We Made it!

Well, it was once again a long trip to get here. It still took us 30 minutes from the gate in Pasco, WA to the gate here at Bangkok so it didn't save us any time leaving closer to the pacific ocean as I thought it would. Oh well, we are thankful to be here, after getting over an hour and a half delay on the FIRST plane, then getting our plane seat reservations "lost" on the San Francisco to Taipei, Taiwan we ended up arriving here in Bangkok right on time. The boys were wonderful and so well behaved, so much better than the nightmare I had expected (they will probably save that all for the plane trip home!). I think taking the red-eye on the longest leg of the trip really helped for them. RJ actually slept almost 7 full hours (although he has always been a great sleeper), Jack also got almost a total of 8 hours together. The little booger outlasted me, I remember really trying to keep my eyes open as he asked me for the 100th time when the oxygen masks were going to come out from the ceiling of the airplane. He was very safety conscious and payed attention to the stewardess's instructions and literally spent hours studying the safety brochure they leave in all the seats. He seemed very preoccupied with crashing (I was kicking myself for letting him watch those Lost episodes with me!)

I have forgotten my cables to connect my camera so that I can upload pictures, but now that I am here I am going to break out my little Flip video camera so stayed tuned there should be at least some video clips to watch (if I can figure out how to do that).

We will keep you updated, stay tuned.......!

FINALLY!!

OK, we are finally leaving today. I know that I sent our a plea for prayers in regards to the paperwork we were needing to get to travel as had been planned on Thanksgiving day, so thank you for all of those who did pray, the paper I needed got done and in time, but they changed our date to travel anyways!! I was so mad I didn't feel up to sending out another mass email so sorry if you hadn't heard.

We are finally leaving today. Not really looking forward to the 19 hour flying time plus another several in airports but will be excited once we get there so I will try to post daily updates and pictures and if you aren't a friend already look me up on face book as I will update that too! Thanks for reading!

Fall Update

Well, for those of you still checking this blog, here is our update.

We are still awaiting news on when we get to travel to Thailand to get Trey (that is the name that has stuck and seems somewhat fitting for our third little boy). I am hoping it is anytime now and definitely before his 2nd birthday in December.

Above is a picture of RJ and myself on his first day of 1st grade. So hard to believe he is already 1 month into his 1st grade year! He was a little nervous as this was his first foray into public school and the school bus, but now he is an old pro and I think (although he won't admit it) likes it. His Kindergarten teacher definitely did an excellent job of getting him ready and he seems to be way ahead of his class when it comes to reading and math, thank you Mrs. Foss and Kingspoint Christian! Although we do miss having the Christian influence on his life daily, it is so much cheaper and more convenient to have him at public school near our home. We must be saving hundreds on gas alone!


We got to celebrate G.G.'s (that is great grandma, Lance's grandmother) 90th birthday this summer. She looks so good and seems to get around so well for someone of her age. If it weren't for her bad knees I think she would still be out chasing around after the great grand kids. We love her so much and pray for her health and comfort daily.

We took a trip up to the Cascade mountains with my folks this summer. Although it was brief, we had a lot of fun and am hoping to return next year for a longer trip. This was the boys' first experience in fishing and thanks to Grandpa they all caught a fish! We stayed at the cabin in comfort but am hoping next year we will "rough it" for at least one night in a tent away from it all. It should be interesting to say the least with 3 little boys but I am looking forward to the chance.

We also had a couple of the cousins to our house this summer. RJ and Jack sure had fun playing with Parker and Avery and we are hoping they, and all their other cousins can find time for a visit next summer now that we have the back yard finished off and a nice place to play and visit. Maybe next year I will have money for some patio furniture so we can enjoy it even more!

Well, I hope all of you stay tuned as I am anticipating a trip to Thailand to pick up our new little guy soon and will definitely do daily updates while overseas for anyone interested in our adoption travels! Hope you all take care and email me dlbeeson@charter.net. I so love hearing from all of my friends and family. You can also look Lance and I up on facebook now!

Happy Fourth of July

HAPPY FOURTH EVERYONE!!

I wish I could post a cute little picture of the boys in their red, white and blue clothes with nice cute little sparklers, but I had to work today, never got around to buying any cute matching little clothes, and am so exhausted after a really tough week at work that I put the kids to bed and am planning on heading there myself! Lance did take the boys to the parade in Pasco, if you could call a few cars, a couple of bad marching bands and of course, the Shriner's driving around in little cars a parade. It is a poor excuse for a parade, but I think the kids have fun which is really the point anyways.

The past couple of months have been pretty busy. RJ finished up school so Lance is keeping both the kids home for the summer. RJ is taking golf, which he really enjoys, and that makes Lance happy since he loves it too! They are now going to the driving range together too which is a great thing for the both of them to get to do. Jack is at home too, so Lance is keeping extra busy. I feel guilty that he has to do so much as I have been working a lot to try and save money for our upcoming trip to Thailand, as well as pay for some unexpected medical bills.

Jack had to have some very expensive dental work, which I hated to do, I did not want to put him under general anesthesia, but to pay so much for teeth that are going to fall out! But, it had to be done, his teeth were literally starting to rot, the product of no prenatal care. He does seem to be eating better and he no longer complains of his food being too hot, so I guess if he is more comfortable and it will prevent permanent teeth damage then it is worth it.

We got another update on Trey (that is the official name we have come up with and it has seemed to stick for the past several months). He had to be hospitalized for a stomach virus and dehydration for 3 days but seems to be doing well now from what we have heard. Above is the latest picture we have of him. He looks a lot like RJ did at that age I think. His eyes are slightly more almond shaped than RJ's but they seem to have a lot of other similarities.

Well, hope you all (those 3 of you who are still checking in!!) are doing well. I just want you all to know I count myself lucky to have friends and family like you, and I count my blessings every night before I go to sleep. I feel so privileged to have been given such wonderful friends, family, husband and 2, soon to be 3, beautiful children that I sometimes wonder why God is so good to such an undeserving sinner like me. Praise Him! Take care and love you all!

Happy Easter

Beeson Family with Grandpa Pete and Grandma Neola

Well, sorry it has been so long since our last post. There have been many times that I have thought about sitting down and updating friends and families, then those thoughts pass fleetingly by as I hurry Jack to the bathroom or ice down RJ's latest boo-boo.

We had a wonderful visit to Denver over Spring Break to Lance's grandparents, Pete and Neola as well as his Aunt Connie. It was cold but despite that the boys had fun playing with their cousin Connor. It was so nice to see Pete and Neola doing so well.

A couple of months ago Lance decided that we should do a duathalon. It was in Portland, we would make a weekend of it and it would be fun. I was shocked that Lance actually wanted to do any form of exercise so I readily agreed despite my working 11 to 12 days out of each 14 day span since the first of the year. the good thing was that we were able to write out a check in full for the costs of our new coming son, that bad part was a lack of time to train properly for the race, but I figured I was in good enough shape from my daily runs however to get me by. I guess I was wrong! Despite running my 5K heats in under 28 minutes (which is pretty fast for this slow methodical former marathoner) I was still almost last in the entire race! I got passed by every single person out there on the bike, no lie. I was absolutely the last person to come off the bike in the entire race! Talk about a little embarrassing, luckily I was able to catch a few people on the last run but I wasn't expecting to do so poorly on the bike. I mean there were much older people, even much younger people and a few people that hardly fit on their bikes, just fly by me like I was standing still! I guess I need a little more practice than just one 10 miler in the last 3 years on my bike if I ever expect to get any better. Lance did well for his first race ever and I think it has encouraged him to keep going, which I find great, because if you know Lance at all, you know how long it has actually been since he did any form of exercise and I am very proud of him for choosing a race and a goal and sticking to the training and doing it! You go big guy!

The race also gave us an excuse to get away to Portland and see some old friends, eat some good food and go see the Blazers vs Lakers game. I thought it was a lot of fun and it made me long for our "big city" days and got us both thinking about possibly moving to a bigger city again someday so we can have those opportunities to do those type of things again.

The boys had a very nice and exciting weekend as well. They got to spend the night at Grandma Jamie's. They had a great time watching movies, doing Easter crafts and going to Easter Egg Hunts. We do so love to having Jamelyn (Lance's mother) so close by and we do not know how we got along without her before. She is so wonderful with the boys and they love her so, it is truly a blessing to have her so near. We feel so blessed to have our familes so close by, I personally feel so blessed by all the things the Lord has chosen to bestow upon me. It actually brought me to tears this morning as I sat in church, singing his praises and thinking of how good God has been to me and my family and I hope all that read this can say the same.

Well, stay tuned, I am going to try so hard to post more often. We are started our 6-9 month wait for Trey (that is the name we have all decided on for Teepop, as RJ made me very aware that Cooper rhymed with pooper so that was not a very god name). So hopefully we will be going back to Thailand soon to get our new addition.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

This year I decided to do my Christmas Card on the web, hoping to save a little time and trees. That, and I have lost my address book in the move so I am hoping those that don't get a card from us will read this and understand, and then send us your address!This has been an exciting year for us. We moved to Kennewick, Washington a year ago last year to be closer to family. It has been very nice to be so close to Lance's mother and cousins and they have all been very helpful with the boys when Lance and I are both busy, we appreciate them all so much, thank you all! I am also closer to my family in the Boise area and have been to see them almost monthly, which when compared to once yearly is wonderful as well.

I am working as a hospitalist here in Richland, Washington. It is the nicest hospital in the area and a very busy place! The schedule of 7 days on and 7 days off has been very nice and allowed me to spend much more time with the boys. I got to meet my birth-mother (for those of you that didn't know I was adopted as a baby) and her family who were all very wonderful people and I look forward to developing a life-long relationship with them.



Lance got a job teaching English and as the head football coach of Columbia High School. I know he enjoyed the season despite the overall record, the teaching however I am not sure is his favorite and he may be looking for other options next year.

RJ has entered into kindergarten at Kingspoint Christian School, and although I am not sure he is in love with the idea of school, he seems to do well once he is there and he has a very understanding and patient teacher. We think we will keep him at the smaller christian school as I love to hear him come home singing the Lord's praises and stories. Jack is growing like a weed, and is enjoying his preschool as well. It is right next to RJ's school and they are both very close to Grandma JJ so she picks them up after school during football season and from time to time when Lance and I cannot make it in time, once again, thank you Jamelyn she has been a godsend for the boys. His main accomplishment was getting potty trained! Although, it lasted a few months and we are backsliding at least the diapers are gone with the exception of at night.

Our big news was the subject of my last blog, is that we will be having another addition to our family. RJ's half-brother will be joining our family hopefully sometime in 2009, we suspect it may be around Christmas next year.

We miss all of of friends in the Kansas City Area but we seem to be adjusting to our new life in the desert of Eastern Washington and being so close to family has more than made up for the lack of choices in shopping, entertainment and loss of proximity to friend.

Please drop us an email when you all get a chance, dlbeeson@charter.net or ldbeeson@charter.net and may everyone have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year and don't forget to give thanks to the Lord for all he has done for you and yours! I know we won't! Take care!

WOW!

Wow! Another One! For those of you who do not know, we have been asked to accept another child from Thailand. Another boy! I am really going to be outnumbered. We weren't 100% sure we were (or are) ready for another child (3 seems like so many!) but after much timely thought and prayer we are getting ready to go back to Thailand one more time. God is so good!

RJ's birthmother has given birth again to another little boy, Teepop Buadaprest (we will be giving him an American first name as I can hear the jaunts now!). Amazingly, he is also very healthy and appears to be happy and is residing in the same foster family as RJ had been (pure coincidence we are told) so we know he is being well cared for, as RJ was. We don't expect to be traveling for about a year, as far as we can tell as it will take us almost 3-6 months to get all the paperwork done (since we hadn't even started on anything when the call came) and then another 6-9 months on the waiting list for adoption approval. He turns one this December, that will make him about RJ's age when we got him, around 2 yrs old. That will give us some more time to get ready to the idea of having a third child!

Everything else here is going well. Lance finished his first season as head football coach 4-7, I believe. Not as good as he had hoped but I think he had fun regardless. Now, if he can get through the rest of the year without football and teaching English, that will be the true test of his dedication to the sport!

My job continues to get better as well. They are making real strives at the hospital to improve all aspects of care, and they just gave us raises, which in today's economy, I feel really lucky and blessed for.

The boys are doing great as well. RJ just turned 6! He isn't all that fond of school but seems to be doing very well at it. Jack is still suffering through his terrible two's (and we are ready for those to be over as well). He still doesn't sleep well unless one of us are with him all night, a habit I am going to try and break before the next little one arrives.

I am going to make every attempt at keeping this site up to date, however ,I have had that good intention before and now will be working a lot of extra shifts to try and pay for little Teepop so we will see, but keep tuned anyways, a lot more adventure yet to come!