7th Familiversary!

Better late than never...

Last week was our Familiversary, marking 7 years since we adopted our Annie Rose from China!  Some families call this Gotcha Day, Adoption Day, Family Day, etc.  Same thing, all.  Our very jet lagged family of four celebrated by heading to Pei Wei for dinner.  Noodles, rice, chopsticks, fortune cookies.  Fun was had by all!

For his part of the extravaganza, Charlie was eager to touch cups and "cheers" with each of us over and over.  Have no clue where he learned this, but he was shouting "gan bei!" with great enthusiasm.  As with most things Dan Dan, it was a rather large and hilarious sight.

There are no words to fully describe my gratitude and emotions when I consider the last 7 years.  I remember every moment of my first day as Annie's mom.  She was so tiny, so anxious, and quite mad.  She had no idea who the strangers were that kept calling themselves Mama and Baba, she was certain she wanted no part of us.   She was fierce, she was mighty, she was shockingly loud!   She was the most beautiful baby we'd ever seen.  She had coal-black eyes that sparkled, and her mouth was like a dark red rosebud.  

Over the next few days in China, Annie slowly began to trust us.  She began to show us her smile, and we even saw hints of her humor, which to this day remains one of her brightest features.  We learned early on Annie had a love for music, and a dancer's heart, too.  We were so smitten with our daughter, we would stay awake at night and watch her sleep.  The above picture is of Annie in China, the first night we had her.  Oh my.  :)  We were goofy in love with our sweet girl, and 7 years later, we feel the same way.

Happy Familiversary, Annie Rose LiMing!   We are thankful for you each and every day!