On this Thanksgiving Day, I took a minute to reflect on all the blessings we've received throughout this year. I'm thankful for so many things. I'm mostly thankful for my family and friends, for God allowing me to raise His precious children, for my loving husband, and for having the opportunity of traveling to Ethiopia and experiencing my daughter's culture.
I'm especially thankful for God allowing our family to be together on this wonderful day.
May your day be filled with joy and happiness. God bless and Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
New Pictures
I took some new pictures of Anaya yesterday. I'm playing around with photography, when I have time... LOL....
I think these turned out pretty nice... Today, I'm thinking about taking some of the boys.. I'll post them next week.
Mandy starts soccer tomorrow and Anaya on Tuesday. This means that I'll be on the practice field Monday - Thursday for at least an hour and a half every day... So, I'll post when I can...
Monday, November 9, 2009
First School Picture
Just received J.R.'s pre-k pictures for fall. I had to post my favorite for all to see.. He's such a cutie pie.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Bad Blogger!!
I admit I've been a very bad blogger lately. I apologize for not keeping our family blog updated but it's been really difficult to find some "me" time lately. By the time I'm done with homework, baths and dinner it's usually really too late to sit and type about anything. Anyhow here's an update of what our family has been up to:
The girls and I went and visited Aunt Jill for three days in October. Anaya got to meet all the kids and I finally met Gabriel (Oh my goodness what a gorgeous child)!!!
Alexis turned 11 on October 27th.
We have a new puppy, he's a tiny Maltese 12 weeks old and his name is Casper.
Anaya's re-adoption or "domestication of foreign adoption" was completed on November 5th!!! She's officially Anaya and she's officially 10!!!!
Julian has grown about 2 inches in less than six months. He's two years old and is 37 1/2 inches tall and weighs a whooping 38.5 lbs!
J.R. started the Voluntary Pre Kindergarten program, which means he goes to school from 9:00 am and finishes at 12:00 noon. He's working on learning how to write his name!
The kids all took swimming lessons and now all know how to swim, yes, this includes Julian and J.R. Julian is an awesome swimmer, the boy has a mean front stroke! It's really funny to watch him swim, he's super strong and hardly kicks his feet, his upper body just propels him... It's the cutest thing to watch.
Well, that kinda brings everyone up on what's going on... We are very happy that Anaya has blended so well with the family and hasn't had any issues adjusting to us. We are all in awe of how she's done. She's almost at grade level and is enjoying everything moment of everyday!
I promise to post some pictures sometime next week. I even have a cute little video of Julian and J.R. swimming!
The girls and I went and visited Aunt Jill for three days in October. Anaya got to meet all the kids and I finally met Gabriel (Oh my goodness what a gorgeous child)!!!
Alexis turned 11 on October 27th.
We have a new puppy, he's a tiny Maltese 12 weeks old and his name is Casper.
Anaya's re-adoption or "domestication of foreign adoption" was completed on November 5th!!! She's officially Anaya and she's officially 10!!!!
Julian has grown about 2 inches in less than six months. He's two years old and is 37 1/2 inches tall and weighs a whooping 38.5 lbs!
J.R. started the Voluntary Pre Kindergarten program, which means he goes to school from 9:00 am and finishes at 12:00 noon. He's working on learning how to write his name!
The kids all took swimming lessons and now all know how to swim, yes, this includes Julian and J.R. Julian is an awesome swimmer, the boy has a mean front stroke! It's really funny to watch him swim, he's super strong and hardly kicks his feet, his upper body just propels him... It's the cutest thing to watch.
Well, that kinda brings everyone up on what's going on... We are very happy that Anaya has blended so well with the family and hasn't had any issues adjusting to us. We are all in awe of how she's done. She's almost at grade level and is enjoying everything moment of everyday!
I promise to post some pictures sometime next week. I even have a cute little video of Julian and J.R. swimming!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
School Update
My very courageous daughter has made it through her fourth day of school. This child does not cease to amaze me in so many ways. She went to school on Monday with her uniform shirt nicely pressed (as she requested) she brushed her hair just so making sure all her curls were perfectly placed. I took her into the school's administrative office meet with the student counselor and proceeded to her classroom. She was as nervous as a ten year old who is entering unchartered waters would be.
We entered her 3rd grade classroom while the class was in the middle of "circle time". The counselor opened the door and the room became very quiet. The counselor announced her arrival, the teacher welcomed Anaya and Anaya proceeded to say "hello everyone". She is amazing!!!!
Today was her fourth day of school and her second week with a private tutor. She LOVES school, her teacher and her new friends. She floats around the house singing and dancing. Yesterday, she asked me if I had any cards... I didn't understand what she meant by cards so I asked her what she meant. She asked for a card so she could give it to her teacher and write some things she was feeling. (Can you say AMAZING CHILD???) I had several blank greeting cards and gave her one. She wrote IN ENGLISH to her teacher, she thanked her for being so nice to her and said she was lucky to have her as her first American teacher.
I'm in awe of what God has given our family. Yes, there are some challenges we are working on helping her with. But, overall, everything seems to be falling into place.
I just want everyone out there to know that adopting an older child does have its challenges but the rewards are so much greater than the challenges! I really never thought that her transition would happen so smoothly. I encourage anyone thinking of adopting an older child to really consider it. These children deserve forever families that will love them unconditionally.
We entered her 3rd grade classroom while the class was in the middle of "circle time". The counselor opened the door and the room became very quiet. The counselor announced her arrival, the teacher welcomed Anaya and Anaya proceeded to say "hello everyone". She is amazing!!!!
Today was her fourth day of school and her second week with a private tutor. She LOVES school, her teacher and her new friends. She floats around the house singing and dancing. Yesterday, she asked me if I had any cards... I didn't understand what she meant by cards so I asked her what she meant. She asked for a card so she could give it to her teacher and write some things she was feeling. (Can you say AMAZING CHILD???) I had several blank greeting cards and gave her one. She wrote IN ENGLISH to her teacher, she thanked her for being so nice to her and said she was lucky to have her as her first American teacher.
I'm in awe of what God has given our family. Yes, there are some challenges we are working on helping her with. But, overall, everything seems to be falling into place.
I just want everyone out there to know that adopting an older child does have its challenges but the rewards are so much greater than the challenges! I really never thought that her transition would happen so smoothly. I encourage anyone thinking of adopting an older child to really consider it. These children deserve forever families that will love them unconditionally.
Monday, September 28, 2009
NYC
We had an amazing weekend with the girls in NYC. We met up with one of Anaya's closest friends from Layla House. Her name is Beza and she's been home with her family for a year now. This precious young lady is not only beautiful but sweet and kind. It made my weekend to see how much they loved each other. They had not seen each other since Beza left last year. I don't think they thought they would ever see each other again, but they will be able to see each other at least once or twice a year. Beza's grandmother lives very close to us and they visit her during the holidays. Seeing the girls enjoy each other's company was just fantastic. We meet up at the condo then had lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen and on to Dillan's Candy Shop. They truly had a wonderful time.
The next day we went to see the Lion King on Broadway. We took the girls to Time Square and visited that amazing Toys R Us with a great big ferris wheel smack in the center of it. After the play we took them to dinner.
We had a wonderful trip but the best and most memorable part was spending time with Beza and her amazing family. Thanks guys for meeting up with us it was great to meet you!
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