After One Year....

Whew. It has been just over a year since Selah Skye's adoption in Nov. of 2013.
Happy New Year and Happy every-day-New-Day!  I am thankful for new beginnings and need one to five every day.
In 2013, Selah got a good grasp of English and began learning many new things, one being, how to get along with a big sister. 
The process has included variables  of the good, the bad and the ugly and I have aged significantly...
When the day is done though, and I see these sisters living life side by side, I am very happy that they have one another. 
It is our second year at a K-8 elementary school where I work and the girls attend 5th and 8th grade. Selah is in band and just performed in her first band concert as a flute player. 
Academically, she has a lot of catching up to do as we now realize that she attended school infrequently in China. She is trying and has the ability and desire to learn.
Gloria went to the state spelling bee last year and is preparing for this year's bee. She is an algebra whiz and on the school's academic team, which placed second in the state at their last competition. 
We are very proud of their accomplishments!
 Life has not stopped a beat since we got off of the plane from China, so the blog got shelved. Even the summer was busy with the girl's activities, my summer art teaching job and a girl getaway with my mom and sister (very necessary:)
Adopting an older child is challenging. But you have to believe it was meant to be if it happens that you do this.
My dad, who passed away just months before Selah arrived home, was a horseman.  Selah is more infatuated with horses that any child I have known.
Ask anyone who is around her on a day to day basis and they can tell you what she loves....horses.
She recently shared a story of a time in China when she got her hand crushed in the hinge of a large door. When I was 7 the same thing happened to me at a 
JC Penny retail store. These are just a couple of specks of common threads we have discovered.
Bonding can be slow sometimes but keeping God in view makes one's perspective bright and hopeful:)

Some pictures taken while traveling home. The girls did great on the long flights. Having your own DVD player kept everyone occupied:) I downloaded "Team of Rivals" when we got to our U.S. port of entry and read the rest of the flight time. Sure was a long day of travel and it was so nice to get back to the good old USA. Looking forward to introducing Selah to family and a whole new world of life before her:)  Very thankful to God for a safe trip!

I intended to keep my blog current but did not realize that China blocks social networks, which included  my blog site and Facebook. Google was also blocked in China. So now I will catch up as I can, adding some wonderful pictures!

Selah's First Picture of Mom

The first day we had Selah, we took her across the street to a large park.
She was moving fast, excited to be out there to see what there was to do.
She spotted a farris wheel and drug us right straight to it, and me with her into one of the baskets!
While at the top, in the air, she took her first picture of me with my phone and I took one of her.

I think that is fitting with her middle name, Skye:)  Sweet baby girl.

You can see the hotel we stayed in for a week in Hefei, directly behind us here,  as taken from a pretty bridge in the same park. Gloria and Selah holding hands and taking one of their first walks together.

This one speaks for it's~elf. He was rescued shortly after the incident....by the older daughter who is almost a lifeguard.

A more sober picture followed of  "BaBa" and daughters.

THE GREAT WALL

 

 

 

It has been a over a month since we have been home. I am just finding time to sit down and
get to adding more to the blog...the girls went to visit grandparents for the night:)

These are a few cool pictures taken one of the world's wonders. Can you find us down below? Wearing black, next to our guide,  who is in red. This was one hard climb, very tiring but beautiful!

Our First Day with Selah Skye

We saw the Forbidden City and the Great Wall before flying south to the Anhui Province.
At 9 am on Monday, Nov. 5, we went to the Office of Civil Affairs. We walked into a room with a long table where other adoptive families were sitting. I saw Selah playing on the other side of the room but went on to our seats to begin the greeting process. Within a minute she had recognized us and come to where I was sitting. She hugged me, kissed me on both sides of my face and called me Ma-Ma... Blew me away!
After a short time there she came with us back to the hotel until the following day when we would go back to the adoption office to finish paperwork. This picture was taken at the hotel, she had been with us for just a few short hours.
We went to the park nearby and she drug us all over the place and later, slept the whole night through. Seeing her and Gloria together was such a blessing:) instant sisters!

Just before visiting the Forbidden City
Blog:
Nov. 3, the Forbidden City was ornate to the detail and the history was fascinating. Our guide was very knowledgeable so it was a great tour.
That evening we walked around a couple of dark, rainy blocks near the hotel in search of the recommended Roast Duck restaurant. After asking 10 people in our pitiful Mandarine, we found it. It was an authentic Chinese dining experience. The weather was a blowing rain on the dark walk back to our hotel and we awoke to a snow covered Beijing the next morning.

We have arrived in China.

 

Our guide took us sight seeing as soon as we got some rest.
We visited the Water Cube and the Bird's Nest from the 2008 Olympics. And after that, a tea house or two:)
Will be in Beijing one more day before flying south to Selah's  Anhui Province.