one year home!

Happy girl on the plane ride home!
Touching the ground for the first time as a US citizen!
Home!
I can't believe it has been one whole year since we brought Kaelin home! I will never forget seeing all of our kids nervously waiting for us as we walked out of the security area with their new baby sister! I was fine until I saw them and then unexpectedly burst into tears! Maybe it was just because I missed them or more so that I realized I had been waiting for this moment for three and a half years! I wish I had been more prepared for the moment! I did not have my camera ready as it had been such a long and tiring flight, that I just wasn't coherent enough to remember that small but important thing! Oh well, the memory lives in our hearts and minds and it is surely one we will all never forget! Come to think of it, maybe Marie or Sarah have pics and I just never got them!

1st annual hunan spicy girls reunion!

We had our first annual travel group reunion this past weekend in Ft Myers Beach Florida! It was amazing to see all of Kaelin's little friends from her orphanage! My how they had all changed and grown so much! The weather was hot and humid and brought back memories of us all being in Changsha and Guangzhou! It all seemed so familiar right down to all of the mosquitos! I have tons more pics but my cd drive is refusing to work so all I have is what was left on my camera! It is so amazing to share such a special bond with these families! We are so blessed to have them in our life so that Kaelin will always be close to her "sisters" from China!

One year ago today.....We held our precious little angel for the very first time!

Our Gotcha Moment!





Fast asleep on daddy's shoulder for the bus ride back to the hotelGotcha Night!

Has it really been a whole year? It seems like five minutes ago that our beautiful daughter was placed in my arms! I can still smell the sweetness of her silky soft skin the first time I held her. She was sooooo tiny and just downright scrumptious! She was perfect in every way and best of all, she was ours! I don't think that a Gotcha Day could have went more perfectly! You can see for yourself from the pics that it was like something out of a dream! If you want to relive our Gotcha Day you can go here to the post I made the day after we got her.
This past year with Kaelin Bing Wen has been nothing short of amazing! She is soooo happy (except when it is time for bed!), silly, smart, energetic, stubborn, independent, cuddly, loving, beautiful, and sweeeeeeet! She has meant so much to our family and brings sunshine and happiness into our lives every single day! We just can't get enough of her! God has blessed us beyond belief! We thank Him everyday for this little miracle He has placed in our lives!

I like to.....

Color!
Bake cookies!
Play on mommy's pewter!