Happily Ever After...

California!!!!

2010-08-05T18:03:00.001-07:00

Kyle! Kyle! Kyle!

Having fun with Jamie!
Enjoying the California coast.
Before and After!

Having icecream at Ghirardelli.

Such a sweet girl!

2010-08-05T17:59:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

2010-08-05T14:33:00.001-07:00

Chinese New year!

2010-08-05T13:44:00.000-07:00

Abbie and Mama went to see "Mulan" at the Alliance Theater!!! The family went to a banquet with Abbie's Little Dumplings' group.

Just having fun and being cute!

2010-08-05T13:42:00.000-07:00

Christmas 2009

2010-08-05T13:38:00.000-07:00

Winter fun

2010-08-05T13:34:00.001-07:00

So i just thought I would try to update Abbie's blog with some photos.

GOTCHA DAY!!!!! December 3,2009

2009-12-09T19:30:00.000-08:00

2 years together as family!!! Time flies when you are having fun!!!

Disney World 2009!!!!-again!!!

2009-12-09T19:14:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving day eating left overs in our hotel room in Disney World!!! Here are some photos of all our fun!

Turkey day!!!

2009-12-09T19:09:00.000-08:00

We have been very busy, but I will try to post all our adventures! We had Thanksgiving lunch with cousins: Elizabeth, Claire, and Matthew; Aunt Susan; Uncle Jerry, and Me-mommy on Wednesday. Abbie loved making Turkey hats with her cousins!

The Prettiest Pumpkin Patch Princess!!!

2009-10-29T17:06:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th Birthday Abbie!

2009-09-14T16:40:00.000-07:00

First day at Vinings Academy!

2009-08-11T16:01:00.000-07:00

She is a "shoe girl!!!" Had to have the pink shoes!
Always a princess- holding up her skirt!!!

Summer Fun!!!

2009-07-17T20:01:00.001-07:00

Abbie and BaBa!

2009-06-17T07:17:00.000-07:00

The Little Mermaid!!!

2009-04-13T18:41:00.000-07:00

We had such a great time with our friends at the beach! This video of Abbie as Ariel is one of my many favorites!!!

Disney World 2009!!!!

2009-01-29T12:56:00.000-08:00

We had an amazing trip!!! I will have Drew post an awesome video ASAP, but I thought you may enjoy some photos.

Wilson

2009-01-12T12:51:00.000-08:00

Hello all-
I would like to introduce you to Wilson. Abbie found some sunglasses last night and thought he would look great in them...I think she's right!

SANTA!!!!

2008-12-16T18:32:00.000-08:00

Abbie told Santa about the doll that she wants for Christmas. Only, she told him in Chinese!!!! Mama told Santa that Abbie said that he was Santa and he would know Chinese! Hope that he understood, I would hate for her to be disappointed on Christmas day!

After visiting Santa, we rode the Pink Pig! I love Atlanta!

GOTCHA DAY!!!!!

2008-12-03T19:02:00.000-08:00

Today was such a special day! Drew brought me beautiful roses, we ate Chinese food delivery, Abbie opened her book, we ate ice cream cake, and then we watched videos of our time in China! You can view Abbie's book (just cut and paste link below into your web browser):

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/invited/322816/3e5d599f912c12360baac59e93f75906

What a difference a year makes...

2008-12-02T16:52:00.000-08:00

Just remembering what last year felt like!

Mulan, Shang, and Mushu!

2008-11-01T19:07:00.000-07:00

When Mama asked Abbie what she wanted to be for Halloween, Abbie said, "Mulan!"
Mama said," You will be such a cute Mulan!"
Abbie said, "No, Mama be Mulan- I want to be Mushu! Baba can be Mulan's boyfriend (Shang)!"

Mulan and Mushu!

2008-11-01T19:03:00.001-07:00

Thanks Gramma for making Mulan's costume!

HALLOWEEN WAS AMAZING!

2008-11-01T17:39:00.000-07:00

Mushu from Mulan has never looked cuter!

Abbie is getting ready for Halloween!

2008-10-11T17:13:00.000-07:00

Abbie's 3rd Birthday

2008-09-10T18:21:00.000-07:00

Ready to ride!

2008-08-29T07:03:00.000-07:00

hey everybody!

2008-08-27T17:37:00.000-07:00

ok,so it has been a while...

2008-08-27T14:23:00.000-07:00

baba's birthday in June. more to come...

Mama + Baba + Abbie=Family

2008-06-11T20:39:00.000-07:00

Photo thanks to our good friend JP!!! http://jasonpendley.smugmug.com/

SUPER STAR!!!

2008-03-29T12:57:00.000-07:00

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!!!!

2008-03-22T11:01:00.000-07:00

Early Easter

2008-03-19T19:43:00.000-07:00

Happy early easter =:]

You gotta see this!!!!

2008-03-19T15:14:00.000-07:00

I know you are ready for a new video!!!!

2008-02-20T19:40:00.000-08:00

We received the greatest gift on Valentine's day! Perfect timing because 3 years ago on Feb. 13th, Drew and I went out for a Valentine's dinner and decided to go to China to adopt Abbie! While in China, we learned that Abbie's foster care had been sponsored through an organization call FTIA. We contacted them when we got home and they sent us baby pictures of Abbie!!!!! Several pictures of her as young as 1 month old!!!! God is so good! All this time that everyone was praying, He was at work in her life! I was so sad thinking that all of her past would be lost forever! Now we have photos! We did not post them because we do not want Abbie to see them yet. They show the area that she lived in for the first 2 years of her life! To our surprise, there was also an article in the FTIA newsletter about Abbie. You can see her photo and story (also below) at

http://www.ftia.org/Hunan%20Foster%20Care/Winter%202008.pdf

Learn more about sponsoring a child at

http://www.ftia.org/Hunan%20Foster%20Care/Index.html

The Story:

My Mommy and Daddy
Hunan Story
Fan Zhi Qiu was adopted by an American family on
December 2, 2007. Before the adoption, Zhi Qiu had received
a photo album from her adoptive parents. Her foster mother
showed the album to her and told her who her adoptive
mother and adoptive father were and what her room would be
like. Her foster mother also told her that her adoptive parents
would come to pick her up soon. She remembered all that her
foster mother would tell her. She was eager to see her
adoptive parents. She held the album in her arms all the time
and didn’t want to share it with anyone. She was afraid that
other children would love her adoptive parents too and take
them away from her. Knowing she was so attached to her
adoptive parents, her foster mother was very happy for her.
We wish her a healthy and happy life with her forever family.

Our trip to the zoo.

2008-02-14T20:23:00.000-08:00

Abbie loves animals.

We had some fun at the zoo this week :]

2008-02-14T18:30:00.001-08:00

Disney #3

2008-02-14T07:39:00.000-08:00

Another day with the princess!

Meeting Mickey!

2008-01-25T05:57:00.000-08:00

oh, to see the world through a child's eyes...

Snow day

2008-01-23T20:08:00.000-08:00

We had a very fun snow day last weekend. Hope you enjoy the video.

Stories

2008-01-19T13:15:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to take the time to post some stories. Abbie is perfect! Drew and I feel so blessed and we could not imagine a better fit for our family! She is sweet, cute, funny, smart, etc.... She has learned so... much English and we have picked up a little Chinese. My friend Mary Pat gave her some alphabet blocks/boxes. Each box has a letter on the outside and a toy that begins with that letter on the inside. Abbie has learned almost every toy! Some of her favorite words are triangle, xylophone, bicycle, and Chinese-e! She is so sweet! She always says, "shey-shey" which means "Thank you!" She loves to put her little hands together to say a prayer! She makes the funniest faces and says the cutest things! The other night, she found an instruction manual. She turned to the page written in Chinese and said, "Chinese-e!" I was in shock! I closed the book and said, "Where is Chinese-e?" She turned to the page again, pointed and said, "Chinese-e!" WOW! Yesterday, I was teaching her some animals. She was having trouble saying "Aligator", so I said, "It is like Ali (her cousin)- Ali-gator." Last night, I was drawing pictures for her and I drew an Ali-gator. She pointed to the page and requested that I draw a "Luke-e-gator!!!" (Ali's brother) Too cute! We are sure having a lot of fun! I better sign off, I think that a tea party is waiting for me!

Happy birthday Nana and Gramma!

2008-01-14T04:53:00.001-08:00

New Pictures

2008-01-12T18:46:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. We cannot tell you how great Abbie is doing. By this time tomorrow she will have been here a month. Wow, how time flies. She is learning English very fast! What an amazing little girl...a video will be up soon.

Christmas fun!

2007-12-29T18:42:00.000-08:00

I know it has been a while...but I thought you could use a new video. :)

A few smiles for you today

2007-12-20T05:10:00.001-08:00

We sure are having fun

2007-12-19T06:57:00.000-08:00

It is so great to be home. I am sorry to all of you who are waiting for
a reply to a message. Our e-mails, cell phones and blogs are full of
messages. We really appreciate all the messages and love you all. Can't
wait to let everyone have some play time. Until then-enjoy the video.

The fun has just begun

2007-12-17T16:15:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. We are so glad to be home. Now if we can just get her to know that there is a 13 hour time change, everything would be great.
She loves talking on her cell phone (is anyone suprised?) and helping Mommy cook. More fun to come!

The Princess Has Arrived

2007-12-14T21:26:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone. Well, it was a heck of a trip-but we made it! We had to change planes in Tokyo because of a mechanical issue, but here we are! It's great to be home. Abbie loves Georgia! Hope to see you soon. The princess has arrived!

America are you ready?

2007-12-12T06:36:00.000-08:00

Well, you have only a few hours until we bring Abbie home to the wonderful USA! We hope you are ready! We went to the US consulate today and got Abbie's passport. YEAH!!!!! Can't wait to see you!

What you have all been waiting for

2007-12-10T22:24:00.000-08:00

The daily video

Greetings!

2007-12-10T22:17:00.000-08:00

Hello all. I know it has been a little while since we have given an update so here one is! We are doing well. Abbie had her medical exam for her visa yesterday and did great. She laughed the whole time the doctor looked her over. We then had the famous "red couch" photo at the White Swan hotel. The attached image is from that! Last night we took a evening boat cruise. Abbie loves the water. Today we have had some coffee and enjoyed our day together. Katie and I have learned quite a bit of Mandarin from Abbie! See you soon!

Daddies beauties!

2007-12-09T22:12:00.000-08:00

Have you ever seen 2 more beautiful girls?

Another day in the kingdom

2007-12-09T03:05:00.000-08:00

Hello again. We are still doing well here! Today we had some Starbucks
and walked around the island. If it weren't for all the shop owners
begging you to come into their shops, you would feel like you were in
Savannah. There are wonderful parks and little traffic. Abbie loves it
here. We met a new friend today who you will meet in the video. Enjoy.

We even have fun with Daddy

2007-12-09T02:03:00.000-08:00

in case any of you are wondering why Daddy is not in any videos it is becuse someone has to hold the camera. But I thought I would show you that we do have some fun together-everyone loves Cheerios!

Video

2007-12-08T16:17:00.001-08:00

Well, I heard the video did not post so we will try again.

Hello from the Princess!

2007-12-08T01:00:00.000-08:00

Today we had a paperwork meeting where Dad went and filled out all the
important papers for the US embassy. While I was in the paperwork
meeting Katie ran into some old friends from UGA. Andy and Tara Lowry.
How strange to run into someone who lives in Georgia who you have not
seen in 11 years in Guangzhou, China! We found out that they also are
adopting and are also in ministry. We then went for a walk and had
coffee at Starbucks! We went to Lucy’s today (a great American place)
for lunch and found out that Abbie loves hamburger. If the video does
not show see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0ovfCdSoEw

McGoodness

2007-12-06T16:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was another fantastic day! We went to McDonalds and love McNuggets! After shpooing for a few hours we had some ice cream-we like that! Today we are flying to Guangzhou. Can't wait to see how we like airplane ride. We love reading all the comments-sorry we don't have much time to reply (we have a little distraction:) Bye for now.

Abbie having fun video!

2007-12-05T16:38:00.000-08:00

If the video below does not show see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-enGR94itk

Oh what a day!

2007-12-05T16:23:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a difference a day makes! The lows are so low and the highs
are so high, but we had many more highs than lows today! After
breakfast, we went for a walk. Abbie loved walking around outside in
her new squeaky shoes! We stopped at the Wacko store and bought a few
more snacks. Abbie fell asleep in my (mommy’s) arms on the way back to
the hotel. She got very heavy! We took her back to the room and she
woke up! She was not happy! I tried to get her back to sleep, but
nothing worked. Finally, Echo came into our room to bring water. She
showed us a website with Chinese cartoons, songs, and lullabies! Abbie
loves watching them over and over!
We ordered room service for lunch. Some yummy beef! After lunch, the
group went on a tour of the Embroidery museum. We decided that did not
sound like a lot of fun for a 2 year old! Brad had a great idea- he had
seen a huge sandbox/playground at the Walmart. We took a taxi and went
back to the Walmart with Brad, Lonny, Kyle and Jamie. We did a little
shopping at the Disney store and then headed upstairs to the sandbox!
The mommys stayed with Abbie and Jamie while the daddys and Kyle went
shopping. Abbie loved the sandbox!!! First, I set her on the bouncing
ball and bounced!!! So much fun! The first time that I had really heard
her laugh! Then we played in the toy car . Next, Abbie made sand
Angels!!! That is when I first discovered her cute little dimple!!!!
She was laughing and rolling in the sand! It was the best feeling in
the world!
She played with me by scooping sand into my hands. I said Shey Shey and
she said Ya every time. She thought that was so funny! We did some more
shopping and Abbie fell asleep on the Taxi ride home. She slept in my
arms for a while when we got back. When she woke up, she was upset and
hungry! Daddy ordered some pizza and all was well! Abbie was a little
upset and not ready for bed. I decided to take her for a walk around
the halls. She brought her bubbles! She loves to blow bubbles and say
“bubbles!” Well, soon the walk turned into a run and I was chasing her
and tickling her! She would fall to the ground and laugh and laugh!!!
Soon, Kyle took over and gave mom a break. Dad joined us and she even
let him chase her a little! It was 10:30 and we were very loud! Oh what
fun!

Some pictures of the princess!

2007-12-04T16:32:00.001-08:00

A few images of the cutest little princess in the world!
#1 Decmber 4th before breakfast with Mommy
#2 Heading in to finalize the adoption
#3 It is official!!!!
#4 Her footprint seals it!
#5 December 5th in her new pretty outfit. We bought her some new shoes at Wal Mart and found out this morning that every time she takes a step they squeak! We found squeaky shoes! We can't wait to see if the other families hate us by this afternoon.

A day with a princess

2007-12-04T06:15:00.000-08:00

Today we had our first breakfast with Abbie. All she wanted to do was sit in Mommies lap! She won’t leave her side ☺. Katie went into the bathroom and she said "Mama" and really wanted Katie to appear!
She spent some time coloring and then it was off to the adoption office again. This time to formalize the adoption! We stamped a red fingerprint over our signatures and Abbie put her footprint on the document.
We came back to the hotel and ordered room service and the beef was so spicy. Abbie did not even seem to notice. She really is a spicy girl!
At 3:00 it was time for Wal Mart. Now that was an experience! Katie joined me midway through shopping since Abbie had fallen asleep on the bus ride over. You should have seen me trying to buy baby supplies on my own; other Moms in the group felt sorry for me and were a great help. We bought Abbie a pink stuffed mouse and tennis set as well as crackers and other snacks.
We got back just in time for dinner with the entire group. Everyone seems to be doing well for being parents for only 24 hours. We were very surprised when Abbie grabbed her chopsticks and started using them at dinner!
It’s 10PM here and we just got Abbie to sleep. It has been a long day, so it’s off to bed for us as well!

One day over the rainbow

2007-12-03T07:09:00.000-08:00

Hello all. It has been quite a day!!! It is 11:15PM and Abbie is wide
awake, even though her report stated her bedtime is 9:00.
The gotcha moment was completely insane. She was standing there as soon
as we got off the elevator. She was obviously loved and loved her
foster family. She is having some difficulty transitioning to us. She
has been crying out for her foster grandmother today. She speaks a
dialect from Changsha rather than Mandaren but luckily one of our Holt
escorts speaks that specific language and has been grately helpful.
We have a short video of Gotcha Day that should post here , but if not
just go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSWhecE9Im8
Please continue to keep us in your prayers! We feel enourmously blessed!

TOMORROW!!!

2007-12-02T06:12:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow, tomorrow... I love you tomorrow... Your only a day away!!!!!!!!!! We have all been counting down the hours all day long! We get Abbie at 3:00 tomorrow! That is 2:00 in the morning for you! Before I tell you about our day, just wanted to let you know that we have been unable to view our blog and our comments! PLEASE email us at dkstaple@charter.net to let us read your comments! We were so excited to see that we had a few comments yesterday, but when we tried to read them it would not allow us.

We began this morning in Beijing. We had another delicious breakfast and then we got on the bus to the airport. Our flight took off at 12:30 and we arrived in Changsha around 3:00. Holt (our agency) has been wonderful! There is someone to hold your hand every step of the way! It made getting through the airport so easy! It felt so wonderful to finally arrive in Hunan- the birth place of Abbie! The first thing that I noticed was a lot of pine trees- She should feel right at home in Georgia! We got to our hotel and it is beautiful!!! I keep laughing because I have read so much about not over-stimulating your child at first and that will be impossible! This place is like a little version of Disney World! It is all decorated for Christmas! When you walk through the front doors, there is a HUGE Christmas tree surrounded by a rotating Santa in his sleigh with 2 reindeer and then the 5 mascots for the 2008 olympics in Beijing! All the adopting families stay on the 30th floor and there is a small playroom on the floor. When we walked into our room, I started to cry! There is a crib just waiting for Abbie! There is also a cute little Hello Kitty bowl and spoon, a little baby bath tub, a stuffed animal pig, and fish stickers on the bathroom tiles! I think this hotel is use to adopting families!

We have such a great group of families! There are 7 other families from Holt in Changsha. We love all of them! We are having an amazing time! It is just so difficult to put into words! Obviously, I am trying! A few of us decided that we needed to venture out for one last time before our arms where full with babies! Someone decided to ask one of the hotel staff for a recommendation (we decided that next time we will ask our Holt guide who stays with us 24/7, but we just could not find her that minute)! He gave us a map and told us where to go. Only a 20 minute walk, easy to find, lot of restaurants with English menus... So we walk, and walk, and play frogger with traffic (cars have the right of way in China). We could not find the place. We tried asking for directions, but no one spoke English. We finally found a Chinese restaurant that was very crowded and thought we would give it a try. No one spoke English. They walked us up 2 flights of stairs and into a little room with one table. We all looked around and said tomorrow is the biggest day of our lives, do we want to chance getting sick? So all of us walked back down the 2 flight of stairs and back outside! I think they just laughed at us silly Americans! We decided that we would take taxis back to the hotel! That was another great adventure!!! They drive crazy and Changsha is such a cool city (lots of neon!)! We made it back to the hotel and asked how much our tab was-about $1!!! We said that was the best dollar I have ever spent! Such an adventure!

We ended up eating back at the hotel at the Hunan Chinese restaurant- YUM!!!!! Some of the best Chinese food that I have ever tasted and I have had a lot! I decided that we will all have a great story to tell our girls about what we did the night before we got them!

Drew is already snoring, so I am going to try to get some sleep tonight! Sorry- no pictures, but I am sure you just want to see pictures tomorrow anyway! Good night!

Ni Hao!

2007-12-01T05:05:00.000-08:00

We are in Beijing! I will tell you all the details about what an amazing trip we are having, but 1st the most important news... We got 2 more pictures of Abbie today!!!! She has grown so much! Her hair is so thick that I maybe able to give her real pigtails! We fly to Hunan tomorrow and get her the next day!

We began our 1st day in Beijing with a ride on a rickshaw! It was amazing! The driver pedaled around potholes through the back allyways of Old Beijing. We made our way to courtyard surrounded by "houses." We visited one of the homes and had tea with the resident. All of the homes in the courtyard belonged to his family- 3 generations all together. In the center of the courtyard there was a square pit used to heat coal to warm the homes in the winter. It is so difficult to explain this entire experience. It was so unlike anything we have ever seen before!

This morning we began our day with a wonderful breakfast at the hotel and then a Holt meeting. We received our updated photos at the end of the meeting. Then we all went to lunch in the hotel. We had a delicious Chinese lunch. Next we went to the Temple of Heaven and then Tiananmen Square. We ended our day eating with a group of our newest friends at TGIF!!! Hamburgers...YUM!!!! We are having a great time getting to know everyone in our group! We are definently making some new friends for life! We are still trying to get over the jet lag! It is 8:30pm and I am ready for bed! Goodnight!

The adventure has begun!

2007-11-29T16:14:00.000-08:00

Greetings from Japan???? There was a medical emergency 30 minutes into
our flight from Detroit to Tokyo. Therefore, we had to turn around and
land in Minnesota. This delayed our arrival into Tokyo by 4 hours! We
missed our connection to Beijing!

We were blessed to meet many
other couples that are also adopting from China (and one couple
adopting from Korea)! The family sitting right in front of us is with
our Holt group! We have all stayed together and enjoyed our night at
the Ana hotel in Tokyo.

It is about 9:30AM here on Nov. 30th.
We are sitting in the airport waiting for our 10:45 flight to Beijing.
We think the flight is about 4 hours. We are hoping that we may still
get a chance to see the Great Wall, but if not at least we can say that
we have been to Japan!

P.S. We dropped off our Christmas lists when we flew over the North Pole!

Quilt

2007-11-27T13:02:00.000-08:00

Abbie's 100 wishes quilt is beautiful!!! I do not think you can see just how wonderful it is in the photos! My mom also made a scrapbook of all the prayers and wishes- I cry everytime I read it! I am overwhelmed by all the love for Abbie!

Abbie's bathroom!

2007-11-13T19:46:00.000-08:00

View a slideshow of Abbie's bathroom!

Abbie's room!

2007-11-13T18:57:00.000-08:00

View a slideshow of Abbie's room

travel schedule!

2007-11-09T18:55:00.000-08:00

Depart USA..............................................28 November
Beijing arrival.......................................... 29 November
Great Wall............................................... 30 November
Holt orientation....................................... 1 December
Changsha,Hunan.................................... 2 December
GOTCHA DAY!!!!!!!!!!!.............................. 3 December
Guangzhou............................................. 7 December
U.S. consulate visa appointment............. 11 December
Visa issued............................................. 12 December
U.S.A.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...................................... 13 December

Pictures!!!

2007-10-04T07:49:00.000-07:00

The stork (Fedex Truck) arrived right on time at 10:30!!! One look at her and we knew without a doubt that this is our girl!!! She is perfect! We are so in love! Look at those pigtails ( I think that they are fake, but God knows how much I love them so it is just His way of saying,"Here she is!")

mom and dad!

2007-10-03T19:41:00.001-07:00

View photos of the proud parents!

The Call!!!

2007-10-03T15:26:00.000-07:00

We received a phone call from Holt at 4:45 last night! We have a spicy girl from Hunan. Her birthday is September 9,2005. We will see her pictures and find out more information tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!

Good Fortune

2007-09-29T18:57:00.000-07:00

We just got back from visiting our friends (the Pressley's) in Orlando! We had such a great time seeing them again!
We stopped for Chinese take out when we got home. We were just sitting here eating and checking the web for rumors when I asked Drew if I could eat the 1 fortune cookie. I said, "maybe it knows something?" My fortune read...." Good things come in small packages. One is coming to you." WOW! I just wish that it said "SOON!!" We are pretty sure that the CCAA got through 11/30/05 (our LID) this month. We are just trying to find out when they will send out the packages! We can't wait to see Abbie's picture and learn more about her!

The rumors were wrong!

2007-09-03T07:53:00.000-07:00

The CCAA announced today that they have finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before November 25, 2005.

SO, we continue to wait...............................................................................

Rumors!

2007-09-02T18:03:00.000-07:00

Rumors are saying that we may see our Abbie Lin's photo next week!!! We are trying not to get our hopes up, but I think that they already are! I thought we should give this blogging thing a try! Praying that we will be posting a picture very soon!