Happy Halloween !!!

Kenli loves anything messy, so of course pumpkin guts were a huge hit!! Happy Halloween!

Gotch Day

One year ago today, our precious baby was placed in our arms. Finally, after more than 2 and a half years of (sometimes not so patient) waiting, there she was. Most of the babies in our group cried some and then settled in, but Kenli made up for them all. She thrashed and screamed and cried all the way back to the hotel. She was pitiful, terrified and overwhelmed. It was the first time she had been outside of the orphanage, she had a 4 hour van ride to get to the Civil Affairs Office. Then she was handed off to what had to be the strangest looking and sounding creatures she had seen in her 13 months.
Here we are a year later, and loving every minute of it. We spent the day together as a family, playing, carving our halloween pumpkin, and looking at pictures of our trip to China. We gave Kenli her "Gotcha Day" gifts, a DVD we bought in China for her and a huge ladybug bank. It was a great day.

Boo at the Zoo

We took Kenli to Boo at the Zoo at the Knoxville Zoo. She was dressed in her monkey suit and had a great time. Her favorite part was getting in cage. She said "monkey's in a cage". Who knew being in a cage could be so much fun.

1 year ago-- The amazing journey

One year ago today we started on our long journey to China. It is so hard to believe that it has already been a year. I was a complete bundle of emotion staring this day, having never been out of the country, or even away from home for longer than 5 or 6 days, this was a giant expedition for us. But at the same time, we were so excited to finally be on our way to Kenli. Last night I was talking to Kenli about Mama and Baba going on an airplane to China to get something really special. Kenli guessed it was a book!! I explained that we went to China to bring home Baby Kenli and what a happy day it was!! Kenli replied "get Kenli from Wu" ( Mrs. Wu was the assistant orphanage director in Chenzhou). Is it possible that she remembers this??!! We believe she does. Hopefully she has happy memories of her first 13 months.

The Pumpkin Patch

This weekend we took Kenli to a local pumpkin patch. She had a great time examing all pumpkins and playing in the corn maze. She always loves the petting zoo, especially the baby goats ( but Baba likes the donkeys best).

And still more pictures

2 year old portraits

These are some pictures taken by Kelly and Company portraits. They turned out terrific!!