Spring!

It's hard to believe that I took this first picture just one month ago!

Spring is finally here, so the kids have been outside a lot.

















































In case you are wondering what it's like to try to get 5 kids to look decent for a group shot, I updoaded a little video showing what it's like. ha!

I took a bunch of pictures outside, so I'm going to post some more soon!

Crazy Love

Many of you have heard us talk about our friends, Matt and Mandi Yager. Mandi traveled with Chad to China to adopt Mylee from the same orphanage as Ava. They live in the same city as we do and our kids get together to play sometimes. Many of you have also heard that they are in the process to adopt Drew, a 4-year-old little boy from China with multiple special needs.

Well, not many of you have heard this exciting news: Matt and Mandi heard about another need and are stepping out in faith to answer it. They heard about a 13-year-old boy in China who needs a family NOW, before he ages out of the system. When orphans age out of the system in China, they are no longer eligible for adoption, but are left to fend for themselves. We don't like to think about what happens to these "older orphans," but Matt and Mandi CHOSE to think about it and CHOSE to do something about it. That's right; they have decided to bring home this boy along with Drew. China is granting them permission to adopt 2 children at once and are expediting the paperwork to get this done.

The Yagers have a 13-year-old boy already who was the catalyst behind all this. He has always wanted a brother his age and even came up with ideas to get his parents on board (for example, telling them that he'd give up football camp if his parents would use the money to adopt instead). His parents used to say "No way will we adopt a boy that age! It's too scary, too risky; he'd have too many scars, too much baggage." That was before God got a hold of their hearts and revealed His plans for their family. Is it still scary? Yes. Risky? Probably. Crazy? Most definitely. Sometimes love is just like that and sometimes following God's plan sure looks that way. To the Yagers though, they do not have a choice. To them, to NOT follow God's call is the riskier and scarier road to be on. They know this is going to be hard and are not going into this decision naively. But they are choosing LOVE anyway. Amazing? For sure!

Mandi has set up a fund-raising blog to help raise money for the boys' adoption expenses. Please go visit and see what's there. Also, if you are local, please come to the benefit dinner that we (other local Nanjing moms) are holding for the Yagers this Saturday. If you didn't get an email about the dinner, please let me know and I'll get you the details.


In Him,

Tara

Never a dull moment...

Okay, I know I've been a terrible blogger lately, but my 5 little treasures keep me insanely busy, insanely happy, but insanely busy nonetheless. But, at the request of 100's of (really just two) people, I'm going to post an update!

Kate lost 2 of her teeth! Good, right? No, actually it's not good. Kate is 4 years old. She was running up the basement stairs a couple nights ago and tripped and hit her teeth on the step that goes to our kitchen, the step that is wood laminate. When we cleaned up enough blood to assess the damage, we realized that her 2 top teeth were bent in toward the roof of her mouth, with the roots exposed and sticking out! YIKES! Chad and I kind of looked at each other like, "That's not good, is it?" We took her for an emergency dental visit and now she looks like this (good thing they were just baby teeth, right?):




















She looks equally yummy, just different, don't you think? After the initial pain and shock wore off, Kate was really excited to show all her siblings her little teeth (in a tiny container the dentist gave her) and she was even more excited to find $2 in her tooth pillow the next morning! She is so happy to be in the "missing teeth" club like her older sister. Too bad it will probably be 3 years before she gets her new top teeth. Oh, well.


Kate explains it all in her wiggly, silly, 4-year-old way:



Check back soon because more posts are hopefully on the way; my goal is to catch up on my blogging a little...we'll see...

Chad's Latest Project...the Dollhouse

Here is what Chad made the girls for Christmas. He is beyond gifted in woodworking/ cabinetry, and he and Ashton built this together in the garage before Christmas. The girls love it! Ashton kept the secret from the girls, too; they were told that he and Daddy were working on a "cabinet" for someone. The girls never suspected anything.








































Kate and Ava getting ready to make their dolls slide down the roof of the dollhouse:


















There they go!

Merry Christmas 2009

Hope you all had a blessed Christmas.

Love, the Sprunger family
Chad
Tara
Brooke (8)
Ashton (6)
Ava (5)
Kate (4 1/2)
Gabe (1 1/2)

Cute Little Stinker

Just for fun

We had so much fun with the kids putting together these elf videos. The kids worked long and hard on their dance routines, and I made the costumes myself. I may be biased, but I think these are the 5 cutest elves around! Come on, for a 17-month-old, don't you think Gabe did a great job keeping up with his brothers and sisters?


Click Here

Click for one more

And one more

the 4 Grandparents' dance

Chad and I can do it too