Our big trip to Great Wolf Lodge

We surprised the kids with a trip to visit with their cousins at Great Wolf Lodge this past week.  Well ok - the trip to Great Wolf was part of their Christmas gift and they did know about it ... but they didn't know about their cousins meeting us there.  We met halfway at the Sandusky location and despite a bit of winter weather, the travel was uneventful.  The kids were so shocked to see their cousins that they were literally speechless.  Like Angel stood there dumbfounded.  It was hysterical.  But after that, they got to business having FUN together.  Oh it was an amazing three days!  These kiddos adore each other and it just shines through them.

When we had to say goodbye yesterday, I think I almost saw some tears.  It will most likely (most definitely) be the last time we see them before they head to Singapore with mom & dad to start a new church.  And because of that, I'm even more glad we were able to make this mini-vacation successful ... the kids just love each other and always have so much stinkin' fun together.  I am so excited for them to be starting this new journey, but selfishly a little sad that the kids won't be getting together for several years.  I'm thrilled we have some pictures to frame around the house ... they will serve as tangible reminders of the gift of family!

The Chinese Acrobats

Were amazing, spectacular, absolutely jaw-dropping!  Wow, what a show!  Easily the best performance I have seen in ... years?  Seriously if you have the opportunity (Chinese children adopted or not), please go see them!  All of the kids adored the performance and I pretty much had a smile from ear to ear the whole time.  Made me appreciate the rich Chinese culture and traditions even more.  I wasn't allowed to take any pictures of the performance (silly copyright laws), but I did snap a couple quick ones of the kids after it was over.  My mom and our sweet friends joined us for the performance and then had lunch with us back at our house.  Watching Sunshine play with her beautiful friend was so, so precious!

Purple Pride

What a great day to be a Ravens fan!  We watched an incredible man take the field for the last time today and we watched our team play their passionate hearts out!  Oh it was an amazing event to witness, especially with sweet friends that our kiddos adore.  We put the kids to bed at the half and then stayed up to watch the nail biting finish.  I even had to get up and walk away when I thought it was over for us.  Man what a game!  So, so proud of our team!  After 12 years, the Ravens are officially the best football team again!  Wahoo!

A love affair

This child has a love affair with her new friend Giddy.  I think it may be a little one-sided at this point, but what a riot she is!  She asks for her "Giddy" every day, multiple times during the day.  And when his mama sent a picture of him this morning, she hijacked my iPhone to stare.  Oh my word.

Little Pianist

I love having my grandmother's piano in our house.  She passed away when I was just 11, and left her piano to me way back then.  It took 20 years, but the piano finally made its way into my home.  I'm not sure if she could have envisioned my children's little fingers playing the piano, but what a joy it is for me to see it. Sunshine grabbed her new book (which is wonderful, I highly recommend it for transracial adoptees!) all by herself, propped it up on the piano, and started playing away.  It was such a sweet moment, I'm so glad I captured it.