Baby Abbi

Summer up-date

2009-08-13T20:01:00.000-07:00

Ethan took a Mask making class for a week this summer.

Princess Abbi fishing, notice the jewels.

Abbi loves to throw rocks in the water, brother joined her. This doesn't make for very good fishing.

4TH of July Isom family reunion.

I thought it was time to up-date the blog on some of our summer adventure. I can't believe how fast this summer has gone by.

Happy Mothers Day

2009-05-16T17:11:00.000-07:00

After

Before

This is a check off on my Bucket list. I have always wanted a tattoo, so I finally found the design I loved and Sean made the appointment and gave it to me for Mothers Day.

The design is a combination of Ethan and Abbi's names. The Bass cleff is for Ethan, because Ethan was a musician in the old testament of the Bible and the Flower is for Abbi's chinese name You Fong Fong meaning beautiful flower. The pictures are hard to see all the color it is a little bloody. I will send another picture when it heals up. It did not hurt that bad at all. The worst part was the dots.

Pretty, Pretty Princess

2009-02-07T18:44:00.000-08:00

Abbi's 4th Birthday

2009-02-07T18:36:00.000-08:00

Sean & Ethan at U of O game Saturday

2008-11-17T13:09:00.000-08:00

We are back.

2008-11-04T20:14:00.000-08:00

We have had several people ask us to start blogging again. We had a busy Summer of visiting with family and friends. Abbi is getting big, she is really tall for only being 31/2. She had surgery on her teeth on Halloween day, but that didn't stop her from trick or treating. Ethan is getting bigger everyday. We can't believe he is a 3rd grader already. I have added some pictures from our yearly Apple Trip to Hood River.

Disneyland 2007

2007-05-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

Disneyland 2007

2007-05-07T13:14:00.000-07:00

Disneyland 2007

2007-05-07T13:09:00.000-07:00

Disneyland 2007

2007-05-07T13:05:00.000-07:00

Disneyland 2007

2007-05-07T13:02:00.000-07:00

Disneyland 2007

2007-05-07T12:59:00.000-07:00

Disneyland

2007-05-07T12:51:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Wow ! We have been home form China for 5 months now. Abbi is doing great and fitting right into the family. We have been very busy with work , sports and even a trip to Disneyland. This was a big surprise for Ethan we managed to keep it a secret until the morning we left. Ethan was very surprised and had a smile from ear to ear for 5 days. Ethan has been such a Great Big Brother we wanted to do something special for him. Ethan had a great time in Disneyland and loved Space Mountain. Abbi had a great time also and loved the rides that went fast and spun around. We had a great time it was so much fun watching our kids have so much fun. Enjoy the pictures !
Love, Jen

This Morning

2007-04-03T11:27:00.000-07:00

Birthday Fun

2007-04-03T11:23:00.000-07:00

Fun At A Friends Birthday Party

2007-04-03T11:16:00.000-07:00

WOW ! It's April Already

2007-04-03T11:04:00.000-07:00

WOW ! I can't believe it's April already. I have been back to work for just over a month now and I think we are starting to settle into a routine. Abbi had a couple of really bad colds with high fevers and a bad cough. See seems to be feeling much better this week. Abbi really likes her Preschool and has a lot of fun. We are enjoying a beautiful spring in Central Oregon this year, Abbi loves to play outside.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR

2007-02-19T13:31:00.000-08:00

It is the year of the Golden Pig and is considered to be a very lucky year. We are feeling very lucky and blessed to have two wonderful children and to finally have Abbi home with us. We celebrated the start of Chinese New Year with a Chinese dinner and the kids received their Red Envelopes with lucky money in them. We found some fun pajamas with pigs on them for Abbi. She can make a noise that sounds like a pig, so she thought it was great to run around making pig noises with her PJ's on.

Day at the Park

2007-02-19T13:28:00.000-08:00

Day at the Park

2007-02-19T13:22:00.000-08:00

More Birthday Pictures

2007-02-14T14:33:00.000-08:00

Abbi's 2nd Birthday

2007-02-14T14:21:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Sorry it has been awhile since our last blog. We have been settling in at home and staying busy. We went to Tigard last week for Doctors appointments and Abbi's birthday. Abbi had her Doctors appointment for her cleft lip, everything looks great. She will be followed by a team every 6 months to make sue she continues to do well. She did have a lot of fluid behind her ear drum that wasn't allowing her to hear very well. The Doctor was able to fit her into his schedule last Friday for ear tube's. We can already tell that she is hearing better and speaking more clearly. Here are some Birthday pictures.

Swimming

2007-01-18T13:34:00.000-08:00

Abbi started swim lessions this week, she loves the water. Today she went down the little water slid and did not want to stop.

Pictures of Ethan & Abbi

2007-01-18T13:24:00.000-08:00

This necklace was given to Abbi by her Foster Family in China.

Princess Abbi

2007-01-10T09:36:00.000-08:00

Ethan & Abbi

2007-01-10T09:30:00.000-08:00

Sean went to check on Ethan & Abbi the other night and this is what he found. What a Great big brother!

Abbi helps take Ethan to school every morning. Today she decided that she needed her backpack also.

ONE MONTH TODAY !!!

2007-01-03T19:33:00.000-08:00

Snack Time
SUPER STAR

WOW !! Abbi has been apart of our family for a month already. This time has gone bye really fast, but it feels as Abbi has always been a part of our family. Abbi is doing great and is learning new words everyday.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2006-12-29T09:48:00.000-08:00

Christmas Pictures

2006-12-29T09:34:00.000-08:00

We have now been home for two weeks and things are going really well. Abbi is now on our time zone and sleeping most of the night. She had her first Doctors apt. last week and everything looks great. We will be going to OHSU in Feb. to see a specialist about her cleft lip, no concerns just having it checked. We had a GREAT Christmas, Abbi had fun opening her presents. Like most 2 year olds she liked the boxes and bags the most. Have a Happy New Year !!!

Christmas Eve

2006-12-24T14:32:00.000-08:00

Grandma, Ethan & Abbi playing ball
Abbi's not to sure about Santa
Santa & Ethan

It's Christmas Eve and Grandma & Pa are visiting for Christmas. We had breakfast with Santa yesterday out at Sunriver and Abbi met everyone at Church today. Abbi is adjusting very well and is warming up to everyone. I was able to leave her with Daddy yesterday without any tears. I will post Abbi's first Christmas pictures tomorrow. Have a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !!

First week at home

2006-12-24T14:28:00.000-08:00

Abbi feel asleep watching Charlie Brown's Christmas Special

First week at Home

2006-12-24T14:13:00.000-08:00

Playing with Ethan
Abbi found her spot on the couch her first night home.

We made it home

2006-12-24T13:58:00.000-08:00

Abbi checking out her Big Brother

You are probably thinking we got lost. We made it home safe and sound after a very bumpy plane ride home. We came home the morning of the big storm in Portland Dec. 14th. The only good thing was our plane ride was a lot faster thanks to the wind. We arrived in Portland about 45min. early we had to wait on the plane for customs to open at the airport. I didn't care I was just glad to be on the ground. Abbi did great on the plane she slept and played most of the way. We had several family members meet us at the airport it was great to see everyone. We stayed in Tigard fro a couple of days so friends and family could visit Abbi and then we headed back to Bend last Sunday. It good to be home! We have had some internet problems and a crazy week getting adjusted to a little one in the house again. She is just now starting to get on our time zone, Abbi and I have been keeping some crazy sleeping hours this last week. Abbi has been wanting a bath and breakfast at 2:00am.

Last Day in China

2006-12-13T07:24:00.000-08:00

Abbi listening to Dad's MP3 player

It's 11:30pm and we just finished packing. We leave for the airport at 5:30am China time on Thursday Dec. 14th and arrive in Portland at 6:55am on Thursday Dec. 14th if only the flight was really that short. Well, today was an emotional day we took our oath at the America Consulate today Abbi now has her Visa and will be an American Citizien as soon as we land in Portland. We also said goodbye to all of our new friends tonight. We had one last dinner together at Lucy's and then headed back to the Hotel to start packing. Please pray that we have a good safe flight home.
Love,
Sean Jen & Abbi

Farewell Dinner

2006-12-12T04:38:00.000-08:00

Playing in the Hall

2006-12-12T04:30:00.000-08:00

Our CHI Coordinators took our paperwork to the Consulate this morning, so we all had to stay in our homes for an hour just in case they need to ask any questions. Our rooms are all really close together so we played in the hallway.

Red Couch Picture Day

2006-12-12T04:06:00.000-08:00

Today we spent alot of time with our new friends in our group, we have all grown close after sharing this adventure together. We had Group photo's today and a farewell dinner tonight hosted by CHI. Tomorrow will be our last day in China, we will have a free day in the morning and then we will all go to the Consulate to give our Oath and get Abbi's visa. It will be sad to leave all our friends and China, but we are very excited to come home.

Night Cruise

2006-12-11T05:47:00.000-08:00

Cute as a Bug

2006-12-11T05:44:00.000-08:00

Medical Exam

2006-12-11T05:41:00.000-08:00

Medical exam

2006-12-11T05:38:00.000-08:00

Medical Exam Day

2006-12-11T05:22:00.000-08:00

We had another very busy day in Guangzhou. Abbi had her medical exam this morning she is very healthy and a big girl the Doctors said. Abbi weighs 33 pounds and every thing else looks really good. They also told us that her cleft lip and palete were both repaired and look really good. We did some more shopping and then a dinner cruise on the Pearl River. Hopefully we will get to sleep in tomorrow. Good Night from China.

Ethan,
Only 3 more sleeps until we are home !!!

Abbi at Bedtime

2006-12-10T06:26:00.000-08:00

Does she look ready for bed?

She discovered the BBQ chips tonight and loved them. Abbi has on her new squeeky shoes and wanted to wear them to bed (just like her Mom used to do). All the baby's in china have squeeky shoe's. They have squeekers in them, just like the one's you find in dog toys. They squeek when Abbi walks in them.

Abbi and Daddy at Park

2006-12-10T06:24:00.000-08:00

Abbi at Park

2006-12-10T06:19:00.000-08:00

Abbi at Park

2006-12-10T06:17:00.000-08:00

Abbi at Lucy's

2006-12-10T06:08:00.000-08:00

Pearl & Jade Market Place

2006-12-10T06:00:00.000-08:00

Abbi

2006-12-10T05:55:00.000-08:00

Abbi discovered drinkable yogurt at breakfast

First Full Day in Guangzhou

2006-12-10T05:38:00.000-08:00

Wow, What a busy day! We started our morning with a wonderful breakfast it was great to have eggs, toast, coffee and OJ this morning. For the last 7 days we had been eating noodles and rice and orange Hi-C. When then met our group from CHI to get Visa pictures taken of the children. It was great to see everyone with their new baby's. We then went to the pearl and jade market place what an adventure, It was crazy!!! We were exhausted after shopping, so we headed back to the White swan and went to Lucy's for a late lunch. Abbi was ready to run after being in her stroller most of the morning, so we took her to a park. We then went shopping on the island some more, it is fun to look in all the local shops and try to bargain. Finally we headed to the room had a lite dinner in the room and Abbi is now asleep. We are up early tomorrow for Abbi's medical appointment and a dinner cruise on the Pearl River.
GOOD NIGHT FROM CHINA !! Love Sean, Jen And Abbi

Abbi's first plane ride

2006-12-10T05:30:00.000-08:00

guanzhou

2006-12-09T06:11:00.000-08:00

We have made to our final city in China!! We are staying at the White Swan Hotel. It will take a week just to find our way around the place. We finally have air conditioning and it is 50 degrees outside. Our hotel room in Fujian was 80 degrees inside. We traveled all day today and Abbi had her first air plane ride. All went well until we started the descent and Abbi needed to go potty. She cried for a few minutes then went to sleep. We have big shopping trip planned tomarow so Sherpa/photographer/baba/ gopher and husband must get some sleep. talk to you soon. Sean

Merry Christmas

2006-12-08T14:53:00.000-08:00

Waiting for Mom

2006-12-08T14:49:00.000-08:00

Abbi waiting for Mom to get out of the Shower and eating Cheerio's

Min River

2006-12-08T14:43:00.000-08:00

Man fishing with nets.
This is a very famous river in China, the upper class live along the river. This building is a Club, maybe like a county club in the U.S.

Shopping

2006-12-08T14:38:00.000-08:00

Men fishing for fun. This would be like a trout pond at home only they don't get to keep the fish.

We are off to Guangzhou Today

2006-12-08T14:25:00.000-08:00

Good Morning ! We are off to Guangzhou today our plane leaves at 2:30pm and we have about an hour ride to the airport. We are excited to see the White Swan hotel and Starbucks ! Yesterday we did some shopping and went to the police station to get Abbi's passport. We now have all the official paperwork that say's Abbi is ours. We will have Abbi's medical appointment in Guangzhou and will receive her Visa there.

Shopping

2006-12-07T15:20:00.000-08:00

Shopping for books.
African dolls at a junk store
Shops, shops and more shops. Not very many pictures. The photographer/sherpa was tired from the wedding ceromonies.

Park

2006-12-07T15:15:00.000-08:00

Wedding Day

2006-12-07T15:00:00.000-08:00

Good Morning from Fujian it 7:00am and this is our last day in Fujian. Today we will go to the police station to get Abbi's possport and do some more shopping (Sean's favorite). Yesterday we went to a Park to see some traditional Chinese dances and ceremonies from different regions of China. Sean was married again today at a wedding ceremoney for only $10.00.

2006-12-06T15:34:00.000-08:00

There are stone lions that guard all entrances.

2006-12-06T15:26:00.000-08:00

We wanted to tell a bit more about the panda zoo. While we were there a group of school kids came for a field trip. We were a bigger attraction than the pandas. The kids all practiced their H and G's (hello and good byes) There were probably 150 kids and all very well behaved and organized.

2006-12-06T15:22:00.000-08:00

This is "The Look" most are friendly but we get our fair share of "The Look".

2006-12-06T15:16:00.000-08:00

You can see kids riding on the back of scooters and bikes some as young as Abbi w/o helmets

Mama's big helper

2006-12-06T15:10:00.000-08:00

Abbi likes to help Mom Blog in the mornings

West Lake Park

2006-12-06T15:05:00.000-08:00

West Lake Park

2006-12-06T14:56:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we visited West Lake Park in Fujian It was beautiful. Fujian is very tropical lots of flowers and trees. It was about 75 here yesterday perfect weather. We are getting a feel for what it must be like to be famous. We get lots of looks every where we go and special treatment sometimes also. Today at the park if we stopped to look at something we would turn around and 30 people would be stopped watching us and talking about us.

Santa In China

2006-12-05T16:39:00.000-08:00

Taxi Ride

2006-12-05T16:37:00.000-08:00

Daddy gets some snuggle time on taxi ride to zoo.

PLAY TIME

2006-12-05T16:33:00.000-08:00

PLAY TIME WITH DADDY

2006-12-05T16:24:00.000-08:00

Panda Zoo

2006-12-05T16:19:00.000-08:00

2006-12-05T16:02:00.000-08:00

Good Morning on Wednesday Dec. 6th. It's 8:00am China time and we are getting ready for some sight seeing today. Abbi slept great last night, so did Mom & Dad. Yesterday we vsited the Panda Zoo it was very interesting and fun to see Panda's up so close. We also did some shopping and had lunch at McDonalds. The Burgers at McDonalds in China are far better then the burgers in the USA. I don't think I will be able to post pictures this morning, but will try later.
Love, Sean, Jen & Abbi

2006-12-04T15:57:00.000-08:00

Computer Frustration !! Abbi with her new hat on.

Pictures

2006-12-04T15:55:00.000-08:00

Being Silly

Pictures of Abbi

2006-12-04T15:47:00.000-08:00

A Little Smile

Tuesday Morning

2006-12-04T15:32:00.000-08:00

Good Morning from Fujian !! It's 7:30am and we had along night Abbi had a tummy ache to many new foods yesterday I think. She is still sleeping, so we are taking this time to get re-organized and ready for another day. We went to a big shopping center last night, it was pretty amazing and overwhelming to walk along the streets here. We have some more shopping planned for today. We also went to wall-Mart yesterday, it was 3 stories tall and had escalators that you put your shopping cart on to go from floor to floor. Abbi has been a joy she is very happy and loves to play. We are starting to see more smiles from her. We have been having some problems with the internet here, but we will post as often as possible.

Love ,
Sean, Jen & Abbi

P.S. Hi Ethan,
Abbi loves to look at your picture, we are very excited for you to meet her. We love and miss you bunches. Mommy & Daddy

Top of The Great Wall

2006-12-04T15:25:00.000-08:00

At the top of the Great wall

Great Wall

2006-12-04T15:20:00.000-08:00

The Great Wall is amazing!! The Hike up all the stairs was worth it.

Pictures

2006-12-04T15:13:00.000-08:00

Waiting for Abbi to offically be ours. This was a long morning of waiting and Abbi was a very busy girl. She is holding the photo book of family pictures, she love to look at it an was showing it to everyone. The lady in this picture is our coordinator Lina she is wonderful !!!

Pictures

2006-12-04T15:10:00.000-08:00

Monday Morning before paperwork appointment

Pictures

2006-12-04T15:07:00.000-08:00

Gotcha Day

Gotcha day and the dat after.

2006-12-04T03:50:00.000-08:00

We were allowed to get Abbi a day earlier than we expected. Abbi was not as excited to see us as we were to see her. After about two very long hours of screaming fit she fell asleep. When she woke up she realized she was stuck with us and it has been fairly smooth sailing since. She won't let Mom out of sight and is slowly warming up to Dad. Today the paper work is done and she is officially now Ethan's little sister.
Fujian is a crazy city with the craziest driving I have ever seen. It is a free for all and not for the faint of heart. Will do some sight seeing the next few days and will try to go to the Panda zoo later this week .
This morning the electric company shut the power of to the entire block including the hotel we were told that they would run on back up power. What they didn't say was that this only lit the emergency exit signs. 6:00 am and we had to climb down 12 flights of stairs.
We are having a hard time getting onto the internet and when we do it is very slow so we will try to send a post then another with just pictures.

WE ARE HERE!!!!!

2006-12-02T03:44:00.000-08:00

It is 7:50 pm and we are exhausted. We arrived at our hotel at midnight last night and could hardly sleep. We went to Tianamen square and hiked up the great wall of China. Tomarrow we fly to Fujian and we will get Ethan's sister in the afternoon.

;

We Leave in the Morning !!!

2006-11-29T22:13:00.000-08:00

It's 10:15pm and we leave for China at 12:10pm tomorrow afternoon. The weather is calling for freezing rain so we thought it best to stay the night at a Hotel out at the Airport. We are very excited and probably won't get much sleep tonight. It's hard to believe that this day is finally here. Our next post will be from China !!!
Love,
Sean & Jen

Snowy Drive

2006-11-29T22:02:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of Detroit Lake in the Winter

We had a long snowy drive to Tigard on Tuesday Morning, but we made it safely.

Our bags are packed and we're ready to go!

2006-11-27T19:47:00.000-08:00

We finished packing tonight and we are ready to leave for Portland tomorrow morning. The weather has been snowy and Icy both in Bend and Portland, so please pray that we have a safe journey.

Abbi's Room

2006-11-27T19:39:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of Abbi's room. We put the final touches on it this weekend. The ladybug picture above the dresser is one that Ethan drew for Abbi just a couple days after we received our log in date in March. The green chair was my Grandmothers and has lots of memories.

Travel Itinerary

2006-11-25T15:41:00.000-08:00

Travel Itinerary

Nov. 28th We drive to Tigard to get Ethan settled in with Pa and Grandma

Nov. 29th Free day to finish some Christmas shopping before we leave.

Nov. 30th Leave for China at 12:10pm.

We fly from Portland to Tokyo (11hrs.) and then from Tokyo to Beijing (4hrs. 15min.)

Dec. 1st Arrive in Beijing at 9:15pm (China Time)

Dec. 2nd Sightseeing in Beijing: TianAnMen Square, Forbidden City & The Great Wall.

Dec. 3rd Fly to Fuzhou at 8:30am. Arrive in Fuzhou at 11:00am

Dec. 4th GOTCHA DAY! We will meet Abbi sometime in the morning.

Dec. 5th Registration and Notary appointment

Dec. 6th Sightseeing: West Lake Park

Dec. 7th Free Day

Dec. 8th Get Abbi's passport and all paperwork back and complete paperwork for ACS (Consulate)

Dec. 9th Fly to Guangzhou at 2:50pm. Arrive in Guangzhou at 4:15pm

Dec.10th Free Day

Dec. 11th Medical appointment

Dec. 12th ACS appointment and Farewell Dinner

Dec. 13th Go to ACS to take oath and get visa late in the afternoon.

Dec. 14th Fly back to Portland at 8:30am (China Time)

Dec. 14th Arrive at PDX at 6:55am (Portland Time)

Paper Chain Count Down

2006-11-12T19:07:00.000-08:00

We started a paper chain count down, so Ethan can keep track of what we are doing from now until we get off the plane in Portland on Dec. 14th. Ethan is very excited to pull off a link every morning on the chain. We only have 32 days left until Abbi is home.

We received our passports with our visas stamped in them on Friday. That was the last of the paperwork until we get to China and then we have packets of paperwork to complete over there. We should receive our official itinerary of our inside China travel sometime this next week.

We are having our first big snow storm of the season tonight.

Love,

Sean, Jen and Ethan

WE GOT THE CALL !!

2006-10-30T12:41:00.000-08:00

WE GOT THE CALL THIS MORNING !!!

We are so excited! It has been a long 93 days.

It looks like we will receive a Consulate appointment for Dec. 12th or 13th, so they plan for us to leave on Nov. 30th. We will up date when we have more detailed information.

Love

Sean, Jen & Ethan

Abbi

2006-09-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

This was the very first picture we saw of Abbi, Sean called her Grumpy Guts.

Chinese Name: You Fang Fang

Birthday: Feb. 5, 2005

Province: Fuzhou

City:Fujian

Abbi was two months old when she was left at the gates of the children's Welfare Institute of Fuzhou city. The local police tried to locate her birth family but none where found. Abbi had a cleft lip and possible cleft palate. Her cleft lip was repaired in August of 2005, we are unsure if she has a cleft palate or not. We will not know until we go to China.

Abbi's favorite foods are Apples, Rice & Meat. Her favorite things to do are play hide-and-seek and listen to music.

We received some up-dated information on 8/3/06:

Height: 29 inches

Weight: 26 pounds

Feet : 4.5 inches

7 upper teeth and 5 lower Teeth

Time Line

2006-09-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

Time Line:

Sept. 2005: Sean and I attended an informational meeting with children's Hope International and turned in our application. (The Adventure Begins!)

Sept. 28th: Our application was accepted by CHI.

Oct. 5th: Adoption Agreement Signed

Nov. 8th: I-600A Form sent to Immigration Services

Nov. 18th: Homestudy Completed

Dec. 15th: Finger Printing at immigration services in Portland.

Jan. 10, 2006: I-171H Form received today. This gives us permission to adopt an orphan.

Jan. 18th: Trip to Salem to have all our paperwork Certified by the State. (above pictures)

Jan. 21st: Paperwork to San Francisco to be Authenticated by the Consulate for the Peoples Republic of China.

Feb. 16th: Paperwork sent to CHI in St. Louis to be reviewed and translated.

Feb. 24th: DATE TO CHINA Yippee!!!

March 22nd: Paperwork was Logged in with the CCAA in China (Log in Date) Now the wait really begins.

July 14th: We found You Fang Fang (Abbi) on CHI's waiting children's list. We asked to review her paperwork and medical information.

July 18th: Called Pam at CHI and told her that You Fang Fang had found her forever family.

July 28th: Letter of Intent was sent to China now the wait begins for Abbi.

The normal wait time for Travel Approval is 2-4 months we are getting really close. Our hope is to have Abbi home for Christmas.

2006-09-24T19:31:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Our Journey to Abbi

We have created this blog to allow family and friends to follow us in our journey to bring Abbi home to her forever family. Please continue to pray for us as we are getting closer to bringing Abbi home. We are so excited to share her with all of you.
Love,
Sean, Jen & Ethan