Tuesday, March 29, 2005 – the beginning of this story. Jason, our foster son of over a year, left as quickly as he had arrived. At what should have been a routine update hearing, the judge transferred to Jason’s case had unexpectedly ruled that Jason would be returned to his birth family permanently, that very day. This news was relayed to us at 1:00 p.m. Jason left our home for the last time at 4:00 p.m. that afternoon. Lance and I had never felt such loss and emptiness since my mother left this life eight years prior. After two months of grieving and fading hope that Jason’s birth family would have a change of heart, we initiated the process of adopting a child from China. A child no one but our heavenly father could take from us. What started as an anticipated eight month wait slowly grew longer as each month passed.

In the meantime, on October 17, 2006, Lance received a call from CPS about another little boy, one who had been in foster care since he was three weeks old and would soon be available for adoption. I had just arrived in Denver after a long day of travel when I got this news from Lance. Many who know the story of Jason’s arrival recall that CPS called us while I was on a business trip in San Francisco. On both of these long distance phone calls with Lance, I knew from the tone in his voice that we would not be able to say no to CPS. Luke moved in on November 6, 2006 after two weeks of visitation with us to ease his transition into our home from the only other home he had ever known. His adoption hearing is presently scheduled for October 10, 2007 (2-3 weeks after we return home from China).

On July 6, 2007, we received our referral for Yang Xi Zi Qing. True to form, I was off-island on a business trip (thankfully only Kona this time), so Lance and Luke got to pick up our referral package from China. We couldn’t be happier. Our long awaited daughter (as much as we love our boys) is on her way!

The 411 on Luke

Luke turns two this year. He was born August 26, 2005. His given name at birth was Kaleo`okalani. Literal translation for our malihini friends – the voice of the heaven. We plan to keep this as his middle name, something given him by his birth parents. We gave him the name Luke as it really seemed to suit him and we already have Crabbe cousins named Matthew and Mark, so thought we would finish that portion of the gospels with our newest addition.

Luke is tiny for his age but has a huge, extraordinary personality. His smile can light a room, and everywhere we go, he acts as if he is running for mayor! True to his Hawaiian name, his voice is used often, usually at a high decibel level. We sometimes jokingly call him Kaleonui. Luke started off as my `opihi child (aka velcro baby) but has started to really assert his independence. He has an amazing sense of humor, is very expressive and playful. He loves being outdoors, playing with cousin Kiana and/or the great kids who live on our street. Needless to say, he has captured our hearts. We love him more than we could ever imagine.