Josiah's 2nd Birthday

We had quite a birthday celebration for Josiah on June 26th. Trish's side of the family all came to join in the festivities and we had quite a crowd. Josiah had a blast playing with all of his cousins, but his day was dampered a bit when he experienced his first bee sting. He was a brave little one though and still was able to enjoy opening presents and cake and ice cream.

It's amazing to see how different Josiah is now from when we first received him in China. He is quite animated and makes us laugh all the time. It has been special to see the bond growing between he and Caleb. Our prayer is that they become the best of friends. We are thankful for Caleb's nurturing spirit and how he looks after Josiah so much. It's hard to believe that Caleb will be turning nine this year already! The time goes so fast but we are thankful that the Lord allows us the privilege of raising these boys for Him.

Settling in

It's been a while since we last posted so we thought we should give a quick update on family life here in the Nelson household. Josiah has settled into a good routine and acts as if he's always been with us. It's hard to believe we've only been home for not quite two months and he already understands most everything we tell him and is saying more and more words each day.

Josiah is a very happy boy and loves to play with his big brother. Caleb has taken on a lot of new responsibilites with his little brother. One of their favorite things to play in is a huge box we've had sitting in our living room for the last month. Caleb sure knows how to make him laugh! Josiah also loves wrestling with his "Dada" and going for walks with his mama.

So far we've enjoyed the great outdoors together and even introduced Lakeside kiddie rides to Josiah. Wow, what an experience that was! For the most part, Josiah is a very content and easy going boy. We are so thankful the Lord has blessed us with little Josiah. We prayed specifically that the Lord would prepare him for our family and we feel He has definitely answered that prayer.

Pictures and videos

Just a cute video of Josiah singing for you to enjoy. He fits right into the family! Caleb wrote this on the message board before we came home from the airport. It was so special to see how he had been praying for his little brother.

Big brother

After being home a little over a week, Caleb is settling into being a big brother. Of course there were a lot of adjustments finding that all of the attention didn't revolve around him - but now he is really enjoying Josiah. He likes to pick his clothes in the morning and he loves to play with him. He thinks it's the best to have Josiah copy him doing everything. The only thing we haven't talked him into is changing diapers!

We too have had a lot of adjustments having a toddler around. The hardest thing has been trying to get him in the right time zone and sleeping through the night. In China he slept very well - both at night and at naptimes. We are praying he can get back onto that schedule! Besides the sleeping, Josiah has really settled in well here. He acts as if he's always known he belonged here. It's amazing to us to know that God chose him to be our son from the very beginning. We are so thankful for His picture of adopting us as His own children. He loved us - flaws and all - and even though we feel some days we are not up for the challenge of raising a toddler, God's grace and His love for us keeps us going.

Josiah will fit right into our family as he loves to sing and listen to music. He loves to just sit and "sing" sometimes and he even plays the djembe with Caleb. We can't wait to get them both on stage! Perhaps we will have the Nelson worship band someday. . .

Home at last!

Thanks so much for your prayers in getting us home safely. Our overnight delay in Tokyo did end up being a blessing as we were able to get a good night of rest and take an easy day before our departure. We were also blessed to get seats with some extra room and were actually quite comfortable. Josiah slept well for most of the flight until the attendants told us we needed to wake him to get the bassinet down! It was about 2:30am according to his clock. He handled it unbelievably well - with no crying!

It was a long haul at the LAX airport, but after finally getting through immigration and customs we were on our way to Denver -- but of course not without a few more delays due to the thunderstorms. We left about 35 minutes behind schedule but the captain thought we could still make it in good time. When we arrived over Colorado, the thunder cloud was hovering over DIA so they put us in a holding pattern and sent us on a detour to enter the airport from a different direction. When all was said and done we landed in Denver around 8:20pm. We were so thankful to be on Colorado soil!!!

Josiah was such a trooper throughout the whole trip. He didn't sleep much during the flight from LA but was very content to sit in our laps for most of the time. Thank you all so much for praying for him. Now please pray that we can get his timeclock reset to sleep during the nights.

Caleb met us at the airport with two good friends of ours - and we were so excited to see him. It seemed he had grown much taller in the days we were gone! Even though very sleepy-eyed, Josiah warmed up to Caleb quickly and was laughing almost the whole way home with him.

Today we just enjoyed being together and showed Caleb some fun things from China. Please pray for us to be wise in instructing Josiah and for all of us to make this transition to having a toddler around the house. Josiah is really doing great. We can't even believe how different he is from the first day we received him. We are so thankful to finally have him home!

One More Day of Rest

Well folks, it looks like we got to spend a night in Tokyo. Unfortunately, it's the rainy season out here and that translated into delays and an overnight stay. But we are now scheduled to arrive in Denver on Friday night, so at least we got a good night's rest out of the deal! Our spirits are good and we're looking forward to getting across the "pond" and getting home. Please continue to pray for safe travels - we look forward to seeing everyone soon and introducing the newest Nelson!

Homeward Bound!

It's been a few days since we've had the chance to post as there have been some emotionally draining circumstances here. But God has been faithful to provide the grace and strength we need to get through it all. We wanted to ask for your prayers as we prepare to leave China early Thursday morning. Tomorrow we have our consulate appointment to take an oath and receive Josiah's visa. Then it's time to pack up and get ready to leave. We have to leave the hotel by 5:30am on Thursday, so please pray for us to have the strength we need to get through the long day of traveling - especially little Josiah.

We've definitely felt your prayers thus far. Josiah has blossomed into a very happy and intelligent boy. Even in the short time that we've had him, he's already taking to instruction and showing us his fun personality. Please pray for all of us during our adjustment time back at home. We can't wait to see Caleb in action as a big brother!