Christopher's Big 40! April 21, 2007

Christopher turned 40 and Katie threw him a big party.

You Haven't Changed a Bit after 34 Years!

Constantin's childhood friend, Nikos, came to visit. They haven't seen each other since they both left Greece at the age of 18; Nikos to Sweden and Constantin to the U.S. They've kept in touch on and off and more regularly now with Email. It was a treat for both of them and they had a great time catching up and reliving old times.

Birthdays - Church & Schmabe

In early April we celebrated both Church & Schmabe's birthdays - March 22 & April 9th. I bought special birthday hats and Katerina loved them.

There's a New Puppy in Town - April 17th

George & Deb got a little yellow Lab puppy last week. Leo is 9 weeks old in this picture.

Homeward Bound - April 12th

After 3 months, Constantin's parents headed home to Greece. We've had a lovely visit and Katerina will miss them terribly. I can't even imagine how much they will miss Katerina. The tears were flowing as they left. The good news is they will be back next year and hopefully we'll plan a trip to Greece in between.

Easter - April 8th

This year Greek Orthodox Easter and Catholic Easter fell on the same day. It was cold and rainy on Good Friday evening so Katerina and I did not accompany Constantin & his parents to church; much of the service is a candlelight procession outside. Saturday we made Easter eggs; pastel colors for western Easter and a batch of the deep red for Greek Easter.

Katerina's first Easter Basket

After opening her Easter basket, we went to George & Deb's for a wonderful meal. Deb's family was there, Bill & Paulette and Church & Sue joined us later.

Katerina was happy that Paige was there as well

Who will get the Killer Egg??

Katerina & Paige face off

Katerina's egg prevails!

It's been a long day

Baptism - March 18, 2007

Katerina was baptized into the Greek Orthodox church on March 18th. It was a lovely ceremony. Even my mother, who was horrified at the thought that Katerina would be naked, thought it was lovely. In addition to the baptism, Katerina received First Holy Communion and Christmation - (anointment with holy oil - comparable to Confirmation in the Catholic religion). All three sacraments are done at the same time in the Greek Orthodox religion.

Oh goody - a bath....where's my rubber ducky?

Little Angel

Look at proud Uncle Bobby's face in the pew behind Katerina!

The Godparents - Nonos and Nona

also known as George & Deb

God Bless Katerina

                                                                  Little Darlin'

Mom and Uncle Lou

It was incredibly special that John & Sue came up from Florida to join us.
They were the last Jet Blue flight that landed in NY on that Friday due to the snow storm. Their Home study is complete and they are working with Great Wall of China agency to adopt Katerina's cousin!

The ladies in the family..and as usual, Mom looks the best

Winter & The Church's Have Arrived

It took a couple of kids from Florida to make us a snowman!

Suiting up

Girls Day Out

Another Member of the Travel Group

I sent Happy Gotcha emails to the 3 other families in the travel group and heard back from all 3 of them. All the girls are doing well. I posted pictures of Jessica McHenry last month when I initially heard from Marcie. I did not receive pictures of Jayce Ayres, but her mother Janet said she would scan some in and send them along. Below are pictures of Katie Saverino sent by her mom, Natalie.

Surprise Picture

I was communicating with a woman on my gongfamilies Yahoo group; a group for people who have adopted from the Pingnan Children's Welfare Institute where Katerina came from. She indicated that her daughter's birthday was the same as Katerina's. I went to the photo section of the website to look at her family photos to see a picture of her daughter. While going through the pictures, I saw Katerina in one of them! The pictures were taken in October 2005 by the staff after the family sent disposable cameras. Katerina was 1 year old.

March 13th - Happy Gotcha Day!

THEN & NOW

A year ago Katerina was placed in Constantin's arms. They boarded a bus, back to the hotel and into our lives. She cried her eyes out as she was taken from everything that was familiar to her. And little by little she came to trust us and embrace her new life.

There are some that dislike the term "gotcha day" saying it trivializes such an important moment, I think it says it all. "I gotcha...and I'll never let you go.