Hiking, hiking and more hiking.......and camping too!

This has been a great summer! We have hiked and camped a lot. Our family really draws close when we hike and camp and it's cheap or free! It's a lot of work to get ready, Maggie calculated on our last camping trip we would need to make 108 servings of regular meals, plus snacks and hiking food (hungry kids on a hike is not good!). I don't realize how much food we go through until I have to pack all of it for a 4 day camping trip. We have 2 more camping trips planned this year then a week long drive down the Oregon/California Coast camping all the way and finally ending up in Disneyland!!! Can't wait!

Brian liked hiking on Brian's loop at Shi Shi Beach which is located in the far Northwest Corner of the Continental US
Dungeness Spit
Shi Shi Beach, we had wanted to hike to this beach for years. Kelcey and I saw it on a travel show rated as one of America's top beaches. Finally this year we did it and was it worth it! Amazing tide pools, sea life, rocks to climb and a beautiful sandy beach.
Salt Creek, we stayed at Salt Creek Campground west of Port Angeles. I highly recommend this campgound during low tide. It was amazing.
Baker Rock on the Cowlitz river
Eunice Lake at Mount Rainier. Beautiful lake, hard hike!

Fun Pictures

Babies are here!!

KYLE our rooster


Last spring we went to the feed store bought 6 adorable, fluffy baby chicks. They were suppose to be all hens, but as they grew we realized that one of them was obviously not a hen. We really didn't want a rooster but we decided to keep him for a year and see if any of the hens would hatch out any babies. This hen, a Black Silkie, has been going broody off and on since last September. We finally let her start setting a few weeks ago. She hatched out 5 babies and is an excellent mother. Sooo cute!!

Lanae

One more picture

This picture is from my second trip to Ghana. Comfort had deteriorated so much in the 6 months since we first started the adoption process and got the first pictures of her. There were days in Ghana, like this one, where she felt so bad and was so puffy and would have lots of chest pain. It still completely amazes me how God kept her alive and how she is doing so great now.
One of the verses that God gave me before I left was 'Behold I have put before you an open door which no man can shut' Rev. 3:8 and He really did! Thank you Lord for those open doors and for sending us to do Your work. The last 3 years of my life have been full of the most difficult trials, the most faith building moments and the most amazing joy-filled times. I would do it again in a second! Totally worth every moment.

Lanae

Homecoming Day!!!!

Two years ago today we arrived home from Ghana!! Today we will be looking back at all of the trials and all of the miracles that it took to get our kids home.

Here is Brian now (oh my gosh, isn't he handsome!):
Brian in Ghana:
This is our beautiful Josephine now:
Josephine in Ghana:
Comfort has changed the most, here she is today without the puffy face caused by her heart defect, LOVE her smile:
Comfort in Ghana:
HAPPY 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY TO US!!

Lanae

Train Museum Field Trip

I LOVE our homeschool co-op!! And I LOVE that we now have a field trip coordinator!! YAY!!! We have gone on some awesome field trips this year including this one on Thursday to the NW Railway Museum in Snoqualmie, WA. For $5 we got to learn all about steam trains, what train whistles are used for, what type of cargo trains carry and we even got to go on an hour long train ride in an antique train!!! Hands on history is the best and the museum did a great job. We had a lot of fun.

Did anyone notice that my daughter-in-law and grandkids are in the pictures? I feel so blessed that not only are my grand daughters being homeschooled, but they also come to our co-op :)

Lanae

My Birthday at the Park

Actually we went to several parks! The older girls are in Alaska on a cruise and Tyler was at work so we took the 4 younger kids and went park hopping. We usually go to one park but this time we decided why not park hop! It was really fun! We stayed at each park about 20 minutes then hopped in the van and headed to the next one. The kids had a great time and we didn't even go to any parks with 'toys' just beach parks. We will definitely be doing this again.

Lanae

No Spring Hikes

I am missing our spring hikes! In March I injured my knee and have not been able to hike or even go on walks for 2 months. For 3 weeks I had to sit on the couch for a few hours each day with ice on my knee. Not fun. I love to be active and moving and this has forced me to slow down. Do you think God is trying to tell me something? Forced relaxation?? Tuesday I went back to the orthopedic doctor and he told me what I already knew, the injury is healed but now the muscle in my leg has deteriorated and atrophied. Off to physical therapy twice a week.

You know what I think about during times like this in my life? I think about how there are many people around the world going through the same thing as I am but without medical care, without physical therapy, without a couch to sit on and ice to relieve the swelling and I am humbled and thankful that I only have to endure the pain and inconvenience for a short while. Today I am thankful for the medical care in America, but I still miss our spring hikes :)

Lanae

Just an Ordinary Mom with Extraordinary Kids

Kelcey's card to mom :)


I was surprised Mother's Day morning with an awesome breakfast of delicious homemade sticky buns, YUM!!! Then I opened my cards and presents and was so touched by my awesome kids. I had to share the card that Kelcey gave me, homemade of course, that was so much more valuable to me than anything monetary could ever be. This is why I do what I do. All of the hours, days, and years are all worth it to hear this. I love my kids!!

Tyler bought me chocolate dipped strawberries on Saturday, then Maggie and Kelcey, not realizing that I had already eaten 6 the night before, made me more homemade chocolate dipped strawberries for Sunday morning!! YUM!!

The boys got me Trekking Poles so I can hike again after weeks of trying to heal from a knee injury. What a bummer it is to have to sit on the couch with ice on my knee while trying to juggle work, homeschooling, cooking, cleaning, laundry......hopefully I'm on the mend, we'll see what the orthopedic doctor says tomorrow.

Maggie gave me a really cool silicone tea bag to use with loose tea. Anyone who knows me knows that even though I have lived in Seattle my entire life, I can't stand coffee!! Tea is my thing. I love it, so it was a perfect gift.

Kelcey made me the coolest necklace using an antique teardrop Swarovski crystal, copper wire, glass beads and a silver bell. So awesome!

Brian, Josephine and Comfort gave me a pair of beautiful blue crystal earrings.

Everything was so great!

Ryan and his family were out of town with no cell service, so I missed seeing them or even hearing from them, that was a bummer, but I know they had lots of fun!

Of course there are other things that go on on Mother's Day. I think about my moms. My birth mom who died far too young of lung cancer and who I miss so much and my mom who who went to be with her Saviour 3 years ago after outliving all the doctors predictions and living to be 78 years old. It was still to soon for me. I can't describe how it feels. I had 2 moms, now I have none. It's the part of Mother's day that I don't like. I also think about mothers around the world who are having to make the heart breaking choice to give up their kids in the hopes that they will have a chance at survival. Being a mom I can't imagine how hard that would be and how much you would have to love your child to give them away so that they survive. It makes me want to adopt more or at least talk all my friends into it :)

I love celebrating being a mom to such extraordinary kids. There is nothing I would rather do in life than spend it investing in the kids that God has given me to raise. I am a lucky mom!

Oh and today's my BIRTHDAY!!!

Lanae

CUTE KYLAH BELL

Its official! She really is the cutest!! Our grand baby Kylah just had her first birthday and she is so precious. She also loves to eat, especially cake...just like grandma :)

Kylah's birth was such a blessing to us. Not only was it great to have another grand daughter, but it was a real time of healing for Brian and Josephine to be able to see sister Tamarah go through a healthy pregnancy and deliver a healthy baby. They both have some real trauma associated with having a baby (I won't share the details, but it was bad, lots of late night talks and crying about this subject) and I know that God planned Kylah for just the right time. Just last week Kylah was hugging and kissing Brian and he was beaming, of course she was ONLY hugging and kissing him and refused everyone else.

Happy Birthday our little Princess! We love you!!

No One Built the Ark!

I will be updating soon with lots of pictures too, but for now I have 2 more funny things from my kids mouths.

Comfort was in choir at our Homeschool Co-op and one day as she was practicing her songs she asked me "Mom, where does the free laundry come from?" Then she began to sing 'My country tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, let free laundry'. Isn't American great, they just give away free laundry!

Then last week Josephine was skipping around the house joyfully singing 'Who built the ark? No one, no one. Who built the ark? No one built the ark.'

Just when I need a good laugh, there it is!

Lanae

We made it through the first year!

It's had its trials, but we made it through, I still love my awesome man and I'm still excited about serving our Lord together! We are looking forward to what God has for us next!
Lanae

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

This Last Year

May 23rd marked the one year anniversary of the day that Brian, Josephine and Comfort stepped foot on American soil and became American citizens and FINALLY joined our whole family in person not just in our hearts. What a joyous day!!! After 2 1/2 grueling weeks in Africa and many trials, I was ecstatic to reach the US. However, the trials weren't over BUT God was ALWAYS faithful. Over the next few posts, I thought I would tell the story of our last year, some of it has already been told, some will be a surprise.
Let me back up just a little so you get an idea of the miracles that God produced to get us home. Keep in mind that being in Ghana wasn't just an inconvenience for me it was a life or death ordeal. Comfort's heart was failing and she was going to die soon if we stayed in Ghana. There were times when she would have severe chest pain and be gasping for breath and all I could do was pray over her that God would sustain her life. There was no 911 and even if there would have been, there was not a hospital to take her to that could do anything for her. What a faith building experience for me. For those who don't know, when I was 6 years old my mom had her first open heart surgery. That was 1972 and the doctor told her she had 5 years to live HOWEVER God told her different. She had amazing faith and survived many more surgeries and procedures, many, many trips to the ER by ambulance and finally 2 years ago she was taken by ambulance to the ER for the last time. My mom was in the hospital for 4 days before being ushered home to be with her Savior. In 1972 her life looked hopeless, but 36 years later she was a proud grandmother of 9 and a great grandmother. Her family and her Lord were the most important things to her. She used to tell me all the time how she saw Jesus in the operating room standing behind the doctor with His arms wrapped around him guiding his hands making sure that the days of her life were numbered not by doctors but by Him. She was such a woman of faith, and I am starting to understand why. Our faith is built not by the peaceful days, but by seeing God's faithfulness during the trials. When you need Him the most and have nothing else to count on, nothing to fall back on, He is faithful. That was the biggest lesson I learned in Ghana. No one can ever tell me that God's not real or that He's not faithful to help when we cry out to Him. I have lived it.
Okay, now on to the story.
Thursday May 21st was the day that we finally received the last thing we needed from the orphanage director to get us out of Ghana. Brian's passport!!! On Wednesday I had been praying about his passport and I saw a picture of the passport with chains all wrapped around it and I got the feeling that someone was holding his passport and we needed it to be released. I told the kids this and Josephine prayed, not just a little prayer, this was a heart spilling, on her face before God, crying out to Him prayer that Brian's passport would be released to us so we could go home. She did not want her brother left behind and we knew that if Comfort really became critical we would have to leave Ghana and possibly leave Brian behind. None of us wanted to do that. The very next day we received a phone call that the passport was ready and it was finally released to us. We knew that we were cutting it short, but off we scrambled to MedLab to get his medicals done before the weekend. The next Monday was a holiday so we knew that would delay things a few days if we didn't get them done that day. After we filled out paperwork and paid the fee, the man at the desk informed us that adoption medical appointments were over for the day but he would let us go late this one time. Don't worry, I won't be back :) From MedLab clinic we rushed to MedLab lab a few miles away to complete the steps needed for the medicals. Thankfully God provided a friend who knew the doctor who reads the tests at MedLab. She knew how desperate we were and called in a favor to this doctor who completed and read the tests THAT DAY. This truly was a miracle, nothing get's done in Ghana in one day :) The next morning I got up and packed and told the kids be ready, I think we're going home today. I had my doubts, but wanted to be ready just in case. Laurel stayed at the hotel with the kids while Daniel (who I owe many thanks to) and I rushed off to MedLab 8 AM . On the way I called the American Embassy and asked them if we could get our visas today to be on an evening flight leaving Ghana at 4 PM. At first she said no, so I explained to her that I was out of money (true) Comfort was going to die (true) and I had no choice but to be on that plane. By god's grace she had mercy on me and said 'Okay, Mrs Pearson, if you can get here by 9:30 I can process your visas today'. YAY!!!! One problem taken care of, now on to problem number 2. How do you get medical reports from a lab in Ghana to the medical clinic in Ghana in an hour?? Seems impossible......ahhhh, nothing is impossible with GOD! After arriving at MedLab clinic we found out that the medical report was finished but needed to be transported from the lab to the clinic and that it would be there sometime 'later'. Okay, 'later' in Ghana can mean next week so I called the lab and was told nothing could be done. I hung up and prayed then I called back and was told by the second person that nothing could be done. I hung up and prayed then I called back and finally the third person told me that if I got permission from MedLab clinic I could pick up the results myself. YAY!!! Keep in mind I would not be so pushy if my convenience was the only thing at stake. I took a deep breath, knowing I had to face Mr. Nice Man at the desk and into MedLab clinic I went to explain my situation. The look on his face was priceless. It was a nice mixture of compassion and irritation. It took him about 10 minutes to make the necessary calls and then we were off to the lab which was about a 10 minute drive. We picked up the super top secret, sealed and double sealed packet. The funniest thing about this is that the packet contains the results of Brian's stool sample. Yeah, super top secret stool sample results. The other funny thing is that we had the stool tests redone in the US and both Brian and Josephine had Giardia that MedLab missed (that explains the severe diarrhea and vomiting they had in Ghana). At this point I was extremely hopeful that we would be leaving that day. Things were moving fast! With the newly acquired medical results in hand we sped off to the Embassy and yes, Mr Nice Guard Man I do know that I don't have an appointment but could you please let me in anyways? After a few phone calls the guards decide that it's okay to let me in and we are in and out within 2 hours visas in hand!!! I called Mark and told him we were coming home then I called my dad. It was his birthday, my kids had taken him out to breakfast and I got to tell him 'Happy birthday dad, I'm bringing your new grandkids home today!' I also called the hotel and told Laurel and the kids to get ready we'll be on the 4 o'clock plane!! What an amazing day. My head was spinning and I couldn't believe how much had happened in just a few short hours. 2 trips to Ghana, weeks of waiting, many tears, worry, doubts and in a few short hours it was all over. We were headed home. I truly believe that God moved mountains to make this happen. Things just don't happen this quickly in Ghana, but God had a plan that played out according to His timing. He knew when we needed to be in America and made it happen. Next time I'll tell about our interesting arrival :)
Lanae

Another Funny

Yesterday at breakfast Josephine proclaimed "These Rice Crispies sure are lousy!" If you don't recognize it, 'lousy' is a contraction using the words loud and noisy. Maybe I'm the only one that totally cracks up at the things my kids say, but I think it's pretty funny! Josephine, of course, corrected her word right away when she realized what she had said. She really likes to do everything well, possibly even bordering on perfect. I have worked hard to get her to loosen up a little. I totally believe in striving to do things well, but I also want my kids to be able to relax and realize nothing is ever perfect, doing your best is what's important. Both Josephine and Brian always try to be obedient, do the right thing, and do their chores and schoolwork well. They are great kids!

Lanae

Can I have a Banana to Hold Me Down?

My kids totally crack me up! Comfort just asked me if dinner was ready and when I said not yet she asked if she could have a banana to hold her down. HA! Yesterday I gave her a banana before dinner told her it was to hold her 'over'. Adverbs are interchangeable, right?
Now that I think about it, I wish I could give my kids a banana to hold them down. That would be great!!
Every day we get a few good chuckles out of the things the kids say. I should keep a journal.
Lanae

Another Great Hike

Umtanum Canyon was a great hike for the Pearsons and the Knoxs! It was a beautiful 70 degree day for our desert hike, or so we thought. 3 miles in it started to hail, snow, thunder, lightning and rain. We were all in our t-shirts and some of us had on shorts. The big kids took off running back to the van while Mark and I took up the rear with the Comfort and the Knox's youngest daughter. We were all soaked, freezing and miserable, but happy to have conquered another adventure!! I was amazed that Comfort made it almost all the way and I just had to carry her on my back the last mile.
Last year I left for my second trip to Ghana on May 6th, the same day of this hike. I can't believe it's been almost a year that the kids have been here.
Lanae

First 'Official' Hike of the Year

2 miles and1,100 feet elevation gain then you're blessed with an awesome view!! Mark, Kelcey, Maggie (yes that's her with her new short, stylin' hair) Brian and I started out the year with a leg burner to the top of Rattlesnake Ledge. Last week the kids and I hiked all the way around Rattlesnake Lake (see it at the bottom) while Mark was at work, so it was fun to see the lake from a different perspective. I was not loving looking over the edge, but the rest of my family seemed quite content to lean over.
Nathan had surgery last Friday to have his tonsils and adenoids removed, so he stayed home. We knew that Comfort wouldn't make it to the top, so she and Josephine also skipped this hike. Tyler was at work so he also didn't get to go. How weird to go on a family hike with just 3 kids.

We can't wait for summer! It's been a loooong winter and we are ready to move on.
By the way, does anyone other than me notice that my husband is always perched on the highest most dangerous place he can find? It's good that he compliments my shortcomings so well, you would NEVER see me out on that rock :) We make a good team. He has great adventures and I'm in a safe place ready to call 911 if he needs it.
Lanae

Our Comfort

Check out this blog post written by Becky . She took care of Comfort in Ghana. I know it was difficult on her and we are forever grateful that she helped to save Comfort's life. We would be happy to have Sister Becky come and visit!

Lanae

A couple more pictures

We've been an official family for a year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look, do you see that??? Yeah, it's Comfort and she's RUNNING!!!!! Really fast too! No chest pain, no fear of dying, no leg cramps, no shortness of breath, no one telling her she's lazy and slow. Praise God, her life has been saved!!! I am daily humbled and in awe of her miraculous life.

When I look at this picture of my girls I think "Isn't it amazing just how small each of us is in the world?" Yet I know that when you submit your life to doing God's will He can and will accomplish great things through you.

Okay, I just have to say this.....I know that all grandmas talk about how their grandkids are the 'cutest', but seriously, isn't Kylah the cutest baby you've ever seen?? I know I'm her grandma, but I'm pretty sure I'm right about this.

Lanae

THREE HUNDRED SIXTY FIVE

YEP! 365 days ago last Thursday we were in Accra, Ghana receiving our adoption decree. April 8th, 2009 Brian, Josephine and Comfort officially became PEARSONS!!!! April 8th 2010 we were together as a family on the beach of the Pacific Ocean. It's funny to think that last year at this time we were playing in the Atlantic Ocean!


I know it's been a while since I have updated, so I thought I would take this opportunity to fill you in on the last six months. Here are some of the great things that have happened:

-We have bonded as a family really well. Brian is doing extremely well homeschooling, he is very smart and has really good logical thinking. We have worked through some of his past traumas and he seems to be happy although he does miss his grandma. Brian is growing a lot! He's gained 15 pounds and is on his 3rd set of clothes. Josephine is also doing really well homeschooling. She is just starting to read and loves it! She is a very motivated learner. Her past trauma has been a little harder to deal with because hers comes out as sadness, especially at night when she has time to think. She also has had some nightmares, but all in all she is doing great. She is also growing really tall. Every time I turn around her pants are too short. Comfort is more delayed in school, but also did not have much schooling in Ghana. Our dentist told us that she is not 8 (which I suspected because her father told me she was 9 not 7) but more like 10 1/2. Which of course means she is more delayed than we thought, but she is showing great improvement the more I work with her. She is such a great kid and dances and sings all around the house. Sometimes she'll stop and say 'Isn't this a wonderful day?'. To think that she was holding on by a thread in Ghana and now she is so full of life. Her health has been great and she is also growing but not as fast as Brian or Josephine.




-We got a new 15 passenger van!! Thanks to an amazing friend who had a fundraiser without our knowledge and bought us our van! We can't thank everyone enough, we LOVE it. We had been praying for months that we would get a van and not have to drive 2 cars everywhere and our prayers were answered.

-Brian and Comfort both had their first American birthdays in November and Josephine had her birthday in January.

-Our beautiful granddaughter number 2 was born in December. Kylah is such a sweetie and it was really a great experience for Brian, Josephine and Comfort.

-Our first Christmas together as the 'New and improved' Pearsons.

Then the first of the year...........

-New Years Day our daughter's car was stolen out of our driveway. Did you know that you are responsible for all towing and recovery costs even if someone steals your car?? Thankfully they pulled the guy over for speeding and arrested him, which happened to be at the same time that we were all praying for him to change his ways and that he would know Jesus as his Lord.

-My friend Lori and her son Alex made a surprise visit for 6 weeks from Papua New Guinea!! What an awesome time we had staying up late, watching movies, eating chocolate......

-Our homeschool Co-op moved once again to a new building. Everytime we move to a new facility we quickly outgrow it. One day I was watching Josephine and Comfort dance around the room in ballet class and I started to cry. To think how far those girls have come and then to see them all decked out in frilly ballet outfits dancing and twirling around the room like little princesses. It was just too much. All the boys want Brian on their team in the gym class because he is so great at all sports, its been fun to watch him make so many friends.

-We were at the doctors 14 times in a 3 week period with 3 ear infections, Maggies first ever visit to the E.R. to get 9 stitches, Brian and Josephine were both having migraines, all of the kids came down with a nasty bug with coughing and fever, Nathan had to go to the E.R. because he had a piece of peanut M&M stuck in his throat (we found out that his tonsils and adenoids were so enlarged that he couldn't swallow, he was on a liquid diet and lost 15 pounds and is having surgery to remove them this Friday) then I went to the E.R twice in one day. Hopefully after Friday we'll stay away from doctors and E.R.s for awhile.



I know there's lots more that has happened and I'll continue to blog about things as they pop into my head.


One more thing:
In October Daniel arrived safe and sound from Ghana. We had so much fun with him. We took him to some of our favorite cool places and fed him some great food. He ended up extending his Visa and just left last week. We sent him back to Ghana with pictures and letters for the kids relatives and he called from Brian and Josephine's grandmother's home so the kids could talk to her. It was really nice and she had called all the aunts and uncles to her house so they could also say hi.