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Sam and Santa

Friday evening we met Mary Grace and Leigh Ann for dinner. It had been a while for Sam and Mary Grace to visit. Sam is always very shy when he first gets around anyone, but after a few minutes he warmed up and him and Mary Grace had a great time of eating and playing. After dinner, we went to visit Santa at EastChase. We were thrilled to see it was the same one that Sam had visited last year right after we came home from China. Santa remembered Sam and was thrilled when Sam came right to him, gave him high five, and started talking to him. Sam was not shy at all with Santa and was very happy to let Santa know that he wanted a choo choo train for Christmas. I hate the video is dark, but I took it with my camera and there was not much light.

Roll Tide!

One Year Ago...

NOvember 26, 2007 Sam was placed into our arms. He was frightened and scared. He cried and reached out desperately for the Director of his orphanage to take him away. Director Gu and two other nannies had traveled with the children from ZhangJiaGang orphanage to the civil affairs office in Nanjing. It was obvious that Director Gu had a special relationship with Jin Hao (Sam) and he wanted to go back into the safety of her arms and the only home he had ever known. The first two pictures above show us with Sam on our gotcha day. It did not take very long until Sam adjusted to his new family and home. He is a very loving child who freely gives kisses and hugs. He knows colors, shapes, and can count to five on his own and ten with a little help. He can speak in complete sentences and loves Dora, Diego, Backyardigans, the Wonder Pets, and Little Einsteins. He also loves choo choo trains, airplanes, helicopters, cars, riding his bike and swimming. We celebrated our Gotcha Day by getting a new hair cut (check out the spike), going to the zoo and then going out to dinner. We are so thankful to our Heavenly Father for the miracle of Sam. "Do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them," says the Lord. Deuteronomy 4:9

Operation Christmas Child

We do this every year, but this year was special because we have Sam and we wanted him to start learning to serve others and to give to those less fortunate. We selected a boy two-four years old and filled the box with lots of goodies. We also included a picture of Sam and our address in case someone wants to write us back. By the way, we signed up to ring the Salvation Army bell at Sam's Warehouse Friday Dec. 12 from 6pm-8pm.... so if any of you are out and about that evening please stop by and give a donation to help those who need food and shelter.
Potty training is going very good. This is our third week and Sam has made great improvements. In fact, except for when he is sleeping, he goes every time in the potty!! This week is going to exciting for us because Wednesday we will be celebrating our one year "gotcha" day. We have a wonderful family day planned. We will post all about it later. I pray all of you have a very blessed Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for and we all need to pause and thank the Lord for His grace, mercy, and love for each of us.

Happy Birthday Mama!

Today was my 46th birthday and Sam really enjoyed helping his Nai Nai bake a birthday cake for me... then of course the best part was eating it (the boy loves chocolate)!! I was in New Orleans all weekend for a Crimestopper workshop. It was my first time away from Sam. He was so sweet when I got home. He hugged and kissed me and held me tight for a long time. After my homecoming we had a small birthday celebration. Sam has on the Mardi Gras beads I got him.. and he is playing with his yellow school bus. Enjoy the pictures of my birthday party with my wonderful family!

Tailgating at Troy

We went to Troy University's homecoming came last weekend. It was Sam's first football game. We had a ball tailgating with Aunt Sherry and Uncle Pat Pat. Nick is an alumni of Troy and it was exciting for him to bring his family to his old "stomping" grounds. The last picture is Sam after a long day of football fun. That is his penguin "Ping"!