Celebrating Sarah!

Getting ready for a day out....girls only!

They love me....they really love me!

We started with an early lunch.  Sarah requested McDonald's.

We then headed north to Easton to Build-A-Bear.

Bathing their bears!

Dressed and ready to go!

Bookstore!

Lily reading to Sarah.

Nothing like watching your kids read!


It was May 15, 2006....the best Mother's Day ever!  We walked into the Lottery Hotel in Nanning, Guangxi Province in China.  We weren't sure how things would go since this was going to be the moment we saw Sarah Jo Xiaoning Alexander for the very first time!  It was Gotcha Day!  She was carried into the room by the director of A Mother's Love Orphanage.  She didn't cry.........was very stoic.  She loved the stuffed animal we brought for her.  She was wearing a pink dress, yellow tights, a red hair band....and two beautiful bracelets on her wrists.  Along with her came two bags of an assortment of things....the blankets and toys that we sent prior to getting her!  We also got several gifts from the foster family and a bag of fruit.  That was four years ago!  She certainly has changed!

We decided that celebrating Gotcha Day was going to be a day without boys!  The girls had no idea what I had planned for the day.  We started on the front lawn for a few pictures before they jumped in the van.  I then told them we were going to lunch first...........Sarah's pick...........McDonald's!  We then drove to Easton to go to Build-A-Bear.  There are so many options for animals.  The girls decided that it would be best to pick the panda bear because she is from China, like them.  We bathed them, named them and picked out clothes.  We also had to get a set of PJ's.  They both had a blast.  The next stop was one of my favorite stops....a bookstore!  They were able to pick out two books each.  I am odd, but I'm not looking forward to shopping with my girls, getting our nails done together or any of that girly stuff....give me a trip with them to a bookstore and I am thrilled!  We walked around Easton for a little while and headed back to Lancaster.  The boys were all busy so I took the girls to Applebee's for dinner.  It was a quiet dinner as they read most of the time..............I absolutely loved that view!  We returned home for me to toss the girls in the tub.  They dressed themselves and their bears for bed and enjoyed a quiet night with their books!

Happy Gotcha Day, Sarah Jo!