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HelpRe: acg's Genetic CAF ROUND 3
in reply to a message by acg233
38/40! Thanks!
UN: Sieglinde
LN: Holst
DH: Marten Frederik Johannes Holst (32)
DW: Isadora Niamh Alexandra Holst (29)
DS: Jasper Finlay Holst (5)
DS/DS/DS: Thomas Alexander / Timothy Doyle / Trevelyan Robert (3)
DD: Jacinthe “Janis” Marjolijn
Is it just me, or am I getting old? Either way, it definitely seems this way after a family discussion resulted in the adoption of Janis (full name Jacinthe), a ten year old girl from rural China. With four boys in the house, we all decided that a girl would be a nice addition to the family. Fenella knew an old friend from school called Evelyn who managed a Chinese adoption agency (she is an expat in Beijing), so it made sense to adopt a daughter from there, hence Janis’ arrival.
Janis is ten years old, and is incredibly quiet, peaceful and above all, sweet. Her chin-length thick black hair and dark eyes have attracted quite a lot of good attention when we go out; she is just beautiful. Initially, Marten and I were apprehensive about adopting Janis, as she would have to adapt to a completely new environment from her own, but she is managing just fine. On multiple occasions, her quiet nature has led us into thinking that she was having a substantial amount of difficulty fitting in, but she has assured us that she is doing well. With all four of our biological children learning to be bilingual in both Dutch and English, we are encouraging Janis to be the same. However, we are aware of her limits and encourage her just to learn Dutch if it is too much, which is what she has been doing for the time being. She is very much into mainstream pop music but is a fantastic drawer, drawing cartoon characters that look like those found in Chinese comics. Now we joke that we need to buy another fridge to stick all of her drawings on!
Having Janis in the family along with four boys and a sister has meant that our house has once again become too small. Initially Amsterdam seemed like too small a city to live in and at one stage we considered moving to Adelaide, but seeing as though Janis is learning Dutch we thought that this would be too much of a jump. We were fortunate enough to have found another large house in the outer suburbs of Amsterdam that suits us perfectly. It is surrounded by trees and Gus and Asha still have a backyard, but unfortunately it is not as big as the first in order to make room for more bedrooms and living space. Fenella has completed her university degree and has thoughtfully decided to stay longer to help me look after the children, as I am desperate to get back into the workforce. I consider it to be quite funny that Fenella was never really a fan of children up until now, where she is helping take care of five of them!
Jasper is still the funny, friendly and sometimes feisty child that he has always been. He absolutely loves Janis and she enjoys teaching him how to draw, which he has been trying his hardest at. He has started kindergarten and will start primary school next year at a local school. The ‘T triplets’, Thomas, Timothy and Trevelyan all have very similar personalities, easy-going, smiley and quite smart. Janis loves being a big sister to them and invites her friends over to play with them saying “They’re not dolls, they’re babies”. Pretty funny, when you think about it.
I’m still a graphic designer and Marten is still an architect and we are working as much as possible to provide for our growing family. Anyway, having mentioned work, I must get back to it! Hope to return with good news!
UN: Sieglinde
LN: Holst
DH: Marten Frederik Johannes Holst (32)
DW: Isadora Niamh Alexandra Holst (29)
DS: Jasper Finlay Holst (5)
DS/DS/DS: Thomas Alexander / Timothy Doyle / Trevelyan Robert (3)
DD: Jacinthe “Janis” Marjolijn
Is it just me, or am I getting old? Either way, it definitely seems this way after a family discussion resulted in the adoption of Janis (full name Jacinthe), a ten year old girl from rural China. With four boys in the house, we all decided that a girl would be a nice addition to the family. Fenella knew an old friend from school called Evelyn who managed a Chinese adoption agency (she is an expat in Beijing), so it made sense to adopt a daughter from there, hence Janis’ arrival.
Janis is ten years old, and is incredibly quiet, peaceful and above all, sweet. Her chin-length thick black hair and dark eyes have attracted quite a lot of good attention when we go out; she is just beautiful. Initially, Marten and I were apprehensive about adopting Janis, as she would have to adapt to a completely new environment from her own, but she is managing just fine. On multiple occasions, her quiet nature has led us into thinking that she was having a substantial amount of difficulty fitting in, but she has assured us that she is doing well. With all four of our biological children learning to be bilingual in both Dutch and English, we are encouraging Janis to be the same. However, we are aware of her limits and encourage her just to learn Dutch if it is too much, which is what she has been doing for the time being. She is very much into mainstream pop music but is a fantastic drawer, drawing cartoon characters that look like those found in Chinese comics. Now we joke that we need to buy another fridge to stick all of her drawings on!
Having Janis in the family along with four boys and a sister has meant that our house has once again become too small. Initially Amsterdam seemed like too small a city to live in and at one stage we considered moving to Adelaide, but seeing as though Janis is learning Dutch we thought that this would be too much of a jump. We were fortunate enough to have found another large house in the outer suburbs of Amsterdam that suits us perfectly. It is surrounded by trees and Gus and Asha still have a backyard, but unfortunately it is not as big as the first in order to make room for more bedrooms and living space. Fenella has completed her university degree and has thoughtfully decided to stay longer to help me look after the children, as I am desperate to get back into the workforce. I consider it to be quite funny that Fenella was never really a fan of children up until now, where she is helping take care of five of them!
Jasper is still the funny, friendly and sometimes feisty child that he has always been. He absolutely loves Janis and she enjoys teaching him how to draw, which he has been trying his hardest at. He has started kindergarten and will start primary school next year at a local school. The ‘T triplets’, Thomas, Timothy and Trevelyan all have very similar personalities, easy-going, smiley and quite smart. Janis loves being a big sister to them and invites her friends over to play with them saying “They’re not dolls, they’re babies”. Pretty funny, when you think about it.
I’m still a graphic designer and Marten is still an architect and we are working as much as possible to provide for our growing family. Anyway, having mentioned work, I must get back to it! Hope to return with good news!
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