Kip hits the BIG 50

Today Kip turned 50 years old! He is resting comfortably at home! I lead with this because on Wednesday 5 days ago he looked deathly white and ended up in the ER which lead to a three day stay in ICU. Kip is happy to be home and is really dealing very well with all that happened. He has four ulcers that were bleeding and he just about couldn't make it standing up. Along with feeling lightheaded, he had a few other icky symptoms.
The biggest positive to come out of all of this is he has not had a cigarette in 5 days and is hoping to finally quit! It is a hard habit to break and physically he is handling it okay. He is on the patch and that is definitely helping.
We hung out today and had dinner at home. Taylor and I made daddy an angel food cake with strawberries to help celebrate the BIG 50!

Adoption Match Update from China CCAA Mar 1

This is the latest update on matches from China.
China Center for Adoption Affairs, (CCAA) Status:
Children matched April 6 - April 11, 2006
A big move considering 6 days were completed this time rather than only 2-3!

The last match date was Feb 1, 2010

WE ARE LID 5-16-06

In a far away land God planted a seed and now it grows in our hearts.
Not of our flesh, nor bone, yet miraculously our own.................

Tay's 5 Year Family Gotcha Day!

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever expect to be the mom of such a wonderful loving and kind little girl like Taylor. She is truly a joy to be with and around.


Celebrating our 5 year Family Gotcha Day
with Steve, Kate, Zack & Zoe; Donna, Amelia, & Lucy; Bob, Shari & Rachel.


Zoe, Taylor, Lucy & Rachel


All the girls are happy & healthy. They played like old friends with dancing, slip & slide and making paper airplanes. Taylor talks about each girl and seems to remember them from the last time we saw them. We really missed Ken, Karen and Ella this year. They moved to Thailand and hopefully will be back for a visit this summer. Ella and Taylor are from the same area in China, Luodian. This red thread connection is real and creates a wonderful bond if allowed to flourish. Five years ago today, was the day our family was born!

Year of the Tiger CNY Feb 14

Matt, Miah, Sydney, Taylor, Esme, Isabella, Elliana



Sophie, Taylor, Devon, & Isabella

Mr. Gilette, their music teacher at GVA


Kalea Noda Performing the Dragon Dance at GVA

Chinese New Year has become one of our favorite holidays to celebrate! We not only get to eat delicious dumplings, but we get to honor Taylor's heritage and celebrate with other families who have adopted from China as well. This year is the Year of the Tiger! February is also our "gotcha day" anniversary so we like to celebrate our coming together as a family with Taylor.
Taylor's school hosted Chinese Cultural Night in honor of Chinese New Year. Each class performed a song, dance or play in Mandarin for the audience. Taylor's class sang "If you're happy and you know it...." in Mandarin. Of course it helped that we all recognized the tune! You know she wants to be a singer when she grows up, and she belts it out with a smile.