Too Good For Facebook

 Every week I save some things for subscribers of JohnMSimmons.com that are just too good for Facebook. If you can't see them below, click here for a free subscription and then receive access to all of our free content.

A Party for Steve and Jack

Jack wanted a "congraduation" party but he thought it would be good to share it with Steve because Steve was leaving for Boot Camp in the Marine Reserves. We had about 50 people over on Saturday for the celebration.

One of my very favorite photos

Emily was seven and Annie was six when they were removed from their horrifically abusive home in Russia. It wasn't long before the siblings were divided up and sent to different orphanages. Emily says that she never saw Annie after that, but that they were able to talk several times a month on the phone. Emily says that when we took her and Annie out, together, on our first visit in preparations to adopt them, that she hadn't seen Annie in about seven years. They spent that day with Amy and me... holding hands. Later, as we finalized the adoption, Emily, Annie and I spent time together in Moscow. This site was so typical, but I finally got it on a camera. This photo was taken near Red Square next to the GUM (Goom) department store in October of 2006.

Just like Russia. Still holding hands

With the difficulties that Emily has had with mental illness, she and Annie haven't been able to spend a lot of time together, without the rest of the family. But Emily has worked very hard and has been able to reach some goals that allowed her to spend time away with only Annie and me. The two girls picked up right where they left off when they first got back together in Russia.

My girls holding hands. Some things never change.

This is what I saw in my mind as I watched my girls holding hands throughout the weekend. It reminded me of how I have felt watching my children from Russian orphanages walk out of one world and into another.

Emily, Sasha, Annie and Anya

Anya was the adoption coordinator from Vladivostok, who helped us with our adoptions. Sasha is her daughter, who was born during the time of our later adoptions. Anya now lives in Fresno, California with her husband, Tim. She and Sasha took trains and busses down to Southern California to spend a few days with us. Thank you for coming, Anya and Sasha! And Sasha... Eto nee sobaka. Eto karova!

Anya and her daughter, Sasha

When we adopted our first children from Russia, there was no Sasha. When I look at her now, it makes me feel like I have aged so much since I first met my children from that country.

Annie and Emily coming off one of the rides at Knott's Berry Farm

It was fun watching these two sisters by blood AND circumstance holding hands throughout our long weekend together.

Annie and Emily on Newport Beach

The weather was PERFECT!

Emily on the pier at Newport Beach

Emily is a testament to the fact that people with mental illness can have good lives when they remain committed to improving. As family, staff, therapists, doctors, programs, and friends stick by them no matter what, progress comes. It takes time. It is frustrating for the victim of these illnesses and those who love them. But good days finally come. Of course, illness like Emily's can be cyclic and we understand that. But good periods get longer and longer while each downturn seems not quite as severe as previous ones. Congratulations, Emily. I'm proud of you for reaching your goals. And to the village that helps with my family, all I can do is to offer my most humble thanks.

Annie on the pier at Newport Beach

As this little girl wasted away in an orphanage (until she was fourteen), who'd have thought any of this was possible?

The Xcelerator at Knotts Berry Farm

Last year Denney went with Sarah. Celeste and Jack refused to go, so I had to go on this one with Annie. I was glad that this year Annie had Emily and I got to sit on the side.

Emily and Annie on The Xcelerator

Though Annie is never afraid to get on a ride, the camera tells the truth about how she feels when she is on it!

Annie and Emily at Knotts Berry Farm

Both Annie and Emily love rides and especially roller coasters. But sometimes Emily is a little bit nervous and requires some coaxing. Annie is an adrenaline junkie and has no fear when it comes to getting her on a ride.

Annie and Emily in the Old Town Part of Knott's Berry Farm

A year ago Amy and I took the other kids here and we got pictures of the other girls in this arch. Since Emily saw that "Beautiful Picture," she wanted her picture taken there too.

Emily's Oops!

I was waiting for the girls to go into the bathroom at Knottt's Berry Farm and I heard Annie begin to laugh hysterically. I turned and Annie was pointing at the men's restroom. She was laughing so hard that all she could say was "Emily!" I had no choice but to wait with the camera for her to come out. She wasn't happy about the camera, but she was a good sport and let me post her embarrassing moment.

Amy's Surgery

As you saw last week, we missed a new entry for Amy's Kitchen in the newsletter because she wasn't feeling well. Really, there was quite a bit more to the story. Amy had a block in her bile duct, and while those are usually caused by gall stones, we learned it was very possible that such blockages could be caused by tumors. We were pretty nervous last week while waiting for a diagnosis. It seems silly, but we were so happy to hear that she had gall stones when the diagnosis finally came after a couple of days. By Friday we knew and they sent her home to wait through the weekend until a meeting with the surgeon on Monday. We had strict orders to take her straight to the emergency room if she had any real difficulties. Amy met with the surgeon on Monday and they scheduled a procedure for the following day to remove the stone that was blocking the duct (apparently that makes the surgery to remove the gall bladder easier). Holly and James took Amy to her procedure on Tuesday and it went well. Yesterday, after farming out all of the kids to wonderful friends who were so willing to do anything to help, I took Amy in for surgery. Everything went well. They removed at least one of her gall bladders (wait, is that right?). The doctors said that Amy would be feeling better in a few days. This morning she says that while there is a fair amount of soreness from the surgery, that overall, she feels better. Thanks for all of your concern and prayers on our behalf.

Twelve Years Goes By Too FastLast week Jack graduated from High School. He was so excited! He kept asking everyone if the were coming to his "Congraduation."

 

The Jack WaveAs the seniors walked down the designated lane on the track, Jack drifted while waving to all of his friends in the stands, who only cheered him on.

Fist Pump!Between commencement speeches, the High School Jazz Band performed a number. Jack LOVES music with a beat. He could resist standing up to dance, right there in the middle of all those graduating seniors. His cap kept falling off, so finally he threw it on his chair and one of his classmates hung onto it for him so it wouldn't keep falling while he "rocked out." At the end of the music, Jack cheered and gave the band a fist-pump.

Jack and his friends at the Amusement Park

Yesterday was Lagoon (the local amusement park) Day for the seniors at South Summit High School. Annie, Autumn and Jack started out having to hang out with me. They had fun on the rides, but something was missing. It didn't take long for several of their classmates to fix that!

After we had been at the amusement park for a while, we ran into Katie Kirkham, Alex Crandall, Haley Crystal and Rylee Dick. They asked Jack, Annie and Autumn if they wanted to go on rides with them. Boy, did they ever! Then we went to Pioneer Village and got pictures. Autumn's favorite TV show is Bonanza and she says that she is Little Joe (the character that was played by Michael Landon). There was no way she was going to let this picture happen without guns!

At the amusement park, Rylee Dick latched onto Jack like he was her best buddy in the world. She made Jack's day. At one point, I separated from the group to take Autumn on some different rides (she's not quite as adventurous as Jack and Annie). We got back together later. On the ride home, Jack told me that he went on a really big ride that was really, really scary. I said: "So, you were scared?" Jack responded, "Oh yeah. I cried like a baby. But Rylee told me it would be okay."   I never did find out which ride it was. All Autumn and Annie could tell me was that it was the big, orange one.

Katie Kirkham and Annie at Lagoon amusement park.

At the end of the day, three seniors from the high school came looking for Jack, Annie and Autumn. They had won stuffed fish for each of them.

Great Horned Owls There has been a pair of Great Horned Owls nesting in a pine at my brother's house, several hundred meters away from our house. Recently, we have started seeing their new owlets. Usually, you can't get all five of the owls together until after dark, and we have been trying to not disturb them with things like a flash from a camera. Here are the three babies, though! Their parents are huge, magnificent birds.

I don't know if it's working and studying too many hours with the result of making his mind "soft," or if it's just a dad doing crazy things with his first son. At any rate, Holly had the camera when she caught Mike playing with James inside his crib.

Kitty Rescue Some of our friends called the other day and wanted to borrow one of our dog crates. They had just rescued five kittens that were less than a week old when their mother was killed and they needed a place to keep them. They have all been taking turns bottle feeding the kittens to keep them alive. Of course, Sarah and her siblings want their own baby kitty when they are ready to be adopted... Go ahead and guess the kinds of promises I'm getting if I just let them load up the house with cats. Even so, it makes my heart warm to see a family go so far out of their way to help those orphaned kittens.

 

 

Rain Makes Your Hair Grow! All of our girls came home from Russia with an old wive's tale in their heads. "Rain makes your hair grow faster." Coming out of orphanages, their hair was kept short (long hair is far too frivolous to spend that time grooming an orphan). They were so excited to grow their hair that they took every opportunity to run through the rain with their hair flying. Even now, they like to relive those memories when it rains. It has been nine years since Sarah came home, and just the other day, we caught her watering her hair with rainwater again. ;-)

 

Everybody Loves a Scalp Massage As you know, Jack loves baseball, football, basketball, or basically anything else with a referee. That being the case, Amy took him to Sports Clips to get his hair cut. He was able to watch sports on TV while waiting for his turn in the chair. Then a girl in a referee uniform took him back for his hair cut. He loved it. His favorite part (if you can't tell from his face) was the scalp massage. Fortunately, he didn't make a marriage proposal (this time).