Our Three Sons

Hats...some of our favorites...

2008-10-28T21:21:00.003-05:00

Hats come in all shapes, sizes and forms at the Willard house...from the classic baseball cap to the Krispy Kreme paper cap to - well - we will let you see for yourselves how creative three boys can be!

Pickin' Peaches...yum, yum...

2008-10-28T20:30:00.002-05:00

Peach pickin' is a favorite summer activity in the South. Our home-grown peaches are some of the best - anywhere! Even in the sweltering heat (it was in the 90's by 10:00 a.m.) Sam, Christopher and Fox were having fun! We picked enough to make some delicious home-made goodies. There is nothing better than some good 'ol peach pie topped with ice cream!

Water babies...splish - splash

2008-10-28T20:26:00.001-05:00

That was then...this is now...

2008-07-05T15:22:00.004-05:00

May 8, 2007

...the day that changed our lives forever...all of our lives. Enjoy a slide show through time as we reflect back on a year of memories. We celebrated one year of 'three Willard boys' on May 8, 2008. In appropriate fashion, we went out for a big Chinese dinner (surprise, surprise).

We thought that everyone would enjoy seeing how our little boys have changed in one year. We are so thankful to all of you who have supported us in this journey. It is truly a journey that will continue throughout our lives.

" Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. "

~ 1 Chronicles 16:34

Are we 'big boys' yet? Growing up with growing pains...

2008-06-22T19:38:00.002-05:00

When it comes to boys, we have learned that all good things come in time...their time...not our time. We have also learned that a household with three boys aged 5, 3 and 2 presents a variety of challenges - or should I say opportunities? In this case, you will see some of our photo opportunities that presented themselves recently as our boys continue to grow, express their personalities, and become little Willard men.

In the case of the duct tape on the shoes...well that is a story within itself...and just a part of the little ones learning about respecting authority and rules at school. Given that, I will just let your imaginations run wild...

Mama and Daddy went to New Orleans and all we got were these silly hats and beads...Hmmm...

2008-06-22T19:22:00.002-05:00

THE Birthday Cake! Oh my...

2008-06-22T19:05:00.001-05:00

It has been a long time since we have seen anyone attack a cake like Matt went after the delicious chocolate on chocolate delicacy you see in these pics. It was truly the highlight of his day. His brothers helped him out and the remains, well...see for yourself the destruction that these three boys left behind.

Matthew is 3 Years Old!

2008-06-22T18:01:00.005-05:00

Matt was 3 on March 22nd. We celebrated with a family party. Since this was his first birthday celebration, he was a bit overwhelmed. Once he realized that everything was for him and about him - well - that changed everything! Below are some pics to enjoy. He had a blast!

Matt and his gifts...some musical instruments...poor Mama and Daddy!
Roller skates and legos...just what a little guy wants for his birthday
Does Springsteen need a new band member? I can play a mean harmonica but I would have to be home early for bed!
Drum. Loud drum. Enough said.
My first time on roller skates. I did wobbly well...I mean really well.

Happy Easter from the Willards!

2008-06-20T21:38:00.003-05:00

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead..."

1 Peter 1:3 - Praise God for a living hope!

It's egg huntin' time!

2008-06-20T18:49:00.002-05:00

Easter time is fun time!

2008-06-20T18:23:00.003-05:00

Here in Alabama, we love a good holiday and with children we just go all out. To kick off our Easter weekend, all of the grandkids gathered at Honey and D-Daddy's house for the annual dying of the Easter eggs...what a group! Alana, Christopher, Sam, Fox, Matt and Alex...they all had a blast. This was a new event for Matt and Alex. It was their first Easter and although they did not really understand a thing they certainly enjoyed getting dirty dying eggs! More Easter pics to come.

Group pics of the kids!

2008-06-20T18:07:00.005-05:00

After recovering from my fabulous week in England, it was time to settle back into the 'real world' and get ready to celebrate Easter.

Easter is a time to celebrate God's amazing gift to mankind in the form of his risen Son. It is also time for the children to enjoy getting ready for the Easter Bunny's visit. This always includes photo-ops for days.

During our Easter festivities we had the brilliant idea to get six kids eight and under in age to pose for a few good pics in decent clothes. This was a larger undertaking than we estimated. The dogwood trees and flowers were just starting to bloom so we wanted to take advantage of the beautiful Spring colors and gets pics outside...however there are SO many distractions outside - especially for the little ones. After running off about 50+ pics we got about 5-8 decent ones. Thank heavens for digital cameras and that ever-favorite 'delete' button. I am posting the cutest ones with everyone actually looking at the camera!

Loving London

2008-06-16T15:51:00.003-05:00

Arrival exhaustion...but I managed a smile!
JuJu in front of the train station in Greenwich where we stayed
Westminster Abbey...an amazingly peaceful and awesome place
Big Ben...need I say more?
London at night...just beautiful

As I have mentioned (ad nauseum I might add) London was one of my new favorite cities. I didn't go to London with any idea that I would really like it but once I got there it owned me. I recommend visiting my sis-in-law's blog to see some other pics from our trip: http://www.coloradowillards.blogspot.com/.

It's been a LONG time since we posted...

2008-06-13T19:47:00.005-05:00

It's June...and what can I say? Keeping up with my blog in a timely fashion is not on the top of my priority list these days. I realize that as I write this my life must seem really tough...I mean I have a husband, three children, two dogs and a beautiful home YET I got a hall pass to go to London with my sister-in-law...yes, my sis-in-law...JuJu as she is fondly referred to throughout this blog.

Our trip came and went and it now seems like a dream three months later. As I continue my posts about our awesome trip to London...I realized that I would be remiss if I didn't thank some very important people:

Bob - my hubby first and foremost for holding down the fort while I was gone and for instantly giving me the green light for this trip with no hesitation. What a stud! I love 'ya babe.
JuJu - Marce - my sister in law - THANKS for inviting me!!!! What an awesome gift - time away, time with her, time with her parents, and time in what is now one of my fave cities. I can't wait for the next destination sista!
Dean and Becky - hosts with the most! Undeniably two of the best travelers that I have been around...foodies of the best kind...passionate about laughing, having fun, public transportation, theatre, history, coffee, and their daughter. These are two of the most generous and caring people and I appreciate their hospitality from the bottom of my heart!
Honey, D-Daddy and Mimi - always helping out when needed with the '3 Willard boys'...THANKS is just never enough for all that you do as grandparents.

I will continue by posting some more pics and a brief run down of some of the amazing things that did while in London. Enjoy...

Roberta and Marcy do London...

2008-03-06T18:26:00.002-06:00

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...in Alabama???

2008-02-23T22:18:00.002-06:00

We have not seen any snow accumulation in Alabama in over five years...and this year we actually had everything line up just right weather-wise for a Saturday morning snow in January. We got about 1-1/2 inches or so of the white stuff. Daddy came home from work to play and we spent our day outside enjoying the few hours we had with snow on the ground. Sam and Daddy had a snow ball fight and then went sledding down the hill onto the golf course with our neighbors. What an awesome winter day!

A Day at McWane Science Center

2008-02-23T18:14:00.004-06:00

We took all of the boys to the McWane Science Center for a day of fun learning...but the huge fish was the favorite thing of the entire day!

Sam, Christopher, Fox, Matt and Alex had a great time!

Here are some pics of the interesting things that we found there.

A New Year's Eve to remember...

2008-02-23T18:05:00.002-06:00

Roberta, Rick, Ry and JuJu surprised Bob this year for Christmas. Roberta gave Bob a trip to Denver to see his brothers for New Year's...poor Bob! Roberta and Bob left the kids at home (THANKS HONEY AND D-DADDY) and trekked out for a visit with our brothers in Colorado. Ry picked us up and showed us the city and all of its cool spots. Rick and JuJu's house was the place for our New Year's Eve celebration and what a night it was! Dee Dee & Christian, Grandpa Ray and Grandma Pat and all of JuJu's family came by to revel. We left on New Year's day to go to the Leffingwell cabin in Breckinridge (THANK YOU DEAN AND BECKY) so that we could get a day of skiing in...We could not have ordered up a more beautiful day in the mountains. It was clear beautiful weather. A great time was had by all. We hated to leave our family and we want to thank everyone for making memories with us...

What a joyous Christmas!

2008-02-23T16:34:00.002-06:00

Christmas Eve

2008-02-23T16:17:00.002-06:00

Christmas pageant

2008-01-27T14:56:00.000-06:00

'Today in the town of David a savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.'

Luke 2:11

Sam, Christopher and Fox participated in our church Christmas pageant. Each child got to choose who they wanted to be...interestingly Sam chose to be an angel, Christopher a king, and Fox a shepherd. It was with great pride that we watched Sam lead the procession down the aisle. Our hearts were full that evening as we celebrated the real reason for the holiday season.

Dinner with Santa

2008-01-27T14:46:00.001-06:00

A picture perfect day

2008-01-26T22:46:00.000-06:00

If you are Honey and D-Daddy then a perfect day would be spending time with your five grandsons during the holiday season. The Kirk and Willard boys all went over to visit Honey and D-Daddy one day in December. They had a group picture made for Honey and then she baked cut-out cookies with them...life just can't get much better than that!

Ho, Ho, Ho!

2008-01-26T22:40:00.002-06:00

Could this really be Santa Claus? Sam, Matt and Alex had such a great time with the new outdoor Christmas decoration - it was an event to visit the inflatable Santa. Alex had to go to say hello every single night during the holidays!

Don't I know you???...

2008-01-26T21:18:00.002-06:00

Hadley and Matt meet again

All seven children around the dinner table. Four Eddins and three Willards...oh my...

this is what the 'Brady Bunch' must have been like at meal time!

We found out that Matt has surpressed his desire to become a musician!

...and Hadley wants to be a cowgirl when she grows up!

The Eddins and Willard Children - what a beautiful group!

(L to R) Gracie, Alex, Sam Willard, Cole, Hadley, Matt and Sam Eddins

Our adoption journey to China for precious Matt and Alex was a blessing in so many ways. In the process of adopting our sweet boys, we met so many people who became our friends. We were thrilled to learn that another family that lives close by was adopting an adorable little girl, named Hadley, who was in the same orphanage with Matt and Alex. Hadley and Matt knew one another at the orphanage and were in the same school classroom. What are the chances that two families in the same city would adopt children the same age, that are in the same orphanage, at the same time??? We do not believe it was chance that brought us together but that it was an amazing gift from God to be able to share the adoption experience with the Eddins family.

Well we finally got the kids together over the holidays so that they could get reacquainted. The adults were a bit nervous yet in true child-like fashion...the kids saw one another and then immediately went to play...it was no big deal...Enjoy some pictures from our time together with the wonderful Eddins Family!

Who knew...

2008-01-26T21:14:00.001-06:00

...that a Santa hat could be so much entertainment????

Picking out a Christmas Tree

2007-12-29T19:02:00.001-06:00

It has become a family tradition that we go out in the country to a Christmas Tree Farm to cut down a live tree. This year was full of fun with three little boys running among all of the trees...each one having an opinion about which tree they liked. It was around 75 degrees and overcast the day that we went - so not very 'Christmas-like' as far as the weather goes. We finally settled on a great tree and it was home we went to decorate. Enjoy the pics of all of the boys - big and small and even one of Mama helping out!

Rock Chalk Jayhawks!!! Orange Bowl 2007

2007-12-29T18:38:00.000-06:00

We think that we have found the cutest Jayhawk around...

Who would be able to resist that smile???
It's safe to say that this family

is rooting for Kansas in the Orange Bowl!

Go Hawks!

Happy Turkey Day!

2007-12-27T18:23:00.001-06:00

Enjoy some pics from our small and quiet Thanksgiving celebration...just what we needed!

No Guts, No Glory...

2007-12-26T18:38:00.000-06:00

No pain, no gain...and all of those old sports anticdotes...Soccer ended in November with a very weary group of children including our very own and our very proud Sam Willard ...

...and a beaming cousin Christopher who was on the same team...

Trophies are soooooooo cool!
Great job Sam and Christopher!!!

A Haunting Halloween!

2007-12-26T18:25:00.000-06:00

Sam at the Pumpkin Patch...just look at that grin...

The 'whole crew' (L to R) Sam Sparrow - Jack's brother; Christopher the skeleton; the 'Fox'iest Tigger in town; the 103rd Dalmation Matt; and 'Big Al'ex yelling Roll Tide!

Oh so cute...Matthew

Alex was never too sure that he enjoyed the whole costume thing

Talk about a costume...just look at that get-up!

Ryan's Birthday pics...enjoy!

2007-12-23T17:36:00.001-06:00

It was all fun and games when Ry was here to visit...these are just a few of our favorite pics from his 32nd birthday bash. We love ya Ry!

A Day at the Zoo

2007-12-23T17:28:00.000-06:00

We went to the zoo while Ryan was in town and the pics were so good that we had to share them! The day was gorgeous, the kids were happy, and the animals all came out to play while we were there...could not have asked for a more perfect visit. Enjoy the slideshow below!

Pics from the Zoo

2007-12-23T17:27:00.001-06:00

Thanks to Uncle Ryan

2007-12-23T16:53:00.000-06:00

In October, Uncle Ryan generously volunteered to come out to 'Bama to help us when Alex had his hernia surgery. His visit in October was filled with memorable days...especially his 32nd Birthday at Talledega Super Speedway (see slideshow above) where he and Bob became official "track trash". Although he came to help, it seems like we made more fun out of a surgery visit than we should have...
Since we are in the throes of learning phonics and reading right now, Sam and Mama thought that the following "thanks" is in order (although VERY late coming...)

T - Terrific, talented, and a totally cool Uncle who just bought a Toyota 4-Runner to suit his mountain living
H - Happiest and most helpful camper around
A - Awesome Uncle, brother, and friend
N - Never says 'no' to anything and never a dull moment hangin' with him!
K - Killer smile and kick-a** blue eyes (yes, ladies, he is single...)
S - Super-Uncle, sweet (he will hate this adjective), supportive and the apple of Sam's eye!

R - Rock solid...enough said
Y - Yellowstone fanatic - fanactic about the outdoors in general!

In case you can't tell, we think a lot of Ryan and we truly appreciate him! Love ya and miss ya bro!!!

Kissing Cousins...

2007-10-19T17:41:00.000-05:00

What a silly southern saying...but so true when it comes to these boys.

We are fortunate to live close to Roberta's family. The boys frequently get

together to play and play. They seem to be the best of friends (most days). Boys will be boys!

(L to R) Christopher, Matt, Alex, Sam and Fox at the lake

It is easy to get a picture of all five boys when their attention is on something else!
Christopher and his dimples...he and Matt should have a dimple contest!

Women would kill for that gorgeous blonde curly hair and baby blue eyes
Matt and Christopher playing ... well we're not sure what they are playing exactly!
Alex gives Fox some good lovin'

Our little guys have surgery

2007-10-18T18:01:00.000-05:00

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow..."

We want to thank all of our family and friends for your heartfelt thoughts, prayers and well wishes throughout the last six weeks. At the end of September Matthew had open heart surgery and two weeks later Alex had an outpatient hernia repair.

We want to especially thank our parents, our immediate and extended family members as well as our friends, church family and co-workers for all of your support and help. Mimi came from Missouri to help us at home during Matt's surgery; Uncle Ryan came to help us at home during Alex's surgery; Honey spent the night at the hospital with Mama and Matt; Aunt JuJu, Uncle Rick, Brad and Brian sent Matt a great 'Hospital Fun Kit' with lots of things to do; Kim Mintz sent an adorable "Doctor" Build-A-Bear; Bao Luo for coming to visit and comfort us at the hospital; LaLa, Keith, and Shelby came by with a balloon and then dinner after we got home....THANK YOU ALL...WE LOVE YOU!

Why did Matt and Alex need surgery...????

Matthew was diagnosed with VSD (ventricular septal defect) or a tiny hole in his heart that did not close on its own. This hole needed to be repaired in order for him to be a healthy and happy little boy. When we met with his pediatric cardiologist at UAB, we had hoped to be able to repair his VSD with a fairly common outpatient procedure; however we found out that he would require open heart surgery. Alex was diagnosed with an inguinal hernia in China. We requested that the Chinese government NOT repair his hernia and they granted our request. These procedures were not emergency surgeries, yet they had to take place in order for these little ones to grow and prosper.

Matthew had his surgery at UAB Hospital...a nationally known medical facility. We were overwhelmed with the wonderful care that we received at UAB from Matt's physicians and nurses. We were also amazed at how quickly children recover from such an intrusive surgery. Matthew was out of the bed and walking the halls after 72 hours! He was released two days earlier than expected and has not looked back! The following are some pics of him during his hospital stay and his adorable and very attentive nurses.

Although it looks like a cage, it really is Matthew in the crib!

Our friends LaLa, Keith and Shelby brought him the precious balloon...

Matt 36 hours after surgery...still in some pain
This is our tough little guy the day that he left the hospital...dimples and all
Matt with his favorite nurses...Ashley (L) and Jenny (R)

He had them wrapped around his little finger

and they even rubbed his feet and gave him a stuffed 'Sponge Bob'
Matt was exhausted leaving the hospital...ahhhhhhh...uninterrupted sleep at last!

Sam's 5th Birthday ... continued

2007-10-18T17:40:00.001-05:00

A fifth birthday only comes around one time...and Sam celebrated!

As parents, this was the realization that Sam was no longer a baby or a toddler, but he has turned into a precious little boy. He is a blessing to us as parents and to our family.

We love you Sam!

Sam with his brothers and cousins...

Fox, Alex, Christopher, Sam and Matt

Sam wanted a Spider Man cake this year...
A trip to Chuck E Cheese's made the birthday complete!
Sam LOVES the 'Hot Wheels' driving game
Alex and Matt enjoyed the Bob the Builder and toddler area

Happy Birthday Sam!!! A celebration with the Red Class

2007-10-18T17:13:00.000-05:00

On September 12th, Sam turned 5!!!!

The Red Class celebrated with a special ceremony that they do for students having birthdays. The celebration involves a child's realization of their place as a person within this world and the contributions that they can make within their own communities and homes. After the celebration, we had popsicles for all of the children in his class. We invited his cousins Christopher and Fox to join us. (They attend school where Sam goes and it completed his celebration)

Sam participating in the birthday ceremony.

The birthday boy!
Ms. Joy talks about Sam
Popsicles...the highlight of the celebration!
Ms. Pam (L) with Sam, Ms. Joy (C) with Matt and Mama (R) with Alex
THANKS RED CLASS FOR CELEBRATING THIS SPECIAL BIRTHDAY WITH SAM!

Roll Tide! Rock Chalk Jayhawks!

2007-10-13T20:44:00.000-05:00

We have a lot of sports teams to root for in our home since Roberta is an alumni of the University of Alabama and Bob is an alumni of University of Kansas...Alabama is predominantly known for football and Kansas is predominantly known for basketball. When we married one another it became evident that this was a two team family. Roberta learned to love basketball and Bob learned to bleed crimson red for the Tide. It has been fun this football season to watch Kansas because (as of today) they are 6 - 0 this season!!! GO HAWKS!!! The Crimson Tide has welcomed a new coach this year, Nick Saban, so we are hopeful that he will put us back into national contention in seasons to come. We thought that we would share some pics of the newest Tide supporter...unbeknownst to him...he just happened to pick up a pom-pom and the pics we so cute that we had to share them.

Soccer Rules!

2007-10-11T15:54:00.000-05:00

In our first effort at "organized sports" (and I use that term VERY loosely)

Sam asked to play soccer this year on the school sponsored team.

As far as we are concerned, it is pure entertainment to watch a group of five year olds run amuck on a soccer field. Every child is trying to figure out which way to kick the ball, who actually has the ball, and who might be pushing who down on the field.

He is having a great time playing although he has no clue what he is doing on the field once it is his turn to play and he has even scored goals for the other team! We asked him if he knew how to play soccer and he said, in true Sam fashion, "I can run really fast and I can kick the ball really good - so I know how to play soccer." Sounds like a plan to us...

Sam in his soccer uniform

Sam in the 'clump'
Where is that soccer ball?????????
Sam with T.J. (left) and his cousin Christopher (right) at a game
Play action shot...

A trip to Mimi and Granddad's

2007-09-19T13:42:00.000-05:00

In August we made a trek up to the Ozarks, Missouri that is...to see our Mimi and Granddad. They live at the lake so it is always fun to visit there because there are so many things to do. Here are some pics from our visit. It was the first time that Matt and Alex had been out on a boat on the lake. At first they really did not like riding in the boat at all. Once they realized how much fun it is they settled in and basically took over Mimi and Granddad's new boat!

Here is a pic of all of the boys with Granddad in his golf cart.

Matt, Alex and Sam enjoyed daily rides around the neighborhood.

Mimi and Matt headed for the boat!

Alex decided that he was the 'Captain' - Granddad thought otherwise...

Granddad really got a lot of lovin' out of Matt and Alex

As you can see, Matt and Alex were not too thrilled about the 'wind' factor. They were hanging on to Mama and Daddy for dear life on that first boat outing!

We want to thank Mimi and Granddad for a wonderful week at the lake and for spoiling us rotten. Sam got to go fishing as well as boating and we all had an amazing time.

Boys and their Toys

2007-08-05T21:31:00.000-05:00

Big brother Sam is sharing his cool battery powered jeep with his little brothers. They all love riding in these cars and our driveway soon becomes a parking lot for cars, bikes, and scooters - anything with wheels that a little boy can maneuver...

These are pics of the first ride in the Jeep for Matt and Alex.

Sam is explaining all of the safety rules for riding - HA HA

Matt is having some fun...Sam seems intent on his driving skills...look out Nascar!

Alex and Sam in a 'Mexican standoff' both too stubborn to budge...

'Dimples' is having a hard time - in fact you can't see them through all of the tears.

Alex is just a ham for the camera sometimes...other times he just ignores us.

These three are boys through and through...we are having such a blast!

Puppy Love

2007-08-05T18:09:00.000-05:00

Suffice it to say, the Willard family loves animals...particularly our 'poopies' as Sam lovingly refers to them (or puppies), Wahoo and Chico. We had two awesome dogs, Maggie the Mastiff and Horace the Bulldog, after we were first married. Maggie and Horace both left

this earth much too early and left a HUGE void in our hearts.

When we lost our precious babies, there was no question that we would get more dogs...we are dog people. So, we set out for the perfect breed to own with children. We decided on buying Boxers and we came home with our new babies a year and a half ago. We named them Wahoo (black) and Chico (brown/white) after two of our favorite places...Wahoo's Fish Tacos in California and Chico Hot Springs, Montana. Thanks to Ry (Bob's brother) who helped in dog selection and naming of these two.

When we were preparing to adopt our boys from China we did a lot of reading about acclimating these guys to animals in the house.. our dogs are a big part of our lives. We knew that it was hard to predict what an adopted toddlers reaction to animals would be. Well, Alex is just enthralled with animals of all kinds - he just likes to get up close and personal. Matt on the other hand was scared to the point of shaking but has gradually adjusted. He even pets the puppies and then lets the puppies lick his face when he has a brave moment.

These are pics of Alex meeting Wahoo for the first time...and we think that they speak for themselves. Wahoo and Alex just have a love fest~

Am I outnumbered or what?

2007-08-03T14:02:00.000-05:00

My four treasures...Sam, Matt and Alex (and of course my hubby Bob)

I now have three beautiful sons and an amazing husband plus two male boxer puppies (Chico and Wahoo)...Goodness. The testosterone in this house can be overwhelming some days but I cannot imagine my life any other way.

I remember having a conversation years ago with my sister-in-law, better known as JuJu, about how happy I would be if I just ended up with all boys...was God listening?

A quiet moment with Sam - I cherish these...

Sam the ham!

Matt and those precious dimples...

Alex is not too sure about the whole kissing thing yet!

Happy 2nd Birthday Alex!!!

2007-08-03T13:44:00.001-05:00

Alex turned two on July 1st and we celebrated by having a small party with family. We are so blessed to have been able to adopt two children (and boys to boot) from China.

We cannot imagine our lives without Sam, Matt or Alex!

We often wonder what we did with our time...???

Of course Alex, our 'little elf,' was in rare form on his birthday. Forget all of the expensive toys for him - just give him an old laundry basket, some pots & pans, or some tupperware to play with and he is ready to go!

Alex really could not understand at the ripe old age of two what all of the fuss, gifts and cake was all about...not that he was unhappy but he seemed a bit confused by all of it. Naturally, the gift wrap was more exciting to him than the actual presents that he received.

Shockingly, none of these three boys are driven by sweets...so we stuck to the basic cake for Alex not knowing whether he would like it or not.

Sam is so funny with his little brothers. He is very proud of them and has especially taken on Alex as his personal project. We think that it is because Alex is the youngest and smallest. This picture was so funny because Sam is trying his best to explain to Alex exactly what a birthday cake and candles is....

Just take a look at Matt in the background...the expression on his face says it all. He is our more serious child, worries about everyone and everything and is quite bossy. He is picking up the English language very quickly and uses it to tattle on his brothers daily...he he.
Alex just says...AHHHHHHHH - Chocolate cake is the best...can I shove all of this in my mouth? Hmmmmmmm

Happy Father's Day!

2007-06-23T08:51:00.000-05:00

To all of the fathers out there reading this we hope that your Father's Day

was filled with blessings, love, and family...

Bob enjoys a quiet moment with the boys...ha ha
D-Daddy gets a Father's Day hug from Matt
Bob gets some 'good lovin' from his boys...

"Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead,

bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord."

Ephesians 6:4

Just Add Water...

2007-06-23T08:44:00.000-05:00

Water is a constant source of intrigue and entertainment for Matt -

whether it is the hose, raindrops, the tub or the pool

A HUGE THANKS to Aunt JuJu...

2007-06-19T21:17:00.000-05:00

In an earlier post we had pics of our 'Welcome Home' party in California...we failed to post some of the best pics that Aunt JuJu took of the event so we are adding them in now for you to enjoy.

For those of you who do not know who Aunt JuJu is...well she is Marcy Willard and she is married to Bob's brother Rick. Sam dubbed her JuJu as soon as he could talk and this name just stuck. JuJu engineered the entire party for us along with help from her mother Grandma Pat and her sister Hillary (otherwise known as DeDe to the kids). Uncle Ry jumped in every which way that he could and we had ourselves a real party!

Since we have been home from China JuJu has been a tremendous
cheerleader, source of advice, and wonderfully supportive
member of our family... so we send out a heartfelt thanks to her
for the wonderful gift she gave us upon arriving home.

Aunt JuJu and Sam
JuJu, Uncle Tom and Alex solving the worlds problems
We've got candy...do the adults know?
The icing is always the best part - who cares about the cake?!
Aunt Deb and Bob hanging out

Some more of our favorite pics...

2007-06-19T20:50:00.000-05:00

Mama and Matt

Just a good candid shot of Alex
Matt helping out with a bottle for his baby cousin Madeline
Sam should have webbed hands and feet...he just loves the water
This one speaks for itself

A few pics that we just have to share...

2007-06-19T20:25:00.000-05:00

Who says men can't multi-task?

Alex thinks that everything is a cell phone...

The million dollar smile!
Who knew we would have our very own lounge lizard?

This is Alex's favorite spot to hang out!

Does anyone recognize the redneck mowing our lawn? Matt and his shoe fetish...seriously the kid loves his shoes, Sam's shoes and our shoes!

Let's play ball!

2007-06-19T20:16:00.000-05:00

Daddy and Sam get ready to do a little pitching and hitting... Sam gets ready to throw his famous curve ball
Sam has a heck of a left arm...really he truly does!
Look at that form - making Daddy proud

Water logged

2007-06-19T20:05:00.000-05:00

Who can resist these three????????

Our first trip to the pool

2007-06-18T20:43:00.000-05:00

These boys are such troopers...

We ventured to the pool with trepidation a couple of weeks ago to find out

that all three boys love it and love the water!

We were so happy that Matt and Alex were not afraid and that Sam was just super playing with his little brothers in the baby pool on his cool new dolphin float.

Thanks to the Red Class!!!

2007-06-18T20:29:00.000-05:00

If you followed our blog while we were in China then you know that we sent several posts back to our son Sam's class at school. They were able to read our blog and follow our journey.

Sam would like to thank the Red Class at Creative Montessori for their

amazing support of him during this wonderful adventure to China and

to his new brothers!

Every day we were in China, we would look on the internet to see if the Red Class had sent Sam a message. When we arrived back home Sam really wanted to go to visit his friends at school but there was a virus going around and many students were out sick.

Sam was unable to visit but we took pictures of what the Red Class had done at school.

They had shared Sam's story with everyone.

You will notice in the pictures below that they printed the blog each day and hung it on the wall outside of his classroom. If you went anywhere near the Red Class then you just had to stop to look at all of the pictures! Needless to say, Sam was very proud and happy to see all of this...

Thank you so much Ms. Pam and Ms. Joy and our friends in the Red Class!!!!

See you in August...

Little boys and their toys

2007-06-18T20:14:00.000-05:00

Watching the dynamics between three boys is our free entertainment!

There is one particular red car that everyone seems to love...

Although we have every known 'big wheel' type of child vehicle plus a great tricycle to ride, these boys just fight over this one red car.

Matt and Alex trying to establish a pecking order... and there is no conclusive winner!
Big brother Sam just watches all of the chaos (smart kid)
Looks like Alex won the first battle
Matt is just not too sure what to do now that he has his turn

Rub a dub dub...three little men in the tub!

2007-06-18T12:24:00.000-05:00

Alex is ready to brush his teeth
Matt lounges after his bath
Playing together... a rare moment
Matt is always ready to help out

Our night time routine is so much fun!

Matt started off hating the water much less the tub and has turned into quite the bath lover. Big brother Sam helps out and plays lots of water games with the boys. Bob and I believe that more water ends up on the floor than stays in the tub...go figure...

Home at last!

2007-06-18T12:15:00.000-05:00

Our first meal at home...Krispy Kreme anyone?

(pure sugar...ahhhhhhhhhhh)

Alex is not sure about this high chair thing
Matt loves the balls - compliments of our good friend Allison
Car seat...now this is the life...
Alex on the other hand is not so sure!

SWEET HOME ALABAMA...

Those words have never been more true!

Enjoy some pics of our 'firsts'...

More homecoming pics

2007-06-17T22:07:00.000-05:00

Matt meets DeDe and Uncle Rick

(Uncle Rick flew in from a business meeting in Vegas just to meet the boys...we love ya Uncle Rick!)
Matt and DeDe play "peek-a-boo"
DeDe and Alex make friends
Ry, Honey and Matt - do we look tired or what?
Uncle Tom and Brad Man

Welcome back to the good 'ol USA!

2007-06-17T21:37:00.000-05:00

Sam introduces Matt to his new cousins Brad and Brian
A patriot in the making... Aunt Deb and Alex get acquainted
Brad and Sam hanging out

How sweet it is...to be back in the USA...

We came home to an amazing welcoming committee - our west coast Willard contigent!
Rick, Marcy(better known as Aunt JuJu), Brad, Brian, Ry, Deb, Tom, DeDe and Grandma Pat served up a phenomenal homecoming on May 15th in Los Angeles. We were only in LA for a short period of time (all total around 12 hours) before we left for Birmingham the next morning. Marcy Willard spearheaded a memorable time. We enjoyed delicious food (no noodles or rice thank you very much), balloons, a cake, tons of pics, and precious time together with family. Words cannot express our sincere gratitude to our California family. Everyone truly went the extra mile. They picked us up (and don't forget our 15 bags of luggage), fed us, put us up for the night, gave us precious time for a shower after being on a plane for 17 hours - then turned around and took us back to airport - all in a few short hours!!!!!!! Did we mention the delicious home cooked food???????? Sam was ready to see his cousins Brad and Brian...he talked about it for 17 hours on the plane. Their reunion was wonderful and they played and played for hours - long past their bedtime.

We are so happy to be back and look forward to getting our boys settled in Birmingham.

That famous red couch...

2007-06-17T21:00:00.000-05:00

The faces say it all...
We stayed at the famous White Swan hotel in Guangzhou. It is well known within the adoption circles as the hotel where adoptive families stay during this last leg of the journey in China. It seems like everywhere you turn in this hotel there are children with their new "forever families". There is also a notorious red couch that the adoptive children have their picture made sitting on. As you can see, this was not the favorite activity for any of the kids in our group except for Sam the man...he is the one hamming it up in the front of course!

The end of our trip to China...

2007-06-17T20:33:00.000-05:00

Guangzhou, China at night
Scenes from our river cruise

A huge thanks to everyone who followed our amazing journey to China to adopt our two beautiful sons, Matt and Alex. All of the posts, emails, calls, visits and well wishes kept us sustained and fulfilled on our trip and have overwhelmed us since we have been home. We want everyone to know how much we appreciate everything!

We have been home for a month now and all we can say is...WOW. Very simply - God is great. He is in control of everything and we are so thankful. Sam, Matt and Alex are just 'three peas in a pod'. They seem to know that they were meant to be brothers and that is the best way for us to explain how our first month has been. We have been blessed with three awesome boys and each one has a different personality, set of needs, and each provides us so much joy.

We have neglected to update the blog and frankly have basically neglected the computer all together...I mean we don't have a whole lot going on or anything - he he. We are going to post some pictures taken from the end of our trip up until Father's Day. We believe you will be able to see the changes in the boys - after only one month.

Pics of zoo for Red Class

2007-05-14T18:44:00.000-05:00

These are some of the animals at the zoo. More to follow for the class including shots of a newborn deer. See you in a little while.

Big Brother / Ge Ge pics

2007-05-14T18:08:00.000-05:00

A tribute to the new big brother...
Playgrounds are just the best!
Worms, eels, and turtles...oh my...
Snips and snails and puppy dog tails...that's what little boys are made of...

Pics of Matt and Alex...are they cute or what?

2007-05-14T17:44:00.000-05:00

Guangzhou Pics

2007-05-14T17:06:00.000-05:00

Alex was not so sure about the whole headphones idea...

Sam on the slide with Matt playing on the playground

Matt listening to music via headphones for the first time

Guangzhou is in the southern most part of China. There are 10 million people that live here...so like Beijing and Shanghai, there are high rises everywhere. The city is on the Pearl River, our hotel is on an island on the water - so where we are staying is very pretty. It is here that all of the final paperwork for our adoption takes place. We have submitted everything to the U.S. Consulate for approval of passports and visas. We go tomorrow to be sworn in and then we head to eat dinner then go straight to the airport to leave...nothing like "eating and running" as we say in the states. It will be a long but eventful and satisfying day.

Tonight is our last night here in China...we fly out tomorrow evening to LA. God has had His hand in this journey from the beginning and we are praying for safe and "uneventful" travel (thank you Karla for the wonderfully descriptive word). We have been blessed with three precious boys and we look forward to bringing them home!

Thank you all again for your encouraging and supportive messages. We ask that you pray for our safe and peaceful travel. We love you and will see you all soon!!! Bama here we come...

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY FROM CHINA...

2007-05-14T17:05:00.001-05:00

We hope that all of the mothers reading this today have a very special day!

We went to the zoo today with a group and it was fun but very hot! The panda was sound asleep but the Guangzhou zoo really has some great animals. There were baby leopards, giraffes, gazelle, and we saw a newborn deer stumble out of a log where it had just been born...what a great Mother's Day gift that was! We will send pics soon to share.

Our parents made it safely to Guangzhou from Shanghai where they had a fabulous time. Their guide was a young girl named Jessica who thought that they were very funny. Shanghai is a city on the water and everyone said it was beautiful.

Our agency representative goes to the Consulate for us today to file our final paperwork for approval and new passports for the boys, so we are going shopping today! yippeee.......

We leave late tomorrow night to come home...ahhhhhhhh...our own bed instead of a concrete slab - what a concept! Seriously we have never experienced such hard beds in our life! California here we come!

From Roberta...

2007-05-12T16:34:00.000-05:00

A HUGE THANKS...
We want to thank Kim from the bottom of our hearts for helping us with this blog. She is the mastermind and guru of this internet journal. She has figured it all out from Alabama while we sit here in China and don't really do a thing except send emails! We are blessed that she has been SO kind to take her personal time to help us.
**Kim wants Roberta and Bob to know that "thanks" are NOT necessary! It has been MY PLEASURE!!

WHAT DAY IS THIS?
Sadly, Bob and I looked at each other and asked that question this morning as we woke up in Guangzhou, China. We left Hefei, the kids provincial city, yesterday to fly to Guangzhou. We are on the last leg of this journey and boy are we happy that there is only one more flight (albeit a VERY long one)!!! All of the boys did wonderfully on the plane...no crying, vomiting, or fussing - just happy or sleeping boys...God is so great. We arrived in Guangzhou and we now realize why people are so anxious to get home at this point. We have our boys, we have been approved another several times by the Chinese people and orphanage, and we are just ready to go!!!! It is hard to get into a routine at a hotel where you cannot really unpack and get settled.

The boys seem to be adjusting well to their new family. Both of the little guys sleep like champs at night and take a nap during the day - AMEN! Alex is a star when it comes to eating - put it in front of him and he will try it. Matt is a bit more picky, but still eats really well. Sam is just an awesome big brother. He has had only a few jealous moments - which we think is pretty good considering what he has been through on this trip! The little guys just follow him around and mimic everything he does (good and bad) which is pretty comical.

We are staying at the famous White Swan Hotel...it is a huge and beautiful facility. The service is really wonderful and the breakfast buffet is awesome. We have been blessed our entire trip with our hotels. The Holiday Inn in Hefei was just fabulous...yes, the Holiday Inn...who knew? It was the nicest we have ever seen.

We have really tried hard to eat a lot of traditional Chinese food while we have been here but Bob and I are going to be hard pressed to eat any noodles or rice for awhile when we get home!!! We went to Lucy's restaurant last night which is a retro 50's joint here that serves hamburgers and fries - again - thanks be to God. Alex loves ketchup with fries and Matt loves a good burger - it is interesting to see these kids eating American food.

We had our medical appointment today which was fairly routine. Alex weighs about 22 lbs. and Matt weighs 25 lbs. according to the lady at the clinic. Big brother Sam weighs in at 42 lbs and is proud to be in the "lead" in that category! (he he) Matt is tall for his age and Alex is average to short...we could have told them that! Alex is built like a truck and Matt is long and lean. The whole thing took a total of 15 minutes once we got there...nothing like a thorough exam!

Our parents arrive here tomorrow from a side trip to Shanghai and we cannot wait! We have missed them - it has been the greatest blessing having them with us on this adventure while we settle into the routine of going from one child to three in a matter of an hour...

RED CLASS: Hefei, Anhui Province, China is where our boys are from...it is where their orphanage is located. Hefei is small city in China, population around 4 million!!! It is a lovely city with good amenities, a waterway walking area, a beautiful park and a zoo. Anhui Province is considered to be a poorer and smaller province compared to Beijing or Shanghai areas; however Anhui used to be the capitol and it was called Luzhou (spelling?) Anhui is famous for supplying peanuts to all of China - which is a big deal. Peanuts are everywhere here - even on the breakfast buffet! Anhui is also famous for having the best green tea leaves in China which can only be picked and harvested once a year. Anhui has the beautiful Yellow Mountain range in the south part of the province which is famous for its quaint villages in the foothills and spectacular sights. This is the largest mountain region in China. We look forward to coming back to China one day to show our boys where they were born. );

A BIG THANKS TO YOU ALL for posting to our blog. The comments you have posted have really touched our hearts and have really encouraged us throughout our trip. We remain amazed at\n the outpouring of prayers and love that we continue to receive. Blessings to all!

Here They Are!!

2007-05-11T15:29:00.000-05:00

More orphanage shots and caregivers

2007-05-10T22:14:00.000-05:00

**Note from Kim: Roberta has been wonderful sending these pictures, but I have had a few struggles getting them downloaded, uploaded, labeled, etc. Don't fuss at the Willards... it has been my fault! Roberta... I can never thank you enough for allowing me to be a part of this thrill!

Mom and boys and orphanage care...

2007-05-10T20:47:00.000-05:00

I'm outta here. Alex is a real free spirit. And a bulldozer. You can't fully understand until you meet him.
The motto painted above the doors inside the orphanage. This really is a nice facility. Much better than we expected.

Momma and another of her boys

The whole gang

Mom and her boy

Just Random Shots

2007-05-10T07:08:00.000-05:00

I can't impress upon anyone reading this just how big a star Sam is here. The golden hair and light eyes really draw a crowd. This and the next picture are a normal walk thru the shopping mall.
Sam and the crowds. Just look at the eyes of the people in the backround. If we stop to rest, this is the result.

Alex in the bath. He had a blast but Matt is a different story. We finally resorted to a sponge bath and lots of hugs. Wish we could figure this out. 3 separate baths is logistically and time challenging.

Just a happy kid.

Another happy lotto winner.

Pics, Pics, Pics

2007-05-10T06:41:00.000-05:00

Daddy and Alex

Daddy and Matt

Sam in his favorite shirt. You have seen this before but this is the best shot. 'Ge Ge' in Chinese means 'big brother'.
This is Sam and Alex playing at the government building

All of our friends warned us of the diverse selections to be found at the local markets. Some of the stories turned out false, but others were true. This grocery store is in a suburban shopping center and the salesman is trying to sell Sam some live Eel. He also offered him live Turtle. Sam chose an extra helping of Pringles. Yes, they have those.

Warning... Cuteness ahead!!!

2007-05-08T20:21:00.000-05:00

Gotcha Day!

2007-05-08T20:20:00.000-05:00

We have probably taken around 200 pics today of the boys...poor little guys they are overwhelmed but are real troopers. The whole process of "Gotcha Day" is so odd. You go to the Civil Affairs Building and go into small rooms. You walk by other rooms with families either waiting or struggling with their new babies who are screaming...very unnerving. They gave us our own room b/c we have such a large group. We were all very calm yet at one point I thought that I would just lose it - then in Gods great timing they brought in the boys to meet us. Shockingly, I did not cry...Bob and I are just so darn happy to have these adorable little boys that the joy overtook all other emotions. Our fabulous boys did not shed a tear when we met them and big brother Sam was a champ by sharing his toys. Matthew, the oldest, is smart and reserved. He can speak a few words of Chinese so we have been communicating with him a little bit. He is quick to mimic Sam and even said "gotcha" at dinner tonight...his first English word. Alex is a little elf...quick to smile and laugh but always trying to figure things out. He is active for sure! As soon as we put the kids in the strollers to go for a walk, Alex was trying to figure the buckle then looking down to see how the wheels worked. He is very inquisitive and funny. They eat good. Alex will eat anything. Matthew will eat anything but hoards the food in his cheeks until he almost chokes...bless his heart. They both sleep well...and Alex is a dream to get down to sleep. Matthew will only let Mama put him to bed and he is scared - I can see it in his eyes as he looks around the room. Once he goes to sleep however he is out!

Here are some more pics of the grandmothers and their new grandsons as well as some groups shots. Will send more tomorrow. Love yall!

OK; here's what you've been waiting for. East meets West.

2007-05-08T06:05:00.000-05:00

The Willard Family have Matthew and Alex!!!!!!!

The moment that the chinese caretakers brought them in.

Us meeting for the first time.

The whole family together for the first time

simply... mom and babies

Many more to follow. The boys are all napping. B/R/S/M/A

Day 7 - Hefei

2007-05-07T16:24:00.002-05:00

Matthew and Alex here we come...the Clampets...I mean the Willards...all 7 of us.
We are so excited to meet you finally. What a blessing this journey has been.

We will post some pics as soon as possible. We go at 9:00 am in the morning to get our precious boys...

Day 6 - The Forbidden City

2007-05-07T16:24:00.001-05:00

The British Royal family has NOTHING on the Chinese emporers...good lord, in their day they built some unbelievable palaces. The Forbidden City is the emporers palace or former residence. It served 12 dynasties, has 9999-1/2 rooms (yes, you read that correctly) and had 30,000 unic servants. The last emporer to serve had 2000 wives who all lived in the Forbidden City...scary thought for some of you guys reading this! It is an awesome place but truly overwhelming. Every thing has meaning and everyone had a "class" level - including the wives. The pictures just don't do it justice and you just cannot see it all in a day, month, year or a lifetime I don't think. Mr. Lei told us to rent the movie "The Last Emporer" and you will get a better feel for this place. We went to the 'dirt market' after we got tired of viewing palace rooms and thrones. This was the local flea market and boy was that a treat...talk about some local fare and interesting people!

We have enjoyed Beijing but we are ready to go to Hefei because it means that it is time to get our boys....

Day 5 - The Great Wall!!!

2007-05-07T16:23:00.001-05:00

Okay, we learned today that Beijing is just huge - it is a monstrous city that encompasses half of the northern section of China. We drove for 2 hours to the Great Wall from downtown Beijing and we were still in Beijing. Words cannot express the profound size and length of the Great Wall. It is like one of the pyramids in Egypt that you wonder how they really built it. Bob, Sam, Roberta, Al and Rosalie decided to climb the wall. Nancy and Dwight took the easy road to another tower. The harder route was an uphill 1100 stair climb in 90 degree heat!!! (WHAT WERE WE THINKING?????) We got started and about 1/4 of the way up, Rosalie and I were just wishing that we were on the easy road...but as Mr. Lei said "no pain, no gain" and the reward was great. The view was spectacular. Sam practically ran up the stairs and kept yelling down "come on, come on"...ahhhhhhh the energy of a 4 year old. We had a wonderful day and wrapped it up with some traditional Beijing fare of Peking Duck (not my cup of tea) and dumplings.

Day 4 - Beijing

2007-05-07T16:22:00.001-05:00

What can you say about the capitol city of the worlds most populated country??? Pollution, industry, high rises, and as many old bikes and motorized bikes as there are cars sharing the road. This is the BIG city. There are 22 million people in Beijing and 1.3 billion in China...very hard to comprehend given that Birmingham has about 1 million people if you count all of the suburb population! Beijing has so much history and the ancient meets the industrial here. They are preparing at every corner for the Olympic Games in 2008. There is renovation and construction going on everywhere. On our first day in Beijing, we met our guide Mr. Lei and we went to the Lama Temple which used to be the palace home of one of the emporer's sons or a prince. The residence was given to the Dali Lama and has been open to the public and is used as a center for buddhism since. It was beautiful, but we found it very hard to understand this religion at its core. After the Lama Temple, we went to a silk factory then on to participate in a traditional tea ceremony, which was fabulous. We are missing the boat on good tea in the US. Our stuff just cannot compare. We went to have a great meal that cost us a grand total of $12 US dollars for 8 people to eat! After our meal we went to the Temple of Heaven, which was spectacular. This was the place that the emporers would come to pray to the heavens...hence the only place where the emporer was ever a servant. It was complete with sacrificial urns and burning pots...very interesting and just amazing.

Day 3 - Sad to leave...

2007-05-07T16:21:00.000-05:00

We were sad to leave Hong Kong as we grew attached to our guide Billy, who was fabulous and this city is just wonderful. It is cosmopolitan and yet simple...but definitely one of the most beautiful cities that we had all seen. Billy took us to the airport, which was gorgeous and so easy to get around in! We flew to Beijing and Sam was a champ again on the long flight. This is where it all changed...and we realized that we are "not in Kansas any more".

2007-05-05T22:42:00.000-05:00

RED CLASS:
The Cloissone Factory

The design

The design is glued to the copper base

A worker paints the colors into the design

The piece is fired and polished and it is finished.

Sam made some new friends and sat down to play checkers!

We went to a traditional Chinese tea ceremony while in Beijing.. The women just loved Sam...they wanted to pick him up, touch him, and have their picture made with him...poor guy (ha!)

The sacrificial slaughter house at the Temple of Heaven made of jade

A closer view of the Temple of Heaven

2007-05-05T19:07:00.000-05:00

These little vehicles are everywhere on the roads of Beijing along with cars and bicycles!
The Temple of Heaven in Beijing...a very beautiful temple where the Emporers went to pray to heaven for three days each season. The elaborate ceremony involved the sacrifice of animals.

More Pictures...

2007-05-04T13:03:00.000-05:00

Beijing pics

Our visit to the Silk Factory
RED CLASS:

Sam holds a cocoon of a silk worm

The process of spinning the silk into thread

A silk loom for making beautiful silk rugs

Red Class: We bought this for Sam on Victoria Peak. This is a grasshopper and baby that was hand made from bamboo reeds...it is amazing. Sam cannot wait to bring it to "share time" soon.
This is why we love Hong Kong...how gorgeous is this?

Dinner anyone?
The old and new of Hong Kong.

Finally... pictures!!!

2007-05-03T19:55:00.000-05:00

A shot of the group with our new friend and guide Billy Lai in Hong Kong

Pics of Hong Kong (yes, it is very hazy here)

Sam driving a Sampan! What a ham - Sam I am!
Notice the real driver...TRUE Chinese...he lives on his Sampan.

Sam and some new friends that he met in the train station in Guangzhou. These little guys could not speak one anothers language but the three became fast friends!

Look at all of the luggage...and somehow we picked up a hippie vagabond along the way (he he)...Daddy(Al) and Sam resting in the train station - we really are the Clampets! (Aunt Ceil this pic is for you)

This is after 36 hours of traveling...our first pic in China - the Guangzhou airport!

Day 2 - Hong Kong is the bomb!

2007-05-03T18:05:00.000-05:00

We have all decided that Hong Kong is an awesome city with the exception of their internet capabilities. We loved the fact that most everyone spoke English because this was a British protectorate. The city is very expensive but we still loved it. It is a contradiction in that it is simple yet complex, modern yet traditional, and very welcoming. We had an AWESOME guide named Billy Lai who handled everything for us. We went up Victoria Peak on the tram for an amazing view of the city. Then we went to Stanley Market, which is a famous outdoor shopping area. We left some money there for sure. Billy took us to Aberdeen Fishing Village and we rode a traditional sampan boat. Hong Kong is a strange city. There are high rises and yachts everywhere (we rode by Jackie Chan's yacht...not too shabby) but then right in the same harbor some people actually live on these sampan boats with nothing but a generator for electricity. There is an entire floating community on the waters of Hong Kong. It is truly a different world.
We have discovered that Sam is a real oddity in this part of the world. He is fair haired with lighter eyes. We have everyone coming up to him and stroking his hair, girls giggling and talking to him and kids gathering to look at him. He has no clue that he is a "rock star" in this world and we are happy that he has no idea of his popularity. He is taking it all in stride.
RED CLASS: Sam wanted me to tell you that he drove the sampan boat in the Hong Kong harbor. He also wanted me to tell you about the city of Hong Kong and how it used to be a part of England but is now a part of China again. He said that you would all like our guide Billy...he is cool.
We are off to Beijing on Day 3 and will check in tomorrow. I have forwarded pictures to our blog guru Kim who is helping with our site. Hopefully the pics reached her and she will be able to help us post.
Love to all!
Bob, Roberta, Sam, Rosalie & Dwight, Nancy and Al

Day 1 - ...How long was that flight???...

2007-05-03T18:02:00.000-05:00

We left on Sunday morning 4/29/07 and arrived in Guangzhou (GZ) China on 5/1/07...YIKES! The flight from Birmingham to LAX was uneventful but we had a long layover in Houston before flying on to LAX where we caught our flight to China. Rick and Ryan (Bob's brothers) came to LAX to meet us and to have dinner while we waited to fly to China. THANKS GUYS...WE LOVE YOU! Our flight left at 11:50 p.m. which was insane. The entire flight was through the night and it was dark outside until about an hour before we arrived in China. Sam kept asking..."is it the next day yet Mama?" and at one point I actually asked my mother "are we were there yet?" he he. Although everyone had informed us of how long the flight was, we were seriously not prepared mentally.
We made our way to the train station in GZ to take a train to Hong Kong. We waited there a couple of hours for our train. We could have caught an earlier train to Hong Kong, but we have had to sit with the "worker class" group and we were frankly not up for that after 36 hours on a plane.
Here is our list of a few things that we "loved" about our first day and a few things that we "loathed"...(Pink Dragonettes take note...)
We love China Southern airlines and business class!
We love individual TV screens in flight and aaahhhh those hot towels that they bring around along with the slippers to wear during the flight - pure joy. If I were much of a drinker, the free in flight beer and wine would have been a hit.
We loved FINALLY landing in China and having no problem whatsoever in customs or in the airport....
We loathed the rubber eggs that they served for breakfast in flight...
We loathed the absolutl beater of a flight that took us a day to get over.
The Womens bathrooms...no indoor plumbing yet they spend the money to put ceramic around the hole in the ground...need I say more?
The fleecing of the Americans. Rosalie (my mother in law) went into a restaurant and paid $4 for a bottle of water that our guide came and bought for 50 cents!
Off to bed for a big day in Hong Kong.

Note from the Willards...

2007-05-03T18:01:00.000-05:00

Before we get started updating you all we wanted to take a moment to thank God for his grace and to thank some people who have been instrumental in this journey:
- Our parents - words cannot express our gratitude on many levels. We are so happy that you are here to share in this.
- Our family - we love you all and wish that you were here with us!
- The crew at Adamson Ford and everyone at HRM Inc.
- Our church family...
- Kim Mintz our blog guru...
- The Pink Dragonettes (you know who you are)
- The Danleys and the Newtons for taking care of things at home
- The folks at Lifeline Children's Services
- All of our friends and colleagues following our journey online...
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND HELP

Is this real...or is this really China?

2007-05-01T08:17:00.000-05:00

We made it!
"To God be the glory..."
We have made it to China and then on to Hong Kong...this is the first opportunity that we have had to post. After 36 hours of traveling, there is new meaning for the word "exhaustion" in our vocabulary...

Red Class: Sam is THE BEST world traveler that any of us has ever seen. He has been amazing and he is running circles around us. The country of China is really modern, somewhat industrial, and full of friendly people. Our group is definitely an odd thing to see here. We have some great pics and tons of stuff to share but it will have to wait until we sleep (in a real bed and not on a plane!)
We love you all and thank you for your thoughts, well wishes and prayers.

Bob, Roberta, Sam, Nancy, Al, Dwight and Rosalie

Where in the world are... the Willards???

2007-04-27T18:11:00.000-05:00

4/29 – Leave LAX 11:50 p.m.

5/1 – Arrive Guangzhou (GZ), China 6:50 a.m.
Train from GZ to Hong Kong

(5/1 – 5/3 – Hong Kong)

5/3 – Fly to Beijing, China

(5/3 – 5/7 – Beijing)

5/7 – Fly to Hefei, China

(5/7 – 5/11 – Hefei)

5/8 – GOTCHA DAY! Get the boys!!!!!!!

5/9 – 5/11 – Dwight and Al go to Xian

5/10 – Orphanage visit

5/11 – Rosalie and Nancy fly to Shanghai (from Hefei)
Al and Dwight fly to Shanghai (from Xian)
Bob Willards fly to GZ

(5/11 – 5/13 – Kirks and Alfords in Shanghai)

(5/11 – 5/15 – Willards in GZ)

5/13 – Alfords and Kirks fly to GZ

5/15 – Fly to LAX! Arrive 6:50 p.m.

5/16 – Fly home!!

Here We Are...

2007-04-22T18:26:00.000-05:00

We're Leaving on a jet plane...

2007-04-21T08:56:00.000-05:00

TA! We received our travel approval from China!!! We are leaving on Sunday, April 29th - my Dad's birthday (Happy Birthday Daddy!). As most of you know, there are seven people traveling to China...what a blessing. Both sets of parents are going with us and big brother Sam is traveling to meet his new brothers of course.

Just so you all know the crew if you follow our journey - here are their names:
Al and Nancy (Roberta's parents), Dwight and Rosalie (Bob's parents), Bob, Roberta and Sam. We have jokingly referred to the theme of our group as "the Clampets go to China" - a throw back of course to the old TV show.

This is a very "surreal" time right now. Once we got the news that we were traveling, all of the wheels were put into motion and it has been just a whirlwind ever since. We have had the room ready for some time and the clothes all washed and hung in the closets - but once you know that you are actually going to China to get your precious children all of the finite details must fall into place...and boy there just seem to be a million little things! God is great!

Please pray for our safe travel, good health, and easy transition for our new family.

2007-04-05T09:41:00.000-05:00

LOA - Letter of Acceptance received March 16, 2007!
We are on our way...we have received and signed our LOA for both Matthew and Alex. This is a letter for the Chinese government stating our final intent to adopt our boys. Our TA - Travel Approval should be close behind this document...yippeee!!!!!

2007-03-26T21:05:00.000-05:00

You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
Psalm 139:16 NLT