Forever Family Day Celebration

We celebrated having our beautiful daughter in our lives a year now by taking her to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio. Those helping Savannah celebrate were Brian, myself and the kids, my mom and dad, my sister, niece and nephew. Savannah had a wonderful time looking at all the animals. I remember when we were in China we toured the Chongqing Zoo, so I thought this would be a wonderful way to celebrate each year on Forever Family Day. While we were there we gave Savannah one of the many presents we had purchased from China to give to her on each Forever Family Day. This one was a little Chinese hand drum we had bought from the Zoo in Chongqing. Savannah loved it! Within the last few years the Zoo in Columbus opened an exhibit called Asian Quest, it had Asian elephants, Amur tiger, Malayan sun bear, etc. And of course knowing we would be touring this exhibit Savannah was dressed in one of her silk dresses we brought home from China. We also had the chance to meet Jack Hanna!! Jack is the directer of the Zoo. We had met him once before when Jordan and Tannor was just little and he posed with them and gave them autographed photos of which I still have today. He and his camera crew were actually filming some segments about the Zoo but he took time out to talk with us and pose for some pics. and of course you can see by the pictures Savannah was completely out and missed her moment to meet Jack. On the way home we stopped to eat Chinese. We had a wonderful time seeing the sites and remembering back on the day Savannah was handed to us and our hearts just melted. We were instantly in love and always will be.

Savannah, Jordan, Tannor, Haleigh, (niece) Alyssa, and (nephew) Hunter
Ready for a day at the Zoo

Savannah sleeping right through her visit with Jack Hanna

Haleigh and Jack

Grandpa George and Savannah helping Momma feed the Lorikeets

Nap time!

Whatcha lookin at?

Savannah playing with her drum

Savannah looks like she's getting licked by the Amur Tiger

Momma and Baby Asian elephant baby Beco born on March 27, 2009

My niece Alyssa and Savannah sitting on rickshaw

My sister April giving Savannah some love

a puma snoozing the day away

a bear joining the Puma for some zzzz's

Savannah loved grooming the goats

Can I take this one home Momma?

Happy 1 Year Anniversary

It has been exactly 1 year since Savannah Jiang Yu was placed in our arms. Our lives has not, and will not ever be the same. Savannah has changed so much in the past year. When she came home she would not leave her Mama, and Baba had limited time with her. We could not leave the room without her screaming at the top of her lungs. And she would not let anyone hold her. Now, she will go to just about anyone. She still prefers Mama unless Baba has been at work then she waits for him at the door and gives him a big hug and kiss. She doesn't cry when we leave the room anymore. Most of the time we have to go find her as she will leave the room and get into things she knows she's not supposed to, and when we find her she always has a big ornery grin. We love Savannah very much and will never forget that moment on September 16th, 2008 when she was placed in our arms. Congratulations CCAI Group 1409 on our 1 year Anniversary.

Gotcha Day 09/16/08


Mama and Baba with Savannah

Savannah's (very hot) first bottle

Baba with Savannah

a year ago on Sept. 11th

One year ago we stepped on a plane for a trip that would change our family forever. We left our house for Yeager Airport on Sept. 11th, 2008 at 3:30am, our flight left at 6:21am bound for Chicago's O'Hare. After a 5 hour layover and lunch at McDonald's, we were off to Beijing. We had never ever been on a plane before. WOW! What a long and somewhat rough ride. I guess 75mph head winds will do that to a plane. We then made it to the Beijing airport where we met our guide Helen and 17 other anxious but tired CCAI families. All week I have reflected back on those first few days in Beijing, it was absolutely AMAZING to be in our daughter's homeland, to take in the sights, the smells, and the culture. It seems like yesterday. I miss China, it's people and our wonderful group of families who came together to share the most personal, magical moment in our lives, the moment we met our beautiful children for the first time.

Brian and I waiting for our next flight out of Chicago O"Hare

Haleigh and Brian playing Nintendo DS to pass the time

Our Chariot awaits us heading for China