Fun Filled Weekend!

Wow! What a fun weekend! Bradi and the girls were in since Tuesday...Brad flew in on Friday night to join us. Friday night Bradi and the girls joined us for some pizza and play time with Benjamin and Alissa. Saturday morning we met up with the family to have breakfast at Cracker Barrel. It was Grandpa's birthday... our day was with filled with a lot of fun! After our yummy breakfast it was off to Lake Tobias to see all of the animals. We had a blast on the safari where we rode on a school bus that had the roof sawed off. We even got to feed the animals! Afterwards we stopped for some nourishment... ice cream! It was on to Hershey's Chocolate World... a 3D movie and riding on the tour 2 times. Yummy chocolate bars to sample of course! No stopping at that! A stop by the house and then on to Grandma & Grandpa's for dinner. Afterwards we celebrated Grandpa's birthday with all kinds of yummy desserts and a visit from Grandpa & Grandma Weaver and Uncle Grant. So much fun, but the fun didn't stop there! :-) After going to early church service we met up with everyone at Dutch Wonderland. The kids had a blast! What a special time to be with Bradi & the girls last week and then Brad too! Thanks Grandpa & Grandma for so much fun time! So many great memories!

Summer Catch Up

Summer has certainly been busy! So hard to believe it's half way over! It's about time for some catching up. Some highlights so far....

-Benjamin's baseball tournament... they had 2 wins and 2 losses. It was a fun time for all!

-A couple of days at the pool...Alissa loved it! (of course Benjamin did too... he had fun with some school friends)

-July 4th cookout with friends... always a time of fun, food, fellowship, and fireworks!

-Cabin weekend with the Goods... the kids had a blast in the creek. The adults had fun catching up and playing some games (it's been a while!)

-Alissa had her 13 cavities fixed at the hospital (don't know that it was a highlight, but it's done...check it off the list!)

-MI cousins are here to visit!... Aunt Bradi flew in with Raegan, Sydney, & #3 on the way. So far we have enjoyed dinner as a family and a day at Lititz Springs Park today. Perfect weather today for lunch out on the deck at the Lititz Pantry. Of course the chocolate at Wilbur was yummy too!

-A lot to still look forward too this summer... Uncle Brad flies in this weekend, baseball camp for Benjamin next week, trip to the beach with the Wiles, and of course our first family of 4 vacation. Can't wait!

Hope everyone is enjoying their summers too!

One Year Ago Today

It's really hard to believe that one year ago today at this very moment we were getting ready to go into the Bethany Christian Services, our adoption agency to see a picture of our daughter's face for the first time. Here it is a year later on this same date.... and my beautiful little daughter came over and crawled in my bed to say good morning. Truly amazing! In many ways it feels as if she has always been a part of our family, when it's only been 9 months. We have so much to be thankful!

Zhu Zhen Quan

Alissa's referral picture

Some pictures I took this weekend in

our backyard

Alissa continues to amaze us with her ability to adapt and learn our language. She uses only a few Chinese words anymore. Sometimes I think it's because we will use the Chinese words. It makes me sad to think that is just another part of her life that she is losing. Who knows, some day maybe she will want to learn Mandarin. Alissa can write her name and my name (Mommy). She can spell her name out loud. She sings her ABCs and counts to 15. She is recognizing some of her letters as well as numbers. I have to remind myself she is still 3. She has this drive to learn that amazes us. I had to laugh the other day... we drove through a park and there were a whole bunch of outside potties for July 4th and Alissa says..."Those are nasty potties". She had us all laughing at that.

Some of Alissa's favorite things to do... play outside, swing, ride her scooter, ride her bike, pick on her brother (and love on him too!), play with her friends, play with her cousins, she loves playdoh, paint with water, and playing in her little kitchen. She is quite the little social butterfly.

We have so much to be thankful for in our family! God's timing was perfect! So worth the wait! We love you Alissa!