{"id":15,"date":"2006-05-25T19:04:01","date_gmt":"2006-05-25T23:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.handsful.com\/?page_id=15"},"modified":"2011-04-29T23:34:10","modified_gmt":"2011-04-30T03:34:10","slug":"our-children","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.handsful.com\/wordpress\/our-children","title":{"rendered":"Our family"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our Story<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Randy and I met in 1985, when we were both rising sophomores in different colleges.\u00c2\u00a0 After dating for 7 years, we were married in August of 1992.\u00c2\u00a0 We always knew we wanted children and began this quest in February of 1994.\u00c2\u00a0 Things” didn’t go so smoothly, and we ended up in fertility treatment.\u00c2\u00a0 We were blessed with our first child, Abigail (Abbey) on February 9, 1996. \u00c2\u00a0We knew we wanted more than 1 child, so we jumped back on the fertility ferris wheel! \u00c2\u00a0After 8 months, we were pregnant again. \u00c2\u00a0But, things were a little different this time. \u00c2\u00a0At 8 weeks, we found out that there were 3 little\u00c2\u00a0ones on the way!\u00c2\u00a0 After a very “interesting” pregnancy, the triplets were born at 32 weeks gestation on July 7, 1998.\u00c2\u00a0 Marley, Payton, and Ethan (girl, boy, boy) had a few preemie issues, but they were home with us in 3 weeks.<\/p>\n

During our struggles to have children, we always kept the thought of adoption in the backs of our minds. After the kids were born and through the years, we would often say “we still might adopt someday.”\u00c2\u00a0 I would have to say that Randy was always more vocal about adoption. \u00c2\u00a0I just couldn’t see myself with another child.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to December 2005, when a friend of Randy’s sent him the link to their website. \u00c2\u00a0They had recently adopted a little girl from China. \u00c2\u00a0Randy sent the site to me and I spent the next hour or so totally engrossed in their story. \u00c2\u00a0The more I read, the more I cried…the story was literally jumping into my heart. This was beginning to seem so possible, like something I needed to do. \u00c2\u00a0After a few months of thinking and praying (and thinking and praying), we made the decision that we would add a child to our family through China adoption.<\/p>\n

The paperchase and fertility treatment were very similar to me. \u00c2\u00a0Lots of ups and downs, days when things seemed to be going great, days when nothing happened at all! \u00c2\u00a0We knew we were\u00c2\u00a0in for quite a wait before being matched with a baby. \u00c2\u00a0But, we knew that God’s hand\u00c2\u00a0was in this, because He planned this for us all along.<\/p>\n

The paperchasing took us from March 06 to August 06.\u00c2\u00a0 The wait had begun!\u00c2\u00a0 But, in October 06, we decided that we would open up our hearts to a potential child with special needs.\u00c2\u00a0 On November 16, 2008, we received the call about our sweet Lainey.\u00c2\u00a0 We flew to China on Valentine’s day 08, and were home with her on February 29th.\u00c2\u00a0 She’s a perfect fit for our family, full of spirit and goofiness.\u00c2\u00a0 She is a joy!<\/p>\n

Toward the end of 2009 \/ early 2010, both Randy and I were feeling like God was still drawing us towards the possibility of adopting another child, and through some research and God’s direction, we were led to an adorable little boy in Luoyang, China. His name is Dang Yu Hai, which we decided to change to Dylan YuHai Clark. We began a new paper chase for Dylan in February 2010, and traveled to China that same November.<\/p>\n

The Kids<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Abbey –<\/p>\n

She is our first-born and looks just like her daddy. \u00c2\u00a0She enjoys basketball, hanging out with her friends at church, and playing with her baby sister.\u00c2\u00a0 Abbey loves being in charge. \u00c2\u00a0Her siblings don’t always appreciate that part of her personality! \u00c2\u00a0Abbey has always loved China, ever since she was little. \u00c2\u00a0Maybe she knew something before we did?<\/p>\n

Marley –<\/p>\n

She was the first triplet born. \u00c2\u00a0She enjoys horseriding and gymnastics.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Animals are her real thing, she has a true love for all of them.\u00c2\u00a0 Marley is most like her mama and loves having special time together.<\/p>\n

Payton –<\/p>\n

Payton is our artist – creative and unique.\u00c2\u00a0 He loves Archie comics and has quite a talent for drawing comics, too.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0He’s the 2nd triplet, loves basketball and doesn’t care if he wins or loses, he just enjoys playing. \u00c2\u00a0He’s a very laid-back kid, loves being goofy, and always thinks of other’s feelings.<\/p>\n

Ethan –<\/p>\n

Basically Randy in a small package! He was the last triplet born. \u00c2\u00a0Just like his daddy, he’s very competitive and loves playing baseball and basketball. \u00c2\u00a0He’s a perfectionist, which sometimes makes school time especially interesting!\u00c2\u00a0 He’s also our musician, playing the acoustic and electric guitar.<\/p>\n

Lainey-<\/p>\n

She’s the “excitement” of the house…always getting into something!\u00c2\u00a0 She loves books, carrying her babies (or animals) around in her baby sling, and doing everything with mama.\u00c2\u00a0 She’s had 3 surgeries so far in her young life…one in China and two with us.\u00c2\u00a0 There will be more, but she always bounces back like a trooper.<\/p>\n

Dylan –<\/p>\n

Our newest little one arrived home in December 2010. \u00c2\u00a0He had surgery to amputate his malformed lower left leg in February 2011 and should begin his fitting for a prosthesis this summer!<\/p>\n

The Parents<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Hi, Donna here :) \u00c2\u00a0I’m the mom of this crew! \u00c2\u00a0I spend my days at home with the kids, homeschooling them. \u00c2\u00a0We’ve always homeschooled,\u00c2\u00a0beginning in 2001.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Also, I enjoy walking on the treadmill, reading, crochet, blogging, and organizing. \u00c2\u00a0I also do a fair amount of carting kids to and from their activities.\u00c2\u00a0 My life can get hectic, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.<\/p>\n

Randy is an awesome dad, very involved with his kids and super affectionate with them.\u00c2\u00a0 He works from home, so he’s here with us quite a bit, which is wonderful.\u00c2\u00a0 In his spare time, he loves boating on his Ski Nautique, playing basketball, and watching ultimate fighting (blech).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our Story Randy and I met in 1985, when we were both rising sophomores in different colleges.\u00c2\u00a0 After dating for 7 years, we were married in August of 1992.\u00c2\u00a0 We always knew we wanted children and began this quest in February of 1994.\u00c2\u00a0 Things” didn’t go so smoothly, and we ended up in fertility treatment.\u00c2\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-15","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsful.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsful.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsful.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsful.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsful.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsful.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsful.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}