My little cutie!

Recently every time I get the camera out to get a quick picture of something Andrew or Anslee is doing, Anslee runs and sits by the wall. She tries to get there so quickly that she's run headfirst into the wall several times. This time she made it without injury.

Doesn't she have the most adorable little face?!

Friends

When we adopted from China, there were nine other families with us. Our agency is located in Ohio so most of the families are from that area. The closest family to us lives in Florida. They are also the most similar family to ours. They have a son Andrew's age and they are around Keith and my age. We were so excited to plan a time for them to come stay with us! I'm not sure why some of these pictures are blurry...

Anslee and MaKenna had fun together.

Stephanie and the girls.

Stephanie and her mom brought gifts for everyone. Andrew loved his new shirt. Anslee's shirt has "it's my brothers fault" printed on it.

Both Andrew and Noah adore their baby sisters!

It was a great visit. I wish they lived closer.

T

swim lessons

I love taking Andrew to his swim lessons. At 8am no one besides us and the lifeguard is there. It's quiet, the water is still and the temperature is perfect. Andrew has made so much improvement since the beginning of the summer.

Andrew can now tread water for two minutes

Anslee brings her baby her friend Elizabeth gave her. She has several Asian babies but she only wants this blue eyed one.

Andrew learned how to swim the length of the pool. He can do freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke. He wanted nothing to do with me teaching him to swim. This lifeguard was great! He's ready to go to the Y and pass the swim test there.

Anslee loved watching Andrew swim and would try to pull his head up when he came by. She is a little fish ~ already trying to swim and sticking her head underwater and blowing bubbles.

Remember when I told the story about the grumpy people in front of our seats on the way home from Arizona? Well how much better behaved can you be than this??

Anslee loooooves her dada.

T

An interesting article

Official Calls for More Efforts to Curb Gender Imbalance

Curbing the gender imbalance in China's birth rate must be a top priority of the government, a senior official said in Beijing Tuesday.

The gender imbalance was a complicated issue which needed strong leadership and coordinated efforts from the public, State Councilor Hua Jianmin told a tele-conference marking World Population Day.

Budgets for the government's "Care for Girls" program, initiated in 2003 to promote the social status of women, must be guaranteed by local governments, and departments of family planning, publicity, public security, health and food and drug supervision must step up cooperation, said Hua.

The State Council would dispatch teams to the regions at the end of the year to inspect the work, and would discipline those who failed to do a good job, he said.

More public awareness campaigns on family planning and gender equality were needed and neo-natal services should be improved.

In addition, preferential policies should be ensured for girls and women in healthcare, education and employment. Law enforcement officials must crack down on gender identification and abortion without a medical purpose and the abandonment of newborn girls, Hua said.

China has 80 million one-child families. The gender imbalance has become a serious issue in recent few years because many families, especially those in rural areas, prefer boys to girls.

China has 119 boys born for every 100 girls, while the global ratio is 103-107 boys for every 100 girls.

(Xinhua News Agency July 12, 2006)

We are loving the pool this summer and have even more fun when friends come swim with us. This is Andrew and his friend Matthew.


My friend Julie came over with her children Matthew and Elizabeth. Anslee just adores Elizabeth and tries to copy everthing she does.

Grandma Ruthie and Pop were the reason we all were in Sedona. They celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. Can you imagine being married for 65 years?! I have never seen two people more in love.


Andrew, Anslee and Keith's Aunt Glenda checking out a snake.
Andrew and his cousin Clayton in the pool. Does Clayton look familiar? He played Ethan on the Disney show Lizzie McGuire.
Keith's sister Kathy, her daughter Alex, Aunt Glenda, Uncle Steve and cousin Doug. Anslee is reaching for the pool. She loved swimming.
Eating lunch at the Hideaway. They have the best salad I've ever had. Andrew's other cousin Devin (in the white shirt) was here too.
Andrew loved hanging out with his "big cousins". They were all so sweet to both he and Anslee and played with them constantly.

T

Helicopter Trip over the Grand Canyon

If you are going to the Grand Canyon take a helicopter ride over it! It was incredible. I was concerned I was going to feel sick on the ride but it was so smooth that it wasn't a problem at all.




Nana kept Anslee in Sedona. The ride to the airport was an hour and a half and she probably wouldn't have appreciated being in a helicopter after that.
Andrew loved the trip and thought the Canyon was amazing.

Blazin M Ranch

The Blazin M Ranch was about 30 miles away from Sedona in Cottonwood. To get there we drove straight through the desert.


Andrew is learning how to rope a steer. He and Keith bought cowboy boots. Andrew also got a cowboy shirt. Even though it was hot he had to wear his new shirt, jeans and his boots.

Keith and Andrew also shot guns at targets. Andrew is very proud of his. He said that was his favorite thing about the trip.
We had a chuckwagon dinner before the show. We ate on tin plates and drank out of tin cups.

We had a blast in Arizona! Keith's mom (Nana), sister and her daughter came with us. Keith's aunt and uncle and cousins came down from California. We all were in Sedona to celebrate Keith's grandparents 65th wedding anniversary.

We were on the go the entire time. We swam a ton, went to a wild west show at the Blazin M Ranch, took a helicopter tour over the Grand Canyon, shopped and visited with family.

Andrew and Anslee loved all the wildlife we saw. We saw quail, rabbits, hummingbirds and a coyote in our front yard.

We saw a tarantula on a raft in the pool. We got him out and put him near his hole but he hung out beside the pool all afternoon.


We also loved seeing all the different cactus. The saguaro is just incredible! Driving out of Phoenix we saw a ton of saguaro and then I guess at a certain altitude they don't grow as well.


Anslee and Andrew were both great on the plane rides out and back. The three people sitting in front of us coming back were so rude. They loudly said "Oh great, we have to sit in front of two kids!"
Andrew accidentally knocked the seat in front of him and the woman turned around and started telling Andrew that he better not be doing that the entire trip. When the plane landed they all turned friendly and said that the children were so well behaved they didn't even remember they were back there. Keith and I didn't even respond...

I've heard people from out west say that the east feels claustophobic because you can't see because of the trees. I love Sedona and the landscape but flying into Atlanta and seeing green everywhere is a wonderful feeling.

Happy trails!
Terri