1 Year Ago Today....

One year ago today was the start of a day I will never forget! It started with doubt and disbelief and ended...ended late...with the most amazing, surreal feeling I have ever experienced. It was the day we received our referral call and the first glance of our beautiful Xiu Gang.

The events of the day are etched in my mind...driving the boys to school with my phone in my hand and my list of questions on the passenger seat...phone calls back and forth to Stephanie (who was covering all the rumor boards for me since I couldn't take the anticipation)...going to the gym to run on the treadmill (with my phone)..meeting Cori and Leigh for breakfast because I couldn't go back home to sit and stare at my computer...getting a call from Stephanie while I stood in the parking lot of the restaurant telling me to get home because calls were being made all over the U.S....sitting in my office at home for hours waiting, afraid to move, waiting for that damn phone to ring...and the NOTHINGNESS....no call, no call, no call...the phone ringing and seeing CHI on the I.D....then more waiting, no referral...more nothingness...no answers or response from CHI...the pain of not knowing what was happening or why our phone never rang again...the pain of having to tell all of our friends and family that it wasn't going to happen...we didn't get our referral. Then another phone call...this one from Tina, calling from her home...the strangeness of her first words to me...the questions racing through my mind..."WHY WAS SHE CALLING ME, WHAT WAS SHE TRYING TO SAY?!" I finally just asked, "Did we get our referral today?" Her response, "Yes, oh yes, you have a daughter! She's beautiful." My heart almost stopped. Then we got this.....

Today will be a day of reflection for me...I almost can't control it...my mind is full of thoughts regarding our baby girl. When I look at her referral photos, and her finding ad I get overwhelmed with wanting to know what her life was really like before us. I get so sad that we didn't see and hold her when she was a newborn, a month old, two months old....we weren't there when she got her first few teeth or learned to hold her head up and roll over. I wish I could get a glimpse of her world before we entered it. A photo of her in orphanage, with her nannies, with her "sisters"...anything. I could go on an on....but I won't!

Mostly today, I will feel so grateful that I've been given the gift of this child and that my phone finally did ring!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll feel grateful for what we finally do know about her and all that we have yet to learn!

Kailahni chat

I thought I was going to catch a video of Kailahni showing off her mad water skills....instead she hopped out of the pool to tell me something of great importance...too bad I don't know what that was! Isn't her voice so sweet?! Doug chose the bathing suit....no chance of us loosing her while she's wearing that! Chickeeda banana...cha cha cha!

Breakfast on the Farm

Last Saturday we were invited to enjoy a breakfast gathering with our friends at the Lucky Acres Ranch! The ranch/farm is owned by my friend, Suzanne Hanson's, in-laws. They were kind enough to allow us to invade their land for the morning, and believe me, it was a bit of an invasion....an Asian invasion. There were 10 children there...7 from China, 1 from Ethiopia, and 2 from my belly (my boys)! The food was great, the weather, delightful and the company, too enjoyable for words. The kids were able to pet and feed all the animals....goats, donkeys, miniature ponies, an Alpaca, a pig...they got to visit with the "large" animals as well..big, beautiful horses and cows..they even gathered eggs from the chickens. Suzanne had a pot painting craft all set up for the girls, so Kailahni got to paint for the first time. Jacob and Benjamin were as sweet as could be with all the little girls. They took time to walk the girls around and show them the animals, played with the younger ones on a blanket, Benji held Lauren on the tractor (not that she need holding...she could have probably driven the thing on her own if we let her), and assisted them in swinging on this electric, spinning swing thing they had. It's hard to describe, but really neat.

It was a really fun day! Thank you Suz for arranging the gathering (even if it was at 8 in the morning)! And, please tell your in-laws thank you for their warm hospitality!

Wises3 in AZ!!!!

Talk about 4 years in the making!!! I got to hang with my Steph!! The Wise family made the LONG trek from San Francisco (basically) to Arizona to visit with family and FRIENDS!!! It was so awesome to get to meet all three of them face to face instead of email to email, Skype to Skype, text to text, blog to blog...you get the drift! Stephanie is one of those people I don't think I could have survived "the wait" without. Her friendship and support was, and still is, immeasurable! To see her, with her precious Zoey in her arms, was so heartwarming for me it's hard to describe!

Stephanie made dinner reservations for us in Prescott. Kailhani and I, along with three other families, drove up on Sunday evening for a meeting/reuniting that was really, really special. Little Zoey got to see two of her Yiyang "sisters" (all three girls were born in the same month and waited in the same orphanage) for the first time since leaving China. Mardi and Stephanie got to see one another for the second time....the first time they met (over three years ago), in Prescott as well, they were just starting their amazing journeys toward motherhood....and now, they stood side by side with their daughter's on their hips sharing stories of their new lives as Mommies!!!!! It was so sweet to see and so amazing to look around the dinner table and think of all that has transpired in all of our lives over the past four years, to see the friendships that have developed, to stare into the faces of four of the most amazing little girls in the world, and to think about how blessed we all are to have gotten to experience the miracle of adoption!

Thanks for setting up dinner Steph, thanks for coming to AZ, thanks for the pics, and THANKS for being my friend! I miss you already! Kisses to you, ZOEY, and Andrew!

Bouncy House Baby

Well, Kailahni had her first bouncy house (a.k.a death dealing bacteria farm) experience this weekend. We went to a picnic hosted by our good friends, Josh and Nicole, and little Kai bounced her brains out. I sent Jacob in there with her to help keep her safe, but she wanted to bounce all on her own....go figure! It was a really nice picnic. We had everything from a playground, to sand volleyball, to the ever popular bouncy house, to guitar playing to entertain ourselves with. Things are starting to warm up here in Phoenix, so it was nice to get out and enjoy what may end up being our last good picnic day until Fall comes around. Time to bust out the sunscreen and bathing suits (GULP)!

Kailahni and her Uncle Gick (Rick)...he only lets special someones touch his guitar!
LOOK...a picture with ME and Kai in it...I didn't know that could happen anymore!
Yes, Benjamin bought his PILLOW to the picnic...don't ask!
Jacob and our friend Jeremy's newest addition...so sweet!
Jacob and friends with Josh, my nephew, buried up to his head (just the way I like him)
Who says Kailahni doesn't look good in blue?!
Sara and Kai having fun together, as usual.

Pioneer Days 5K and Parade

The good weather in Phoenix is still holding, which made our weekend activities so enjoyable. Saturday morning started out with Cori, Lezlie and I running in the Pioneer Days 5K. It was a fun little run. I came in 4th for my age category, so no medal for me, but I did get a lovely t-shirt and water bottle! Cori and Lezlie did awesome and walked away with the same t-shirt and water bottle I got. We are all pretty satisfied with that. After the race, Doug dropped the kids off to us and then headed out to play in a golf tournament which he won! Go Doug! The kids and I, along with a bunch of our friends, then got to see Saramarie (cousin) dance her way down the Peoria Pioneer Days Parade. Her entire dance troop, which consist of many of our friend's daughters, was invited to be apart of it. It was so sweet to see all the boys (brothers and cousins, mostly)cheering for their little sisters/cousins as they came by. Kailahni LOVED the parade. She waved at all the people as they passed, and ate more candy and crap than I care to talk about. I think there is a lollipop in her hand in almost all of these pictures. There was a picnic that followed the parade and my little sugarplum stood in the grass, sucked a lollipop, danced to the music being played, and watched as her balloon (along with many others) floated off into the sky. She even got to be apart of the parade, briefly. Saramaries LOVES her Kai cousin and couldn't resist picking her up and carrying her down the street a ways. SO SWEET!! It was a fun, sun filled day...that's for sure!









This afternoon, Sarah and I took the kidos the zoo. My camera died when we got there, so I didn't get any pics, but I did take a few of Axl, Kai and Vienna in Sarah's front yard before we left. What a bunch of silly monkeys we have! And, I couldn't resist adding a few of my little diva in the making!

Breakfast bunch!

On Saturday, Kailahni and I had were able to join some of our friends from the adoption world for breakfast. It was a gathering 4 years in the making. Terri, Mardi, Suzanne and I all met as a result of using the same adoption agency. We all had March 2006 log in dates and waited all those long years together to see our little girls come home. This breakfast date was the first time all 4 of our girls have been together. We were joined by the lovely Emma and her mother. Emma came home at the same time Lauren Davenport did. In fact, they were born in the same province in China. Caroline and Gwyneth were also born in the same province and raised in the same orphanage in China. It's so nice that these girls will be able to stay close to one another as they grow up! My pics aren't the greatest..they were taken on my cell phone, but they are precious to me! Kailahni wore an outfit that Terri had bought for her, along with a pair of shoes I bought her to celebrate our having made it through the "review room" in China. She looked as sweet as can be.

In this photo, from left to right, we have Caroline (Jiangxi Province, Suzanne's daughter), Kailahni (Chongqing Municipality, mine all mine), Lauren (Guizhou Province, Mardi's daughter), Emma (Guizhou Province), Gwyneth (Jiangxi Province, Terri's daughter)






We missed some of our other adoption friends who, sadly, don't live near by. One of which, my good friend Stephanie, mother to the precious Zoey, just so happened to send me a care package the other day! She brought this mug for me while she was in China (I wanted to buy one for myself while I was there, but didn't)brought it all the way home, and then took the time to ship it to me from California! Thanks friend....I've been using it everyday!!