Last Friday we attended a breakfast at Brooke's school where she received an award for perseverance. She was nominated by her math teacher, Mrs. Tori. She has always been a good student and in advanced classes but this year she has had a tough time in math. One night I helped her with her homework and the next day when she turned it in the teacher marked every problem wrong! It seems the "old fashioned" way of solving the problem wasn't good enough even if she got the right answer. After that we got a tutor! She pulled her grade up from a "C" (the lowest grade she has ever made) to an "A"! We are so proud of her and the hard work that she has put into her math class.
Friday was also a big day for Brea! Our playgroup met at the book store at the mall for story time. When the stories were over a special guest came out to meet the children...Biscuit the dog!!! Brea was so excited! She showed him the picture that she colored for him and gave him several big hugs.
Saturday we attended the OAKS (Our Asian Kids) annual Easter egg hunt. The big kids helped hide the eggs while the little ones colored eggs. Last year Brea had no clue as to what to do with the eggs on the ground but this year she really had the hang of it! She knew there were goodies inside since she had helped me fill eggs that morning so as soon as she was done finding eggs she hurried to open them! Thankfully they were not all full of candy and she came home with a dozen plastic eggs, stickers and a few sweet treats. We had perfect weather for the egg hunt and the potluck lunch and the kids had a wonderful time playing together.
Sunday was another busy day...after church we decided to take the kids fishing at the little lake here in our neighborhood. We had a blast! Brooke and Brea refused to touch the worms so Danny spent all of his time baiting their hooks and casting for them. Brooke caught the only fish and got so excited that she lost it when she got it to shore! Baker wasn't the least bit happy with his sisters because he said their talking and giggling scared all the fish away. He made Danny promise to take him fishing without his sisters. Needless to say, I was behind the camera (safe from the worms and fish) and spent most of the time laughing, barking out safety orders and making sure Brea didn't catch one of her siblings instead of a fish with her Barbie rod.
Tomorrow Brea will celebrate her two year anniversary with her new heart! I can't believe two years have gone by. We are so thankful that she is doing well and showing no signs of rejection. I can't help but think of Salvador's family as this day approaches. As we celebrate they are surely remembering the saddest day of their lives. It has been two years now that they have not had their little guy. I hope and pray that they know how grateful we are for the gift of life that they have given Brea and our family. I've put together a photo album to send to Salvador's mother. It will not fill the void that she has in her heart but I hope that it will give her a glimpse into Brea's life and I hope she will know that Brea lives each and every day to the fullest because of her decision to give life.
Last but not least...we learned on Friday that the China Center for Adoption Affairs in Beijing has received our dossier (huge stack of documents) and has logged us into their system. Our log in date was 3/25/09! Our agency said to expect to hear something from them in about three months and that we should still travel this summer to bring Bailey home.
Enjoy the photos!
