first times

It happened last night. Our first Quynh accident. A little one in the scheme of things....but oh, how it hurt.

And Hurt Daddy worse than Quynh...cause he was her protector, and he messed up. Isn't that just the way of parenting...

I have vowed to take the "hurry up" out of spring break and savor the little spots like a good butter cream mint. So, a walk and picture shoot with our pups seemed like a great late dusk "wrapper up" to the day. Both girls were stoked about it., and our sturdy jogging stroller has just been awaiting it's first spring eve walk.

We are a buckle up family...for everything! Not even 30 seconds in a booster seat without a buckle up. Its an OCD rule. But, we humans make mistakes, and Daddy didn't buckle up his girl...his little strong gal that insisted on holding the leash to our rambunctious "Chase" as they walked. She comfortably reclined deeply in her jog stroller.

Isn't it fun to just watch kids...they take it all in...the stuff growing in the cracks of the sidewalk, the new growth on the tree, the first stars popping out to say hi...

Until they were interrupted by a curious Chase that pulled the reigns a bit too hard and out tousled Quynh, arms flying to catch herself before a nose splash into the sidewalk. Tears , bloody nose, cut finger...the whole works, unfortunately not easily fixed with a band aid and a kiss...No stitches, but plenty o' bad scrapes.

She is better today...determined as ever, showing off the wounds of her adventure to all who will listen to the story.

Isn't it much like our walk with Jesus...

He allows us the freedom to live in a world that contains risks.
Despite our best attempts, we will make mistakes, or others will make mistakes that affect us..
And just like a human dad, only more so, He is hurting for us more than we are hurting...though sometimes it doesn't feel that way.

We know Quynh will heal.
We will do better next time.
Though this will fade as a memory, it will be a little part of Q's past, and we hope what she remembers about it is...COMFORT AND LOVE
That in her pain, her daddy was there, holding her, crying with her,

That's the take away for me....
GOD KNOWS OUR PAIN.
HE KNOWS IT WILL GET BETTER.
HE LOVES US WITH A DEEP, ALL CONSUMING, EMBRACING LOVE. ALWAYS. FOREVER.



the sweet beginnings of springtime evenings

eager for a nice chillin' walk...




it's ok, daddy and chase, i forgive you...


we'll do better next time.

let's call it a day...

COMING SOON TO THE HANNAH FAMILY IN NW ARKANSAS!

<"ALLIE"...a beautiful little girl whose remarkable destiny will merge soon with our little Quynh's ...and by remarkable...I mean really remarkable, super special, sweet fragrance only God can create and blossom to fullness."QUYNH">

I think it's one reason we "stay the course" with adoption work, even when policies change on a dime and it's seas grow rocky, and it's just plain...umm...hard.

'Cause ... when it is His idea, it is so evident and real and authentic, and woven with an intricacy we could never recreate. Each story unique and different and beautiful in its own way. I know I say it allot...but what a privilege to get to watch this happen...

A little background. We feel graced to have the best of the best physical therapy team for Quynh.

Kym and Angela have woven their way into our hearts , while creatively keeping Quynh "interested" in therapy through her mighty strong willed second year.

Kym's heart for adoption was apparent from day one, and we loved whenever we could engage in the story of she and her hubby Kevin's journey to their precious Myrah, who was born in the Ukraine.

Frequently, Kym and I rejoice together when God brings forth the forever family for one of "our kids" that Marvin and IFS are helping, or a child in the Ukraine benefits from Kym and her team's orphan ministry there.

And....it isn't unusual for pictures of waiting children to be on my computer screen when Kym comes over, and for me to tease Kym with the many photos that cross that screen.

...In only a way that God can do, He placed a stronger and stronger desire in she and Kevin's hearts to adopt again, this time a child from China, born with the special need of severely clubbed feet..

I will never forget the wee hours of the night that I showed Kym the picture of a stunning little girl that caught my eye and gripped me. As the photo and information crept onto her screen, I think Kym's heart leapt as well, and with encouragement from us, she awakened Kevin from sleep to get his 100% "YES". That little gal was the one!

Their adoption began shortly afterwards, and they are 2/3 the way through their wait for beautiful Allie (Meng Meng). Allie and our Quynh are a couple of months different in age, and my wish, hope, goal, and great joy would be for them to become fast friends. If Moms can make it happen, this one will!

Our latest updates Allie showed her sporting this incredible "doo" and as a fun, surprise, therapy session treat, (whew) ...I tried my best to "recreate the alien doo" on Quynh. With the help of big sisters and "hard as rock gel", we came pretty close.

It was all worth it ! Kym and we were refreshed the way only laughter can do...and Quynh seemed to enjoy the levity too, and decided to walk with her lightest weight canes!

Enjoy the picture montage....

AND WE CAN'T WAIT TO WELCOME YOU, ALLIE!

OUR KINSEY QUYNH...meaning..."THE KING'S VICTORY"

our little spunky one, we love you will all that is within us. there is no way we can ever describe how much... how much our heart smiles and sings and aches and widens while watching you grow.

you amaze us with your determination, your capacity to not only survive, but thrive... and gift all those around you with the desire to " thrive" a little better themselves..

we love your compassionate little spirit that notices when another hurts . we love your stubbornness and your self assured-ness that you will "win", whether in the battle of the wills, or, ...in life.

we love the way your nose crinkles and the way you play to the camera. we delight in your delicate little hands that amaze us with their abilities.

we puff with pride that you are wanting to walk and trying so hard. how we love to catch your little darting glances, knowing you want to make "sure" we are watching.

and we pray for you. we ask God to help you learn to lean on Him,... not your own determination. may His grace pour into you, and may you choose to be open and receptive to it always. you are His.

your life is a miracle and filled with miraculous potential. we are so grateful that we get to be part of it. happy birthday baby!



...and that she is...even feelin' like the princess as we celebrated her turning 3!

...with lots of fam and friends and the gooeyest birthday cupcakes ever


In typical three year old fashion, fruit was inspected and then stuck back in the bowl.... germs flew like dandelions as candles were blown in sisterhood harmony, and there was some good cupcake smearing and sharing amongst the little bits.



all joined in to teach her that gift opening should not be a delicate affair, but a rip and roar. eager sisters were excellent teachers.




her roller coaster is an apt description of her "two, turning three" personality. fun, unpredictable, up and down, and keeping us guessing and smiling.

and what other 18 year old bro will spend part of his Friday evening adorned as royalty (if for only a picture opp). quynh has won his heart.


do we have a chance at winning the youngest and quickest cup stacker contest? quynh amazes us with her skill...learned by watching big bro Carter do it just once. she entertained us, looking up often with her grin emerging as she anticipated our applause.


Love captured...

The day began very early...

after days of brilliant sunshine, the familiar patter of rain on our skylight awakened us...and first rational thoughts were of the car windows down. Aww...what an inconvenience...

this rain gave us no head's up, no prep time, its persistence was un-letting.

And so it is with life. It isn't always sunshine. We can find ourselves in a steady rain, or maybe even a raging storm...and there was no warning, no time to prepare. Or maybe the shadows of worry and fret are relentlessly pattering and decidedly clouding the day.

It happens...and we all seek refuge from it. We can "glass half full" and make the best of it for awhile, but not for very long.

Because we weren't meant to brave the storms alone. He is there, and He is our Wing of Shelter.

I needed to remember that as the emotions of worry rained on my day. With nine kids, there is always a worry, in fact, many, many . And I find myself talking to God throughout the day as I try to turn those anxious thoughts to Him over and again. He is my resting place, my Shelter.

But sometimes, like the rain, our very real emotions persist. And even when I don't like it, I'm glad that they do.

Thank you that we are able to deeply feel --fear and sadness , loneliness and loss, annoyance and anger, and know that they are significant, real emotions...

but they are valuable, restorable, and replaceable--with time, and His graceful care. He wants to envelop us in those difficult emotions, and carry us through them.

When we recognize that bounty....that the more we learn to accept the duration of the rain and lean on Him during it, it begins to seep deep into our soul to renew parched roots, and to find richer beauty.

Its rewards make themselves known as it subsides, and we are richer for it, more compassionate, more usable,
...and we are able to experience the good emotions with the same kind of passion and richness.

Our littlest endures a lot. It has been a journey. There has been rain, sometimes steady ...dripping.. Yet her future is so bright , and we rejoice in that.

But the duration of the rain isn't over for her. It isn't for any of us. And as she was casted for her next orthotics, I found my self praying that I would help her learn to endure well, all the while she is teaching and showing me the same.

Oh,... the sun will shine...allot...we will bask in every bit of it, and when not... our Shelter will be there for her and for us...always.


--Casting first foot and leg... Q a little wary--





and then the other...







and I love the look they gave one another...

recovering

Continued thanks for you prayers. Quynh is doing well enough to head home. Will update from there...

THANK YOU for joining hearts in prayer with us today!

We have had an exhausting, but good day, and Quynh is doing better than expected, her pain is under control, and we are both ready to crash.

Please continue to pray for relief for her and a restful night for all of our gang.

WE APPRECIATE YOU SO MUCH. FURTHER UPDATES IN THE MORNING...

Q is out of surgery and M and I are taking turns holding her in recovery. ( Kimber cannot go into recovery)

I just finished about 30 minutes lovin' on her...and though miserable right now, medically she is doing very well .

We are waiting for a room to come available before they move us up to a floor.

All surgeons said she did GREAT, better than expected... We are so thankful for her amazing little body that withstands so much and for her strong spirit and spunk.

Thanks too, to all of her friends that are praying for her!

KTS

I have been privileged to become a part of a yahoo group for families affected by KTS., as well as some other similar diseases.

One dear mom shared this you tube video. Michael has been so brave to share his story. It is the best explanation of KTS that I have seen, but is somewhat graphic. Thank you, Michael and family, for being so real and honest.

We are so thankful that Quynh's disease has not seemed to affect her internal organs as it did for Michael, but the presentation of their cases is similar. We admire him and wish him the very best.

It again AMAZES me that Quynh has almost zero complications from this disease, and rarely ever seems to experience pain or discomfort. When she does, it is easily relieved with OTC helpers. We are also blessed that she has never had an infection related to KTS.


I want to add these comments from the mom that shared this video with our yahoo group...

A few weeks ago there was a special on National Geographic about Michael, a 16
year old with Klippel Trenaunay Syndrome. Below are the links to the U-Tube of
his story. I am a member of the k-t.org support group and wanted to share this
here as well. Let me warn you, Michael's is an extreme case and is a little
graphic.





Thank you to Michael and his family, and for the networking of people who care...so that we can all learn more about this rare disease and how we can help each other. If you choose not to see the video (which is absolutely ok), please join in lifting a prayer for Michael and his family. I admire them much!

blessed, Carol

REMEMBERING...AND THANKFUL

MANY HAVE ASKED IF WE WOULD SHARE AGAIN THE MIRACULOUS STORY OF HOW QUYNH JOINED OUR FAMILY. TWO YEARS AGO, MARVIN WROTE THIS BEAUTIFUL SYNOPSIS OF HER LIFE UP TO THAT POINT.

HAVING NOW LIVED A FEW OF NEXT CHAPTERS , I AM AGAIN "SENT TO MY CHILL BUMP PLACE" , AND TO A NEW LEVEL OF GRATEFULNESS, AS I MARVEL AT ALL HE HAS DONE IN HER LIFE AND OURS.







ORIGINAL MESSAGE FOLLOWS .THIS WAS ORIGINALLY SENT ABOUT THIS TIME IN APRIL TWO YEARS AGO.

Dear Friends (and soon to be friends) of Quynh,

WE ARE WRITING TODAY TO TELL YOU ABOUT QUYNH (THAT’S HER IN THE PHOTO.)



THESE ARE TWO OF OUR FIRST PHOTOS OF QUYNH. SHE HAD JUST BEEN STABILIZED AND WAS 3 DAYS OLD. God has placed this lovely Vietnamese baby girl into our care. She has captured our hearts and she will capture yours! If you haven’t heard her miraculous story yet, then keep reading to see yet another example of God’s amazing grace.

YOU MAY HAVE ALREADY HEARD QUYNH’S STORY AND HAVE BEEN PRAYING FOR HER. IF SO, WE ARE WRITING TO UPDATE YOU ON HER FANTASTIC PROGRESS! You may already know all about this precious little girl and you may have already been praying for her and sharing her story with others and helping us with her medical expenses and IF SO, WE WISH TO EXTEND OUR DEEPEST APPRECIATION.. Quynh is a wonderful blessing to everyone she meets. God has been so good and He has already used many dear friends to show His love for sweet Quynh.

MORE ON THIS IN A MINUTE, BUT FIRST, LET ME SHARE HER AMAZING JOURNEY SO FAR…

We estimate that Quynh was born on June 22, 2007. Within a few hours of her birth, this precious baby girl, was left beside a road in the Vietnamese province where VCI does most of our adoption and humanitarian work. Our Vietnam director was called and we took her into our care immediately.

Because she was abandoned, the director of the Quynh Luu District Hospital named her by inverting the name of the political district where she was found and adding the common middle name “Thi”. So her name became Luu Thi Quynh. Since then, everyone has simply been calling her Quynh (pronounced "Quinn".)

But how to solve her MEDICAL MYSTERY? Every hospital and clinic in the district and the province and even in Hanoi was stumped by her condition and clueless about solutions. As you can see in the picture, her legs are very large and purple and bumpy. One leg is shorter and her foot did not form, while the other foot and toes are unfortunately quite deformed and are many times larger than normal. What the picture doesn’t reveal is that she was (and still is) very prone to bleed without warning. Several doctors thought she had gangrene or some other immediately life-threatening condition and proposed amputating both legs! We’ve since learned that amputation would have been the worst choice!

While she was still in Vietnam and we were working for her rescue literally day and night, she was repeatedly transferred from hospital to hospital for evaluation. We were constantly concerned about the poor conditions and lack of attention she received. So VCI hired a full-time person to stay with her 24/7 in the hospitals since they were crowded and nursing care was minimal. For example, at the National Pediatric Hospital, Quynh shared a room with four other children, each with significant infectious diseases.

During this time God did an amazing thing which showed us that He was holding Quynh’s little life in His hand and that He has a wonderful plan for her life. At the same time that Quynh was hospitalized in Hanoi and we were trying everything we could to persuade the American Embassy to grant her a temporary visa, a VCI adopting family arrived in Hanoi to get the visa for their newly adopted daughter, Da. Ryan and Linn O’Keefe (and Da) were delayed for several weeks by the Embassy. As they waited, they took the opportunity to visit Quynh in the hospital and were so taken by her and bothered by the hospital conditions that they actually brought Quynh and the caregiver back to the Daewoo Hotel and provided a room for them there! Ryan even took Quynh on her trips to doctors and helped us fight for her visa. In God’s perfect timing, Da’s visa was approved the same week that Quynh’s visa was granted! Then Ryan and Da actually escorted Quynh with them to Florida and a week later to Arkansas to bring her to us!

Quynh has a condition so rare that less than 1000 cases are known worldwide!

She has Klippel-Trenawney Syndrome (KTS), which affects her vascular and lymphatic systems producing discolored swelling and "malformations" on both legs. From the waist up she is a beautiful, normal, happy, smart baby girl; from the waist down she looks like she must be suffering from horrible pain and you can't imagine her ever walking. Everything we read prior to her arrival suggested that she would be in significant pain. However, her doctors and we are discovering that she is NOT experiencing pain, and we are all very confident that she WILL walk!

Because KTS is such an unusual condition, no treatment was available anywhere in Vietnam or in any other country but America. We learned that, even in America, only a handful of doctors/hospitals treat her condition. God’s plans and purposes were evident again when we discovered that one of the leading specialists in Quynh’s condition is Dr. Lisa Buckmiller (in the red sweater) at our own Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH). Carol and Quynh spent two weeks with Dr. Buckmiller and her team for MRIs, evaluations, blood tests, and Quynh’s first laser treatments.

As yet another example of God’s grace, Carol was joined in Little Rock by a wonderful new friend of Quynh, Jina Vick. Jina is a Nurse Practitioner from New Mexico who read about Quynh on the internet and began praying, donating, and encouraging us via emails during the months we struggled to get Quynh’s visa. When she heard that Carol had to stay alone with Quynh at a hotel for two weeks in Little Rock, Jina dropped everything, flew to Arkansas to meet Carol and Quynh, and stayed with them, helping care for Quynh, all at her own expense! Isn’t God amazing!! (Thanks Jina!)

WHAT’S NEXT FOR THIS LITTLE GIFT FROM GOD?

Carol and Marvin (founders of VCI) have been Quynh’s temporary guardians during the few months she has been in the USA undergoing testing and treatment. During this time we have asked the Lord to lead us to the family He has chosen to adopt Quynh and gently lead her in the ways of God. He has graciously led us to adopt her ourselves! That wasn’t what we expected God to do in the beginning, but we feel blessed to have the privilege. Since many of us have known her as Quynh for these past eight months, we have chosen to give her the name Kinsey Quynh Harlan, but continue to call her Quynh. For those who are interested, the name Kinsey means The King’s Victory; Quynh means Night-blooming Flower.

THE JOURNEY IS JUST BEGINNING FOR QUYNH. Carol and I have nine children and are directing a ministry of international adoption and compassionate aid. It is easy to feel overwhelmed at all God is doing! We see more clearly than ever that we need the ongoing love and support of the body of Christ.

As HE does so often, God is sweeping us off our feet and carrying us along in amazing adventure that is HIS will for our lives! None of us can begin to fathom the depths of HIS love and breadth of HIS plans and purposes for HIS children and HIS creation!

HE is doing big things; HE has brought us into HIS plans; and we hope you will pray about whether GOD may want to bring you in on it also...

Thank you for praying, giving, caring, and being a part of Quynh's adventurous (!) life.

Gratefully,

Marvin and Carol Harlan and family

CHALLENGES

THESE PICTURES GIVE A GLIMPSE OF THE REASONS WE REJOICE EACH DAY AS QUYNH MAKES PROGRESS TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE!
OUR LITTLE GAL FACES MANY CHALLENGES WITH COURAGE AND DETERMINATION...

AFTER A CAREFUL BATH, SHE BEGINS HER WARDROBE WITH CAREFULLY SIZED PROSTHETIC SLEEVES (WHICH SHE HAS DECIDED IS "HER JOB" TO PUT ON:). THEY ARE MUCH LIKE WEARING A "WET SUIT" ALL DAY. THEY ALSO ACT AS A COMPRESSION GARMENT, AS HER LEGS SWELL FREQUENTLY. AND,... THEY ARE A GOOD PROTECTOR FROM SUCH HAZARDS AS "CARL THE CAT", AND EAGER LOVIN' SIBLINGS!

IT'S SUCH A DAILY MIRACLE TO WATCH HER ADAPT, AND WE WANTED TO SHARE THE CHALLENGES, AS WELL AS THE JOYS, WITH THOSE WHO LOVE HER...

SOMETMES WE JUST NEED TO TRUST AND TAKE THAT NEXT STEP...

I may not be there yet, but I'm closer than I was yesterday....

AND THE MUCH ANTICIPATED REWARD....