I can't believe it, one year ago today (well I am writing this on Wednesday, but won't post it until Thursday the 22nd which is our anniversary) we flew into Nanchang, checked into the hotel and went to get our precious angel, Zoey Bo Cheng. 
We were so jet lagged I don't think it actually sank in that she would be in our arms so soon until we were in the room trying to figure out which baby was ours. 
They were all so bundled up we couldn't tell until they called her name. 
She was so expressionless, so lost looking. 
It makes me so sad to think about it, but so happy because it took her no time to attach to all of us and she is absolutely the most perfect fit in our family. 
The time has flown by, meaning I can't believe all the things she is doing now, just like any other toddler she is quickly getting into the two's! She is constantly CLIMBING something or telling us "NO NO NO NO". She is definitely going to be a gymnist or something! 
It seems like she has always been with us, it's really hard to imagine our lives without her. When I see her referral picture or the pictures that the orphanage gave us it seems so surreal. I can't imagine my little rambunctious girl in the orphanage. 
Once she got her taste of freedom she never looked back and I mean that in every way. We have been and continue to be so blessed by having our daughters in our lives. We are completely amazed by Zoey's incredible energy, personality, and the sunshine she brings to our house. She is so smart we are constantly in awe of her. I kept trying to get video of her singing her ABC's, pointing to her body parts, and talking to her baby. All of these things are precious and I wanted to share them, but as soon as I get out the camera she is trying to take it from me to see herself on it, so that didn't exactly work. Our social worker came on Wednesday afternoon the 21st and was cracking up at Zoey the whole time she was here. She was amazed at how Zoey says words but in between words you can kind of understand she has this whole other language that she says. And while she is saying it she looks at you like you should know what she is talking about. It's so funny. God is so awesome. Just to see Zoey and how far she has come in the last year and how incredibly much our lives have changed, it's just amazing. We have been truly blessed by God to have Zoey and Madison. 2008 was a wonderful year for our family. We've had a 
first Easter, 
first birthday, 
first Halloween, 
and first Christmas 
and we look forward to this year in 2009 for what is in store for us all. 
Zoey will be 2, Madison will be 9, and Vince and I hit the big 35! Next month my grandparents will be celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary, how incredible is that? I only pray that God will grant Vince and me such a long and wonderful marriage, and that one day Zoey and Madison's children will be celebrating with us! May God bless all of our friends, family, and all the children in the world waiting for their forever family. May God grant them peace and hope for the future. Happy 1 year anniversary to all of our travel group families and their daughters from China and here's hoping to see you all soon at a reunion!
We were so jet lagged I don't think it actually sank in that she would be in our arms so soon until we were in the room trying to figure out which baby was ours. They were all so bundled up we couldn't tell until they called her name. She was so expressionless, so lost looking. It makes me so sad to think about it, but so happy because it took her no time to attach to all of us and she is absolutely the most perfect fit in our family. The time has flown by, meaning I can't believe all the things she is doing now, just like any other toddler she is quickly getting into the two's! She is constantly CLIMBING something or telling us "NO NO NO NO". She is definitely going to be a gymnist or something! It seems like she has always been with us, it's really hard to imagine our lives without her. When I see her referral picture or the pictures that the orphanage gave us it seems so surreal. I can't imagine my little rambunctious girl in the orphanage. Once she got her taste of freedom she never looked back and I mean that in every way. We have been and continue to be so blessed by having our daughters in our lives. We are completely amazed by Zoey's incredible energy, personality, and the sunshine she brings to our house. She is so smart we are constantly in awe of her. I kept trying to get video of her singing her ABC's, pointing to her body parts, and talking to her baby. All of these things are precious and I wanted to share them, but as soon as I get out the camera she is trying to take it from me to see herself on it, so that didn't exactly work. Our social worker came on Wednesday afternoon the 21st and was cracking up at Zoey the whole time she was here. She was amazed at how Zoey says words but in between words you can kind of understand she has this whole other language that she says. And while she is saying it she looks at you like you should know what she is talking about. It's so funny. God is so awesome. Just to see Zoey and how far she has come in the last year and how incredibly much our lives have changed, it's just amazing. We have been truly blessed by God to have Zoey and Madison. 2008 was a wonderful year for our family. We've had a first Easter, first birthday, first Halloween, and first Christmas and we look forward to this year in 2009 for what is in store for us all. Zoey will be 2, Madison will be 9, and Vince and I hit the big 35! Next month my grandparents will be celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary, how incredible is that? I only pray that God will grant Vince and me such a long and wonderful marriage, and that one day Zoey and Madison's children will be celebrating with us! May God bless all of our friends, family, and all the children in the world waiting for their forever family. May God grant them peace and hope for the future. Happy 1 year anniversary to all of our travel group families and their daughters from China and here's hoping to see you all soon at a reunion!Now that's a typical family picture when you have children!
I can believe it's been that long because I don't feel like she hasn't ever been with us. We had some friends over for the AL/AU game and Christine was looking at one of our photo albums. 
The pictures that the orphanage gave us of Zoey that they had put in a little album for us were in there and it is kind of surreal looking at them. 
It's just like a biological child, you can't remember your life without them almost. I can't believe that it is her in those pictures in ten layers of clothing sitting in the dirt outside the Poyang SWI. And coming back to reality that it is her makes me tear up everytime. So we celebrate our little girl and how far she has come since that day, 
(how far they ALL have come) 
Now she is ours completely and always will be. 
What an amazing journey for her and us! 
That precious angel face just makes me melt. She is a little stinker too, always trying to sneak up the stairs. 
And the really scary thing is that she has made all the way to the top twice and we didn't even know it until she came walking into the room upstairs, once I was up there the other time Vince was.
She is trying to put on her socks and shoes herself now and gets so frustrated when she can't get them on. 
Zoey LOVES this little house toy. She will play with it the longest that she has ever played with any other toy really. And she really likes it when someone else will crawl in and out of the door with her. (Jan, obviously the whole family has gotten to enjoy this wonderful toy you gave us) 
It's the highlight in our den! Zoey didn't like it that Vince was walking around with it on like he was stuck in it, but we thought it was hysterical!
I am in love with my moms camera. I was playing with it and got some cute pictures while they were playing and a little video. 
I just love to hear her laugh!
With her beachball belly, she fit the outfit perfectly and was definitely the cutest pumpkin I ever saw! On Halloween afternoon they have Trick-or-Treating on Main Street where we live. All the businesses give out candy to the kids. We decided to do that in the afternoon. Of course Zoey didn't quite get the concept, she just knew that people were giving her something and had to stop every foot to take inventory of her bucket. 
My friend gave us the adorable hand me down bumble bee outfit and then Madison kind of invented her own outfit. 
I told her she looked like Morticia Adams but she didn't have any clue who that was. After about two hours of getting too much candy for an army we went home. Zoey and Vince gave out candy and me, Madison, Neely, and Hope went to see HSM 3. If you haven't seen it and you liked the other two HSM movies on Disney Channel you should see the final one. It was cute!
We had such a great time. It was really fun wear these costumes and to see everyone at church dressed up too. Several people didn't know who we were and some others who wanted their pictures made with us. Of course Vince looked so helarious with the black hair and mustache I barely recognized him either. One of the first weeks of November, Madison had a school Thanksgiving program at school. She had been picked for a speaking part and also to hold a cut out turkey for one of the songs. 
She did such a great job, well all of the kids did. Their music teacher, Ms. Henderson, does a really great job with the kids. 
They are all very animated during their part and the programs she chooses for the kids to do are the perfect length and have some really cute songs in them. We are very proud of all the kids in the program, but especially our Madison!
