Saturday, April 23, 2011

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!!!

Alyona has finally experienced America's favorite pastime. Friday night, our family was able to go to a baseball game and enjoy watching the Padres play. Lona looked so cute in her Padres jersey. Oh, and she really loved the playground they have at Petco Park.




Sisters are very good for teaching Lona all things baseball, such as rooting for the home team (Go Padres!), as well as experiencing yummy things such as peanuts and Cracker Jack.




Lona had such a great time hanging out with her daddy.




Everyone has such busy schedules, it was great to be able to all be together and I can't wait until we can do it again!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Happy Birthday Kelsey!!!

Alyona has had a few more doctor's appointments recently. The ophthalmologist said that Lona does need glasses, but he will wait until her birthday in September before getting her glasses.

Her pediatrician and the international adoption specialist had both mentioned an innocent heart murmur. Well, we visited the cardiologist and the cardiogram showed a VSD. We have her appointment scheduled at the cath lab at our local children's hospital. If anyone has had any experience, please let me know what to expect.

We had another birthday. Kelsey turned 18 and she also wanted to spend the day at Disneyland.




Lona was so funny! She saw her reflection in the pole of the merry-go-round and started making faces. Too cute!





It was almost 90 degrees and Kelsey thought we needed some ice cream. Lona thought that was a great idea!



Kelsey had waited so long for her special birthday dinner! It was definitely worth the wait.






Happy 18th birthday Kelsey !




We all love getting to spend time with family. Gotta love the aunt and uncles.



Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Lona

Look who does not need her pants rolled up anymore!
Alyona has been busy GROWING (she has grown two inches!).




Kira found even more Masha and the Bear videos for Lona on iTunes, so they checked out the new episodes together.




Kira was making a snack and Lona kept cruising by for samples.




Bella noticed Lona was getting lots of yummy treats, so she thought she would give it a try.




We had another birthday in the family. This time it was Brian's birthday...




which only can mean one thing... well two. Chocolate cake and Grandpa!




Brian thought it would be fun to celebrate his birthday by taking Lona on her first trip to Disneyland.




You can tell she is not too sure what to expect on the carousel.




Lona is so funny, she liked it so much she did not want to get off.




Kelsey thought a spin on the Teacups would be a good idea. Again, the face says, "I'm not sure about this".




Oh my, Lona loved the Teacups!




Lona has been to her first real tea party and she was the guest of honor! The young ladies who held a bake sale to help with our fundraising to bring Alyona home, invited her to attend their annual tea party. They loved getting the chance to meet her!




The leader gave Alyona a Busy Bible. It is the cutest thing and she just loves it!




Kelsey decided Lona needed her first visit to Sea World. After looking at the sharks and penguins it was off to the Wild Arctic to see...




polar bears, beluga whales, and walruses.




I couldn't get over how much she LOVED the Shamu show.




After one of her doctor's appointments, we decided to go back to Disneyland. That is the beauty of living only 22 miles away.




Lona loved the carousel.




I love her dimples.




Lona loves spinning on the Teacups more than the carousel!




What a great face!




She was having such a great time I thought it would be a good idea to introduce her to Mickey! I just love how her arm is draped over his hand.




We also had the pleasure of seeing Kelsey sing with her choir. It was nice to finally have Lona get to see her perform since we are driving her to rehearsal all the time.




With the unseasonably warm weather, I thought we should head back to the beach for Lona's first picnic.




You can tell that she was much more excited about getting her feet in the ocean than eating. I can't believe how long her hair is getting.




Needless to say we have been busy, but we are all having a great time!