Phone Pictures!

I love my phone for many reasons but I have to say the main reason is the photos I capture on a day to day basis. Here a few things from the past week that I've captured with my phone..

The 3000 piece puzzle that is now well underway...

Cooper's Christmas Hair Cut today....
Ryan with his Grandpa being silly....
Cooper suggesting a place for Wilson our elf to hide...
And Ryan in his Santa jammies not wanting his picture taken!

Christmas Hoopla!

We've been so busy with Christmas prep this year. All of the things of course have been lots of fun! Here are a few things we've done so far...

Decorated Christmas Cookies with Cousins...

Ate the decorated cookies...
Went to a family Christmas dinner...
Celebrated (grandma/great-grandma's) 95th Birthday
I'm leaving out several things but it's been hard to keep up! I'm so excited for Christmas morning to see the look on Ryan's face! Love this time of year and love how blessed I am in my life.

Happy Adoption Day!

One year ago today we finalized our adoption and Ryan "officially" became our son! It's such a special day and one we will continue to celebrate. This year, we surprised Ryan with his first remote control car. Needless to say, it was a hit! We are truly blessed to have this special little boy in our lives. I thank God for him everyday! Happy Adoption Day!!!! We love you very much!!!

Happy....

Adoption...
Day!!!!!

The Man in the Red Suit!

Yesterday Ryan saw him....you know, the man in the red suit! SANTA!!!! This was the most awesome Santa I've ever seen. I think it was actually the real Santa Claus! I was nervous Ryan would want nothing to do with him. Or that he would cling to me and not want to get near this man. Boy was I wrong! He walked right up to Santa, and said (quietly) "Hi Santa". I put Ryan on Santa's lap and I told Ryan to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas and Ryan said "a fire truck!" I was so proud of him because he is generally a very timid little boy but not when it comes to Santa apparently!!!! Notice how prim and proper he is sitting with his hands nicely folded....This kid always amazes me!!

Christmas Pictures

Best we can do so far as far as Christmas pictures go! He is so difficult to photograph these days. He does however work for a hefty fee of candy!

Happy 2 Year Referral Anniversary!

2 years ago today we saw this sweet face for the first time...

It was a day we will never forget and one of the greatest days of my life. I can't imagine my life without this sweet little boy! Happy Referral Day Ryan!!!

Wordless Wednesday...Cars Slippers

Trick or Treat!

This year Halloween was so much fun. Ryan totally understood the concept trick or treating and was more than excited to get candy! He just cracked us up in his Santa costume. The best part was the way he would say "Ho Hoooo" while holding his belly. This is our first year trick or treating in our sub so we weren't sure what to expect. We met up with some of our friends that live down the street and went trick or treating as a group. The kids had fun and so did us adults. The best part about our subdivision is the amount of young families.

This year, just like every year my parents came over. My dad stayed back to pass out candy and my mom came with us to trick or treat. My brother also came over with the cutest little kitty cat (my niece) to trick or treat too! Here are some pics...

Ready to go!
Back side view...cracks me up!
Grandma and Santa
Ryan and his little cousin Lillian
Ho HO!
Friends...
Got the hang of it pretty quickly!
Someone got tired so daddy had to carry him...
Since we were so tired last night we had to inspect the goods this morning.
Candy!!!
Made out pretty good!

Tractors!

The cider mill by our house has become our new favorite. We've been there several times this fall and it never gets old. It's very small and there isn't much to do but it is very quant. It's simplicity is what I love most. The best part isn't the cider and donuts, nope...it's the table filled with tractors and corn! Well, I love the cider and donuts.

Ryan loves playing with the tractors and could actually care less about the cider and donuts. Ryan and I made a visit there yesterday because we were bored of being trapped inside on a cold rainy fall day. When we pulled up Ry started yelling Tractors Mama! Tractors!!! When it was time to go almost an hour later someone was very unhappy!

Baby Pictures

Newborn photos of Ryan are something we never had until today! I have only dreamed of what his sweet little faced look liked the day he was born or soon after. Here is a time when I can say thank you to facebook! Facebook has given me the opportunity to join a group of other Korean Adoptive families who are either in the process of adopting, have already adopted or both. There are about 80 women in this group from all over the country that I feel like I am really getting to know. It's been an awesome support and way to find out information. It is a wonderful way to feel connected to others that are going through the same thing and know that you aren't alone in this process.

Last week someone had posted in the adoption group that they emailed the SWS Post Adoption Services inquiring early photos of their child. This person then received several photos a few days later. This person was ever so kind to share this information with us. Up until then, I didn't even know we could contact anyone in Korea regarding this informaiton. So glad for this group because I would have otherwise missed out on these very important photos of Ryan. So, this morning when I woke up these photos were waiting for me from this very nice lady in Korea... I wish I could give her a great a big hug.

She has no idea how much these pictures of Ryan mean to us and will someday mean to him. I was and still am overwhelmed with emotions and am so thankful that we have these beautiful pictures. He was and still is so precious.

Family Photo Shoot

We had the opportunity to have some photos taken by a photographer my friend knows. We went last weekend and it was the perfect fall day and better yet, the spot the photographer uses for her outdoor photos was only a quarter mile from our house. As expected, Ryan would not cooperate...which is why we've never bothered to have family photos done. He wouldn't even crack the slightest smile. He just frowned or turned his head. Even though he isn't smiling, some of them actually turned out pretty nice. Luckily for us this photo shoot only cost $60 :)

Here is just a preview of some of the photos....

Fall Weekend Wrap up!

This past weekend was probably one of my favorite weekends of the year so far. We spent Friday night watching Halloween movies (after Ryan went to bed of course). I absolutely love Halloween!!

On Saturday Michigan State won! Go State!!!

Our city's downtown had trick or treating so we met up with some friends to go trick or treating at all the store fronts. It was great! Ryan loved getting candy and he certainly turned heads in his awesome Santa costume! My wonderful husband also made me a nice dinner Saturday night!
Sunday I captured a few fall photos of whats left of the colors. We also enjoyed a wonderful Sunday dinner at my parents house.
Ryan got to run around and play outside.
I got to give lots of love to my new niece Lillian.
We even took a nice long walk down my parents dirt road! It was a great weekend.