Hannah's Gotcha Day

This afternoon we celebrated Hannah's Gotcha day with her best friend Lia and Lia's Nana. Lia's mom and dad are our friends Dan and Trish who are in China right now with their new little one, Chloe. Today is also Lia's Gotcha Day so it was very special for the girls to celebrate their day together.

After church we headed out for a yummy lunch at Panera - a favorite spot of both girls. Then the real fun began. :-) They both chose to make a panda bear at Build-a-Bear. After spending lots of time checking out the vast array of accessories, they each decided on an outfit for their bear complete with matching mini-pink backpacks. If Lia's Nana and I would have let them they would have bought out the store, but in the end they were content with their outfits. Hannah named her panda Lizzie and Lia named hers Shayshay (the same pronunciation as thank you in Chinese). The girls and their pandas ventured next to Libby Lu's where fairy dust and good wishes were sprinkled in their hair. The finale of our fun together was a carousel ride where both pandas enjoyed their first ride. The girls had such a great time together and are already planning their next get-together.

In the evening we celebrated as a family with take-out from one of our favorite Chinese Restaurants. Yum! Afterwards, we did Hannah's blessing candle, looked at our pictures from five years ago today, and gave Hannah her gifts - one from us and one from Ava. We gave her a Chinese Barbie and Ava gave her a puzzle map of China and the world that we had purchased for her in China. It was a full day.

Once again we marvel at God's hand in bringing our precious daughter into our family. With gratitude we give thanks for her birth parents, who we will never know, and for her foster mom in China, who one day we hope to meet.

Happy Gotcha Day, Hannah! Mommy and Daddy love you so much!!! xoxoxo