Ty's Bedroom

Here are a few pics of Ty's nursery. I made a banner with his name using some random scrapbooking paper that I had and I LOVE how it turned out. Very eclectic, but it works. My mom also sent us a Chinese folk art picture her class gave her during her teaching days in Westlake. She loved the picture so much she purchased another from the artist and it is displayed in the bedroom I grew up in. This picture goes perfectly and it has a mother pig with her piglets. Ty was born in the year of the Golden Pig. We are so grateful we can display a piece of art that represents his heritage.

My Composters

Yes, with my birthday money, I bought some composters. I know it is not the most glamorous gift that all girls just have to have, but for me, its about waste and getting back to my roots. I grew up with a compost pile and the B&B I worked at in college composted everything possible. After a trip back home to Austin, I was feeling some guilt. After much research, I have these two handy girls and I LOVE them. We have always recycled, but now we are reducing our waste even more. In 6-12 months we should have some "brown gold".

Care Package for Ty

Enjoy the goodies little man! It was so much fun shopping for items to send to Ty. He has a new rubber duck (Troy loves rubber ducks and says we are the Roenfanz Rubber Duckies), photo album of pictures of us, his new home and Jack, outfit to wear, lovey to hold that I slept with for a week so he could get my "scent", sippy cup, Puffs, a camera for the foster family to take pictures with and M&M's for the caretakers.

Praise God My Husband Lived!

This is what happens when a person in a hurry tries to take a left hand turn and cuts off a cyclist going down a hill. Troy had to lay down his bike or he would have hit the vehicle and who knows what! He is so fortunate to be alive and healing well. His helmet cracked in 3 spots, his new tri suit is ripped, his bike has a few scratches and some nasty road rash (the picture does not show the severity)on the left side of his body, but he is alive! Fortunately, the lady stopped to see if he was O.K. and gave him $67 to go towards a new tri suit, a life guard from the country club saw the accident and brought him towels and a runner close to home went and got his car to give Troy a ride home. We have been doing some major wound care and bought out all the non-stick pads from Target and Walmart. Praise God angels were present.

Ty's Finding Add

When a child is abandoned in China, they have to place an add in the paper giving the specifics of his abandonment. We received this picture from his foster mom, Pam from Swallows Nest. This is the earliest picture we have of our son.

Pics of Ty

These are the new pictures of Ty. We have been told he has wavy hair that has recently been cut, he likes his high chair and is a great eater. We cannot wait to kiss those chubby cheeks and pouty lips.

Video of Ty

Amazingly, we received pictures and photos of Ty from his foster family. They are Americans teaching English in China and are trying to reduce the number of children in the orphanages. We are so grateful for their work and love of the children.

In the first video, Ty is the third child who is not sick and looks into the camera. In the second video, Ty is in the background and is sucking on his thumb.

We Are Blessed!

The following was posted as a comment on our blog:

Amy, we have Mu shi tian in our foster home. You are blessed. We are enjoying his sweet smile and kind personality. Pam in Henan

Tri's and More Tri's

Troy crossing the finish line at the Rodney T. Miller Tri!
Our finishers hardware after the Tremont Tri!

Between company, getting our referral for Ty and researching cleft palate, making card front swaps for the Stampin' Up! convention, I have been slow to post. Here are some pictures of Troy and I and the triathlons we have competed in recently. Troy did the Rodney T. Miller race last Sunday and came in 39th out of 218! He did an incredible job and shaved off time from last year. We did the Tremont tri at the end of June and it was my goal to just finish, which I did! I did an AquaBike last year, but haven't done a complete tri in 5 years! I sold my bike and Troy had been using my bike from my college days until he got his new bike last fall. I know, excuses, excuses, but I did it. If we are not in China mid-August, we are going to go for it again.

Our Son!!!

We are so excited we can finally post pictures and information about our new son! Meet Mu Shi Tian soon to be Ty Jameson MuShi Roenfanz! He was born May 1, 2007 and currently lives in the Henan province. Ty has a cleft palate and repaired cleft lip. We cannot wait to bring him home and kiss that chubby little face!

Troy and I had been thinking of switching to the Waiting Child Program for several months and after lots of prayer, turned in our paperwork in the beginning of June. I had an incredible feeling of peace after that and knew our child would come to us in a year or so. We got the email June 16th that CCAI received our Medical Checklist, but said there were 200 other families ahead of us. On Tuesday June 24th, we got THE CALL! Talk about extreme shock. I was fixing turkey tacos and thought this was another call just to check in and see how we are doing which they have done before. This time, Pam said, "I have a little boy who needs a mommy!" We had only been waiting 8 days! We saw his pictures and read all about him and KNEW he was our son! You see, CCAI received his file June 18th which is my birthday. In addition, his name means God/Heavens Timing. Troy has always joked that he would like a son to play golf with like Tiger Woods and come to find out, Mu means "wood". We also said our first son's name would be Ty. Tian and Ty are not too far apart. We see God's hand in all of this and feel truly blessed. We hope to bring Ty home in August or September.

Good News!

Yes, it has been a while since I have posted. Our life has been WILD since my last post. Company after company, triathlons and news that I will post more on at a later date after permission has been granted. Let us just say our world will be rocked in a good way in a few months!

18 Months!

Today marks our 18th month of waiting for our little one(s) in China! Referrals came out the other day and the CCAA has matched through 1/20/08. Some agencies are saying through the 22, but it is not a sure thing. We are hoping. We are grateful that they matched more days this month then previous months. There is already a rumor out there that next month will be even better! Could things be slightly speeding up? We continue to hope and pray. Hopefully this will be our last Mother's and Father's Day on paper, either through domestic or international adoption...or a miracle!

Du It Again

Troy competed in his first duathlon this past weekend and based on his results, he should du it again. The du consisted on a 2 mile run, 13.4 mile bike and finished with another 2 mile run! Troy finished first in his age group and 5th overall! This was his first event on his new bike that he got off of the Bay. He was now longer embarressed to be riding the antique Bridgestone that I will be using in 3 weeks. Yep, our next event is the Tremont Tri. Troy will more then likely be bringing home hardware, but I will be happy to cross the finish line. I have done several tri's, but not being a competive person, I try to beat my old times. The WiiFit is my new trainer! I already feel better and have lost a few pounds!

Wii Did It!

Troy maintaining his balance as he ski jumps!

Troy getting into position as he attempts another jump!

Yes, we are now part of the Wii Family! Both Troy and I have never been "gamers", but THIS is different. It is totally interactive and a GREAT workout! We have cut down on our T.V. time, spent more time as a couple and have worked out more in the last week! Yes, we also got the Wii Fit! It is AWESOME! It makes working out FUN and worthwhile! It is amazing! Check out this website for all that it can do. I watch what I eat a little better because I don't want to get on the Wii board and it tell me my weight has changed. It doesn't say for the good or bad until you do the Fit Test.

17 Months and Other Stuff

Sunday, which was also Mother's Day, happened to be our 17 month anniversary of being in line for our miracle(s). While it is one month closer, it still looks like it could be years before we meet our little one(s), but we wait...and pray...and pray...and pray.... Troy was telling me about a friend of his who had his kids in his 20's so he could enjoy retirement in his 60's. Troy and I laughed at the idea and came to the conclusion that our retirement has been the last 7+ years...so we are going to enjoy it while we wait. The way things are going, our 60's will be paying for school. Our kids will keep us young!

Since Sunday was Mother's Day, the guys from our house church fixed buttermilk/flaxseed pancakes and bacon for the ladies! It was yummy, but also hard for me to stay out of the kitchen and want to control their doings...just trying to offer a little hints to make things easier. Our house church continues to grow...a good problem to have. Troy is changing positions at the YMCA which will give him more time to concentrate on the Joshua Tree House Church Network.

Only one week left of school! The pregnant/parenting moms that I have worked with this year have been really wonderful. This year has been the least dramatic of the past 3. I look forward to seeing many of them next year...and in the hospital this summer.

Salt Lake City...Here I Come!

Yea Hah! I am finally going to a Stampin' Up! convention! I have been a hobby demonstrator since 2002 and this is my first year to go to convention. I figured between this being the 20th Anniversary of SU! (it will be fabulous, I know), I saved up $ and we still don't have any kids, I might as well go! This is super exciting! I have been to regionals in STL, but convention...WOAH! Becoming a SU! demonstrator was a way for me to earn extra $$ going into our 2nd year of marriage and seminary, but it became more than that. I have found great friends and LOVE to share my love of stamping and card making with others! Thanks Karen for taking care of the flight and hotel details!

WHOOO HOOO!

These words are posted on our CCAI'S website:
The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before December 31, 2006. The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before January 09, 2006.

With a LID of 12-11-06, we are out of the review room and on to the matching room! As you read, they have only matched through 1-9-06, but at least we are in 2006! We keep praying things will speed up. Troy and I have discussed infant foster care and I looked into it further this past week. Unfortunately, our DCFS licence would have to be transferred to an agency that does foster care and it would take us out of the running to be picked by a birth mom from our domestic adoption agency. We want to stay with our agency, so in the meantime, we wait and pray for our children and their families.

Earthquake!

This morning at 4:37, we were shaken out of our sleep to a 5.2 earthquake! It was the freakiest thing we have ever experienced! Our first thought was the beginning of a tornado, but the sirens were not going off. Then we thought Jesus was coming...no, but really, it was enough to rattle us out of bed. Freaky, that was an aftershock! No way, as I am tying this at 10:15 a.m. , we have just experienced 2 aftershocks! There is this slight rumble and then the ground begins to shake and stuff starts to rattle. My heart is beating so fast right now. We are all O.K. Jack is looking at me like, "What the heck is going on!" I can't wait to talk to my neighbors from California down the street!

16 Months and Still Waiting

Friday marked our 16th month of waiting in line for China. When we started the process in March 2006, it looked like we would be traveling this summer to pick up our little one(s), but now we wait..hopefully not another 16 months, but we are in for the long haul. We have had so many opportunities to become parents since January and everything has fallen through. Two weeks ago, I got a call from a local hospital regarding a mom who decided not to parent and make an adoption plan for her child. The mom ended up wanting to place her child with a family from Lutheran Child and Family Services as she had done previously with another child. We keep reminding ourselves and looking at the card from my Aunt Karin that says, "More is being planned for you by God than had been prayed for by us." Maybe just maybe, we have twins waiting for us in China.

The Father's Chair

Here is the long awaited photo of Father Dan's (as Troy's dad calls himself) chair Troy has named, "The Father's Chair". It is a super comfy swivel rocker/recliner that has become the house favorite. Now Dan can bask in the morning sun and watch the birds in extreme comfort.