Mother-Daughter Brunch

We had the blessing of going to a mother-daughter brunch today. Those of you who know me well, know I used to avoid these events like the plague! Oh, those years of thinking "it was never going to happen." I'm so glad that God had a plan far greater than my dreams or hopes.

This picture just takes my breath away!


Ava Lu sure enjoyed the strawberries and all the fun in grandma's beautiful garden.Here are Sammy and Kylie, Ava Lu's cousins. She had fun playing with them and all their attention.
Thank you, Blanca, for taking these pictures to capture the memories of our first mother-daughter event. It will forever be a warm memory of true fulfillment.

Looking foward to Mother's Day #2. Presents aren't necessary - I have my forever gift of the heart!

Michelle

Big Girl Bed

We finally transitioned Ava Lu to her "own" big girl bed. The transition was rather smooth given she has not slept in her crib all but 5-7 nights in the last year. She's been sleeping in the spare bedroom queen size bed! So, I finally let go of the crib being in her room and put her twin bed up.

It's great to have her sleeping in her own room beautifully decorated just for her!

And, in celebration of our one year anniversary, we got together with others in our travel group from the Bay Area. How wonderful to see how all the girls have grown. . . and all the happiness and joy in these families' lives. It was a great celebration party. One of our travelmates, Lori, made an amazing slide show of the trip. Once I get a copy of it, I'll post it to our blog. Tears of joy were streaming down my face as I watched it! Here's a photo of the group one year later.

Ava Lu is talking more and more. In fact, she repeats EVERYTHING we say. Watch out! It's fun to hear her begin to articulate her thoughts and feelings. She is truly a joy and gift from God! In fact, this morning she and her daddy were watching the Travel Channel and she came into the bedroom to tell me she wanted to go to the beach. Of course, the beach she saw on TV was in the Bahamas. I told her that I wanted to go as well. So, our likes and desires are already lining up!

Here's to more exploration of the wants and needs our little girl,

Michelle

One year of bliss with our little Miss!

Today marks the one year anniversary of receiving Ava Lu into our arms. It has truly been a remarkable year of fulfillment, joy and life! Look at our precious daughter now. . . one year later. We love her more than ever and are so thankful for the year of bliss with our little Miss Ava Lu.

We had an "Ava Lu day" celebration tonight with our parents and dear friends. Such joy filled our home as we remember God's goodness and mercy in bringing Ava Lu into our family.

We love you, dear daughter. You are truly born of my heart and fill our arms and home with such love. February 26 will always be our special "Ava Lu day." I am reminded of the scripture in Ephesians, "God can do anything you know -- far more than you could ever imagine or request in your wildest dreams." Each day, Ava Lu, you are fulfillment to God's promise in our life.

With hearts filled with love and gratitude,

A very blissful Mommy and Daddy

O Christmas Tree

Ava Lu's first Christmas Tree! We had such an amazing day going up the hill to cut our tree down with Ava Lu. She remembered the surroundings from our Pumpkin day and thought that's what we were going to do again! It's amazing to see her wonder and excitement with all the newness of the Christmas holiday.


The tree is up - only a few broken ornaments thus far. We're having a joyous December thus far with our precious daughter!

Michelle & Jim

A heart filled with Thanksgiving

Ava Lu doesn't understand Thanksgiving yet but she is freely saying "thank you" when she appreciates something being done for her. Her "thank you's" are often for the simplest little things - a reminder to me to be thankful at all times, even for the small things in life!

As we reflect over 2007, our hearts are filled with thanks. Thanks to God for our dear daughter of promise, thanks to our family and dear friends who have stood by us these last several years on our journey to Ava Lu and thankful to each other for another year of dedication and love.

Here's our Thanksgiving picture as a family. Those of you who know Ava Lu well know that it took many "takes" to get one of her posing for the picture. I'm not giving up - we'll get a good family portrait yet!

Also, you can see Ava Lu enjoyed meeting her cousin Hannah while we were in Nevada for Thanksgiving.

And, Ava Lu even did well with the long drive over the weekend.

With a grateful heart -
Michelle

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch

Ava Lu picked her first pumpkins. She calls them pumpum. Jim and I started going to this pumpkin patch years ago and always talked about taking our little girl. It was a day of great fun including pumpkin hunting, apple pie and looking at the animals on the little farms in Apple Hill.

We certainly have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving - not the least of which is our little pumpum girl!

Michelle

Travel Group Halloween Party

We attended a fun Halloween Party with some of our travel group mates in the Bay area on Saturday. Stephen and Christine hosted a wonderful party for the girls and parents.

Here is sneak preview of Ava Lu and her China friends in their costumes. Ava is the green, turquoise and orange butterfly.

More costume and pumpkin pictures to come later this week!

We just love our little bug!
Michelle

Six months of blessings!

It's amazing to think that we've had Ava Lu for seven+ months now. We can't imagine life without her. Each day is an adventure and joy. She started gymnastics and is enjoying all the jumping, flipping and running.

One of my favorite times of the day is post-bath with Ava Lu - when she's all wrapped up in her towel. Those moments of snuggling, warmth and looking into her eyes as I hold her so close. It's the best comfort a mom can get.



And, Ava Lu met her first NBA celebrity. She was enthralled with Francisco Garcia at first and made eyes at him all day. . . but we waited until the end of the event to take our picture with him and she was tired, hence she didn't look at the camera and wasn't as thrilled to be in the limelight with a nearly seven-foot star. Oh well, there will be more times for NBA fun and player meetings!


We love Ava Lu more each day and truly look forward to every single minute with our Daughter of Promise.

Ava Lu, we are so blessed to be your mommy & daddy!

San Francisco Zoo

Ava Lu had a great time at the SF zoo. She was intrigued by the penguins, grizzly bears, kangaroos and peacocks. That said, I believe her favorite thing was riding the little train through the zoo and waving at all of the people as we passed.

She's truly enjoying life!

First 4th of July

Ava Lu is our dream come true! It was wonderful to celebrate 4th of July for the first time with her. She loved all of the fireworks - in the sky, in the front yard and the star-spangledness of this celebrated American holiday. She just loves her red Radio Flyer wagon. Doesn't she look great in red, white and blue?

Truly proud to be her parents,
Jim and Michelle