We had a fun day at the NC State football game--despite their loss and the heat! It was SO HOT! It shouldn't be in the 90s this late in September! We had decided we wanted to take Riley to at least one game this season and see how he did. He seemed to have such a fun time taking in all of the sights and sounds. Every once in a while he would interject a "yay-yay-yay!" I think he would have been fine to sit with us in our seats for the whole game, but it was so hot that I kept him in the shade some and we walked around the stadium. It was a wonderful day!

HAPPY GOTCHA DAY, RILEY!!!!

A year ago today Riley arrived in the Detroit airport! It was such an exciting day! Michael and I woke up early, and I packed and repacked the diaper bag. We went next door to "Big Boy" and tried to eat. Then, before we knew it it was time to take the hotel shuttle to the airport. We met another family on the shuttle bus whose baby girl was on Riley's flight. Riley's flight was supposed to arrive around 1:30pm, but by the time it actually landed and everyone went through customs it was actually closer to 4:30pm before his escort walked through the doors holding our precious son!

What an amazing moment that was--when we held our son for the first time. All of the loss and struggle and disappointment in trying to become parents felt truly worth it because that journey led us to Riley. It is hard to imagine the pain that Riley's birthmom must have felt in making an adoption plan for him, but I pray that God gives her peace and that one day she will have the opportunity to parent other children. Because of her selflessness we celebrate our son today.

This year has been one of the best years of our lives. God has truly turned our mourning into joy. When we got married we had great "plans" for our life together, but never could we have scripted it more wonderfully than the Lord did. The words to this song were ones I clung to when I wondered WHEN I was going to be a mom, and they were also the words that my heart celebrated with joy when the day finally came.

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name

Here are some pictures from September 13, 2006 and then a recent picture of Riley's contagious smile. Also, I have posted below the pictures the link to the slide show we made for Riley's birthday, which has a lot of footage of today a year ago.








Here's the link to Riley's video: http://www.clipshack.com/riley1

This time last year Michael and I were in our hotel room in Detroit--nervous, excited, and overwhelmed that the very next day our precious baby would be landing in America!! About this time we realized that we were hungry and so we walked across the street to a Wendy's. The dining room was closed but the drive-thru was open. We had no car, so we just walked through the drive-thru and they refused to serve us. The girl at the window got an attitude with us and all we wanted was a burger! The area we were in was very sketchy--trust me! But, we were so hungry. So, we crossed over the highway (by foot) and went into a convenience store. I think Michael bought a piece of pizza--I just bought a carton of ice cream--I do not buy food made in convenience stores--yuck! We walked back to our hotel, ate, and then took Tylenol PM so that we could sleep. Little did we know how needed that sleep would be because the next night was quite a paradox!