Anna's new toy

I bought this trash can to use in our new kitchenette upstairs. Of course it won't fit under the sink. So I had it downstairs to take back. No idea what drew Anna to it, but it is now her new favorite toy.
Each evening I empty it out and put stuff back where it belongs. Then first thing, she gets it, shoves it full of whatever possesses her. Then she pulls, pushes and drags it everywhere she goes.

Visit to Great-Grandmas

After Ryan's Botox at Shriner's we went to Great Grandma Force's house in Murphys. Mostly we sat on the deck, relaxed and of course ate a ton. One day we went to the park and it started to pour rain. So we headed to a local winery and museum. Ryan had been wanting to gold pan, and they had a mill set up. So for $8, Ryan got his wish. Ryan collected a fair bit of the shiny stuff. Once daddy cleaned through the fools gold, there were several small bits of real gold. It was fun for Ryan, but certainly not how I would want to earn my living.
Funniest thing was when we were gold panning, a tour bus of Asians arrived. All 30 were in a line with Ralph and the kids, trying to find a fortune. One younger man was very interested in Anna. He just sat on his haunches and stared at her. Finally I asked where they were from, and he said Japan. I said Taiwan, and he just nodded his head. Many of the people were either giving Anna sideways glances, or out and out staring at her. I just thought it was funny with so many Japanese lined up at the trough.
Ryan was taught by a man from Northern Italy how to use the gold pan.

Anna had lots of fun playing in the water. I caught her trying to drink some of it. Hopefully she didn't get any. Guess if she gets sick we know why!


Great Grandma was a big help with the kids all weekend.

The little dictator

No idea what brought this on. Anna was obviously lecturing us about something, but of course we couldn't understand any of it.

We caught a few minutes on video. (Sorry about the quality, it was done with a digital camera.) Even though you can't understand the words, watch the facial expressions and body language. Too funny!

First Family Vacation

We finally went on our first family vacation. Last year, Ralph got sick the day we were leaving and had to stay home. We spent the first half of the week at a friends condo in Mammoth. It was very nice of them, but a small 1 bedroom condo with horrible weather wasn't pleasant with 2 bored kids. Kid you not, the weather finally hit 50 degrees for a high. We went to the top of Minaret overlook, and it was balmy and windy 41 degrees. It was snowing just slightly above us. Ralph also had to go home for the night since the housekeepers left a window open and our cat Clyde escaped. We honestly thought he was coyote food, but he had hid under the deck for two days. We had workmen at our house who cut a hole through the deck, only to find out he wasn't there. Few hours more of searching and Ralph found Clyde under some antique farm equipment. Of course Clyde thought it was great fun and Ralph was less than impressed.
Our final day in Mammoth finally warmed up. We had pictured spending the entire time there hanging out at the beach, which of course didn't go along with the 40 degree weather. But the last day was beautiful, and of course since it was Saturday, there were tons of people. Our hilight was going to the top of Mammoth Mountain in the Gondola. We hiked to the top of the peak and admired the views at over 11,000 feet. The only scary part was taking the gondola back down. After you load, it kind of sling shoots you over the edge with a thousand foot drop. Little scarry seeing that while holding Anna.





We decided to finish our vacation in June Lake, 30 minutes from Mammoth and one of our favorite places. Much smaller and not crowded. It was our original plan to spend the week in June Lake, but the offer of the condo in Mammoth seemed to good to pass up. So we upgraded to a newer 3 bedroom condo looking over Carson Peak. The extra rooms are upstairs so Anna is sleeping in our room. But, nice kitchen with new appliances, new furniture and a nice deck. It finally feels like we are on vacation. We spent the day at the beach yesterday then relaxing at the condo. We are headed back to the beach today, then to walk around town and out to dinner for our last night.








Tomorrow we plan on visiting Bodie Ghost town on the way home. And lunch at the Mobile Gas station. Yep, for those of you who don't know, it's the best place to eat lunch. Tri-tip Ceasar salad, buffalo meat loaf and my favorite, lobster taquitoes.

I'm a bad, bad blogger

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted. Anna has almost been with us two years now. So here are some events.

Our biggest even was Anna's re-adoption. In June we went to court in Reno. Judge Willer was the judge who was shot in his office several years ago by a man who had just murdered his wife, with the child in the house. Court was delayed due to a nasty divorce before us. The kids were wonderful, especially considering it was late Friday afternoon and Anna had missed her nap. We have the entire court process on DVD. Anna was squrimy as always and wanted to sit in her own chair. The judge had Ryan hold the gavel during the proceedings and hit the gavel to make the adoption final. Ryan had practiced what he wanted to say to the judge, but when the time came all he said was "I like her".
The only thing I disagreed with was the Judge Willer said we had given Anna the greatest gift. I think he was wrong, that we were the ones given the greatest gift.
After court we celebrated at PF Changs, which was fortunately not busy since the kids had maxed out their good behavior.













Another big day. Ryan got his first bike. The group that makes these bikes had their conference in Reno this year. Whatever town they visit, they donate 30-40 bikes for local children. It's going to take some practice for Ryan but he will be able to ride around the ranch soon.

One year together!

First photo of Anna



Gotcha Day, one year ago today!





This morning at school. Of course she wouldn't smile for the camera today!





Family photos by Belinda this weekend. I couldn't wait to get them color corrected, so here are my favorites.

I can't believe it was been a year since we first met Anna. I still vividly remember Mr. Yeh driving us to Taichung and counting down with his fingers: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 as we approached TWCA. We pulled up to Anna's foster mother's workplace only a few minutes later. Anna was in her foster mother's arms, watching us as we drove up. The next few hours seemed a blur, holding Anna for the first time, seeing her with Daddy, shopping at the baby store and the few papers we had to sign saying we received Anna. The drive back was the first time we were really able to enjoy some calm time with Anna. Having her fall asleep in my arms on the drive back to Taipei made me feel our family was finally complete. Funny, I didn't cry the day we got her, but watching the video and writing this gets me all teary.

The last year of my life has been the best I can remember. Even with the issues at work, fighting with the school district for Ryan and with Anna seeming to catch every cold within a 200-mile radius, things seemed "just right." Many people have asked us how the transition was. I tell them very honestly it feels like Anna had been part of the family from the first time we saw her photo. We were very fortunate and bonded quickly with Anna, just as Ryan bonded with her. Much of this is due to the monthly updates, photos and video we received from Taiwan. It seems that Anna just thinks we are Mom, Dad and Ryan. We are her family and that is that.

It is a little bittersweet that this has been the best year of my life. I feel guilty that the year of Ryan's birth was the worst of my life. Worse than becoming diabetic at 9, my dad dying at 20 or leaving my abusive first husband. Everyone says the birth of your child is the best thing in your life, but for me, it was by far the worst. I didn't realize until several years after his birth that I had "bonding issues" with Ryan due to both of our health issues. Funny, people think of bonding issues with an adopted child. You are not supposed to have them with a child you birthed. So, I have a big guilt streak, and I bonded so quickly with Anna and not Ryan.

I frequently wonder about Anna's birth mother, her family and occasionally the birth father. I wonder if they realize what a wonderful and easy baby Anna is and what they are missing. I know in my head that her birth mother would not have been able to raise Anna with the current values in Taiwan. But I still fantasize about hearing that they would like an update and photos of Anna. I would give almost anything for a picture of her birth mother and her family. I know she has an aunt and uncle and will likely have birth siblings and cousins later that she will probably never meet. But I guess you never know. Things changed significantly with respect to adoption in a very short time in the US, and this may occur in Taiwan.

We celebrated at our local Chinese restaurant (owned by a family from Taipei) and got a cake from DQ with a panda. Anna is always especially popular at the restaurant; both kids loved the cake. Anna's fortune said, "You have a good sense of humor and make people around you happy." This was certainly true as she laughed hysterically, pulling the straw out of her cup. She had the whole section smiling at her antics.

Anna has continued to do well since coming home. She is still not on the growth charts, but the doctors have finally admitted that she will just be small, even compared to other Asians. We started speech therapy last week. Anna is already signing and saying a few words, but they are difficult to understand. The therapist believes Anna will do very well and needs some help to get her started.

So, on we continue.

Love Tami

Anna's first baby doll

I ordered the doll online since there were no Asian baby dolls in the area. I picked this one from Corelle since it was for 18 month olds. She is the perfect size for Anna. Ryan decided the doll looked like she was from Taiwan, and he decided her name is Yu-Wen. I was going to name her Mei Mei which means little sister, not that original I guess. But we all agreed Yu-Wen it is.
At first Anna was more interested in a big puzzle, but now she likes pushing, pulling and draggin Yu-Wen around in her stroller. She called her "baby" tonight.