Greetings!!

Hi again -- it's been a while, and we've all been pretty busy lately, but I thought I'd catch you all up on what's been happening around here. After being home for 3 months, I finally returned to work full time on February 1, only to come down with strep throat 2 days later, and had to miss one of our big programs of the year. At the same time, Hannah came down with RSV, so we're one house you didn't want to be in for a few days. I'm happy to say we're all recovering now...not 100%, but we're getting there....

Alex is back to school, and started up his after-school program when I returned to work last week. That was a difficult transition for him, but he seems to be doing okay now. He was the "Person of the Week" a few weeks ago in his class. Basically, he gets to help out a lot, and one of the days was his "Family Share" day, when he gets to share a family-type-thing with his class. Well, he decided he wanted to share his dad's "talent" of balloon sculpting. So, I brushed up on my balloon animals, and showed 19 kindergarden kids how make balloon animals and hats. So, have you ever tried to sit in front of 19 kindergardeners and try to hold their attention for more than 10 minutes?? Let's just say that I have a new-found respect for kindergarden teachers!!

Hannah is doing well. She's enjoying her 15 minutes of fame. She's been a little celebrity around here lately. It all started (click any of these links to view the actual article) with Cornell wanting to do an article for their faculty/staff paper, Cornell Chronicle, on the new adoption benefits that I was able to take advantage of. Then, two local papers picked up the story, The Ithaca Journal, and The Ithaca Times. Later, Darese was interviewed by Ithaca College's student newspaper, The Ithacan, because there's a new support group that just started on her campus that focuses on adoption issues. Then, just today, there was an article in the Syracuse Post Standard about Cornell's policy, and adoption benefits that some different businesses offer. So, as you can see, Hannah's been busy with her photo and autograph sessions!!

We also had a birthday party to celebrate Hannah's first birthday. The theme?? You guessed it...Princesses!! It was very...pink. Luckily, the weather really cooperated, and many of our family and friends were able to join us. ZiZi Diane has been working on a scrapbook for us since we before we left for China, and she gave it to Hannah for her birthday. It's absolutely beautiful!! It's certainly one of those things that we will treasure for ever!!

So, I think that's about it for now. Below are some more pictures for your enjoyment. We had a family portrait done last month for my mother's birthday of all of our families, so we had a few extra poses with just the kids, and individual families. We hadn't done that in a long time, so it was pretty fun.

Hope everyone is well!!

Joe