December 31: Day 14

We have reached our half way point! 2 weeks down, and 2 weeks to go. The kids go back to school on Monday and I go back to work, so it will be interesting to see what next week will look like for John and our family. 

We took John to Sky Zone today. It is an indoor trampoline park. He really enjoyed it! We got a 1 hour jump pass, and after about 30 minutes he was sooo tired! I am sure he has never done anything like that before, and his stamina is not the same as most 11 year old boys. It was a little hard trying to explain the rules to him through the app, but he did OK. He wanted to play dodgeball with my older boys, but it was really hard to tell him the rules for that game. He got out 3 times but never left the court. HA! I wonder what he was thinking when he saw a bunch of kids launching balls at each other?

Click here and here for a little bit of jumping action. 

Thank you to Seth and Olivia for the passes. They all had a great time!

 He jumped in this foam pit over and over again!

Ready to leave, but all smiles! He put his arm around Matthew for this picture. Not many peace signs for this kid anymore. 

John really loved building a fire the first week he was here, so Rick took him out to do that again today. It was too cold for me to go outside, so I got a picture from the comfort of my deck. 

We ended the night with a movie. He has been asking to watch Big Hero 6, so we thought tonight was a perfect night to do that. He got out of the shower and saw the kids on the floor with their pillows and blankets. He got so excited!! He ran to get his stuff and was smiling from ear to ear. It really is the little things that we take advantage of in every day life. It is hard for an English movie to keep his attention, but this movie has gotten several giggles out of him. 

Today was the first day that we did not eat out for lunch or dinner. John tried hard though. He got on the app several times... McDonalds? Pizza Hut? Burger King? Taco Bell? We kept telling him no, that we needed to eat at home. He is a persistent little booger, and he never gave up. I told Rick that I completely understand his desire to eat out. This is new to him, he enjoys the food, and he wants to experience as much of it as he can. I did the same thing when I was in China, but the food choices weren't as tempting there. :) So, for dinner we had fish, and I made little fish sandwiches on buns. He made his sandwich... he put salami, fish, raspberries, cheese, and ketchup on his sandwich. AND HE ATE IT. No wonder this kid doesn't like my cooking. I totally forgot the salami/fish/raspberry combo in my weekly planning! Then after that, he ate a plain bun with BBQ and ketchup on it. He also had leftover KFC and a bowl of noodles, which is the first "chinese" type of food he has had since the first few days he was here. He really ate a lot today. I told Rick I feel like his cheeks are filling out a little bit. I guess fried chicken 24/7 would do that to a person. I went back and looked at his pictures from the first few days we met. He looks different to me now. He looks happier. His eyes are brighter, his smile is bigger... he just looks like he is full of joy. I really hope he is enjoying himself. 

We are hoping that 2016 is an amazing year for John. We hope it is the year he not only finds out about a family, but actually gets to settle into a forever home. Happy New Year!!