Holiday Happenings

We had a great time visiting in New England for the Thanksgiving holiday. The kids had a fun playing with their cousins and the Cohen family has really grown! Now there are seven grandchildren running around and that makes for lots of fun and chaos. We went to the Boston Children's Museum with six kids between the ages of one and seven. It was a great time and we spent over five hours there I believe. It sits right on the Boston Harbor - on a pier. The day we went was the first snowfall of the year (at least for me). It was beautiful looking out the huge glass windows- watching the snow fall over the water. I love Boston! It will forever remind me of the romantic and adventurous days when Eric and I were first dating. Very "Sleepless in Seattle"....

We were able to see many many wonderful friends and relatives while we were there. It is astounding how fast time flies. Friends who we remember when all of us were single and dating now have two and three kids - several in kindergarten and older!!

It is amazing to have friends so close that when you see each other, though it has been 18 months or so almost since we last spoke, it seems that no time has passed.

We will miss Massachusetts very much and will count the days until we can go back again.

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November was National Adoption Month. Our local newspaper ran a nice story about our family and the link is here:

http://www.zwire.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=19062919&BRD=2841&PAG=461&dept_id=611093&rfi=8

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We are now in the full swing of the Hanukkah and Christmas holidays. It is Katie's first Christmas home and there is so much for her to see and experience. We plan to decorate the house and tree soon. The Christmas parade is this Saturday. We will head down to the Silver Dollar City Christmas Celebration later in the month and I've reserved a fun "lunch with Santa" for the kids. Christmas is my favorite time of year. It always brings back so many wonderful memories for me and reminds me of all that is good and wondrous in the world. There is so much hope that this time of year brings. I love the focus on giving. Ryan and I have volunteered for an hour to be bell-ringers for the Salvation Army at a local store. That should be interesting.

A great quote I found that I want to remember:

"Tradition and closeness aren't based on what you do … it's based on what you've already done. It's the memories of giggles and knowing glances. It's the feeling of Christmas that only comes when you can sit in quiet reverie at the end of the day, speaking with your family in hushed tones after the kids are finally asleep, a cup of something warm in your hands—the comfort of something inexpressibly warm in your heart. A moment that will sit in your mind among the thousand memories of comfort and quiet joy that mingle together to form family, love and Christmas."
Whitney Scott

Carthage, Missouri

Six Months Ago Today....

I was sitting in a hot, little room in China with my heart pounding out of my chest so that it was hard to catch my breath. First we saw little Dylan with her crazy hair extensions and amazing dimples. Then more tears of joy as the next family became complete when sweet Sara was placed in their arms forever. Then at the door, holding her ayi's hand...the face I had waited to see for so long. In her fluorescent green and white shirt with a bright blue and purple plaid jumper, she stared at me with very big, somber eyes. (Though she went to me right away and cried very little, it is hard to imagine that that child is the wild kid bouncing on my bed this morning, wielding a cast on her left arm bigger than she is, almost.) Moments after, we all met angel Jenny for the first time - frightened and trying so hard to be brave. My heart broke that they had to suffer the trauma of leaving everything they had ever known to go with strangers that looked, smelled, acted so new and different. Yet what joy in being present at the formation of four new families that will offer these children the one thing in life that will mean the most - love forever.

CONGRATULATIONS to the three families we traveled with - we love you and you will be in our hearts always.

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Now, a special...

WELCOME to Zachary Michael Cohen (not sure of the spelling exactly) who has just become the newest member of the Cohen family!!! Congratulations Jon and Elyse, Ben, Josh, and Samantha!!

We love you very much and can't wait to see you.

Lori, Eric, Ryan, Alex and Katie Huihui

Post-Surgery

Katie did very well with her surgery on Nov. 2nd. The hospital let me go with her all the way into the OR and they used an inhaled gas to sedate her before they put in an IV and did the formal anesthesia. The surgeon and staff were wonderful. I was called into the recovery room almost immediately and I got to sit and hold and rock her right away. She was grumpy and sleepy at first but after the anesthesia really wore off - she has done wonderfully! She doesn't even act like her huge, bulky cast is there. She takes it all in stride and is playing and almost back to her normal self. She was a bit more clingy than usual yesterday but that was all. We have a follow up visit Nov. 12 and they will take the cast off then. We can expect some sort of cast or splint for 4 - 6 weeks. The surgeon said there is a slight possibility she will need another surgery again in the future but hopefully, this is it.

The kids had lots of fun on Halloween. We took them to Spooktacular at the Zoo with Aunt Christy on the 26th. Then out trick-or-treating at our church party then in our neighborhood on the 31st. We all really enjoyed it and Katie never batted an eyelash. She had no fear at all of ghosts or ghouls or anything. She was really digging the candy thing - hold out the pumpkin and people put stuff in there! She looked at me a few times and just grinned. Alex initially picked out a Pablo (Backyardigans) costume this year. He wore it to Spooktacular but on Halloween night decided he wanted to be James the Red Engine - Ryan's costume. After some fast-talking, I talked him into wearing the Thomas the Tank Engine costume that was Ryan's last year. He was thrilled. Katie was a ladybug. She liked her little costume but the wings were a little cumbersome.

Thanks for all the good thoughts and prayers!

Love,
the Cohens

Update

Due to Eric's illness, Katie's surgery was postponed in Sept. We have now rescheduled her surgery with an excellent local physician. She'll have outpatient surgery on Fri. Nov 2nd at Cox South hospital in Springfield. I REALLY like her surgeon and I've worked with him for several years now. She will have to be in a cast/splint for six weeks after her surgery.

Love,
Lori for the Cohen family

Poem

I found this yesterday and I have been so moved by it. I have long loved Maya Angelou, as so many have, and she has so perfectly described my feelings about my faith in this poem.

Christians - By Maya Angelou

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting, "I'm clean livin'."
I'm whispering "I was lost,
Now I'm found and forgiven."

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
And need His strength to carry on.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace, somehow!


Quote of the Day: "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Nelson Mandela

Refrigerator Contest

Ryan came to me all distraught on Friday morning. "Mama, something terrible is happening."

I'm thinking his brother has stuck one of his Thomas Trains down his pants again, but he elaborates. "The My Refrigerator Contest on SproutOnline.com is over on October 15th!!!"

He is upset because he wants to enter this contest - he promptly spouts off all the rules and the possible prize of a computer being delivered to our house by a "special sprout friend" who he is convinced is Barney. Now I'm not sure Eric could handle it if Barney ever visited our house, as his dislike for this giant purple dinosaur is surpassed only his hatred of the Wiggles and Teletubbies/Boobah.

(I can't conceive that any of our friends or relations reading this would not know who these vital cultural icons of the toddler/preschool world are, but the "Sprout" television channel is PBS' kids channel that offers 24-7 kids TV. We only let the kids watch Sprout, Nick Jr. and Noggin and they watch WAY too much TV. We are trying to remedy this and to some degree, it is getting better.)

To continue the story, we brainstorm about ideas and I printed out a bunch of coloring pages from the website at work on Fri. am. Ryan spent all day coloring - with Katie and Alex's help.

Then I was up until late last night getting everything else cut out and assembled so that, this morning, we have created and submitted our masterpiece for the contest. I'm warning Ryan not to get too excited, that the chances of our winning are not too good. But, at least, disaster has been averted for now and he had a good time entering the contest.

Now if only I can get some sleep....

A Day Out With Thomas

The whole family trekked down to Oklahoma City on Saturday morning for A Day Out With Thomas. We had a train ride on Thomas and there were kids activities and photos with Sir Topamhat. It was a bit hot - but the kids loved it. They all got tattoos and balloon animals.
Then we went swimming at the hotel pool that night.

Sunday morning we went to the Oklahoma City Zoo. Katie loved the elephants. Alex most loved the playground and the new pink umbrella stroller we bought. He wanted to stay in it all day and refused to let Katie sit in it. She didn't seem to care much so we mostly avoided major squabbling. Ryan loved the cheetahs (he was fascinated by the fact that they are the fastest land animals - "you're kidding!" he said when I told him.) Then he started making up "poems" about each of the animals we saw. Mostly these were long monologues about whatever popped into his head at that given moment. This was all fine until Eric started making up poems about the animals and some un-called for comparisons were made between Mama and the pygmy hippopotamus.

I was fascinated by the gorillas - there were quite a lot of them in separated areas - two big silverback males and two babies. They were stunning and I could have watched them for hours.

The kids were really good on the 4.5 hour drive home and napped for awhile. I do think if I never see another episode of "The Wonder Pets" ever in my life it will be too soon.

Monday morning Eric took all three of the kids to school. Ryan said to him, "Hey Daddy, remember when we went to the zoo? It seems like it was just yesterday...."