There's No Place Like Home

[DaisyD]

I think they said one of the churches paid for it...

[jegfile]

They are very rich. They have never fundraised for any of their adoptions and have managed to pay (I think) for the very expensive educations of their 5 bio children. Jean's mother left them money for adoption when she passed away and Jim has a very, very good job.I liked the fact that financially, they went into adoption with their eyes open and also had the $$ to let their kids pursue a few of their interests. Sarah is good at gymnastics and some of the younger children like horseback riding.

[alexandracabot]

Did the husband get disbarred in MN? I did a Google search to see what the husband's job was and it looks like somebody named James Mulvahil was disbarred for misappropriating client funds and trying to hide it.

Edited March 16, 2016 by alexandracabot

[Queen Of Hearts]

57 minutes ago, alexandracabot said:

Did the husband get disbarred in MN? I did a Google search to see what the husband's job was and it looks like somebody named James Mulvahil was disbarred for misappropriating client funds and trying to hide it.

Yep, that's him.

Jean alluded to it in a blog post but (in this case, understandably) she sort of put a positive PR spin on it.  http://theresnoplacelikehome-family.blogspot.com/2009/09/pray-for-your-husband.html

Edited March 16, 2016 by Queen Of Hearts

[jegfile]

I had no idea! That kinda put a new spin on Jim and Jean's unwavering child collecting. They might be trying to make up for past mistakes and there just are never enough adopted children.

[jakesykora]

20 hours ago, SummerRocks said:

We are planning a trip to Florida and for kicks I checked the admission price for Legoland Florida ... how rich are these people?! A family of 4 seems expensive to me and I do not consider us poor at all, let away a family of 16.

 

Or is there some secret discount I am not aware of? Anyone know? 

There are also homeschool days that are very cheap - $12.50 a child, which obviously makes a huge difference and every Monday/Thursday/Friday in January and February, and the first Mondays in March. 

And there are also enough of them that they even qualify as a school group anyway, so...that may give them other options.

http://www.legoland.com/florida/planning-your-visit/groups-parties/school-group-programs/home-school-days/

[Queen Of Hearts]

On 3/16/2016 at 2:50 PM, jegfile said:

I had no idea! That kinda put a new spin on Jim and Jean's unwavering child collecting. They might be trying to make up for past mistakes and there just are never enough adopted children.

That also isn't Jim's only run-in with the law.  In 2008, Jim spent the night in jail... Jean writes that it is because a meter maid was unreasonable but I suspect Jim must have been belligerent or behaving in such a way that the meter maid felt threatened.  Police just don't arrest someone and make them spend the night in jail for no reason!

http://theresnoplacelikehome-family.blogspot.com/2009/06/please-please-pray-for-us-and-when-bad.html

[jegfile]

40 minutes ago, Queen Of Hearts said:

That also isn't Jim's only run-in with the law.  In 2008, Jim spent the night in jail... Jean writes that it is because a meter maid was unreasonable but I suspect Jim must have been belligerent or behaving in such a way that the meter maid felt threatened.  Police just don't arrest someone and make them spend the night in jail for no reason!

http://theresnoplacelikehome-family.blogspot.com/2009/06/please-please-pray-for-us-and-when-bad.html

It makes me wonder how I've managed to keep out of jail lo these 42 years! The sisters of course are Ellie and Emma... 

[alexandracabot]

There's a new post up that's essentially an "adoption story." Pretty normal stuff, except she posts every kid's name except for Joy/Jenny's, who she just calls a "10-year-old girl." Wtf is going on with that poor child's name?

[Rubaiyat]

I'm sure this has already been asked, but WTH is up with that font?!?  Holy crap is that difficult to wade through!  

Are embezzlement and an overnight at the police station as common and minor as she makes them sound, or am I just incredibly naive?  

That's all I've got tonight, other than a deep anxiety in the pit of my stomach from even thinking about trying to give that many children the intensive post-adoption care (nevemind attention and bonding) they need!  Dude.  

Apparently I'm being less than sympathetic or understanding tonight.  Sorry.  

[Queen Of Hearts]

Well, Jean has FINALLY acknowledged "Jennifer Joy" (her new name, because it was apparently inconvenient for them to pronounce Joey's name clearly enough as to not confuse Joy - and they always wanted to name a kid Jenny).  I find it interesting that in one of the comments someone said they were glad that her previous parents didn't disrupt the adoption in China and, instead, brought her home so she could be given a new home here.  For those who said they thought Joy looked familiar, I suspect you may be right... somewhere out there I bet a blogger wrote about adopting her.  

http://theresnoplacelikehome-family.blogspot.com/2016/04/meet-jenny.html

[alexandracabot]

3 hours ago, Queen Of Hearts said:

Well, Jean has FINALLY acknowledged "Jennifer Joy" (her new name, because it was apparently inconvenient for them to pronounce Joey's name clearly enough as to not confuse Joy - and they always wanted to name a kid Jenny).  I find it interesting that in one of the comments someone said they were glad that her previous parents didn't disrupt the adoption in China and, instead, brought her home so she could be given a new home here.  For those who said they thought Joy looked familiar, I suspect you may be right... somewhere out there I bet a blogger wrote about adopting her.  

http://theresnoplacelikehome-family.blogspot.com/2016/04/meet-jenny.html

That "at least just get them out of China" logic is so troublesome.

I know so many international adoptees that feel conflicted about their adoption, and even those who regret it, despite being adopted when they were very young and deeply loved by the family that brought them home. I can only imagine what it would be like if you were adopted as an older child, taken away from a country you knew, and then given away like you were worthless. I would guess you might wish you had been left in the country you knew and loved with the friends and caretakers who you knew and loved. (So many older orphans form serious bonds with their caretakers.)

[Georgiana]

5 hours ago, Queen Of Hearts said:

Well, Jean has FINALLY acknowledged "Jennifer Joy" (her new name, because it was apparently inconvenient for them to pronounce Joey's name clearly enough as to not confuse Joy - and they always wanted to name a kid Jenny).  I find it interesting that in one of the comments someone said they were glad that her previous parents didn't disrupt the adoption in China and, instead, brought her home so she could be given a new home here.  For those who said they thought Joy looked familiar, I suspect you may be right... somewhere out there I bet a blogger wrote about adopting her.  

http://theresnoplacelikehome-family.blogspot.com/2016/04/meet-jenny.html

If you are trying to sound out "Joey" and "Joy" using Mandarin phonetics, they would be pronounced the same (Zhou-yi), so to kids with a native Mandarin background, they may not have been able to hear the difference distinctly (and some of the siblings may not be able to say them differently).  It's not confusing to us, but I can see that it might be more of an issue in their house, and especially to any new kids.

I just wish they would leave them with their Chinese names or at least give them a name that is similar.  

[SummerRocks]

Matts wife Caitlin is visibly pregnant in the latest family picture. Maybe I missed the announcement ... I wonder if we are going to see if their baby will be as special to Jean as Katie's two girls. 

Also ... the update about Jenny/Joy. So she was in an orphanage in China for 9 years. Jean asks to respect her privacy - fair enough. I am still convinced I have seen Jenny/Joy on a blog somewhere before.

People talk about the blog being hacked in the comments, I missed it - wish I did not, ha! 

 

Edit; in the latest family pic the blonde girl behind Sarah and Mia isn't that the girlfriend of one of the boys? There was a post a long time ago about how the relationship ended.

Edited May 2, 2016 by SummerRocks

[Queen Of Hearts]

As far as I know, Jean never made an announcement about the son and daughter-in-law expecting.  Guess I'm not shocked about that. 

I'm trying to figure out if the mystery blond girl is the ex-fiance or a new girl.  I'm thinking she may be new.

Re: the hacking... you didn't miss much. Someone kept posting that an invoice was due.  

I liked how most of the commenters asked Jean to be more specific, answer questions when asked, etc.  I guess er fans have some of the same frustrations with her blog as we do.

[alexandracabot]

God I hope she changes the font.

[dianapavelovna]

That is definitely Kelly, Billy's longtime girlfriend/fiancee. I am not surprised she is back: she is mentioned as his girlfriend on the blog as far back as 2009, and according to the engagement post last year, they bought a house together. 

I feel like Jean had mentioned that Matt & Caitlin are expecting, but now I can't find it anywhere, shrug.

I think Jean's newfound/reinvigorated interest in "advocacy" is her way of coping with the fact that their adoption days are definitely done.

Edited May 3, 2016 by dianapavelovna

[iheartchacos]

Still don't understand how they were allowed to not only adopt all those children...but also so close together.

[Queen Of Hearts]

11 hours ago, iheartchacos said:

Still don't understand how they were allowed to not only adopt all those children...but also so close together.

It seems from reading these blogs by the child collectors that if you are willing to adopt older kids with disabilities (and especially if you have $$$) China and the agencies are all too happy to oblige!  Sad.  But I will say this: for as much as Jean has been annoying me with her lack of transparency as of late, I do think those kids have been given a good life with good medical care and love.  Granted, they are basically living in an orphanage, but I still think they have a good quality of life and certainly are receiving better medical care than had they stayed in China.  

[Toothfairy]

On Tuesday, May 03, 2016 at 11:28 PM, iheartchacos said:

Still don't understand how they were allowed to not only adopt all those children...but also so close together.

$$$$$ International adoption is a money making business. 

[iheartchacos]

Anyone come across Joy yet? I fell down the Reece's Rainbow success stories hole; didn't see her thought. I hope she's adjust well.

Also, I don't think Jean has ever admitted to real emotional issues in adoption; her last post makes mention of some kids with RAD. I'd love for her to write some about it and what's worked for them.

[alexandracabot]

8 hours ago, iheartchacos said:

Anyone come across Joy yet? I fell down the Reece's Rainbow success stories hole; didn't see her thought. I hope she's adjust well.

Also, I don't think Jean has ever admitted to real emotional issues in adoption; her last post makes mention of some kids with RAD. I'd love for her to write some about it and what's worked for them.

I know, seriously. There's a tasteful way to write about how your family deals with kids with RAD and other disorders (without violating kids' privacy) that would probably be actually helpful to other families. Instead she posts "LOOK AT ALL THESE PUPPIES!!!!!" 

[DutchMommy]

On 3 mei 2016 at 4:48 AM, dianapavelovna said:

That is definitely Kelly, Billy's longtime girlfriend/fiancee. I am not surprised she is back: she is mentioned as his girlfriend on the blog as far back as 2009, and according to the engagement post last year, they bought a house together. 

I feel like Jean had mentioned that Matt & Caitlin are expecting, but now I can't find it anywhere, shrug.

I think Jean's newfound/reinvigorated interest in "advocacy" is her way of coping with the fact that their adoption days are definitely done.

It's in the post from May 14th, this year. So they just announced recently, no idea why.

[lilwriter85]

I think Jean avoids writing about deep emotional issues because she wants her readers to think everything is fine and dandy most of the time. It's been awhile she wrote about their cats, the kids looked like they had the puppy place.

On a sidenote, it had been awhile since I read Jean's blog. I was surprised in that birthday post that the son-in-law Andrew is 38. I think he looks younger than that. I noticed she mentioned a baby shower in the birthday post, I wonder it could have been for Matt's wife Caitlin. Count me in as another person who thought that she didn't announce a pregnancy. But I wonder if Matt and Caitlin have told Jean not to blog about them too much for privacy reasons.

[SummerRocks]

11 hours ago, iheartchacos said:

Anyone come across Joy yet?

I have been looking ... no such luck yet. Since we don't really get any more info on how Joy fits into the Mulvahill family, I assume we just have to believe everything is going great. 

25 minutes ago, lilwriter85 said:

 But I wonder if Matt and Caitlin have told Jean not to blog about them too much for privacy reasons.

This or ... well ... Matt is not the golden child like Katie seems to be. 

 

 

I can't wait till Sarah is a few years older and -even though we have been told now several times that Sarah would love to be younger- she will start showing interest in boys (or uhh girls - openminded!) Where is she even going to meet someone to fall in love with?