So Much To Tell!!

I've been gone for a LONG time.

Way too long.

So long that you will have to endure enjoy seeing ALL that has been going on around here.

I had to post all these because next week is going to be BLISS.

Marco Island here we come!!

High 80's.

Sun.

(Hopefully) No wind.

The beach.

Great food.  

I won't have to cook or clean!

During our spring break, Isabella and I took a 3 1/2 hour drive to the east and met up with our social worker to do our LAST post placement report!  

And of course see Big GeGe. 

Two days later, we packed up and drove 5 hours to the west and saw our very sweet audiologist and had hearing tests and a new tube put on her hearing aid.  The tests weren't good, so two weeks later we went back to Denver and saw her ENT and found out her hearing loss is very likely genetic.

The GOOD thing about driving that far is that we got to meet Savannah and her family.

Savannah and Isabella are 6 months apart.  They grew up together in Longgang, China.

They are China Sisters.  Although, they don't remember each other- they played like they were the best of friends.  It was so heartwarming to watch the two together.

Their family is moving to Houston in May and we are so sad as we just don't know how often we'll get to see each other.  

 Savannah and Isabella around the age of 2 or 3 in the orphanage.

 Ya, I don't look so great.  I had a headache from driving all day and 

getting bad news about Isabella's hearing.

Isabella and I got home and found out that Trent's grandma was not doing well.  Lisa, (Trent's sister) called on her way to stay the weekend with her and wanted us to be prepared for the day Jesus came to take her home.  She died two days later.   She was a very loving, sweet, sophisticated prayer warrior of a woman.

So we traveled to Trent and Lisa's home town to see family and friends 

and to celebrate Gma Z's life.

The FB stadium that my hunky, quarterback husband played on.

Nice, Trey.

Trey had my camera and got a few fun ones of Isabella and Wesley.

We've also had two BB tournaments.  

Basketball tournaments are a little more fun than wrestling tournaments because they don't last

 ALL DAY LONG!

This is Trey's first year playing organized 3 on 3 and it was so fun to watch!!

Isabella was so funny!  Every time someone scored and the scoreboard changed- she would write it down on her little pad of paper.  Does this mean she'll be the manager when she gets to Jr Hi and Sr Hi?

Wesley was home for his spring break and got to watch Trey play in his first BB tourney.

Trey is in the, "i don't want my picture taken" stage.

It's very frustrating for me!

The next three are from his second tourney.

They got first place!!

Last weekend we (along with Grandma, Grandpa and all the cousins) went to pick out our 4-H sheep.

Those babies are SOOO cute!!

Yes, Jenessa and Isabella are cute, too.   :  )

This one is the lucky winner!  He has already named him A.J. Jr.   

(After Wesley's favorite 4-H sheep)

Then there was the annual FFA Banquet!

FFA is big in our family.  Our step dad is the Ag Teacher and FFA Advisor at our high school.

He has a VERY successful program and is a mentor to SO many young people.

Wesley loved FFA and was very successful in it.  It's such a wonderful program!!

Trent and I

Johnnye (my gorgeous niece) and Wesley (my gorgeous son).

Johnnye is the second grandchild to be in FFA. 

 My beautiful "little" sister, Ollie.  She's like 6' tall.

Emma and Isabella

My other beautiful little sister Jennifer (She's of normal height) and her hubby John.

The boys.

Jonah, Trey and Jace

I keep telling my sister (Jennifer) that this boy needs a blog written after him.

He is one of a kind.  I've considered giving him equal time on here he's so funny!!

And these three are whom we call "The Three Amigos"!

They are all within 8 months of each other.

And all of our kids act like siblings.

In every way possible.  Loving and fighting.

This is Trey's FFA PAL.

Once again, FFA is such an awesome thing.

Trent and I with our sweet nephew, Jace.

He will one day adopt.

No doubt.

Now........

to more EXCITING NEWS!!!

The dossier is finished!!!

It's been notarized, (THANKS TRISH!!), certified by the state and authenticated by the Chinese embassy!!  And sent to CCAI to be checked over and over and over and over............

It's been there 11 days and should be on it's way to China.

Like yesterday!!!

Isn't that so cool?

Look at all that Chinese!!

And even more exciting news............

LOOK!!!!!!!

SWEET new pictures of Boa Yun Fei!!!!!!

And he's actually smiling!!!

Is he not the most handsome little dude ever?!

I'm in love.

They gave us updated measurements and he's grown!

Something I thought was cute- his report said, "Sometimes when he is naughty, he is also the kind of little boy that just makes people love him."

How funny is that?!!!  

Not only does he share a birthday with Isabella, but they call him Xiao Fei.

Isabella's chinese name is Xiao Hua.

Yep, he's mine.

And I'm in love.

Oh, I said that already.

THIRD DAY

Third Day has ANOTHER great song.

Adoption:  physically and spiritually.

Nice Pill

Last night Trey was playing very sweetly with Isabella.
They wrestled around and he would make her laugh by being silly.
Usually he picks on her so much that Trent or I are telling him to stop (ALOT)!

As he was walking out the door for wrestling practice he told Isabella goodbye
and then ran back to tell me with a big smile on his face, "Hey, Mom,  I think I took my nice pill today!"

It was very sweet.
And encouraging.

Bragging.....

is what I am doing today!

Yesterday was Parent/Teacher Conferences.
Miss Izzy's teacher had nothing but great things to say about her.

She called her amazing and bright.
A fast learner, ENERGETIC, obedient,


and yes

bossy.
She is still as bossy as she has ever been.  But that's not always a bad thing.  :  )

Her test scores have shown tremendous growth and she is right up there with her classmates.
The most fun part has been seeing her learn to read!  She has caught on so fast!

Speech still continues to be the hardest part for her.  While she has also made huge improvements there- she still has a long way to go.  Thankfully we have the best speech teacher ever.  I don't know what we'd do without her.




Last Saturday Isabella was invited to a Tea Party.
She loved being with other girls her age, dressing up and drinking tea from a real tea cup!
The sweet mommy who hosted the party sent each of the girls home with a box full of goodies including the tea cup and saucer they drank their tea from.

These pictures are from 1 week ago.

The weather was so beautiful!!

Today we had 9 inches of snow.

I'm so ready for SUMMER!!!

Time gets away from me.

It's been 2 1/2 weeks since a post.  

Days just fly by.   I feel busy all the time but can't figure out what I've been doing.

Anyone else have this problem?

Fingerprinting went great.  I was very worried about having to go to this USCIS office as the last time I had to deal with them it was a nightmare.  We were 30 minutes early and were out of there in less than a half hour.  As usual, my fingerprints are barely there.  These nice ladies had some magic lotion to rub on my fingers to get a better scan.  I will be buying some of that Husker Lotion (if only it was Wildcat Lotion) to bring with me on all other fingerprinting field trips.

Trent says I worry too much and make mountains out of mole hills.  

But, he doesn't deal with the paperwork and doesn't understand a mother's natural instinct to have her babies with her to love, nurture and protect.  I want to go to China yesterday!

Here are a couple of days that we had since our 1 year Gotcha Day anniversary.

We went to another wrestling tournament.  Trey got 1st place!!

He does so good for this being his first year in wrestling.

For those of you who can't tell Trey by his butt cheeks.  He's in the blue.  Pinning the kid in yellow.

Winner!

He really does think wrestling is fun.

I don't know why.

Trophy and Bracket

We had snow!

This is the only day we've been sledding.  More than snow we've had FREEZING temperatures which makes sledding short lived.

Trey thought he'd try to surf the snow.

Later he got out Wesley's snow board.

That didn't work so well either.

This was Isabella's first time EVER sledding and she LOVED it!!

Jack had fun, too!  He loves to play.

Happy President's Day!

Happy New Year!!

It's been a great Chinese New Year!
I received fingerprint appointments today from the USCIS!
Yea!

The cool thing about it is........they are scheduled for February 14th.
VALENTINES DAY!!

So.....Trent and I will be having a date at our nearest USCIS office.

What a great New Year and Valentines Day!!

I also received this week my dossier back from the Chinese Embassy!  I will be sending it off to my agency in hopes that they can start translating it.
The only thing left waiting on is my I-797.
Ahhhh.  Relief.




Oh, here is a sweet picture of Isabella on our first Gotcha Day Anniversary.