The 2011-2012 school year has started!

I think you could hear my husband say "Hallelujah!" loud and clear this morning as the bus pulled up to our driveway. It has been a wonderful summer and we have kept very busy doing different things, but these girls need their learning! And Mom and Dad need some quiet time!



The girls were super excited this morning to be up getting ready for school. All the new school supplies were in their backpacks and they were wearing some of their new school clothes. Waiting for the bus was a new treat too as their special friend Paige from across the street is also going to their school this year and she is riding the bus with them!! Double score!!





School, a wonderful fall break for the parents and fun learning time for the kids! A win-win situation for all! And when the bus arrived home tonight I had to pay attention to all the news that I was being told. Sounds like a successful day. Now we have the weekend to recover!! Go Chargers!!

~~Tessa Day~~

One year ago today, a small, very frightened little girl joined our family. She was content to hold her sister's hands, but she really wanted nothing to do with her forever Mommy. Even though it hurt, I could understand that her whole world had just been turned upside down and adults were not to be trusted. Less than two weeks later when we arrived in Hong Kong, it was as if she realized that China was behind her and she finally could call me, "Mom". Just like her sisters! I don't think that she really knew the impact of what that term meant at the time. Today when I told her "Happy Tessa Day!" She gave me a big hug and said, "I love you Mom!"



Tessa is doing great! She will start 2nd grade this coming Friday. The last appointment she had with her pediatric cardiologist was not quite what we wanted to hear. Her doctor consulted with one of the top pediatric cardiologists in the USA about Tessa's aortic aneurysm. They do not feel that she needs surgery. They think that we should monitor her with an echocardiogram every 6 months and MRI's every couple of years. However, IF she would get hit hard in the chest or on the back the aneurysm could burst and in the doctor's words, "It would be catastrophic." So while we would like to wrap her in bubble wrap and keep her protected, we are opting to let her be a child and do just about everything she wants with the exception of things that are "ballistic".



Gone is the shy quiet little girl and in her place is a loud, funny girl who loves to tease everyone! She still misses her Chinese siblings and fondly talks about them, but she has come to love her home here and does not want to go to China anymore...except to visit. She is not afraid of anything. She loves trying new foods and has never been a picky eater. She is very appreciative of anything she receives and very happily will tell me "Thanks Mom for supper or thanks for doing my clothes!"




She gets along with her sisters....most of the time! They are like any other kids and get along one minute and are tattling on each other in the next breathe. Tessa likes playing on the computer, jumping on the trampoline, riding her scooter, swimming and stuffed animals.

We love her very much and can not imagine our lives without her! Happy Forever Family Day Tessa (Lou) JiXing!! We love you to the moon and back!!

Blogger glitch

I am not really a great blogger. I read others blogs and they always seem to say something really moving, magnificent, touching...you get the picture. I just kind of blunder on about things going on in our world and what the girls have been doing. I have a hard enough time trying not to make my sentences sound like something a hill-billy from Kansas would say....but I confess....I do struggle to say anything really elegant.

Now I went and done something really stupid. And the worst thing is....I don't have a clue how I done it!! I was busy typing right along and the next thing I look up at the screen and my words had gone astray. Never did find where that word took off too, but when I finished my post and went to look at the blog after I had posted....my sidebar seems to have slipped down to the bottom of the blog?? I must confess to those who don't know....the beautiful blog that I have was designed by Alexis who is a WIZZ when it comes to purting up blogs! I have emailed her ask....more like beggging for her help to get my blog looking put together right again. I hope she will get back to me soon. Right now...it looks like I was drinking heavily and became a little out of focus. Maybe I need to drink something to help me get it straightened out again!! Oy!!

The families that we traveled with to get our first daughters back in 2000 are all a very special group of people. We bonded and we bonded hard! I can't imagine our lives without these other families in it. We try to get together every other year for a reunion. Even then the time goes by too fast! There were 6 families in our group....we all adopted a baby from the same orphanage. Four of our families got together this year and each family has added at least one more child since our first adoption. Here are the beautiful girls.

Overbrook Fair time!

Tonight was the perfect weather and it was arm band night at the fair! The girls were so excited! We arrived at 7pm and immediately bought arm bands for the girls. First they all wanted to ride the "Orient Express" roller coaster.





The next thing the girls wanted to ride was the Tilt-A-Whirl. Well, they stood in line and found out Tessa and Kendalan were not tall enough to ride without an adult. So the littles had to find something else to do.




After that the girls kind of split up. Tessa, Kendalan and Jordis wanted to ride the roller coaster again and RaeAnne and ZoraLin wanted to ride the Tilt-A-Whirl and the Sizzler. The fair was set up just perfect so I could see all the rides. Dad chilled out on a bench by the merry-go-round.





Time flew by and before we knew it the sun was gone and replaced by a beautiful moon! The girls were starting to tell me how hungry they were. Of course, the smell of kettle corn, cotton candy and other tempting foods didn't help! We decided that it would be better to have something a little more filling and we munched on french fries, nachos and burgers. Then it was a couple more rides before we it was time to head home.









Mom stopped on the way out and picked up cotton candy and kettle corn for the bedtime snack!!

Winding down

The girls will start school August 26th. Some days it seems like the summer has flown by, other days.....not so much!

The girls were messing around with my old stethoscope last week. I am glad that RaeAnne was able to hear Kendalan's heartbeat. Rae gave the thumbs up when she could hear it. Kendalan had a little harder time finding the penguins heart!!




RaeAnne's BFF from Kindergarten came down to spend a few days. Hollie and RaeAnne were friends from the start and each year they still like to get together for a few days. RaeAnne went to Lindsborg to Hollie's for three days and then we met them in Junction City and Hollie came down here. I always try to find a craft for them to work on together while they are here. This time it was a very easy project. They decorated the first initial of their name to have to hang on their bedroon doors.



I hope that RaeAnne and Hollie will be able to maintain their friendship through their school years. Sometimes there is an extra girl in the photo!!

Lost in translation?

I emailed Tessa's orphanage a photo of Tessa and her sisters. I simply said, "Here is Long Ji Xing and her sisters." "We love them very much!" And the reply I received was "Thank you for providing pictures from the photo we see the dragon had a very happy Kyrgyzstan Fortunately, we are very pleased"

????????????? I was hoping for more photos of her....guess I will have to be more to the point next time! Can't believe that it is almost one year since Tessa joined our family. She is such a hoot!!