1 More Day

Mom will leave the house about 3:30 AM for a 6:00 flight to Beijing via Newark. She will be flying with her friend, Donna. They will be in transit about 19 hours and arrive in Beijing at 1:50 PM on July 2 (due to the different time zones).

The itinerary is:
July 1 - depart Houston at 6:00 AM
July 2 - arrive Beijing at 1:50 PM; stay at Asia Pacific Garden Hotel
July 3 - tour Tian An Men Square , Forbidden City, Summer Palace
July 4 - tour Great Wall; fly to Guiyang and arrive at 5:55 PM; stay at the Sheraton
July 5 - Gotcha Day
July 6 - official adoption day
July 7 - local tour
July 8 - shopping and free day
July 9 - get Kacee's adoption paperwork and passport; fly to Guangzhou and arrive at 8:10 PM; stay at the White Swan
July 10 - medical exam, TB test, immunizations
July 11 - paper work review
July 12 - have TB test checked
July 13 - Consulate Appointment
July 14 - swearing in at Consulate
July 15 - get Kacee's paperwork and visa from the Consulate
July 16 - depart Guangzhou at 8:00 AM and arrive Houston at 11:32 PM (after almost 30 hours of traveling)

2 More Days

3 More Days

4 More Days

Family Fun Day

Today we spent our last Saturday as a family of 7. We went to the Sea Center of Texas and some historical house. As usual, dad took lots of pictures.

Countdown!!!

There is now officially 5 days until travel.

More Swimming

Spelling Surprise

Kenzie has been learning how to sound out small words. Right now we are working on the -at family (at, bat, cat, fat, hat, mat, pat, rat, sat). Here are 2 words she spelled by herself and then brought to us. She is 3.5 years old. Way to go Kenzie!!!

To Dad: We Love You

The Fearless Duo

We went swimming yesterday. Our neighborhood pool was closed, so we went to the one in the next neighborhood. That pool only goes to 5 feet, so it's usually never crowded. It also starts out at the steps at 2 feet 6 inches. Since it was not crowded, I decided to let the girls play near the steps in the shallow end. The loved it. The surprised me by jumping into the water all by themselves. Over, and over, and over... and over again.

Bronze Award

Kylie (and some others from her girl scout troop) earned her Bronze Award yesterday. The Bronze Award is the highest award that a Junior girl Scout can earn. To earn this award, the girl must do something to better her community. Some of the girls in Kylie's troop decided to clean the street signs in our neighborhood. After they were done, you could really see a big difference.

Let Sleeping Babies Lie

I went in to check on the girls before I went to bed tonight. This is what I found.

Kenzie had a band-aid on her leg when she went to bed, but she took it off her leg and put it on her mouth before she fell asleep.

Normally, Karli is a restless sleeper and sleeps all over the bed, but in this picture, she looks like an angel.

We Are Celebrating Tonight!!!

We got our Travel Approval today. Now we wait for our Consulate Appointment to be scheduled, but we already know when we're leaving since we've already purchased the tickets. We leave July 1, 2010, and will get Kacee on July 5. Not much longer now!!

Karli's Last Day of School

Karli's last day of school was June 2. Her class had a program where the kids sang songs and then received their report cards.

Here is Karli and her teacher, Mrs. Shaw on the last day of school.

Here is Karli and her teacher on the first day of school, August 24, 2009.

Gymnastics

The girls had an end-of-year ceremony at gymnastics. Karli and Kenzie were so proud that they got a medal. They wore it home and could not wait to show their daddy.

Swimming Fun:)

Yesterday we went swimming. Kenzie took to it like a fish in water. That's a big change since last summer when she was very timid of the water.

Karli was a little more cautious than Kenzie, but she still enjoyed herself.

AWANA Awards

Last week was AWANA awards night. Everyone completed their books and earned an award. Kylie and Keaton earned a trip to Schlitterbahn also for completing their books.

KENZIE:

KARLI:

KEATON & KYLIE:

KAYLA: