Nanna Comes to Town!

I can't believe how long we've waited for this day... it's been a little over a year since Kelly came home, and Nanna couldn't wait for the day to come where she could come to California and smother her sweet little Baby Boo with hugs and kisses...

Well, I'm happy to share that that day has finally come!

Nanna made it here to California from Texas via Amtrak- adventurous gal that she is- and we are so happy to have her.  She is such a blessing to us.  Kelly didn't take long to warm up to her, as these pictures below show.  She was very good at giving Kelly the space she needed, but she engaged her at the same time.  She brought Kelly a precious little baby doll that Kelly has been toting around and mothering ever since Nanna placed her in Kelly's arms.

  

Nanna has been a prayer warrior and an encourager to us from the moment we told her we were going to adopt Kelly, so it has been a very heartwarming time for us all to have her here, but I think it's been especially emotional for Nancy to finally meet this precious little gift God has placed in our lives- her granddaughter, Kelly Elise.  Many tears of joy have been shed by one very tender-hearted Nanna.

Nanna brought a whole extra suitcase stuffed full of goodies for all three of her love bugs!  I couldn't believe all the gifts she had for everyone... (Awww, she's always doing stuff like that!)

Just a side note: Nanna's train got in a few hours earlier than expected, so in our scramble to get to the train station to pick her up, I completely forgot to grab my camera!  I wanted to capture pictures of the first moment Kelly met Nanna...but no such luck. Uurgh!  At least I grabbed the camera as soon as we got into the house...

hOt weatheR + kidS = OtteR pOpS! 

Kelly decided to climb in this empty bin to eat her otter pop, 

which made clean-up pretty easy... (Thanks, Kelly!)   

Now Kelly is letting Nanna help her with her otter pop...

Do you want a bite, Nanna?

Nanna was in tears just watching Kelly swim with her daddy and brother... 

she was so amazed at how strong and fearless Kelly is in the pool, and how much love she shares with her brother and her daddy.

Clint stays cool in the water while we visit...

WATERMELON- YUM!

This morning when Nanna got up and saw Kelly watching Mickey Mouse, 

she had to join in the fun. The two of them dancing and laughing was quite a sweet sight.   

Later on, Kelly had to climb up in Nanna's lap to "help" her on the computer.

Princess Kelly props herself up on her new ladybug pillow Nanna brought her from Texas.

Kelly shares her goldfish with Nanna.

Kelly's not the only one who loves Nanna.  So does Kaya!  

The feeling is mutual... Nanna has two Westies at home she's missing, so Kaya is providing her with her much-needed "dog fix!"

There is no doubt...

After 24 wonderful, fun-filled hours of Nanna being here, 

all the grandchildren agree: 

(More pictures with Caleb and Camryn to come!)

More from Kelly's One Year Gotcha-versary!

Kelly's Jie Jie, Camryn, decorated for her Mei Mei's special day.  

Camryn curled pink ribbon and hung it from the chandelier.  

She cut pink roses from the garden and chose the perfect vase in which to display them.

She arranged the roses beautifully in the little glass vase and placed her arrangement on the center of the table with love.  

We got some gifts for Kelly and wrapped them in wonderful gift bags for Kelly to open. (Most of which were recycled from other gifts we received-- so if you see a gift bag you recognize, thank you!  We got more than one use out of it!)

Here we are- everyone is helping Kelly open her gifts!

Kelly got some new sunglasses- oh, she has a face for sunglasses, doesn't she?  And she got some gum- one of her new favorite things.

Nonnie got Kelly a camera! She can actually take real digital pictures with it.  Now Kelly can be just like her mommy!

We got Kelly the pretty dress you see on the table there, with a matching headband and sandals.  Kelly actually picked the dress out... last time we were in Gymboree, she brought it over to me and said, "Pretty!"

I didn't buy it at the time.  I went back later and got it for her to surprise her. 

This was Kelly's favorite gift.  We got her a Chinese musical doll. 

She plays the song "Jasmine," so appropriately, we named her Jasmine.

Kelly loved Jasmine and did not want to put her down!

Camryn made the bow you see in Kelly's hair for her!

Doesn't Jasmine have a sweet little face?

Can you tell Kelly loves her?

Camryn loves her little China doll, Kelly, so much!

Here we are, on our way to dinner.  Isn't Kelly looking so super stylish? We went out to eat at The Canton for wonderful Chinese food. 

Daddy helps Kelly get ready to eat.

It was extra special to have Nonnie with us.

Kelly was hungry and ready to dig in!

Oops! Don't forget to pray first! 

(Kelly loves to remind us to pray before we eat these days. It has become her job at meal times. Every time we sit down to eat, she puts her hands up to her face like this and looks at each of us as if to remind us to pray first. It's the cutest thing ever!)

"Thank you, God, for my family and my food.  Bless us all. Amen!"

"Hot Dog!  Let's eat!"

YUMMMM!

One thing Kelly loves to do is celebrate with a song and a dance!  

Her favorite right now happens to be Mickey Mouse's "Hot Dog" song. 

Oh Kelly, can you get any cuter?  

"I don't think so!" says big sister adoringly.

 

"Hot Dog! Hot Dog! Hot Diggity Dog!"

And finally, we received our fortune cookies.  This is always very special to Camryn, who saves all our fortunes in her treasure box.  She always makes sure we each take a turn sharing what our fortunes say before we leave.  Each one of us had a different one, and of all the fortunes, this was Kelly's.  It actually made me cry.

We got a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake to finish the celebration.  

Not only did we celebrate Kelly's Gotcha Day, but the next day was my mom's birthday, so we got to do a double celebration! 

Here are the special girls getting ready to blow out their candles.  We sang "Happy Birthday" and "Happy Gotcha Day" to them, and for the rest of the evening, Kelly kept singing, "Happy! Happy! Happy!"  She's something else, I tell ya.

Blowing out the candles together... such a good team!

What a wonderful day.  

What a wonderful girl.  

What a wonderful world.

How good it is...

to remember what was, and look ahead to what will be.  

Today we celebrate the one year anniversary of Kelly's "Gotcha Day!"

These first pictures are from China.  Most of these I don't think ever made it on the blog. Anyone who's been to Shamain Island will recognize these spots with fond familiarity.  (Lucy's especially!)  Some of these shots are not of the greatest quality and I apologize, but still, I liked them so I thought I would share.  (Even though I hate myself in pictures and I am in almost every single one! EEK.)

Kelly one year ago

Kelly today

Today marked one year since the day Kelly was placed in our arms... screaming, crying, terrified... but ours.

Gotcha Day seems like it was a lifetime away.  These pictures show how much Kelly really has changed.  

We decided to go and take some pictures at Starbucks today since that is where we spent a lot of time taking pictures when we were in China!  We didn't pose exactly the same, but I added a few in from Guangzhou Starbucks so you can see the difference in Kelly. I have so many more to share from our Gotcha-versary celebration so those are coming next.  I captured some really great ones of Kelly-  who was definitely the life of the party! 

What I'm about to say has been said so often that I hope the power of these words isn't lost in the familiar, but... 

I cannot imagine our lives without her.  

She has brightened our world so much when we never even knew it needed brightening. 

Kelly is like color TV... 

Before color TV, no one ever knew what they were missing- black and white TV seemed fine.  But once TV came out in color, black and white just didn't cut it anymore.  No one wanted to watch TV unless it was in color.

Our lives are like that... since Kelly came home, we don't ever want to go back to what used to be.  Everything is more bright and vibrant with Kelly around. I can't believe we never realized how much was missing before. 

Starbucks Guangzhou

Starbucks Visalia

Starbucks Guangzhou

Starbucks Visalia

Starbucks Guangzhou

Starbucks Visalia

Starbucks Guangzhou

Starbucks Visalia

We love you our little Starbucks princess!