Memorial Day '07

Yesterday we took an impromptu trip to General Butler State Park where the kids had fun riding on a little train, paddle boats and playing miniature golf. Ryan even road a floating bicycle! He tried to get me to join him, but I could just see how that would turn out and decided it was better to just let him go at it alone. Emma thought she was big enough to paddle the boat so she sat down under Ryan's legs and paddled for a while, all the time saying "I do it myself!".

Optimism vs Pessimism

This story/joke was on the RQ site a while back and for some reason really cracked me up. Something made me think about it today ..

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Two boys who were twins, one an incurable optimist, one a pessimist. The parents were worried about the extremes of behavior and attitude and finally took the boys in to see a psychologist. The psychologist observed them a while and then said that they could be easily helped. He said that they had a room filled with all the toys a boy could want. They would put the pessimist in that room and allow him to enjoy life.

They also had another room that they filled with horse manure. They put the optimist in that room. They observed both boys through one way mirrors. The pessimist continued to be a pessimist, stating that he had no one to play with. They went to look in on the optimist, and were astounded to find him digging through the manure. The psychologist ran into the room and asked what on earth the boy was doing. He replied that with all that manure, he was sure there had to be a pony in the room somewhere."

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Shopping in China that we somehow missed

When we were in China in 2005, there was an area within walking distance from our hotel in China that I wanted to go to, but we never seemed to make it. Today I ran across a blog of a family that's there now (adopting from the same orphanage Emma is from) and I think these pictures are from that area.

http://bringingnataleehome.blogspot.com/2007/05/interesting-shopping-day.html

It looks like a great place to check out when we do finally get to go back!

Interesting reading about an older adoptee visiting China

I ran across this today, and really enjoyed reading it. We have said that we will take Emma back to China to visit but had really thought about doing this when she was 9 or 10. After reading this though, I may wait until she is older. The one regret that I have from our trip to China was not going to the Lianjiang SWI. We based our decision on the fact that it was something like 6 or 7 hours away and Emma was sick, but now I wish I had asked if we could have gone after we had Emma for about a week. One day we will return though.

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Coming of Age…A China Adoptee Returns to the land of her birth.
Really interesting article about an older teen adoptee that is traveling back to China. Read article at:
http://www.rainbowkids.com/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=498

This will link you to her blog:
http://adoptblogger.blogspot.com

Batter Up

Ryan had 3 games this past week and has 3 more scheduled for this week. He's been one tired little goose! They lost two and then won the game on Saturday. There were some pretty good plays on Saturday and one incredibly good catch by one of his team mates.

Emma loves going to Ryan's games, not so much to watch the game but there they have SNACKS. Not only does her papa buy snacks, but most of the time she gets a snack when the baseball players do too. Ryan keeps telling her the snacks are for the players, but the parents keep giving them to her and she's not going to turn them down. I have a feeling she must be hanging around the cooler and flashing her little dimple. She also likes playing with the siblings of some of Ryan's team mates. It's so cute to watch her run off with two of the little boys who are 5 & 7. This past Saturday the two boys were climbing a tree and Emma was standing underneath telling them which branches to climb to ... and to think that Ryan's name means "Capable Executive" ... hmmm.

It hits us sometimes how "accepted" she is and how very much we are thankful for that. Our social worker had asked us during the adoption process if our surrounding community would be accepting and we answered yes and that has been so true. We're truly blessed to live in the area we do.

What a way to start the day

Ryan made the sweetest card for me for Mother's Day. Inside, it had a flower pot type that was filled with flowers he had painted with water colors. Each flower had a coupon for something he would do for me. Some of the "gifts" were: a 10 minute back rub, take out the trash and clean his room. I had to laugh about the cleaning his room one ... that's not exactly a gift, but his heart was in the right place. My favorites were one where he said I could have the remote for a night. Yeah, uh huh ... sure. Not sure his dad signed up for that one. Then the best of all was one where he said he would watch Emma and let me take a nap! We discussed whether that meant an afternoon nap or if it meant he would get up with her on a Saturday a.m. and let me sleep in and he said it was my choice - I chose the latter.

Sure enough, this a.m. when Emma woke up and did he "maaaaammmmmaaaa" thing, Ryan was right there. He took her downstairs and fixed her breakfast and helped her brush her teeth and played with her for a while. I couldn't sleep with them awake but I did lay in bed & = just listened to them. God's greatest blessings are definately our children!

Then, to top it off they met me at the bedroom door after my shower and had my breakfast on a platter. The fine meal was a bowl of cheerios, and by far the best bowl of cheerios I've ever had in my life. Ryan was carrying the platter with the bowl of cheerios and Emma was telling me how she was helping because she was carrying my "poon" (spoon).

Nothing like celebrating Mother's Day for weeks on end :-)

Two Years Ago Today, Adoption Finalized

Two years ago today, we all boarded the big ol' bus again and headed back to the Civil Affairs Building. This time though it was to finalize the adoption of our precious babies. Our friend (and fellow travel mate) had bought Emma and her daughter the cutest little matching Gymboree dresses for the special day. My mind was so in the clouds about the new addition to our family that we took very few pictures that day. I did manage to snap a couple of Ryan and Emma in the playroom while we waited our turn.

During the process we met with several different people and were asked varying questions, but the common theme was asking if we promised to never abandon or abuse her and would she be a "full" member of the family. Yes, we promised with all our hearts! After all the questions, it was official - baby Emma was then a Hunter! We were officially a Forever Family!!!