Three Years Ago

It is hard to believe that it was three years ago that we arrived in Beijing on our way to Nanjing to meet our WONDERFUL son and bring him home with us. Times flies so quickly on one hand, but on the other it feels like he has been part of our family MUCH longer. This week I reflect on all that he has done and learned in three years. I am thankful for how blessed our family is because of him, and I think of all of our friends from our China Travel Group. Wishing love and peace to all of our friends and family, near and far, and missing those that are no longer with us.

HAPPY FOREVER FAMILY DAY 3-31-09
HAPPY EASTER!!!

Allan and Chloe with cousin

Here are a few pictures of both Allan and Chloe with their newest cousin. He came to visit us in April with his mom. We are all looking forward to seeing him again soon.

Skiing pictures from February 2010

Allan has experienced so many "firsts" this year including bike riding, playing soccer, ice skating... but one of his favorites has been skiing. He even did some ski racing!

Here's his "big sister" with some of her ski friends.

pre-race pep talk.

Dad was an assistant ski coach and helped with lots of races!

More Pictures

In June we walked in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. Allan also caught his first fish with his cousin.

Welcome Allan

Way back at the end of May our friends and family came to a wonderful party to welcome Allan IV (Jun Ke) home. Here are a couple pictures.

What's in a name?

When we met our son in Nanjing we learned how to pronounce his Chinese name. We did not have it quite right... the best phonetic spelling I can come up with is JaWin Koo-ah. It sounds best when he says it and he often corrects our pronounciation. His surname is Hua which is also the word for flower in Mandarin. While traveling with us in China he would often say his full name, Hua Jun Ke, when he introduced himself to people. He was given this name when he arrived at Nanjing SWI. We don't know what his name was in his first family and he has not told anyone as far as we can tell.

When we met him he had many questions for us which he asked through our agency facilitators. One of his first questions was "what will my American name be?" We were glad that he was able to discuss this with us through the interpretor. He did not have an American name in mind and when we suggested Allan, which is his Dad's name, he liked the idea. When we first came home he was still calling himself Jun Ke and so were we most of the time. This week I noticed he has begun telling people his name is Allan when he meets them!

More family pictures

Here are pictures from "Forever Family Day" when we finalized the adoption of our son and the next day when we visited the Nanjing Social Welfare Institute. He lived there for almost two years. The lady in the picture is the Director. She was very fond of him.