Lily Grace at 16 months

Lily Grace has been home for six months now - seems like it was just yesterday we were on the plane. She's growing and learning - and just like everybody warned us - it goes by TOO FAST. Life is full, life is brisk and life is an amazing blessing. We hope you'll enjoy these photos and video we've put together of her life over the last month.

Thank you for your prayers and support - have a wonderful summer!

Steve & Tonya

Lily Grace takes a big step

Dear Family and Friends,

Watching Lily Grace grow has been a joy that words can't describe. We want to share this milestone with you - enjoy!

Love to all,
Steve and Tonya

Lily Grace birthday pics

Hello Family and Friends,

Finally, here are some pictures from Lily Grace's first birthday on January 22. Most of our immediate family was able to attend and as you can see, it was an entertaining day!

Happy Birthday, Lily Grace!

Today is Lily Grace's first birthday! By all accounts, she's happy and excited about it ... of course, she's happy and excited every day, but we can tell she knows this day is a milestone. :-)

We'll share some pictures from our family celebration taking place this Saturday in a later post - today, we've posted a video compilation of Lily Grace meeting/playing with members of her new extended family over the holidays:

Thanks for your love and support,
Steve and Tonya

A very special Christmas

Lily Grace’s first Christmas and our first Christmas as a family has been very special and one we’ll always cherish. We’ve had family members with us throughout most of the time since we arrived from Kazakhstan, and it’s been wonderful to share this special time with all of them. Many dear friends have also stopped by and of course, our reunion with our church family has been wonderful. I think it’s safe to say that Lily Grace now has an unlimited supply of aunts, uncles and grandparents – both related and honorary – to help us nurture her throughout her life!

Today marks one month that we’ve been home and Lily Grace is adjusting remarkably well. She’s a happy baby with a zest for life, and she’s grabbing it for all its worth. Favorite activities include jumping in her jumper, swinging at the playground, pulling up on anything and everything, “power-loving” on Lucy the cat, and starting today, seeing the world from her new stroller.

We are also beginning to find our parenting feet in this “new normal”, and, despite the stress of learning to juggle logistics, to understand and use 100 new baby items and still find some time for each other, we are filled with joy and gratitude. And we can absolutely attest that there’s nothing so sweet as hearing “Ma-ma” and “Da-da”, which are recent additions to her baby sound repertoire.

Many people have pointed out to us how blessed Lily Grace is to now have a family, and we know that’s true. However, we find ourselves focused on how blessed we are to have her as part of our family, and the blessing she is to our extended family, friends and even the strangers she meets. She has touched and will continue to touch many lives, and we are humbled by that and so thankful.

In our next post, we’ll put up a new video clip or two and then before we all know it, it will be January 22 – her first birthday.

We hope you all have had a special holiday time with your families and friends and, despite economic indicators, are looking forward to a 2009 filled with an abundance of joy, love and hope.

Steve and Tonya