Christmas Morning

Here are a couple pictures of the kids Christmas morning. It was so fun to watch them open their presents and Hannah was definately keeping up with her big brother and sister! It was such a special Christmas and we thank God for bringing Hannah to us. We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Happy New Year!!!!

Wildlights and Cookies

Last night we went to the Columbus zoo for the Wildlights display. There are soooooo many lights. It was really beautiful and the kids had a blast.(We did, too!) As bundled up as the kids look in the picture, it really was a warm night. The temperature here in Columbus reached a high of 60 degrees. Is it December???? Today we made cookies and decorated them. Hannah was trying to get in on the decorating, too.

More Christmas at home.....

Here's some more pictures from our "tree cutting down day". The family picture is at the tree farm(inside where we drank some yummy hot chocolate). The other's are at home with the girls enjoying cookies and Hannah in front of our new tree!

Christmas in PA, Doylestown and home

The last few weeks we have been traveling to celebrate Christmas with our families. The weekend after Thanksgiving we went to Pennsylvania for hunting season and Christmas with the Pierces. We had so much fun! Hunting season at the Pierces is a great time to hear old hunting stories and Jason especially looks forward to hanging out at the treestands with the guys. The following weekend we headed to Doylestown(Julie's hometown) to have Christmas with the Johnson's. It was a special time there, too, as we ate really good food and way too many Christmas cookies. The kids loved tearing into their Christmas presents at both places and enjoyed playing with their cousins! Now that we are home this weekend, it was time for the "Pierce family Christmas tree cutting down day". Thankfully the weather was beautiful and we picked out a great one. We had a wonderful time decorating it, too!

Just at home.....

Hi everyone. Nothing too new here with the Pierces. We are really looking forward to the holidays coming up. It will be so nice to spend time with family! Hope you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Superman, The Little Mermaid and The Little Pumpkin.....

On Tuesday night we went to a Harvest party at a church. The kids had a blast! We went with some of our friends. We went through a Hay Maze and played games. We also came home with alot of candy and even some cakes that Hannah and Abbey won in the cake walk. Noah won a little stuffed animal, too! Hannah stayed up past her bedtime and was loving every minute of it!

Noah's birthday party

This weekend we celebrated Noah's 8 year old birthday.(It's so hard to believe Noah is 8 years old....) His grandparents all came, along with some of his cousins. Uncle Michael, Aunt Mimi and Ava were in on the celebrating, too! We started the morning by going to "Boo at the Zoo". The kids had so much fun dressing up, getting candy, and seeing some of the animals. Then, we had a "sports" pizza party. It was alot of fun. The kids got MORE candy in the pinata. Noah loved all his new gifts, too! It was such a great day!

The 60th Birthday party.....

This weekend we went to PA for Jason's dad's 60th birthday party. It was a surprise, but we think he knew something was coming. It was a great time. The kids had so much fun dancing the "chicken dance." Hannah was getting into the dancing groove, too. We were watching the weather this week and saw that it could snow on Thursday. (SNOW in October!!!!) We thought we'd better get Hannah a winter coat. She is modeling it in the picture. By the way, Noah's soccer team won their game on Sunday. YEAH!!!!

Hannah's dedication Part 2

Here are a few more pictures from the weekend. Also, this weekend.... Abbey learned to ride her bike without training wheels. Yeah!!!!!

Hannah's Dedication

This weekend we had Hannah dedicated at church. All her grandparents, Aunt Mimi, Uncle Michael and Ava were there to share in on the special occasion. It was alot of fun to have everyone in for the weekend. Hannah wanted down during the dedication prayer and we were glad we had raisins in hand to keep her in our arms. Thanks everyone for the gifts and for making the trips. We really appreciate you! The grandparents also go to see Noah's soccer game today. Unfortunately his team lost, but Noah did awesome. He almost kicked in a goal!

Busy times....

Hey all, we are doing well. We are keeping busy with school and all the kids activities going on this time of year. Noah's soccer season has started and Noah has been playing hard. The picture I posted is from one of last season's games. It's a nice "action shot". Abbey starts dance on Monday evening. She is very excited. We had an open house at her dance gym last week and she got to see her friends and teacher. Hannah is pretty much running everywhere now. It is so neat to see her walking so great when a few weeks ago she was still "wobbly walking". She is saying "hello", too. Noah and Abbey are having alot of fun with their little sister!(We all are!)

Labor Day Weekend/Nashville TN

We headed to Nashville this past weekend to spend time with the Dave, Leanna, Sammy , Madison and Sadie. Jason was able to switch his days off and we took off early Friday morning. We really had a great time. We were able to meet baby Sadie. She's so adorable! We were also very excited to get to celebrate Sammy's birthday with everyone. Noah and Abbey had sooooooo much fun playing with their cousins, Sammy and Madison. We went to a park and the kids loved playing on the slip and slide.The time went way too fast while we were there. On the way home we stopped at Dinosaur World. Noah impressed us with his dinosaur knowledge. He really knows alot about dinosaurs! Abbey and Hannah had fun seeing all the giant dinosaurs, too.(I think Hannah was just happy to be out of the car for awhile!)

Weekend in Doylestown

We went to Doylestown for the weekend. Noah and Abbey had a great time getting to stay with Papa and Grandma Thursday night and we headed to Doylestown on Friday. Hannah is getting used to being in her carseat for the trips, which is good because we have an even bigger trip coming up. On Saturday night we went to a wedding reception and we all had a great time. Noah, especially was loving the dance floor. He is a dancing machine! Noah and Abbey had fun seeing some cousins they don't get to see often and Hannah got to meet some Aunts and Uncles for the first time. She loves giving out the kisses to people. Ava and Hannah were having fun playing with the microphones in Dad and Mom's basement. I don't know... Do you think American Idol is in the future???? Hannah is now walking very good. She seems to be enjoying the thought that she can move around like us now! In other Pierce news, we started homeschool this week. The kids are doing great, I'm just realizing that it is a challenge homeschooling 2 kids with a very active 1 year old!

Weekend in PA

We spent this last weekend in PA visiting the Pierces. Hannah got to meet some family for the first time. Noah and Abbey had so much fun playing with their cousins! They went swimming on Saturday. When it starting raining and they got out, Abbey and her cousin, Melanie, had fun dancing in the rain. That wasn't the only dancing going on..... there was a "Think Pink Barbie" dance show on Saturday night performed by the kids. They were dancing the night away! On Sunday, Hannah got to meet many people at West Unity church who have been praying for her for a long time. She enjoyed seeing all the people. We all had a great time!

getting ready for "back to school"

This week was spent getting ready for TWO kids to homeschool!!!! Jason took the kids (all 3) out for a"Day with Daddy". They went to the zoo, Alum Creek beach, and Polaris Mall all before 2:00 on Saturday. During that time I worked on getting the basement ready for school. It was a bit challenging trying to get it set up for them, as well as setting up an area for Hannah to roam freely without bothering the kids. Jason had a great time with the kids and I was able to get sooooo much done in that time! Abbey learned how to tie this week. We had been working on it for some time, but she has now mastered it and is very proud. We are proud of her. too! Hannah had a doctor's appointment today. She got 7 vaccinations and blood taken, too. She was not a happy girl. She is walking more and having fun with her brother and sister. Noah just loves kissing on her!

The never ending rash......

Last Wednesday night Jason took the kids to see the movie Over The Hedge and Abbey came home scratching away. She had a rash/hives thing ALL over her body. When we took her to the doctor they said it could be an allergic reaction or her body fighting off a virus. When her face swelled, we were pretty worried. Thank God she is doing better now. It took a week to run it's course. With Abbey not feeling well, we spent much of the week in doors. She mostly felt like laying down and watching movies. We went out and got the new Larryboy movie. It's been quite the hit around here. Noah was very excited when he went to the church to work with Daddy and got some cool Larryboy ears! Hannah has been taking more steps and it looks like she will be walking soon. She goes pretty fast with her walking toy. Since Abbey was feeling better we went to Wyandot Lake yesterday with Mary and Ava. When we went the last time Hannah loved it, this time she cried alittle. I think part of it was that she was mad we were putting sun block on her. By the end, she was loving the wave pool. We sat towards the entrance and she loved it when the waves hit her.

Home Sweet Home

Well, we are FINALLY home.(Long story- we missed our connecting flight to Columbus and Hannah spent her night in America sleeping at OHare airport.) We are getting settled back into normal life now and getting our sleep. Yep, Hannah is taking 2 naps during the day and sleeping all night. She's adjusted to our time now and we are very thankful for that! Noah and Abbey are being such a super big brother and sister to Hannah. They take great care of her. I'd say she averages about a thousand kisses a day! Hannah is crawling everywhere and is getting into just about everything. We are loving every minute of it. We have been waiting for her to join our family for so long. We are just glad she is here with us where she belongs. We couldn't imagine life without her! We had a belated birthday party for her this weekend and she loved every part of the party. She ate the food off my plate(she loved corn on the cob), loved opening her presents and really got into eating her cake. She needed a bath afterwards. Hannah got to see her grandparents, the Johnsons, again, and meet her grandparents, the Pierces, for the first time. Michael, Mary and Ava were in on the birthday bash, as well. We thank God for the precious gifts of our children. By the way, we had some more excitement this weekend. Abbey lost her first tooth! I was hoping it would wait until we got home!!!!!

Final Post!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is hard to believe but it is Tuesday and this is going to be our last post as we will be leaving for home tomorrow. As many of you know this has been an incredible journey over the past 2 years and the Lord has been so faithful throughout. Now we get to come home and start all over learning to be parents of a 1 year old as well as getting back into the joy of parenting Noah and Abbey. Last night we went on a riverboat cruise for 2 hours. We were stuck in traffic and we almost missed our boat, but our guide suggested that we walk the rest of the way which we did and we just made it in time. On the way there as we were sitting in traffic, Hannah was getting really fussy and I was thinking that we had made a mistake by going, but boy was I wrong. It turned out to be a beautiful night and we had a wonderful time visiting with each other as well as the others on the trip. We also had the opportunity to see the Beauty of Guangzhou at night time. One other benefit was that we felt a nice breeze which is not a real frequent occurrence here.
Hannah is doing much better at sitting in her high chair at breakfast and even is enjoying picking her food up by herself and making a mess of herself. Her breakfast of choice has been Fiber cereal and prunes that Mommy and Daddy cut up for her. She eats the prunes and the fiber cereal much better than Mommy or Daddy would. Praise the Lord her stomach seems to be doing much better. After breakfast we went out for some last minute shopping for some keep sakes and had a real nice time with our friends Doug and Terri and their daughter Brianna who is in one of the pictures that we posted with Hannah.
The one picture that we sent is of all the girls that were adopted on this trip and the other one is of all the families and there children that are on the trip with us as a part of A Helping Hand Adoption Agency.
This afternoon we are going to the US consolate office for Hannah to take her oath and become a United States Citizen. Tommorrow morning we will fly to Hong Kong and from there to Chicago and onto Columbus. We are scheduled to arrive home to Columbus just before Midnight on Wednesday night. If you would please be praying for us on the journey we would appreciate it.
It has truly been a priviledge and an honor to share our adoption journey with you all, and we praise the Lord for your prayers and support. This adoption has been a miracle from the beginning and we give God all of the Glory for it. We are now leaning on Him for His Grace to sustain us as we continue to walk this life out. As the Lord lays things on your heart to follow Him Trust in Him and continue to seek His face He is Faithful. .
May God Bless You All,
Love
Jason, Julie, Noah, Abbey and Hannah