnel.What a blessing that child has been to our family! Our EllyeKate! 
Also, January 10 is the day that I sat in a very cold Civil Affairs office in Hangzhou China, impatiently waiting for the most precious little boy in China to be carried thru the door! And now it's so hard to believe that it has been one year now that I first held him in my arms!

We kept the day low key and then held a party for Ellye on Saturday evening. Due to the fact that I was in China on her bday last year, I promised her something big this year! This year her party theme was all about Pirates! Zach dressed as the coolest pirate I have ever seen, and all the kids came dressed as their favorite pirate! We had a treasure hunt, sword fight,an awesome time swinging at an evil sea creature pinata, ate some really cool hotdog boats, and played all kinds of Pirate games! The kids had a blast! All in all, it turned out to be a special night for a very special little girl that we love very much!

Pics of Christmas!

My 3 little Christmas Elves!

Having fun with my "littles!"

~Eli & his John Deere's~

This was Eli's first Christmas! He had a ball opening presents and playing with all of his new toys! He is very much into cars, trucks, tractors, and Thomas the Train! He is ALL boy!!!!!

Happy 2012!

I can not believe that it is already 2012! I missed a few months somewhere along the way! One year ago I was still in China! I had had Eli for just 5 days! How can it have been a year??
So far my year has not started out as I had hoped! SO many changes....some changes I am having a very hard time accepting and I just can not work my way through them. I spend so much time in prayer that I am sure GOD is sick of my pleas by now! I just hope that his will is my will.....
Christmas was good. Eli was absolutely a joy to watch during all of the holiday festivities! His little face is so expressive, and he had a blast decorating the tree and then opening all of his presents! It was truly a great day!
Wishing all of you a very happy 2012!

Eli's First Halloween!

The cutest pumpkin of the 2011 season!

Olivia & Ellye

He was so good while I was painting his face!

I am not a lover of Halloween celebrations. I LOVE celebrating Fall, and I have taught my children that Halloween for our family is just a fun time to dress up, trick or treat, go to the pumpkin patch, or enjoy hayrides! I have explained to them that some people celebrate Halloween as the devil's holiday, but as Christians we do not! We celebrate Fall for its beauty and bountiful harvest of crops!
 The kids of course are all about trick or treating and can't wait to find the "perfect" costume!
Have you seen the price of children's costumes??? OMW!!! I could not believe the price of costumes, even at Wally World! I refuse to pay over $10.00 for something that will more than likely be worn one night, and will probably be ripped and or stained by candy by the time the night is over! I have always been very frugal when it comes to costumes. This year really was no exception. So off to the thrift shops I went a lookin! I already had Eli's costume so it was just Liv & El that needed new ones. I lucked out this year and spent less than $10.00 on everything! We were given so many compliments on the kid's costumes! I LOVE a bargain!!! 
Eli absolutely loved having his face painted. He was not real sure about trick or treating until he realized that there was candy in his bucket!! That did it for him! He had a ball! He looked so cute, and the only time he cried was when someone approached him wearing a scary costume. The weather was perfect for trick or treating and the kids walked for around an hour and then they were ready to call it a night! I can't believe October is gone and Thanksgiving is fast approaching! Where has this year gone to????

Oktoberfest time!

Seymour just celebrated its 39th Annual Oktoberfest! It happens the first weekend in October! Seymour is primarily a German town so the whole town comes out in full force to celebrate! With a name like SCHRINK, being German, we MUST attend! :O)  This year was a special year as it was Eli's first ever Oktoberfest!! I find it sooo hard to believe that a year ago Kayleigh, I,  & the 2 little girls were sitting downtown when Kayleigh checked her phone to see if we had received any new pics of Eli!!! And low and behold we had 2 new pics of him!! And here we are one year later and our sweet boy has already been home for 8 months already! WOW where did the year go to? We live only 3 blocks away from where they set up the festival, so it is within walking distance! We go every day and night! This year I purchased ride bracelets for the kids. This entitled them to ride NON-STOP Wednesday night, Thursday night, and until 5pm Friday! WHAT. WAS. I. THINKING? I was never so glad to see 5 pm Friday roll around in all my life!!! Eli is absolutely terrified to ride, but the girls had an amazing time! My best friend, no, really my sis Steph came down on Friday to attend as well, and we had the best time ever! I did get a nice surprise as my son Zach and my beautiful daughter in love were able to come down Friday and spend the evening with us to! The food was scrumptious, the sweet treats, elephant ears and funnel cakes were divine, and the weather PERFECT! All in all it was a great time and we look forward to it rolling around next year!

****Remembering 9/11****

I will never forget where I was when the first tower was hit in NY on that fateful day 10 years ago. I was on my way to work. I was teaching and I was in disbelief that an "accident" like that could happen! Then the second plane hit and I knew then that it was "NO" accident! My disbelief quickly turned to fear! Were we as a nation under attack? Unfortunately, yes.....yes we were under attack by a great evil. And now 10 years later the pain and memories of that awful day are still fresh in my mind. For months I had dreams that the US was under attack. I could see the planes in the air as they were swooping in to bomb us. I wold be running around trying to find a place to hide, wondering what it was going to feel like when I was shot. Yes, horrible nightmares. And now 10 years later my nightmares have taken on a different fear. For now my oldest son is a United States soldier bravely defending this country! Now my fears are not about myself, but about the safety and well being of my son. The hardest job I have ever had is being the mother of a soldier. I know our troops are making progress, but it is a war we will never win...the war on terrorism! I am sooooo very proud of my son, and I love his dedication and love for our country! But I am a mother, and I am afraid. I trust GOD with my eternity, so I must trust GOD with my son! 

Having 3 children who came from a c*mmunist country, and are now US citizens, I feel it is very important that they are well educated about the US and the job that our milt*ary does. We are a very patriotic family, and they know just WHY their brother does what he does ! We have taught them that freedom is not free! They know that they are here because of the brave!!! Are they proud of what their brother does! You bet!  So 9/11 has taken on a totally different meaning for me and our family. My son is schedulaed to be deployed within the year.....I ask that if you are reading this that you would say a prayer for my son and all of our troops! For without these brave young men & women we would not sleep well at night, nor would we be living in a nation that gives us the rights and freedoms we have! SO thank you to our military; past, present and future! May we all live lives worthy of their sacrifices!

Two Different Types of Love

Once there were two women who never knew each other
One you do not remember, the other you call Mother.
Two different lives shaped to make your one.
One became your guiding star, the other became your sun.
The first one gave you life, the second taught you to live it.
The first gave you a need for love, and the second was there to give it.
One gave you a nationality, the other gave you a name.
One gave you the seed of talent, the other gave you aim.
One gave you emotions, the other calmed your fears.
One saw your first sweet smile, the other dried your tears.
One sought you a home that she could not provide,
The other prayed for a child and her hope was not denied.
And now you ask me through your tears
The age-old question through the years,
Heredity or environment----
Which are you the product of?
Neither my darling--neither;
Just two different kinds of love.