Thank you!

We wanted to thank all the people who walked beside us as we journeyed through our adoption process and gave financially or helped us raise money and all those who prayed before we brought Joy home and those who prayed and counselled us after we brought Joy home.  Wow, what a year it has been!  I hope Greg, I and the boys have learned alot and grown a lot this past year.  Some days I feel like a different person than a year ago!  Unfortunately, I still have hard days when I feel like I haven't grown and changed.  Some days we take two steps forward and some days we take a step or two back. 
Joy has grown leaps and bounds!  It has been amazing to see her growth over the past year!
We had a get together to show our appreciation to some VERY special people who gave so much to help us bring home our JOY!

 

 

Bowing to my friend!

Joy testing the cake before everyone else!

Yum!!

Here daddy, you try it!

That's enough for you, the rest is mine!
 

 

Butterfly kisses with daddy!



Thank you, thank you!  What a joy!  We are so thankful!!

 

Family Vacation

We had an amazing vacation in the Great Smokey Mountains!

The view from the back porch of our cabin was beautiful! 

Noah, Brian and Greg ready for an adventure!
We went for a beautiful hike in the mountains and saw some snow!

 Joy, on the other hand, was ready for a nap!  About 30 minutes into our hike, she fell asleep.  I absolutely LOVED holding her while she slept and we hiked!  Sweet baby!

We enjoyed looking at the icycles!

This is the waterfall we hiked an hour and half to see.  We had a picnic at the site of the falls and then headed back for a very strenuous hike back to the road.

The hike back was so strenuous, we scooped some snow to eat/drink on.

We also visited Wonderworks!  Joy enjoyed playing the piano!

 

 Greg, Brian and Noah's favorite part of our trip was ziplining!  They also loved being in the cabin.  My favorite part were the beautiful views!  Beautiful snowcapped mountains!

Happy Birthday Joy!

Happy Birthday Joy!

Joy turned 3 years old!!

Joy is arriving to her birthday party!

Joy's new favorite food is ICE CREAM!  And that is her new favorite words!  Everytime we open the refrigerator or freezer, Joy starts saying, "Ice Cream!"  Which actually sounds more like, "I emm!"

 

Taking a water break in big brother, Brian's lap!  I am so thankful for Joy's relationship with her big brothers!

Cake time!

Brian and Noah playing ball at the party.

We are so thankful we could celebrate Joy's birthday with her this year.  We had a lot of fun and so did she!  Her favorite parts were being sang "Happy Birthday" to, the cake and ice cream and being the center of attention!