Family Pictures

Our friend Karen has been such a blessing to us over the years. She is the mother of Andrew's dear friend Jake, served as kids Sunday School Coordinator at our church, was a tremendous support to us through so many things (along with the rest of her family) and is a fantastic photographer!! Since she has recently moved to the Twin Cities area, we took the whole family that direction to meet her and her family for dinner and a picture taking outing. As a bonus Andrew went with them to spend a few days. You get to enjoy her great work and great eye here.

Yesterday at church Jadon became very interested in the song "Agnus Dei" especially the Alleluia section. He sang with some gusto there, drew a picture of Pastor Matt preaching, copied some words off of the screen, and then launched into writing "I like my . . ." (an exercise that he is doing in writing a book in his tutoring sessions. He decided that he liked Matt and wrote I like my Matt. I pray that God is speaking to his little heart and drawing him to Himself.

Jadon continues to make steps of progress. Sometimes are slower than others. He has been telling us lately that English is hard, so we are trying to encourage him. He seems to really respond to the encouragement. Pray for him. He doesn't like to be wrong or to make mistakes. Pray for us that we would encourage him honestly and in ways that speak to his heart.

Oh the Glorious Days of Summer

All is not always work at the Rieck house! Today, for instance, we celebrated the Fourth of July quietly as a family - relaxing, packing for various destinations (Kirsten to Mississippi; Andrew to Camp Forest Springs; Alan, Ruth and Jadon to Chicagoland to visit Alan's family for a few days)and, of course, watching fireworks. The day was gorgeous with partly cloudy skies (keeping the temps down which is great because our air conditioner conked out--Yikes!). Happy Birthday, America!

After dinner we pulled out some sparklers for the boys to run around with (Jadon had obviously used them before) and roasted marshmallows...a big hit! Then it was off to watch the Eau Claire fireworks. To avoid traffic problems we decided to try watching them from the parking lot of Chancellor's Hall on the university's upper campus. The view was slightly obstructed but not bad at all. Jadon really enjoyed his first American fireworks display.

On the warm days this summer activities have included splashing on the slip and slide, riding bike and playing at the school playground. A favorite activity is actually digging in the sandbox there.

Jadon is making wonderful progress in his tutoring. His English is improving by leaps and bounds these days too. He has started using complete sentences all in English over the last day or so. It's been refreshing. We have expressed appreciation to him over and over again. He has started acting more and more like the typical younger brother too. Yesterday after he'd been told no one was going to play on the Wii for awhile he ran after Andrew (who had gone downstairs to get his shoes) yelling, "Andrew, Mommy said no 'ping ping'" (Ping ping is Jadon's term for the Wii) I had to chuckle to myself. Things have seemed to start normalizing. God is so good.

Go Fish!

A long time between posts. At this rate nobody is probably checking this anymore. It is a good therapy to write none the less and hopefully someone does read. As we have stated previously, we really appreciate the love and support of everyone and especially the prayer support.

Jadon continues to adapt (as do the rest of us). His tutoring has gone generally very well (although today was less than stellar on his part). We are very blessed to have such a great teacher and tutor and it is making such a huge difference in all of our lives. One of Jadon's favorite activities from tutoring is Go Fish. He has come to know his letters (upper and lower case) well enough to play that game with the whole family. It is good practice when he has to say, "Daddy, do you have M?" The v sound is a challenge, but it gets easier every day.

When we stop to look at all that has happened in the last two months (two month anniversary of Gotcha Day is July 4) it is pretty incredible all that this little man has had to take in. He really has done a remarkable job in that regard.

We had family photos taken on Monday evening at a park in Stillwater. Hopefully we will be able to share some of those very soon, so check back. Please pray for our continued efforts to communicate and understand one another. Jadon now knows how to tell us, "I don't know" or "no understand" so we know when we are making some progress or more is needed. Pray for his continued need to learn language and culture. It has got to be so overwhelming. Thanks much.

Thankfulness

Thankful. That is the meaning of Jadon's name. It also is probably the best word to describe our heart's gratitude to our loving heavenly Father for all that He is, has done, is doing and we trust will continue to do.

There have been times that I've (Ruth) had to remind myself that Jadon's name means "thankful" and that I am truly thankful to the Lord for His gift of him to us. Monday was such a day. Jadon had been showing a lot of favoritism toward Alan which was hard on all of us to the degree that Jadon nearly shunned anyone in the family who wasn't Babby (Jadon's Chinese name for Daddy). I was feeling a bit "bruised" Monday morning when the siren of an emergency vehicle sounded through the house. Jadon was with me at the time. He got all excited, pointed at me and proceeded to act out what appeared to be me dying. I was stunned. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! After awhile I asked Jadon if he really wanted Mommy to die. He replied, "Yes." Again I couldn't believe what I was hearing so I decided to put the question a different way, "Do you want a mommy?" "No" came Jadon's reply back to me. I was devastated. I called Alan who proceeded to call Bechy Zhou (Jadon's ELL teacher who "happens" to speak Mandarin). Becky graciously came to the house later in the afternoon and proceeded to discern that Jadon had been frightened by the sound and had chosen to tease as a way of dealing with his fears. When Becky explained the questions I had asked he demonstrated great sorrow for the misunderstanding. He hadn't understood my questions but had chosen to answer anyway.

That was a turning point. Now that I reflect back I can seen how God used the misunderstanding to bring us closer together. Since that time Jadon and Mommy have gotten along just fine most of the time. We are so grateful to our Lord and Father for His wonderful provision of Becky. His grace constantly amazes me. Not only will Becky be one of Jadon's teachers in the fall, she has started tutoring Jadon in some basic English and math skills. He has a long way to go in order to be ready for second grade in the fall but Becky feels it's doable. So far I am needing to sit close by where Jadon and Becky are working or Jadon refuses to stay on task.

This week we experienced the unpacking of some of the children's books that have been put away for quite some time. Jadon has enjoyed exploring those books tremendously. He has also become much more steady on the bike (starting, riding and stopping), however he needs to learn that when he closes his eyes or tries to look any place other than where he's going he will fall down. Today we made a trip to the local pharmacy on the bike across several streets together. He did great! He used the mandoline to help prepare the vegetables for the grill. He also helped shuck the season's first corn and then helped to de-silk it. He enjoyed the corn very much...an all American boy!! A warm day even allowed us to enjoy dinner on the screened porch. Thanks God!

I am also very thankful for the work God is so obviously working in Jadon's heart. He has started running around declaring "God made me!" He also loves singing along with several worship choruses..."It's all Your's God." He may not completely understand what he is saying, but we are encouraged at the progress of his heart. Again our hearts overflow with thankfulness.

School's Out

It's official. Kirsten is now a junior in High School, Andrew is now a Middle School student and Jadon is going to second grade!! Yikes, time flies.

The week has turned out well. Thanks to everyone who has been praying. Jadon seems to understand that Daddy has to work and is appearing to enjoy his time with Mommy even though he is still anxious and excited when Daddy returns. The week has been very productive. In the past two days he has seemed more interested in learning English words and speaking English phrases. His interactions are a hoot!

This morning Jadon went back to the doctor for a follow-up appointment. It went very well. The doctor was very pleased with his 3 pound weight gain, his increased use of English, his obvious settled feeling and responsiveness, and that his ears were still very clear. She was very encouraging and affirming to us.

This evening the family went to the home of one of Alan's colleagues for a gathering of the Education Cohort faculty and spouses. This is a group of people with whom Alan works everyday in team-teaching students who are preparing to be teachers. This group has really been a key to his enthusiasm and energy at work. He takes things that he learns from them in class and applies them to other classes all the time. We all had a great time. Jadon especially loved the fact that they had a cat and two large dogs. These people also presented a gift card (shower sort of) to Jadon, Andrew and Kirsten. What a great gift. It was a wonderful evening with people that are great colleagues and good friends.

Updates

It has been a whirlwind for us. Jadon went to school yesterday to meet his class for next year. His ELL teacher (who speaks Mandarin) was with him. Believe it or not he was fairly shy in the process. The boys who sat with him were very concerned about him and how he would be successful if he did not understand things. They asked his teacher if he was speaking Spanish. This week is also a big week because Alan is at school pretty much full time getting ready for orientation duties during the next three weeks. That leaves mom and Jadon at home together by themselves since school doesn't end until Thursday for Kirsten and Andrew. Things went well today and we pray that God's grace will continue to sustain all of us through these transitions. Yesterday Jadon and Andrew had a little water fight. Andrew graciously gave the super soaker to Jadon and he was left with a water bottle that didn't hold all that much water (see pictures). Also, you can see the progress that has been made in riding the bike. Now he just needs to learn to start by himself and he will be off to the races.

We're Still Here

Life gets busy doesn't it?

We had a really good Memorial Day Weekend. Jadon and Andrew spent much time working together to defeat the Empire in the Lego Star Wars Wii game. It was good for them to work together and to have some fun. Jadon did more bike riding and became more familiar with the family as Alan's parents and sister came to visit.

It was very difficult for Alan to have his parents leave. He enjoyed having the support and the additional adults with whom to interact. He has always appreciated his parents, but that appreciation just grows as time goes on.

Kirsten turned 16 on Wednesday. Unbelievable that she is at that point already. She is such a blessing. Ruth and Alan commented to each other that they feel more blessed by her than they could ever be a blessing to her. She doesn't agree, but that is probably a good thing.

Andrew won four ribbons at a 5th grade track meet. He was first in every event in which he was entered. He has had a very good year. It is amazing to watch him move quickly from boyhood toward manhood. He is growing physically again, but is also growing in so many other ways.

Jadon is beginning to use more English phrases. He of course still knows more Chinese than English and is a bit frustrated when he can't get his ideas across to us--he tries Chinese with great gestures, but we don't always interpret correctly.

Next week will be a very interesting one for us. Alan will be back at work for Summer Orientation 8-4:30 beginning on Tuesday. This will be an adjustment for Jadon. Pray for us.

More soon.