Thankful for Jingle Bell :)

We are trying so hard to call her ShayleeJoy

but Jing, JingJing, Jingy, or Jingle

is usually what comes out.

If you ask her if her name is SJ,

now she says... Jingle Bell~

thus her favorite song right now.

Today for some reason she began

calling Scott and I

Daddy and Mommy instead of

Baba and Mama.

We are SO thankful this little one is home

safe and sound this Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to ALL

and more to come later!!!

So Thankful!

I am so thankful we live so close to Jason, Amy, and sweet, adorable, baby MAX!!! We went over yesterday to have lunch together and Max enjoyed jumping around in his jump-up. EK loved watching him and playing with all his toys. A great time!!!





Blessings,

Thankful Thursday

Today I count 3 blessings I am thankful for:
1. I am so thankful for my sister and her family. When she comes home, we all get so excited!!!

I love you and miss you beyond measure!!!

2. I am so thankful Jason and Amy moved to Hartwell. I love living so close to them and running over to hold Max whenever I want!!! Amy and I enjoyed a delicious lunch together and just hung out! Life is good!!! Jason and Amy are the best first time parents ever!!!
3. I am so thankful to be home with EllaKate each day to teach and watch her learn new things each day- I don't want to miss out on a thing!!! EK got these scissors in happy meal and you should have seen her eyes when she saw them. We came home and began scissor instruction immediately... she did great!!!

Concentrating so hard!!!

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday will come in 4 posts.

Last week was Savannah's Spring Break and she came home to spend it with us!!! Let me tell you how wonderful it is to have an 18 year old daughter that you LOVE to be with- PRICELESS!!! We had a fabulous week together. We went to lunch each day, out to Atlanta one day for a little shopping, and just sat around talking for ever! It was one of the best weeks of my life- to be hanging out with this great girl who just happens to be my daughter!!! How great is that? It's a God Thing!!! I praise Him today for blessing Scott and I with a daughter who is more than we prayed for and living a life glorifying all God has made her to be. Today I am very thankful for my firstborn: Savannah Lee Ankerich. Hope you have a blessed day sweetheart!!!

I am so thankful Amelia has made such an amazing adjustment to small town life. We have jokingly told them we were moving back to Atlanta because our house has not sold, but she always says, "No way!"- I will just live with Memommy and Pop:-). Amelia has made so many wonderful friends. I am so thankful she made the HCHS Tennis Team. The girls on the team are so sweet and build each other up to be the best they can be. The coaches are awesome too. Amelia is so happy to have practice or a match to go to each day. It has been a wonderful experience for her. I am thankful God blessed Scott and I with a most precious daughter, Amelia Frances Ankerich!!!

Sweet Rosemary. We spent the day together yesterday to and from Loganville so she could get a physical to try out for HCMS Cheerleading next week. I am amazed what a beautiful young teenager she has grown into!!! She makes me laugh until my sides hurt and my eyes are full of tears. I am so thankful she too has made such a great adjustment and made some precious friends! They had a friend picture day back a few weeks ago and payed $6 per picture for Relay for Life. Here are two of the six she had made. Her friends are really sweet too and they all get along so well. They have really made Rosie feel like she has been here all along. I am so thankful God blessed Scott and I with our sweet Rosemary Grace Ankerich!!!

Where have two years gone so fast? Two years ago today, we celebrated the day our precious Qian Shuang Jiang was placed in our arms. Lots of people call it Gotcha Day- we call it EllaKate Day. I spent forever yesterday trying to put video on my computer to no avail and today I worked forever trying to figure out how to do a fancy slideshow in Adobe (thanks Deb even though I couldn't figure it out) but to no avail SO... I put some pictures together the old fashion way. I hope you enjoy watching one of the most precious days in my life.

How did we celebrate? EllaKate and I looked through our albums that I have made. We also got out all the videos we shot in China and watched them all. Scott got PF Changs take out and brought it home for dinner. We all sat and watched the videos again. EllaKate was so sweet watching herself. She kept saying over and over, "Look mommy, EllaKate got a mommy and a daddy."!!! How sweet is that? I absolutely bawled both times when I watched the part when she was placed in my arms. The first time, EllaKate handed me a tissue and said, "Daddy will be home in a minute." She knows who holds us all together doesn't she??? I tell her the story of us going all the way to China to get her all the time. Today she was able to watch it. I am so thankful God chose Scott and I to adopt our precious little girl all the way in China. What an amazing blessing!!! It has been a take-my-breath-away kind of day!!!

Thankful Thursday

I am so thankful EllaKate has become so comfortable at the church we have been visiting, Cross Roads Baptist. It is the same church Scott and I grew up in, gave out hearts to Jesus in, got married in, and our families both go there as well. Needless to say it is a place of the heart. So how sweet is it that when we drive by, EllaKate wants to stop and play with Madelyn. This is a picture of some art EllaKate made in her little class. I am so thankful!

I am thankful to have spent some time with Savannah yesterday. She is doing so great and loves North Georgia. She has made such sweet friends and they all spend lots of time together. Up until now they have had a curfew 0f 10:00pm, but tonight they have an end of curfew party. I think they just think of ways to have fun and for that I am thankful!

Amelia and Rosemary still LOVE school. They have both made such great friends as well and plugged in to some really fun after school activities. We went to Cross Roads last night for a youth outing on the ball fields where they played frisbee football and vollyball. For that I am thankful.

And... we have had a rental house (that we used to live in) for sale over a year now that Scott had completely gutted and redone. On Monday we got word of an offer and we are waiting on the results of the inspection. If all goes well, we will close the middle of October. For that we are sooooooooooooooooooooo thankful. Now if we could just get our house @ Fairway Bend sold. We know God is waiting for just the right family to go in and fall in love just like we did @ one time.

Thankful Friday

Since I am always a day late, I am celebrating Thankful Friday today. I am so very thankful that our 3 school girls are happy in their indiviual situations.

Savannah has called us each day with yesterday being the best so far. She called to say her classes were great, she had met tons of new friends, and connected with old ones that she didn't even know were at North Ga.


Amelia says Hart Co HS is so great because the people are nicer and she has more friends here,

Rosemary loves her new school because she had gotten involved in the drama club, met some great friends, and her teachers are really nice.

EllaKate finally go interested in dress up this week. I put all her clothes in a basket and she picks out what she want to wear. She has even put the dresses on by herself a couple of times!!!


I am also thankful for the good friends I am making! One in particular is Kathy Carter who has gone way out of her way to make our family feel connected and welcome here in Hartwell. She has been so concerned about me missing Savannah so much. On Wednesday, I had a call from a local florist and they delivered a gorgeous arrangement for me from Kathy. Card said, "Just thinking of you". How sweet is that? Anyway, I am thankful for old friends, new friends, blog friends, and family!!!

Thankful Thursday on Friday

Oops... I missed Thankful Thursday because I was doing so many things I am thankful for. I am most thankful that Amelia and Rosemary have had a wonderful beginning to school. They could have very well come home that first day crying to move back to Atlanta, but that was not the case. They have really enjoyed their new schoool, teachers, and friends!!! Rosemary is actually spending the night with her new friend tonight and we are all going to a birthday party tomorrow. Amelia has been invited to a friend's house after school too.

I am thankful for new friends to walk with in the mornings. After I drop the girls at school, I park and walk my 2.5 mile walk. Yesterday with Kathy C. and today with Cathy L. I am thankful to be healthy enough to walk every day! It makes me feel so refreshed to start the day with exercise, after my quiet time, and my coffee of course.

I am thankful I live so close to my mama and daddy. We went up last night and ate dinner with them and Mama usually comes by to visit most every day. Ella calls her Mamama. I am also so thankful to live so close to Susan and Tony. The girls adore them and we usually see Susan on her way to work when we are walking. Ella's face just lights up when we see her!

I am so thankful to be back home living in the place where I grew up. It was so fun to be at the girls' schools the other evening and see so many people we went to school with! Home sweet home!