New Year's Eve 2014

Happy New Year

We celebrated New Year's Eve by staying at home with Miss Emily, who got to stay up late "like a grown-up" until she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore...9:00 p.m.
We had lots of appetizer-type goodies as our "dinner," and played LOTS of board games! Nothing better!!
Emily is a new fan of Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider, especially when she gets to drink it from a grown-up wine glass!
We hope everyone has a relaxing and joyous new year! We are looking forward to our Hawaii trip for Spring Break!
Love,
Kathy

Yummy food and lots of board games...FUN!!

Oh no...not another picture...hee hee hee

Christmas Day 2014

Look what Santa left for Emily

Christmas morning was MARVELOUS in this house! Nothing better than having a wee one wake up on Christmas morning and ask "Mommy, did Santa come?" It is the most special sight to see your child come out from their bedroom and see their stocking and their gifts from Santa around their tree.  And when it is exactly what they asked Santa for, it is even better!
After we had a very nice, relaxing morning with Emily at home opening our stockings, gifts, and a nice breakfast, we then headed out to grandpa and grandma's house in the afternoon. It was a small group at their house, so we could just relax and enjoy each others company, open gifts, and have a FABULOUS dinner! Overall, Christmas Day was a very special occasion, and a great day to remember the love of our Savior and his birth!
Happy Birthday Jesus!

New Lambie and sunglasses

New journal with it's own lock

Cool new Walkie Talkies from JuJu

Sweetie

Christmas morning sunshine

Our family tree Christmas morning

Very excited to get her own purse she can color

Organizing her rubber bands for her loom

Time to make a bracelet

New Frozen scooter from Santa

Thank you grandpa and grandma

WOW...her own gift certificate to get her nails done!

My girl loves her grandparents

Christmas Eve 2014

Have you ever seen a cuter angel??

Christmas Eve was fabulous this past December. Emily looked BEAUTIFUL in her new Christmas dress, and was all ready to be an angel in the pageant at church. She did a great job in the pageant, and everyone thought she looked darling. When we got home from church, we got all ready in Christmas jammies, she wrote her note to Santa, and carefully chose which cookies to leave on Santa's plate. Right before bed we went outside to sprinkle her magic Christmas dust all over the front lawn. For those of you who may not be in the know, Christmas dust is oats and glitter mixed together. The reindeer can smell the oats and Santa can see the glitter sparkle in the moon light to find our house. Well, we sure hope it works!
Enjoy the pictures!
Kathy

Mommy's beauty

All ready at church

There's my angel

Sprinkling her Christmas Dust

Santa's note and plate of cookies

My angel

Christmas Fun with Kingsellas

Baking Day fun!

Our annual day of Christmas cookie baking and gift giving with Emily's Titi, Uncle Larry, and cousin Belen was so much fun on December 23rd. We enjoy them so much, and have such love in our hearts for this family! We look forward to this day every holiday season! Santa LOVES the cookies that get left for him, and we have so much fun decorating them. We adore this family and will always treasure "Baking Day" in December!
Love,
Kathy, Julyn, and Emily

Such concentration

My goofy Sugarplum

YUM

Delish

So pretty

We love you Belen

Titi, Emily, and Uncle Larry

Such a beauty

WOW...5 years ago today...December 22, 2009

Five years ago on December 22, 2009, I received a call from my adoption case worker, and she asked me to sit down. As I did, in my heart I knew that this was THE moment! The moment that every prospective adoptive parent waits for. The day you find out who your child will be that you have been waiting your entire life for. Who you will love unconditionally for the rest of your life, and after.
So, as I sat, she proceeded to ask me if I wanted her to send me the file on a little 3 1/2 year old girl in the Shan Xi Province of China. Now, those of you who know me and know how long I had been waiting to hear those very words, know that I was screaming yes even before she finished asking me! She said she would e-mail me the file with pictures to go over, and I had 24 hours to let her know. WHAT??? Who was she kidding...24 hours would not be needed! I was told it might take a few minutes to send due to the size of the file, and pictures. So as I sat on pins and needles, I called my sister and my friend. I told them the news and they hurried over ASAP!!
By the time they arrived, I was ready to open the attachment and see my baby's face for the VERY FIRST TIME!! Words cannot explain the range of emotions that swept over me as the picture was opening on the computer. All I can say is that at the EXACT moment I looked into the sad little eyes of the girl on my laptop, I knew I was looking into the eyes of my daughter! She had been waiting for me in an orphanage in China for her entire life, and I had been waiting for her my entire life! We were meant to be! Needless to say, much screaming of joy followed by streams of tears soon followed! I couldn't stop looking at her sad little face, and I wanted to just scoop her up and hold her forever and never let her go! But, all I could do was tell her image on my screen, "Mommy will be there soon to bring you home to your forever home. Hold on baby girl! Mommy's coming!"
My next stop was Kinkos to make LOTS of color copies to show people my daughter and to drive all over town and break the news to my family. First to church to share the news with our Pastor, and to have a prayer along with more and more tears of joy!!
Next to my dad's house to tell "Grandpa" he was a grandpa! I will never forget telling my dad that it was official...he was a grandpa!
Next to my grandma's house to give her a picture of her new great granddaughter!! More tears! Then to my step mom's work to let her know she was a grandma!
Other than the actual day Emily and I became a family on our Gotcha Day, this is the next best day of my life that I will cherish FOREVER!!
Kathy

FIRST picture I ever saw of Emily!!!

My baby just waiting for her mommy to bring her home forever!

Nutcracker Ballet

Such a pretty girl ready for the ballet

We took Emily to her first performance of the Nutcracker Ballet this past December. Since she has been a ballet student before, and in a recital of the Nutcracker, we felt she was ready for the big time! It is such a lovely show, and the dancers are so very talented. We were correct, she LOVED it!! The lady who was seated behind us even commented on how well behaved Emily was and how she was enjoying watching Emily watch the show! She said it made her think of when her daughter was young and used to watch it, and who was now one of the dancers on the stage! Ahhh, that was so sweet! After the FABULOUS performance, we went out to one of our favorite Chinese restaurants and enjoyed a nice family dinner! Oh, how I love the holidays and all the special outings they entail!
Enjoy,
Kathy

Mommy and her special girl

Bell Ringing

JuJu, Emily, and Mommy...glad to help!

For the past three years, we have helped our church ring the bells for the Salvation Army at Christmastime to help people in need. I feel this is an invaluable lesson for Emily to learn about helping others who are less fortunate than she is. The first couple years she didn't quite understand the concept. But I must say, this year she did wonderfully well, and truly does understand the concept of volunteering, giving to those in need, and what it means for her to be blessed with all that she needs or wants..