A Year Ago...

A terrified...sad...very sick little girl walked (was carried really...dug her heels in...did not want to come in!) in to our hotel room in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sofieyan/5484058944/

There was a lot of anger and grief and many tears at first...then suddenly a nap...

Soon after, a beautiful, silly, smart, sweet little girl emerged...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sofieyan/4400442552/

And has continued to flourish...

We've had our ups & downs, but not a day has gone by when we haven't felt so lucky and proud that we get to be her parents.  We will spend this day, our "family day", just like any other day...by being happy we are together.

San Diego

Sofie & I headed to San Diego last week to visit with Nana & Papa and spend time with friends I haven't seen in a very long time.  Brandon & I moved from there in 2001 and haven't been back to visit since Christmas of 2003.  So, it was a long overdue trip.  Unfortunately, I was not very good about taking photos...most of them are from my phone...but here are a few for your viewing pleasure.

We went to Stone Brewery for lunch, then spent time with the Garvey's in Carlsbad...

Dinner with Nana...

We got to spend time with my oldest and dearest friend Christy and her family...

Then we headed to the Anderson's to play with Erin and Devan and have dinner with friends...

Finally, down to San Diego for lunch with our friend Dina and our friends the seagulls...

Thanks to everyone for making time to see us and for the hospitality.  It was so much fun spending time with you all!

Happy Valentine's Day!

School Daze

Sofie started pre-school a few weeks back!  We went for a visit to chat with the staff and observe, and the next thing we knew Sofie had integrated herself right in with the class.  She was so comfortable the owner asked if we'd like to leave her for a few hours, which we did with no tears...until we picked her up.  She did not want to leave!

She spent two mornings a week there and transitioned to two full days this past week.  She LOVES it!  And we love that she is learning new things, interacting with other kids and getting lots of play time...and that she is a happy little girl.

Sofie also started a ballet & tap class a few weeks ago...she loves to put on her sparkly pink tutu dress (which she picked out despite my attempts to direct her to the black one...hehe) and special dance shoes.

And last week we put on our red dress and went out to dinner to celebrate Chinese New Year...Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Is It Still Winter?

You wouldn't think so if you have been in our neck of the woods.  It's been about 70 and sunny every day for the past few weeks.  So we've been...

Outside playing with our friends

Outside playing with Baba

Taking long walks and marveling at the explosion of mustard in the vineyards

We hope you are staying warm...wherever you are!