Summer Pool Parties

Hannah and I are blessed to have many wonderful friends whom we spend a lot of time with.  We get together with many of them on a regular basis but due to our small home it’s difficult for us to host gatherings.  In the summer all that changes as my parents kindly open their home to not 1 but 2 group gatherings which allows us to invite friends over.

In July it was a group of 4 families whom we get together with almost on a monthly basis.  Our kids have grown up together and often refer to one another as cousins.  (One other family is part of the group too but live a distance away so we included them via Face Time!)  The day started out sunny and everyone quickly jumped into the pool!

This past weekend was beautiful as we hosted a Family Day Celebration for a group of families from our agency that travelled to China 10 months after us.  I got to know them when Hannah was just a baby and I was invited to join them for their travel meeting and answer questions about our time in China.  Little did I know that they would welcome Hannah and I with open arms and include us in many group celebrations since then.  So thankful for this group of friends too!

Dave, Debbie and Charlotte

Laura, Chia-Yi and Siena

Hannah and I

I saw something new on TV the other day and decided to give it a try and it got 2 thumbs up all ‘round.  Individual dessert pizzas made on the BBQ.  It was neat to see how unique each person made theirs!  Yummo!!!

We are so thankful for this special group of friends and look forward to many more wonderful celebrations together!

Thank you Mom and Dad for opening your home to us and the time you share with us when we’re at your place!  You’re the best!!

China Sisters Reunion

Hannah and I are blessed to have been welcomed into the travel group from our agency that travelled to China the summer after us.  As they were preparing to travel in the summer of 2010 I was invited to share our experiences with them and sweet friendships were formed that very day.  Since then we have been welcomed into their group and I am thankful for these friendships.  I am also thankful that two of the little girls in this group came from the same Social Welfare Institute as Hannah, 1 of which even overlapped with her there by a couple of days.  These are precious gifts for this mama to have and hopefully in time Hannah will appreciate this too. Another neat thing is that all of the girls were born within 9 months of each other and are all entering Senior Kindergarten in September.

Hannah put on her serious face when we stopped the girls long enough to snap a few pics.

After that she asked me to take a picture of her alone.  Looking so grown up!

The girls jumped in the jumping castle for literally hours!  None of them stopped for more than a couple bites of lunch but ice cream was offered, that was another story!

The girls serenaded us with a song I’m sure you’ve never heard before!  (I love Hannah’s little arm swoop later in the song.  She loves to act out this song!)

Our amazing girls and their mama’s!  We are all blessed beyond measure!!

It was wonderful to join you for your 4th Family Day Celebration friends!  We are so thankful for the friendships our group share!

Gung Hay Fat Choi!

This past week has been one filled with lots of wonderful celebrations as Hannah and I celebrated Chinese New Year with many friends.

Our first party was a large one with many other families and was hosted by our local Families with Children from China (FCC) group.  We attended it with a group of friends from our agency who travelled to Hunan the summer after Hannah and I were there.  Hannah was most excited to have her face painted like a beautiful butterfly and she spent much time enjoying her new look in a little mirror they gave her.

Hannah and Charlotte enjoy playing together whenever our families are together.

We enjoyed a delicious 10 course Chinese dinner with friends and my sweet butterfly fell asleep in the car on the way home.   She was sad but understanding the next morning when we had to use moisturizer and a few baby wipes to remove her butterfly before church.

The second CNY party was a bit of an impromptu one when last Friday’s storm caused us to reschedule a party with friends.  I live on a major street so it was kept ploughed.  Some of the side streets, Ange’s included did not have their streets ploughed until more than 24 hours after the storm which kept them housebound.  Liz had ordered a cake that needed to be picked up so she also picked up Asian food  for us in the same plaza.  She had to be creative when she came to some snow drifts but made it through.  These storms cause for creative driving for sure!

When she and Ava arrived we took some pics of our little sweeties dressed in their Chinese finery.

This is one the Liz snapped and it made me LOL as it captures (errr….tries to capture!) Hannah perfectly!  This is my girl for sure!!

e are the girls posing with the beautiful cake Liz had ordered for our party. It’s easy to say we only put a dent into it but it appeared bigger as the girls both wanted the snake so we cut it right down the middle!

Sunday afternoon Hannah and I volunteered to take dessert to lunch at Nana and Papa’s house so we made a combo Valentine’s/CNY cake.

We were able to reschedule Friday’s party to Sunday afternoon.  Here Hannah is playing with Ava’s lion costume.

It was wonderful to celebrate this special day with great friends!  Julia brought fun snake crafts for the kids.

Not to be outdone by the bigger kids, Grayson worked on a craft too but quickly ditched the plate in favour of painting the tray of his high chair.

As the kids are getting older it’s getting a little easier to take a group shot.

My cheesy girl showing off her red envelopes.

From Hannah and I, Gung Hay Fat Choi!

Gung Hay Fat Choy!!

Happy New Year everyone!!  Welcome to the Year of the Rabbit.

Hannah and I enjoyed 2 New Year celebrations together with friends this past weekend.  Fun!

Saturday night we went to a beautiful CNY banquet in Toronto with the local Families with Children from China (FCC) group.  There were around 300 people at the banquet and we enjoyed an authentic 10 course Chinese meal.  Well…I enjoyed about 8 of the courses and the others I wasn’t brave enough to try.  It was a reminder of the meals that we ate in China although I must admit that when we were in China I ate very little as I was so afraid of getting sick and not being able to properly care for Hannah.  Dad and Norma were much more adventuresome in their eating!

This past summer a group from my agency received referrals from Hunan province which is where Hannah was born.  I was invited by our agency’s director to come to this group’s pre-travel meeting, sharing some of what I’d experienced and answering questions they might have.  It was a wonderful group of 5 families and we hit it off immediately!  Since then their group includes Hannah and I in their group activities including attending the FCC dinner.  What fun it was to spend time with them and their sweet children!

Here is Hannah with her friend Siena who both lived the first months of their lives in the DaoXian SWI.  One of the neat things is that Hannah’s Forever Family day is November 2, 2009 and that is Siena’s birthday!

From the moment we arrived at the banquet hall, Hannah was ready to check out all the celebration had to offer. 

On a side note, check out how my little girl has grown!  The pic below was taken the end of April 2010 and the dress went all the way to the floor yet now it’s just to her knees.  Hannah is now 34 1/4” tall which is in the 95th percentile on the North American charts!  Still my long and lean sweetie. 

After dinner and a children’s entertainer it was time for the lion dancers.  Last year Hannah enjoyed the lion dancers and I was hoping she would feel the same this year.  Oh boy did she!!  (Please excuse her Mommy who mistakenly kept referring to them as ‘dragons. Oops!)

Hannah getting a closer look at the lions

After the dance was finished, the children we allowed to climb under the lion and walk around with the costume on.  Look who was in there keeping up with the big girls!!  I love watching this as it shows Hannah’s fun, outgoing personality and that she lets nothing (including her age of only 23 months) hold her back! 

Sunday we enjoyed our second CNY dinner with friends Liz and Ava.  We travelled back into the city and went to a restaurant at the same mall we’d been at the night before for the FCC dinner.  How funny that both places ended up being Just doors from one another.

The girls both enjoyed the yummy noodles while this mommy was partial to the dumplings.  Delicious!

This is the second year that we have enjoyed sharing a CNY dinner together at this restaurant.  I think a tradition has been born!

Gung Hay Fat Choi!!  From Hannah and I, Happy New Year everyone!!

Agency Christmas Party!

Sunday was our agency's Christmas party and Miss Hannah was the belle of the ball! When I walked in with her sleeping in her bucket car seat people immediately gathered. Their first response was that it was a long time since a baby had come home young enough to fit in a bucket car seat! The wait for my precious may have been long but I am forever grateful and thankful to God for her young age! She woke as soon as we got there and we enjoyed the music being provided by one of our China travelmates, Robert. Great job Robert!! It was so nice to see you, Bonnie and your adorable Serena!

Before we left the party I wanted to capture a few special pictures. Hannah and I with Deborah, the director of our agency. I cannot begin to tell you how thankful I am for this wonderful lady who helped me every step of the way. She and I originally met in January of 2005 and in November of 2009 we stood together with God's precious miracle between us! Thank you, thank you, thank you Deborah!!! My heart cannot begin to express my gratefulness to you!!

Also at the party was Angus who had presented Hannah's referral to me and showed me her pictures for the first time on August 29th. Here we are on that day

and then now!

What a treat to be able to introduce Hannah to these people who have played such an important part in she and I becoming a family. My agency, Open Arms to International Adoption, is the greatest!! So happy that that is where God opened the singles slot for me!

And, since posts are just better with video, here's one I took of Hannah playing after we returned home from the party.

One More Step Forward

Over the past couple of months I have been working on updating the paperwork to keep my provincial approval current. Initially an extension of provincial approval was requested in February which made it valid until April 30, 2008. Due to the fact that I will not receive my referral by the end of this month (I wish!!), I was required to do a full update of my homestudy which allows me to apply for a 2 year provincial approval extension. It's all part of the process and I'm happy to do whatever it takes to bring Hannah home. It does involve extra expenses to have medical forms completed, a new police check done and a homestudy update but all things that are required so I'll do them. Each of my references were also contacted and I'm thankful to each of them for taking the time to respond to his questions and show your support once again of Hannah's adoption. Each of you is very, very special to me and I love you so much! I look forward to the day when I can introduce you to Hannah and you will know that God used you in a very special way to help bring she and I together!! Thank you!

Last week my social worker, Sal Garofalo, came over to my place and we updated my home study. Not a lot has changed so it was pretty painless. He and I laughed together and chatted about what had happened over he past couple of years. I was able to share with him about you, the amazing people I've met in 'blog land!' I was excited to write an addendum to my home study that talks about all the wonderful people I've met during this adoption journey. Each of you is so very important and I'm thankful that we're sharing this journey together. I really don't know how people endured the wait before the wonderful world of blogs. I know that at that time the wait was shorter but, I also know that the friends I've made during this wait will play a very important part in Hannah's life! I am so blessed to have found this online community that have become real life friends!

Yesterday Sal was able to hand deliver my updated home study to my agency rep Deborah so that she could hand deliver it to the government office. Talk about amazing service!! I am so very thankful for my social worker Sal and also Deborah who does amazing work for my agency Open Arms To International Adoption.

If you are in Ontario and looking at starting an adoption from China I would highly recommend Open Arms. If you live east of Toronto and are considering either an International or Domestic adoption or are looking for a great facilitator of the Pride course, then Sal Garofalo is your man!As he was leaving Friday he asked if I had any questions and I said, 'Um yah. A weird one.' He laughed and said, 'Ask away!' 'Ummm...can I take your picture and, can I put it on my blog?' You can see above that his answer was yes!

Thank you Sal and Deborah!! I appreciate you and all that you are doing to help me bring my sweet baby girl home!

I must admit that my favourite part of the entire time Sal and I spent together was when he walked me through step-by-step each of the things I'll need to do when I receive Hannah's referral!!! Oh yah! Now that's the kind of stuff I like to chat about!