Grandpa Bob

Beth & Grandpa - Christmas 2004


Good morning friends and family ~ I am writing today to ask for prayers for peace and comfort for our family. My Grandpa Hatcher (85) passed away early Saturday morning, Dec. 15, with his four daughters at his side. We are in the midst of a very emotion season. Though our family is strong in faith and love and will support each other through this challenge, we could use your prayers.

A few weeks ago we took Hope to meet Grandpa Bob. I didn't write about it then because it was such an emotional visit for us. Now, I'm so thankful we went. Here are a couple photos from that afternoon.




I'll write more about Grandpa soon. I just need some time to collect my thoughts. We'll have our family together today for the visitation and tomorrow for his funeral. Please keep us close at heart.

Blessings everyone -Beth

OK - one more pic - I wish I hadn't been in the middle of talking during this shot, but the look on Hope's face is priceless. She loves her great-grandpa. It looks as if Grandpa has turned his head to look at his new great-granddaughter, too. Such a tender moment.

18 mo. today!

Happy 1/2 birthday Hope! I can't let today slip away without writing about this milestone. It is amazing to think about everything that has happened over these past 18 months in the life of little Lin Ke Xuan to bring her to her current home and her forever family. I wouldn't even know where to begin if I was to attempt to describe her journey. She has seen and experienced more in her short life than many will in a lifetime. As we look to the near future and the birth of God's gift to the world, I can't help but rejoice in His special gift of Hope in our lives as well. I'll forever be in awe of our Lord's amazing works, His plan for our Savior, and the very special miracle of our new daughter.

Here is a fun statistic. We'll have more information after her 18 mo. check-up, but for now (thanks to Grandpa) we have this to share:

When Hope came home and saw her doctor here on June 19, she was 29 inches long.

Thanksgiving week, Hope was 30 1/4 inches tall. You can see here that Hope maybe isn't standing as tall as she could be. She hasn't grown much taller in the last 6 months, but it will be interesting to see what she weighs. She's pretty much in 18 mo. clothes now and when she came home she was wearing a lot of 9 mo. outfits.

This was Lin Ke Xuan on "Gotcha Day."

Here is Hope KeXuan Charlotte now!

What a change in 6 months! Tears to tender smiles. Barrettes to hair bows. Fear and sadness to contentment and curiousity. One of China's "lost daughters" to our daughter. We love you Hope!

Blessings everyone - Beth

Nicholas William

Proud Auntie, Uncle, and Cousin!!!

Thanksgiving Week

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving week. The masses have spoken...and YES, I realize that I've not posted an update since before we went up north. Sorry 'bout that.

We had a great week. This was our first trip (for more than just a weekend) with Hope since we've been home. She travelled very well. She was happy to see Grandma and Grandpa when we arrived and I got the slight impression that they may have missed her for the week before. :) We had a night of sleep adjustment trouble, but once we overcame that obstacle, she slept great for the rest of the week. I was also AMAZED at how well Hope did with keeping busy during the week. We don't have a very big vehicle, so after we packed clothes, food, and necessities, we didn't have much room for toys. We were able to bring a few, but nowhere near what Hope is used to having at home. She was so wonderful! She played mostly with her stacking cups (who knew such a simple idea would prompt so much creativity?) and kept busy watching the birds out the window all week. She also had Grandpa at her disposal since he was on crutches and unable to venture out too far. Daddy was hunting on his own for most of the week. No deer for Daddy this year, but he had a lot of fun trekking through the woods.

So, we had a lovely holiday. Yummy turkey was savored by all. We missed Andria this year, but it sure was nice to see Uncle Mark for a few days. Hopefully we'll all be together for Christmas in a couple weeks.

Other big news for the Heutmaker Family??? WE HAVE A NEW NEPHEW!!! Nicholas William was born on Dec. 1, weighs in at 6 lbs. 9 oz., and measures 19 inches long. He is such a blessing. We are all so thankful that Mom and baby are doing well, Daddy is proud as ever, and big brother Mitchell seems to be taking it all in stride. I'll post photos of little Nicholas as soon as we have some...BAD Aunt Beth forgot her camera when we went to the hospital on Sunday. We'll have some soon. Somebody will come though for us. :)

Until then, here are some recent shots of Hope from our week up in the great north woods.

Hope discovered Cheerios with milk. Gone are the days of dry cereal. Everything tastes better with "dip" (a.k.a. milk, katchup, BBQ sauce, syrup, whatever is handy).

Hope's fist view of Lake Superior from the visitor's center just west of Ashland. VERY interesting place to visit if you're ever up in the area. Fun trivia: If I remember correctly, that building is the tallest and only 5 story building in Bayfield county. :)

Hope met Sarah and had fun playing at her house for the afternoon. Hope also met Zoe (Sarah's dog) and tried to give her some apple juice. It was sort of funny because we were warned about Zoe being big and noisy. She barked until we were in view and able to pet her and then her tongue just wouldn't quit. Well, those who know us, know that we have 120 lb. Ella, so Zoe wasn't intimidating in the least. Hope had a great time with her.


Hope also was able to meet Wendy, Kyra, and baby Max. Wendy was one of my college roommates and I just love her dearly. She is also Mom to Kyra and Max. We didn't get to see her husband Mark this time. Hopefully we'll be able to catch him on the next trip. You should have seen the girls play! They had such a blast. It was just a joy to be on the sidelines to watch the show for the night.

Hello? Hope's favorite toys of the week -- Cell phone? Check. Purse? Check. Cups? Check. Other purse? Check. She often tried to carry her ball around with everything too. Pretty cute. :)



How about those Packers?! Pretty fantastic game on Thanksgiving day! It looks in these photos as if Hope has great words of wisdom for the guys on the field. She's taking her football very seriously. :) We don't need to talk about the loss to the Cowboys last week. Let's just look ahead, hope for healthy players and a good end to the season. Go Pack Go!


Hope was sure happy to see Uncle Mark. She had a fun time playing with him and keeping his "cup" full for the weekend.


1st taste of pumpkin pie.

Geocaching - We were on the hunt for #300. I think we actually found 4 that afternoon so we now have a total of 303 caches in our log. Like the orange? No sense taking any chances. :)



Lots of love...Beth

P.S. Stay warm everyone. Sounds like more snow is on the way.

Hello Grandma & Grandpa

So, Daddy has been home with Hope this week. He's loving it, but we're still missing Grandma and Grandpa Perry. We thought they might like to see some photos to help them through their Hope withdrawal until Sunday afternoon when we make it to the great north woods for the Thanksgiving holiday. Here are some cute ones. Enjoy.

This is a photo of one of Hope's duties last week. All the wood needed to be moved across the yard and stacked under the tarp before the snowfall. She seemed to have a great time in spite of a scratched up lip from tripping and landing with her face on the piece she was carrying at the moment. She looked pretty tough when I got there to pick her up after work, but it didn't seem to phase her a whole lot. You can see the scrape in some of the photos. It has healed nicely. (Rest easy Grandma.)

What in the world is this stuff??? Hope's first snow:


So, if we're going to have snow, we must have boots. ;) We thought it best to try them on in the house and practice walking. They are a little big, but she'll get the hang of it I think. She sure was having a good time with them. She certainly didn't want them off when it was time for p.j.'s and bed. You'll of course notice the purse. This girl loves to accessorize. We picked up that purse at a garage sale this summer and she plays with it every day. Gotta love the favorite toys that cost a quarter! ;)



I went in one night this week to check on Hope like I always do before I go to bed. This is what I found. Isn't she sweet?

Here is our Sunday football fan. GO PACK GO!!! I won't say too much about last week's game since I know I have many MN fan friends who read this blog. I'll just mention that it was a pretty glorious game. I'd say we Packer fans were due for a season like this against the Vikes. K...I'm done. ;)


We went out with the tripod and took some family photos a couple weekends ago. You can see the trees still had leaves. It was a gorgeous evening and we had so much fun. Here are a few of the smiles we captured.


We'd like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! We will be out of blogging commission for the week (I think?) so we'll just say now that we feel so blessed to call you our family and friends. And, especially this year, we are thankful for our beautiful little girl. She is incredible. Have a fantastic time recounting your blessings next week. We're wishing you quiet moments of wonder, sweet family memories, and many many more years of thankfulness to come.

God bless ~ Beth, Ron, & Hope

There are no words adequate ~

Thank you to all of our friends, family, and fellow bloggers who have been praying for our friend Tom. I need to write now and ask for prayers for his family and friends. Tom passed away last night. Tom was an incredible man whose spirit touched so many. You are welcome to visit his Caring Bridge Site to read his story and comments from those who loved him. His legacy will continue! What an amazing testimony!

Please, at this time, also say prayers for all workers in the building trades. I know that the electricians in the metro area have been deeply affected by this tragedy. I also know that other union organizations have been touched by Tom's experience as well. We need to pray that they are blessed with strength as they work through the loss of their "brother." We are reminded during this time, that the work of these men and women is sometimes dangerous. Please pray for their safety everyday, that they may return home to their families and loved ones every evening.

Gods blessings and peace ~ Beth

We love autumn!

I've had these photos ready to go and I thought I'd better get them uploaded before the snow flies. I can't believe winter is almost here. It seems like just yesterday that we were in China dripping for the humidity.

Hope is from a very tropical area in southern China. I wondered what she'd think of fall here in the midwest. How do you think she feels about it? :) I can't wait to see what she thinks of her first winter. Snow is going to be so much fun!

LEAVES!




Other news...Hope now has her two eye-teeth. The top right tooth poked through on Oct. 27. The top left appeared today! Now we have to work on the bottom two.

Finally, I can't leave this post without mentioning Tom. Please Pray!