Day 3-Kennedy Space Center

Our third day in Florida was spent touring Kennedy Space Center and that evening we visited the beach. Yes, it was after the sun had set. That in itself is its own story. So we were at the beach in the dark searching for sea shells when we came upon this crab. Alan caught it for us to all get a better look. Sure is a cute looking thing!

Disney Day 2-A Day At The Pool

Here the kids are participating in hermit crab races.


Here are some photos of our 2nd day in Florida. Alan and Chris spent the day at Disney Quest and had a fun father/son day. The kids and I spent the day at the pool. It was great. They resort had a lot of kid friendly activities going on that day that the kids loved participating in poolside. It was funny though...the entire day Christmas music played at the pool. It's so hard to get in the spirit of the holidays when it is 80 degrees outside, your soaking up the rays and you hear "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...".

Day 1 at Disney World-Animal Kingdom

Here are some pictures from the first day of our trip to Florida. These were all taken at Animal Kingdom. More to follow.

We're Still Among The Living

Chris, Clay, Jay and Sophia are "powered up" to go trick-or-treating.
Chris, Jay, Sophia and Clay celebrating Jay's birthday.
My dear friend, Brenda with Jay at his birthday party. Believe it or not, we ate that whole pizza. It took about 25 of us to conquer it.
Jay with all of his party hats!


So sorry that I haven't blogged in such a long time. Life has been a bit crazy. I'm sure that most of you can relate. We've been busy with a Halloween, Jay's birthday, our vacation to Florida, and Thanksgiving. Whew! It wears me out just typing it.



Our family has been doing great. Jay is adjusting well. It is hard to believe that it has only been a little over two months since we were in Liberia meeting him for the first time. He is a fantastic kid who is learning so much in such a short time. School is tough for him, but he is getting it and his school has been so good to work with him where he is at.

Chris, Clay and Sophia are adjusting too. There are times when parenting them all is more challenging than the norm. To be honest with you, I don't really remember what the "norm" is. Our family is continually evolving, growing and changing and as difficult as it is at times, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Last night I was looking through some old papers that I had filed away and I came across something that I had written several years ago. It was my long term goal as a mother. My goal reads: "My long term goal as a mother is to help my children grow into adults who are self-sacrificing, respectful, mature, loving and confident servants of God and others." I realize that I have around eighteen years to invest in each of my children. That is a long long term goal. I also realize that I may not see results that closely follow the effort I have put forth. I may be pursuing a result that I will only see decades from now, so that is why it is so important that I not lose sight of my extremely important goal. I truly believe that it was a God thing that I found what I had written years before. I needed to be reminded of my necessity in the lives of my children and the influence that I have as I mold and shape the next generation. I think I'll frame that goal and hang it where I will read it every day. If you are a mom and you are reading this, know that you are valued and that the impact you have on your children and family will greatly impact the generations to come.

Family Fun!!

Jay and Chris on Jay's first day of school.
Jay and Sophia swinging in a hammock that we purchased in Liberia. It's been the best souvenir that we brought home from Africa.
Sophia, Daddy, and Jay carving pumpkins.
Clayton with his masterpiece.
Jay in his shades. How cool is he!?!

Things are going well but busy. Jay is doing well in school. He is learning new words daily. His melt downs are not as frequent and when they do happen they are much easier to deal with. Sophia has been struggling with some jealousy issues, but were working on that too. This whole process is a "learn as you go" journey. It seems like I just get something figured out, and something new is thrown at me. Right now my motto is "one day at at time". Some days it's "one hour at a time". The biggest adjustment for me has been remembering everything. I'm having a difficult time keeping doctor's appointments, dentist appointments, and all of our school activities straight. And that is with them all being written down. I'm usually on top of all of that.

The kids are looking forward to going trick or treating tomorrow night. Chris is Darth Vader, Jay is Buzz Lightyear, Clay is a red Power Ranger, and Sophia is a pink Power Ranger. The weather here is going to be nice, so it should be a fun sugar filled evening.

Jay's birthday is Thursday. We are going to have a party on Saturday evening. He has a couple of big days ahead of him. Speaking of big days, in 9 days we are leaving on a much needed family trip to Florida to see our good friend Mickey Mouse and his pals. The kids are over the top excited about this trip. Jay has no idea what is in store for him at Disney World. We're doing our best to prepare him. I've even contacted Disney about Jay and have put in a request for "something special" for him. My contact told me that they would see what they could do. I have no idea what it will be, so I guess we will all be surprised!

The Doctor, The Dentist and Bikes...Oh My!

Here is the latest from the Kettelkamp's. Jay is adjusting well considering all that he's had to adjust to. I try to put myself in his place and imagine what it would feel like to be a seven year old and have my world completely turned upside down, and I can't. Everything and everyone is new to him. He is a tough boy and when that toughness wears out he lets down. Every couple of days he will shut down or get terribly sad or mad and have a good cry, then he'll feel better. We are learning his triggers and can try to be proactive when those moments hit him.

He is quite affectionate. He loves giving hugs, hand holding, and back rubs. Go figure! :o) I've had the honor of hearing "I love you" twice from him. Considering the fact that daddy is gone during the week, he and Jay are close. He loves to watch llini football with him. It is so funny to hear him yell at the T.V. just like daddy. I need to get it on video.

He has had his first trip to the pediatrician. That went well. He had a very bad bilateral ear infection which was treated with an antibiotic. We started his immunizations and he had some blood work done and stool and urine tests done. With the exception of some liver and pancreas levels off a bit because of malnutrition, everything else came back fine

He has been to the dentist three times in the last three weeks. His teeth were really bad. He had to have two cleanings and a root canal. When I took him for the root canal, I tried to explain as best as I could what was going to happen. When we arrived at the appointment he was as happy as he could be. When he came out into the waiting room after it was over, he looked at me as if to say, "What in the world did you just have done to me?" Poor little guy handled it great though. Better than I would have. He did have major decay and infection in that tooth so he is back on antibiotics again and we go back to the dentist again next week for a permanent filling.

He and his brothers and sister are getting along great. He has really latched on to Christopher and Chris is so good with him and very patient. He and Clay love to play together with Bear. Jay and Sophia are best friends one minute and worst enemies the next. It's like they've been siblings since the beginning.

Jay loves to be outside and his favorite place to be is on his bike. He is currently riding with training wheels, but I think we will be able to take them off soon. He quickly learned how far he could ride before he needed to turn around and for the most part he remembers to stay out of the street. Last week while we were at the park with some friends, Jay saw all of the bikes lined up in the bike racks and immediately ran over to them to pick one and ride. It took a little convincing on Chris' part to let him know that those bikes were not for us to ride. They belonged to other people who probably wouldn't be too happy with us for taking them.

Jay started school today. He has a wonderful first grade teacher with two adult helpers in the classroom. He will be pulled out of the classroom for language and other academic help. Everyone at the school is very kind and helpful. We are praying that the whole school experience is a good one for him.

Jay is such a blessing to our family. He just seems to fit. It is like he has been a part of us forever. I can't say enough that, even though the wait was long and difficult at times how it was so worth it.

Our visit to the orphanage

Preparing greens for dinner in the orphanage kitchen.
The orphanage laundry room. No Maytag's or Kenmore's here. It's all done by hand.
This is where Jay ate his meals.
This is the bunk where Jay slept.
The wall in one of the boys rooms in the big kid orphanage.
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Our visit to the orphanage was wonderful. The kids are all amazing. They sang and danced for us. Those drummers were fantastic. They shared bible stories and verses from memory. Jay was able to hand out candy to everyone. He had a fun time. I was sad for him that day knowing that many of the friends that he had made during his time in the orphanage, he would never see again. I was glad that he had the opportunity to tell them good bye and I will keep my promise to him to find out where some of his friends will be living here in the states so we can get together with them on occasion. What a connection and a history those kids all have and how wonderful it will be that they can still have relationships into the adulthood. I think that that would be a precious gift that we can give our son.

Lunch at the beach

This is where we ate lunch. The servers brought out tables and chairs for us and we enjoyed our lunch ocean side. It was wonderful.
Jay watching the Atlantic.
While we waited for our food to arrive, Jay caught a little crab.
If Chris, Clay and Sophia were here this would be our Christmas card. :o)
Alan and Jay searching for seashells.

Guest House Photos

Here are some photos that we took while we were at the guest house. It's hard to believe that we were just there last week. Jay is adjusting well. He's had a few meltdown/shut me out moments, but those are totally expected and we get through them. He is exceptionally sweet and equally as stubborn. His Liberian bullheadedness definitely comes through. As frustrating as it can be at times, I wouldn't trade it for the world.

His brothers and sister are doing great with him. They all love playing together, especially him and Sophia. (She's our 5 year old). They giggle often and keep each other quite busy.

Jay's favorite place to be is outside on a bike or a scooter. He could ride for hours. I think that we might have to plan an extended bike trip sometime soon.




Where we slept.
A guard outside of the guest house.
The day that it rained non-stop. This is the wall around the guest house with razor wire on top. The small building had chickens with baby chicks that hatched while we were there.
Jay relaxing on the couch at the guest house.
Playing a little football.

Finally...Photos!!!!

Meeting mama for the first time.
Our first family photo. Jay was so scared.
Father and son on the way to the embassy.
Jay in his embassy clothes.
The view of Monrovia after we left the embassy.
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My apologies to all of you who have been waiting for photos. I've finally had some time to post and update everyone on the rest of our trip. First of all, we are so glad that we travelled to get Jay. There is nothing that can compare with meeting him in his country and learning more about him and his culture. We were so blessed to be able to spend time with Patty, Charity, and Jeff while we were there. Charity, Jeff and their spouses are an awesome example of parents sacrificially loving their children. Even though the trip was difficult for them we know that God has some amazing plans for their children and their families.

After our embassy and shopping day on Tuesday, we stayed at the guest house all day on Wednesday. We spent the day playing "football", card games, watching some movies, and we even got to see some fish being cleaned. (I'll post that photo later). We spent most the day Thursday with Patty and Charity. While Charity and Jeff were at the embassy dealing with Alma, we hit the market at the embassy with Patty. What fun that was. We picked up many treasures there. We later had lunch on the beach. Jay thought that was great. He especially had fun chasing a crab. We then went to the AOH office and Alan, Charity and I held the Acres chimpanzees. Boy, did they stink! We laughed at that for quite a while. Probably because we reeked of chimpanzee poop! We then headed to the orphanage to see the children sing and dance and quote scripture and bible stories. All of the children are beautiful. Jay gave all of them some candy. He loved being there with his friends. I know that he will miss them terribly. We promised him that we would find his friends when they were in the states and that he would definitely see them again. One side note: while we were at the big kid orphanage, we walked outside to get some photos of Jay with some of his friends. He immediately got into the vehicle that we came in, climbed in the back seat, pulled out his back pack that contained his coloring supplies and pulled them out to give to his buddies. He has such a giving heart. We then walked down to the little kid orphanage and watched some more amazing kiddos sing and dance for us. What a blessing it was to be witness to God's beautiful children. We were so moved by the whole experience.

On Friday we had the privilege of meeting Keith and Kristin Chapman and their children. Keith and Kristin took Jay under their wing when he was in the hospital. Kristin is responsible for getting Jay into AOH. We know without a doubt that Jay would not be alive today if it wasn't for their care and love of Jay. Jay loves the Chapman's and was thrilled to get to spend some time with them before we left.

There is so much more I want to share and I will do that soon. I also have many more pictures to post. Thank you all for praying us there and back. We couldn't have done it without our almighty God and the prayers of his people.

Today We Touched Our Son!

Okay, I've tried to post photos 5 times and it just won't work, but I wanted to let you all know about our big day. I'll keep working on it.

It was amazing. Patty told us that she would bring Jayswen (Kenneth. He prefers Jayswen or Jay so that is what it will be) over early so that we would be able to get acquainted with him before our embassy appointment. We were ready to go at 7:30 a.m. Due to traffic they didn't arrive until 9:00 a.m.

Jayswen was very shy and wasn't sure what to do, but he was very brave and sweet about the whole thing and he even gave both of us a hug. We spent about ten minutes together and then got him dressed for the embassy.

Once at the embassy we waited a little over an hour in an air conditioned waiting room. (Oh, the luxury.) We walked through a door, stood at a window and Alma asked us a few questions and checked that all of our paperwork was all in order. The whole thing took 5 minutes at the most. It was pretty painless. Thanks for all of your prayers...they were felt by us.

We then came back to the guest house, had lunch and then headed to the market to pick up some mementos. We purchased a large drum, some ebony statues, a hammock, and some African clothes. We had fun doing that with Jayswen. The market place was packed and full of many different merchants.

Jayswen has been very quiet and is slowly coming out of his shell. It's been a huge day for him and he's been very good for all that he's had to deal with today. We played soccer, blew bubbles, read books and watched a movie. I can't even put into words what it feels like to hold him, to touch him, to see him smile and to hear him laugh. For all of you who are waiting for your children to come home...it is all so worth it.

Rain, Rain Go Away...

Here's the latest from Liberia...First of all it has been raining non-stop. I'm not talking just a drizzle, it's pouring. I don't know where all of it goes.

Second, we met with Charles today to go over all of our paperwork. It went fine. We have our embassy appointment tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m. Liberian time. That will be at 4:30 a.m. central time. Please pray that it all goes smoothly.

Third, and most important, we still haven't gotten Kenneth. I spoke with Patty at the AOH office this morning and she said that we will get him tonight or tomorrow. I'll let you know with photos of course.

Oh, we got to hold some amazing babies at the special needs room across from the guest house. They are so sweet. What fun it is to see these amazing children. I know that God has some big plans for them.

We Made It!

We arrived in Liberia around 5:45 p.m. Flights went well. The airport was crazy. We didn't see a lot because it got dark on our way to the guest house. We're anxious to see Monrovia in the daylight. After a brief tour of the house (which is wonderful, by the way), Linda had a great dinner ready for us. We're probably heading to bed now and hopefully we will meet our son tomorrow. More soon.

We're In Brussels!

Here we are in Chicago waiting for our flight to NYC.

Bonjour! We have arrived in Brussels. We got here around 7:00 a.m. on Friday. That was 12:00 a.m. central. We had been up and going since 3:00 a.m. and neither of us were able to sleep on the flight over here from New York. Needless to say, we were both exhausted.

We were able to get into our room at 10:30 a.m. While we were waiting we walked around a bit and grabbed a bite to eat. We slept for several hours and then took a ten minute walk to the Grand Place to see some incredible architecture and have some dinner. We also were able to enjoy some amazing Belgium waffles with cream and chocolate. YUM!!

We will be spending the day in Brussels tomorrow. We will be heading to Liberia on Sunday. I will post more soon.