Meanwhile... (and Anna's Adoption Day)

Oh goodness. I feel like I haven't blogged 'regular' things in so long! Thank you for sticking with me for all of those 30th Anniversary posts and all of that Hawaii. I always want to get all of our memories on here so that we can go back and look at them. 

But I am also glad that we are 'back to normal'. 

We came home from Hawaii and I jumped right back into my classroom set up. Not full days. I like to work and set it up in little bits. Really little bits. I get an idea and then I go make that idea happen. And them I'm back home. 

So yes, all of that has been going on. 

In all of that we celebrated Anna's adoption day. 

It's a really big deal in our family. It's almost like a childs birthday feeling as a Mama. It's the day we held her for the first time. It's her 'gotya day'. 

Here are some past posts on her Adoption Day: 

Adoption Day Videos 

Dear Chinese Birth Mother 

Chosen

Adoption Day 

10 Years of Forever 

(there are so many more - if you go to the subjects below you can read "The Story of Anna" - just click there) 

I made a suggestion to Anna that we might want to go to a museum. She loved the idea and we had the most lovely afternoon at the Wadsworth Atheneum. We saw painting by artists such as: 

~ Claude Monet

~ Pierre Renoir

~ Georgia O'Keeffe

Years ago I took the girls and they were so adorable! 

2015

2011

It was a rainy cool day, perfect for a museum. 

Monet... oh my! 

Silly girls acting this one out! 

This was by far my favorite this time: 

And then we had an early dinner at a Chinese Restaurant. 

Dear Anna, 

Words can not explain how much you mean to us. We are so very blessed to be your parents and are grateful for the miracle of adoption. You are our. We are yours. Forever and Forever. 

Anna Turned 23!

Last weekend (and yesterday) we celebrated our daughter turning 23! I never pictured being a mama with children past the age of 8 or maybe 9. So 23 is well past 8 or 9. But it's still wonderful, especially when we get to celebrate who our darling daughter is and is becoming! 

We had a 'grandparent' party at our home last Sunday evening. I prepared all day Sunday (my favorite thing!) 

I baked the cake starting Sunday right after we got home from church but it couldn't be assembled until just before we cut it. So my Mom helped me assemble it all. 

Nothing makes me happier than to bake homemade birthday cakes to celebrate my daughters... what a privilege! 

There was a lot of time for talking and just being together (even though there are only 2 weeks left and my mind was swirling) 

The sun was beginning to set and my girls ran out so I could snap this one... love! 

On Anna's actual birthday (yesterday) after we came home from school we all went to one of her favorite restaurants and then had more cake and presents after. Simple but sweet. 

Happy birthday darling daughter. You are loved, treasured, and adored! 

Anna's Last Day

Yesterday Anna finished her last day at her elementary school as a math tutor. She pulled students in first grade through fifth grade for small group instruction and extra support. She tested students, reported to the principal in weekly SST meetings, worked closely with teachers, and the students had the scores at the end of this school year to prove that intervention works and Anna made it happen!

I am most proud of Anna for loving the students she worked with particulary students who stuggle emotionally and who are low in math. Many of her students have issues such as ADHD, low self-esteem, tricky home live and behavior issues. She loved them, helped their teachers, and put her whole heart into her work. 

She is meant to work with children and I am grateful that she is following the call that God has on her life. She is serving him when she helps the children. 

She did this almost full time work with she was a grad student at Fairfield University (about an hour away) three evenings a week in a three year progam for School Phychology. She balanced both work and school with care. She is loved by the students and staff at her school and I couldn't be more proud! 

Although it would be wonderful for her to have the summer off (as I will in about nine more days), she is enrolled through her three year program for two summer classes. And of course she will work this summer as well. 

I have found that the twenty-something age can be a bit challenging. No longer a child, graduated from college and move toward adulthood. It's a time when almost adult children still need support, mentoring, a listening ear, and love. Often their hours are different than they used to be as a child and it takes some creativity to find the time to connect. But as a family we made it a priority and we did it! 

Anna, I am so proud of you this year. Never would we have known what God had in store for you even a year ago. I am grateful for His call on your life and for you listening to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit to guide you. Look what He has done for you and through you. 

I have such a peace as your mama knowing God has a plan for wonderful things for your life. ❤️

Anna writing gratitude notes to very single teacher she worked with in her school. 

Finishing her First Semester of Grad School

Last night Anna went to her final class for grad school. It's her first year in a three year program to become a school phychologist. Here is the post on Anna graduating from college.  Back here is the post on why she chose Fairfield.  What a year it has been! It has flown by and I can't believe that she is done with year one! 

There are so many thoughts on her choice of Fairfield, the commute, the work she is doing, her passion, her future, her new friendships. I have so much I want to hold on to and remember: 

• Anna chose this program and it certainly wasn't the easy way out. She wanted to contine at a catholic university with a school phychology program that would support her not only in the three years but also as she stepped into a role someday as a psychologist. She made the right choice and we are so proud of her. 
• She commuted three afternoons a week since late August - the end of April. It's over an hour each way, many times with traffic. She was determined and commited. And just the driving was hard work each time!
• Anna made many friends in her cohort - they are all really close. She was particularly close to one friend as they sometimes carpooled
• I love the way she dove right in and gave it her all. Every weekend analyzing cases, writing papers and reports, it was really endless August - April. (even now, this weekend, one more part to do) 
• As her little sister is at the same college, Anna would sometimes deliver things if Abigail forgot. She was always there for her
• Anna worked 'almost' full time at a school in our neighborhood (acutally her own elementary school) as a math tutor, although she was quickly noticed by the administration, school social worker and school psychologist her her rapport with children. Anna dropped everything to help struggling children in her role as tutor. 

This picture came to my phone late Thursday night, and I couldn't be happier to see her smiling face. 

A successful semester in the books! Congratulations Anna; we are so proud of you! 

Never Posted ~ Valentines When She was in China

February 2026 ~ Two years ago Anna was in China for six months studying at a college there and becoming fluent in the language. I must have meant to post these pictures but never hit publish and just noticed it as a draft. Since it's about Valentine's Day, I thought I'd post it now.  

This weekend I got all of the little things ready to mail to Anna in China for Valentines Day. I know that Valentines is not a thing in China - and Chinese New Year IS a big big thing, but I wanted to send a little heart love to our girl over here. 

 All sealed up and ready to goooooo!

It reminded me of twenty years ago when Scott and I mailed another special package to China - one for a baby girl waiting in an orphanage. (pictures from albums) 

Launch Day!

Anna has always been a dreamer with a rich imagination. From the moment she started talking her vocabulary was so beyond 'normal' that people were always saying to us, "she has such verbal skills" or "her words are amazing". 

She was born to be a writer. 

Anna graduated from College of the Holy Cross with a degree in psychology and a minor in creative writing and Chinese.  Although she has decided on becoming a school psychologist (more about that back here) we knew that writing would be a part of her life. 

So she wrote a book and self published it. 

I first read the book when Anna was studying abroad in China. At that point it wasn't a book but printed on computer paper in a big stack. And I loved it. It actually helped me though missing her because the book was so 'her'. 

Then when she got home from China she decided she wanted to get just a few printed so she could give them to her viola teachers and conductors, one for her grandpa (who also loves to write books), and one for our family. (here is a post from Christmas day with a picture of her giving the book to her grandpa) 

But I encouraged her to "get that book out there", "launch that baby of yours into the world" 

So she did. She figured out how in the world to get Amazon to print it and all of the other logistics that go along with that. 

So I decided that it would be fun for Anna to have a Launch Party online to celebrate and to let the world (ok, just family and friends) know about our new author! 

I took the photos for her insta account and then she made a post. 

We made a gift basket for someone to win who "liked and shared her post" and wrote a question. 

She used the questions people asked to create little videos about her book, the writing process, and her as an author. She did an amazing job and was just adorable in those videos! 

At 8:00 pm yesterday she sent the videos to her 'stories' for anyone who wanted to to tune in. And they did!

Congratulations Anna on your book. It was so much fun celebrating you. You were meant to be an author telling the world a story as God 'writes' the story of your life. ❤