Saturday, October 27, 2012

One year ago today...

...we were in Legoland!  
This day will forever be etched into my mind because it was the day we got the phone call we had been waiting for!  Our agency giving us the good news that we would be seeing our baby girl for the first time in two short weeks!!  Little did I know, this was our last picture as a family of five.
 The last time we were here, I was pregnant with Casey and have a picture next to this same mommy!
Oh wait, I found it!  ;)
 Our boys are in LOVE with maps!
 Being a few days before Halloween, the place was decked out!



 Casey riding the little lego car  :)
 Jacob was old enough to go on the BIG track this year!



 When we realized Gavin wasn't quite old enough to ride the big track with Jacob, we went back to the little track. 
 This is when it happened.  My heart pounds just looking at this picture.  My cell phone rang and I could see that it was our agency.  I immediately looked at Adam and with a glimmer of hope, we exchanged a look like this could be it... and it was!!!  They asked if we were ready to meet our baby girl... ummm, YES!!!   I was seriously jumping up and down, giddy with excitement!  (People must have thought I was REALLY excited to watch my boys drive their lego cars.  ;)  There was so much to do though, so much to get ready for, and they needed our visa applications ASAP.   I remember being in the hotel that night, trying to figure out the visa application and realizing we didn't have all of the information we needed to complete it.  For a split second, I wondered if we needed to go home.  That thought was quickly erased as I realized this might be the last trip we have as a family for a quite some time.   I knew this was the calm before an absolute whirlwind and I needed to soak in it and enjoy each moment.

 So we did!  

 One employee helped the boys make their maps into crowns.



 Casey was exactly at the height line to go on the dragon roller coaster.  Doesn't he look so little back there??  Crazy!
 We saw a sign with our sweet girl's name on it!


 Using laser blasters to zap the targets!

 Racing my boys down the slide!
 Jacob got a little bit of a head start.  ;)

 It is so much fun to see all of the things they have built out of legos... including how many legos are in each one!


 The Eiffel Tower

 Mount Rushmore
 Statue of Liberty

 Las Vegas
(I tried to take pictures of all of the places we have stayed)


 Washington, D.C.
 New York City
  The new Star Wars exhibit

  Ha!  Leave it to Adam...
 There is a new area called SeaLife that just opened after our last trip.





 The boys loved seeing all of the sealife!  It seems so strange to see pictures without Ella... it feels like she's always been a part of our family.  :)  I can't wait to take her to all of these places someday!