Emily

I know I said that my next post would be about Conner.  There are reasons I haven't done it yet-- but in the meantime I haven't posted anything else because I had promised a Conner post.  Well, posting this video is going to have to trump my promise.  It's just too important.  (:

Last December as we were adopting Cali, a film crew traveled with us to document the adoption for their upcoming film, "Find Me."  I shared the trailer in a past post.  While in Xi'an, the film crew (Dave and Michael) visited a local orphanage and took a video of who they named, "Little Miss So Sad."  This video was later posted on facebook in hopes that they could find her a family, and they did!!!  The Zimmerman family is now in China and Little Miss So Sad is now officially their daughter, Lucy.  Once again, Dave traveled to China to document her adoption.  This will all be shown in the film "Find Me" coming out next Spring, which will also feature Cali's and Graci's stories.

If you remember, I stated numerous times that I don't like cameras.  I really don't.  Don't get me wrong-- the producers of this film are the kindest, most wonderful people and became dear friends.  They were wonderful throughout the process.  I just don't like being on camera.  But I knew in my heart that being part of this documentary could be a huge blessing to our girls.  Having their stories documented could be so, so good for them.  Even more,  I knew that it could lead to other children finding families.  I said over and over that if even one child found a home because of the film, then it was worth it.  It happened!!  My heart is so happy for Lucy-- but honestly it has made me even more anxious to continue to find homes for these children.

On this most recent trip to China, the orphanage director asked about filming some more children in hopes that Dave could also find families for them.  This video is about one of those girls, a girl they are calling Emily.

Watching this video will perhaps help make real what I try so hard to convey to people-- these children WANT A FAMILY.  They are real.  They are precious.  This video was JUST taken.  Her plea is current and it will tug at your heart.  Please consider sharing the video in any way you can in hopes of getting Emily the parents she so desperately wants.  And if you feel your heart start to open to her but you have questions or concerns about older child adoption, please ask me.  (:

--Christianne

Moving On...

The last two times we have moved it has been a very sudden transition.  Both moves were for work and my employer provided a moving service to come in, box everything up and drive it across the country.  (One move was from Utah to Tennessee, the other was when we came back to Utah.)  In those situations, we watched everything get packed up, got on an airplane and arrived at our new home.

This move has been much different.  We have moved everything ourselves (with the help of some kind friends and neighbors!).  There was no rush to get everything to the new home.  We are only 1.5 miles from our old house, so it's pretty easy to go grab something if we need it.  This long transition period has made the move more challenging for me in a very real way.  Each time I go back to our old house, I become very homesick for this place we lived in for six years.  Don't get me wrong...I LOVE our new home.  When I am here, it feels like home.  It is a wonderful, wonderful place for us.  But when I walk in our old house, I am flooded with memories.  Right now it is just an empty shell, and it feels so lonely.  We are praying that a wonderful family can move in and fill it with love:)

Here's a simple example of the poignant experiences I have had there:  Our sweet Jessica went through a phase where she would color pictures and tape them to our bedroom wall.  They were the sweetest expressions of love, if not world-class artwork, and we treasured them.  One of things we loved about them was the way she taped them up.  We loved these so much, that a couple of them have remained on our wall for years.  It broke a little piece of my heart to take them down the other day.

Thanks, Jesi, for bringing such a sweet innocence to our lives.  You are a treasure!

-Dad

Grace

Almost six years ago we brought home a nine-year-old spitfire.  A little fireball that changed my life.  She sent me into one of the most challenging years I've lived through.  And I sent her into one of the most challenging years she's lived through (and that's saying something!)

I watched her as she came into our room for morning scripture study today.  Grace is a perfect name for her.  She almost floats as she walks in, neck erect, regal smile on her face.  Today is dress down day, so she doesn't have to wear her school uniform.  She chooses to wear a beautiful orange flowered dress.  She can pull it off.  A couple of nights ago I took the four older kids to a youth meeting on a weeknight.  (I won't even go into how proud I am of them for choosing to spend 90 minutes on a school night to listen to spritual messages from ecclesiastical leaders:).  On the way home, Parker commented that he thought Graci was the most popular kid in school.

This summer Grace and Taylor participated in "Trek".  Hundreds of youth and adults from our area gained a greater understanding of what some of the mormon pioneers experienced by pushing handcarts for 20 miles along a portion of the original mormon trail.  Because of her medical condition, Grace couldn't do the walking and pushing, so during the day she traveled with the food crew, who drove on a road that paralleled the trail.  During the evenings and morning she was with the rest of the kids.  At a post-trek meeting, pictures of the journey were shown, and out of hundreds of images, Graci got perhaps the most cheers when her smiling face came up on the screen.

My little girl has come so far.  As she sat next to me during scriptures this morning, I remembered back to those first difficult days.  At that time I wasn't sure I was up to the challenge.  Now I cannot imagine life without our Graci.  God knows.  He knows when our branches need to be pruned.  He knows what is down the road next week and next decade.  And when we trust Him, we end up with flowers in our life like Gracelin Kate.  How grateful I am for this little angel in our home!

-Dad

Jeremy's principle

A person's size is inversely proportional to their ability to disrupt the lives of the people around them.

Example #1:  Sophia!

Just because...

I stumbled across this picture of Elli and thought it was too darn cute not to post:)

Parental Prowess

Why is it that when I'm sick and completely out of commission, everything keeps going smoothly and the house is fine and dinner is prepared and life is great, but when Christi's sick and completely out of commission the house looks like this after just one morning:

I'm thinking there's a lesson here about our relative importance to the family...
-Jer

Whodunnit?

I left the house yesterday to go over and move more stuff from the old house.  My office was a disaster.  Boxes everywhere.  Bills and memos in multiple piles as I tried to catch up on weeks of paperwork.  I even had an external hard drive hooked up to the computer on my desk with a cord hanging between the desk and the wall outlet.

Before I left, I gave all of the kids explicit instructions not to go in my office under any circumstances.  Upon my return, I sat at my desk.  Something seemed off.  The mouse was on the left side of the keyboard.  Strange, since I'm right-handed.  I figured I must have done it myself somehow.  Surely none of the kids would have entered after my dire warning.  I looked at the papers in their piles.  Nothing seemed amiss.  The poorly-placed hard drive was still in place.  Hmmm.

I moved my mouse and the computer came alive.  AHA!!!  The desktop had clearly been tampered with!  There were three new unnamed folders!  And I was looking back at myself with crazy googly-eyes as the photo booth app was in use!  Who could have done this dastardly deed!?!  I felt the fuse light within me.  I kept my voice soft but intense, so all would know of this great wrong that had been dealt me.  "Does anyone know who played with my computer?"  Parker: "Is there a problem with it."  Me (slightly sheepish):  "Well, no, (now feeling more self-assured) but I told everyone not to come in my office!"  Parker: "How do you know someone messed with the computer?"  Me: "Well, there were some new folders created and photo booth was open."

Parker:  "Did someone take a picture of themself?"

Me (now feeling not just sheepish, but pretty dumb):  "Uhhhhh.  I don't know.  Let's see."

And here we have our rather unsubtle culprit:

 A cute little "I'm sorry dad!" and all is forgiven.  My computer and I live to fight another day!

-Jer