Meeting More Friends & Family

We always seem to be busy! I wanted to share a couple of photos here of special friends and family who have come to meet Hope since my last post. Hope's big event from last weekend (baptism) will ge the subject of my next post. I'm just waiting for some pictures from others. Enjoy these shots for now.

In his previous entry, Ron included a picture of geocaching with Tony. Here is the whole clan. Debbie and Tony came to spend the day with us last weekend. It has been a long time since we've been together, but we always have such a good time when we are. Thanks for making the trip over guys!

And, here we are with my cousin Craig. He was on his way through to visit some friends in MN, but came a day early to do some riding with my dad and to meet Hope. We miss our family to the south! It meant so much that you came Craig. We love you!

Hope was invited to her first party...a 2nd birthday party for the other little Hope in our lives. We had a wonderful afternoon, but had to find creative ways to compromise when our little swiper decided to try out the newest birthday toy. It all worked out eventually. Sharing is so hard!



On this day, we headed up to Grandma & Grandpa's house to meet Hope's Great-Great Aunts, Vi & Liz. I don't know why we don't have any photos of them. I feel terrible about it. But we will remember this day and know that it was very special for Hope to spend the afternoon showing off for them.
Here she is with her Grandpa.

A couple of close-ups



Uncle Rick and Hope are having a few words here. What is Hope saying/thinking? Please leave comments to caption these photos!


We'll end this post with these two pics. Hope and Daddy got caught in the sudden storm - BUT, then thought it would be fun to run back and forth outside to play a bit. Our little girl loves the water!

She is a natural

We kind of knew just a few days after we met her that Hope would like Geocaching. You can tell from this earily picture.









Seems like Hope is really coming into her prime with the official start of her Geocaching.






Yesterday Hope and I went out to show our friend Tony a little bit about the sport and using a GPS(that is an ABC to you Mitchell. Love you!)

This is officially Hopes first find, Tony’s too. This makes 255 for daddy.








This girl sure knows how to travel in style.










Today we went out caching with our friends the Mariks. Hope was really on the ball and quickly located the cache.


Hope and Hannah our Goddaughter are becoming fast friends.










It was a little warm, but a great day to be out trekking around.

She is quite the dancer.

Here is a little video of Hope enjoying some of her favorite music.

Other News from the Week

Saturday we went with Grandma and Grandpa Perry to the Dragon Festival in St. Paul. We had a great time. The weather was perfect! We saw some cool boats, visited a few vendors, had a good meal in the pavilion, and a took a nice walk by beautiful Lake Phalen. Hope loved the opening ceremony performance where they "awakened the dragon." She was very tuned in as she watched and kept signing "PUPPY" as she looked at the dancers. CUTE! :)

We got home pretty early in the afternoon. After Hope finished napping, we decided to head up to New Richmond. We were going to find a couple of geocaches, but ended up watching the end of a parade and trying out the merry-go-round for the first time. Hope was fascinated by the marching bands and clapped appropriately when they finished playing. She also had some fun waving at the royalty as they "floated" by. I have a question about that now...it seemed to me that all the different courts were doing dances on the floats. Gone are the days when the ladies would just sit atop their thrones and wave to the crowd, I guess. Has anyone else been to parades this summer and noticed the same or is it just a small town midwestern thing?

Sunday after church, we went back to the "castle park" in Hudson for a picnic with our friends Brad, Tricia, and Lauren. It was fun to see them again so soon! We had a great time! Check out these pix...(not sure why the captions are so huge. Usually I can choose the size, but when I made this slide show, I wasn't given the option.)

Other misc. updates:

Hope has had more success on the potty! She doesn't do well when I try to hold her squatting, but Ron seems to have good luck with her (both #1 and #2) . YEA! I'm sure if we really worked at it, we could figure out some kind of schedule for when she needs to go, but I'm just not going to push it at this point. At least we know she can do it and she's not afraid of the toilet or the flush. And, if she happens to go once in a while, training down the road should present fewer challenges.

Hope got some very special mail on Monday last week. Her official US citizenship paperwork along with a letter from the President welcoming her as an American. We had our follow-up from the agency yesterday so now we can proceed with the WI requirements for re-adoption after which we'll be able to file for her SS# and birth certificate. Another exciting piece of the puzzle is coming together.

So that brings us up to date I think. Hope everyone is well. Lots of love - B, R, & H

Hope is 13 months old!!!

(My blogging updates are taking longer to get posted. I don't know if I'll keep trying to publish once a week/every other week or what, but I'll do my best to update everyone well now.)

We continue to keep busy here. Life is good for little Hope KeXuan Charlotte. I can't believe that she is 13 months old already! It seems like yesterday that we celebrated her birthday in China. And, can you believe that she's been home now for a month?

Speaking of which - on Friday night we had a "Hope is 13 months old on the 13th/Home for a month on the 14th" party. I know, I know...that is a lot to put on the top of a cake. ;) We had some family come for cake and ice cream after dinner in the evening. We had some yummy cake and a fun visit with those who were able to make it. I've been feeling a bit guilty because Hope didn't have a 1st birthday party after she got home, so I wanted to do something for her. We informally asked Hope's grandparents, aunts and uncles, and her cousin Mitchell to come and celebrate with us. It was all pretty low key, but we had a great evening and eased my conscience a bit. P.S. - I know she's wearing a fall outfit! It was a chilly night. And, it is a 9 mo. outfit she had in her closet that I thought she'd never be able to wear...so YEA. ;)

Grandma & Grandpa Heutmaker were unable to come on Friday, so they came Thursday night to help us get ready a bit. We all worked hard to set up the new outside playset. Hope was given this fun set at one of our showers (thanks Vriezens!!!) over a year ago and we finally get to put it all to good use. She especially likes to go in and out and in and out and in and out...what is it about doors that toddlers think is so fun?

Hope has changed so much over the past month and a half. When we first met her, she was a very scared and VERY sad little girl who first wanted only Dad and then decided on only Mom. She couldn't crawl on both knees. She sort of scooted on one knee and one hip. Smiles were very hard to come by and the only sound we heard for about the first week was a very heart breaking cry. Now, after this incredible short time, we are the very proud parents of a brilliant daughter who is smiling, giggling, and laughing with the most beautiful little "belly laugh" you'll ever hear. She loves her parents and every day is becoming more and more comfortable accepting nurturing from them both. She has taken her first steps, said her first words, learned sign language to communicate some of her wants and needs, and dances the cutest little hip wiggling dance every time we turn on the radio. She is a strong little girl with a personality that shines. We were in love with the growing belief that God's plan would expand our family. We were in absolute awe the day we saw our daughter's picture for the first time in April. And our hearts completely burst with joy the day Hope was placed in our arms and joined her forever family. Every day with our little girl is a blessing. Many many answered prayers have brought us to this day. God is so very good!

Hope & Ella

I started writing this post on the 8th and now I see that I never published it. Sorry - enjoy the video. ;)

First of all - HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE MARK!!! (disclaimer...sorry this is being posted so late. :( I really thought I hit publish that night. I know we sent you cards, but I wanted to wish you a special day here, too. We miss you guys!)

Remember the other day when we had Hope and Ella in the car together? Here is some video we took during the ride. Hope is learning to sign a few words and the patting on her legs is her sign for puppy. She really loves Ella. I think that the feeling is pretty mutual.


Other sign vocab for our little girl? Her first sign was MORE and she did that one before we left China. She can also sign ALL DONE, MILK, and the beginnings of DADDY and MOMMY. Her handshapes will come, but we can definitely tell what she's saying. Pretty impressive for only knowing us for a little bit longer than a month!

Spoken vocab you ask? Hope has 3 words that are pretty recognizable: "Mama," "Dada," and (are you ready for this?) "Jesus." When we were in China we were always singing "Jesus Loves Me," and "Jesus Loves the Little Children of the World." It wasn't long before Hope would sit with her "Jesus Loves the Little Children" book, rock, and sing "Jesus." It is so cute! She can also say "Ella" which we recognize. Once in a while it comes out pretty clearly. I just love listening to her babble. It is so fun when she really starts telling stories. Hope also has some pretty distinct sounds that I'm sure have some meaning in Mandarin. There are definitely times that I wish we knew more of her native language. I think she thanked me in Mandarin the other day! She is one brilliant little lady and we just LOVE LOVE LOVE her so much.

Such A Big Girl!

For those who are anxious to see, here are a couple of quick videos we caught this morning. Hope wants so badly to walk, but we wouldn't mind at all if she continued to crawl for the most part, at least for a while. She can push the little walking toy like nobody's business. It is so cute to watch her little hips wiggle. I think she's a born shopper. She could sure push a cart. :)


AND - without further ado, here she is...ON HER OWN! This is the most walking Hope's done. She hasn't taken but a couple of steps since I first posted about it. I guess this morning she was just ready. Now, everybody take a deep breath, and no more pushing, encouraging, coaxing, bribing, suggesting, or using any other crazy tactics to get our little girl to walk. :) For now, she's just our baby.