Monday of week 2.

What a fun day today.  Swimming is always at the top of our list and since the weather is cooperating so nicely we just plan on swimming most days.  We started off at the Splash Pad on Bass Rd. for a picnic lunch, park time and of course water time with some friends we met last year, the Shoppell family.  Then we headed to the Hawks' pool for some real swimming time and ended up at the YMCA pool to check out their facility.  The big purple slide was closed so we will have to check it out later.

Week #2 in the USA

 We sure have had an exciting jam packed first week and are now moving onto the 2nd week. Yesterday on Sunday we spent the day in Brook getting reaquainted with our Lola (Grandma) Clark. 

Cate also discovered what a water fountain was.  New experiences everyday that you wouldn't think were a big deal.  Magic how the water comes out of this box.

 We always love to eat at our favorite local restaurant, The Good Table.

   The highlight of the afternoon was playing in Grandpa Clark's electric chair.

More Big Days

Friday was fun. We got invited to the Hawks's pool and that was a blast. These kids have really surprised me with their swimming skills. No lessons as far as I know but great survival skills so they dive right in and take off. Several other families were there so it was a good time to learn some social skills too.

When Daddy Jeff got home we drove to Zach & Courtney's church in Lakeville (Olive Branch Church) . They were hosting the final evening of their VBS and we thought the kids would enjoy being there. They love church and anytime is a good time to work on social skills. They are pretty shy at first but then finally warm up and just about the time we leave they are just feeling comfortable. Then when we leave they always ask if we are going back tomorrow? They really are doing a great job of adjusting to new situations. Nice Job Courtney & Zach on the VBS program. It was great

The first week marches on!

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 Today was a pretty good day. Daddy Jeffrey is at work so I am winging it myself and sometimes it's not going as smooth as with 2 adults but our days are still good. We visited some of our favorite people today...Lisa Phillips and her 3 darlings! Josh and Luke quickly paired up plus Cate and Mya enjoyed the morning. Jake is always adorable and fits in with either group. Lunch was great fun with the kids creating their own little pizzas and chowing down on watermelon

Then we spent time at a neighbor's pool with lots of kids so that was great in this 100 + degree heat. Later on we went shopping to spend the $5 they got in the mail. Thanks Aunt Dawn & Uncle Tim. They each purchased squirt guns and learned quickly how those worked. It was especially fun I thought when Daddy and I joined in. I loved it when Josh asked where his bathing suit was and I had put it on the deck to dry. He was standing right near the deck. I said your suit is on the deck and he said "Where's the deck?" and walked over to his bag and looked in it. I guess they didn't cover the word "deck" in his Philippine class. Too funny.

Later in the evening we went over to The Chapel and the kiddos were reunited with one of their favorite people, Pastor Rick Hawks. They ran into his arms as you can see. We've had some of the greatest reunions this side of heaven. And the kids also got to meet many of the H2O Fostering Hope volunteers. These volunteers have been great prayer supporters in bringing these kids home. What a great way to end the day.

Reconnecting with siblings and having fun in the USA!

Today was another really fun day. We got to spend it at the lake cottage with my nephew (their cousin) Matt. Matt was great with the kids. Plus my mom had a group of 17 women to the cottage for her UMW meeting so they all loved on the kids and that was fun.

We also this week have reintroduced Josh & Cate to their
older siblings.  Courtney & Zach came to the lake and we had fun there.

Nick & Autumn, plus Luke & Susi met us at Mounds State Park for a picnic.  They all seemed to remember each other and the family bond was great to see. 

Our Philippine Travels

While in the Philippines I wasn't able to update the blog alot since computer time was limited and we didn't bring a laptop. We thought we didn't need one more thing to carry. So I have uploaded all of our pictures to my Facebook. If you want to see all the pictures just friend me. My FB name is Chris Walker Clark. I will post a few pictures here if I can remember how to do that. This mommy's memory is fading quickly. I think it's the issue of so much new information going in what old things are just being randomly kicked out! Our house is chaos and the memory is fading fast but the smiles are multiplying and the fun/love we have with these kiddos is amazing. Some things are just worth the trade off! Here are some pictures of the orphanage and the travels in the PI. Feel free to ask us questions, share our story, and follow us on this journey. Just be sure and give all the glory to God because that is our driving force behind the journey. It has only been possible through HIM and our faith has mutliplied beyond belief by all the doors HE has opened. It's easiest explained by the way our new kiddos say it...."Yay Jesus!"

The kids had lots of new experiences like staying at a nice hotel with a fancy bathroom and plush white robes. Learning how to ride an escalator or taking the shuttle were fun too.

Hello Josh & Cate

I know I sound like a broken record but really things are going so great. No we are not over jetlag yet but other things are flowing along nicely. Even when you are really tired and the house is a big big mess with suitcases and stuff we still are having really fun days.

We have decided on names. We talked to Ramon about how he reminds us of Joshua in the bible. In Joshua 1:9 it says Be strong and courageous! We told him we were impressed with how very strong he is physically and how much coursge it took to come to America. We think he is like Joshua in the bible. He said "Me Josh!" So he was easy. His name is now Joshua Ramon Clark. We talked to Ramona about biblical names like Rachel and Hannah. We told her Rachel was very beautiful like she is and also Hannah was a good mother to Samuel and raised him for the Lord. So we thought she should be a Rachel or Hannah since she was beautiful and she loves babies. She said "No!". We said well what name do you want to be and she said "Cate!". We don't know where Cate came from and she is pretty adamant about her name being Cate. So Cate she is! We decided to go with the "C" spelling since both Chris & Courtney start with a C. So we are now the proud parents of Josh & Cate.