WE ARE HOME SIX MONTHS TODAY

I can't believe how fast time flies. The past six years have flown by in a very painful but, also an exciting way. From the loss of Kyle and Tim a little over six years ago to the three year wait for Emma. At times my life has dragged on forever and at times it has seemed to have flown by. I miss my boys terribly and the past six years have been very painful to have gone through and now, we have been home with Emma six months today. I can't believe it. Like I said, time has stood still and now it has flown by since Emma has been home. Now is the time that I wish time would stand still. I love what I have right now and want to keep Emma just the way she is. I know that she has to grow up and become a woman but, I just want to enjoy everything that I Have right now. I love everything about her and I am enjoying every minute of her. I love to hear her laugh and giggle. It makes me feel that she is OK. I love to go into her room in the morning and see her big smile when I walk in. I love the smell of her. I love when she signs I love you. I love to put her to bed when she is so dependent on me and just wants to lay in my arms feeling so secure. I love to hear the sound of her sucking her finger while she hums her own little tune. I know that is the way she comforted herself while in the orphanage. She has been the best gift that I could ever been giving the privileged to have. I am so lucky that China picked Emma for us. At times I can't believe that they picked the right child to fit right into our family. She fits into every part of our lives. She is such an easy going child and just goes with the flow. We are so fortunate to have her.
Emma has changed in so many ways since we have been home. You would never know that she is the same baby that we picked up in China. She doesn't even look the same. She has grown and changed so much. She now has hair and an incredible personality.
Emma was such a tiny, skinny, scared little baby when we got her. To see how much she has changed in just six months is incredible. She has grown into a little toddler and seems to love where she is at. She loves to sing and play.
To know that six months ago today, in a little over an hour from now we landed in Manchester with Emma. We had so many people waiting for us and I will never forget the emotions I had when the plane landed. I couldn't control my emotions. I started crying as the plane landed. I was so over whelmed with emotions. From the excitement of bringing Emma home and meeting Katie to the loss of Kyle and Tim not being there to meet her and the rest of family and friends to greet us. It feels like that day was so long ago but, I also feel like the past six months have flown by. I can't imagine my life with out Emma and feel that she has always been a part of our family. It's amazing how life changes. She is one very special little girl.
The past six months have been incredible. Way beyond what I would have expected. These special little girls from China are survivors. They are incredible little humans beings. They have so much love to give and are very special. I feel so LUCKY!

Beautiful Weekend For A Saab Gathering

This past weekend was our 6TH Annual Springtime in Sweden Saab show in memory of Kyle and Tim. What a beautiful weekend it was. With the temperature reaching 91 degrees on Saturday, we had a great turn out. People came from all over the Northeast.
Just in case some of you don't know why we do this, it is because Kyle had a passion for Saab's and Tim was right behind him. Kyle would spend countless hours working on his Saab to make it just the way he wanted it to be. Tim was always right there with him. At 18, Kyle was already on his third Saab that he bought and sold. We started him off with his first Saab because we weren't going to put our old one on the road. We told him that he could sell it, fix it or whatever he wanted to do with it. That was at 16.
Both boys had always wished that they cold have a gathering in our back yard but, never got the chance. You see we have almost three acres of fields. So with that being said, Springtime in Sweden was born. The reason for the name of the event is, Kyle had a dream car that we never knew about. We only found out about this special car after the boys had died. Kyle used to chat with a group of Saab enthusiast all over the world. It was amazing to find out how many lives that he touched through this chatting. We were presented with a book of all the entries from the night they died and for days after at the Saab owners convention in Hershey PA. 19 months after they died. This book is treasured as it let us take a look into a part of Kyle's and Tim's lives that we weren't aware of the impact that they had on people all over the world. The entries in this book are so touching. With that being said we found out about this car through all of these people that he communicated with. They all knew about this special car and let us know what it was. It was a 1988 SIS Saab. There were only about 400 made in the world. These friends of the boys set out to find us one. They had success and they went to look at it before we would buy it. Well, we bought it. It is now in west Virgina being restores. That's another story for another day. Anyway SIS stands for Springtime in Sweden.
Eventually we would go to another one of the Saab owners conventions and find another SIS car, which we have in our possession.
Every year at this convention they present an award in memory of Kyle and Tim for young people under 21 that enter their car in the show. When ever we can we go to present the award. We probably won't be able to attend this year because it is in Colorado.
We would like to thank everyone who attended and help make this year a great success.
We also made Emma a little Saab out of Kyle's orignial Little Tykes car (24 years old) and made her a sign for her to park her car.

EMMA HAD A BUSY WEEK LAST WEEK

Emma had a very busy week last week last week. I took her to her first story time on Tuesday. She wasn't sure what it was all about and was a little nervous to be in a room with a lot of other children. They read stories and sang songs. By the time it was all over she was ready for it to continue and was becoming comfortable. I was hoping to bring her this week but, it has just been to busy here. I also took her to a drop in gym and she loved it. There were things to climb on,instruments to make music, a kitchen set, which is where she spent most of her time. She just loved the kitchen. Again by the end she was very comfortable and was playing with other children and climbing through tunnels. I will be bringing her back there. It really helps with her gross motor skills, which is something she needs.
The weather was really nice last week so I was able to get her outside and play. She loves her little tykes car. Actually believe it or not it was Kyle's when he was little. So that means it is 24 years old and has been through many children, including triplets. I can't believe that it has survived that long. We will be getting her a new pink one and turning the old one, of course, into a little tykes Saab.
Kyle and Tim's Saab show is this coming Saturday. I was hoping to turn the little car into a Saab and put it in the show, also to let Emma ride it around the show. I guess it will have to wait until next year.

MORE EASTER PICTURES

MORE EASTER PICTURES

I should have posted the picures first and then my post sorry.

HAPPY LATE EASTER

Well, as usual I am a very bad blogger. Emma's first Easter went well. The Easter bunny came and hide Easter eggs and left Emma an Easter Basket filled with fun things to play with.We showed Emma an Easter egg and told her to go find another one. She did and from there she kept asking for more. She had a lot of fun looking for the eggs. It was just hard to tell her that there was no more and that she had to look for her Easter basket. She didn't really know what the whole thing was about. We hide it where she would be able to see it very easy. She was so cute when she found it. She dragged it across the floor and looked in it. We told her to open it and she did. She liked what was inside. Then Katie got her Easter basket and wanted Katie to open hers.It was so cute to watch. The four of us had a really nice brunch. It was a relaxing morning.
Next, it was on to getting ready for dinner. We weren't having as much company as usual so we didn't have to prepare all kinds of food like we normally do. When we were finally done and the appetizers were out, we just had to wait for the company to arrive. So we decided to open up the Champagne and make a toast to the day. Our company finally arrived and we all had a very nice dinner.
It was a nice Easter for Emma's first.