A Day Out

A few weeks ago we were so excited to see my friend Brenda perform with the Seattle Women's Chorus at their FREE children's concert. We'd been trying all season to get out and see one of their shows but we kept having scheduling conflicts. It was worth the wait though because we were able to see the men and women perform, as well as children from Village Theatre's Kidstage.

It was Madeleine's first theater experience and she loved it!
However, we did need to remind her that public exhibitionism is really a no-no - even though we do live in Seattle.

Isabelle always likes to people watch from the balcony of McCaw Hall.

After the show we took the girls out for dinner to one of their favorite restaurants - The Spaghetti Factory!

Madeleine took her time perusing the menu...

...and Isabelle gobbled up every bite.

Why is The Spaghetti Factory such a favorite? Every meal comes with ice cream of course!

Happy Adoption Day, Isabelle!

Four years ago we traveled to Kazakhstan to bring home our precious Isabelle. We don't know how we got so lucky to have such a wonderful little girl but we are so thankful. There are many important dates in the adoption process so choosing just one to celebrate is a bit hard to do. Even after we met Isabelle in Kazakhstan we still had six weeks to go before she finally came home with me after a 30 hour plus travel day and we were reunited with Jason in Seattle. April 23rd was the date we were all finally home together so that's the date we've chosen to celebrate.

Isabelle's referral picture. This is the only picture we ever received and it came to us several months before we finally traveled to Kazakhstan.

The day we met Isabelle and our first family picture! She was so beautiful in her bonnet when the caregiver brought her into the room. We couldn't believe she was really our little girl.
After two weeks of visitation we went to court to officially adopt her then it was more waiting while travel documents were prepared.

Someday we would love to take Isabelle back to Kazakhstan to visit.

This evening we celebrated Isabelle's adoption day by eating potato pierogis with mushrooms and onions. (The pungent aroma of onions and potatoes always greeted us as we entered the baby house on our daily visits to see Isabelle.)

Isabelle loved her tasty meal!

For dessert we had doughnuts that we dipped in sweetened condensed milk. This was a favorite dessert of ours in Kazakhstan!

Maddy loved getting in on the doughnut action too!

We decided to give Isabelle one small present this year to celebrate her being part of our family.

We have some special items from Kazakhstan we are saving for her when she gets older so today's gift was really just for fun.

New pajamas!

Happy adoption day Isabelle! You made our family complete the moment we held you in our arms! We love you!

Spring Break

After Easter the rest of spring break went by way too quickly for my taste. We had a couple more days at my parents house down in Eugene where we:

Read stories...

...and looked longingly out the window as the rain came down. After much discussion amongst the cousins... it was finally decided that if the weather wouldn't cooperate we'd just have to resort to having a dance party in the living room...

...where Vilia learned how to kick it old school. Bust it Vilia.

Upon arriving home we returned to our glamorous games of "Blanket Chariot"... ...and "Burrito Roll-Up". A fine time was had by all!

Adoption

I just read this NPR article about international adoption and wanted to share it with all of you. It pretty much sums up my feelings exactly about everything in the media right now. Please read it and start spreading the good news about adoption to your friends! Thanks peeps!

Easter Catch-Up

The Easter Bunny made his yearly visit, restocking our pantry with plenty of cavity-inducing sweets. This year my spring break fell after Easter so we were actually able to go home to Eugene for the holiday for the first time since we moved to Washington almost 10 years ago! It was so nice to visit family and not have to cook our own meals - thanks Mom!

Daddy, Isabelle and Madeleine ready for the hunt.

This was the first year Madeleine was able to search on her own. She was ecstatic after finding just one plastic egg. Had I known how much it would entertain her I would have pulled out those bad boys a couple months ago!
Isabelle has been learning how to read - somehow the Easter Bunny knew she should have the Bob books.

Madeleine found her basket and went immediately for the lone chocolate bunny. How could she possibly have known it was something delicious?!

The Easter Bunny also brought her a new tutu and matching headband. Again, we know it's tacky, but we don't care. :)

Madeleine helped Grandma pick out the breakfast pastries.

Cousin Vilia was there too - swapping germs and kisses with Maddy.

Papa was a great storyteller.

Then it was off to Great-Grandma's house for Easter dinner. Here are a few of the ladies in our fam. Madeleine, me, my grandmother, my aunt Bonnie (with Vilia), my mom and Isabelle.

Madeleine and Papa entertained the crowd...

...and Aunt Darla was on hand for snuggles...

...and coloring advice.

What a wonderful way to spend our Easter!

Happy Adoption Day, Madeleine!

One year ago today there was this...

a little bit of this...

and a lot of this.

One year later there is still a bit of this...

a bit of that...

and lots of love to go around.

Happy adoption day Madeleine! We love you so much and can't believe that little 4 1/2 month old baby we met in Ethiopia is now a toddling around 16 month old!

You can stop growing up now, okay?

P.S. Your special one year adoption day video is on its way - it just got waylaid with technical difficulties. Soon dear one, soon.