The Bros go to China

The Stratford Landing Odyssey of the Mind Teams

2011-05-11T10:13:00.000-07:00

Lukas with his favorite Thinkfun games!

2011-05-11T10:10:00.000-07:00

The Blizzard of 2010

2010-02-06T16:28:00.000-08:00

Scenes from outside, inside, and above our new house during the 28 inches or so of snow, as well as from the neighborhood sledding hill. (Click on a picture to get a bigger view.)

Holiday Season

2007-12-16T20:12:00.000-08:00

Fall

2007-12-16T19:40:00.000-08:00

It's "Bring Your Sleeping Daughter to Work Day" at the Fool

2007-10-30T06:55:00.000-07:00

Cleaning up, dressing up

2007-10-30T06:39:00.000-07:00

Zoe's birthday

2007-10-30T06:25:00.000-07:00

First days of school

2007-10-30T06:08:00.000-07:00

A lot of the bubbly

2007-10-30T06:02:00.000-07:00

Bro-kids, Summer 2007

2007-08-06T13:45:00.000-07:00

Summer 2007

2007-08-06T04:10:00.000-07:00

Noelle graduates from Tauxemont

2007-08-06T03:55:00.000-07:00

Noelle at cheerleading camp

2007-05-21T08:32:00.000-07:00

Noelle's fan club (all that fan-ning wore Zoe out)

Spring 2007

2007-05-21T08:14:00.000-07:00

A visit from Alex, Blake, and Dane

2007-05-21T07:52:00.000-07:00

Lukas scores his first goal

2007-05-21T07:27:00.000-07:00

It was also the team's first goal of the season (not that we're proud or anything).

Easter and Other Spring Stuff

2007-05-20T12:41:00.000-07:00

Lukas' toothpick eagle

2007-05-20T12:16:00.000-07:00

Lukas was supposed to be sleeping, but he instead created an eagle on his bedroom floor. He has since moved on from his eagle phase to a reptile phase.

Winter 2007

2007-05-20T11:11:00.000-07:00

Oh, Christmas trees

2006-12-15T07:23:00.000-08:00

Annual Motley Fool Camping Adventure

2006-10-10T10:45:00.000-07:00

Summer 2006

2006-10-10T09:42:00.000-07:00

The Bro-kids, Summer 2006

2006-08-31T07:51:00.000-07:00

Noelle's First Ballet Recital

2006-06-17T14:17:00.000-07:00

She's the second on the right.

Lukas Graduates From Tauxemont

2006-06-17T07:50:00.000-07:00

The Bros Visit the Florida Relations

2006-06-17T06:53:00.000-07:00

Zoe's "Finding Ad"

2006-04-17T18:36:00.000-07:00

In China, when a baby is found, an ad is placed in a newspaper in case someone comes forward to claim the child. In many cases, it is accompanied by a picture. Elizabeth read about a service that locates the "finding ads" for adoptive families. The service found Zoe's ad, complete with picture -- the only picture we'll have of Zoe as a newborn.

Easter at Great Falls

2006-04-17T13:13:00.000-07:00

Easter Eve at Aunt Mary's and Uncle Ray's

2006-04-17T12:32:00.000-07:00

Conrad's Flat Stanley Visits The Motley Fool's New Office

2006-04-17T11:38:00.000-07:00

This is Flat Stanley on the grounds of Mt. Vernon, George Washington's estate (you can sorta see the mansion in the background). Our house is just a couple of miles away, on land once owned by Washington.

Spring Break

2006-04-17T10:49:00.000-07:00

Spring Finally Arrives

2006-04-08T11:53:00.000-07:00

Hiking Old Rag Mountain

2006-04-08T11:39:00.000-07:00

Random Winter Thangs

2006-04-08T11:21:00.000-07:00

Snow in Virginia

2006-04-08T10:56:00.000-07:00

Noelle's Fairy Birthday Party

2006-04-08T10:39:00.000-07:00

Robert Meets Dave Barry

2006-01-19T10:30:00.000-08:00

Robert got to meet one of his favorite writers, humorist Dave Barry. He and two other Fools interviewed him from the Fool's radio studio, and then met up with him at a book signing.

Dave was impressed that the Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star devoted an above-the-fold, front-page story to the fact that he chose an idea submitted by Robert and Jocelyn for the 2004 Gift Guide. (This is Dave looking at the paper, which he autographed. The article can be read here: http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2004/122004/12062004/1589044.)

Dave Barry in Fool cap, with Robert and Fool Personal Finance Diva Dayana Yochim (whom Dave, when reacting to one of her articles on his blog, accused of being a man; she set him straight).

2006-01-15T06:19:00.000-08:00

Fall Fun

2005-11-01T13:54:00.000-08:00

Zoe eating cake on her 1st birthday.

Noelle in an autumnal getup.

A basket of Bros

The whole brood

Picking through the pumpkin patch

Herculean efforts at the pumpkin patch

Elizabeth and Zoe at the pumpkin patch

Staying a bit too long at the pumpkin patch

Little Red Riding Hood and her favorite pumpkin

One Hood kissing another Hood

Princess Noelle at her school Halloween party

Robin Hood getting ready to trick-or-treat

It's tradition at The Motley Fool for employees' kids to trick-or-treat Halloween afternoon. Fool co-founder Tom Gardner forgot to bring in candy, so he offered the kids their choice of tea bags or frozen meals.

More trick-or-treating at the Fool.

Piglet enjoys her loot.

Robert dressed up as a member of the Blue man Group(http://www.blueman.com/videoimages/video/ifeellove_h.shtml)

At the Fool Halloween party, Robert won the "Most Uncomfortable Costume" award

Zoe comes to America

2005-09-05T08:29:00.000-07:00

Meet the newest Brokamp: Gao An Qiong was left on the doorstep of the Children's Welfare Institute in Gaoyou City, China, on Oct. 16, 2004, and a doctor estimated that she was born on Oct. 7. Elizabeth met her on Aug. 24 (known as the "gotcha day" in adoption parlance), and we named her Zoe Elaine Qiong Brokamp. Robert met up with the gals on Aug. 30, and we all returned to the U.S. on Sept. 3. When Zoe's Chinese passport was stamped by the immigration official at O'Hare, she officially became a U.S. citizen.

Below are some photos of the adventure (click on the photo for a larger view).

Tiananmen Square
Elizabeth was accompanied by her sister Anne until Robert could fly to China a week later.

The Forbidden City

The Great Wall

Anne on the Great Wall in her Mao hat.

Girls dress up like the empress.

An orphanage employee brings Zoe out to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth and Zoe get to know each other after the "gotcha" moment.
Elizabeth officially agrees to adopt Zoe.

Zoe at the hotel in Nanjing.

Elizabeth and Zoe at the orphanage.

Babies currently at the orphanage. They sleep two to a crib, on bamboo mats.
Elizabeth with Zoe's nanny at the orphanage.

Zoe and her nanny. Each caregiver is responsible for at least six babies.

Zoe slept in the middle crib. Her cribmate, Lauren, is partially visible on the left, with her new mother.
Americans with Chinese babies occasionially draw a crowd.
A well-wisher from Gaoyou, the town in which Zoe's orphanage is located.
Zoe goes for her very first swim.
Robert gives Zoe a bottle in a Chinese health clinic, hours after meeting for the first time. Due to previous adoptees from Zoe's orphanage having measles, the girls had to get blood tests and were quarantined to their hotel rooms for several days.

Meanwhile back in the States, Aunt Mary and Uncle Ray teach Noelle and Lukas how to make the longest noodles in the world.
Want a snack? Try some fried caterpillars or dried bones.

Yum -- live scorpions and gutted turtle.

Elizabeth and Zoe in Guangzhou, the capital of the Guangdong Province.

There's nothing as tasty as tentacles on a stick.

Dad, Mom, and Baby at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou. All adoptions are processed at the U.S. consulate in Guangzhou, so the place was crawling with American couples toting Chinese babies.

Elizabeth and Zoe.

Zoe holds on to the few hairs that are left.

Zoe liked the red couch at the White Swan.

Elizabeth and Zoe take a nap in Hong Kong.

Noelle, Lukas, and Aunt Mary meet Zoe at the airport.

The new family.

We're on our way

2005-08-01T21:02:00.000-07:00

After so many months of waiting, Robert and I are soon going to meet our precious new daughter, Zoe Elaine Qiong Brokamp, born on October 7, 2005 and brought to Gaoyou SWI on October 16. The name "Zoe" means "Life" in Greek and "Elaine" is for Zoe's grandma in Florida. We love to say her name over and over!

The process has been so long but unlike many other families, I haven't documented all of that part (despite the zillions of pieces of formal documentation that were required). I have had the quiet faith that we would meet our daughter when we were meant to -- that, and we have two other very active preschoolers (Lukas and Noelle) who keep us very busy!

We'll travel to get our beautiful little girl in just a few weeks. Finally -- we can't wait.

Elizabeth