New Year's Eve

The girls had fun running around until they dropped.

One Year since referral

It was one-year ago today that I received my referral for Ava. It was so exciting to see her face for the first time. I couldn't believe how beautiful she was and how lucky I was. She turned out to be just as sweet as she looks. Congratulations to all the families that just received their referral - what an incredible journey you have ahead of you. And to all the families still waiting, I pray that the referrals speed up and that you too will be looking at your child's beautiful face very soon!

Happy New Year!

2007 has been a great year for me. I received my referral for Ava on Jan. 3 and it's been non stop since then. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by and how much Ava has grown in the past 10 months since Family Day. She is such a loving, beautiful baby and I'm truly blessed to be her mom. I look forward to seeing what 2008 brings. Happy New Year!
She is turning into a real ham. I tell her to say cheese and she goes "eeezzz" with her big smile. She only gives me a moment to take the photo before moving on but it's still a step up.


Here is Ava playing with some of her new toys. She put the doll up front on her own- so cute.

Presents, presents and more presents...

Ava had a great time on Christmas morning. I didn't think that she would get into opening all the presents but she did really good. Half way through we took a breakfast break so that helped. I did have to help with the last few. I think her favorites were the doll, the plastic fruit and vegetables and once they were open, she is really enjoying all her Little People toys.

Christmas Eve

My sister Debi and brother in law Mark host a wonderful Christmas Eve party every year. They put a ton of work into making it a really nice celebration for everyone. A big thank you to them for all their work. Ava loves these big Mickey and Minnie characters. She would hug, kiss and dance with them.
Ava giving her cousin Jason a big hug hello. It's so cute how she is really drawn to her little cousins.

My nephew Alex with my dad...
with his girlfriend...beautiful Bianca with Papa and...
Alex with his grandma.

Christmas time

Santa came to visit at a Christmas party we went to on Saturday night. I didn't think Ava would go to him at all but she actually did okay- no crying.
Ava helping to decorate the tree.

Amber's Baptism was Sunday. She was an angel all day. Here is Ava "paying attention" at the church service.

Adoptees Lunch

The local FCC group hosted a really nice welcome lunch for the families that came home in the past year. There were around 15 children and their families at the lunch. It was so nice to see all the beautiful children and their happy families.