Happy Halloween!

This year Ellie wanted to be Tinkerbell and Katie was a 70's girl. Ellie only knows about Tinkerbell because Katie has the movie! They both looked so cute and had a lot of fun! It would have been better without the rain, but kids don't care as long as the candy keeps on coming! We finished the night at our neighbor's Halloween party!

Loads of Leaf Fun!

The maple tree in our front yard provides Ellie and Katie will loads of leaves to jump in! Scott just keeps re-raking the same pile for lots of jumping!

Happy Birthday, Scott!

Today is Scott's birthday! Unfortunately, we have no pictures! We went to the Gwinnett Braves AAA baseball game. We sat out on the lawn, which was good for Ellie, since she could move around. It was supposed to be mostly cloudy today, but it turned out to be quite sunny and hot! We didn't make it through the whole game, but it was fun!

A day at the zoo

Ellie took her first trip to the zoo on Sunday. It was in the low 80's, which never happens in Atlanta in the summer, so we took advantage of the beautiful day! She really had a great time! The gorillas were really entertaining! A few of them came right up to the glass to check out the kids. They also have a new parakeet house. The birds fly around, and you can feed them with a seed stick (that you can buy for $1 of course). We all enjoyed a great family day!

First Friday pool party!

We had our First Friday group (families with children and families waiting for children from China) at Scott and Sharon's beautiful pool on Saturday! A couple of the families had left when this pic was taken, but what a great picture of those beautiful children (and their big sisters!). The newest addition to the group, a little boy named Ray, joined his family a couple of months ago. So sweet!

Feeling old...

Yes, Scott and I had our 25th High School reunion this past weekend! Yikes! It also came in handy as a little family reunion, since we graduated with my sister-in-law, and she of course brought my brother with her. We had a smallish turn-out, but a great time was had by all! At the sign-in table, some "kid" who was at the bar where the reunion was held, decided to inform the people at the table that "he was born in 1984!". He was "politely" told to go away!!

Fourth of July fun!

We went to our annual neighborhood Fourth of July party! Lots of fun, food, and kids all over the place! As the first firework was set off, Ellie came screaming into my arms! I sat in the house with Katie, Ellie and a few other kids during the fireworks show. We watch a bit of Happy Feet! Oh well, maybe I'll get to see the show next year!

Katie's Doctor's appointment

We finally got around to Katie's 7 year check-up! She is now in the 5th percentile for height, and the 7th percentile for weight! She's our petite little girl!
She asked me the other day if I thought she would ever be tall like her friends. It seems like most of her friends are taller than most girls their age, and Katie is smaller, so the height difference really shows!

China Group Reunion in Philly!

We had our reunion with the families we traveled to China with when we adopted Katie. It's so great to see how well all of the girls (and one boy!) are doing! Even though they've all grown so much, you can still see the faces of those adorable babies we adopted 6 1/2 years ago! We did some sightseeing in Philadelphia for the weekend. We went to the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and the "Rocky steps" at the museum, of course. There is a statue of Rocky there, and we saw two wedding parties taking pictures with Rocky. Quite interesting! We had lunch in Chinatown, too! Katie took a special liking to two of the older brothers in the group. Her feet didn't hit the ground too often!

Katie's field day at Puckett's Mill

Katie had field day last Thursday. The weather was good, not too hot, and the rain held off. She stuck by her best buddy, Katie L. Their class came in second in the tug-of-war, and Katie got a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place ribbon for the relay races.
It's hard to believe we're almost finished with school!

splish splash!

Big fun in a little puddle! We had a little rain, which made a very small puddle. Apparently it was just "Ellie-sized". She had a great time!

Happy Easter!

We had a very happy Easter this year! Katie and Ellie were both thrilled at seeing their baskets and the many eggs hidden around the house! Ellie looked at her candy for a split second, then dived right into it! The girls basically had candy for breakfast, with some apple slices on the way to church!
After church, we went for a photo shoot at the Elijah Winn house (an old house near us that is used for tours and festivals). Ellie isn't too cooperative with pictures yet, but we got a few good ones!
The rest of the day was spent just hanging out and relaxing!
Back to school tomorrow! :(

A Spring Day!

We had a fun spring day at Yellow River Game Ranch! Katie has been there twice, but didn't remember it. The girls had a great time! Ellie loved the bunnies the best! We had a squirrel that followed us around! We thought that was pretty cute. After that we had a nice healthy lunch at Sonic, and then walked a trail in the woods at Stone Mountain (gotta walk off that Sonic) and let the girls play on the playground. Ellie was more fascinated by the GIANT sandbox than anything else. It's so nice to spend the day away from the house!

Snow Day!

Yes, it actually snowed in Georgia! Katie just loved it of course, but Ellie didn't quite take to the idea of it. I guess it was a bit too wet for her. Katie's friend came over, and they played for a while. Since we don't have the proper snow attire, it got a bit cold for them! Scott and I were reminiscing about the days of our youth when we'd be out there for hours! Did anyone else put Wonder Bread bags over their socks before they put their boots on? Keeps the feet dry, and your feet slide right into the boots!
We were checking the school closings last night, and we weren't on the list, so I checked this morning, and it said Gwinnett County Schools! Being a teacher, I was excited, too! Right now Katie is playing Wii with our friend from NJ who got snowed in with us! He's hoping to get home today if the weather here clears up, and if the weather in NJ holds out!

Happy Gotcha Day, Ellie!!

WOW! A year ago today in China, we were handed our second daughter, and Katie became a big sister! Ning RongRong (aka Ellie) came to us in a big red and yellow snowsuit. She had a buzz cut, and very red cheeks! She cried and cried when she was handed to her new family.
We can't believe it's been a year already! So many changes! When Ellie came to us, she was 13 months old, and weighed only 16 lbs.! She could only sit up if we put her in that position, no crawling or even rolling. She couldn't hold her own bottle, but she could feed herself.
Now, she's your typical 2 year old! She's into everything, can speak in 3 word phrases, loves to color and play with play dough...
We feel so blessed to have these two wonderful daughters! Sometimes we just stare at them in amazement that they're ours!
Here are pictures of Ellie on Gotcha Day and today!

One year ago today...

On this date one year ago, Scott, Katie, Scott's mom and I were on our way to China to meet our new daughter, Ellie. We were very fortunate to be on the same flight as the Cryer family. Katie loved sitting with their girls on the plane, and didn't give us an
"I'm bored" or "are we there yet?" too often! We didn't actually get Ellie until the 17th, so that will be another post!

A date with Daddy!

Scott and Katie attended the Girl Scout Father/Daughter dance on Saturday night. It was a princess theme, so Katie had to borrow a gown from a friend (all of our princess clothes were a size 4)! Thank you Isabelle! Katie had a great time, and her dad didn't even embarrass her!

Happy 7th birthday, Katie!!

We can hardly believe that our baby is 7! Where does the time go?? We celebrated Katie's big day by taking her and 6 friends to her favorite restaurant, Ninja. After that, the girls came over to decorate their own very large piece of cake. We had frosting, sprinkles, pink sparkles... they had a great time! Well, the fun wasn't quite over! Some of the girls went home around 9, and the others stayed for a sleep-over. They watched a movie, ate popcorn, and went to bed really late! Then, at 6:30 am, they ALL came in our room to see if they could watch the rest of the movie from the night before! We politely kicked them out!

HAPPY TO YOU!

That's how Ellie sings Happy Birthday! We celebrated her second birthday today. We had some of her (and our) friends over for pizza, cupcakes and ice cream. We had a lot of fun! Ellie didn't quite understand that you're supposed to blow out the candles with your mouth, not your hands! Hence, the picture with my hands grabbing Ellie! For some reason, the pictures came out backwards, but you get the idea!