Playdate with Lucy!!!!

Lucy came home from China with her family on Dec. 20th. She turned 2 in Sept. and has now been home a month and seems to adjusted very well . Yesterday Annalei and I went over to play with Lucy and the new big brother Mason. She is such a doll and has such a cute personality. I think Annalei and her have made a friendship for life!!!!

P.S. Amy thanks again for picking up more squeaky shoes for us, it will save us a trip and should hold us over for a couple of years!!!!

"SUPERBOWL BOUND"!!!!!

We finally made it!!! The Indianapolis Colts are FINALLY going to the Superbowl!!!! There was a lot of cheering and screaming going on at the Dow house on Sunday night. Annalei had no idea what was going on but she cheered and screamed as well. Dalen still was so pumped on Monday he even woke up yelling "WE ARE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL"!!!! He has already told me to make sure the laundry is all done because his Colts attire has to be ready for the big game. He wears the same clothes each game all the way down to his Colts underwear and socks.

Indiana is definitely supporting their true "Blue and White" spirit. GO COLTS!!!!!

Grandma Eaton's Ponchos

I am so pretty in pink (and black) thanks to Grandma Eaton!!!! Grandma made all her granddaughters these beautiful poncho's for Christmas. Thank you so much Mama!!!

GO COLTS!!!!!!

GO BIG BLUE AND WHITE, GO BIG BLUE!!!

I am sure you all know the Colts will be playing in their second playoff game this Sat. against the Ravens. Being from Indiana, we are naturally showing our spirit for the "Blue and White"!!!

As you can see Dalen wishes to someday be the next Peyton Manning. As for Annalei I am not so sure cheerleadiing will be her thing! Could it be mommy's constant reminders - "cheerleading bad, gymnastics good"?! (Ha-Ha)

Happy 2007

Happy 2007!!!

Well it has been a year since we received the long awaited referral call!!!! It is hard to believe that she has now been in our arms for 9 1/2 months. I can't imagine a day without her. She has brought so much joy to our family and has made her big brother so proud.

We have had a lot of people mention how they looked forward to reading our post from "The Story of You" when we were in China. So, we decided to continue our posts with a family blog 10 months later. I know my journals may not be as good as what Chad wrote in China but I will try!!!! He has been told by many that he needs to write a book.

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday this year. We feel very blessed to now be a family of four. We announced 2 Christmas's ago that we were going through the process to adopt and had hoped Annalei would be home for Christmas in 2005 but that was not God's plan. So, we received the best Christmas present of all this year by having the whole family together.

Dalen is now 7 and in 1st grade and has become the best big brother! We were not sure how an only child of 6 years would handle all the attention his new little sister would get, but he has really surprised us. He is so good with her and lets her tag along when ever she wants. She is by mommy's side all day until big brother gets home from school, then she is off with him. Dalen is enjoying school and is really into football right now since Nascar is on a break. Football was the one sport besides racing mommy was not to fond of and he chose 2 sports that mommy will need Prozac while she sits in the stands!!!

Annalei will be 19 months on Jan. 12th and has been walking for about 4 months now and she is trying to cut a lot of teeth at once. She is starting to finally say a few words but most of the time we say she is speaking Chinese (ha-ha)!! She is starting to mimic everything we do and her personality is so cute. She is all girl and loves her jewlery, chapstick, purse and dolls. She is even allergic to milk like her big brother!!! What are the odds?

We feel so blessed that God chose Annalei for our family. She was definitely a gift from heaven!!!!

Love,

Chad, Terri, Dalen and Annalei