Playing Around with the Camera

Preview for Fun Fall Activities

It will be a very exciting fall this year in our household. Our little princess will be 3 years old and can sign up for organized activities. In September, Lotus will be starting weekly dance (ballet and tap) class and playing fall soccer. I figure this will not be too much for Lotus since soccer is only for 6 weeks and will be a nice change to our schedules on Saturday mornings, shake it up a bit. Since she is joining two activities in the same month, plus her birthday is in September, I figured we would get her soccer gear this month and her dance attire next month. This way, in September, after our vacation we wouldn't be rushing around trying to get everything. Today we went to pick up her cleats, shin guards, and ball for soccer. She was so cute at D*ck's Sporting Goods, trying to play ladder ball in the aisle . After we tried one pair of cleats, she didn't want to take them off. Good thing the first pair fit. She insisted on wearing them home. After dinner she played in the back yard with her cleats and soccer shorts, she couldn't wait to have them back on, she might have slept with them if I didn't make her take them off. I hope she keeps this excitement going. Of course I have photos to share. Enjoy........

Seems Like Just Yesterday......

that we received the CALL! The CALL we all wait for, the CALL you expect when on vacation. So you give your agency your email address, cell phone number, your husband's cell phone, even your mail carrier cell phone number (OK maybe not their number) so just in case the file of your daughter appears on their desk. We went on vacation and no CALL was received, referrals were being made and no CALL. We came home from vacation and still no CALL for us. My hopes were dashed, there would be no CALL for us this month. Or so I thought..........

Back to work I went on Monday, July 2nd, you know how it is after returning from vacation.......... I settled in with my coffee and went to a process map meeting. A little voice inside me said "Take your pager". During the meeting I was paged "URGENT CALL HOME 911" total panic came over me, my thoughts were not about the CALL. I thought something horrible happened. I ran to my desk and called home, Kevin answered right away (whew, he was safe) and told me, "You won't believe what happened, I came upstairs and the cats caught the kitchen on fire!" WHAT????!!!!! "How did that happen??" And then Kevin said "WE GOT THE CALL! She is 10 months old, Pam is sending over her file to you." I think I screamed and kept saying Oh My and started fanning myself because I couldn't breath. I told Kevin I would forward the email to him so we could see her photo at the same time. It took forever for him to receive the email. And then we opened the email and scrolled down and this was the very first photo we saw of our daughter Lotus...................



and then this



and lastly this one



There was no question, she was our daughter. After speaking with the international adoption department at our local children's hospital, we immediately made our CALL to our agency and accepted our referral for our daughter. We would have accepted right then and there, however, we wanted to have all the facts. In my heart, no matter what the international adoption department said, we would have accepted her with all our heart.

Flash forward two years later..............to our almost 3 yr old ball of fire! Isn't she a cutie?



This is a day I will never forget, along with a few other momentous events in my life. I am forever grateful to have the privilege to be called MOM. It is not always easy, however, the rewards are endless.