Gotcha Day!!

"I feel....ohhhhhh preeettttty goooooodddd!"


The proud parents and daughter!


Blowing out the Gotcha Day candles

Today marks the one year anniversary of Gotcha Day!! So on Wednesday night Pamela and I hosted a party for Angelina to celebrate, the party included about 40 of our friends and their families here in Dalian. It was a fun evening and we really enjoyed ourselves, especially Angelina who soaked it all in. This also gave the proud parents and opportunity to tell our story to those that had not heard it previously.

So with Pamela's input we selected a series of sequential photos beginning in early November last year until earlier this week and presented a slideshow to our guests which lasted about 40 minutes. About 340 photos were used out of the over 5,000 we have taken over the last year - imagine if the digital camera had never been invented! Unless you were a professional photographer, who would ever imagined taking 5,000 photos in a year? I used Pamela's MacBook Pro to put the presentation together which made it very easy, including selecting music to go with it - never thought I would use a Mac but now that Intel supplies the microprocessor for Apple it was an easy choice....Ha!

Happy Gotcha Day to Lyra Kissack and Olena Warchol! Your friends wish you a wonderful day!



Angelina & Daddy @ Thanksgiving


Enjoying the Beach on a chilly November Sunday


Mommy check this rock out!


Looking at the Sea - the cold Yellow Sea (air temp 30 degrees)


Strolling on the Beach


Gotcha Sleeping!!

More Singing....Sunshine On My Shoulders

It seems the only way I can load these is from work, so sorry for the delay with yesterday's initial post.

For the second straight year we spent Thanksgiving outside of the US. Last year was special because we were in Ukraine right in the middle of our adoption. It has brought back many memories over the last couple of days reading the blogs of families that are there this year. As those families have discovered it is impossible to find a turkey in Ukraine that would actually fit in an oven if you have the fortunate opportunity to have an oven! Like many of those families we enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner made of chicken.

This year we spent it in China with many friends, of course no football and no time off of work but we did have turkey and it was amazingly good. Thanksgiving night we attended a buffet dinner at the American School and Friday night we had a private room and dinner with many of my co-workers in downtown Dalian. Fun filled evening that included kids karaoke and "turkey trivia" - then the parents did their own karaoke-ing. Not the same as doing it in the US with family, but we enjoyed the day and the company of our friends.

Two weeks ago we finalized our travel plans for Christmas and will be heading to Phoenix on December 19th to spend the holiday with Brian's family. We will stay for 16 days and are looking forward to the warm weather. It has been at or below freezing in NE China for the last couple of weeks and the wind here reminds me of Chicago in the winter time. Someone recently told us that Dalian has nearly identical weather to the Washington, D.C. area. Both cities are close to the same latitude and are situated on the east coast of their respective countries so if your curious about our weather just checkout D.C.'s.

We still have not moved into our permanent housing and we probably will not until we return after Christmas. Getting sick of living in a cramped 2 bedroom apartment and not having a place that feels like home. Not much we can do about it but wait....we'll see. I will post more pics soon, but wanted to get this video from late October. Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

ABC's Video

Finally beginning to get our countless video DV tapes onto the computer, so I thought I would post a brief video of Angelina singing her ABC's. Hopefully, this works.....make sure to turn the volume up as the sound is not the best.

Just a curious question to the other adoptive parents out: have you ever noticed any behavioral changes in your children (less than 3-4yo) as you approached the one year anniversary of Gotcha Day? Nothing drastic, but we have seen some mood and behavior changes over the last couple of weeks....

November 17th, 2006: Our First Meeting

November 17th, 2006

It was one year ago today that Pamela and I arrived in Mykolaiv and met Angelina. The photo above is the very first moment the three of us met and as we stood in the foyer with Sveta (while ~16 kids swarmed around) I kept asking Sveta "Is this her? Is this her? Are you sure?" The feelings we went through that day were indescribable....the waiting period of over 2 years, the travel to Kiev, the SDA appointment and associated nerves, the 14 hour train ride and the very first moment we laid eyes on her - we honestly have never felt so many emotions at once.

Many pictures have been taken of Angelina over the last year, but that very first picture above is the one I love the most. It symbolizes the starting point of our lives together and it captures her moment of trepidation and anxiety, but there is also a sense of deliverance in those eyes.

My other favorite pic is the one below with Pamela, taken that same day after Dr. Yuri completed his evaluation. The immediate bond between Pamela and Angelina is well documented in our posts from last November, but this picture also catches the spirit of the mother and daughter.

The transformation over the last year has been and incredible experience to witness; from timid and defiant orphan to a highly confident, smart as whip, stubborn and happy girl with the constant of a very loving soul. Almost forgot, two extremely proud and happy parents.....We have truly been blessed.


Mother and Daughter, November 17th, 2006


October 2007

One Year Anniversary Date(s) & Halloween

As today marks our 1 year anniversary for arriving in Ukraine, we thought it would be neat to post a list and share the key dates leading up to Gotcha Day. Many great memories come back when we think about what was occuring in our life one year ago.

Take a walk down memory lane with us and click on the November and December posts from last year - sometimes it seems like along time ago and other times it feels like yesterday. Either way it was an incredible experience that has produced incredible results.

Also, we raise a toast to our friends the Kissack's and Warchol's as this week also marks our first meeting in Mykolaiv and the start of a wonderful friendship. God bless each of your families and our beautiful daughters - we miss you guys!


Timeline


Angelina in Costume

Mommy & Angelina Trick or Treating

Beijing Trip - Day 2

Angelina, Pamela & Irene (friend of Cam's family)


























4 things about today, November 13th: 1 year ago today we left for Ukraine, Angelina became available for International Adoption, my friend Cam Yee's birthday and this is our 50th post. Enjoy the pics from our trip to the Great Wall on Pam's Birthday, October 17th.

Brian

Beijing Trip - Day 1

The Clan - 20 of us touring Beijing

Entrance to the Forbidden City


Forbidden City



Angelina in the Forbidden City

"The world is my playground!"




Cameron Yee & Brian

Temple of Heaven






On October 16th Pamela, Angelina and I met a life long friend of mine Cameron Yee and his family in Beijing. It was a great trip and several in the group I had not seen in over 15 years so it was a great reunion of sorts. A little delayed on posting this photos and have many to catch up on including Halloween which I will post in a separate entry. Gotcha Day is approaching quickly and it hardly seems that in 2 days it will have been 1 year since we got on a plane to travel to Ukraine....how time flies and what great joy the last year has brought us. Enjoy the pics!