Does time really fly?!

It has been too long since my last post. Our days just seem to get busier and busier each week. I guess we must be having too much time because time really does go by too quick for us. This is my last week of school for the 2007-08 school year. I will have to work 3 weeks this summer because we are launching a new Preschool Summer Program. Emma started going to my school on May 2. It is really nice having her in the same building. I do try to avoid having her see me during the day because she thinks she can come back to my office to play rather than staying with her class. Darya has just completed her WESTEST. This is a standardized performance test for student in West Virginia. It begins in the third grade. She was actually excited to take the tests. She told me yesterday that she would miss those few hours of testing each day. LOL! Curtis has been busy with work and keeping up with the yardwork. He has had several fun experiences mowing the lawn. He has encountered poison ivy, snakes, and a tumble with the 4-wheeler! I am posting some pictures from Easter, Carolina Beach, Emma's Birthday, Stonewall Jackson Lake, and Circus.

Winter Days

Happy Chinese New Year! February 7 marked the start of the Year of the Rat.

Darya, Emma, Lauren, Hannah

Emma playing with her Chinese New Year balloon

Klaire listening to a story with her mommy

Maya admiring the Chinese dragon

We celebrated Chinese New Year on February 9 with our local Chinese adoption group. We had fun seeing all of the children dressed in their traditional Chinese clothing and eating lots of yummy Chinese food. It wasn't quite the same as being in China for Chinese New Year. I miss seeing the orange trees in the hotels and restaurants as well as being surrounded by the Chinese culture.

We also had our last post-placement adoption visit last week. It is so hard to believe that we were busy packing our bags this time last year. It has been a fun year adjusting to having another child in our home. Emma truly is a perfect fit for our family. She adds lots of excitement to our lives. She has really grown into her own personality. She is going to be our strong-willed child. Emma's way or else.....

We are growning tired of this cold, snowy weather. We can't wait to play outside. I think we are all having a little cabin fever. Hopefully, it won't be too long until we can run around in the yard. We hope everyone had a Happy Valentine's Day. We are anxious to get ready to get our Easter dresses and pictures with the Easter Bunny. It's hard to think about hiding eggs when all you can see is a blanket of snow on your grass!!

We're looking forward to seeing the Kinders and McFees tomorrow evening for Mexican food and a Disney On Ice showing of Finding Nemo.

Referral Anniversary

We celebrated our 1 year anniversary of seeing Emma's picture for the first time on January 4. She has grown so much since we first received this picture. She is such a beautiful child. She is so full of life. We thank God each day for sending this special baby to our family.

Moving, Christmas, Snow Days, Best Wishes for 2008

The past month has been a speedy blur. We closed on our old and new house on December 7. We began moving into our new house on December 13. We finally have everything from both houses either in storage or at our new house. We still have LOTS of boxes to unpack, but we are finally done packing and moving so much stuff!

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday. Curt and I celebrated 12 years of marital bliss on December 23. We went to the mall to finish our shopping and had a slice of pizza for dinner. LOL. My brother, Tim, and his wife, Katy, came home from Colorado for a visit. We really enjoyed getting to spend some quality time with both of them. The time just went too quickly! We were once again blessed with a wonderful Christmas. It was such a delight to watch the girls open thier gifts. Christmas brings magic alive in a child's eyes.

We got two extra days of vacation due to a big snow. The girls spent some time outside playing in the snow. Emma wasn't really sure what to expect when she went down the hill with me on the sled. She didn't like the snow blowing back in her face. Darya had a great time especially when Curt brought home a new sleek sled. We had a couple of near death experiences zooming down the big hill!

We hope everyone has a blessed new year in 2008. While we never know what will happen at any moment, we trust in God's grace. We thank Him for His abundant love. Happy New Year!

Fun Fall Day

The girls enjoyed playing outside on this warm fall day. Emma got her first experience at playing in the leaves. She loves to mimic Darya's actions. I'm trying my hand at posting a video on the blog. LOL.

Riverfront Property

We have been busy over the last four weeks preparing to buy a house in Poca. During our last boating adventure on October 20, my mom had spotted an open house in the newspaper. With his great sense of navigation, my dad was able to find the property along the river. We docked the boat and went up to the open house. We couldn't believe all the pluses about this house. We had been talking for the last 6+ months about getting a fairly large piece of property and building a house with my parents (in-law wing). The description on the flyer read "great in-law quarters". The house is 3700+ square feet and is situated on 5+ acreas with 750 square feet of riverfront property. We placed an offer on the house before we had made it back to the marina. Our biggest dilema was to sell two houses! Our house went into contract approximatel two weeks after it went on the market. My parent's house just went into contract on Saturday. We are planning on closing our house and the new house during the week of December 10. I guess we will be decorating for Christmas as we unload the boxes from the UHAUL.

We are trying to begin the tedious task of packing boxes. Darya will also have to change schools after the Christmas break. She is a little nervous about meeting new friends, but we don't think our social butterfly will have any trouble adjusting to new school.

We look forward to having family and friends at our new abode. There will be plenty of room for everyone to play!

Happy Thanksgiving

We just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. We are thankful for the many blessings that God has provided for our family. We are especially grateful for our beautiful girls. They bring smiles to our hearts each day!