Sunday, June 19, 2011

Happy Daddy's Day!

Zander had a fun Father's Day - going out for breakfast, helping Mommy & Nana Pat with some planting/gardening, swinging/sliding, going to the park, but one thing was missing: Daddy!  Unfortunately Daddy had to leave for a business trip on Saturday night, so we celebrated with him yesterday.  Zander wanted to make sure Daddy knew he was thinking of him today however, so here is his video (Take 2) for Daddy, recorded just after dinner.  Ignore the "I see it!" interruptions - this is just Zander expressing his excitement to review the completed footage.

We're posting this for Daddy so he can pick it up at his conference in Cannes (yes, south coast of France, so we aren't feeling too sorry for him).


Here was Take 1 of the video, recorded just after breakfast.  It illustrates clearly why we moved from "Happy Father's Day" to "Happy Daddy's Day"...


Happy Father's Day Daddy!  We love you and miss you very much!!

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Forever Family!

Saturday we celebrated our first 'Gotcha' or 'Forever Family' Day, marking a year since Zander joined our family.  We enjoyed a delightful day downtown Minneapolis, starting at the Farmer's Market: 
Mmmm... hot buttered corn - Zander ate the whole cob!
Taking a break with Daddy:
Decked out for the Twins game:
We had a scrumptious lunch on the rooftop deck of the new Crave location on Hennepin Ave:
Zander loved his 'Shrimp Guppies' - yummy and adorable presentation!
Giggling after getting his hand wet in the water fountain behind him - such fun!
So here we are at the Twins/Rangers game... unfortunately it overlapped with nap time!
Dreaming of a 8-1 Twins victory:
Post nap, we happened upon the 7th Annual Famous Dave's BBQ & Blues Festival at Peavey Plaza.  We enjoyed the live music and people watching from a cozy spot in front of Brit's Pub:
And then a clown set up right in front of us and performed a series of routines:
Zander even got a purple balloon puppy to take home, what a fun day!
Heading out on Nicollet Mall.  We all had a fabulous time celebrating together.  It has been an amazing year Zander, we thank you for all that you have brought to our family and our lives!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

The Day We Met...

It was a year ago today that we first met Zander in Seoul!  Although it feels like the meeting was just yesterday, in many ways it is hard for us to remember life before Zander.  He has been such an amazing addition to our family and we love him to pieces!  Here is Mommy playing with Zander at the agency during our first meeting on June 7th, 2010:
A few days later, we were able to visit with Zander again - although the second meeting made us a little nervous because we had a hard time consoling Zander when he cried.  Here he is sporting his Korean horns with Daddy:
Hanging out with Mommy in the playroom:
Here are a couple of shots from our final visit to the agency when we stopped by to pick Zander up on the way to the airport for our flight home.  First, we met the beloved Dooly (introduced as Zander's 'girlfriend').
Checking out Daddy:
And finally, arriving back in Minneapolis!  Wow, Mommy and Daddy look really happy to be home!
Fast forward a year - here are our little guy's first school pictures, taken just after his two-year birthday.  Our favorite is this one with the big smile:
We love his cheeks in this photo:
Full body shot, including Puppy:
Zander, thanks for an incredible year of firsts together!  We love you more and more each day and are so lucky that you are part of our family!!