Easter Pics!!

 The weekend and following week have gone by so fast but I wanted to post some pics of Easter. Sierra's dress came in a hand me down bag about 2 weeks before Easter. Although I had one already picked out this one was even better. I bought the head band and gloves and shoes at Tarrget!! I did forget to get a picture of her and her brothers that day. BUMMER!!!

                                                             Suerra was so excited that the real Easter Bunny
 
stopped by her house for a quick visit  Sat. night!

 We've had some rain so the boots were a must for the easter egg hunt!

Crucified

Laid behind a stone

You lived to die

Rejected and alone

Like a rose

Trampled on the ground

You took the fall

And thought of me

Above all
From "Above All "Written by Paul Baloche and Lenny LeBlanc

Love this song~~~

Also cried in church today when one of the Hymn selections was "Becasue He Lives"
  This Hymn was also a selection 2 years ago when we sat in a church in China with our new daughter on our lap.  They sang it in English!! A moment one never forgets

Happy Easter to all and remember....HE LIVES!!!!!

Onion skin egg dying!!

I remember doing this with my grandmother. I don't remember if she wrapped them in onion skins or just boiled down the skins to make a dye. Anyway Sierra and I did it this way and they turned out great!!

Wrapping the skins around the egg

                                                             Wrapping them in cheese cloth

                                                                Heating up in the pot

                                                                     Unpeeling them

                                                            Beautiuful marbelized color

                                                             Finished!

This was so much fun.  Sierra did great and she placed most of the skins on the eggs herself.  We had much fun unwrapping them.  Each one was didfferent! I can't wait to do it again.

Congratulations Dave!!

I am so proud of my son David.  Last night I attended his graduation from his Firefighter 1 Course.  In NY state to be a credited volunteer firefighter, you must take this course.  David joined the c company as a probie when he was 16.  when he turned 18 he started driving the trucks.  He has trained most Wednesdays and has been allowed to actually go inside a building on fire (Yikes) .  But now he is a certified interior fighter fighter.  The course was 86 hours.  It started in November and was supposed to be finished in Feb,,,but all the bad winter weather kept pushing it back. So almost 6  months after he started he is finished.  He looked so sharp in his uniform as did his brother Paul who is the new chief of our fire company.  Scott(my husband, David's stepdad) was there also as Asst, Chief...but not in uniform as we had just gotten done coaching Sierra's TBall team.  Anyway we are so lucky to have thse men AND women who give up their time so selfishly.  On Sunday they responded to a call that made my blood run cold..  It was a gas explosion in a single apartment in an apartment building.  Luckily the renters were away but the firemen didn't know that.  They entered the apapartment to make sure no one was injured. They needed to turn off the electric and gas and they put themselves in harms way to protect the other families.  Believe me i thank God every time they return safely.  Anyway here are some pics~~~
                                                                    Paul in the middle

                                                       David receiving his certificate

                                                        A proud brother looking on

                                    Stone Ridge Fire Company's newest(with Scott hiding in the backgroud)

                                      Random cuteness eating her crackers on the back of the fire truck!!



Meeting....again!

Way back in the summer of 2008, while we were so patiently (or not so patiently) waiting for our LOA I "met" some other women on an adoption forum that were waiting patiently also!  One by one they received their LOA while we still waited.    I became friendly with a woman who was referred a beautiful little girl, around the same time we accepted Sierra's referral.  She too had not yet received her LOA so we supported each other as we waited.  She received her LOA around the same time we did and we soon realized we would be traveling to China at the same time.  We promised each other we would try to hook up but e were with different agencies, there would be only one week that we would both be in Guangzhou, and we were staying in different hotels.  Ironically we emailed each other, tried to set up times to meet, only to realize that our schedules were conflicting.  by the last few days I was disappointingly accepting the fact that we would not see each other.  The day before we left we, with about 50 other families , were at the US consulate for our swearing in ceremony.  The women mentioned the names of 3 children who were celebrating birthdays and Sierra was one of them.  The women turned to me and asked me how we pronounced our last name.  A few seconds later a woman came up to me and said "Hi Kathie, its me Charissa!!"  On the last day we finally got to meet and I got to see her beautiful daughter.  I was so happy that I didn't have to come home with out meeting her.  You see, adoptive families live all over the US and many times you do not see them again.
So fast forward 2 years.  I still visit with people on the forum and I still chat with Charissa from time to time. A few months ago I noticed she had posted to someone that she lived about 2 1/2 hours North of New York City! ........ What??? I realized that I had never asked her where he lived and she didn't ask me.  I emailed her right away and said" but I live 2 hours North of NYC...where the heck do you live?  I was thrilled to find out that she lives a little over 2  hours from me.  And that is doable.  If you meet half way its only a little over an hour.  So before I went back to work we set up 2 different times to meet.....both times we had snow storms.  Recently we set up another day to meet and this time it worked out.  You see...we had to do it soon because Charissa and her husband hope to travel  soon to meet their TWO sons they are  bringing home!!    Read about the incredible story here!  http://home.comcast.net/~maguire14/


Anyway we had an incredible few hours together. The girls got along great and by the time we had to leave they didn't want to go. Its amazing when I think of how I first met this family in a crowded consulate room half way around the world, and now we hope to get together! At least twice a year. Here are some pictures from that day......



We met at a museum.  The girls played in the Discovery Center and then we walked around  a little.  The final treat was a carousel on the top floor. 

 Final hug before we all had to say goodbye.  I am already looking  forward to the next time we meet!!!