Friday, June 12, 2009

Celebrating Our Forever Family

On June 6, 2005, in a small town called Fuling, Chongqing, China, we were united with Fu Ai Man...who became our Olivia Grace AiMan. Almost 2 years to the day later - on June 18, 2007 - in Wuhan, Hubei, China we were united with Lin Xu...who became our Sophie MeiXu. What an incredible journey we began back in 2004! I never in a million years could have imagined how full and blessed our family would become with the addition of these two precious girls. I thank God every day for the blessings of my children - both those who came to us by birth as well as those who came to us through adoption. Today we celebrate our family, and in particular the miracle of adoption known as Forever Family Day.

We began the day with spending time with some of our friends and their children at Chuck-E-Cheese, with I swear is also known as H*ll On Earth! While The Littles LOVED it, I thought it was perhaps the longest two hours of my life!



PHOTOS OF MY TIME SERVED AT CHUCK-E-CHEESE H*LL:







~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Off to a Polynesian restaurant called Mai Kai for our celebratory dinner and a show!

Neil & Chris

Lindsay brought one of her BFF's, Madison

Livie & Sophie in the Mai Kai garden. Sophie had fallen asleep in the car and is clearly unsure of what in the world is going on! Bless her heart!

Sophie made a new friend. ;o)

Me with Chris & The Littles

My homeboys

Chris hits on a cute little Polynesian girl

...and she takes my breath away...

Enjoying the show

"Not flesh of my flesh, Nor bone of my bone, But still miraculously my own. Never forget for a single minute, You didn't grow under my heart - but in it."
Author: Fleur Conkling Heylinger
Mary

10 comments:

Candy said...

Happy Forever Family Day!

Looks like you had a busy day.

I have to admit, I've never been to ChuckECheese.

Life with JJ, Starr and Spice said...

What a wonderful day...you guys are making wonderful memories. The Mai Kai looks like it is still a great place to go, have not been there in years.

Hugs to all of you!
Happy Forever Days!
Lori

Kristin said...

What a great celebration!! Happy Forever Family days! Even though you had to endure Chuck E Cheese......

Mary said...

The Mai Kai is the same as it has ever been...hasn't changed since it opened! LOL It was The Littles' choice de jour since Livie in particular wants to be a "Hula Girl". So silly!
Candy-believe me you aren't missing anything other than a headache (although the kids really do love it)!

Tammie said...

Happy Forever Family Day!! It looks like you made the day a truly special one.

I went to Chuck E Cheese once when it first opened for my nephew's birthday. The next time I went was for a friend who thought taking my terrified of crowds daughter there would be a treat. Not only do I hate the place, but so does Erin. She only wants to know why people want to eat with a rat!

Mary said...

If it makes you feel any better, the first time Livie went to CEC we had been home only 2-3 weeks and she was invited to a birthday party in Hialeah!!! I am sure you can just imagine her face as she tried to make sense of the over-packed and Spanish speaking restaurant! Poor thing went in to 'down time' for the next week!

Naenay1012 said...

Sounds like you had a great day!

I totally agree about Chuck E Cheese. Whenever we go, I feel like I worked from open to close there!

Vivian M said...

Happy Forever Family day! You are braver than I. Chuck-E is one place I refuse to go near!

Carrie said...

Your Chuckie Cheese looks so much better than ours!

We5Chois said...

Hey Mary, Sorry I am so late (I rarely get into blogger these days), but Happy Forever Family Day. Looks like you all had fun with CEC.

Thank you Livie, without you I would not have met your Mama and the rest of your incredible family. You are a gift to everyone that meets you.
Can't wait to see you back in Shanghai.