End of School

Following in my friend Becky's blog tracks, I thought I'd share pictures of Annalee from the start of first grade along with pictures from her last day of school last week. I can't believe she's a rising second grader already! First grade seems to have flown by, no doubt in part because of our travels to China and the arrival of little Zelda.

So, here's Annalee on her first day of school:




And, here was her last day of first grade:




Just to highlight the changes in our family these past seven months, here's a picture of the girls together on Annalee's last day. Annalee and Zelda wore their matching outfits...

Five Times and Counting

Annalee lost her fifth baby tooth yesterday. At our church picnic. The week before, she lost her fourth tooth. During Memorial Day weekend. These last two were her two front teeth.



Really, I couldn't wait for this second tooth to come out. Last week, after Annalee crashed her mouth into my little nephew's head and her first top front tooth came out, the remaining front tooth was kind of hanging there. With the missing tooth and the hanging tooth both on the top combined with the opening where a new tooth is growing in on the bottom, Annalee basically looked like a snaggle-toothed hillbilly. And, that's what we called her for a week. Now, she looks like a typical first-grader missing her two front teeth (at least three of her friends look like her right now).

With the loss of these last two teeth, Annalee has kept up her losing streak. She seems to lose teeth on occasions. Her first tooth came out on her sixth birthday; the second tooth came out on the last day of kindergarten; the third tooth came out on Easter; and now these last two teeth on Memorial Day weekend and at the church picnic. Isn't that fun?

If only the tooth fairy would come. We think last night she might have had trouble finding the tooth under Annalee's pillow. I mean, she just couldn't have forgotten...could she? Maybe I'll go check now.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

A new blessing for the season:

The Wisdom of God
the Love of God
and the Grace of God
strengthen you
to be Christ's hands and heart in this world,
in the name of the Holy Trinity.

Amen

Red Beauties

We planted strawberry plants late in the season last year. They gave us nothing for all the loving care we provided.

But, this year, we were treated to a small but oh-so-tasty bowl of berries. We were amazed at how sweet they were. And, the skin was so tender and easy to bite into.


We can only hope that the remaining flowers will produce some more berries for us before they shut down for the season.

Love Without Boundaries Auction

As you may be aware, our daughter Zelda's foster care in China was supported by Love Without Boundaries (LWB). A family in the Netherlands provided a monthly donation to help the foster family care for Zelda.

Through LWB, we have been able to obtain many photos of Zelda as she grew in her first 20 months of life in China. These photos, along with monthly health/developmental reports are priceless to us. Here's just one of the photos we now have:


For the next five days, LWB is hosting a fund raising auction on e-bay. Please browse their collection of items for sale and consider supporting them. If not through the auction, then maybe you can provide support through a direct donation to Love Without Boundaries.