First Thanksgiving and first time to Florida!

A visit with Santa at the end of the Polar Express Experience at Sea World
A visit with Shamu at Sea World
Patrycja loved going under water!
Karolina getting used to the water
We went to Florida for Thanksgiving and the girls went swimming for the very first time!

An Amazing Thanksgiving

I know it is been a while since I have posted. However, I wanted to share our very special Thanksgiving. Many of you know that our girls were cared for by a loving family before they became ours. They lived with the same family for four years, needless to say it was very hard when the girls left them to come to the US. Vito promised them 2 things-first he would always take care of these little girls and that he would one day fly the foster family to the US so they could see where the girls were living.

Over Thanksgiving we had 10 wonderful days to share with the girls foster parents. It was so special for all of us. I feel like it gave cokta and wyuk some peace seeing that the girls are being well taken care of, loved, and blossoming. At one point during dinner Karolina turned to me and told me she was so thankful we were all together. Vito and I really enjoyed showing them the US. They had so many firsts. First plane ride, first time in a hotel, first time to see fireworks, first time on a roller coster and the first time to see the ocean. We know they enjoyed seeing everything when we helped them save the 5000 pictures they took. We spent some time at home, I cooked them a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, they visited the girls at school and the highlight of their stay was a side trip to Florida. We spent a day at the Magic Kingdom and a couple of days at Sea World. It was a special 10 days that will live in our hearts forever. Of course Vito made another promise....that we would meet again at their home!

On a side note....even though I have not posted FOREVER, I am constantly checking everyone blogs and am friend with many families on Facebook. I am so happy that Heidi and her family are leaving a in a couple of days. We are also alway praying for those who are waiting and having struggles right now in the adoption world. For any new people reading this blog please send me a message so I can follow your story.

What a year!

March 2010-Referral Picture

March 2011-girls in their forever home!

1 year ago we saw the first picture of our little princesses. I was at home and Vito was out of business. I emailed the picture of them and he stepped out of a business dinner to look at the picture. He called me and asked why I didn't immediately say yes! I had to remind him that this was a pretty big deal and we needed to make this decision together. Needless to say we said yes and one year later we have two beautiful daughters. We can honestly say it has been the craziest year of our lives! These two little girls are so busy-always on the go! They are keeping us on our toes and we are loving it. Karolina is doing great in kindergarten! She is learning so much, has made friends, loves her teachers and loves her mama to read to her. Patrycja said the other day "I have to tell you something very important" (yes in a complete sentence) I said what do you need to tell me that is so important and she said "I love you".....melts my heart!

The girls are taking gymnastics and we just signed them up for swimming lessons. They have made friends, gone to several birthday parties, spent time with their new relatives and continue to ride their bikes. They love to help mama clean and cook and even do chores every weekend so they can make their own money. I can't believe how well they are adjusting. I know I have said it before, but it is like we have always been a family!

More of what we have been up to!

Getting to know cousins!
It is hard to get Karolina to get off of her bike! She loves it!
Unless it is too cold or raining.....we are out riding our bikes!

We attended our first birthday party at Build-A-Bear.

What have we been doing?

I haven't blogged for a while and feel really bad about it. I always think I need to write a story about how we are doing. So until I have a few extra minutes to blog....I am going to post a few pictures and just say that we are doing wonderful!

We relax with Tata in the backyard!
We go to gymnastics every Saturday and love it
We have been playing in the backyard! Swinging swinging and more swinging!
We hiked with Scooter through the woods!
We visited Lina so she could meet the little blessing she helped us bring home!