An elevator ride that changed our life......

Four years ago today we took an elevator ride that changed our life forever. When we arrived at the 26th floor in that crowded elevator, we walked through the doors of a room that contained 5 babies all dressed in the same red outfit. There was one particular 8 months baby that we were already smitten with even though we had only ever seen pictures.





Le Ping Yi was placed into our arms on that day to forever join our family on that fateful day in October of 2007. So much has happened since that day & our baby girl is growing a little each day into quite a young lady. She has taken her added role of big sister this past year very seriously & quite well. Although I know some days she still wishes she had her parents all to herself, she has grown to love her little brother.



She looks forward next fall to being a kindergartner & we wonder what happen to that little 15 pound bundle we held for the first time 4 years ago. We love you Maddy & are so glad that you came to join our family. It's hard to imagine life without her.

Fall fun leaves & pumpkins

Zeke had a few firsts this month with the onset of fall. He & Maddy had a chance to play in the leaf pile we (ok, Matt) raked up in the front yard. Maddy has done this for a few years now so she had prepped Zeke on what to expect. He liked playing in the leaves, but in more so loved being able to throw them at his sister.

We also made our annual trek to the Country Sun Farm with some of the other local adoptive families. In years past we are usually late & have missed the hayride. This year we were the first to arrive and came ready with ziplock bag to put the corn for feeding the animals in so it didn't spill all over in addition to taking part in the ride. Maddy has caught onto the fact that many kids spill & extends her feeding fun by getting the excess off the ground. Looks like she's off to a frugal start in life like her Mama!

Leaves:







Pumpkins:

Thankful Thursday

Today marks our 10 month anniversary with Zeke. This time last year our paperwork was making it's way through the US Embassy in China & we were anxiousy awaiting the next step before we could book our tickets. It has been so much fun to watch our sweet boy blossom in this past year. He is really starting to take to his daddy more & loves his whole family. We love to hear him at night talking through the baby monitor practicing phrases & singing songs. It seems like overnight sometimes when he says new phrases & understand new concepts. We are so blessed that we were chosen to be his parents.

We also think back 4 years ago to our pending trip to get Maddy. It's hard to believe how much life has changed in that time but we wouldn't trade it for the world.