One Year Ago Today...

On the 13th floor of the Jin Feng Hotel in Nanchang, China, a very sick and very scared little girl left everything that was familiar to her and was placed in the arms of complete strangers.

Today, Mom's arms are where she prefers to be...

and the strangers are now one big, happy, forever family.

How blessed we are to have this happy, smart, brave and beautiful little girl in our lives!

Happy Gotcha Day, Meili Grace! We love you SOOO much!

Surviving the Summer...

Can only bear to be outside during the day if we are in the water. Thankfully, lots of options!

Meili's Racehorse!

We knew when we named our daughter, 'Meili' that there might be some issues associated with the choice such as being called 'Miley' (happens almost every day...) or never being able to find her name on a personalized keychain, etc. Who needs a keychain with your name on it when you can have your own personalized RACEHORSE??!!!

Matt's Mom is a secretary/personal assistant for a man that, among other things, owns racehorses. One of her recent tasks was to name his up and coming racehorses. Grandma Debbie had the daunting task of taking the horses' parentage into consideration and interjecting some of her grandchildrens' names into the mix. The results were Maya's Mystery (already racing and recently placed 3rd!), Thorin's Cash Flow and....Meili's Fiery Song. Isn't she pretty?

The equine Meili is living about 80 miles away from us here in sunny Florida. She should be ready to race in the fall and could start doing well as early as this winter. It will be interesting to see how she does! Thanks for thinking of Meili, Grandma Debbie!

Meili and Avery

I'm back-posting these pics that I just found from October 8th of 2009. Meili had been home from China for just about two months. These pictures were taken in the courtyard of one of our favorite outdoor malls in AZ where our group of waiting moms would often get together for lunch and to comiserate about the growing referral wait times. This was probably the first time that Shannon and I got together with our girls at this location. She was sweet enough to grab my camera and take some shots of Meili and I. I've been going back through pictures of the past year and these are some of the very few pictures I have of Meili and I together since I'm usually the one behind the camera so I'm glad to have these. Shannon and I met right around the time that we were logged in and met for lunch almost monthly until we received our referrals (on the same day!) Looking at these pictures reminds me of just how long the wait was to bring our girls home and how blessed we were to have great friends along the way.

We've heard the bugs in FL are big, but this is ridiculous!

Taylor saw this thing in the front yard and ran in the house screaming that there was a scorpion on the driveway. We all ran outside to check it out and found this 'lovely' 6-7 inch creature. Obviousy, not a scorpion-it had a tail like a lobster. After snapping this shot, we came in the house and hopped online to see what it could be. Please somebody tell me what a CRAWFISH was doing on my driveway? Don't they live in the water?

First Professional Portraits

Since Meili-Grace has turned two and it's almost been one year since we met her, I thought some professional photos were in order. Part of me wishes that I had done it sooner, but I don't think she would have enjoyed it very much. Today went ok-She was done before it got started, but there were a couple of good shots. My goal is to take her back often enough that she will get comfortable. The next challenge will be getting a decent shot of all FIVE kids. That's 10 eyes that have to be looking at the camera at the same time and five faces that have to not have a goofy look on them at the same time. It may not be possible!
Finally got my 100 Good Wishes Quilt Shot!

Is it too late to send out an adoption announcement??? :)

Still can't believe I get to kiss those cheeks everyday!

Eclipse

After months of counting down, we finally were able to go to see Eclipse! My pictures don't prove it but we ended up at the theater with about 2 rows worth of friends. Audrey and her friend, C, made their own shirts for the occasion with the help of a Twilight Mama...

Shirt Front-(Looks like the book cover for those of you out of the loop.)

And the back: (Says-Team Jacob, because real men don't sparkle...)

Already counting down until Breaking Dawn. Anybody know when it will be released?

Stone Mountain

We spent the rest of our day in Georgia at Stone Mountain. The main attraction there is the huge carving of three confederate generals in granite but the kids seemed to enjoy the Sky Hike the most. I'm not sure the pictures will do it justice but the structure is three or four stories high and there are three levels of rope courses to make your way through while suspended from a harness. It would be great to have one of these in the back yard!

Taylor enjoyed the climbing wall most of all. He tells us it's a lot harder than it looks!

Here we are at the top of the mountain.

We took a train ride around the mountain and then Matt took the kids golfing while I toured the air-conditioned museum. I love my husband!

Here's most of us at the base of the mountain waiting for the laser show to begin.

Travelmate Playdate!

On our way out the door for our road trip to DC, it occurred to me that we would be passing through Georgia, where one of our travelmates lives. We were so excited that Michele was free and could meet with us at a park near our hotel. It was great to see how much Paige has grown and changed this past year and share 'first year home' stories with Michele!

Thanks again for a great playdate. Let's do it again soon!

World of Coke

Our next stop was the World of Coke. I thought we would be in and out of the place in an hour but we spent the better part of the day here. Lots of memorabilia to see and things to do...and taste!

On the American Idol couch...

There were more than 60 sodas from all over the world to taste at the end of the tour. My favorite was the 'Inka Soda' from Peru-tasted like a banana. If you happen to make it to this place, Xander dares one and all to taste the 'Beverly' soda from Italy. It tastes like a cross between bile and earwax...Yum.