Happy 8th Birthday

 Happy 8th birthday to Jodi! We feel like we just turned around and there is this tall beautiful 8 year old. She is now officially 4 feet tall... ! One of these pictures is from her piano recital and I attempted uploading a video of her playing but with my limited knowledge, I'm afraid you won't be seeing it. The picture of Jodi in her floral skirt was taken at school. During circle time in the mornings, those who are celebrating a birthday get to stand out in the middle so they can sing to them. Jodi has her "I'm really embarrassed to be out here but I also secretly like the attention" face on. At her request, we went to Waffle House for dinner and you should see that child put it away! She ate grits, toast, eggs, bacon, and part of a waffle and that is why she is growing so quickly. :) I'm afraid she's going to think of Waffle House as a gourmet dinner since that is now one of her official restaurants of choice for special occasions. I guess her future husband will appreciate that!! It has been a good year with a few ups and downs but she remains a optimistic and loving little girl. We are blessed every day by her!!

Happy Gotcha Day 2012

Wow! What a transformation! Fred and I look at Jodi every day and can't imagine where the little girl went. It was 3 years ago that we got the honor of bringing home this precious child! She has been nothing but brave, joyful, and loving ever since. (Now don't get me wrong... she has her moments as we all do!) She is such a genuine blessing to us and it has been an incredible journey. We did our annual tradition of going to McDonalds on our special day to have a feast of chicken nuggets and french fries. It was so fun to reminisce and Jodi really understands the significance of this day now. We thank God for our beautiful daughter every day and pray that we can be the best parents possible. Hopefully it won't be as long until our next post but I'm definitely not promising anything!!