Happy 5th Forver Family Day!!!!!

Dale, Samantha & I on January 24, 2005

Dale, Samantha, Madison & I on January 24, 2010

Today marks our Fifth Forever Family Day - the day Samantha was first placed in our arms and our family was born!


We can recall the day like it was yesterday. Dale and I got up early in the morning (it was a Monday) we ate breakfast and then took a walk around Nanchang. We watched the people of Nanchange do Thai Chi (sp?), and just took in the sights. It was an amazing experience.  After our walk, we went back to the hotel to meet up with our travelmates and our guide. We were off to the Civil Affairs Building to meet our daughters for the first time. Of course, we had mixed emotions - anxious, excited, scared, but most of all HAPPY to finally be meeting our daughter!

At approximately 12:10 pm (China Time) we heard some noise in the hallway and realized our daughters were on their way to meet their families. We heard one of the babies crying and later learned that it was our daughter, Samantha.

We all were very excited as the girls began coming into the room adjacet to ours. We could see their beautiful little faces and most of them had rosy red cheeks. As I recall, the girls were all tired from their long trek from Tonngu.

One by one, each of the four families in our travel group was called up to meet their daughter. Samantha was lovingly placed into my arms around 12:15 p.m. that most wonderful day five years ago. Both she and I were crying but for very different reasons. Me, for it was the happiest day of my life and for her, it was was probably the scariest day of her life. I'm sure she was wondering what the heck was going on.

Thereafter, Samantha has been, and continues to be a very happy, bright and beautiful child. We could not have wished for a more perfect little girl than the one God and the CCAA chose for us. Our lives have been foreverly blessed with this most wonderful child!  Samantha continues to amaze us each and every day and she brings such joy and happiness to us and all those around her. 

We can't imagine where the time has gone! Five years later and this most wonderful journey of parenthood continues!  We anticipate what the future holds for Samantha Rae! 

Happy 5th Forever Family Day Samantha Rae Minhe!  Mommy and daddy love you very much and are so proud that we get to call you our daughter!

RIP Angela Marie Klover

Today is really a bitter sweet day for us.  It marks our 5th Forever Family Day with Samantha, but it also marks four years ago that our niece, Angela, was tragically taken from us in an automobile accident.  Her accident occurred on our one year anniversary of Forever Family Day!

We love and miss you so very much Angela and there is not a day that goes by that we do not think of you!  We hope you received the balloons Samantha sent you up in heaven!

Here's a picture of Sammie sending the purple balloon (she had already released a pink one):

Four Months Ago Today . . .

we, along with 46 other families met our children for the very first time.  Yep, it has already been four months that Miss Madison has been a part of our family!  Wow, where has the time gone?

It has been an amazing four months, but also difficult and hard at times, but we have been blessed beyond words to have been chosen to be the parents of a second beautiful and amazing little girl from China. 

Madison has really blossomed over the past four months.  Here are some of her accomlishments:

*  She walks, runs and even jumps steadily.  When we first met her in China she was very wobbly on her feet and has grown more and more stead with each passing day.

*  She is no longer afraid of our dog Bella.  That really only lasted a few days, but now she a Bella are best of buddies!

*  She and her sister get along most of the time, but boy, oh boy, they can fight too!

*  She has picked up many English words and is starting to put them together in 2 word sentences.  One of her first words was "Sponge Bob" ~ go figure!!!!  LOL!!!!  She now says probably 50 or more words (I guess I've never counted), but she can say momma, dadda, Rae Rae (for Sammie), milk, juice, Bella, lovey (Love You), stinky, bath, bottle, bum (for butt as I always call it her bum), Irv (her daycare mom's hubby), nana (for banana), grandma, papa, owie, pretty (for hair boys), and teeth, just to name a few.  I could go on and on, but you get the gist I'm sure.

*  She copies EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING her big sister does.  She also mimics things mommy and daddy do too!

*  She has gained almost three pounds since we've been home, which is huge for her!  She now weighs a wopping 21.2 lbs.  She was at 18.2 back in September.

*  She is afraid of the snow we have here in Minnesota.  That hopefully will change soon as we are going to take her outside to play in it when it warms up a bit.

*  She is very strong willed and stubborn and likes to fixate or obsess about things at times.  Needless to say, at times personalities in our house clash!

*  She is a drama queen like her older sister and can pitch a fit for 45 minutes or more!

*  She remains a HUGE eater and is not very picky about what she eats.  She loves fruits of all kinds.

*  She is very funny and outgoing and easily laughs! 

I could go on and on, but overall her adjuster to her new life has been good.  At times, it feels as if she has been with our family forever and not only four months!  We are looking forward to what the future has in store for her and our family as a whole!

Wordless Wednesday

52 Years

Wishing my parents a Happy 52nd Wedding Anniversary today!  Wow, that is a long time!  Love you both very, very much!

Wordless Wednesday

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Needless to say, I for one am sick of the frigid weather we are having here in Minnesota thus far this year!  It generally comes around the end of January / early February, but we've been hit in December 2009 and early January 2010 this winter season.  Cannot wait for spring ................ BRING IT ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone!  We hope you had a safe and happy New Year's Eve and as we say goodbye to another decade, we hope you are able to reflect on the good with fond memories and are able to learn from the mistakes made during the past 10 years.  As we look forward to 2010, I for one am anxious to know what the next 10 years will have in store for our family.  I know we will be dealing with one teenager (God help us) and one pre-teen too!  We've been blessed beyond words in the decade beginning with Y2K.  What happened, Dale and I were married in November 2000, Samantha joined our family in January 2005 (although we learned who she was in December 2004) and Madison joined our family in September 2009 (although we learned who she was in March 2009).  I'd say the past decade has been wonderful to our family!!!!!

Happy New Year!!!!!!!  Here's to 2010 and beyond ..........