Carnival Legend or BUST!!

Sorry it has been so long since I have updated my blog. I guess Facebook is kind of taking over my computer time lately. Let's see- since my last post this is what has happened in a nutshell:

Molly arrived on August 14

Josh left for Switzerland on October 30 (1 day before his 19th birthday)

Charlie and I went to Switzerland to see Josh for a short 4 day visit on December 10th.

Our family had a wonderful Holiday but missed Josh terribly

Josh left Switzerland on January 14th and went to South Africa - he will stay there until April 3rd

Now we are caught up to today!!

Our family is now getting ready to go on a week long cruise with the Freeby's. Their daughter Zoe was adopted at the same time as Lia from the same orphanage. Our families have become wonderful friends and we have spent time at each others houses and even went to Wisconsin Dells with them last year and shared a condo with them. We have so much fun and laughter with them and our kids get along really well so I know we are going to have a really fun time on board the Carnival Ship Legend. It will be so nice to be in the sun and warm weather for a week. Also, the day we get off the ship we are going to jump in the car and head over to Disney World for the day - wow, we sure a packing a lot in but it will be so memorable!

I will post again soon with pictures from our vacation!!

Chicago with our Travel Group

Aaron and Ruby


Zoe, Lia, Grace, Abigail, Mia and Ruby


At the American Girl Lunch


The girls all waiting for the Metra Train

We spent Friday - Monday in Chicago with our travel group (well 6 families - there were originally 12 in all). We arrive on Friday about lunchtime and 20 minutes after we pulled in our great friends, the Freeby's, arrived. We met them at their car and Zoe got out and her and Lia just acted shy and stared at each other for about a minute. Within 5 minutes they were running around and tackling each other - Yep I think they are best friends!! Then within an hour or so the other 4 families all arrived. We spent the evening talking, relaxing, swimming, eating and looking at each others photos from our China trip. The girls all played very well together and even the older siblings got acquainted and were playing together.

On Saturday we got up and headed into the city via the Metra, the El Train, and the Subway. It was fun, exciting, and tiring all at the same time. The girls headed to American Girl Place for shopping and lunch at the cafe. Some of the group headed to the Sears/Willis Tower. Then we met up with everyone at the Lego Store and then hopped a trolley to Navy Pier. Many of us took a ride on the Ferris Wheel - highly recommended!! Then we headed back to the hotel by taking a very relaxing water taxi back to the Metra Train. However, when we finally reached our destination we realized the train was leaving in less than 5 minutes and we had to run to get to the train. It was a close call but we all made it! That evening we spent time swimming and just hanging out again. We even ordered a Chicago Deep Dish pizza - VERY YUMMY!!!

Sunday morning we got up a little earlier and headed out for Chinatown. Tiffany (Ruby's mama) made all the girls matching dresses and, wow, did they ever look cute!! We used the transportation as the day before and this time it didn't seem like such a long commute - it was fun! When we arrived at Chinatown it felt like we were back in China again. Many of the same sights, smells, and sounds that were in China were here in Chinatown! They were having their Summerfest so the street was packed with people and vendors. I got some great deals and a few new items for Molly's room. We spent time shopping and then all went to a Chinese lunch. After lunch we had more shopping and then all met up for the ride back to the hotel. That evening back at the hotel we swam and ate dinner and then the girls had a few games of Ring Around the Rosy and London Bridges - they were all giggling and having a great time. Aaron had a difficult time that night because he knew it would be his last time playing with Ruby and MiaRose. He really became attached to the 2 girls and spent time grieving about them leaving in the morning. Ruby lives in Atlanta area and MiaRose lives near Chicago so hopefully we will get to see at least MiaRose sometime yet this summer. It was hard to say goodbye to everyone, but I know we will see them all again. We are planning to rent a cabin in the Smokey Mountains next year - FUN, FUN, FUN!!! Hoping more of the group can join us next year!!

We feel so blessed to have such a wonderful travel group and feel like we are all one big happy family! It's amazing how the adoption of these lovely little girls has brought us all together!

Miss you all!

Our House is DONE!!

I can finally say our house is "DONE". Well, at least 95% done. We do have a few odds and ends to finish up but we are now inhabiting our new rooms and deck and absolutely loving them! We ordered furniture for the new sun room and it will not arrive until early Sept. but we still hang out in there occasionally. I think we are going to get much more use out of our hot tub now that it is more easily accessible. Here are some pictures of the finished product!

Josh has Graduated!!

Here are a few pictures of Josh at his Graduation last Thursday night. We are so proud of him and the young man he has become. He looked so handsome and so ready to take on the world. I also spent the night with his class at their "All Night Long" party after graduation and I must say they were the most polite respectable young people around. I heard many compliments from them and they all had a wonderful time. Their class will truly be missed as role models for Comstock Park High School.

Its a NEW JOSH!!

BEFORE



AFTER

Video of Lia's Adoption Trip

I have put together this 6 1/2 minute video of our journey to China to adopt Lia. I think it came out pretty good - hope you enjoy it! Be sure to shut the Blog music off first!

Colleen

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Play date with friends

Here are a couple pictures of our play date with Janell and Abigail. We took the girls to a local mall and let them play in the play area for a while, then we shopped a little, and then went out for lunch. The girls had a great time together and Janell and I enjoyed talking and catching up. It is so nice having a travel mate live so close to us that we get to see often.

Prom 2009...and SURPRISE PROM KING!!

Here are a few pictures from Prom last night. Josh went with his girlfriend Taylor and 4 other couples. One of the girls' father owns a limo company and he drove them around in his limo - the kids really enjoyed it and the parents were grateful that they were safe on the roads! They said they had a great time and to our surprise Josh was crowned Prom King! We are so proud of him and the young man he has become. He only has 3 more weeks of High School :-( This will be a busy month for all of us.

Pictures of our new construction

Here are a few pictures of the construction taking place at our house. The new addition is now framed and they will be working on the roof starting tomorrow. We have to replace the entire roof of our house because we discovered mold in our attic and on much of the plywood under the roofing. All the moldy plywood has to be replaced so we have to tear the whole roof off and then all the roofing will match with the new construction. The weather has not been very cooperative for the guys working so when we do get a nice day they work like crazy. I have my fingers crossed that it will be at least 80% complete by Josh's graduation party, which is May 30th. It is a very exciting process but at the same time it is a little hectic.

Ooohhh...on a side note...Lia is finally potty trained!!! We are so excited and she is doing so well - hardly ever an accident anymore!

Funny Shirt

Josh just arrived home from snowboarding in Colorado and brought us each a gift. Lia's gift was perfect for her! Just in case you can't read it - it says "Are you SURE these are MY relatives?

Jumping Waves

Where we going?

Lia started this little "cheer" on our way to Disney World. The girls did it back and forth for about 5 minutes! Shut my blog music off before you view it so you can hear it.

Florida Pictures

Having fun on a boat we rented


Lia and her cousin Delaney (She came home in Sept. 2007)


Photos with Mickey and Minnie


Hollywood Studios


Walking with Grandpa after the Tigers game


We had a great time in Florida. Did a lot of visiting, swimming, sunning and relaxing. Unfortunately, Charlie also did a lot of working. He spent a lot of time on the phone and talking with my dad about "Business". I guess that's what happens when you are the President of a company. I am still getting used to it, but the kids and I had a great time anyway. We are glad to be home - we missed Josh. He is still getting used to us being in HIS house but I sense he is also glad that we are home. I just wish the warm weather would have followed us home! Enjoy the pictures.

Leaving for Florida

I'm busy packing and getting ready to go to Florida. We are leaving Saturday afternoon and staying in Lakeland at my parents house until Thursday. While we are at their house we plan to see a Tiger pre-season game, one day at Disney, visit my cousins, and maybe a round of golf. Then on Thursday we will go down to Fort Myers/Sanibel for a conference that Charlie has to attend. We will stay there until Sunday and then return to my parents house until Monday morning when we fly back home. Everyone is going with us except Josh. He is going to Colorado snowboarding for Spring Break in 2 weeks with some friends so we told him he needed to choose which vacation he wanted to go on and wouldn't you know it - the friends won! I am a little sad that he will be all alone in the house for a week and I'm praying the house is still intact when we return. He is a good kid and I'm not worried there will be any wild parties or anything but I have the neighbors watching just in case. I'm sure I'll be posting some cute pictures when we return.

Have a great week everyone!

Colleen

WISCONSIN DELLS

We had a wonderful weekend of laughter, swimming, games, food and fun with the Freeby's. Our condo was the perfect size for both our families to share, plus Alyssa even brought her friend, Brianna. It was 3 bedrooms, a full size kitchen, 3 bathrooms, and a large living room. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and since our condo was ready we all moved in. The girls were so cute. At first they were a little shy but within a few minutes they were giggling, screaming and running all over the place. The rest of the weekend we spent just hanging out and catching up. The older kids had fun as well and really do all get along great, it is great to see their friendship grow. We stayed until late Monday morning and then, sadly, we had to say goodbye. It is getting easier to say "goodbye" because we KNOW we will see each other again soon. We have so much in common with them and have found it so easy to get to know them, we really feel truly blessed that they are our friends.

Our countertops are IN!!

Here are a few before and after pictures of our new countertops. We still have to install the garage door and the faucet, but I am so happy with them.

Countdown to the Dells!

Lia and Zoe in September when we went to Minnesota


We are getting excited for our upcoming trip to the Wilderness Resort in the Dells with the Freeby's. Steve and Liz Freeby adopted their daughter Zoe from Shanghai CWI at the same time we adopted Lia. They also have 2 sons who have become friends with our kids and we are all sharing a condo at the Wilderness. We have become very good friends with the Freeby's and feel like we have known them our whole lives. Our families are very similar and we truly enjoy each others company. We are all looking forward to spending 3 days together to catch up. It is amazing how God has connected us with this wonderful family from Minnesota, I just wish we lived closer! Lia says she wants to "Splash in the water with Zoe!", only 10 more days Lia!

It's a Pigtail Day

Lia's hair has finally grown enough that I can put real pigtails in them. I used to put pigtails in but had to hold the hair up in the back with a clip, but now I don't have to, YAY! Her hair seems to grow at an alarmingly slow rate so this is really big news at our house right now. Some other big news is that Josh has been accepted into the YWAM mission in Switzerland. He will have to be there by Nov. 1st and his mission will go through April 18th, 2010. I know he is very excited about this opportunity and we are very proud of him. It will be tough to see him go but we will be in contact with him most days. Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Love, Colleen

Video of Lia "Making Bubbles"

Grand Rapids Childrens Museum

Today I took Lia to the Childrens Museum. We received a year long membership as a gift when we brought Lia home and our year is up on March 1st. I have taken her a few times during this year but decided I would take her today and at least once more before the end of the month. It was just a fun Mommy and Lia day today. On the way there she asked if we were going to see Zoe at the museum :-( I had to tell her "not today, but I will tell Zoe's mommy that they need to move to Michigan so we can see them more often!" HINT HINT, Liz and Steve! Lia had a great time with the bubbles and funny mirrors, they were her favorites. She also had fun just running from station to station and playing with all the hands on toys.