Officially a Kindergartener

well, today it happened...Meig is officially a school girl...first day of kindergarten...BIG STUFF!

she was SO excited this morning...up and dressed by 7am..so funny...off she went at 11:30am backpack and lunchbox in hand...she had a great day.... can't believe she's in kindergarten...didn't we just bring her home???

7 Years Ago today........

We met this stunningly gorgeous 1yrs. old in the Swan Room at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou, China. She took our breaths away...We arrived at the hotel childless and within an hour we were parents to this gorgeous girl... 7 years...how did that go by so fast?? In those 7 years, Catie you have become this amazing child...you are funny, sweet, stubborn, smart, you LOVE to read, love swimteam, soccer and are a wonderful, mostly patient big sister. We are so proud of you Catie and we love you so very much!!!

4 Years Ago Today....

Our Meigan became part of our family forever!!!

It is hard to believe that 4 years have gone by...we hardly remember that tiny 16lb. one year old who came into the room smiling....but boy has she grown and changed in 4 years...she's a bright light in our lives, always smiling...fiesty as can be, naughty and still cuddly and loves to be held....she's funny as can be and she can irritate Catie to the ends of the earth..... We love you so our Meig...

here are some pictures from that amazing day...August 10, 2004...Guangzhou, China

Brian, Catie and I see Meigan coming in to the room towards us.....

here she is being carried to us by the Nanny...
I'd just taken Meigan from the orphanage nanny...

and that Nanny was present in Aug 2001 when we got Catie...

Catie gets to hold her little sister for the first time....(look how little Catie looks....she was just 4yrs. old)
poor little Meig..she's not too sure about things now....


and our big 5 year old....ready to start kindergarten on Aug. 20th.....

Saturday Aug. 2 - Group 93 Reunion

On Saturday we went down to Santa Cruz to Seabright Beach to meet up with old friends and most of our travel group from when we went to China in 2004 for Meigan. It was a BLAST! Soooo much fun to see everyone and see how the girls have grown. We haven't had a reunion in almost 2yrs. so this was impromptu and just fantastic!! Catie and Zoe who are the same age and came home a few months apart and have been buds for years, picked up like they'd seen each other last weekend. It was all Harry Potter talk for the 2 of them and they just reconnected brilliantly. Meigan and Mae are G93 babies (Meig from Maoming and Mae from Ningdu) and you'd have thought that these 2 had seen each other a week ago as well...running in and out of the waves...It was just FUN!!

Catie's the older "Maoming Sister" and Meigan, Grace, Nora, Emma and Claire are the little "Maoming sisters" Mae, and Emily Holguin are the Ningdu girls from Jiangxi Province, and Zoe is the ChaoHu girl from Anhui Prov.

Here's hoping that the next gathering of these girls isn't so far away!!

Here are the G93 girls Aug 2008 at the ages of 5, or close to 5..and their siblings...

and here are the G93 girls in August 2004 at the ages of 13mos. or younger......

(hint..Meig is the first one on the left)

Grace Smith (left) and Meigan are buried in sand.....

Mae and Gracie buried....

Meigan and Mae posing....

The Moms...

the Dads.....

and the one parent who just couldn't leave the kids toys alone.....Lisa.......