Emma's first Halloween

Emma's first Halloween was lots of fun! First, we had dinner with friends Russ and Deb, and their two daughters, Lily and Lucy. After dinner, we went to our church, Green Ridge Baptist for "Trunk or Treat." People decorated their cars, and set up with candy for the kids to come by and trick or treat.

There were lots of children with really great costumes, and everyone had a lot of fun! The cars were done very creatively too. I have some pictures of a few of the cars, but it was a little dark, so some are hard to see.

Anyway, enjoy these pictures of Emma's first Halloween....

Weekend of 10/26

Emma spent the weekend playing, visiting MaMa who had surgery and came through great, and, of course at church on Sunday.

Every day with her is a new adventure. She is such a blessing in our lives, and amazes us at how quickly she is learning. She is speaking short sentences already, and is such a lovey girl!!

We would like to ask for prayer for friends in China who received their little girl yesterday. She is sick, and needs prayer for healing.

Our Darlin' Daughter

turned 21 months old yesterday!! We can't believe she's getting so close to 2! When we first saw her face, she was only 10 months old. We spent the day at the hospital with Regina's grandma, Emma's great grandma. She had a shoulder replacement and did just great!

Emma entertained everyone in the waiting room all day. Everyone made over her, telling her how precious, and how beautiful she was - of course she just ate it up!!
(along with some noodles at the end of the day) All the nurses made a fuss over her too. They found a fish, and some bubbles to give her along with several stickers for her to play with.

Enjoy a few pictures from her special day as she turned 21 months...

Weekend 10/19, Part 2

On Sunday, we went to church, then spent a little while in the afternoon at the Mill Mountain Star. Lastly, we had dinner at Logan's, and Emma was so funny!! Her BaBa had been gone since Friday, so she had to show off for him a little. Enjoy the pictures...

Weekend of 10/19, Part 1

On Saturday, Emma went on her first hayride. We went to Layman's farm with several other families and then to the Landes' where lots more families with children from China, and families still waiting on their babies had a wonderful time of fellowship.

Emma loved the pumpkins and the flowers, and had a great time playing with all the other children too. Enjoy some pics from the day...

Emma's first trip to Chuck E Cheese

This was a couple of weeks ago now that Emma went to Chuck E Cheese to spend an afternoon with her friend Karina who was adopted from Guatemala. We visited with Marcie, her children, and Lori, another wonderful friend who has really prayed for our adoption situation when we thought we wouldn't get Emma, and for her health since we got her home. We actually met both Marcie and Lori as we have met other adoptive families come home with their children - long before we were even close to having Emma.

God has so richly blessed us with new friends throughout our adoption journey! Enjoy the pics from our afternoon at Chuck E Cheese...

On another note, last night when we got back from Charlotte, we had an email from Emma's foster mother. Of course, the email we couldn't read, but she had attached two pictures at the bottom of her and her daughter. They look happy, and we pray that they are now feeling better about Emma now being with her forever family. We have sent them pictures 4 times now since being home so that they can tell how much we love Emma and how well she is adjusting.

Two months with our angel

One of God's most precious gifts was placed in our arms two months ago on Saturday. It is hard to believe we have now had this little angel for two whole months! It has been a very busy two months too!!

This weekend, we traveled to Charlotte, NC to visit our oldest son, Justin and his wife, Megan. This was the first time that Megan had gotten to meet her sister-in-law!

Before we left, we went downtown to the Harvest Festival. See some pics from the weekend.

Weekend of 10/05/07

We got home from Florida on Friday afternoon, and were picked up at the airport by NaNa (Regina's mom). We went home, and Emma played with MaMa and NaNa for a while. This time, I have pictures with MaMa.

On Saturday, we unpacked from Florida, and re-packed to go and visit wonderful friends, Roger and Michelle. They will be leaving soon to get their darling little daughter from China, Meigan Grace. Emma loved them! They gave her a gift, which she loved, and she just played and played with them. She entertained us all day Sunday.

On Monday, we went to Baltimore, to Johns Hopkins to see Dr. Carson. He will be the one to do Emma's surgery when the time comes.

Enjoy the pictures of our weekend...

Wednesday night and Thursday

Wednesday night we went back to the Magic Kingdom so Emma could see the Country Bear Jamboree. She loved it! She clapped and sang, and yelled, "Yeah, Yeah!" the whole time.

Thursday, we went to MGM Studios where we saw lots of really cool things including a stunt show that was fascinating. They showed how some stunts are done in movies. Emma loved the parade at MGM too. It included lots of floats and Disney characters.

After we left MGM, we had dinner with another family from the St. Augustine area who has been home only 2 and a half weeks with their daughter from China. They went through all the same problems we did with two different agencies invloved. Their daughter, Ellie Tian is just beautiful. And, the Bodo's are a wonderful family, and we really enjoyed meeting you all in person!!

Blizzard Beach - Wednesday, Oct. 3

On Wednesday the temperature was supposed to be in the 90's, so we decided it would be a good day to hit one of the water parks. We decided on Blizzard Beach, and everyone had a great time. Emma loved Tikes Pike, which was the area set aside for little ones. It had a wading pool, slides for parents with their children, and slides they could do by themselves when they are a little older.

No matter what park we went to, Emma never missed her nap. She fell asleep about the same time every day, then awoke to play some more. Sadly, our vacation is quickly coming to an end.

Enjoy the pictures from our day at Blizzard Beach...

Animal Kingdom and Epcot

We spent Monday at Animal Kingdom. We weren't too impressed with that park. There wasn't much that Emma was interested in there either.

On Tuesday, we went to Epcot. That was a lot of fun. A friend of Josh's from a mission trip in 2002 met us at Epcot. Her name is Lindsey, and she works at a preschool with 4 & 5 year olds. She is working on her teaching certificate.

Enjoy the pictures from the past two days.

Sunday, September 30

Today, we went to Celebration, a quiet little town with different little shops and a beautiful lake. Then, we went to the pool for the afternoon. For the evening, we had arranged to meet new friends we have made through the adoption process. We met the Hardens. They have two daughters adopted from China, Hannah, 7 and Leah, 5. Leah was the first child fostered by Jing Yan, the same woman in China who fostered Emma. Enjoy the pictures from Sunday.