Four Years Ago

Four years ago this month I was in China with my daughter, Abigail. We had traveled to complete the adoption of Piper and Tess. On this day four years ago we were just about at the end of our journey and would be heading home in a few days. When I look back to this day both girls look so small and sometimes lost. It has been a good four years with Piper and Tess. They have done so well, and I can't imagine life without them. Piper and Tess definitely know how to brighten up a day and bring enthusiasm to just about anything we do. I have never seen more enthusiastic girls in my life and we are so blessed that they are a part of our family. 

A funny little thing I remembered as I looked at these pictures today was that very frequently when I would walk with Piper and hold her hand she would pinch me - really hard. Though, once we got home she never did it again. 

Guangzhou, China - January 14, 2016. 

The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas - Day 13

Today our special thing was really easy and not very imaginative, but it counts as it was fun for the kids and as I said in the beginning we are just doing simple fun, easy things. So, we watched old home videos of Christmas past. The kids always love to watch them and will beg me all year long, but I usually save them for December. So, today we watched several different years. 

This first little clip is from 2011 and Bethany is so small here. Zola is playing the harp and she is 12 in this video. 

The next two very short clips are from 2013 - the year Bella and Sophia came home from Bulgaria. 

Memories

Sometimes you 

will never know 

the value of a moment

until it becomes a 

memory. 

Dr. Seuss 

Sarah and Caroline - 8 and 10 years old

Eating lunch before picking apples.

Always Remembers

Though my son, Joey, always tells me his memory is bad now because of his tumor, he always seems to remember the things I like to do with the kids and the things I love. He stopped by with this container of acorns because he knows I like the kids to paint them and we use them for fall decorations. He has the biggest acorns I have ever seen and he spent time making sure the acorns all had caps on them which makes for a more attractive painted acorn. Such a nice thing for him to do. 

I guess we will now get out the paints and start painting. The first day of fall is almost here. 

Three Years Ago

I was going through old pictures, deleting some to kind of clean up my folders and I found these pictures of my granddaughter, Reagan, and Bella. This was three years ago almost to the day. Reagan and Bella were always such good friends and Reagan used to always say that Bella was her very best friend and she just loved to come over and play with her. It was so sweet. My daughter and I always said it would be sad when they were not as close. Well, in just a few weeks Reagan starts kindergarten and she is moving on, though she and Bella still play some. Reagan is a very mature 5 year old and I knew the time of being best friends with Bella was growing short. I am sure Reagan will find a new best friend and will do very well this year. They will always be friends and Reagan is a very sweet child and will always include Bella when she is here, but those days of being very best friends are over and it kind of makes me sad. 

Two Years Ago

Two years ago this month -- Piper and Tess had only been here a few months. We were all still getting used to each other. They have adjusted to a new life so well and are doing amazing. We are so blessed. 

They look so young to me in these pictures. 

Today And A Year Ago

Yesterday was the first day of spring and today we have this.

I was so hoping it would start to warm up and the kids are even getting kind of tired of this cold weather. I decided to look back through my pictures of this day last year and it looked a lot nicer then. 

One year ago to the day -- a few pictures of Bethany, Bella and Tess. Piper was inside recovering from surgery. I don't know what everyone else was doing, but it sure looked like a nice day. 

Oh, and today was World Down Syndrome Day -- and I did post a picture of Bella swinging. 

Seven Years Ago Today

Still looking at old pictures. These are of Sarah and Claire seven years ago. Claire looks so small. 

Seven Years Ago Today

I actually remember this day. I took Zola, Abigail, and Bethany to Sweet Frog. I keep looking back at old pictures and remembering all the good times and how small they all were.

Seven Years Ago Today

Someone asked me to continue to post old pictures so I thought I would go ahead and post some -- especially since I do enjoy going though them. It was a little hard to find some for this exact date, but I found some from seven years ago. I think I may do this at least once a month. I kind of enjoy it. 

Jordan, Andrew, and Bethany - 7 years ago today. Bethany and Andrew really look little. 

More Memories

I went through more pictures and picked some of Claire, Andrew and Bethany to post. Such memories. This is it, as I won't post pictures of my kids that don't live here anymore -- that would be just too much. So, I will end with these three. Also, no point in posting pictures of Piper and Tess since I have posted their pictures since the day I met them. 

This is Claire and several of these were taken right after she was diagnosed with leukemia. I remember that time so very well -- two years of chemo. In the first picture Katie is holding Claire. 

I decided to go to another year with Claire when she was a little older and pick a few - so these next ones jump ahead a little. 

I did the same with Andrew - picked a few when he was pretty young and then went a couple of years forward and picked a few more. 

I did the same again with Bethany as she was so little in the year that Shutterfly sent us -- a baby. I had to go forward to get to some where she was a little older and walking around. But, the first ones are the ones that Shutterfly sent to me and got me started on this memory lane trip.

These are Andrew and Bethany playing together. 

Bethany and Claire out in the rain playing. They had a blast thay day playing in puddles in the street. 

I almost forgot these two - Bethany as a baby and Andrew right before the Christmas play one year. 

This was kind of a fun few days looking at all these old pictures. Now I think I will try to put a few in a photo book. It seems hard to find time and get around to it but worth it to have them in books. I used to make books all the time but haven't in years -- except for my blog books.