Scrapbook Fun!

With all of the snow days we have had this past week, I spent some time in my Happy Place, "My Scrapbook Room!" This is a peek at what I accomplished for our sweet little girl! Work has officially begun on her little girl suite and her playroom! Oh, let the planning begin!

1/8/15 Announcing our Adoption to Immediate Family

What an exciting evening! We had our immediate families over for dinner. They all came in and sat down in our living room. Dane and I went upstairs to get these bags which we had prepared ahead of time.

We came back down the steps and Dane proceeded to tell our family members that we had some exciting news to share with them! Our families thought that Dane and I were putting in a swimming pool. Dane wanted to use the ole' "Clark Griswold" line, as we presented them with personalized "Pool" bags. Dane continued to say that this would warm up the cold weather that we were currently experiencing. They did not have a clue as to what was about to happen next...

Each bag contained beach towels (white towels). The two aunties-to-be and two uncles-to-be pulled out a box of "Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix" and "Uncle Ben's Rice Mix" with puzzled looks on their faces-priceless! The Grandmothers-to-be had to dig in their purses to get their glasses out in order to read their snow globes that read, "Life is more grand when you are a grandparent." Moreover, they needed some assistance with the picture sonogram of China, reading "Our Journey Begins 1/1/15" with the biblical quote, "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you" John 14:18. The grandfathers-to-be weren't sure what was going on. Just look at all of their faces-seriously, they had no idea that Dane and I had come to this decision! They were all so cute! Finally, everyone figured it out!

Needless to say, there were tears of joy overflowing in our living room! Next, we took them downstairs to the decorated basement where we had Chinese food waiting on our good China. I decorated the little take-out boxes with the pink elephants and put candies inside. I made fans out of my scrapbook papers to decorate the tables as well. Ironically, my mother-in-law had given me the green accordion fold napkins for Christmas-perfect for this occasion/ table setting. Everyone had chopsticks and a fortune cookie at their place setting, too.

We had Chinese instrumental music playing in the background as we talked about how we made our decision to adopt. The family also watched the informational DVD from our adoption agency. It was the perfect start to bringing our baby girl home! Looking back, I guess in all of the excitement, Dane and I are not in one picture! :) Once we are matched with our daughter, we plan to have our immediate families over again for a "Picture and Name Reveal" party! Can't wait!

That is all for now, as we are finalizing all of our Home Study paperwork! We have our first appointment next week! Wish us luck! ~Tava

Happy Chinese New Year 2015!

Yesterday, was the perfect day to go public with our adoption announcement! Dane and I started a new tradition of officially celebrating The Chinese New Year! We went out to dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. The dinner was great and served quickly!

We are working very hard on compiling all of the paperwork for our Home Study/ Dossier. Luckily we have wonderful, supportive family and friends with us along the way to encourage us as we continue the process of bringing our baby girl home!

The year of the sheep is here! May it be a blessed one for all! ~Tava