Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Boston!

What a great October/November this has been! I got to see my dearest friends, who I haven't seen in way too long! I am so thankful that my kiddos finally got to meet and spend time with their Aunt Jess and Aunt Tashia!

Here are some pictures from our trip to Boston to visit the Spencers!


The plane on the way home.... I guess these pictures loaded in reverse order!




Hanging out.....Wil tackling Ashley

The Motif #1 - one of the most photographed buildings











Wil on a rock









Wil and Leo loved the beach! Wil thought the sand was amazing! Leo had a blast searching for sea shells and picking up seaweed. Aunt Tashia even found a dead crab! It was a beautiful day in November!























Look at our little feet!







































Ashley and her shells














































































The beautiful hike to the ocean





























I think our children are really missing out by not having the opportunity to play in leaves in the autumn (and not getting to eat cider mill donuts....) Leo LOVED the leaves! This is such a cool shot!














Ashley was a natural at taming the wild Leo! Hand in hand they went!
















Andrew taking off after the "big kids"





































Halloween! Ashley was a beautiful witch. She took a poll at school to see what kind of witch she should be -what a smarty pants! And Andrew was a dinosaur (with wings!)






























How Wil celebrated most of Halloween! Cookie in hand!




































By the way, I highly recommend trick or treating in Boston - yummy candy!

More hanging out at home!
















Andrew loved to kiss and hug Wil - and Wil even gave him some kisses back.















Aunt Tashia planned all kinds of Halloween activities - this was one of them, an apple hunt in the backyard! It was so fun! Leo ate 6 or 7 apples in 3 days! We also decorated cookies and carved pumpkins!
















Alex and I celebrated our 7th annive
rsary on Nov. 1st! We spent the day in Rockport, MA. We hiked to the ocean and walked around the town. It was great!
















The Acorn Hats!


































































We had the best time in Boston this past weekend! We went to see our very dear friends, Uncle Steve and Aunt Tashia and their kids, Ashley and Andrew. We met Steve and Tashia in College in AKPsi. It was neat to go and visit them because they had never met Leo and Wil and we had never met Andrew. It was a visit long overdue! We arrived late Friday night, but on Saturday morning, which was Halloween, the fun began!

These are the best leaf videos ever!








We love you and we miss you, Spencers!

4 comments:

Jess said...

First of all, Happy anniversary!! I can't believe I forgot. I'm so sorry! Also, I can't believe that's Ashley! She grew up! It looks like a great trip and I'm glad you all had fun :-)

Rydley said...

You guys have been having such fun! Love the chubby feet shot!

Tami said...

Very cute. can't believe how big the boys are getting. What cute costumes. Anna refused to wear hers.
Glad to see everyone is doing so well.

Shana said...

Happy Anniversary!! Wow, 7 years,only 2 more than us but 7 seems like so many!! Looks like an awesome trip.

Learn Chinese!

Timeline


January 8, 2007 Attend Adoption 101 Information Session in Mesa, AZ
January 22, 2006 - Apply for preapproval from our agencyand Taiwan
January 23, 2007 - Application for USCIS (I-600A) form submitted
January 28, 2007 - 1st Homestudy meeting
January 28, 2007 - Sign adoption contract with our agency
January 29, 2007 - Approved to adopt from Taiwan
February 1, 2007 - Clearance from state of Arizona
February 6, 2007- Maricopa application to adopt is filed
February 13, 2007 - Clearance from state of Michigan, Medical clearances, and Fingerprint invitation arrive from USCIS
February 24, 2007 - Fingerprinted for USCIS
March 11, 2007- Homestudy Complete and Court Certification from Maricopa County received
April 28, 2007 - Homestudy is translated into Mandarin
July 1, 2007 - Finally receive 171-H in the mail
July 6, 2007 - Get new case manager
July 22, 2007 - Sign adendum to contract
August 8, 2007 - Our lucky day! Referral for Lin Kai-Yi, born 6-3-06
August 8, 2007 - accept referral
August 13, 2007 - Sign Child Referral Agreement
August 23, 2007 - Paperwork arrives in Tucson
August 24, 2007 - Paperwork arrives to us
August 26, 2007 - Documents notorized (How many adults does it take to use a stamp?)
August 28, 2007 - Documents certified by AZ Sec. of State
August 29, 2007 Documents sent to TECO to be authenticated
September 4, 2007 - Documents arrive in Tucson from TECO
September 6, 2007 - Documents sent to Taiwan! YEAH!
September 10, 2007 - Update day! We receive 4 pics and a video!
October 2, 2007 - Receive word from TWCA that our hearing date is October 9, 2007 (this happened extreamly fast!)
October 9, 2007 - Keep your fingers crossed for a quick 1st ruling (even better yet, keep your fingers crossed for a final ruling!)
October 11, 2007 - October updates are here!
October 19, 2007 - Receive more pictures and videos from Ray's visit to Taiwan!
November 5, 2007 - November updates are here!
December 2, 2007 - December updates are here! Can't believe there has been no news all month!
December 13, 2007 - FINALLY! Word of our First Ruling! Yippeee! It happened on Dec. 13th in Taiwan (yesterday here)
January 4, 2008 - January updates
February 4, 2008 - February updates
February 28, 2008 - Leaving for Taipei!!!
February 29, 2008 - Arrive in Taipei!
March 4, 2008 - Gotcha Day! Can you even believe it!?!?!?
March 5, 2008 - FINAL RULING FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY! (by the way, our paperwork says the final ruling was issued December 24th!)
March 6, 2008 - First AIT appointment
March 7, 2008 - VISA DAY!
March 10, 2008 - Leave for home!
March 10, 2008 - Arrive home with our boy!!!!!!!!!!!
July 5, 2008 - Find out about Wil's arrival!
March 10, 2009 - Wil Shan-Yi Shaffer is born at 3:38 am 8 lbs. 4 oz. 20 inches long