Thanksgiving Feast

Matthew had his Thanksgiving Feast at his preschool this week. Since I was off work for a doctor appointment, I was able to go! All the kids were dressed up and looked so adorable. Matthew's name was "funny blue zebra." We had to send in an adjective that described him, then he picked his favorite color and animal. A zebra????? Now that is funny. Of all the animals, he picked a zebra. We had a great lunch together. I loved seeing him in front of the crowd saying the prayer "God our Father." It was so sweet.

Matthew's class

Matthew with his best friend, Jacob. They have been friends since they were babies.

Adopted... again

Emma Grace was adopted in China and that adoption is recognized in our state. She became a US citizen upon landing in New Jersey on our way home from China. We decided, however, to adopt her again within our own state guidelines. Our friend is an attorney and highly recommended this to us. Our social worker gave us the same advice. By adopting her in our state, she will be given a REAL birth certificate, adoption papers in English, and if anything should happen to Rick or myself, she is legally one of our heirs and nothing could be withheld from her. On November 10, we went to the courthouse for the final adoption hearing. Of course, Emma made quite an impression on everyone she met. Her attorney adored her and the judge also thought she was the cutest thing EVER. This was my favorite line of the petition...

"The child shall be deemed the child of the petitioners and shall be considered for purposes of inheritance and succession and for all other legal consideration, the natural, legitimate child and heir-at-law of the Petitioners, the same as if born of their bodies with all the obligations, rights, and privileges of such a natural child and heir."

When the judged said this to us I wanted to burst into tears! I love this girl so much and I am so lucky and thankful that I was chosen to be her mommy!!!

Such a big girl... she insists on carrying my purse when we go out.

A big "cheese" for the camera

Here we are with Emma's attorney, our attorney and the Judge.

Family Pictures

A few weeks ago we had our family pictures taken by Hollie Colwick. She did an amazing job! It was a treat for us to have so many family shots. It can be a little tricky getting pictures of a 2 year old which makes our family extra difficult since we have two of them! Timmy and Emma were stuck to us like glue (which is why we have so many family pictures...) but we were able to get a few individual shots. I had so many favorites that I put them in a slideshow because it was faster than uploading them. You can go here to see them.