Basketball

The girls have been involved in Special Olympics basketball this winter. They have done really well. We have worked on passing, dribbling and shooting. We have not yet worked up to playing a game. Each of the girls is getting more skilled at shooting the ball. Here is a short video that was taken Tuesday night at practice. So proud of my girls and their hard work on basketball.

School Pictures

School pictures of our lovely ladies. Anne - Grade 3: Emie - Grade 3: Katie - Grade 3: For Katies parents in Ukraine. Katie is in 3rd grade. She is going to school every day and is also involved in sports. She has been playing volleyball and also bowling. She has been taking swimming lessons too. She likes to go to school and is learning many new things each day.

Time Flies By . . .

It was five years ago today that Katie and Emie spent their first full day in the US. We traveled back on Saturday, August 31st and the picture below was taken on Sunday, September 1st. The picture from today is taken with the girls in the same order: katie, annie and emie. The past five years in some ways have just flown by and in other ways - moved at a very slow pace; however - we are thankful for our girls and we wouldn't want our family to be any other way. We are so thankful that Katie and Emie have found a place in our family and in our hearts as well.

Happy and Sad

This post is for those that haven't heard from other sources - but Karens mom - aka Nana Lind passed away yesterday. There are so many things that we are thankful for. We are thankful for the person that she was; the witness that she had and the great mom and grandma that she was to all of us. We were able to see her this past weekend, when we were in Albert City for the 2013 Threshing Bee and she was in good spirits and enjoyed our visit. The girls danced, the Brown boys played their instruments and we took pictures outside. Little did we know that those were the last moments that she would have here on earth. We know she is in heaven and we know that she is now free from any earthly ailments; and just enjoying her first morning in heaven. We are so thankful for her and look forward to being reunited one day.

Happy 10 Years Old

This is both a birthday and an anniversary. Katie is 10 years old! We have had a big and fun birthday celebration. We waited until today to celebrate (Sunday) as her birthday was 19 July (Friday) because Daniel and Andrew have been away on a missions trip. The anniversary part is that it was also 5 years ago that we left for Ukraine on 19 July to adopt Katie and Emie. Katie has now lived half her life with us. We are thankful for her parents and very thankful that they have allowed us to adopt her. We are so thankful for Katie and for all the life, energy and joy that she brings. One of her favorite wake up sayings has been and continues to be "sunny day". With Katie, every day is a sunny day and her joy for life is a constant reminder of needing to look for the good. In case it wasn't obvious - this was a Scooby Doo themed day for Katie. One of her favorite cartoons to watch with her buddy Pepper is Scooby Doo. We love our Katie! and want to share some photos with you from her birthday party today.

Spring Time Fun

We have been bad at posting lately. We had a email from Katies mom and dad recently and they look at the blog regularly; so we will try and do a better job of posting pictures - sorry we have not been good. We will also try and post a picture of katie that you can see how much she has grown! She just finished second grade this year and worked very hard. She did well and is learning letters, numbers and many other things in school. In one picture taken about one month ago - Katie is flying a kite. She likes to fly kites.

Many faces of Katie

Katie has recently lost another tooth. This is a series of pictures taken before bedtime, just trying to get a photo of her new missing tooth. She has so many faces - many of them funny - just trying to get that 'one' photo.