Thankful Hearts

I am thankful for my family: Taylor, the light in my life, Kip who saw the light in me enough to marry me and keep on pluggin', my parents, sisters and brother and their families, for Taylor's birth mother and father for unselfishly giving us their most precious girl, for my DH's family, my in-laws and his brother and sister, for two adorable kittens to fill the hole left by TC a year ago; by good friends near and far who support and love me and my family. I am thankful for all that I have.

Taylor is thankful for having a great family. That says it all!

Celebrating Adoption Month

We attended a wonderful fun-filled celebration for families encircled in adoption. Taylor and her friend Isabella really loved the dancing and even accompanied the band with tambourines. Sherrie Eldridge,the author of the book "Forever fingerprints", read her book aloud while about 30 kids squirmed around and even a few listened. Taylor was so excited to tell her Literacy teacher at GVA about meeting and listening to a real author. The book is wonderful. The kids did fingerprint art, got tattoos, balloons and treats! It was a nice evening for us as a family to really reflect on adoption and how much our lives are enriched by the experience. China is taking so long and we are seeing more and more families drop out of the program due to the length of time and uncertainty of the ongoing wait times. Some agencys are saying another 2 years for June 06 LIDS. We are LID May 16, 2006. Ours is not giving out time lines. I am afraid the wait will extend out beyond 2010 and then I do not know what will happen. feeling sad and disgusted at the same time. This too shall pass.

Snow Day

Snow Day!

Happy Halloween

What fun October is with friends, family and trick-or-treating! We had a few guests come stay at Chez Altman this past month and are looking forward to more in December. Our good friend Terra came for a visit as well as Grandma & Grandpa Altman. Taylor was on Fall Break for the week, so we covered just about everything from swimming to major snow with sledding and lots of Halloween fun. Taylor was a kitty for the library story-time and trick-or-treating and "I Dream of Genie" for the fun at the Wild Life Experience, and then back to the kitty at the fun-filled Halloween Eve event hosted by a local church. Taylor, Michelle, and Kristen all attended the fun-fest with jumping castles, more candy and a cake walk! Grandpa even won a pumpkin cake. The big excitement was when Taylor scaled a twenty foot rock wall at the event, as did Michelle and Kristen. Amazing to see the strong leg muscles she has while going up...even better to see her smile when she came down. Taylor's school also celebrated with a Fall festival and classroom party. October is host to more activities for us than any other month. I can't wait for November :)
Snow Day!
Did I mention we had 18+ inches of snow in our yard? Grandpa kept busy shoveling for a few days while the kids and I went sledding!