Our Beautiful Hope

This time of year brings back so many memories of 2008. Hope has changed so much in the last 2 years. I love to remember referral day and the day we left for China but especially the day Hope became a part of our family. Every day is new and exciting with this precious child we have been blessed with. We are so thankful for her presence in our lives.

Recent pictures show just how beautiful she is and how much she has changed.

Black and White Wednesday

This picture shows an expression we sometimes see when Hope is a little scared. She still to this day does not like standing on uneven ground. I wonder how many times she looked scared before she came home to be with her family. It just makes me want to hold her and tell her she is safe.

Gotcha Day (2 years later)

January 14 2008 was a wonderful day. Hope was very scared and upset for a while, she learned quickly that we loved her and had us wrapped around her little finger before we knew what was happening. I will never forget the moment I first got a glimpse of her.

Ronnie's expression tells it all. I could not take my eyes off of her. We actually saw her across the room toddling around before they walked her over to us...we have a video I'll post someday where you can hear me crying at the sight of her. Happy tears!!

Hope wearing her "Gotcha Day" clothes (well one layer of them). The outfit was quite big as you can see in the photos, both the top and bottom were rolled up quite a bit. The photos here were some that we took for our Christmas card this year. We were afraid she would not put the clothes back on but she did for the first time wear them again...I think we may go have some photos taken if I can get her back into it.

One happy little girl...Our precious Hope Marie...almost 2 years later!

" Thank you Lord for bringing her into our lives"

Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning

Click Here to read about Hopie's very special Christmas Eve with her family.

We had to wake her up Christmas morning..

When Ronnie carried her into the living room on Christmas morning this is what she saw. A lot of STUFF!!

When we would ask Hope what she really wanted for Christmas she would say, "you know that flippin' race car!!" Or as we found out it is really called the "Tonka Bounce Back Racer". See that smile? If anyone wonders whether the commercials on Dora, Kai Lan, and Max and Ruby reach their target audience....yes they do!

Black and White Wednesday

Hope and I went for a walk yesterday. This is one of my favorite photos of the day.