A Picture Game

My friend Jen tagged me for this cute little picture game.....

***Rules***
1. Go to your Picture Folder on your computer or wherever you store your pictures.
2. Go to the 6th Folder and then pick the 6th Picture.
3. Post it on your blog and tell the story that goes with the picture.
4. Tag 5 other glorious peoples to do the same thing and leave a comment on their blog telling them about it.



I guess it is sort of appropriate that the picture that fits the rules is this one. After my previous post on meeting Lindsi. The next picture folder holds the pictures of meeting Jami.
This is when I am seeing Jami for the first time...Sept 2006, at the SWI office in Nanchang.
We were actually supposed to meet her the day before, but because our flight was delayed (it's a common theme that runs through my adoptions, apparently), I missed our scheduled adoption day & met her a day later.
Unlike Lindsi's group, it was just us. And Jami was older. And a lot less happy about the prospect of leaving her nanny to join me.
I was blessed twice though & so happy & grateful to have a second wonderful daughter from China.

Let's enjoy the photos of these 5 friends.....

Shirley At Family is Forever
Amy at For Such A Time As This
Val at (Drivvel Supp
Amy & Amelia at Cherishing The Chunster
Kim At Laughter, Love, & Lily

6 Years....A Mom

Can it already have been 6 years........Yes, I guess so.

6 years ago today we had just spent 3 VERY COLD days touring Beijing. It snowed while we were at the Great Wall. I had hoped to climb to the nearest tower, but it was very slippery covered in a mixture of snow & ice, so we didn't climb that far.

On our visit to the Temple of Heaven, it was SO COLD...our guide took pity on our group & asked if we would like to stop in and visit a tea shop. We all quickly agreed, (to get out of the cold more than anything). The girls at the tea shop did an impromptu tea ceremony & taught us a lot about their history of teas, the function of tea. It was such an unexpected and memorable opportunity. I wish I had bought a tea set there. As it happened, I didn't buy a tea set at all on my first trip. But, made sure I bought one for each daughter on trip #2!

Our plan was to fly from Beijing to Nanchang, go to the hotel, & then be united with our babies that evening. Well, snow & ice kept the planes grounded in Beijing for HOURS. We were many hours late leaving Beijing & we figured we would probably meet our babies the next day.

After we landed in Nanchang & were in the van on the way to the hotel, our guide said, We will get to the hotel, check in, & in 15 min, meet at the conference room, because the babies are already at the hotel!!!!! Needless to say, we checked in as fast as we could & grabbed all of our necessary things & then waited for the time we could go down to the 14th floor. The hotel had an inner atrium & you could look over the balcony to the floors below. We were all gathered where we could see (& HEAR) the babies & nannies being led into the conference room...they were about 3 floors below us!

We finally went down to the room, but we had to wait outside the doors until they were ready for us. Just writing this, I can still feel that incredible nervous excitement & tension. They let us in & there sat 7 babies, all bundled up in the same color snowsuits. All within 3 weeks of age of each other. Most of the babies looking rather similar. One baby, with a ton of hair & rosy red cheeks, looked more like a little Eskimo. I snapped a few photos of her because she was so different & more unique looking than the others. Then, I searched for Lindsi. I really had no idea which baby she was. I went down to the far side of the table, looking at each baby, trying to find a resemblance to the referral photos I had stared at for weeks.


When I walked back down to the one with the rosy red cheeks, the nanny waved at me, pointed to the baby & started nodding yes! this one is yours! WHAT??!!! That beautiful baby at 10 months is the seem Mr Magoo picture I had seen 6 weeks earlier!! Are you kidding me??!!!


I went over to meet her. Yep, sure enough, her badge matched my info. Then we were asked to go back to the other side of the table as they called each family by name to present the baby. Out of 7, we were the second or third family called & then it's a blur what else went on in the room. I only had eyes for my girl.


We went over, showed our paperwork, the SWI signed off their paperwork, & a smiling Fu Lin Da was handed to me. She was curious & happy. And, mostly, she has stayed that way for the last 6 years.

She never cried & we were able to stay in the conference room (nearly all the other babies went back to their rooms) & welcome the 4 additional babies who came from another SWI. My friend & fellow single mom was in that group & I'm so glad we were there to witness Ella joining her family.


The first year was our hardest. Not because of Lindsi, but because I was unprepared for some of Lindsi's undiagnosed special needs. However, I could never have dreamed up a daughter as wonderful as the one I was blessed with.

Thank you for making me one proud & happy Mom. I love you!

If You Have a Minute......

If you have a chance to offer up a prayer of comfort today, please keep this family in your thoughts.

They could use whatever solace you can offer.

This is one incredibly brave child. One loving family trying get through the best that they can. Sadly, I'm sure this happens everyday...............

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lydialimeieikomiyashita

Have your tissues handy.........

A Recap of Valentine's Day

Belated Happy Valentine's Day........
Lindsi made this Valentine Box for me. She wrapped the bottom & top separately, as well as lined the bottom & sides inside the box & then had to cut an opening in the top to slide the valentines in. She said that was the hard part....=) She's so creative.


Jami is working really hard on writing her name & MOM...(Lindsi filled in the rest)
Lindsi wrote Jami's name at the top (just in case you were wondering).


From Lindsi.....yep...it was also my birthday. We celedbrated in style. We went to a classmates birthday party at the skating rink. Then we went out to dinner with my parents. Lindsi gave me a pretty pair of heart earrings & Jami gave me some yummy chocolates.

More WDW Pics

We were going to have dinner with our friends Lisa & Emme (& Lisa's mom) on Thu, but we just had trouble coordinating our plans. SO...we ended up grabbing dinner ourselves & then visiting for a few hours in their hotel room.

Isn't this the MOST CONTAGIOUS smile??

The Three Amigos

Laughing Together All Night


Lindsi's big sister instincts really kicked into high gear with Emme. In the character parade at the restaurant, Emme's shoe fell off. Lindsi gently pulled her out of the parade line, fixed her shoe & then helped her join back in. Lindsi was just so sweet with her.
Jami really liked Emme too. Mostly in the..FINALLY, someone smaller than me...look what I can do dept. Whatever daring stunt Jami did, Emme was sure to follow. Jami liked THAT. Only once did I see / hear Jami exclaim loudly to Emme that Lindsi was HER sister. Mostly Jami was content to let Lindsi & Emme enjoy their mutual adoration, because then she had me almost all to herself.





We had such a fantastic day. I sure wish everyone lived closer! It was way too short of a visit!!

A Day At WDW

Last week we headed down for a day at the Mouse House. We met up with our friends on Thu PM at the hotel. All of the girls had such a GREAT TIME together. I'll post pics of that once I get permission to share...=)

The next morning we headed to AK. We saw the Nemo Show & went on the Jeep Safari. Lindsi took these great photos with my camera.. I think she's probably ready for a better camera of her own for her birthday in May.




Our friends had lunch reservations at the Crystal Palace at MK in the early afternoon, so as soon as we got off the safari we hustled over to the other park. Lunch was GREAT! It's a buffet restaurant at the end of Main ST & the characters were Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, & Eyeore.





After lunch, we caught the show at the castle & then went on about 6-7 rides. The weather was nice (about 65), crowds were small.

Jami wanted a pose on Dumbo's ear like Lindsi, but every time I set her up there, she'd slide off before I could take her picture. So, she got a trunk picture..=)



Just before the fireworks we found this friend (who had been at MK earlier in the day, hopped to another park in the afternoon, & then came back to MK). Kris & I have known each other since I brought Jami home in Oct 2006. She's the one who I owe nearly all my AWESOME photos of the girls to.....=)


It was a GREAT day. We all had a FANTASTIC time. Although, we did miss meeting this Blog friendThat would have made the day complete.

More great photos to come........

CNY Re Visited

Our FCC CNY get together was on Jan 31. One of our families has a BEAUTIFUL place on about 20 acres. It's so much fun for the kids, as they have some Emus, baby chicks that were just hatched, sheep & lambs, mini cows....a whole farm experience for the kids to enjoy.

This year, they also had some ponies brought in for the kids to ride around the orchard.

Top that off with fun crafts, Chinese stories, awesome food, & great fellowship & you have a wonderful afternoon. The weather stayed nice (50's) until sundown & then we hurriedly did the dragon dance so people could escape to their warm cars.

My friend Kris was the official photographer for the event. Next year, I sure hope that she's too busy enjoying the day with her own little one, but for now, we still get to enjoy her AWESOME photo skills.

Pics from the day (all taken by Kris Jackson):