The big stuff

As I mentioned in my last post, our July was pretty busy. The weekend after camping in the Keys, Caleb was baptized at a beach baptism our church put on.  

As we were getting ready to cross over the dunes, we heard a familiar voice say "Hey, wait a minute.  I know that family."  Turns out it was the dad of one of the boys Caleb trained with in tennis last spring.  Last time we saw this family was at a local tournament last fall.  So it had been a while.  Anyway, we figured we would head down to the shore and see if we could find the boy, Sam.

Before meeting up with the crowd, we stopped to snap a few photos.

After singing a couple of worship songs, all the people wanting to be baptized gathered near the microphone so they could share a brief testimony for why they chose to be baptized that day.

Although he said he wasn't prepared to say something, Caleb stood up there and shared how he was saved four years ago and had decided it was time to be baptized and that he wants to continue to praise Jesus.  Be.still.my.heart.

When everyone who wanted to share was finished, several lines formed leading into the ocean. Caleb got in line with his friend Sam.  And those would be sweat droplets pouring down from my precious son's face...at 9am.  Yes, he sweats. A lot.

Patrick and I are so proud his decision to make a public demonstration of the personal commitment to Christ he made four years ago (on Uncle Andy's birthday, as he likes to say.) Our prayer is that he continue to walk in the ways of the Lord all the days of his life.  Best decision ever.

So a few days later (and perhaps several years in the making), we finally filed our paperwork with the county courthouse to have all of the dumplings foreign adoptions recognized.  For those of you not familiar with this process, it's a way of giving our children Florida birth certificates, which will make their lives easier (like when they need to apply to college or obtain a marriage license). They won't have to do what I've been doing and that is presenting multiple Chinese documents every time I need to prove something on their behalf.  Let me tell you.  It's been a pain but one they won't have to endure, thankfully.

Well, we had the fortunate privilege of having one of Patrick's friends who is a county court judge conduct the hearing.  Usually, it is done in the judge's chambers.  However, he let us into the courtroom so the kids could experience it.  We also had the privilege of a friend of ours from church represent us.  So it was a very personal and special time.  After some time in the courtroom, we did head back to the judge's chambers.  And then we finally snapped a few quick photos.

After that big week, we went back to our regular summer schedule of tennis, swimming in the pool, and decluttering.  And soon, that summer schedule will be changing as we prepare to start school up in early August.  Caleb's day time tennis training definitely throws a wrench into my planning because the local schools don't start up for two more weeks.  That means they won't start evening training until then.  But although I may not like how it affects my homeschool scheduling, I sure do love our evenings together.  Tennis has no "season".  It's all year long, every week (and every day if you're Caleb.)  So having our summer evenings free has been such a treat- late evening swims or movies....it's been lovely.  This homeschooling mama is gonna be sad to see our summer end!

Hand Camp

{Warning: This is an extremely long post.}

Last weekend, we had an opportunity for the dumplings to attend Hand Camp, an action packed weekend full of activities for children with upper limb differences.  It was put together by a great group of people at Hands to Love, an organization run by Dr. Paul and Ruthie Dell, that believes difference does not equal disability.  Volunteers put together a weekend camp that allows children with upper limb differences to participate in all sorts of activities and parents to network.  This year they celebrated fifteen years of Hand Camp.  They have gone from 10-12 kids to over 90 kids in that time, truly amazing.  Many of the kids have been attending camp for a while. And while it was our kids first year, they quickly made some friends and had a blast.  

Since we found out pretty late about camp, all the cabins were booked.  No problem.  We hit the road in Charlie and dry camped right there at the camp.  We had our own "cabin" on wheels, for which we were grateful.  We arrived Friday afternoon, cut an air hose underneath the RV trying to park (fun!), checked in, and proceeded to rummage through all the goodies in our welcome bags.  Since the Dells live in Gainesville (Dr. Dell is a hand surgeon at the University of Florida), there was a ton of orange and blue...and boy, did the Gator in me get a little homesick for the home of Gator Nation! lol

After check-in, we met our "family pal" Kristin and had some dinner.

Patrick ended up taking Havi back to the RV, and Kristin and I headed down to the campfire for a welcome presentation and s'mores.

Saturday was filled with activities galore.  The dumplings did sessions on music and soccer while Patrick and I did small group discussions for parents.  Our group leaders were AULDS (adults with upper limb differences).  It was a great time of reflection and learning.

Then it was time for Caleb's favorite- archery.  He shot lefty and did awesome!  Madeline wasn't interested.

Then it was off to tennis.  The dumplings were all looking forward to this one.  After doing some basic volley and groundstroke drills, the activity pal played with Caleb.  They both had a lot of fun.  And just to let you know how crazy small this world is, I happened to talk to another mom who is not only living Gainesville right now, but she and her family attend the church my sister attended as a student and know the pastor and his family well!  What a blessing to meet this mom!  God is GOOD!

After tennis, it was time for lunch and then right back out to activities. Next up was the ropes course.  Caleb and Madeline were both too intimidated to climb the course (I think it was like 50 feet high.)  So they climbed around the "grotto".  Even Havi got in on the action thanks to Kristin.

Havi was so little, her helmet kept slipping off her head.

After watching so many kids go up, the dumplings decided they would go up to the half way point and then come down.  But unfortunately, time ran out before they had their chance.

So they headed over to art and STEM. They decorated these cute clay pots.

Then they came outside and put their handprints all over the 2015 banner.

After art/STEM, it was time to swim in the lake. The water was a little chilly, but the girls didn't mind too much.  Caleb preferred to play a little badminton and volleyball (with a beach ball) with the big kids.

Because of his limited range of motion with his left arm, he tried using his right for hitting most of the shots.  Any ball to his left side was hit like a tennis backhand.  It was pretty cute to see...even on the volleyball court, the tennis player in him came out.

After swimming we had dinner and then a parade down to the rec hall for the evening activity.

Once down to the rec hall, the dumplings went on a hay ride.  See that little head in front of Caleb along the side of the hay bed?  That little munchkin really enjoyed the hayride and promptly fell asleep...face down in the hay!!! lol

Then it was time for some fun booths- cupcake decorating, face painting, photo booths and dancing.  Rion Paige, who has appeared on the X Factor, also sang a song for everyone.  What a sweet gal she is.

Sunday morning was time to pack up and prepare for departure.  The children sang a song they all learned at music the day before.  I still hear Caleb and Madeline singing it around the house.

There were also a couple of slideshows, highlighting previous years hand camps and even some photos from this year. There was also a graduation ceremony for the CITs (high schoolers), as they will have their own weekend retreat geared toward teens in the fall.

Then it was time to say goodbye.  Caleb really hit it off with a boy named Sam, who happens to be 2 years and a day younger than him...also from southern China..and just a few hours drive from us.  So we will definitely try to get together with him and his family.

Kristin, our family pal, was great.  She is graduating from UF next month, and then she begins graduate school in Occupational Therapy.  The girls really took to her.  (Caleb was too busy playing with Sam and his younger brother Joey. lol)  It was nice to know the girls were in good hands when out and about the camp.

We all had such an amazing time.  

We're grateful to Dr. Dell for extending an invitation to us.  

And we can't wait until next year!