Christmas 2014

Merry Christmas from our two musical girls!

State Gymnastics Meet 2014

Yesterday marked the end of Maya's 2014 gymnastics season for Level 4 with the State Gymnastics Meet.  She had a good season and ended with another good meet.  She had her second best all-around score of the season.  Her performances were good on all events and she brought home 4 medals.  She still loves doing it and even came home and asked if we could do more gymnastics that afternoon.  We're glad she found something she loves so much and are very proud of her.  

Maya's Level 4 State Beam Routine

Maya's Level 4 State Floor Exercise

Maya's Level 4 State Bar Routine

Maya's Level 4 State Vault

Ciana's Gotcha Day 2014

This week we celebrated Ciana's 2nd Gotcha Day!  Two years ago this week we got off an airplane in Taitung, Taiwan.  We visited Hannah's Hope where we had been two years earlier to paint and prepare it for the children waiting to be adopted.  However, this time we were there to bring home our little girl.  As we sat on the couch waiting for her to be brought to us the staff was there with one man playing the guitar and everyone singing as they brought her to us for the first time.  It was a special moment.  In some ways it seems like just yesterday and in others it seems like forever ago.  Two years have passed and Ciana is changing in many ways.  She is talking a lot now around the family, however she is pretty shy when she is around other people.  She likes to sing.  She has been learning to count, however, she usually skips 6 and 8.  She's even learning to count in Spanish.  She likes to do puzzles and play outside.  She likes to do things herself, like getting dressed.  She loves to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  One of her favorite things to do that makes her giggle is when she gets in a bag and someone picks it up by the handles and swings her around.  She is still a runner and is very fast.  She keeps us on our toes.  We can't imagine our family without her.

Forever Family - 2 Years Together

It's Gotcha Day, Let Her Eat Cake!

She's In The Bag!

Ordinary to Extraordinary

When we woke up yesterday morning we thought it was going to be just another ordinary Sunday, but God had other plans.  We got ready and went to church as usual.  This happened to be baptism Sunday.  There was one lady that got baptized towards the end of the service.  Maya always loves to watch the baptisms and yesterday was no different.  She has mentioned to me many times before that she would like to be baptized.  Yesterday at the end of service the pastor was making his closing comments and he said there's water in the tank if anyone else would like to be baptized today and he ended the service.  Before we left, we walked as a family to get our communion elements and Maya turned and said to me "I want to be baptized.".  Now, I said?  Yes, was her response.  I wanted to make sure she knew why she should be baptized, so I asked her why she wanted to.  Her response was, because I asked Jesus in my heart.  I knew she had done this several years earlier and she has been really hungry for the word lately, watching The Bible mini-series over and over again.  The Lord must have laid it on her heart to be baptized!  So, who was I to refuse her.  Okay, I said, why not.  Church was dismissing so I sent Jeff to get Ciana from the nursery.  There were only a few people still hanging around talking or praying when we walked up to the children's minister who happened to have been doing the teaching that day.  Maya has something she wants to tell you,  I said.  So, she told him and he asked her the same questions I had asked.  He rounded up the rest of the team and we gathered around the baptismal pool.  Jeff repeated the pastor's words, ". . . Buried with Christ in the likeness of His death.  Raised with Him in the likeness of His Resurrection."  Maya was baptized right then and there!  As she came up out of the water the people that were still in the sanctuary clapped and cheered, as did all of Heaven I'm sure!  It was a special moment for all of us.  This was no ordinary day after all, God had make it Extraordinary! 

 

 

 

Ciana's Gotcha Day

Gotcha Day September 17, 2012

Today is Ciana’s Gotcha Day!  One year ago today we met her and held her in our arms for the first time.  It’s hard to believe it’s been a whole year already.  Ciana was so excited about today that she woke up at 1:00 am this morning ready to party.  Unfortunately, mom and dad were not quite ready to celebrate at that time.  Even so, she tried her hardest to convince us for the next 2 1/2 hours!  Of course there are times such as these, when all we want to do is get some sleep, but still we can't help but look at her sweet little face and smile knowing that God has truly blessed our family by allowing us to be her parents. 

15 Months Old

Ciana is 15 months old!  Actually, she is one week shy of 16 months, but we just took her in for her 15 month well baby check on Friday.  She is 19 lbs 12 oz., which is 26rd percentile for weight and 31", which is 55th percentile for height.  She's still a great eater.  We haven't found anything that she won't eat.  She just shovels it in as fast as you put it in front of her.  She recently got a new tooth on the bottom, so now she has 4 on top and 3 on the bottom.  She is running all over the place and getting into everything!  It seems like we can't take our eyes off of her for a second or she's getting into something that she shouldn't!  Her favorite things to empty and throw all over the floor are cat food, litter and the cabinet of dvd movies, oh and Kleenex and toilet paper!  She's not talking much yet.  I believe her first word was Yay!  She also says Dada and uh oh.  Her favorite thing to do lately is point at every picture she sees and say "This?" like she's asking "Who's this?" and this week I'm pretty sure she was trying to count to three.  

Last Day of 1st Grade

Last Day of 1st Grade

Today was Maya's last day of 1st Grade!  She took a little while off at the start of the day to come to Ciana's readoption.  After that we went to Scratch Cupcakery to celebrate both the readoption finalization and the last day of school.  We didn't tell Maya we were going there and when she walked up to the door she jumped up and down she was so excited.  Looking back at the pictures of her from her first day of 1st Grade, I can't believe how much she's changed this year.  She is really growing up fast.  I think especially now that we have Ciana we look at Maya and it's hard to believe she was that small just a few years ago.  She had a great year in school.  She is reading well beyond her age level.  She is one of the most advanced spelling groups and she excels in math as well.  She is also a great writer.  They have writing time every day at school and she brought home her writing book yesterday.  It was fun to read through what she would choose to write about throughout the year that was happening in her life.  That will be fun for her to look back on when she grows up.  I can't believe she will be in 2nd grade in just a couple of months!



First Day of 1st Grade