Springtime At Kathryn and Sarah's

We are having quite a busy spring in our family! Within a month we celebrated Easter, Stephanie went to a week-long conference in Minneapolis, and we moved to a new apartment in Brooklyn. The kids handled the move very well and we are proud of them.

James continues to do very well in school and enjoy his afterschool program,Saturday German school, playdates with friends, and other activities. Kathryn and Sarah will start a three morning a week program in the fall. The sisters continue to be inseparable and we marvel at the strength of the bond between them. They love James very much and he is a great big brother!

I'm attaching a few pics from the last month or so. Happy Spring everyone!

Ma Fu Li Then And Now!!!

Ma Fu Li's mom writes:

"I thought you might enjoy seeing the latest picture of Ma Fu Li. Her hair is actually down to her waist, but in this picture , her hair was caught up in the jacket ... BUT it made for a very good picture I think ! "

In the picture in Central Park with Gongzhan Wu and the group of people, Ma Fu Li is the little girl happily singing away, in the blue dress to Gongzhan's left. She certainly has grown!!

That group picture was from a Little Angel Camp, which was a China Initiative function. For more information on Gladney's China Initiative, an organization providing charitable support to children remaining in China, and information on how you can help, please visit here.

Eliza Li Performs For Earth Day!!

Eliza Li , Age 7, participated in her Elementary School's Musical production called Jubilee: The Earth is our Kingdom.
She was in the number: North, South, East and West.

A Heart Bigger Than Her Years!

Mom Cathy wrote.

Sofia is making the news !!! The place that had her classroom birthday party has sent this press release to all of the local papers. (as long as her hair was in place, of course !!).

Sofia was adopted from Shanghai in 2001. She turned 8 on April 8th. She has a big sister, Mary Rose, from Jiangyin City. Read the press release below about her wonderful donation, which is sure to bring some sunshine into the lives of other children!


TWO 8-YEAR-OLDS DONATE BIRTHDAY GIFTS

STERLING... Horizon Elementary second graders Sofia Lunde and Cecilia Rivera decided that their joint eighth birthday party on April 13th would be a bit different.

Instead of getting and keeping the usual abundance of presents from friends and classmates,
they donated everything brought to their party to a worthy cause... children who become patients at INOVA Loudoun Hospital's pediatric unit and pediatric emergency department.

"We told our friends, their parents and our teacher, Mrs. Sanders, what we wanted to do," said
Sofia, "and they thought it was a good idea. Even without us getting to keep a bunch of gifts, it was the best party ever!"

"The hospital will give one of the gifts to any kid who is feeling scared or sad," said Cecilia, "and the kid can keep it. It may make them feel better."

Some 19 classmates brought presents to the party, held at the new Fitwize 4 Kids in Regal

Center. Fitwize 4 Kids is improving the quality of life for children and their families by offering a fun and safe place where kids learn how to stay active, build strong muscles and become empowered to make better decisions about their physical and nutritional well being.
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We at Gladney wish Sofia a very happy 8th birthday and are very proud of her!

She is full of laughs!

Hello All,

So we arrived in Guangzhou safety, Ann was great on the flight except at landing her ears must have been hurting her. We are staying at the White Swan which is really nice and the area is great. There is so many families here that are adopting. We have our US Immigration interview on Monday and get our visa on Tuesday afternoon. The swearing in is at 2:45 pm and then we leave for Binging, and return back home Wednesday.

We cannot believe the time is nearly up, it has gone so quickly its been quite an eventful week. But we are truly looking forward to getting home, its difficult living out of a suit case and staying in a hotel room. We cannot believe the changes in Ann in the last few days, she is so full of laughs and just loves the camera. Dimi and her had great fun today in the play room while I filled out the paperwork for Monday. She loves the computer so needless to say she is helping me write this email, she is sitting in my knee helping we write this.

Anyways got to go and get dinner. We have to have early dinner so Ann can get to bed on time, we feel like we are going for the early bird specials :))) Talk to you all soon Enjoy the pictures.

Mary, Dimi and Ann

With Megan in Hands, A Waiting Mom No More

I'm typing with one hand as Megan doesn't like to be put down at nap time. And silly me, I put her to sleep in my arms rather than the Bjorn so I could have both hands. Oh well. Megan (and us) slept better, but she still insists on going to bed at 5:30pm. Consequently, she was up to stay at 4:30am. Of course that doesn't count the several other times she woke up.She woke up with a 100.3 degree fever, which is likely from teething...her bottom 2 are finally coming in. So the girls stayed at the hotel and DH went to the history museum. Click here formore some photos & stories. Kris

Adoption Registration in Changsha - footprinting

The next day after Mary and Dimitrios met their daughter Ann, they found themselves in the Children Adoption Center in Hunan province, Ann doing footprint!

For more pictures, please click here.