Home for a year

On this date last year, Maggie became an American citizen, as that is the day we arrived home from China. What a fast year it's been, and so amazing! I can remember so vividly our trip to China and arriving back at home. I still can't believe I drove home from Atlanta - thank God I had the Tennessee basketball game to listen to in the car. Time does indeed go by fast, and Maggie is growing sooooooo much. She was promoted to another level at gymnastics this week Hope you enjoyed the pictures and video.

Original Gotha Day photos

Gotcha Day anniversary

It was one year ago today that Barbara and I received the greatest gift of all. We got to meet and hold our precious daughter for the first time. It seems only yesterday, yet the year has flown by. We have done so much during this time and Maggie is growing up way to fast.

I took the day off today so we ccould celebrate as a family. We went to speech therapy this morning and Maggie did GREAT! The pathologist said it is the best she has done and even mentioned taking some time off to see how she progresses. We went to lunch and did some shopping before meeting Barbara's mom, aunt and cousin Beth for dinner at P.F. Chang's. We had a great time, but missed my mom who is home with the flu.

We bought Maggie a little doll from her province in China and a couple of Disney coloring books while we were at the White Swan, and gave them to her as gifts for this special day. Barbara's mom and aunt bought Maggie a heart shaped locket with an "M" on one side and her gotcha date on the other. She'll cherish it forever.

After dinner her mom and aunt came over for dessert and we looked at some of Maggie's pictures - both old and new. It's amazing how she has changed in what seems such a short period of time. We have such great memories of our trip to China and our experience, and could have never asked for a better child for us. She makes us smile constantly and has been a true blessing to our family.

Disney World

We made it to Disney on Thursday afternoon and met Barbara's mom, Aunt Pat, and Aunt Connie in the lobby of the Coronado Springs resort, which is on the Disney property. The hotel was beautiful and the room was great. After we checked in to the hotel, we went back to the lobby where we met with my Uncle Bill, who lives in Orlando and had not yet met Maggie. He ate lunch with us and spent much of the afternoon hanging out with us. It was great to see him

We went to Downtown Disney on Thursday night for dinner and some shopping. We got Maggie's caricature done as well. It was cold and we were tired so we didn't stay too long.

On Friday we went to the Magic Kingdom with Barbara's mom and aunts. Maggie LOVED IT! The first thing we saw when we entered the park was Daisy Duck, so we immediately got her autograph and picture. We ventured to Cinderella's castle just in time to see the Disney street party, which included all the characters in a parade type setting, where everyone was singing and dancing. Maggie was a bit overwhelmed but had a smile on her face the whole time. I had to hold her for most of the time, but I didn't mind. During the course of the day we got to see Daisy Duck, Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Cinderella, Belle, and Sleeping Beauty. Maggie and I rode the Dumbo ride, the Flying carpet ride, "it's a small world", and drove a race car. We also took in the country bear jamboree and ate dinner, all before the evening parade and fireworks. We got a great seat for both and Maggie loved it all. She stayed awake the whole day and got pretty tired.

On Saturday, Barbara, Maggie and I went to Animal Kingdom. Maggie was already tired by the time we got there, but still would not nap. She got more energetic as the day went on. We got to go on the safari after only a 20 minute wait, and followed that up with the Lion King show. After the Lion King, we got to see Goofy and Mickey Mouse again. We then ate lunch and I was able to ride the Everest roller coaster - it was AWESOME. I went through the single rider line and only had to wait about 5 minutes. After that we watched a street band perform and saw the parade. The park closed at 5 PM so we were back to the hotel pretty early. We took it easy the rest of the day and packed for our trip home. Barbara woke up with some kind of stomach virus on Sunday, so it was a long ride home. Maggie again did exceptional and we arrived home at about 8:30 last night

Today, my two nieces and great nephew visited and we went to the aquarium. We had a nice visit and Maggie had fun playing with Skyler. Tomorrow is back to work and back to normal. We had a great week and wish we could visit Disney more often. It will definitely be one of out choice family destinations.

Grandpa, Grandma Chris,Grandma Millie

Last Tuesday we left Chattanooga for our vacation to Florida. We went to Wesley Chapel for a few days to see my dad, stepmom, and grandmother. Grandma Millie had not yet met Maggie. We had a great visit and Maggie was so good. On the way down, she never cried, whined, or complained. We went to my dad's on Tuesday night for dinner, met my grandma Millie on Wednesday and went out to lunch as a family. After lunch we went to the beach, for what I can assume was Maggie's first beach visit. It was very cold so we didn't stay long. When Maggie first stepped on the sand, she immediately stepped back and wiped her shoe off. It was very cute. Our visit with grandma Millie went great and Maggie took to her quickly. I'm sure all the gifts she received helped a little bit. We wish we lived closer to spend more time with her.

After the beach we went with my dad and stepmom to a new outdoor mall where Maggie got to ride a train not once, but Twice! She was excited and it was a great prelude to the end of the week. We went to eat dinner and then back to the hotel. Thursday morning we met for breakfast before heading to Orlando. We hated to say good bye. My dad and Chris had some goodies for Maggie as well. As if she wasn't spoiled enough.