Fun in the Sun~ Cousin Time!

Aiden and Anya came to Phoenix! We were so excited, you have no idea ;) They had never been out here before, and we were pumped. Mimi and Papa came, too. Fun is an understatement! We played here at our house, out front in the street, at their resort pool, went to Anthem Park...it was a jam- packed week ;)

I will let the pictures do all the talkin'!

Hippity Hoppity!

This was Sophie's first Easter home. She had no idea what was going on when her ge-ge's started to hunt for their baskets. But, she soon caught on and found her's in her kitchen set!

After our morning Easter celebrations as a family and with Mimi and Papa, Ryan and family came over, as they were in town for the week ;) We set up a little Easter Egg Hunt for them in our backyard. They LOVED it!

The rest of the day was spent at Anthem Park, going down slides, running thru the water fountains, riding the train and playing with cousins. We all had a dinner here at our house on Easter night. It was a great day!

Golden Fields~

This week in Phoenix the desert is in bloom! There are some fields that are filled with yellow wildflowers. It.Is.Beautiful! We don't always get to see such colorful beauty here, so when we do, we schedule a photo shoot! Ha ;)

My sweet friend, Abby, was able to do her magic and capture some amazing shots of Sophie! I will be forever grateful to have these memories....

More Fun in Colorado!

We skied in Colorado, but we did many other things there, as well. Sophie LOVED hanging out with her bestie, Addison. They were really cute together, and I know they will look back on these fun times with huge smiles on their faces ;)

We went sled riding on the first day, before we tried skiing. She was NOT a fan of the snow, the first time around. She refused to go up the mountain to sled down, so she and I hung out while the others were up on the mountain.

On our way out of Vail back to Denver, we stopped to see some bison and walk around to check out nature. The kids loved it, although were kind of afraid of the bison despite the wire fence! Overall, this was an awesome vacation, new experiences in a new city and shared many memories with our friends!

Vacation to the Mountains~

This year for spring break, we headed to the mountains in Vail, Colorado, with the Mach's to ski! This was the first time for our family to go on a skiing vacation, and boy was it FUN! Sophie was all in when it came to skiing. She loved getting fit for her skis, wearing the ski boots around Beaver Creek Village, and she told me she wanted to go down the bunny hill " all by herself! "

Needless, to say, she had a blast! She loved hanging out at the ski hills and loved riding the gondolas up the hill. We were " loopers " since we would not get off the gondola, but would loop around ;)

Side Note~ A little story I didn't want to forget. The first night we were in Colorado, I was laying down with Sophie in bed to help her fall asleep. She rolls over, looks at me with a huge smile and says, " Best day EVER! " I died!

Life in Longyan~

I was going thru some pictures today, and stopped when I got to the folder of Sophie living in Longyan. She moved in with her foster family just after surgery, maybe around 5 months old. Her foster family lived in the Longyan countryside, not in the city, so I have been told. I would tend to think life was at a slower pace, much more simple. Here are a few images of Longyan...

When Sophie was living with her foster family, her foster parents grandchildren were around a lot, it seems from the pictures we have. I think this is was great in preparing Sophie to be in our family, growing up with siblings. She also had a foster sister, who is now named Penny. We will be able to visit her one day, as she has been adopted here in the States!

Sophie's foster family was so good to her. They always seemed to have her outside, with family, riding bikes. Normal family living. Now, when I show Sophie the pictures of her in Longyan, she doesn't believe me that that's her! She looks so young, and so different. We will be forever grateful to her foster family for showing her so much love. They showed her what it was like to live in a family, not an institution. For this, she bonded to us more quickly.

In Sophie's care package, I sent a disposable camera. Her foster family took all the pictures and returned the camera on Sophie's Gotcha Day. Here are just a few of Sophie living in Longyan, March 2014.