Swim lessons

The girls have been doing swimming lessons for the past month.  Zoe was in level three and Hope in water babies.  We were really not sure how Hope was going to do and she surprised us all.  She really enjoyed the lessons and loved the water.  She made such amazing progress in the four weeks of lessons.  Zoe has always loved the water from day one and is a good swimmer.  She passed level three and has made it to the last level.

4th of July

This 4th of July was my Holiday to be on call.  The first time since Zoe's been home with us.  It was hard to work on her birthday.  I made it home for a couple hours long enough for dinner and for her to blow out her candles and then I was called back into work.  We bought a small collection of fireworks for the kid sot let off.  Conor was in charge and did a good safe job.  Hope seemed to enjoy watching all the pretty colors!

Zoe turns 8

Tomorrow my little girl will turn eight.  When my kids were younger I never could comprehend when someone would tell me that they would grow up fast.  It seems like the first few years were slow but after that they fly by.  I'm going to start a new tradition and reflect back over the last year and what she has accomplished!  It was a year of many changes.  The biggest change of all was her becoming a big sister and loosing her spot as youngest and only girl.  She has done amazingly well with this, we had anticipated jealousy but really have not had any.  I think it helps that Hope is so much younger than her.  She also learned in this year that she will be a big sister again and welcome another baby sister soon.

She had a great school year in the 2nd grade.  I didn't get to volunteer as much this year because of all that was going on but her teachers made such a cute scrapbook of each of the things she did and I am so thankful for that.  She had two teachers splitting the job.

She joined a competitive dance team and went to her first competitions in February.
They placed 2nd in the first competition.  She was also in a showcase and recital

She started gymnastics again in December.  She even went on to team trials but decided that she wasn't ready for the hours of commitment team requires.  She will continue with gymnastics in the fall.

In October the day her dad was baptized she gave her life to Jesus.  It was a beautiful and amazing day!

She visited her homeland of China and was able to visit her Orphanage and finding spot in person.
She really enjoyed her time in China and was such a champ with the food trying anything and everything.

She continues to be a girly girl who loves clothes and shoes.  She will change several times a day if I let her. She loved dance competitions and getting to wear makeup.  She is a performer and is not shy about getting in front of people or groups.  She is still very much a daddy's girl but is becoming just as much a momma's girl.

I really can't wait to see what this year has in store for her.  She amazes me everyday with her positive upbeat outlook on life.  Here are a few pictures from the year.

LOA wait

We are currently waiting on LOA.  This part of the wait is the most unpredictable out of all the waiting times during the process.  The LOA (Letter of Acceptance)  can come on day 20, day 30, day 40 , day 80 or day 100.  No one knows the rhyme or reason why some families have a shorter wait while others have a more lengthy wait.  With Zoe we waited over 100 days,  with Hope it was 82, however now the trend is between 35-50 days.  The shorter the LOA wait the sooner we can travel.  We are really hoping to have it in our hands by the end of July if we are going to make the October travel group.  So will you Pray with us that our LOA wait is short and that we can get to our little girl sooner rather than later!

Heather's Wedding

Saturday we attend my coworker's wedding.  I also helped with pictures.  It was the hottest day of the week.  Zoe went with me and had a fun time. Here are a few pictures from the Big day.