Of Monkeys, Buddies, Brothers and Mowing...

How's that for a title? I promise if you bear with me that all of the wierd ingredients will be explained...

We went to the zoo today. It isn't a secret that detest the zoo. I don't have a hatred of animals necessarily (although the zoo does stink), but my hatred does stem from past experience. Why is it that we tend to visit the zoo when it's HOT?! When I think of the zoo, the first thing I think is SWEAT, HEAT and more SWEAT. And since I made a promise to my travel buddies that I would not complain about Kansas heat and humidity (because it's NOTHING compared to Guangzhou) I decided today I had to bear it. Thankfully God provided some cloud cover, and although it was 93 degrees outside, it certainly didn't feel... well, hot.

Beginning with Ashleigh and Austin's first zoo visit, we have photographed them sitting in the hand of the orangutan statue. It has been a fun way to chronicle their growth (although I am not sure we will be able to convince them to sit on his hand when they are 16...). Below is the latest installment of the sibling shot - Amy included! I am amazed at how much they have grown!

Amy and Katherine sitting for a bit at the zoo...

With permission from Katherine's mommy, I would like to share the story about Amy and Katherine's friendship... it goes WAY back.

Katherine and Amy knew eachother way back... Katherine was born on January 31, 2004 and lived at Yangjiang City SWI. Amy was born March 1, 2004 and ALSO lived at Yangjiang City SWI. These two little girls, along with several other sweet little ones, spent day and night together waiting for their families.

Our adoption agency -Dillon International - received a group of 7 referrals from Yangjiang and the families traveled and received their daughters on Halloween 2004. Katherine was part of this group. All the girls are very close in age - within several months of eachother - and Amy.
It appears that Amy's paperwork for her adoption was originally processed at the same time as these 7 other little girls, but her mommy and daddy weren't ready to come bring her home yet, so her file was held (MIRACLE!).

In May of 2005 I (Tami) met Katherine's family at a Dillon function. They were so kind to answer my questions and even gave me their contact information. We continued to see eachother at other funtions and we learned more and more about Katherine.

Fast forward to January when we received Amy's referral...

I was just spinning at the unexpected news that we had our referral! I began the desperate search to make some connections for my daughter as we waited for travel approval. One of the first things I did was search the archives of our agency's discussion board to see if any other Dillon families had children from Yangjiang. Imagine my surprise and elation when I discovered that Katherine - who only lives a little over an hour away - was also from Yangjiang! And she is only a month older than our Amy!

I quickly contacted Katherine's mommy and shared our news.

It is just amazing to me that Amy is right where she was meant to be; and that is with a Dillon family - in Kansas - SO close to a little girl that she spent the first 8 months of her life with! I love that Amy was so close to being placed with another family back in October 2004, but God knew her family wasn't ready for her yet. His timing is perfect...
(that should give you goose-bumps)

Ashleigh and Austin are out of school for the summer! They have already been home for 4 1/2 days and we are enjoying every minute! Ashleigh loves to carry Amy around and tends to her almost like a little mommy (much to big mommy's dismay...), but Austin has decided that she is a pretty fun playmate! I took this picture on Tuesday afternoon. Austin just loves to play with her; he doesn't try to parent her. He just enjoys her. Today he ran upstairs and pulled out our two stick horses and brought them to Amy. He showed her how to gallup and ride around in circles! She LOVED it! What a wonderful Big Brother!

Chris mowed the lawn earlier this week and I thought it would be fun for Amy to tag along! Chris strapped her on in the Ergo carrier (as the backpack carrier) and she just went along for the ride. I just liked the picture too much not to share!

We continue to adjust to our new life. It's funny how it doesn't seem so new or different anymore. It really feels like we have had Amy forever. I guess that is how it should be.