Familiaversary

One year ago, we were walking into Casa Hogar in Guayaquil, Ecuador to meet our daughter for the very first time!

The time had finally come for us to meet her, and we could not wait!!

Such a long journey to get to here ... but it was finally time!

It's funny, reading over the blog post from that day ... Emilia, shy!?! Not a talker?!? That girl sure did fool us :)

She is not shy.

She is not quiet.

She will talk to everyone and anyone who will listen!!

This last year has been so amazing. We've had lots of changes, and have experienced lots of new stuff as a family. She continues to grow and progress every single day. She is such a sweetheart and such a joy to us. We truly cannot imagine life without her.

At the time we were not able to post photos of her publicly, so here they are not for your enjoyment. Check out how much she has grown!!

From the day she arrived home, "I Knew You Were Trouble" was one of her favorite songs! Funny joke little girl, because you certainly are TROUBLE!

Winter Break

Winter Break flew by way too fast!! First Emilia's birthday, then the visit with Grandma and Grandpa ... then Christmas ... then New Year's.

We intentionally had a very low-key Christmas. We stayed home and had a quaint little family celebration. We slept in on Christmas morning, had a big breakfast and went out to Bridger Bowl. Every bit of Christmas was overwhelming for E, but we did our best to keep it as simple as possible.

 

Christmas dinner with our neighbors!

We saw fireworks for a pre-New Year's celebration at Bridger Bowl on Monday.

On New Year's Eve we went back to Yellowstone to do some XC skiing, visit the Boiling River, get some hotel swimming time in and little bit of partying!

We bumped into some friends at the grocery store, and got invited to this awesome gingerbread house making party!

... and tonight we spent some time getting everything ready to get back on our schedule for school tomorrow! While the last few weeks have been a ton of fun, I'm looking forward to getting back to a normal routine!