Christmas 2005

Annierae's first Christmas with us was magical.

First, we celebrated Christmas Eve with Mass at St. John Vianney, then went over to Aunt Judy & Uncle Bob's for our family tradition of ordering Pizza! Annierae had a wonderful evening with family & friends and fell fast asleep on the way home.



On Christmas day, Annierae was up early to open presents with Momma & Pappa before the family came over. She was definitely spoiled by all involved, including Grandma & Grandpa via special delivery from Vermont.

Shortly afternoon, Aunt Pat & Uncle Tom along with Aunt Judy & Uncle Bob, Great Aunt Sister Marie Jude and cousins Matt, Sandy and Sara came to our house to celebrate with Annierae.

We had a fabulous meal, dessert, then Annierae opened more presents. She was overwhelmed, but very happy! Once again, all of us present received the best gift by having Annierae in our lives!

What a wonderful gift from God!

Annierae's First Birthday

Annierae had a truly special first birthday (beside being the first one with us in America as a U.S. citizen). She had two birthday parties!

Her first one was a few days before her actual birthday with her Great Aunt, Sister Marie Jude (SMJ) in Spring Lake. SMJ and her friends Sister Mary Lou & Sister Rosie put together a delightful birthday party at their house when we went to visit them. Annierae had a wonderful time and really enjoyed the cake & ice cream (she has a HUGE sweet tooth!).











Her second party was on her actual birthday of 12-16. We had Aunt Judy & Uncle Bob over to our house for a nice dinner, cake & ice cream and opening of presents. Of course, Annierae got a little cake all to herself, and enjoyed devouring it...







All in all, she had a great birthday, but Kristine & I are the ones that got the real present!

Tis the Season

I thought I was doing so well having all my Christmas shopping done and all the presents wrapped before we left for China. Unfortunately, being without a car for the past two weeks has put me behind in my Christmas planning. I am happy to report that Greg did get a new car Wednesday and Annierae and I have been running all over town to get our final Christmas preparation done.

Annierae is doing great she is very social and loves to be out and about. Her favorite thing these days are to go out to eat in a restaurant. She loves all the attention she gets from the wait staff and other diners. We are realizing she is a big ham. She also loves cake and ice cream tonight we went to Aunt Judy's to celebrate Judy's Birthday and once again she got to have her cake and ice cream. I am amazed at how well she eats and it’s beginning to show her face is really starting to fill out, watch out Bryson I'm catching up to you.

Today we tried to have a photo session with Annierae for our Christmas cards but it is so hard to get a good picture of her without the fingers in her mouth. We did get a pretty good one but you will all have to wait for your Christmas cards to arrive to see it. Below are a few of the photos that were taken.

Hope all is well with all of you still visiting our site. We will try to continue to update the site weekly.

Home Sweet Home

Yes we did make it home safe and sound and all is well now. The flight was very long and Annierae being the busy body that she is decided she wasn't going to sleep so as not to miss a thing. We were greeted at the airport by many of our family and friends. I think that was more emotional for me then Gotcha Day.

Annierae is really starting to show her personality, she never stops talking and will be walking here very shortly. She laughs and smiles all the time except when we are taking her picture, some how the fingers always seem to be in her mouth when the flash goes off. Her and Harley are getting along well, especially when its time for Annierae to eat. Harley is the clean up committee. The three of us get bundled up everyday and go for a walk usually just up the street. Annierae is still getting use to the cold but she does love being outside.

Grandma and Grandpa were here for our first week home and unfortunately we had a car accident the day before Thanksgiving. Grandpa ended up with a cut forehead and a broken wrist, the rest of us had a few bruises but nothing serious and Annierae was fine. So now I truly am stay-at-home mom because Greg is using my car to get to and from work. We hope to have another vehicle by next week which will be nice because I am going a little crazy.

We had a great Thanksgiving at Aunt Judy's! She just remodeled her home and it is beautiful and the food was delicious. Unfortunately due to the snowy weather the Zwier family and Auntie Sister were not able to make it. Aunt Patti and Uncle Tom did stop over this weekend when they were in town and Aunt Patti gave us a beautiful scrapbook she put together for Annierae, thanks Aunt Patti!!

Well that's it for now we will continue to post as we have the time so you can all see how our little angel is doing. Thank you all for the comments we love to hear from you.

More pictures to enjoy.

God Bless.

CHINA: DAY 12

Saturday, November 19th, 2005

3:00pm - EST
Hello again. We made it to Detroit - what a looooong flight. This one didn't go so well as our little darling just didn't want to sleep. There was just too much to see and experience. Of the 11 hours in flight, she slept maybe 2 hours total. Needless to say, Kristine & I are exhausted. The good news is we're almost home, we can't wait to see everyone. I'll post something later Sunday to let you all know how our first night home went.


1:00pm - China
Hello All. We made it to Tokyo with no problem. It was an early start to the day, and annierae slept for about 2 hours on the 4 hour flight. The rest of the time she was being "Miss Social" chatting to herself and looking around taking in all the people. The flight attendants on this Northwest flight were phenomenal. They were very attentive to our needs and extremely baby friendly. I just hope the next 11 hour flight goes as well.

I likely won't post from Detroit as we only have 2 hours to clear customs and get to our final flight to GR. We're a bit tired, but very happy to be on our way home.

See you all in a just a few hours!!!

CHINA: DAY 11

Friday, November 18th, 2005

09:00pm - China
Hi All,

Well we are officially done with everything - this life changing adventure is drawing to a close (at least this initial phase). We went to the US Consulate at 3:30 today where Annierae got her visa and is officially a US Citizen (although we still need to get her a US passport). We joined another 55 families from other agencies for one large swearing in. It was a straightforward and simple process. We were back to the hotel by 5:30ish where we have spent the past 3 1/2 hours sorting and packing for the loooooooooooooooooooong trip home. I have to say, the uncertainty of the 25+ hours of travel tomorrow scares me the most of all portions of this adventure thus far. If we ever needed your prayers, it's tomorrow for Annierae to have a safe, comfortable and quiet trip! We have the Benadryl ready :).

Here a re a few shots from this morning and Annierae in her "swearing in" outfit before we left to go to the consulate this afternoon. We're turning in now as we have a 4:00am wakeup call, luggage in the hall at 4:45am, breakfast on the bus at 5:45am, take off at 8:35am. Not sure if we'll have time in Tokyo to post day 12, so this could be the last post until we get back. Godspeed to all families traveling tomorrow, and we'll be home soon!

Love you all!!!








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07:30am - China
Good evening to you and good morning to us. I was going to try and give more of an update since Greg didn't have much to say after Annierae and I shopped till we dropped yesterday. But I just turned around and saw the cutest baby standing in her crib smiling at me. I need to change a stinky diaper but will be right back.

Okay I am back, first off Annierae is a doll and is really coming out of her shell as you can see from her more recent pictures. She smiles and giggles a lot for her mommy and is getting better each day with Greg.

Yesterday was another long day and Annierae does not want to nap, I think she thinks she will miss something. She loves to stand up and I think she will be walking very soon. She is also quit the talker I think that is what she did in the orphanage to keep herself entertained.

She did great at the medical exam and weighed in at 19 Lbs and is 73 CM long. Our guide Shiyan told us that the doctors said she is very healthy.

I am going to have to sign off she is demanding that I come pick her up for her morning cuddles.

Can't wait to see everyone Saturday!!!!

CHINA: DAY 10

Thursday,November 17th, 2005

09:15pm - China
Short post today.

Shopping -- all day -- enough said.

Tired - must sleep now!

CHINA: DAY 9

Wednesday, November 16th, 2005

07:00pm - China
Hi All. Well it's Annierae's 11 month birthday today! This has been the busiest and longest day thus far. We left at 8:30am for the airport, and it took nearly an hour to check in after the 35 minute drive. This was to be Annierae's first flight, and I have to say she did better than expected. She didn't sleep much, but she wasn't really fussy either. She was just absorbing all the new sights, sounds and smells around her. It was only an hour and a half flight, but it was a first for her (and us, man do I need to get to the gym and build some upper body strength)!

But this was just the first part of our day. Once we got to Guangzhou, we were suppose to go to the hotel and get an hour or so to relax and prepare for the medical check up and visa pictures at 3:00pm in the afternoon. Instead, we headed right to get Annierae's visa picture taken, then off to the medical offices for a series of check-ups. She passed with flying colors and relatively unphased by the ordeal (although she was overly tired & hungry). When we finally got to the hotel, it was nearly 5:30pm and everyone was ready to eat & rest. It was a battle to bathe Annierae tonight, but I think it was because she just wanted to sleep. So she is out like a light right now, and may not even wake until morning. We have a free day tomorrow and Kristine said she will likely go shopping - yee-ha - NOT! Oh well, when in China...

Here are a few pics from the events of the day. Only 2 more days till we leave for home - big time YEE-HA!!!

CHINA: DAY 8

Tuesday, November 15th, 2005

05:00pm China
Hello All. Today we went to the Panda Enclosure at the Chongqing City Zoo. The weather continues to be gloomy and rainy, but the trip to the zoo was well worth it. We were able to see many pandas up close. We shot some great photos and videos. Speaking of photos, I've been having trouble posting pictures to the blog. I still have several to post for day 7, so check back there in the next day or so. In the mean time, here are a few from our trip today.

We have an 11:15am flight to Guangzhou with medical appointments and visa pictures in the afternoon. Fortunately, with the recent alerts in the news, we only have to visit the US Consulate once to just take the oath. We're beginning to plan for our return home, which is only 4 days away. We are ready to be home!