Toby has been saying for a while (at least since the release of the last Karate Kid Movie) that he wants to take lessons. Well, over Holiday Break, Toby was putting on the moves. I was shocked at his ability to kick and punch, so I figured I better look into it! Well, he had his first lesson today and he LOVED it!! It was so darn cute! Very proud momma here!! Listening to him repeat the Korean count was awesome! He did so well! Love this kid!!
The story of the Mills' Family. Nate and Carol have been married since 1997. Taylor was born in 1998, Drew was born in 2001 and Toby was born in 2005 and joined our family forever in 2007. Here is our journey, where God leads us, we will go. That is my prayer.
Showing posts with label Korea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Korea. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Asian Festival 2011
This year, we could not find any Pot Stickers for Toby! He was disappointed! He did get some egg rolls and noodles so he was happy! We did all our usual stuff, watched some dancers, played in the kids zone, and hung out at the water fall. Franklin Park is so pretty! And just up the road from COSI! Highly recommend stopping by if you are in the area.
And next year, if you don't have plans Memorial Day weekend, check out the Asian Festival!
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Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Asian Festival!
For the third straight year, we made it a point to head to Columbus Memorial Day weekend to attend the Asian Festival. If you've never been, I highly recommend taking a trip down! It is a lot of fun! This year, my batteries in my camera ran out about 15 minutes after we got there, so I don't have many pictures, but here are a few from our time. The first is from a parade of nations of sort that we stumbled upon! There were many dragons and one, this one actually, scared Toby and he spilled the sauce from his Pot Stickers all down his leg, so this is our only picture as I had to clean him up. By the way, he ate a huge Veggie Egg Roll and 4 pot stickers all by himself! I need to learn how to cook for the poor kid!
It was HOT! But we had lots of water and many Maui Wowi's and that kept us going! Looking forward to next year!
God is Good
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Please Pray
I just got a message from one of the message boards associated with our adoption. It seems that our agency is looking for a few people to escort some beautiful babies home from Korea the week of Spring Break (and my birthday)!!! I sent a reply right away, but don't know if I would be considered or not. I don't know the cost or if it would even work for us, but I do know that I would have regretted not inquiring more into it. I have my passport ready, so it wouldn't take much!
Would you please pray with me that if this is God's timing for me to go experience Toby's birthplace and the orphanage where his precious life started, it would all fall into place.
Literally this all happened within the last 20 minutes, I've hardly even talked to Nate about it other than to tell him I gave them my name, but I really hope this all works out. I'm probably getting my hopes up for nothing, but it's worth a try!
Would you please pray with me that if this is God's timing for me to go experience Toby's birthplace and the orphanage where his precious life started, it would all fall into place.
Literally this all happened within the last 20 minutes, I've hardly even talked to Nate about it other than to tell him I gave them my name, but I really hope this all works out. I'm probably getting my hopes up for nothing, but it's worth a try!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
New Years Eve 2008
Well, we had a pretty quiet New Years Eve. We went to Nate's sisters house and some other friends came over as well. We just hung out, watched TV at 11:45 for about a half hour, then headed home around 1. The kids had fun, too. Toby and Drew came with us, and Taylor went to a friends, as she did last year.
Toby found Kiley's Hannah Montana wig, and would not put it down all night. My one friend teased that we needed to make sure the Korean government didn't see this or they may reconsider. At first it was cute, but by the end of the night, I was ready to burn the wig!
And the kids had a lot of fun dancing to Toby Mac. Here, the boys were putting on a show. I know it's a little dark, but I think you can get the gist of it! They were really getting into it.
Toby found Kiley's Hannah Montana wig, and would not put it down all night. My one friend teased that we needed to make sure the Korean government didn't see this or they may reconsider. At first it was cute, but by the end of the night, I was ready to burn the wig!
And the kids had a lot of fun dancing to Toby Mac. Here, the boys were putting on a show. I know it's a little dark, but I think you can get the gist of it! They were really getting into it.
Hope you all have a blessed 2009!
God is Good!
God is Good!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Why Korea?
There are several reasons we considered Korea when we decided to move forward with the adoption process. I mentioned before that Nate was very interested in China at first, and I was okay with checking into that more. However, China has very strict income guidelines. As a family of what would be 5, we did not qualify for China due to our income. So we began checking into other countries.
Our list was soon narrowed down, in part based on finances. We looked at countries that we felt we could afford. As awful as this sounds, it is the reality of international adoption! We decided on Korea for many reasons, here are just a few.
Minimal Waiting Times
Young Children at referral/arrival
Healthy children
Children are in Foster Care vs. an orphanage after about 3-6 months of age
Children receive excellent health care for any medical concerns
Longevity and Security of the Korean program
Funny how those were the things that made us decide on Korea, and yet we accepted the referral of a toddler (not really a YOUNG referral) who had medical issues (not completely healthy) and it took us forever to come up with the finances (so minimal wait times didn't mean a whole lot)! It's amazing to know God has a plan, no matter how much in control we think we are.
I also thought I would mention that during the process, as we were waiting and trying to decide what God wanted us to do, we considered changing programs. We seriously considered adopting from Haiti. We were even softly matched with a young boy, only to find out the next day that another family was in front of us and had accepted his referral. His beautiful smile and face is still in my memory! What a sweet boy and I'm sure he has a wonderful home!
So when deciding what program, there are many things to consider. These are just a few of the reasons we chose to adopt from Korea!
God is Good!
Our list was soon narrowed down, in part based on finances. We looked at countries that we felt we could afford. As awful as this sounds, it is the reality of international adoption! We decided on Korea for many reasons, here are just a few.
Minimal Waiting Times
Young Children at referral/arrival
Healthy children
Children are in Foster Care vs. an orphanage after about 3-6 months of age
Children receive excellent health care for any medical concerns
Longevity and Security of the Korean program
Funny how those were the things that made us decide on Korea, and yet we accepted the referral of a toddler (not really a YOUNG referral) who had medical issues (not completely healthy) and it took us forever to come up with the finances (so minimal wait times didn't mean a whole lot)! It's amazing to know God has a plan, no matter how much in control we think we are.
I also thought I would mention that during the process, as we were waiting and trying to decide what God wanted us to do, we considered changing programs. We seriously considered adopting from Haiti. We were even softly matched with a young boy, only to find out the next day that another family was in front of us and had accepted his referral. His beautiful smile and face is still in my memory! What a sweet boy and I'm sure he has a wonderful home!
So when deciding what program, there are many things to consider. These are just a few of the reasons we chose to adopt from Korea!
God is Good!
Monday, May 26, 2008
New Family Tradition
Well, as you will see over the next few posts, we had a busy, but fun weekend! On Sunday, we attended the Asian Festival in Columbus. I heard about it last year, but Toby wasn't yet home, and we had plans that weekend, but this year, we knew we wanted to attend. It is every Memorial Day weekend, and it is a free event. It was a lot of fun! Here are a few photos from our day.
I think Toby was ready to take a nap here. We were hoping for a nap on the ride down, but that didn't happen!
Yeah, Taylor is still wearing her Kutless shirt from the night before! I did manage to get it off her and washed today!
Daddy got a little cuddle time!
Here the kids are watching some dancers. It was fun, and we enjoyed some great food while we were watching! Daddy is wearing a craft Toby made. Not intended to be a necklace, but that is what Toby wanted. What a dad!
It was a fun day, but it was long. Drew took advantage of a moment when Toby was not in the stroller, to relax a while!
Again, a day that was busy, but so much fun. Just being together as a family enjoying the things around us! And we did the entire weekend of fun for under $100! You can't beat that these days!
God is Good!
I think Toby was ready to take a nap here. We were hoping for a nap on the ride down, but that didn't happen!
Yeah, Taylor is still wearing her Kutless shirt from the night before! I did manage to get it off her and washed today!
Daddy got a little cuddle time!
Here the kids are watching some dancers. It was fun, and we enjoyed some great food while we were watching! Daddy is wearing a craft Toby made. Not intended to be a necklace, but that is what Toby wanted. What a dad!
It was a fun day, but it was long. Drew took advantage of a moment when Toby was not in the stroller, to relax a while!Again, a day that was busy, but so much fun. Just being together as a family enjoying the things around us! And we did the entire weekend of fun for under $100! You can't beat that these days!
God is Good!
Friday, March 21, 2008
ONE YEAR AGO!!
Well, while our adoption process has taken years, amazingly, it has been a year since we first saw Toby's beautiful face! It was March 19, 2007 when our social worker first sent us an e-mail with details about our beautiful son. It took us a few days to have his file reviewed by a pediatrician (not that I ever had a doubt God was in control). March 22, 2007 was the day that we verbally accepted the referral. What a glorious day. If I'm being honest... I still have the voicemail that our social worker left for us congratulating us! While the wait to bring him home was torture... it's amazing to think that a year has passed since we first saw him.
I was looking at some Easter video from last year, and literally, as Taylor and Drew searched for their baskets, I thought "where's Toby?"... DUH - Korea! But not this year! He will be right behind them.
God is Good!
Sunday, March 2, 2008
An Amazing E-Mail
Okay, so I'm an e-mail junkie. I can not tell you how many times a day I check my e-mail. It would probably be embarrassing if I could! Well, this morning was a typical Sunday morning. Toby was the first up at around 7:30, and thankfully he laid in bed with me for about a half hour while I rested a little bit more! (Love the Veggie Tales on Sunday Mornings!) So I got up to get his breakfast before we head out for church, and as I'm getting out the bowls and cereal, I start up the computer!
To my surprise and excitement and any other words like that, I had an e-mail that was in Korean!!! I quickly opened it to find that it is a letter from Toby's Foster Mother, I believe. It is in Koean, so I am trying to find someone to translate it right now. I have a few leads that will translate e-mails, so I'm hoping to have it done in the next day or so!
Clearly, from what I could read in the e-mail, she checks our blog and has watched the videos of Toby's arrival home! Tears just flowing, as I am so excited to have some contact with Toby's first mommy! I have never met this woman (or family) but I can tell you that they are amazing people that I admire beyond words! Toby is an amazing kid, and I know that that is due to his upbringing his first 27 months in their home. I pray often that we can meet someday and I can express to her my gratitude!
As you can see, I added a Babelfish translator to our site! I hope that if she continues to view our blog, she will be able to translate it into Korean (any of you can do this, it's kinda fun to see my words in Korean!) and at least get the gist of what I am writing about! This is not a true translation, but it does give you some idea!
God is Good - Please continue to pray for Toby's first family in Korea!!
To my surprise and excitement and any other words like that, I had an e-mail that was in Korean!!! I quickly opened it to find that it is a letter from Toby's Foster Mother, I believe. It is in Koean, so I am trying to find someone to translate it right now. I have a few leads that will translate e-mails, so I'm hoping to have it done in the next day or so!
Clearly, from what I could read in the e-mail, she checks our blog and has watched the videos of Toby's arrival home! Tears just flowing, as I am so excited to have some contact with Toby's first mommy! I have never met this woman (or family) but I can tell you that they are amazing people that I admire beyond words! Toby is an amazing kid, and I know that that is due to his upbringing his first 27 months in their home. I pray often that we can meet someday and I can express to her my gratitude!
As you can see, I added a Babelfish translator to our site! I hope that if she continues to view our blog, she will be able to translate it into Korean (any of you can do this, it's kinda fun to see my words in Korean!) and at least get the gist of what I am writing about! This is not a true translation, but it does give you some idea!
God is Good - Please continue to pray for Toby's first family in Korea!!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Toby's New Friend
This evening, Toby and I went to visit with a family that is staying at the ATI for a year. They are from Korea, and have a daughter, Minji, that is only a few months younger than Toby. While they played, I visited with her mom Youngsoon and her father (I feel terrible, I didn't get his name on paper). It was a wonderful time. Toby enjoyed playing with Minji, and "talking" with them. The man said Toby is certainly speaking Korean, but nothing "clear" or able to be understood.
They were able to read the letter that we received from Toby's foster mother. It was so special to hear some of what she wrote. She talked of how much she loved him, and how difficult it was to say good bye. She told me of his favorite foods, and his medical information. As they read through it, they kept saying "ah" and "oh". It was evident that she spoke of Toby fondly. I need to write her a letter in return, letting her know how much I appreciate the love she gave him, and how amazing he has turned out because of her sacrifice as his Foster Mother.
I'm looking forward to our next playdate!! As we left, Minji wanted to leave with us, and Toby gave everyone kisses and hugs! I think he had fun!
God is Good!
They were able to read the letter that we received from Toby's foster mother. It was so special to hear some of what she wrote. She talked of how much she loved him, and how difficult it was to say good bye. She told me of his favorite foods, and his medical information. As they read through it, they kept saying "ah" and "oh". It was evident that she spoke of Toby fondly. I need to write her a letter in return, letting her know how much I appreciate the love she gave him, and how amazing he has turned out because of her sacrifice as his Foster Mother.
I'm looking forward to our next playdate!! As we left, Minji wanted to leave with us, and Toby gave everyone kisses and hugs! I think he had fun!
God is Good!
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