Thankful!

We had a great Thanksgiving! It's hard to believe we brought Sara home the day before Thanksgiving last year. It brings a whole new meaning to the day! Sara's baby cousin Ben who is 4 months came to visit from New York and she was in heaven! She LOVED him! She kept saying "hold it, my baby". It was so cute. She constantly wanted to know where he was and what he was doing. It was precious to see them together.

We are so thankful for our home, our health, and our families.

This is the day of the Ohio State/Michigan game! Go Bucks!!!!!

Feeding her baby!
Ouch! She actually didn't mind!
Both of them were watching Noggin!
Too bad Sara's hair was in her eyes
Great Grandma, Uncle Michael, and baby Ben!
Playing with Otis!
With Grandma and Papa!
Papa got Sara's nose!!

GO OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!

We've done our part to help him win!!!! Ohio was BIG and he WON!!!!!!!!!! Sara even says "go Obama"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Too cute! Hopefully, we will wake up and he will be our next President!

The Birthday Party!

Sara's party was on Sat at Graeter's Ice Cream (the best ice cream in the world, seriously). She was a bit overwhelmed! It was fun, though. There were 17 kids there! What an exhausting (but fun) week! WOW!!!!

Sara and Nancy (Mimi) playing in the play area!
We had the kids all wear their Halloween costumes! Sara wore her Birthday outfit!

She kept taking frosting from the cake!

Happy Birthday Sara (and Mommy)

Yesterday was Sara's 2nd Birthday! We had a wonderful day. We took her to the Zoo in the morning, a tradition we would like to do every Birthday. We took her to the Zoo in Vietnam last year! After her nap, we had her friends Nancy and Ellen came over for some cookies and then we went to Chuck E Cheese. She had a blast, but she was pretty scared of Chuck E! Tomorrow is her big party, as if we have not celebrated enough!! We are so sorry Gary's parents weren't able to make the trip to Columbus, but we hope to be with them next year! Today was my 39th Birthday! I can't believe I will be 40 next year! I don't know where the time goes!

We can't get over Sara! She is now talking in sentences, counting and working on ABCs. She also is getting to know her colors. She is SO much fun!!! She is obsessed with her electric Barbie Car! I will post pictures of her in it. She constantly says "Barbie Car". It is crazy!!!

This is her "funny face"
Birthday Breakfast
At the zoo
She loves the carousel!
Chuck E Cheese!!!
Go-gurt with Daddy!
She was very slap happy after we got home! I don't know why, but she started doing this pose! We kept laughing, so she kept doing it!
Bonding with Grandma!
Halloween! She kept the hat on for about 10 minutes! It only took her about 2 houses to figure out the whole thing!!
The girls are ready to go!
At Nancy and Ellen's leaving for trick-or-treat
"Daddy, why do these people keep giving me candy?"
Enjoying the candy!!!

One year ago today!!!

One year ago today, we saw our precious Sara's face for the first time! I will never forget that moment. I was the 1st one in the door and she was in a walker and I scooped her up! She was ours forever from that point on. What a joy this child has been for us! I promise more pictures! We have her Birthday tomorrow with a party on Sat! Yesterday was our 8 year Anniversary! What a week it's been! Sara, we love you so much. Every day with you is such a joy! We are so lucky that you are in our lives.


She looks so scared here! We just returned to the hotel from the orphanage.

Bad blogger!!!

OK, those of you who are still reading (is anyone??), I'm sorry about my irregularity in posting. As the weather starts to get cooler, I'm sure I will probably be posting more. We haven't been up to a whole lot, just playing and enjoying our time together. My parents had their 50th Wedding Anniversary and all of us kids threw them a party. Sara had a great time, of course and so did everyone else. Other than that, nothing too exciting has been happening and we are just fine with that.

Sara turned 22 months on 8/30. I just can't believe we have had her for 10 months and that she is going to be 2!!! She acts every bit of 2, though. Her vocabulary has exploded and she understands EVERYTHING you tell her. She is such a joy to be around (except for those tantrums). It makes me so happy that she is so happy!!! This kid really loves life! She says "what's that?" to everything and "I do". She doesn't want any help with anything. She is actually a big help around the house! She says "luv u" and then goes "AWWW" because I do that when she says it. We crack up every time.

Grandma and Grandpa's party!!

That's her cousin "Shishi" (Samantha). She LOVES her and will not leave her alone for a second! When they left my parent's house to go to their Hotel, Sara was crying hysterically.
The happy couple!They were there 50 yrs ago, too! Including Great Grandma of course!!!MMMMMMM!!! Cake!!!This shirt says it all (What's not to love?). My Grandma Macklis got this for me!!We had a picnic with my family over Labor Day weekend. Great Grandma just can't get enough of her!Sept 1 was a very sad day! Vietnam adoptions were suspended from the US. My heart goes out to all of those families who were waiting for referrals and I hope they can come up with an agreement soon that will provide homes for orphans in an ethical manner. I can't imagine life before or without our Sara in it!!!!

Sara's best friend!

Sorry I've been so absent lately, just busy. Last week, Sara had a case of hand, foot, and mouth disease. It was nothing serious, just a pain because she couldn't be around other kids. Well, most other kids. She couldn't bare to be apart from her best friend, "Mimi" (Nancy). Nancy lives behind us and just turned 3. These 2 girls are constantly running from each other's back yards, meeting in the middle and hugging. The second Sara wakes up, she says "Mimi" and when we are out, she is constantly asking for her. Nancy is one of 4 and her sisters are favorites of Sara too. Ellen is 5 and Sara can't say her name. She just rolls her Ls together. It's so funny!!! Sara thinks she lives at their house and loves playing over there. When Nancy's not home, her heart is broken. The two of them go nuts when they have to stop playing. I have to drag Sara away and half the time, we never get to where I intended to go. It's so nice that Sara has such great friends!

Our new daycare situation is working out pretty good! Sara hasn't been much, due to the hand, foot and mouth and this week the sitter's on vacation.

An interesting thing happened to me in the grocery store today. There was an Asian woman there with a very small baby and I took Sara over to see the baby because she LOVES babies. The woman looked at me and said "Is that your baby?" I said "yes" and she said "Why does she have black hair?" I told her she was from Vietnam. That is the first time anyone has ever said anything like that to me. I thought that was very obnoxious!!!!


They love to play dress-up. The only shoes we had that fit Nancy were Uggs, so now she has to wear "Sara's costume with Sara's boots". Of course Sara had to wear boots too.

Aren't they so cute?
This kid just loves being outside!!!! We have had wonderful weather here! Winter is gonna be a real bummer!
At the park!!
She loves this slide with the rollers. This kid is a real dare devil!!!!