Happy 4th Birthday Megan!

Lunch & fun time with Mom, Dad, & Nat at Chuck e Cheese. Megan loved all the games & rides!

Our Chinese class summer picnic. Megan celebrated her birthday with friends at the park. She enjoyed climbing the sand dune several times and saw Lake Michigan for the first time. I think it was probably her first time experiencing sand too. At first she didn't like it on her feet, but once she took her shoes off she was fine.

Opening presents. She kept saying "why" when we said she had presents waiting for her when we got home....but, it didn't take her long to rip into them and find the gifts waiting for her.

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl! We have been so incredibly blessed to have you as our daughter! These past few months have been so much fun getting to know one another better. It's amazing how God works....He knows exactly what we needed - each other. Megan you have a wonderful personality...full of life and love...your laughter fills our home and our hearts....we love you! Hope you've had a wonderful birthday and that you'll always know how very special you are to each one of us and to your Heavenly Father.

Random Photos

We've been home now for 2 months and whew, it's busy. I've been terrible at blogging lately and hope to do better. So...in an attempt to catch up a little...here are some photos of the girls and a glimpse at what we've been doing lately.

Dress Up Days...Megan loves to "pwee-tend" to be Dora or a princess. She is just like Nat at this age and changes her outfits several times each day. There was one summer when all Natalee would wear were dresses...well...it seems her little sister has taken a liking to dresses too and will often wear one or two throughout the day. Thank goodness for hand-me-downs and thrift stores!

These babies names were just too cute...the "mommy" was named "Guizhou" (the province she is from) and the "baby" was "Zhong wen" (meaning Chinese language). Megan's language develpment is coming along by leaps & bounds. She understands so much, actually everything really, and she is speaking tons of new words daily. It's so cute to hear her talk because it's a little bit Chinese and a little bit English! :)

SNAKE! SNAKE! Natalee's 1st grade class put on a "ZOO" and she was a snake. Each student had to research information about an animal, create a poster about their facts, make a mask and then participate in the zoo. Family were able to attend the zoo and we received animal crackers at the "concession stand" and we then were able to "feed" the animals. It was so cute! Megan absolutely loved it and wants to be a snake now too! :)

Daddy & Uncle Brian were able to attend the Red Wings game a week ago and saw them win the conference championship - they had a blast! Since then, Megan has been cheering "Go Wings" with Daddy. We found this jersey we had in the back of the closet and she loved wearing it!

Summer-time fun! Natalee finished 1st grade, it's hard to believe how quickly the year went by. We are so excited for summer break and are looking forward to some relaxing days at home...nothing major....trips to the zoo...library....dutch village....park...reading....playing....
just enjoying being together!

And the good mail giveaway winner is....

Marisa B!

Congratulations Marisa! I'll be mailing you some good mail soon. I hope you too can continue the good mail and bless someone else. Check out Marisa and her family at http://brinksadventures.blogspot.com/

Hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Health update

Today Megan had her echocardiogram at DeVos Children's Hospital. She was a trooper! Our pediatric heart doctor recommended that she have a sedated echo due to the fact that she had such a hard time in his office with the ekg. She definately has some anxiety when it comes to doctors and procedures. But, she did well. Once the IV was in and she was able to sit with me and watch Dora, she was good.


The results of the test show that she has some medical "anomolies" meaning basically God created her super unique but none of them are associated with any medical issues or will require any special care in anyway. The heart looked great and the repair that was done in China was done well. Doctor said she has no restrictions and nothing needed. He wants to see her a few times during childhood just for follow-up. That's it! AWESOME - PRAISE GOD!


She also had an ultra sound of her kidneys done today so we'll get those results from our pediatrician. And, then we will see a geneticist too just to find out if there are any related syndromes which link all her little medical unquienesses together.

We are so happy that God has touched our little girl and she has received a great report!

Butterfly Kisses

Natalee had her dance recital this weekend. It was beautiful! I'm so very happy with our dance studio, she has really excelled this year. Her dance was to the song "Butterfly Kisses" and was very nicely cheorographed by her teacher. I wasn't able to get video of the dance on my camera but here are a few photos. Great job Natalee!

Good Mail Giveaway!

Today I received some good mail! My bloggy friend Sarah (http://www.davidandsarahb.blogspot.com/ had a "good mail giveaway" on her blog and I won! So...I too am going to carry on this fun tradition of blessing someone with good mail. All you have to do is leave a comment for me. I'll randomly draw a name from those who've commented that they'd like to receive good mail. Leave your comment by 10 am Saturday, May 23 and then I'll announce the winner. Hopefully the winner will continue the fun and send out more good mail.

Mom's 2 blessings

Natalee was in the Tulip Time kid's parade again this year and Megan dressed in her dutch costume to watch her big sister. I think for Megan's first parade she enjoyed the bands the best. Trying to get a good photo of the girls with the beautiful tulips wasn't so easy - as soon as I put the camera away Megan was all smiles. She loves to take the photos and play with my camera but I guess doesn't so much enjoy being the focus of the photo.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to my Mom and Mother-in-law!! You are both such an encouragement and support to me. Thank you for showing me Christ and His love through you. Blessings to you both.