Daniel's first Christmas

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve, we attended church with family and friends - it was a great service. Then we went back to our house for Chinese food (a tradition started a few years ago) and gifts with Zack's parents & brother. The boys got some great gifts, and then anxiously went to bed so that Santa would come.



Christmas Eve

Once Zack and I finally made it to bed, I started feeling a little nauseous. I fell asleep, but woke up at 2:00 AM, VERY sick. I was miserable. I've never been sick like this at Christmas - not fun.

Zack finally got tired of waiting on the boys to wake up, so he woke them up around 7:30. We all went downstairs, and I sat at a distance and watched as they enjoyed exploring the gifts that had been left around the tree.



Christmas Morning



After a couple of hours of playing, we made our way to Zack's parents' for brunch. We hung out and watched Christmas movies while the boys played, then went back home.

My family was supposed to come that evening for gifts and dinner. But Georgia was in for its first real White Christmas since 1882, so everyone decided to wait a day to come.



Snow Fun!

I was still feeling horrible, but was super disappointed, particularly for the boys. So my mom & stepdad drove up before the roads got bad, and spent the night with us.

By Sunday, I was much better. The boys enjoyed playing in the snow for a while, and that afternoon my family gathered to celebrate Christmas - a day late, but a great celebration!

Daniel did well with his first Christmas. He was a bit overwhelmed on Christmas Eve. At first, he would pick up a wrapped gift and just look at it. He would try to carefully remove the paper without ripping it. But with a little help - and some modeling by a very skilled older brother - he was soon throwing paper everywhere like everyone else! We kept things pretty simple in the way of gifts this year. Both boys already have more than they could ever play with. Neither had any major request. And we are trying to find ways to simplify. But they both seemed to be thrilled with and grateful for all that they received.



Christmas Eve at Cross Pointe



Christmas Eve - Josh & Savannah with all the "Littles"



Josh with Savannah & her family



The Dove family on Christmas Eve



The boys with Uncle Josh & Aunt Savannah



Bad Blogger

I know I've been a terrible blogger lately. But we've been busy with work, school, church, get-togethers, taking turns getting sick.

I'll try to get some more pictures and stuff on here over the next week or two. In the meantime, here are 2 pictures from last week...
Daniel did a great job in his school program. He was so excited, and sang VERY loudly (several times we could hear his voice over the group of 30 - 40 kids!). He surprised us by knowing most of the words to the songs they did (they did A LOT of songs!), and every once in a while he'd stop and look for us, then start waving like crazy.

Preschool Christmas Program

He had his class party on Thursday and had fun making fun foods, eating, playing games, and getting gifts.

Class Christmas Party

Daniel's first performance

Today, Daniel participated in his preschool's Christmas program. He did a great job! He is definitely the class clown and had everyone entertained.

Here's a little clip of their last song.

Prayers Needed

Would you please take a moment to pray for a sweet family in Ukraine right now, facing some major difficulties in their adoption journey? I'm not able to share details right now, but the Lord knows the need.

Bittersweet Symphony

Are you in the north-metro Atlanta area? Do you have a place to celebrate the birth of our Savior this Christmas? If not, I invite you to join us at Cross Pointe Church...

Help the Mason family

Here's a great way to get some really cute Christmas ornaments AND support a family's adoption efforts, all at the same time!

Our friends Gene & Keri are seeking to adopt a child from China. They adopted their sweet daughter Eden from China in 2007, not long before we adopted William. Keri and I become friends while working together on orphan care ministry at our church. We are excited for them as they seek the child that God intends for their family!

They are holding an ornament fundraiser right now. Please visit their site and check out these adorable ornaments. And be sure to watch the video of Eden at the bottom of their site - so cute! Just click on the button below.

Gotcha Day - in pictures

Friday we had a great day celebrating 3 years of William!  I checked him out of school early and we went home & met up with Zack & Daniel.

We took them to Five Guys for lunch, then went to see Santa.



William wants a spinning Light Sabre & a Star Wars DS game





Daniel wants candy & a present :)





Daniel & Santa went dancing




Daniel was shy - Santa tried to cheer him on
















Back home, we gave him a small gift: some candy, silly bands, and a couple of new chapter books. He's really become an excellent - and avid - reader!


Gotcha Day gift





Daniel was excited for his brother




Star Wars Silly Bands




This boy is crazy about bubble gum



That evening, we attended a Christmas concert at our old college. On the way home, we stopped downtown and the boys were thrilled to have dinner at the Varsity! 

So thankful for this precious gift from God!

Gotcha Day - 3 years

It's been three years since we walked out of Centre Opiky in Mariupol with our little guy. Three years since he said good-bye to the detsky dom and went away with his forever family.

So today we will get to update these pictures... :)

Atlanta Faces of Adoption: the last 2 stories

Here are links for the last 2 stories in the Atlanta Faces of Adoption series. Thanks to all those who participated! (click on the family's name to read the article)

The Mason family

The DeCarlo/Hoff family



Daniel's first Thanksgiving

We really enjoyed Thanksgiving break! The boys were out of school all week. Zack & I have almost no vacation time left after our Ukraine summer, but we did manage to take off a couple of extra days with them.

Tuesday morning we set out for Daniel's first camping trip. We drove up to our favorite spot near Helen in some misty rain. Nothing bad, and the weather man said there was only a 30% chance of small pop-up showers through the afternoon.

When will I learn? Don't trust the weatherman.

We set the tent up and let the boys run and play for a while. We were the only ones there, so they could be as loud as they wanted (and that is L-O-U-D!). The mist went away, and the sun attempted to break through the clouds.

We decided to drive into Helen to walk around a while and grab some lunch.

After lunch, we went on a carriage ride around the town. We found out that there are only 500 residents of this city, and it has no schools and no traffic lights. The boys enjoyed feeding carrots to Shadrach.

Then, a little more walking around...

And a trip to Goats on the Roof!

Then we headed back to the campsite.

As we got closer, the skies got darker - but we figured it would pass.
We got settled at the campsite. And the rain came.
It got harder. And harder. And harder.

We decided to get in the tent to stay dry until it passed.

Some of us read books.

One little somebody took a nap.

After an hour and a half - and the discovery of several small holes in the tent that were letting water leak in - we decided to call it quits and try another time. We packed up - in the pouring rain - and made the drive home.

Zack and I were disappointed, for us and for the boys we'd promised a fun day. 

But as it turns out, the boys were thrilled to have had such a fun day.

We arrived home and I let the boys roast hot dogs and marshmallows over the stove. They were so excited!

And I was reminded - this is one of those Dove family moments that will not likely be forgotten anytime soon!

Thursday was our annual Drive-Eat-Drive-Eat day - aka Thanksgiving.

We drove to my grandparents' house. The boys had so much fun playing with cousins and eating lots. Daniel gave Thanksgiving a big thumbs up. While he definitely enjoyed desserts, his favorite was by far the turkey.

After lunch and some visiting, we drove to Zack's parents' house for dinner. Another great meal - but somehow I never managed to get the camera out!

And now onto the Christmas season... I'm sure we'll have lots to share about Daniel's first Christmas with us!

Christmas Wishes

We heard the song below for the first time while we were in Ukraine, waiting to take custody of William.

When I listen to it now, the first verse reminds me of William. And the second verse reminds me of Daniel.

But every time I hear this song, I'm reminded of so many others that still have this one Christmas wish.

The Ukrainian Babushka

Three years ago today, we met the only connection we have to William's past. A kind and loving woman, William's babushka. We are so incredibly thankful for the role that this sweet lady has played in William's life.

You can read about that day HERE. Read about the events leading up to the meeting HERE.

Thanksgiving in Ukraine

3 years ago today, we celebrated Thanksgiving in Ukraine. The previous day, we'd gone to court where we were declared the parents of William Hoyt Dove.

Read about our court hearing HERE.

Read about Ukrainian Thanksgiving HERE.

Atlanta Adoption Stories

Here are the 3 latest articles in my Atlanta Faces of Adoption series...
(click on any bold text to be linked to the article)

The Ankerich family

 

The Wollschlager family

 

Martinez - adult adoptee

Another way to make your voice heard - Please Act TODAY!

I just emailed AskCI@state.gov with the following message, requesting action, and particularly requesting Ambassador Susan Jacob's involvement. (I did add a little more personal info than you see here, including mentioning my boys and attaching their picture). I urge you to send a similar message TODAY!! It's an email, and you can copy and paste. It will only take a couple of minutes.

Ambassador Jacobs was appointed earlier this year by Hillary Rodham Clinton to be the U.S. Special Advisor to the Office of Childrens Issues (the office responsible for intercountry adoption and international parental child abduction).

You can also call 1-888-407-4747 requesting that Ambassador Jacobs do everything in her power to urge Ukraine's officials to revisit this and not make a complete halt in adoptions. When you call, press 0, and ask to speak to Emily Ballas.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am writing to you today regarding an urgent situation. Many families in the US are currently in the process of adopting children from orphanages in Ukraine. Most of these children are older or disabled. American families adopting these children offer them what may be their only opportunity at a normal and productive life free of crime, prostitution, or institutionalization due to illnesses that are treatable in the United States.

I personally know several of these families.

On November 3, 2010, the Ukrainian parliament voted to proceed with voting on legislation that would halt all international adoptions until inter-country adoption agreements are in place (see the State Dept. announcement at http://adoption.state.gov/news/ukraine.html) . At this point, all that is needed for this to become law is one more vote in Ukrainian parliament and a signature by the Ukrainian president. This could happen any day. If it does, many families and innocent children will be greatly affected.

I personally know several of these families.

I am writing to you to urge you to act quickly on this matter:

1. Encourage and support Ambassador Susan Jacobs to be a strong voice and representative to work with Ukrainian officials to come to some sort of interim agreement
2. Contact any and all Ukrainian officials in your circle of influence and request that they consider a revision to the law, allowing adoptions to proceed while the agreement is being drafted (as was done in Russia) and
3. Work with the senate and congress to begin drafting this agreement so that it is ready to go in the event the law passes.

Thank you for your timely consideration of this urgent matter, 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nov 19, 2007

A precious picture from 3 years ago today... he's growing up WAY too fast.