Forever Family Day 2016

November 2nd is the day 7 years ago that God brought Hannah and I together forever!  It’s a day that we celebrate and enjoy together and with others. 

This year we went to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa.  While we’re sorry they’re no longer able to travel to Florida in November, we’re so thankful that we can now share Forever Family Day celebrations with them!

The following weekend we went to our annual get together with the families that we travelled to China with.  This is one day that we will not miss as it’s important for our girls to get together.  We don’t see most of these families other than this one day each year so it’s always a cherished day!  It’s amazing how quickly the girls pick up where they left off and we have to chase them down to take this one pic!

And, our annual trip down memory lane…

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009 – Hannah in my arms for the very first time!

Blessed beyond measure!!!

‘The Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’

Psalm 118:23

6th Annual China Travel Group Reunion

Sunday afternoon Hannah and I, Mom and Dad had the privilege of getting together with the wonderful people we traveled to China with in 2009.  Our group gets together only once a year so it’s a special day when we do.  It’s always so neat to see how the girls have grown and to touch base with those who we share such memories with! 

L to R: Meigan, Jiana, Tessa, Hannah, Kristie and Emma.

And a walk through reunions past….

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

So thankful to have share friendships with these special people!

5 Year Forever Family Day Celebration!

Sunday, November 2nd, Hannah and I celebrated 5 years together.  She loves to look back at the pictures and videos of the day we became a family and asks me to share the details over and over again.   She is so sweet and one of her favourite things to do is re enact the photo of her with her hand on my face.  My friend had it printed and framed and it sits beside our TV and on a regular basis she crawls in my lap, puts her hand on my cheek and says something like, ‘Mommy, this is just like when we became a family.’  Such a precious moment then and now too.

This year our Forever Family Day was a busy one.  We went to church then travelled to Toronto to celebrate Hannah’s little friend’s 5th Birthday.  Happy Birthday S!

The wonderful connection that these girls share is that they were both in the same SWI in China.  Hannah left DaoXian SWI on Nov 2, 2009 and sweet S arrived there shortly after that.  S and some other friends we part of the travel group after ours who also travelled to Hunan so Hannah and I went to their travel preparation meeting in 2010 and were taken under their wing and now get together with them numerous times a year.  What a blessing to have not just 1 but 2 travel groups to grow up with and Hannah is blessed to call these girls her friends! 
Charlotte and Hannah

S’ birthday party was a cooking class and Hannah loved it!  They made pizza, fruit kabobs and decorated cup cakes.  I’ll need to keep this idea in mind when Hannah’s birthday rolls around  if I decide to do a birthday party for her.

When we left the party we hit the road on our way to our annual celebration with the families we travelled to China with.  It is always a treat to spend time with these families as we shared such an amazing, life changing time together!!!
The girls have grown and changed so much from the babies they were in 2009!

And a walk down memory lane…2013

2012

2011

2010 (aka ‘The Year of Herding Cats!!’)

Thank you so much for hosting our celebration again this year Anna and Peter!  What a treat it is for our families to have the honour of getting together every year and catching up with one another.  I cherish each of these families and am so thankful that we continue to share this most amazing journey together!

4th Annual China Travel Group Reunion

Last Sunday was a day that I look forward to each year – our travel group reunion.   Hannah didn’t remember much of our previous trips until we arrived but soon after walked in the door she was off and running with her China sisters!

Anna and Peter open their home to us each year and I am so thankful for that!  I don’t have a home that allows me to entertain more than a few people at a time so I am thankful for those who offer the gift of their home to others.  Thank you Anna and Peter!!

This year we had a great turnout and 7/10 families that we travelled with in November of 2009 were able to attend and what fun we had!  As I watch this video below of the girls and Adam climbing over Peter’s shoulder, I can’t help but listen to all that is happening in the background….and grin from ear to ear!  For far too long our dinners were quiet affairs of mainly adults as we longed for the day when our daughters would be home with us.  Now they’re here and the ‘music’ they make with their laughter and shouts is beautiful!!

Jiana is also learning to play the piano so it was sweet to see she and Hannah playing together and helping one another.

It’s always fun to catch up with these special friends whom we share such a precious bond with.  I find myself wandering through rooms, chatting with a variety of people as we share the celebrations, challenges and questions of raising our amazing daughters.

I was really excited to catch up with Russ and Leslie and their 2 great girls.  If you want to read a really neat ‘God moment’ check this out from back in 2006!!  Our families had not seen one another in 3 years so it was great to get caught up a little.   They’re also planning their very first Disney trip so I’m going to help them out with that too.  Right up my alley!

That’s one thing about the families that we travelled with, when we get together the bond is there and conversation flows freely. 

The girls had a great time together and they ran up and down the stairs playing with one another and getting reacquainted.  Mom and Dad were sorry to miss this year’s reunion as they’re already in FL but they called during the party to say ‘hi’ which was a nice treat!

We were able to take a few pictures and I can just say that this year it was SO much easier to capture the group together!  Yup, they’re growing up!

L to R:  Jianna, Hannah, Beckett, Kristy, Tessa, Serena and Meigan

with siblings, cousins, friends, etc.

2012 (L to R) Serena, Tessa, Jianna, Meigan, Hannah, Emman and Kristy

2011 (L to R) Kristy, Meigan, Jianna, Emma, E, Hannah

2010 (Back L to R) Meigan, Tessa, Serena and Jiana (Front) Hannah and Emma

What a blessing these families are to Hannah and I!  I am so thankful that God brought all of us together and that we shared such a special moment together!  The moment our girls were placed into our arms in 2009!

China Travel Group Reunion

Last weekend Hannah and I plus my Mom and Dad were excited to get together with some of the families that we travelled to China with in 2009.  These families hold a special place in my heart as we shared the most amazing, life changing time together as we became parents together in Changsha, China.  We walked into a room with arms aching to hold our daughters and minutes later those arms held our daughters!  I am forever grateful that I had these families  to share that experience and many others with as we spent over 2 weeks together in China.

This year we saw huge changes in our girls as they’d changed from playing independently beside one another to playing with one another.  It was so neat to see! 

Although all the girls are from Changsha, only one other little China sister, Emma was in DaoXian with Hannah.

At one point I popped upstairs and asked the girls if they knew any songs and this was what happened.  Precious!!!

A second sweet video can be viewed here.  My favourite song of the evening happened when I couldn’t get to my video camera.    Our precious daughters born in China stood together and sang, ‘Oh Canada.’  I shed a tear or two and I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one who did.

This year we were finally able to get a group picture!  Phew!  The past 2 years when we attempted this it was a bit like herding cats!

2010

2011 (slightly more successful as the girls were 2 and 3 years old)

2012 – Ah, now that’s better!

Hannah’s China sisters – then and now.

Emma

 

Tessa

 

Kristy

 

Jiana

 

Meigan

 

Serena

It was wonderful sharing time with these friends and as we watched our girls together we realized the friendships forming between them is very important.  We’re hoping to get together more often in coming years in order to foster their friendships.  Such sweet little girls.  We are all SO BLESSED!!!