Blessed Big Time

Random Photos!! Hope you enjoy!

2011-09-30T08:48:00.000-04:00

The kids in Orlando, Florida!

The Love of my life!

Carlee Rose Thornley (one day old)

Chas. County Court...all four kids were readopted/finalized in the state of SC

Li-Li and Maura's Graduation from Kindergarden

Bella Boo's 2nd Gotcha Day!

Happy Fall!!

2011-09-29T11:55:00.000-04:00

Wow! Where do I begin? The Thornley Family has been quite busy over the past 5 months.

In March, we welcomed Juliana to our family. She is an au pair (nanny) from Manizales, Colombia that will be staying with us for a year and hopefully longer. :) She is a wonderful person that is not only good with the kids but is a wonderful Christian girl with a great personality and good morals. It has been great having her help with the kids and household duties...especially with George traveling quite a bit for his work. George and I have actually had more one-on-one time with the kids since her arrival.

We spent a week in June at Disney World. This was Thomas's (Baishi's) first time going. We went with my Dad and Terry, both sisters and their families, as well as, my step-brother/sister and their families. It was a great time...something we do at least every other year. Juliana kept the girls one day for George and I to take Thomas to Universal. We spent a lot of time at the resort pool which is always fun and relaxing.

Juliana and I also took the kids to New York City for a few days at the beginning of July. George was working in Lakehurst, NJ for the week but was able to drive up one night. We had purchased tickets much earlier to take Thomas to see SuperMan on Broadway for his 11th birthday! It was amazing and we had a great time. We also went to the Wax Museum, Ruby Foo's, Toys R US and much more.

On July 16th, we welcomed our beautiful daughter, Carlee Rose, into our family. She was 5 pounds 14.2 oz and was 18 1/2 inches long. George and I started the domestic adoption route Jan. 18th of this year. We requested an infant any race and gender. We were matched with a birthmother in upstate New York at the end of Feb. We immediately hit it off and she had our support for the duration of her pregnancy. We made it to 3 of her Dr. appts..which in my opinion is pretty good considering we are so far away. We were actually able to be at her 30 week ultrasound where we found out that we were having a girl. :) She is now 2 months old and weighs 9 pounds 8 oz. She is such a joy and we are so blessed to have her in our family. George and I loved the name Carlee and her birthmother requested her middle name be Rose after her grandmother.

Another addition to our family is our grandaughter, Ellis. George's son, Chris, and his wife, Alison, welcomed a daughter on June 22nd. She is precious!

Anna started her Sophomore year at The College of Charleston. She is not sure of her degree yet but I am sure she will figure it out soon. She is working part-time at a retail store and also works Sunday at the church nursery. She is a member of Zeta Sorority and has the title of Sorority Chaplin. She stays busy but we see her as ofter as we can.

We switched the kids from a public school to a private Christian school. We are extremely pleased with our decision. Academically the public school was phenominal but was obviously missing the Christian component. All four children attend and they all love it.

Bella turned 4 in July. She is such a high energy child with attitude. :) She is in the Pre K program. She goes to school 5 days a week..3 full days and 2 half days. I enjoy spending time with her on the half days before picking up her older siblings. She is doing well at school. She is learning basic Math, Bible and Phonics. She has to memorize a bible verse every week and is doing a great job. She is on the soccer team which meets once a week and is a fast runner and a go getter.

Li-Li and Maura both started the 1st grade this year. They are in the same class (since the school is small and only has one :)) and it is working out very well. They both enjoy to learn and help each other out. Maura is also playing soccer once a week. She is one of the fastest ones out there. We joke with her and tell her, "You do know that the kids with the same color shirt as you are on your team"? Li-Li takes Chinese class once as week, as well as, piano lessons on Saturday mornings. She is our girly girl and DID NOT want to play soccer.

Thomas (he decided he wanted to be called Thomas instead of Baishi...which is rally screwing us up) is in the 4th grade. He is doing a great job and has come so far in only a year. He is involved in Soccer (one day a week) and karate on Friday afternoon. He also attends Chinese School on Sunday for 2 hours...this is very important since he can lose his Mandarin so quickly. We are still working on eye contact, obeying mommy when George is out of town and respecting authority but overall his adjustment has gone quite well. He has made several new friends this year and just had his first sleepover. Thomas also decided on his own that he was ready to be baptized. He was baptized in May and then we had a celebration for him at The Harbour Club with a wonderful turn out from friends and family.

George is still loving his job. He is actually in Croatia as we speak. He is either working in Philadelphia, Lakehurst, NJ or Charleston. On average, he is only gone 9 nights a month. The weeks that he is home he only works on Tuesday and Thursday. It is nice to have so much time together on those weeks. In his spare time, he works quite a bit in the yard, It is looking wonderful and is finally at a point that he is happy with. He also bought two antique cars that he hopes to work on once his yard work dimishes in the winter.

Life is great for me! I love being a wife and mother. Even though challenging at times...it is quite rewarding. I attend a Bible Study weekly and hope to get back to scrapbooking real soon!

The Lord has definitely blessed The Thornley Family. We are all healthy and happy and thank the Lord everyday for all that he has done for us.

Thomas (11) with Anna (19)

Easter Sunday at Narberth Presbyterian Church near Philly

Li-Li (6) Thomas (10), Maura (6), Bella (3)

Thomas with his cousins Kyle and Michael

Many more pics to follow but I have to head to Target!! :)

2011 Academy of Country Music Awards - Darius Rucker - Music from the Heart

2011-04-04T20:36:00.000-04:00

This is an amazing video! Please take a moment to view~

Finally Updating!

2011-01-31T10:46:00.000-05:00

Baishi (10), Maura Genet (6), Li-Li (6) and Bella (3) going to church!

Maura Genet's self portrait

Daddy with his princesses

The love of my life!

At Disney on Ice

Baishi enjoyed the show

After the show, Grammy with her grands

dressing up for Halloween for school

Bella having fun on her field trip

Getting ready to go trick or treating at Aunt N

Having a blast!

At Aunt Nat's

Li-Li's artwork

God has continues to bless us. Baishi's adjustment to our family has been extremely smooth. We had some minor issues that cropped up when George was traveling the first 2 months but overall it has been a very easy transition. We kept him home from school until the end of October. He seems to like school and made the honor roll last week. All A's and one B in history. It is absolutely amazing how well he is doing learning the english language. His handwriting is so neat as well. He eats well and is not picky at all. He loves Legos and can open a box and sit for hours building things. He also started Karate in mid October and has already moved up to a yellow belt. It's very entertaining to watch how he tries to mother the other children. I have explained on several occasions that even though he is trying to be helpful, to please leave the discipline up to me! :) Baishi tags along everywhere with GEorge...riding the tractor, going to dump trash, starting bonfires and so much more. He is very healthy. The only thing that he came home from China with was a positive PPD, but a negative chest xray. He is on Rifampin for 6 months...the same medicine that Bella was on for the exact same thing. I could go on and on about how he is perfect for our family but I have several others to talk about so I will stop here! :)

Li-Li started Kindergarten this year. Since starting in August she has already learned to read level one books as well as journal and write simple sentences independently. We are so proud of her. She continues to be our sensitive, kind hearted child with such a happy spirit. Last semester she and MAura Genet took a Little Gym class together. They really enjoyed it but we opted for Li-Li to start piano this semester instead. Li-Li also takes private Chinese lessons every Thursday. She started taking lessons up in Philadelphia and absolutely loves it. She has been taking for about 3 years. We had her in a Chinese School here in Charleston but it was way too intense for her. We were doing 3-4 pages of Chinese homework a night plus her Kindergarten work . The private one on one lessons are working out very well. She had a perfect report card and seems to enjoy learning. She has also learned to ride her bike without training wheels and is very proud of herself.

Bella...oh Bella. The wild and crazy one. She is in preschool three mornings a week and enjoys going to school like her sisters and brother. Last semester she also took a Little Gym class that she enjoyed thoroughly. This semester she is taking a dance class that she LOVES. She is one of the best listeners in the class and really has some rhythm. I enjoy my one on one time with Bella while the other kids are at school. She goes to bible study with me every Tuesday and sits there quietly playing while we do our study. She loves playing barbies and playing "house" with her sisters. She also loves to sit in the rocking chair on the front porch with Daddy and learn about the birds that fly by! :)

Maura Genet is doing great. It is hard to believe that she had such a tough transition into our family to see her now. She is in Kindergarten also (but not in the same class as Li-Li). She not only had a perfect report card but was also the Terrific Kid of the month for January. She enjoyed Little Gym last semester as well. This month she will start swimming lessons. She loves the water and is looking forward to it. She is seen 3 days a week by the ESL (English as a second language) teacher as well as twice a week by the speech therapist. She has a little bit of trouble with the TH sound. She is actually getting braces today on her top 4 front teeth due to the huge gap between the two front teeth. She actually has some tongue thrusting and we think it will help her speech to get that corrected now. She is a happy child and really enjoys telling us stories about Ethiopia and about her birth family. We are writing down everything she says and encourage her stories so we can keep those memories alive.

The Thornley Family sold our house in downtown Charleston mid November. We had one week before our house on Wadmalaw Island would be ready so we headed to Folly Beach for a week. It was a lot of fun and the kids enjoyed looking at the water. We are so happy now that we have made our final move. I have to admit, it was quite a transition for me to move from downtown Charleston to Center City, Philadelphia to 50 acres in the country. I was used to the helicopter pad right out my window, the city lights and the honking of the crazy city drivers horns. I LOVE PHILADELPHIA but it is not practical to raise four children in the city. I have gotten used to the country and enjoy the quietness. I love when all the kids have gone to bed at night and I go outside to let out Oatmeal and Molly (yes, we have 2 dogs now) and look up at the sky. I think this is the first time ever that I have seen the sky without the city lights. What a beautiful sight!

We had a wonderful Christmas! We took the kids to Banner Elk, NC for a few days after Christmas. George and I have been going to the same place since 2003. There was plenty of snow and the kids had a great time attempting to build a snowman. Then we headed to the Great Wolf Lodge in Charlotte, NC. It is a huge indoor water park...with warm water. The kids, as well as, mommy and daddy had a blast. We spent 5 straight hours in the water the first day. They had a kid friendly party for New Years Eve and the kids made it to 11:40 pm and then konked (is that even a word) out!

George is still loving his job. When he is not traveling to Philadelphia, he works out of an office in North Charleston. He is planning on working for at least 4 more years or until he starts getting bored. He keeps getting new projects and really enjoys what he does. He spends his spare time running kids everywhere, as well as, working in his yard. He LOVES living on Wadmalaw and has his house looking like he has always wanted.

I am adjusting to being back in the SOuth. I never knew that I could move to a place for 2 years and grow to love it so much. One of my best friends from Charleston moved to NC one week before I moved back. That was hard. I have become great friends with a couple of people from church so that has helped. I also have my best friend from college here as well. I am involved in a Bible Study at my church on Tuesdays and will be joining the Kiwanis Club as well. My stepmom is a member and I went to a luncheon with her last week and really enjoyed learning about their mission. I also stay busy volunteering at the kids school.

Country Boys

Monday, Sept. 27th

2010-09-27T22:43:00.000-04:00

Today we went to ChimeLong Safari Park. Our driver picked us up at 1
pm after George and I finished some adoption paperwork. It took about
30 minutes to get to the park. We went on a ride around the park in a
tram. It was a long ride, close to an hour, where we got pretty close
to white lions, giraffes, deer, brown and black bears, peacocks,
zebras and much more. We all enjoyed it tremendously. The kids had a
blast and enjoyed seeing all the animals. We then walked around the
park to see the rest of the animals..including pandas and monkeys. We
also went to the white lion show. It took about an hour to get back to
the hotel, due to traffic. George and Yu Chuan walked to Lucy's for
take out while I bathed the kids. I applied so much deet repellent on
the three older kids that I had to scrub it all off before bed. So
far...we have had no mosquito bites. :)

Happy Birthday to my friend Dianne today and Happy Anniversary to
Natalie and Jeff!

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Sunday, Sept. 26

2010-09-27T22:28:00.001-04:00

Today was GREAT. Yu Chuan's cousin and her boyfriend took a bus from 3
hours away to meet us at the hotel. We took two separate taxi's to the
downtown area of Guangzhou. We had lunch at a famous Cantonese
restaurant that is over 100 years old. I can't believe that all four
of my children, as well as, my husband were eating massive amounts of
chicken feet. I did not even try them. I have tried many things here
in China...but not chicken feet. After lunch, we walked down the
shopping street. it was really good to get out and take a long walk
and see where the locals shop. I bought a long sleeve asian games
t-shirt plus some socks. The girls each bought very gawdy rhinestone
necklaces for about $1 each. We decided to walk back to the hotel,
rather than take a taxi. It took about 40 minutes to walk back...since
the kids were tires at this point and were dragging. For dinner, we
went to Lucy's American BAr and Grill. This is the restaurant right on
Shamian Island, near the hotel, where many adoptive families go for
American cuisine. We have had authentic Chinese food the entire
trip..so it was a change.

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Medical appointment and shopping

2010-09-27T22:12:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, George and I met the guide for Baishi's medical exam. It
was pure craziness. The entire facility was FULL of sick people trying
to get seen by a doctor. They had a small room the in the back of the
facility for the adoptive families. It consisited of three rooms...the
first one was height/weight and seeing chart, the second one was
checking the throat and the ears, and the third one was the actual
physical exam from the doctor. Baishi appears very healthy..except for
some large tonsils that I'm sure will need to be removed. We had to go
to a fourth room to get his vaccinations. For all you adoption
families out there, since we are a hague family we are required to
give him vaccinations before leaving China. I tried to get them to
wait until we get to the US but they said that wasn't an option. He
had four vacciantions and a PPD placed. We actually received an
accurate vaccination record form the orphanage...they translated it
into english and he seems to be up to date. Of course, I will get
titers drawn as soon as we get back. Let me once again say, that the
medical clinic was extremely busy. They have socialized medicine, so
it was massive amounts of people waiting to be seen.

After the exam, Yu Chuan and I took Baishi to a department store to
buy a few toys. It was great to see the look of amazement on his face.
He had a few toys at his foster parents house but had to leave them
there for the other children. I was AMAZED at the prices. A regular
Lego set that would cost $40 in the US was doubled here. I let him get
three things and bought each of the girls a strawberry shortcake
figure. We took a taxi back to the hotel and met the rest of the gang
for dinner at the hotel.

Hope you enjoy the photos!

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37 pictures for you

2010-09-25T03:40:00.001-04:00

Saturday, Sept. 25th

I haven't had a chance to post over the last couple of days so I will
try to catch up. We have done several fun things.

On Wednesday, the six of us walked to Starbucks and had breakfast. I
had a wonderful creme brulee machiatto. Then we walked around the city
looking at all the statues. We stopped at a playground and watched the
kids play for awhile. A few people stopped to take pictures. We then
walked on the path by the river back to the hotel. Today was the Fall
Moon Festival so the next three days are a holiday. We met Yu Chuan
back at the hotel and had a huge lunch at a local chinese restaurant.
Baishi wanted roasted pigeon...he and George ate the entire head..beak
and all! :( Li-Li wanted one also but I told her next time. Wednesday
night we ate moon cakes to celebrate the Moon Festival. Unfortunately,
it rained that night so we were unable to see the moon.

On Thursday, we spent over an hour looking for the place where Baishi
was found by a local police officer when he was 4 years old. So many
new buildings have been built since then, therefore, we were unable to
find the exact location. Baishi gets extremely car sick, just not
feeling well, due to the diesel fumes so we had to stop a couple of
times. Then we headed to the Yun Tai Garden. It is a beautiful park
(flowers i posted are from there) with many trees, flowers and
colorful statues. After lunch we went to a CRAZY, busy shopping mall.
It has been raining a lot due to the typhoon so we got caught in a
lightening storm. We went to one more mall. They were having a sale
where if you buy certain things that are on certain racks..you can
spend 1000 yuan for only 360 yuan. 100 yuan is roughly 15 dollars. We
bought Baishi a pair of tennis shoes, back pack, 2 shirts, one pair of
shorts, one pair of pajamas...for 360 yuan (about 53 US dollars).
Since we were late getting back to the hotel, we ate at the White Swan
Deli.

On Friday, after breakfast, we headed to the swimming pool. This was
Baishi's second time ever in a pool and the first time that he ever
put his face in the water. All the kids did great and listened very
well. They had a GREAT time. We went to the Orient GArden, a French
restaurant, for lunch. It was very good but was pretty slow. We spent
about 2 hours there. Yu Chuan kept all 4 kids from 4:30-6:45 so George
and I could go shopping. We bought a jewelry box for Li-Li (for her
birthday), silk paintings (two for Li-Li's room and three for the hall
near their bedroom), two paintings for the guest bedroom, and some
necklaces (very unique but hard to explain). We found a store run by a
Christian. She was so nice...we talked to her for about 30 minutes
about their work. They support an orphanage for disabled orphans who
have aged out. The paintings in her store are done by the orphans..one
who has no arms and paints with his mouth and feet. It was amazing.
She also had photo albums of the kids in the orphanage, as well as, of
their work. Then George and I had a margarita at the White Swan bar.
When we got back to the room, we ordered Papa Johns pizza for dinner.
It was very thin crust but tasted different...maybe different
cheese....not sure.

On another note, we got an offer on our house. Not a good offer, but
an offer nonetheless :) We have counter offered and hopefully they
will accept.

The kids have done exceptionally well after getting over jet lag. It
has been hardest on Bella but that is to be expected since she is so
young. I am really impressed with how all the kids will try ANYTHING
to eat.

Some things about our son:
Birhday: July 3, 2000
He is kind, very affectionate and thinks of others first. He has a
sense of humor and likes being the class clown. He is very excited
about coming to America and is asking Yu Chuan many questons about his
school schedule, etc. He wanted to know how many square feet his room
was?? He is used to being on a schedule. He wakes up and immediately
wants to shower and get dressed. We have been able to communicate
fairly well when Yu Chuan has not been around. It has been much easier
so far than we expected.

Please leave a comment after reading, since we are translating the
commemts to him in Mandarin. I will post again soon! Love to all!

The Thornley Family
You have been sent 37 pictures.

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Tuesday, Sept. 21st

2010-09-22T21:45:00.001-04:00

Today Li-Li, Maura Genet, Baishi, Yu Chuan and I went to the
orphanage. We met Helen in the lobby at 10 am. Baishi has spent the
last 6 years of his life there except for about 3 years when he stayed
with two different foster families. We gave him a choice of whether he
wanted to go visit or stay with Daddy and Bella at the hotel. He said
that he had 2 friends still there and wanted to tell them goodbye. He
also said that all of his other friends had already been adopted. It
took about 30 minutes to drive there. It is a HUGE orphanage that has
over 1000 children. Most of them have special needs or are older
children. He was very proud and gave us a tour. He moved back to the
orphanage a month ago to wait for us to pick him up. The orphanage was
extremely clean and the kids are very well taken care of. The main
building is actually a hospital with an xray room, lab, treatment room
and much more. The director actually came out to meet us and gave me a
book on the orphanage, as well as, his personal email address. The
orphanage was so big that we had to get back into the van to visit the
area where Baishi stayed. Unfortunately, Baishi did not get to say
goodbye to his friends since they were both in school. We did find out
that Baishi had only a week of 4th grade. In the US, he would be
starting 5th grade but actually just started the 4th grade in China.
They pulled him out a month ago when they moved him back to the
orphanage.

When we got back to the hotel, we rested awhile before George, Baishi
and I went to another meeting. We had horrible traffic...it took over
an hour to get there. They were closing when we got there but they
allowed us in. This was the appt. for Baishi to have his picture taken
for his passport...very important. It took almost an hour to get back
after the 5 minute appt. At this point, we were exhausted. We ordered
room service and all 6 of us slept from 6:30 pm until 6 am. We felt
great when we woke up!! :)

Hope you enjoy the pictures!!

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Monday, Sept. 20th

2010-09-21T22:58:00.001-04:00

Today we met Helen in the lobby of the hotel at 10 am. We went back to
the Civil Affairs Office. We had to pay the orphanage donation and
fill out more paperwork. They also asked us if we "were happy with the
boy". We both said that we were very happy. We are amazed at how easy
going and mild mannered he is. We also took out first "official" photo
of the three of us that will go on the paperwork that we bring to the
US.

When we got back to the hotel we met Yu Chuan and the girls for the
lunch at a new restaurant that specializes in chinese tea. Some of the
more expensive teas were as high as 1300..which is more than $175 US
dollars. We on the other hand, had regular long jing (tranlates to
dragon well) tea for 48 yuan for all seven of us. We also had noodles
with beef, dumplings and something that Baishi picked out. They served
fresh fruit for dessert. We had all this for $20 (US). This is amazing
since when we ate breakfast at the hotel...it was over $120 (US).

We are doing very well. We are having some sleep issues. Bella is
waking up at about 2 am every morning wide awake..by the time we get
her back to sleep it is 4 am and Li-Li is waking up. George andI have
felt great (except for the jet lag) so we have been taking turns.
Baishi slept very well the first night with us. We made him a bed on
the floor since we wanted him close to us. All of his clothes are
falling off of him. I brought size 10 and they are HUGE...we put a
belt on him and we have it on the last hole. He was laughing and told
Yu Chuan, "why do I have a belt...I'm a little boy"? Apparently, in
China only men wear belts...not children. Kyle's (my nephew) elastic
shorts have definitely come in handy! His shoes were a couple of sizes
too big so luckily the crocs that we brought him fit. :)

We also went to a couple of stores today. We had Yu Chuan ask him if
he saw anything that he wanted and he replied, "Everything cost too
much money, I dont need anything". Apparently, he had several foster
brothers and sisters and they didn't have toys. Well, that's it for
now! I will post again soon.

I am so glad that we have Yu Chuan here. She has found out so much
history from Baishi. Oh and his name is pronounced Buy Shur...hard for
mommy to say but I am learning. :)

If someone could please make a comment and let me know if yall are
able to see the pictures that we have posted.
You have been sent 9 pictures.

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Introducing Baishi!

2010-09-21T22:16:00.001-04:00

Today we had a great breakfast at the hotel. It is amazing to even
look at the buffet. It has a huge section of asian food (dumplings,
rice, beans), then it has an american kids section (pizza, chicken and
fish nuggets), omelette station, fruit and vegetable station, bread,
juice...everything you can possibly imagine. After breakfast we went
to the Bank of China to get the orphanage donation changed from
American money to Yuan. Then we walked around the hotel showing the
girls the waterfalls and pools. We left the kids in the room with Yu
Chuan at 1:00 and headed to meet Helen. We got to the Civil Affairs
Office at 2:30 and our son wasn't there yet. The room was full of
couples adopting babies and toddlers and a couple who were adopting
older children. We saw our son the minute he walked into the room. He
had a huge grin on his face and recognized us immediately. When he
came out of the room, I hugged him and so did George. He welcomed our
hugs which was a worry that I had. We waited for about 30 minutes
before being asked some questions from the officials.

The girls were very excited to meet their big brother. They all hugged
him and he welcomed their hugs as well. I am so glad that I brought
the girls Leapsters because he went right to it and tried to play. The
girls helped him and they all started playing together.

He is such a sweet little boy and appears very happy to be going to
America. He doesn't like to be wasteful and wanted to wrap up the
leftover bread from dinner. I am so glad that we brought our friend
with us. It has made the communication and transition so much easier.
You have been sent 10 pictures.

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These pictures were sent with Picasa, from Google.
Try it out here: http://picasa.google.com/

We have our son!!!

2010-09-19T23:53:00.001-04:00

Sorry we haven't posted since we left for China. Let's see...my Dad took us to the Charleston airport on Thursday morning at 0630. We flew Delta from Chas to Atl and Atl to JFK. Our flights were great...smooth and on time. We took a taxi from the JFK airport to the Doubletree. We had a lot of traffic going to the hotel..but after checking in we had a great dinner at Ruby Foos. The kids went to bed relatively early. On Friday morning, we had breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast, I walked to the Toys R US and M&M store. I bought some chocolate for the nannies and orphanage director. I also bought some small things for Baishi and some candy for the kids. We checked in at JFK at 1245..our flight was scheduled to take off at 2:55 pm. We had lunch after checking in and our flight left JFK on time. We were in row 60 on a huge airplane...a boeing 777 300. I did fairly well on the flight after take off and the kids did great. Li-Li and Maura Genet slept for about 7 hours and Bella slept about 8. I slept about 2 hours and George only slept about an hour. George and I wore Ted hose on the long flight (the nurse coming out in me). George even said, "I hate to admit this, but these socks actually feel good." We had about a 2 hour layover in Hong Kong. George and I had coffee from Starbucks during the wait while the kids colored. We had a short 40 minute flight to Guangzhou. Unfortunately, I forgot to arrange transportation from the airport to the White Swan Hotel so we had to wait about 30 minutes to have a "larger" car pick us up. Our friend, Yu Chuan, had arrived at the airport an hour earlier. We got to the hotel at midnight. Our room is great...we have a 2 bedroom suite. It has 2 1/2 baths and overlooks the Pearl River. Yu Chuan has a single room that also overlooks the river. We meet Helen, our lady that will escort us to all of our appointments, in the lobby tomorrow afternoon at 2 pm. We will then meet our son! :)

testing

2010-09-09T21:28:00.001-04:00

I am testing to see if I can post to blog from my gmail account!
--
Diana Strawn Thornley

TRAVELING TO CHINA TO BRING HOME OUR SON THOMAS BAISHI WARD THORNLEY!!!

2010-09-09T20:25:00.000-04:00

Bella's 1st day of school! (Not able to upload any more pics at this time)

The Thornley Family has been quite busy! We moved back to Charleston on August 11th. We are living at our house in Charleston. We continue to renovate our house on WAdmalaw Island and should be moving in by the end of October. Li-Li and Maura Genet started Kindergarten on Aug. 18th. They are in the same school but in different classes. They are both doing WONDERFUL. The ESL teacher is working with Maura Genet a couple of days a week...focusing specifically on her English language. Li-Li started Chinese school on Sundays from 1:30-3:30. It is pretty intense...several pages of homework every week BUT she LOVES it. She is even learning how to write the Chinese characters. Bella started a new preschool. She goes there three days a week. She really enjoys it and loves that she is going to school like her big sisters. :) George has been traveling to Philadelphia every other week. The other weeks he works in Charleston. This has been working very well. We miss him terribly while he is gone, but the weeks fly by with school and activities.

ADOPTION UPDATE: On Sept. 16th, we will travel to New York. We are spending the night in Manhattan on the 16th and will fly out of JFK at 4pm on the 17th to Hong Kong. We have a 2 hour layover in Hong Kong before our 40 minute flight to Guangzhou. We weren't supposed to get Baishi until the 20th but due to the holidays we will meet our son on the morning of the 19th (only 10 hours after landing). We were hoping for one day to rest before meeting him but we need the additional day to get all the paperwork completed. Li-Li's Mandarin teacher from Philadelphia will be meeting us in Guangzhou. She will be our translator, tour guide and babysitter. She will keep the girls while George and I meet Baishi for the first time. We are planning on taking Li-Li with us to the swearing in ceremony. I think that she will be interested in this part since we did the exact same thing in 2006 when we adopted her. :) We will return to New York on October 1st and will return to Charleston on Oct . 2nd at 5:30. I have been extremely busy packing. I have picked up our Ted hose (quit laughing), all of our antibiotics and travelers diarrhea medication. Each of the girls have their book bag that they can pack with fun stuff for the plane and trip. I still have to buy Baishi a few things as well as some books/toys. I am also making him a photo album and will bring that to China as well.

Specific Prayer Requests Please: Please pray for a smooth and safe flight. (I have major flight anxiety and like nothing more than my feet to be on the ground), for good bonding with Baishi, for the girls to have a great trip and especially for Bella since she is so young for such a long and tiring trip. And lastly, please pray that we all stay safe and healthy.

Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.

We will try to update from China but if we are unable...Alison, Chris's wife, will update for us.

We love you,

The Thornley Family

Maid of the Mist...Niagara Falls

2010-08-05T12:26:00.001-04:00

We are getting close!!!

2010-08-05T09:55:00.000-04:00

The entire Gang at Narberth Presbyterian Church

Chris and Alison with Maura Genet, Li Li and Bella

They are so good with them and the girls love

them dearly!

Having an Ethiopian lunch! Dad loved it..Terry

not so much!!

The Thornley Family minus Anna C.

We love this pic!

Maura Genet with Pastor Steve!

Alison and me with the Philly Phanatic!

Bella turns 3!

Yummy! Thanks to Patrick!

New York

Monkey Bars!

Phillies Game

Going Away dinner from my wonderful friends!

Maura Genet at Ruby Foo's!

with cousins Jimmy and Lori in NY

See the rainbow behind us??

Margaritaville's in Niagara Falls

Dad and Terry

Princess Li Li

Making Pizza

Bella Boo!

I can't believe that it has been almost a month since I have posted anything! We are moving back to Charleston, SC on Tuesday. We have spent the last month being tourists in Philadelphia. We took the kids on The Philly Duck Boat Tour, went on a horse drawn carriage ride with Alison (our daughter-in-law) and walked many streets that we have not visited before. We are keeping our condo in Center City since George will be working up there every other week...we plan on living in Philly all next summer.

Maura Genet was baptized on July 11th. It was a very special day. My dad and stepmom and Alison and Chris came up to Philly for her baptism. Alison and Chris are Maura Genet's Godparents. George cooked dinner after church and we spent the afternoon hanging out at our condo. It was a short visit with our family but we packed many things into one weekend.

Maura Genet continues to amaze us each and every day. She is speaking in complete sentences and has learned many phrases. It is so funny to hear her say to her sisters, "Hey, stop laughing, that is not funny." She is eating many more things that before she wouldn't touch. SHe listens to us and obeys when we ask her to do something. She is such a big helper and loves to pitch in. We can't believe that this is the little girl who joined our family only 4 months ago. She has opened up to us and has told us stories about her family in Ethiopia. I'm so thankful that she trusts us with all of her precious memories.

Li Li is doing a great job with her Mandarin lessons. SHe has been taking lessons for about 16 months. She has one -on -one lessons 2x a week. The teacher took her to China Town a few weeks ago and Li Li did a great job talking to everyone in Mandarin only. She is so excited about our upcoming trip to China.

About our son, Thomas Baishi....We received our Article 5 today. That means that we are only waiting on TA (travel approval) which we will receive in 2-4 weeks. The girls are flower girls in a wedding on Sept. 18th so we will travel very soon after the wedding. We haven't received any weight/height updates so I have no idea what to bring but hopefully we will get an update soon. Our agency has requested an update. We are taking Li Li's Mandarin teacher with us..as a sitter/translator and guide. I'm so glad that we are able to travel with all the girls.

Bella had her 3rd birthday on July 27th. We had a birthday party for her at The Little Gym in Narberth, PA. She had a GREAT time. We had a very good turnout of 16 kids. We asked that donations be made to Nightlight Christian Adoption for their new Uganda program instead of gifts. It's amazing how much a 3 year old understood the meaning of why we would do this. Li Li has already told us that she wants to send money to her orphanage in China for her birthday.

Right now we are in Niagara Falls with my Dad and Terry. We have been here since Saturday and will leave tomorrow. We have had a great time. WE have gone to Clifton Hills, Niagra on the Lake, Maid of the Mist, MArgaritaville's...and today we are going bowling. Before this trip, we spent two nights in New York. This was Maura's first time and we had a great time visiting Toys R US, The Statue of Liberty, M&M World, Ruby Foos and much more.

We took our house off the market in CHarleston and will be renting it out instead. We think this is a much better decision since we had lowered the price so much. We will be moving to Wadmalaw Island the first week of September. I am super excited. The view from my kitchen is amazing and we will have ample room for all the children.

And last but not least, we will be picking up our yellow lab puppy next Sunday. His named is Oatmeal, named by Li Li and he will be 10 weeks old when we pick him up. :)

I will post more sooner rather than later!

Please pray for safe travels to SC in our minivan with 3 daughters, 3 cats and much luggage!!

SUMMER 2010!!!

2010-07-06T15:33:00.001-04:00

Family and Friends at Meet Maura Get Together
at Wadmalaw!

Chris reading his sisters a book!

Maura at LiLi's classroom...LiLi and I did a

presentation on Ethiopia!

Traditional Ethiopian clothing and food.

At LiLi's dance recital

Precious LiLi

Sushi for dinner after her recital...her pick!

LiLi and Maura in the black cab

Anna...afternoon of graduation

At Magic Kingdom

Daddy dunking Maura Genet!

That smile is contagious!

Grammy dancing with Bella Boo!

Father's Day Celebration..George with his kiddos!

Sorry for the long delay in posts...we have been quite busy!! Before I update you on our lives...we have something really important to share! :) George and I will be traveling within the next three months to pick up our SON!! We started the adoption process last October for Thomas Baishi Ward Thornley. He just turned 10 on July 3rd and is living in Guangzhou, China. We will be taking our three younger girls to China with us, as well as, LiLi's Mandarin teacher to help with translation and with the kids while in China. We are very excited about adding another son to our family.

Our timeline is:

Nov. 17th Pre-Approval for Baishi

Nov. 23rd: Initial paperwork and fee to CWA

Feb. 26th: I800 A Approved

Mar 19th: DTC for Thomas Baishi Ward Thornley

April 8th: LID (log in date) for dossier

June 7th: LOA (Letter of Acceptance)

Anna C: Anna graduated from high school at the end of May. She will start college at The College of Charleston in the fall. She received two scholarships for her first year. She will live at a dorm on campus for at least the first couple of years. She is busy this summer babysitting for several couples, as well as, working at the church nursery. She is also volunteering at Camp St. Christopher for a week.

LiLi: LiLi finished her year at Friends Select School in Philadelphia. She received an excellent progress report for her Pre K year. She finished up her dance class at Koresh Dance Company and loved being front and center at her end of the year recital. :) She loves to sing and dance...and loves to put on shows for mommy and daddy.

Bella: Bella finished her year at Narberth Presbyterian Christian Preschool. She went to school on Tuesday and Thursdays from 9a-2:30. She was the youngest in her class by several months but had no problem keeping up. She finished her Little Gym class in May. her coordination is absolutely amazing for a 2 year old.

Maura: Maura continues to amaze us. She has learned so much of the English language in 3 short months. We have not had any meltdowns in about a month. She still gets a very sour look to her face and a major attitude when we discipline her (sometimes) but overall she is adjusting well into The Thornley Family. The only medication she is currently taking is a Vit D supllement. We did get her level rechecked and it is now normal...but we will continue the supplement for the next 3-6 months. She did get tubes placed in her ears bilaterally. Of course, when we got back to Philly and had her doctot appt., we found out that one tube had already dislodged..only 5 days after surgery. How frustrating!!!

The Thornley Family spent most of June in Charleston. We are busy trying to sell one house and renovate the other. We spent many days out at Wadmalaw (where our house is). The girls had a blast riding bikes, picking berries, going through the woods on the golf cart and much more. I think we are going to LOVE living there. The view is beautiful and it is so peaceful.

We also went to Orlando, Florida for a week. We stayed at a resort called Orange Lake. We took Grammy along this trip and we really had a great time. We spent most of our days in the pool but did take the girls to Magic Kingdom and Universal while we were there. The kids really enjoyed going to the restaurant and dancing to beach music. The crowd at the bar was definitely entertained by them.

We also took the girls out on the boat. Chris (george's son) and his wife, Alison, also came with us. This was Bella and Maura's first time on the boat. Bella had a blast but Maura wanted to "go home because she was hot". She was fine once they played in the water but didn't like the boat much! That will definitely have to change!

This weekend Maura Genet is getting baptized. Chris and Alison, as well as, my Dad and Terry, will be here to celebrate with us. Chris and ALison are her Godparents. We are really blessed that Chris and Alison are such a big part of the girls lives. They really enjoy being around them and especially love having an older brother. Funny story:

This morning on the way to summer camp, I asked them if they knew that Chris, Alison, G-Daddy and Nana were coming to Philly this weekend. LiLi says, "yes, we know, They are coming for Maura's baptism". I turned to Maura and said, "do you know why they are coming to see you this weekend'? She replied, "yes, because that man will be washing my hair". How funny!! We had already met with the pastor and explained what was happening and the meaning. At the time, we thoght she understood BUT I guess we have some more explaining to do.

Hope you all have a great summer. We have the movers booked and will be moving back to Charleston in August 12th.

Almost 7 weeks home with Maura!

2010-05-16T20:32:00.000-04:00

Easter Morning at Narberth Pres!

Such a girly girl!

Good Old Fashion Fun!

Bedtime Stories...my favorite!

Date Night with Daddy! LiLi LOVES Salmon Eggs!

Okay..get ready since this will be a LONG post..since I haven't posted in over 7 weeks. Maura is doing great. I will be honest...the first three weeks were pretty difficult. When she did not get her way, she would instantly fall to the ground and start with her fake crying. She did have 4 major temper tantrums where George actually took the other kids out of the condo so they wouldn't see her behavior (it was very upsetting to us so I knew it would upset the kids). I will say that Maura has gone through a lot since we brought her home. I will start from the beginning. We had only been home for a few days when we took her to the CHOP (Children Hospital of Philadelphia) International Adoption Chinic (great place!). They did a complete physical, as well as, tested her for all the infectious diseases, blood counts, lead level, vaccine titers, and much more. They also evaluated her gross and fine motor skills. She did great with all these. She is on target for a 5 year old, and we have never seen a child so eager to learn. She has a few permanent teeth and is very tall (90%) so they did a bone scan of her right wrist to determine her age. We were very surprised to find out that she is 5...we thought she was probably 7. She had a PPD placed and it was negative. The only things that we had to treat when we arrived home from Ethiopia was giarddea, bilateral ear infection and a vitamen D deficiency. They started her on Flagyl for the giarddea...and she broke out in hives...obvious allergy. We spent Easter Sunday at the ER...she was itching and started grabbing at her throat. We called the doctor and they started her on another medication...it was for 3 days and it cost $75 with insurance! WHEW! She completed it with no problems. She has been retested and her giarddea is resolved. She had a complete coarse of oral antibiotics, as well as, ear drops for her ear infection. She will have tubes placed on June 15th. She does have a little permanent hearing loss in the left ear. They said that she had had an ear infection for so long that the bone had started to erode. Luckily, her right eardrum had ruptured so it was allowing the fluid to drain. One big issue..is her right ankle. Since the day that I picked up Maura, she has complained of ankle pain. The doctor in Philadelphia ordered an xray. They immediately came out to tell me that it was abnormal and wanted her to be seen by an orthopedic doc. We had an appt. at 10:00 and was finally seen by the doctoe at 1:50 (of course, I had Bella with me also). The doctor wanted an MRI done. I had noticed that her right calf muscle is considerably smaller than the left. We had the MRI done at CHOP (the nursing staff was excellent). We were at the hospital for over 8 hours because we were unable to leave because Maura was going ballistic. She was not happy at all. The staff kept saying it was the medicine and I kept saying, "No, she is not happy and this is the way she is showing it". Four hours later, they agreed. :) After the MRI report came back, they wanted us to be seen by Infectious Disease. We found this out the day that we were leaving for Charleston. I was luckily able to get in to see an ID doctor in Charleston (thanks to Courtney). He ordered several labs and got us an appt to see an ortho guy at MUSC to have a biopsy done. We went into MUSC at 9 am and it was an amazing experience. They had a Child Life Therapist visit Maura and help her feel less scared. My friend Karen kept Bella and LiLi so both George and I could be there. They biopsied the fluid around her ankle and put her in a cast from her ankle to her upper thigh. Apparently (long story short), she had an infection a LONG time ago in Ethiopia, such as TB in the bone. It is not present now and all the biopsies came back clear BUT she was in pain for so long that when she walks and runs, she is not putting all her weight on her right foot. They applied the weight bearing cast to "make her" walk correctly. She only had it on for 6 days and did GREAT. She was such a trooper. I'm sure it was very traumatic for her, but she feels confident in our family and loved all the attention from mommy and daddy. She also loved how everyone signed her cast.

While we were in Charleston, she also had a dentist appt. She had 2 small cavities that will be filled in 2 weeks. She also saw her peditrician. Due to the results of her titers, she only needed 1 vaccine. she weighs 46 pounds and is 46 1/2 inches tall.

We had a "meet Maura Genet party" out at Wadmalaw. It was a lot of fun. The kids rode bikes, rode the golf cart, played on the swing set and did some fishing. Maura enjoyed meeting all the people that she prays for every night.

While we were in Charleston, we applied for Bella's SS card. She received it today in the mail. We also applied for her US passport. We also received her Certificate of Citizenship right before leaving for Charleston. That means that we have officially completed all of her post placement reports, finalization of adoption, SS#, passport and Certificate of Citizenship. WOOHOO...now I will begin Maura's! :)

The kids are doing great...fighting like they have known each other forever. There are days that I get so frustrated with the fighting but on most days I am so very happy and proud. We are truly blessed to have 4 beautiful little girls. It is amazing to think of Maura's life 2 months ago and her life now. We have an Ethiopian CD (thanks Kelly) that we play often so she will remember her Amharic. It is such a beautiful language. Maura is a pretty picky eater. She is also stubborn so if she doesn't want to try something, she won't. She has gone to bed without dinner a few times. We don't make her eat things that she doesn't like but she does need to try them. She does like her fruits and veges though so that is a plus!

We are so truly blessed to have such a wonderful family! I hope you enjoy the pictures!

SATURDAY, MARCH 27th

2010-04-15T19:26:00.000-04:00

Ready to see the rest of my family.

Daddy hugging Maura for the first time!

It is good to be HOME!

On the shuttle on the way to get the car

LiLi waiting to open her Gotcha Day gift

Happy 4th Gotcha Day Ming Li Strawn Thornley!!

Don't you LOVE my M&M pants??

Beautiful Cake and even more delicious!

Our nightly storytime together as a family!

Maura...you have the BEST Daddy in the world!

We are HOME! I think we made record time going through Immigration, Customs and Baggage Claim after landing. Did it all in about an hour. Maura did have one episode on the plane when she was tearful and crying..very understandable under the circumstances. She knows she is "going to America" but I'm sure she doesn't understand the finality of it all. George, Bella and Anna were waiting for us with 2 big signs...one that LiLi made before leaving for Ethiopia that said "Welcome Home Maura Genet" and one that Anna made for LiLi that said "Happy Gotcha Day". Four years ago today we were in China picking up our beautiful 16 month old baby girl! How time flies~

Maura Genet went right up to George and said, "Daddy". She then started naming the other family members...pointing to them and saying Bella and Anna. It took us about 3 hours to get back to Philly..after stopping for lunch at one of the interstate restaurants. Her first meal in America was from Popeye's Chicken..a fried drumstick and corn on the cob! :) In honor of LiLi's Gotcha Day, we ordered Chinese and had it delivered to us. I had ordered her a cake prior to leaving for Ethiopia. George had picked it up so we celebrated together at home as a family of 6.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

FRIDAY, MARCH 26TH

2010-04-10T08:01:00.000-04:00

LiLi and Maura with our driver, Jarod
(LiLi loved him and he was great with the kids)

Hope's House

LOVE LOVE that smile!

Posing with Shimiless

Staff at Faith's Home with Maura

Posing with Samira (LiLi thought she was beautiful)

Lisa and Maura

Love this picture!

Getting ice cream sundaes after checking out the hotel

waiting to go to the airport!

Bye Bye Ethiopia!

Today is our last day in Ethiopia. I am definitely ready to go home..but mostly just to see my family. I'm so glad that LiLi and I made the trip and that I will be able to discuss Bella and Maura's birth country with them having a little more history.

Tooday we went back to Hope's Home to pick up Maura's Ethiopian passport and American visa. I was able to meet Shimeless, the owner of Hope Adoption, while I was there. He answered several of my questions related to adoption and Ethiopian culture. It was good to meet him and see that he truly cares for these children. The kids had a blast playing with tiny soccer balls in the courtyard with Jarod (our driver). It's amazing how simple things can be so much fun! We then went to Faith's Home (Maura's orphanage) for her to say goodbye one last time. I had the workers at the orphange explain to Maura that she was going to get on a huge airplane and travel to America tonight. She seemed to understand..we will see.

We also took a trip too the lion zoo in Addis Ababa. We had to pay a small fee wo get in but then pay a larger one to be able to take pictures. It was a very small zoo but had several lions, deer, monkeys, etc. They also had a small area with rides, such as ferris wheels..but I wouldn't let the kids ride them. :)

Since we brought so many orphanage donations, we have plenty of room and less bags to take back. That is definitely a good thing.

The next time I will post, we will be back in Philadelphia. It will also be LiLi's 4th Gotcha Day!

THURSDAY, MARCH 25TH

2010-04-05T13:50:00.000-04:00

Photos of the streets in Addis Ababa

Doing the Hokey Pokey

Today was our BIG day! We had our Visa appointment! We were told that it was at 1215 so we were waiting for our driver at about 11:30. When he didn't come...Lisa called him and he told us that he received a call and that our appt. had been changed till 2. We ended up getting to the US Embassy at about 1:45. We waited in a fairly small room with at least a dozen other families. They had a teeny tiny play area that about 15 kids were using. There was a young couple there that was adopting two teenage kids...i thought that was great. Our agency rep, Samira, met us there. They went over the specifics regarding why Maura Genet was placed for adoption. The US Embassy officials ask you to tell them why your child was placed for adoption. They want to make sure you know the facts. LiLi, Lisa, Maura Genet and myself went up to the window when we were called. They did indeed ask me to tell them the specifics. They then told me that at her US Embassy doctor appt a couple of weeks ago...that the doctor said that there was a good chance she may be a little bit older than 5. They asked me if ,"we were okay with that". I was like seriously..of course it is. Apparently some families have denied keeping a child when they find out that they are older than they were previously told. When we were walking into the US Embassy, we saw about 25 Ethiopians sitting on fold up chairs under a tent waiting to be called in for their appt. I thought it was kind of sad that they were all sitting in the hot air while we walked right in. Since we had to wait quite awhile...LiLi had to go potty. This was the ONE time that I forgot my toiley seat covers. There was no paper and it was not a place for her to potty at all. She took one look and said.."I'll hold it". :) That's my girl~

It was good to hear the lady tell me, "your daughter's visa paperwork has been approved". After the appt., we headed back to the hotel for the pool. It was a great afternoon!

Our driver picked us up at 6:00 to go to dinner at Cara and Jason's house. They are also a Nightlight Christian Adoption family who is actually living in Ethiopia right now as missionaries. They have 2 daughters who are 5 and 7. They have court next week for their two boys, I think they are 1 and3. They are a great family. We had a great dinner with them. The kids loved running around outside, as well as, playing Barbies inside. Cara and Jason had been to the orphanage several times to visit their boys. While there they played games with the children...so we all played a game where you skip around a circle with a stuffed animal under your shirt and then you drop the stuffed animal behind someone and they have to throw it and try to tag you. The kids, and adults, had a blast playing this and the hokey pokey. Don't worry..pictures to follow!

We had a GREAT day.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010

2010-03-31T20:03:00.000-04:00

Maura Genet acting like a clown behind LiLi :)

The view from the terrace on the 2nd floor

By the pool at the Sheraton

Having a blast at the pool...the water felt great!

Both the girls swimming. Maura Genet was

copying everything that LiLi did.

The streets of Addis Ababa

Getting her hair washed!

They had two people working on her hair

In the salon after Maura Genet got her hair done.

I had to hold LiLi the entire time since all the

Ethiopian women kept trying to play with LiLi's

hair and kiss her. LiLi kept telling them that they

"kiss too much" and that she "only kisses her family".

I tried to teach her about their culture BUT it didn't work!

Pretty girl!

The stage at the restaurant

Traditional handwashing before dinner

Our happy, go with the flow little girl!

On the ceiling at the restaurant

Hanging on the wall in the restaurant

Today was a fun day. Lisa had some work to do in Ethiopia so it was my first morning alone with both girls and we did okay! :) After breakfast we walked all around the hotel and saw the sights of Addis Ababa from the terrace. Maura Genet was following LiLi as she walked on one of the concrete ledges that was about 18 inches from the ground, when she tripped and scraped her leg. She seemed very satisfied and content when I consoled her. I took the girls to the pool for about 45 minutes but it was more than I was ready to handle, when I saw that Maura Genet has no fear of the water and doesn't understand English. Both girls LOVED the water.

Lisa met us at the hotel restaurant for lunch. We met our driver, Jarod, in the early afternoon to go shopping. He took us to a place called "the post office". It caters to foreigners without taking advantage of us too much! :) I picked up some great souveneirs for Anna, Maura Genet, Bella, LiLi, George, Kelly and Dave and a family who traveled last year who asked me to pick up a few things for their daughter. I got both Bella and Maura Genet traditional clay coffee pots. We also picked up baskets, Ethiopian dresses, small wooden animals, bracelets and more. The girls enjoyed looking at all the different trinkets.

After shopping, we took Maura Genet to a beauty salon to have her hair braided. They washed, conditioned, and braided it for only 53 birr..which is equivalent to about $4. I have tried to take Bella to a salon in Philadelphia and it is at a minimum of $60 (which is why I do it). Maura Genet did great...sat their the entire time (over an hour) without making a peep. For all you who know Bella...this was amazing. Bella cries when anyone pulls out a comb.

We went to an authentic Ethiopian Restarant for dinner called Yod Abyssinia. LiLi LOVED the entertainment. They had male and female dancers that were amazing. They looked like they were really enjoying themselves. During the meal, we had a couple of electric power black outs..which is kind of scary when you are in an unfamiliar place and everything goes totally dark. The food was good but not as good as our favorite Ethiopian Restaurant in Philadelphia. LiLi was very upset when she realized that she left her new basket and wooden animals at the restaurant. Our wonderful driver drove all the way back to get them for her.

Overall, we had a very good day. I miss George and Boo very much but I have been calling them about 3x a day, as well as texting. This should be a great phone bill at the end of the month!

TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 2010

2010-03-29T21:20:00.000-04:00

Maura Genet with Samira at Hope's Home

Our driver for the week, Jarod. He was super

sweet and loved LiLi. They played ball together

and had a blast.

Maura Genet's orphange...Faith's Home

At Toukoul (Bella's orphanage)

The playground and kids playroom at Toukoul

Walking to Bella's buuilding

Maura Genet and LiLi standing in front of Bella's

crib!

Some of the staff at Toukoul

Outside of one of the school classrooms

at Toukoul. What is up with my hair? :)

Reading bible stories before bed

LiLi was singing Maura Genet a lullaby..my

sweet girl!

We had a lazy morning at the hotel today. We left the Sheraton at 1115 to go to Hopes Home to go through all the paperwork needed to get Maura Genet's visa on Thursday. I an happy to say that this Type A Mama had all the paperwork completed properly. :)We then went back to Faiths Home to allow Maura Genet to say goodbye to her friends and nannies. It obviously hasn't hit her that she will not be coming back. She looked extremely happy and just went around hugging and kissing everyone. I took lots of pictures to keep for her in her "baby book".

We had lunch at an Italian lunch at the Sheraton. Maura Genet had pizza and appeared to love it. This girl definitely has a big appetite. LiLi loved the spicy noodle dish they had. I have been very cautious about what we eat, even though we are at the Sheraton and I'm sure it is fine but I didn't want to take a chance.

We had a minor grieving episode with Maura Genet today. It appears that when I redirect her or discipline at all ( such as no running down the hall, holding hands around cars), she will get very quiet. Today she started to cry and just laid o the floor and cried for about 30 minutes. She did let me rub her back but wouldn't make eye contact. I can't imagine what she is feeling..being taken away from everything that she has known. Imagine being in a place where everyone is speaking a different language than you...would be very difficult to say the least. I'm sure we have a long road ahead of us but with God's help and strength we will work through everything that comes our way.

We visited Toukoul Orphanage this afternoon. This is the orphanage where Bella lived from Sept. 08-March 09. That was an emotional trip but I feel so blessed that I was able to visit. The staff there was amazing. I brought a photo album of Bella's first year with us and a couple of the nannies, as well as, the nurse remembered her. I was able to see Bella's room (#10) and the crib where she slept. It was a nice orphanage, rather large, and very clean. They had a nice baby room that looked like a hut, as well as, a playground.

After we got back to the orphanage, we sat in the lobby and got the girls sherbet (LiLi's favorite). I have been having cappuccinos and macchiatos everyday. They are wonderful here. We just went back to the room and ordered room service for dinner.

It has been a great but tiring and emotional day.

Monday, March 22, 2010 Gotcha Day

2010-03-25T16:32:00.000-04:00

Meeting Maura Genet for the first time!

Maura Genet and LiLi posing with some friends!

Maura Genet's bed at her orphanage

More friends!

Already playing games..even with language

barrier...they are having fun!

With Michael..that's the name he gives to Americans

so we can remember it. LOL

Traditional Coffee Ceremony

Popcorn is served during the coffee ceremony

I love that girl! She has been such a trooper!

Employees at Maura Genet's orphange

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Maura Genet writing in her notebook

Bathtime

Our flight arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on time. We made it through customs, Immigration and baggage claim in a little over an hour. This I'm sure wil not be the case when we go through JFK on the way home.:) The Sheraton shuttle took us to the hotel. The area outside of the airport is very pleasant with lots of beautiful flowers. It's not until you start driving that you see all of the hardships in Ethiopia.

The Sheraton is beautiful. It is surrounded by a gate with guards present at all times. The people were very friendly and seemed to adore LiLi. We checked into the hotel and then had some lunch. We then called the orphanage to arrange for a driver to pick us up to take us to pick up Maura Genet. They said that they didn't have a driver available..would it be possible for them to pick us up tomorrow morning. I said, "no, that I wanted to go today..could we arrange something else?" (I mean come on..I already had my necklace engraved with her Gotcha Day being today!)hee hee They said that they would find a driver. About 15 minutes later they were there to pick us up.

When we got to the orphanage, we were escorted to a room. I looked in the window and saw several adults. When I walked in, I saw Maura Genet sitting in a chair in the corner. I went to her and huged her. She knew exactly who I was and had a huge grin on her face. She was holding the bible and photo album that we had sent her. She also hugged LiLi. We spent about an hour at the orphange. I took lots of pictures of her with her friends. She also showed me her room and where she had slept. You can tell that she really had a tight bond with the friends that she had made during the last 7 months at the orphanage.

The staff at the orphanage was very friendly. They had a readitional coffee ceremony for us, complete with rge popcorn. It was so cute...Maura Genet was serving us the popcorn by walking around with the bowl and offering it to us. I think LiLi ate 3/4 of it! :)

We ended up getting back to the hotel at dinner time. After dinner, I gave Maura Genet a shower and after reading a couple of books and saying prayers she fell right asleep. This was a very emotional day but I am glad that I made the trip to see our daughter's birth country.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

SUNDAY, MARCH 21st

2010-03-25T15:16:00.000-04:00

Our beautiful LiLi..such sweet pictures

Having mint lemonade and a muffin from

the Starbucks in the Dubai airport!

At the Dubai airport

You would think she would be tired..

We arrived in Dubai on time. LiLi slept about 4 hours on the 12 hour flight and I probably slept about 3. The flight was actually very smooth ( as most of you know...I really don't care for flying). The food looked really good. I wasn't very hungry so I just ate yogurt and fruit but LiLi seemed to like hers. LiLi did remarkably on the flight. I was so proud of her. We were very lucky that the nice lady beside LiLi let her put her feet across her lap. Her head was on my lap and I was trying really hard to keep her from kicking the lady. She saw what a struggle I was having and said that she had a 5 year old at home and that she could put her legs on her lap. She was from Dubai, I think, and was extremely nice.

It was a very smooth process getting through Immigration and taking the shuttle to the hotel. The hotel was nice and we ate dinner almost immediately after checking in. Of course, I somehow lost my voucher from the Dubai airport to the hotel...but I did later find it. :) Dinner was good. They had a lot of curry rice dishes and some great desserts. LiLi and I were able to take showers and freshen up. LiLi only slept from 11p-3a but I was able to sleep from 11p-6a. LiLi just sat on her bed and played..at least she was somewhat resting.

We took the shuttle from the hotel to the airport at 6:30 am. It was great to get coffee from Starbucks at the Dubai airport. At this point, LiLi and I are superexcited. We have a short 4 hour flight and then we will be landing in Ethiopia!

I can finally update my blog!!

2010-03-25T14:45:00.000-04:00

AT JFK (waiting at the gate)

Today is the first day that I have been able to update our blog. We have had no trouble getting on AOL or facebook but couldn't access the blog. So...I will be starting from the beginning.

Saturday, March 20th: Today we tried to keep to our routine as much as possible. We had our Saturday morning breakfast at IHOP before going to LiLi's tapp and jazz class. I spent most of the afternoon packing. We left for Kelly and Dave's house at 3:30...a little late since I had misplaced my phone...oops Kelly and Dave were nice enough to take LiLi and me to the airport. It is 2 1/2 hours away and I didn't want Bella to have to see me getting dropped off at the airport. We got to JFK at about 6:30. As soon as we walked in, I met up with Lisa (who is traveling with us to Ethiopia). It was perfect timing. It was a very smooth process to get checked in at JFK. We are flying Emirites Airline so we had to stop at the desk to get our hotel and meal vouchers for Dubai. We had dinner together and then headed for our gate. Our flight took off a little late at 11:30 pm.

Then and Now

2010-03-15T19:25:00.000-04:00

Bella Bowling! I think she got a strike! LOL

March 2009

I am posting 2 pictures. One from March 09 and one from March 10. Bella Boo is growing up so fast! We love you Boo!

BELLA'S BOO ONE YEAR GOTCHA DAY!

2010-03-14T22:05:00.000-04:00

Gotcha Day cake! It was YUMMY..mommy gave
up chocolate for lent so the kids suffered! :)

LiLi, Bella and Jace

Kelly and Riley (adopted from Ethiopia Dec. 09)

Bella's Gotcha Day necklace!

Today is a special day. One year ago today, Isabella Dasash Mulu joined our family. She has brought us so much joy and LiLi so much pain!! Haha

She is such a self confident and happy little girl. She is enjoying her preschool classtwo mornings a week. She loves to play barbies with LiLi. Her favorite place to go is The Please Touch Museum and her weekely Little Gym class.

We celebrated her special day by going to Almaz Cafe. It is an Ethiopian Restaurant in Center City Philly. We had a cake for her with a candle. We sang Happy Gotcha Day to her. Kelly and Dave and their kids, Taylor, Jace and Riley celebrated with us. We had a great day!

I am posting a few pics..hope you enjoy!

We have confirmed travel dates!! WOOHOO!!

2010-03-07T08:44:00.001-05:00

I received a phone call from Lisa on Friday afternoon. We will be leaving for Ethiopia on Saturday, March 20th and will return on March 27th. (on LiLi's 4th Gotcha Day). We will be leaving from JFK and flying to Dubai, where we will spend the night. That flight is about 13 hours long. After spending the night in Dubai, we will have a 4 hour flight to Addis Ababa. We arrive in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia around noon on Monday, March 22nd. We will meet Maura Genet that afternoon. :) George, Bella, and Anna will spend the night in New York the night if the 26th so they can be at the airport to greet us when we get off the plane early in the morning on the 27th.

I will post more later. We are spending the weekend in Groton, Connecticut visiting one of my oldest friends, Nikki and her family. We are also spending time with the staff at The Groton Motor Inn since we have been coming here for George's business for years. We took the kids bowling for the first time yesterday and them went to a great playground.

I will post again soon!!

WE PASSED COURT!!!

2010-02-16T13:57:00.001-05:00

Maura Genet Jan. 10

Feb 2010

Praise the Lord! We passed court today! I received a phone call from Lisa, our Ethiopian adoption director, this morning. We are super excited. We will get our Embassy date within the next week or so. LiLi and I will be traveling to Ethiopia within the next 4-6 weeks. Please continue to pray for a safe trip and a smooth transition. Hope you enjoy the pictures of Maura Genet.

2nd Court Date Tuesday, Feb. 16th

2010-02-12T11:56:00.000-05:00

I received an email from my agency this morning. Our court date is this Tuesday! Please pray that all of Maura Genet's paperwork is in order and that all the key people attend. I will post as soon as I hear something.

LET IT SNOW!!

2010-02-10T14:25:00.000-05:00

Don't laugh at my snowman!

My wonderful honey!

YUMMY Hot chocolate! Bella's

with whipped cream, LiLi's without!

Mommy making a snow angel

The Thornley Family...missing

Anna, Maura Genet and Thomas

Baishi! (And of course Chris and

Alison).

Today has been a blast so far. We woke up to about 6 inches of snow. After a couple of hours of freezing rain, the temperature dropped and we had lots more snow. It is currently snowing 2 inches per hour. We took the kids outside for about an hour and built a snowman. This was the first time that either George or myself has built a snowman. We didn't have anything to make eyes, nose or a mouth with..but it was a lot of fun. After making snow angels, we headed to Cosi for hot chocolate and coffee.

George has been reading today and I have been scrapbooking while the kids have been playing. George has a big pot of seafood gumbo on the stove. YUM

Maura Genet Update: As it turn out, we didn't have court yesterday. There was a problem with translation and it wasn't scheduled for yesterday. Our "real" court date is either Friday or Monday. I appreciate your continued prayers and support. We have been able to send her care packages through our families traveling. It was really neat to see that she was wearing the necklace that we gave her in December in some pictures that were taken a couple of weeks ago. :) We can't wait to bring our baby home~!

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

SNOW and stuff!!

2010-02-07T20:09:00.000-05:00

Christmas Morning

George and Anna C.

I love my black onyx necklace
that George gave me for Christmas~
Thanks Baby~!

Christmas Morning

Love this picture~

LiLi and Bella with their friend

Bodie

LiLi and Bodie

Between Friday night and Saturday afternoon Center City Philadelphia had 26.7 inches of snow. We had a great weekend. On Saturday, we played many games with the kids and watched a movie. After Bella took a 3 hour nap (first time ever) we headed out to play in the snow. The kids made snow angels and attempted to throw snowballs at mommy and daddy. We took them to The Naked Chocolate Cafe (a speciality chocolate shop) for hot chocolate to warm up after playing. Today we went to The Please Touch Museum for a few hours then had an early dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant in Center City. I just found out that LiLi's school is closed tomorrow due to the snowfall so we will have one more family fun day..except tomorrow will be minus George since he has to get back to work. :( It was so great to spend a weekend with NO commitments.

I have a couple of funny stories..one from each child. We will start with LiLi, age 5:

She had on a pair of pajamas that has the flap on the heini (I think I spelled that right) that buttons. She asked George what it was for and he explained that a long time ago when it was really cold and people went to the bathroom in an outhouse..they would wear them so they wouldn't have to take their pajamas off but could still use the bathroom. LiLi looked at George so seriously and said, "Daddy how would you get your penis all the way back there?" It was hilarious.

Now on to Bella...age 2. We were reading a book on colors last night. Bella looked at me and said, "Mommy, you're white and I'm brown and white". I said, "really". She looked at her skin on her hands and said, see brown and then turned her hands over and said see white. Then she pointed to her feet and said see brown..then showed me the bottom of her feet and said see white. They are too funny!!!

Maura Genet: We have her court date on Tuesday. We are praying that we pass. If we do..LiLi and I will be leaving for Ethiopia in 4-6 weeks. I will definitely post as soon as we hear something.

We are heading to New York this weekend Friday through Monday. We are driving there on Friday morning. We plan on visiting a few historic places and then going to our normal M&M store, Toys R US, and Ruby Foos's for dinner. We also plan on taking the kids to Central Park. We are trying to take several weekend trips to New York since we are moving back to Charleston in August. We are keeping the condo in Philly since George will be working up here Monday-Wednesday 3 weeks a month and then will work in the Charleston office every Friday and the 4th week of every month. We will definitely miss Philly but we are so glad that we will still be visiting often (during school breaks).

Today was the last day of Bella's medication. She has been on Rifampin for 6 LONG months since her TB skin test was positive. She didn't have active TB but was exposed at some point..or it could have been from the TB vaccine that she received in Ethiopia. There is really no way to tell so to be safe, she was on the medication for 6 months. It was somewhat difficult because she had to take it on an empty stomach and couldn't eat for an hour after taking it. Today was her last dose!! :)

I am posting a couple of pictures. Hope you enjoy!!

OUR WONDERFUL LIFE!! GOD IS GOOD!

2010-01-27T21:12:00.000-05:00

The Thornley Family has been in Charleston for the past couple of weeks. We drove down on a Saturday and George had to fly out to Los Angelos for a job the following Monday. While he was in LA, the girls and I drove up to Charlotte, NC to see my friend Wendy and her 4 month old twin boys, Cooper and Connor. It was a great trip. It has been a productive couple of weeks. LiLi had her Menactra (Meningitis) and Typhoid Vaccine for our trip to Ethiopia and I had my Typhoid and Tetanus vaccine. We have completed all recommended vaccines. I am going on Friday to have my titers drawn to make sure that I have antibodies built up to protect me against Hep A and B..since I know my first 2 Hep A vaccines in 2005 gave me no protection..I was revaccinated last month. We will see!! We have also spent time with several family members and friends.

We received a phone call from our agency on Monday to let us know that our court date was postponed until Feb. 9th. No explanation was given but they felt good that since it was rescheduled for only 2 weeks later..it was probably something minor..such as someone not showing up. We are praying that we pass on the 9th. After we pass, LiLi and I will travel 4-6 weeks later.

We are so excited that LiLi and Maura Genet got into our first choice school. I will not post the name on our public blog but we are SUPER EXCITED about this. They will go there K-5th grade. We also found a preschool 2 mornings a week for Bella that is close by our house. It seems that things are really falling into place for us..once again. We plan to move to Wadmalaw Island towards the end of the summer.

I will post again soon.

Please pray for us to pass court on the 9th.

WE GOT A COURT DATE!!!

2010-01-05T12:51:00.000-05:00

Lisa, the Ethiopian Adoption Director with our agency, just called me to let me know that we received a court date. It is Jan. 25th. PLEASE pray that we pass court the first time and that all the paperwork is in order. After we pass (have to stay positive, right)..we can be in Ethiopia 4-5 weeks later. LiLi's Gotcha Day is 3/27 and Bella's is 3/14..so it makes sense for Genet to have a MArch Gotcha Day as well. :) So far, I will definitely be traveling with Lisa and LiLi. Anna might come but not sure. George will be home with Bella Boo. I will post more later but wanted to share the news!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! Update from Mid Nov. till Dec. 4th!!

2009-12-19T20:43:00.000-05:00

Best of Friends (Sometimes)

Courtney, Nat and Ronda

Ansley and Ashton with Aunt Di

Michelle Corley and me

(friends since 1993)

LiLi with Matt Corley

Terry, Courtney and Jeff

Alison and Chris

Dad and Terry

Some of the decorations at Dad

and Terry's

The kids and Mom with Santa

at James Island County Park

Me and my baby after all these years!

LiLi's favorite spot!

I LOVE this picture!

Before the Turkey Day Walk

Nat and me!

Family/Friend group photo

George and me with my cousin Chris

On the front steps of our house

Today was BEAUTIFUL!! Would have been much better if George was here..he is working in Tupelo, Mississippi until tomorrow BUT we have SNOW! Lots of it. It is still snowing outside and so far we have had close to 13 inches in the city. They say this is the biggest snowstorm since 1902.

Adoption Update: No news yet. Our agency will be closed from Dec. 23rd until Jan 4th. They are getting an update from Ethiopia on Monday..so hopefully we will get our court date then. I did go to the travel clinic and get my Hep A, Polio booster, and Meningitis vaccine a few weeks ago for when we travel to Ethiopia. LiLi and I will go in January to get the rest of the vaccines. I still need Typhoid and Tetanus and LiLi needs Typhoid and Meningitis. Please say a prayer that we will get a court date soon. This time the waiting is harder since Maura Genet is 5 years old and is aware that she is being adopted. Sone good news is that our friends, Kelly and Dave, will be traveling Jan. 23rd through Jan. 1st to Ethiopia to pick up their one year old son. Our orphange has given her permission to visit Maura Genet's orphanage and spend time with her. I have given her a list of questions to ask her since they will have a translator there. George and I also made her a care package for Kelly to take. We know a lady from Ethiopia and she was nice enough to translate a letter for us, as well as, label the photos that I sent her...mommy, daddy, and sister. I look forward to hearing how she is doing. :)

We were in Charleston Nov. 20th through Dec. 5th. We had a fun trip. We spent a lot of time out at the Wadmalaw house. We are currently getting a new roof and air conditioner units. George has great plans for the house and I think it will be a great place to raise our family. LiLi and Bella had a great time on the golf cart. I was driving the golf cart through the woods while we followed daddy on the BIG tractor. Definitely a different way of living from Center City Philly but oh so peaceful! We had a family/friend get together out at Wadmalaw. It was a blast!We had 17 adults and 17 children. Thekids had a great time throwing balls, riding bikes, playing pool, riding on the golf cart and much more.

For Thanksgiving we had my mom, natalie and her family, Chris and Allison over for dinner. It was delicious. George cooked two turkeys (stuffed one with oyster dressing) YUM, homemade cranberry sauce, rice and lima beans, sweet potato casserole and gravy. Mom and Nat brought green bean casserole and macaroni. Did yall see what I made...NOTHING!! Isn't my husband the best! :) George stayed home and cooked while Bella and I did the Turkey Day Walk. It was a beautiful day and I had a fun time.

LiLi's 5th Birthday was on Nov. 27th. George and I keep looking at her lately and can't believe what a big girl she has become. For her birthday, we took her to James Island County Park. We went with my mom, Anna and Natalie and her family. It was a lots of fun. The kids saw Santa, ate smores, rode the Merry go Round and looked at the displays. Bella LOVES Santa. It is amazing how she walks up to him and says , "Hello Santa Claus Ho Ho HO". We had a family party on Nov. 29th. It was great to see all my family together at once.

We also spent one Saturday with Dad and Terry. They had us over for an "early Christmas". They had the house all decked out for Christmas. The kids loved to walk around and push all the Christmas toys that made noise.

Well...I was going to update through today but I ran out of time. I will update more soon...especially if we get a court date!

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

FINALLY UPDATING!!

2009-11-10T19:30:00.001-05:00

Bella and LiLi playing the piano at Wadmalaw

The Thornley Family

This would be the tractor that George just

purchased for Wadmalaw. He is super excited!

LiLi and Bella with their cousin Logan

Bella helping mommy fold clothes

LiLi at the Urban Farm

Bella LOVED this part at the fire station

This would be the morning ritual of fixing Bella's

hair. Yes, she always cries and I am so careful to be gentle.

She has to hold LiLi's or George's hands while I fix her hair.

How cute!

LiLi and Bella in their Ethiopian dresses!

Sorry for the long delay in posting. It had been a busy few weeks.

Adoption Update: We are still waiting on a court date in Ethiopia. We should hopefully hear something in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully, our court date will be in December. We did get 14 updated photos of Maura Genet. A family with our agency traveled to Ethiopia to pick up their child. We sent a care package to Maura through them. We sent her a baby doll, a book, a children's Bible and several pairs of princess underwear. We received several pictures of her opening the care package..her face lit up when she saw the underwear. She is a beautiful child. I have decided to travel to Ethiopia to pick her up (rather than having her escorted home, like Bella was). George and I feel that it would be better for bonding if one of us traveled and met her at the orphanage rather than have her spend a few days with an escort and get dropped off at the airport with us. Anyone who knows me well, knows that this is a big step for me. I don't really like flying and the only other time that I have been on a long flight without George is when I traveled to Hawaii to visit him several years ago. Of course, George offered to go but I really have a strong urge to make this trip. George will stay in Philadelphia with LiLi and Bella. He is taking the entire week off from work to be "Mr. Mom." :) I probably will be traveling with the Ethiopia Director of the agency that we are working with. I feel very comfortable with this arrangement since she has traveled to Ethiopia before. She seems like a great person. Please pray that I will continue to be at peace with this decision. If we have a court date in December, we could travel as early as late January.

Since my last post, we have had lots of fun. At the beginning of October, we took the girls to a Philly's game. We had a blast. LiLi was really into it for about an hour and a half and Bella for about 5 minutes! :) The kids loved the ice cream that was served in a plastic baseball cap. They also had Build A Bear at the stadium. LiLi picked a bear and Bella picked the Phillies Phanatic.

We have made two trips to Charleston. One for the long weekend (Oct. 8-13th) and a shorter trip for my niece, Logan's 6th birthday party over Halloween weekend. It was great to see family and friends. For Halloween, LiLi dressed up as Princess Ariel and Bella dressed up as Holly Hobie (one of LiLi's old costumes). I guess in a few years Bella will be Ariel for Halloween. :) We went trick or treating in my sister's neighborhood. We had a great time.

Bella is doing great. She is in preschool 2 mornings a week and loves it. I chaperoned her class on both of their field trips...One to the fire station and one to a farm. At the farm, Bella was able to brush the animals, ride a pony, pick a pumpkin and feed rabbits. Her favorite thing to do is to go to a Mommy and Me class at Little Gym on Monday mornings. She wakes up everyday saying, "We go to Little Gym today?" She loves puzzles and books. Her favorite book right now is "Hush Little Baby". She is so precious and fits into our family perfectly. We finalized her adoption in SC. This is a requirement..so we are glad that this step is completed. She now has a SC birth certificate that states she was born in Bar Dahr, Ethiopia. This means that her adopoption is on file with the SC Vital records just in case any of the original paperwork gets misplaced.

LiLi loves her school. We are really going to miss it when we go back to Charleston. SHe has been on several field trips this year. I chaperoned the first one to a Urban Organic Farm right in Center City. It was really neat. We drove on a small school bus and had a great time. I couldn't go on the other ones because they had to take turns with the other parents. Can you believe that? :) They go on a small bus with room for only two parents. LiLi takes Mandarin classes every Thursday night in New Jersey. She is really enjoying them and has learned her numbers 1-10, some colors and some animals. There are about 6 girls in her class between the ages of 4 and 7. They have all been adopted as well. She also takes jazz and tap classes on Saturday mornings. She LOVES music and drawing.

George still loves his job. He is doing quite well and they have asked him to take on a couple of more projects as well. He does travel now one week out of every month. It is usually to either Tupelo, Mississisppi or Lakehurst, NJ.

I have been busy at LiLi's school. Right now I am working wih one other lady to coordinate the Scholastic Book Fair the first week of December. I am also on the Board for Families with Children from China in the Philly and entire Delaware Valley area. It feels good to be involved again and to meet some people. :) I am also a part of a woman's bible study that meets every other Friday. This group has truly been a blessing.

Anna is working hard her senior year. She has applied to a few colleges. She is working a good bit at Jim N Nicks. Not only is she a hostess but she caters for them also. I am enjoying collecting pictures for her senior ad page in the yearbook. She said, "Diana, their not supposed to be embarassing". I said, "Anna, let me handle this". HAHA no..seriously, it's really hard when we have so many pictures to choose from and can only pick a maximum of 12. Anna will be in Philadelphia with us for Christmas this year.

I think that sums everything up. Hope everyone is doing well and has a wonderful holiday season.

NIAGARA FALLS!! What a blast! and our REFERRAL FROM ETHIOPIA!!

2009-09-29T18:01:00.000-04:00

I know that I am backtracking some but with the new school year and our new REFERRAL we have been busy! I will tell you about our new daughter after Niagara Falls! :)

We took the girls to Niagara Falls August 21st-27th. We drove there from Philly...it took about 7 hours...not a bad drive at all. We stayed at The Hilton on the Canadian side of the falls. We were on the 43rd floor and had a great view of the American and Canadian Falls. Two of the nights that we were there...they did a huge fireworks show over the views. It was great because we were able to watch it from the room.

While we were there, we did a lot of walking. We drove to Clifton Falls...which is like a mini Myrtle Beach strip. We took the kids to a lego museum, inside playground and much more. While we were there we had lunch at Rainforest Cafe..probably not the best pick for Bella since everytime it thundered she jumped into my arms. :(

We also went on a 5 1/2 bus tour of Niagara Falls. Believe it or not...the kids did GREAT. We went right up to the Falls on the Maid of the Mist Boat, Butterfly Conservatory, Journey Behind the Falls, and a couple of more places. LiLi tried so hard for a butterfly to land on her at the Conservatory and right before we were leaving a beautiful blue one landed on her..it made her day.

On our last day, we drove to Niagara on the Lake. It is a cute town with lots of stores, restaurants, and lots to see. We had such a great time that we already have our trip booked for 2010.

Our Referral: We are happy to announce that we have accepted the referral of our daughter. Her name will be Maura Genet Haile Thornley and she was born on August 24, 2004. She is a few months older than LiLi so they will both be in Kindergarten next year..same school but different classes. She is beautiful. LiLi is so excited that she will be "my size". She is currently 45 inches tall and weighs 42 pounds. Please pray for a smooth process..getting a court date, having all the info to pass court the first time and bringing her home.

Home Almost 6 Months with Bella Dasash Mulu Thornley!

2009-09-10T21:08:00.000-04:00

Six months ago yesterday, George and I were in DC picking up our beautiful daughter. It was an amazing day. She has added so much to our family. She is LiLi's best friend on some days and well..on other days they don't like each other very much. This shows that they are truly sisters!

Bella has changed so much. She is talking in complete sentences. It is amazing that she has picked up on the english language in 6 months. She sleeps well..an hour nap during the day and 11 hours at night. She also eats well..she doesn't like most veges very much but will eat them if she is rewarded with a cookie. :) She also loves chocolate milk..just like big sister LiLi. She loves water and the girls only have juice on rare occasions.

All of her medical issues have cleared up..such as scabies, giarrdea, etc. She is very healthy and hasn't been sick once. She is gaining weight and getting taller everyday. She now weighs 23 pounds (still so tiny for a 2 year old).

This child is STUBBORN. She normally spends a good portion of the day in time-out. :) She LOVES to aggravate LiLi. It's funny LiLi is so serious at times and listens to the rules. She wants to please mommy and daddy and it is very seldom that she purposely disobeys us. Bella on the other hand, tries to see how far she can stretch the rules before she is punished. She has gotten better because George and I are extremely consistent. LiLi is forever telling Bella what she shouldn't be doing..we keep telling her that it is mommy and daddy's job. Needless to say we spend ALOT of time at museums, parks, etc. Life is great when we are not cooped in the house when it rains, etc. Overall, the girls have adjusted well to each other. We are truly blessed to have them in our lives. We are so glad that God chose them to be our daughters.

I am going to post a couple of pictures of Bella and I will post about our trip to Niagara Falls in a few days! :)

EXCITING NEWS FOR THE THORNLEY FAMILY!!

2009-08-29T14:13:00.000-04:00

As some of you know, George and I were originally adopting a daughter from Vietnam and a daughter from Ethiopia at the same time. Vietnam closed down on Sept. 1st, 2008 (our dossier had been in Vietnam since Nov. 12, 2007). Since that time, we decided to wait and see how the adjustment was from one child to two. Of course there has been some normal challenges, but overall, it has been GREAT! So...our dossier is now in Ethiopia for our last daughter. It has been there for awhile. We expect to have a referral around Christmas time. We are requesting a daughter between the ages of 2-4 years old. We are very excited. She should be home by the end of next summer!

We are blessed to have the privilege of raising our two beautiful girls! They bring us so much joy and happiness.

Please pray for a smooth adoption journey!

Diana and George

Our Wonderful View!

2009-08-17T16:44:00.000-04:00

This is the view that George and I see from

our balcony as we sip our Margaritas!

Part 2

2009-08-17T13:48:00.001-04:00

Micah, LiLi, Keaton, Bella,
and Cade

LiLi fell asleep with her stuffed
animal "Skittles" over her eyes

The Birthday Girl!

Claire!

Our beautiful girls!

Nana and G-Daddy (and their

eyes are open) :)

Abby, Anna, and Elizabeth

Karen and Micah

Daddy feeding Bella some yummy

birthday cake

Ava having a great time

Aunt Becky meeting Bella

for the first time!

Daddy with Brother Bill, sister Becky,

LiLi, and Brother-in-law Freddie

LiLi and Bella with their cousins

Madison and Kenzie!

LiLi having a blast popping bubble

wrap!

Hello everyone! I am just now getting around to posting Part 2. Let's start with the wek of July 20th. The Thornley Family had a total of 8 doctor's appointments. Yes..you heard that right. We all had dentist appts, dermatologists appts, eye appts, vaccination appts for the kids and more. Once again..good reports! Praise The Lord!

We also had our post placement visit with the social worker for Bella. It went very well. They actually just visit with the family and see how everything is going. This includes bonding, as well as how she is doing physically and emotionally. These visits are very important..it doesn't hurt us in anyway if we don't do them but it could hurt future adoptions for other families. The international countries like to see how their children are doing. Families also sign a contract in the beginning promising to follow through on these reports.

Bella had her 2 year old check-up while we were in Charleston. She now weighs 22 pounds and is 33 1/2 inches tall. She is talking up a storm..takes after mommy and LiLi. Poor George! :) She is almost up to date on all of vaccinations. After our trip to Charleston in November..she will be totally caught up!

We also met with an attorney to finalize Bella's adoption. She came home as a Permanent US Resident but not a citizen. We have to finalize her adoption here before she becomes a citizen. It's just a lot of paperwork. We are also readopting LiLi so she will have a SC birth certificate. It will say her name and that she was born in Nanchang, China but her birth will now be registered with the state of SC. This will make it much easier for her later in life when she may need a copy of her birth certificate, etc.

We had Bella's 2nd Birthday Party at The Children's Museum of the Lowcountry on July 25th. It was Mickey Mouse theme. She had a Blast! LiLi was too cute..she would help her open the gifts then yell, "thanks". We had a great turnout. That night my Dad and Terry kept both of the girls overnight. They kids had a great time and George and I had a great date! :)

We had a great trip to Charleston. It was fun to spend time with family and friends.

When we got back to Philly, we had one week to be completely moved out of the apartment and into the condo! We did it! It was rough but we are finally moved in and our condo looks great! We have bought a couple of great pieces for our house...a beautiful Chinese vase. It's about 3 feet high, very colorful, and it has several Chinese men and women on it. We also bought a beautiful wall hanging tapestry from Africa. The print is of three women dancing. These are really special to us since they represent our children's birth countries.

We are now back into our Philadelphia routine. The first weekend back, Chris and Alison came up for the weekend. We had a great time. The kids really enjoyed spending time with them, and we did too. :) My Dad and Terry are flying up for Labor Day weekend and my stepbrother, Corey and nephew, Cooper will be visiting the last weekend in Sept.

We leave on Friday for a week long trip to Niagara Falls and Toronto. We are super excited. Neither George or myself have ever visited these places before. We are staying at The Hilton with a view of the falls so it should be really nice.

LiLi starts Pre K on Sept. 11th. She is really excited but I am not looking forward to it. My playmate will be in school from 8:15 till 3:15. Bella starts preschool the following week..one day a week from 9 am till 11:30. I just want her to be around other kids!

And now..I will post some pictures! :)

July 2009 Part1

2009-08-03T20:18:00.000-04:00

LiLi and Bella "reading"
on the Mall in Washington, DC

Love this picture!

Bella and LiLi with their
Sister-in Law, Alison

With their brother, Chris!

LiLi (the princess) and Ava

Is LiLi excited or what??

My baby!

Margaritaville in Orlando!

That is a real parrot! It was so funny..

Bella would only touch LiLi's hand but

not the parrot.

My Family!! How did I get so

blessed?

I don't give them ice cream much

so this was a treat..I think they

liked it!

After a day at The Magic Kingdom

and the pool

Daddy and the Flea

Beautiful Boo!

Love this action shot

The Clan

My handsome Hubby that I

love so much!

LiLi and Bella with their Grammy

LiLi and Bella with Anna

Hello my friends! We had such a busy July that I will be breaking it down into 2 posts.

On July 3rd, we headed down to Washington, DC to spend the 4th of July weekend. We had a great time walking around DC and Georgetown. We had lunch at Zed's (a wonderfful Ethiopian restuarant). I asked the waitress a couple of questions and she answered them happily. We also had dinner one night at one of our favorites..Old Ebbitt's Grill. For the 4th, we headed to the mall and watched a spectacular fireworks show. We didn't get back to the room until after midnight..but of course the kids were up at 7. :) We got back to Charleston early evening on the 5th.

The week of the 6th through 10th was quite packed. We had 5 doctors appointments..all with good results. Praise God.

George's son, Chris, and his wife, Alison, had us over to see their house and for dinner. We had a great time. They were just marrid in April.

On July 10th, we headed down to Orlando, Florida. We meet my Dad and stepmom Terry and my sisters, brother-in laws, stepsister, stepbrother, nieces and nephews there. This was the first time that my sisters and my stepbrother had met Bella We had a low key week. The only park we visited was one day ay The Magic Kingdom. The kids had a blast but by 4 pm..LiLi was ready for the pool. We spent the rest of the week at the pool. It had a lazy river and a slide that the kids liked. LiLi could go down by herself and thought she was such a big girl. George took Bella down more times than we can count but then he decided she could go down by herself. I waited at the bottom of the slide to catch her She came down each time with a huge grin and arms open wide. LiLi is best friends with her cousin, Logan, so I am so glad that they had this time together.
We headed back to Charleston on the 18th.

George's son, Kevin, and his family came over on July 19th. My mom and her friend, Elizabeth, also spent the day with us. George made a great dinner...we headed to the playground after dinner. I am SO glad that we don' have mosquitos in Philadelphia. I sprayed us with repellent from head to toe and we had to leave because LiLi had 8 mosquito bites on her legs..poor thing.

I will post some pictures now. I will be posting Part 2 later this..so stay tuned! :)

FUNNY STORY!

2009-07-29T16:49:00.000-04:00

Hey guys! I will be posting about our trip to Charleston later this week but I wanted to share this funny story. I also have a lot of pictures to post. :)

Today LiLi and I were playing barbies while Bella took a nap. I was Eric and LiLi was Ariel. This is how the conversation went.

Mommy: So Ariel, do you want to go get a bite to eat?
LiLi: Do you want to get a baby?
Mommy: a baby..how are we going to get one?
LiLi: we'll adopt one
Mommy: from where?
LiLi: one from Africa and one from China..two daughters
Mommy: well..we better get started..we have ALOT of paperwork to do.
LiLi: I already did mine

It was so cute..I love my girls!

OUR WONDERFUL LIFE!!

2009-06-28T21:02:00.000-04:00

Tattoos they got at the Narberth
Music Festival! Of course they
had to match!!

Bella loves to dress up..just
like her big sister!

Father's Day morning before church!

Gabby, LiLi, and Eva

LiLi during her Little Gym

presentation!

Anna and Bella

We LOVE this picture! She has

such a precious smile!

Playing nurse/patient! :)

Thought this was so cute! LiLi

drew bodies for all the animals!

Daddy and LiLi after her dance recital!

LiLi and Eva at the sand playground!

Eva, Gabby, LiLi, and Faith

George and I at the Blue Fin

(manhattan)

Ruby Foo's (New York)

Bella loves her bitty baby!

Dianne, George, and me at Tequilas

Dianne and me (Devon's Center

City Philadelphia)

Well guys. Sorry I haven't posted in a month. We have been super busy! :)

Here are a few things that we have been up to since the last post. George has been away A LOT on travel. A week in Tupelo, Mississippi, another week in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and two trips to DC. Anna came to visit June 1st-12th. During her visit, the five of us drove to Manhattan for the weekend. We had a blast. We took the girls to the M&M store, Toys R US, our favorite Mexican restaurant and much more. On Saturday afternoon, Anna kept the girls while George and I saw Mamma Mia on Broadway. We had 2nd row seats and it was awesome. After the show, we went to our favorite restaurant in Manhattan, Blue Fin. Overall, it was a great trip and not a bad drive from Philadelphia.

Exciting News: We have moved from our 2 bedroom apartment to a beautiful 3 bedroom condo. It has all hardwood floors, 14 foot ceilings, granite counter tops, valet parking and much more. It reminds me of our house in Charleston..except the walls are white. Everyone knows that George and I love bright walls. :) I moved about 75% of everything while George was working..of course, I had the kids helping so it took much longer but was fun!

For Father's Day, I made George a personalized photo album using Snapfish. It took me HOURS to complete. It turned out perfect. It was about 80 pages and included a section on "just us", a section on Chris, Kevin, Anna, LiLi, and Bella. He LOVED it. He didn't have a lot of pictures of Anna when she was younger so I found a lot on his computer starting year 2000. We also gave him a tie with LiLi and Bella's picture on it (which he wore on Father's Day). We went to church on Father's Day morning, after LiLi and I cooked Daddy breakfast, and them went to Estia (a Greek restaurant in Center City) for lunch. We had a great day. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful husband and father.

We have also done many family things over the last month including the Children's Discovery Museum, Narberth Music Festival, had movie night a couple of nights and lots more. I helped out in LiLi's class during Vacation Bible Camp. It was a lot of fun. Bella had a great time hanging out with the "older kids". She did everything they did..including dancing, singing, and playing games. She followed LiLi everywhere and LiLi loved it. She would tell everyone.."this is my sister" then would take Bella's hand and lead her to the next activity.

On Friday, we are leaving to go to Washington, DC for the 4th of July weekend. LiLi is really looking forward to the fireworks. We are leaving on the 5th for Charleston and will be there until the 10th when we head to Disney World. We will be back in Charleston for the remainder of July after the Disney trip. We are doing Disney One day (lunch at Cinderella's castle) and one day at Sea World. The rest of the time will be spent by the pool. Charleston will be a very busy time with Dr,'s appointments for all 4 of us and visiting with friends and family. We are looking forward to seeing our granddaughter, Ava, as she grows so much each time we visit..such a pretty little girl.

I will post again soon! Blessings to you all!

SUMMER IS FINALLY HERE!

2009-05-26T08:32:00.000-04:00

We have had some beautiful weather the last week or so.

We had a great time at the circus. Both the kids loved it and sat through the entire 2 hours without any problems.

This past weekend, my friend Dianne, came to visit. We had a great time. Took her to some of our favorite spots. The kids loved having her here. Unfortunately, she didn't get much of a break from kids since mine were glued to her the entire weekend! :)

George left yesterday for Tupelo, Mississippi. He will be gone for a week. Bella woke up this morning and said "where's Daddy"? It was so cute.

I am taking the girls to New York this weekend. We are taking the train up on Saturday morning and coming back late Sunday afternoon. We are going to visit the American Doll store, Central Park, FAO Schwartz and whatever else we decided.

I am posting some pictures from the circus!

FUN! FUN! FUN!

2009-05-14T20:41:00.000-04:00

Mommy and LiLi on Mother's Day

My girls

LiLi with her teachers

Gabby, LiLi and Eva

The Three Musketeers

Beautiful!!

Mommy and her pookie duck baby!

George, LiLi, Bella, Aunt Helen and
Uncle Willie

We have had a busy couple of weeks. My Aunt Helen and Uncle Willie were in town from Reno, Nevada for a reunion. They came over for George's famous seafood gumbo on Sunday, May 3rd. I hadn't seen them since 1995 when I had visited them in Nevada. It was great for them to meet my family and to catch up. :)

I attended The Mother's Day Tea at LiLi's school on the 5th. It was so cute. They had fine China (or so it looked) and served hot tea with cookies. They put on a music show. You could hear LiLi over everyone. She loves to sing. We sat at a table with her two best friends in Philadelphia, Eva and Gabby. I really like their moms..we seem to have a lot in common so it was great chatting with them as well.

George and I went to see the Star Trek movie at The Franklin Institute on IMAX. It was a good movie and I'm not even a Star Trek fan. George really enjoyed it. The good news is that the next movie we see will be a chick flick. :)

I had a great but low key Mother's Day. We went to church then came home and RELAXED. We ordered Indian for dinner and it was so YUMMY! LiLi and Bella gave me a keychain that says "World's Greatest MoM". On the back it had all of the kids names. They also gave me a beautiful hydrangea. Anna sent me a really nice card and a gift certificate to Starbucks! George and LiLi also made me a wonderful breakfast. I am so blessed to have such a great family that loves me so much!!

This weekend will be so much fun. We are taking the girls to The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus on Saturday. Then LiLi and I are heading to Eva's birthday party. On Sunday, we have LiLi's ballet recital.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

LIFE IS GOOD!

2009-05-03T20:24:00.001-04:00

Beautiful Bella!

Anna and LiLi before prom

LiLi with her big girl bike

LiLi loves her brother!!

LiLi at the Strawberry Field!

The beginning of pink eye (right eye)!!
Fun Date at the Mexican restaurant!

Bella copying everything that LiLi does!

LiLi and Keaton!

The crew!

Grammy passing out the gifts!

BEAUTIFUL!!

Bella with G-Daddy

Mommy, LiLi, and Michelle

Bella with Nana and G-Daddy

The Thornley Family on Bella's Baptism Day!

LiLi, Jackson and Molly

This has been a very busy month.

BIG NEWS!! LiLi's surgery was cancelled. We went to her pre-op appointment on April 16th and the doctor said that her mouth was healed. The fistula (hole) in the roof of her mouth had repaired itself. This is nothing short of a miracle. We had the congregations at both of our churches praying for LiLi's surgery. The prayers obviously worked a miracle.

Bella was baptized on April 19th. It was a very special day. We had a get together at our house after the service. Bella did great during the actual baptism..didn't make a peep. Keeping the girls quiet during the service was another story..Bella and I spent most of the service walking around the graveyard at St. Michael's. :) Bella and LiLi received many cute gifts from lots of friends that came over after the baptism. It was so great seeing all the kids playing together. We had Keaton (3), LiLi (4), Bella (1), Cade (2), Micah (almost 1), Olivia (5), Joseph (I think 4), Caleigh (5), Michael (I think 8) and Ava (1) running around the house. It was so cute. We also had several older kids there as well.

On April 21st, Dad and Terry came over for dinner. We had a great time visiting with them, The kids kept them very busy!!

On George's birthday, the 22nd, we met Jennifer R., mom, and Elizabeth for dinner at Myabi's. It was a lot of fun. The kids did great at the restaurant. Mom bought Bella the Bitty Baby..she bought LiLi one a couple of years ago. They actually play dolls together really well. LiLi also spent the night with Grammy while we were in town and had a GREAT time.

We have all been a little under the weather. George had bronchitis, LiLi had a sinus infection and I got a horrible case of pink eye in both eyes. This was the first time that I have ever had pink eye and it was HORRIBLE!! We are all on the mend now. We were in Charleston just in time for the pollen now we are in Philadelphia just in time for their pollen season!! :)

I'm posting lots of pictures so let me know what you think!!

Bella has been home for one month!

2009-04-14T21:34:00.000-04:00

We have officially had Bella for one month! She is doing great. She is such a smart and happy little girl. She and LiLi get along really well..for the most part. LiLi is such a great big sister. She has had moments when you can tell she needs a little one on one time..so we make a special point to continue with our "dates". Bella went to the doctor last week and received 5 vaccinations. Several titers that were drawn at the International Adoption Clinic were not adequate so they had to give her the vaccine. She also had her PPD placed. Her giarddea and scabies are gone! :) We had a great Easter! We went to church at 10:30 (made it through half the service then headed home).My friend Dianne, and her family were here from Chicago. We had dinner at her moms house and it was delicious. We had chicken, rice, butter beans, vegetables, corn, macaroni and cheese, banana pudding, and a too cute to eat bunny cake. We had a fun day and the girls loved what the easter bunny brought them.

ANOTHER GREAT WEEK!!

2009-03-29T19:49:00.000-04:00

March 27th was LiLi's Gotcha Day. We adopted her 3 years ago. She had a great day. I made chocolate chip cookies for her class. She told EVERYONE..in the elevator, the front desk, her class.."today is My Gotcha Day". It was so cute. She loves unicorns so George and I got her a stuffed unicorn and a unicorn book. We got her an awesome cake from an all natural French bakery that is AWESOME!! We went to Asia on the Parkway, her favorite restaurant for dinner. We had such a great day and we are very glad that Karen could spend the day with us!

We had a great second week! Bella has learned a couple of more words and she can point to her eyes, nose, mouth and ears when asked. She had an appointment at The International Adoption Clinic on Thursday and they were impressed with how she was on target for her age. She will literally do sommersaults on the floor and just start laughing. She did have scabies, which are tiny mites that bury theirselves under the skin, so we had a cream party last night. George, Bella, LiLi, my friend Karen who was here visiting and myself had to cover ourselves with a medicated cream. We then had to wash all linens, etc. This is very common when you adopt a child from Ethiopia..and it really is not a big deal at all..small price to pay when you see a scared child transform into a happy, confident child right before your eyes. We are so blessed to have her for a daughter. She fits our family perfectly. :)

A BIG thanks to my friend Karen. She was here Wednesday to Sunday. Her husband stayed home with her three young boys so she could come give me a hand. She cooked, cleaned, bathed LiLi, cleaned out the pantry, and SO much more. I have a freezer full of food that she prepared and then put into the freezer for future use! Such a dear friend! I love ya girl!! :)

Here are some more pictures! Gotto go do more laundry!! Hee Hee!!

Our first week together! :)

2009-03-22T17:43:00.000-04:00

We have had a great week..overall! :) LiLi has adjusted to big sisterhood pretty well..not jealous at all of sharing her parents..just her toys! SHe is a big help bringing me the wipes, diapers, etc.
Bella is doing great. She went to her pediatrician appointment on Tuesday. She is tiny..18 pounds 14 ounces and 31 1/2 inches tall. She has an appointment with the International Adoption Clinic on Thursday. SHe is sleeping 11-12 hours a night and takes an hour nap. SHe eats almost everything...but doesn't seem to like milk. Of course we have the language barrier but she is stubborn. If you take something away from her that she wants..she sits and just looks at you for about 10 minutes with her bottom lip pouting. Then she is fine. She has already started to say "open", "papa" and she calls me ma me a. She also gives plenty of kisses. My friend, Karen, will be here Wednesday through Sunday (can't wait)! Anna was here this past Wednesday through Saturday morning. Our church has been bringing us dinner Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays and will continue for the next 2 weeks until we go to Charleston. We will be there for the month of April.

Today we left the house at 0945. We went to church, out to lunch, and to the playground. We had a great day. Both kids were exhausted. We are so proud of LiLi..she is such a great big sister!

Here are the pictures!!

More Pictures!

2009-03-15T20:57:00.000-04:00

WE ARE HOME!

2009-03-15T15:18:00.000-04:00

We made it back to Philadelphia. She did great on the ride home. She was talking a mile a minute but of course we couldn't understand her. :) She got quiet when we got back to the apartment. LiLi was very sweet and gave her a hug. Bella Dasash is VERY scared of the kitties so we are keeping then away for the time being.

She just ate a whole banana. We are going to LiLi's favorite Chinese Restaurant for dinner tonight. We want to take Claire since she has never been.

Here are some more pictures!

2009-03-14T13:57:00.000-04:00

SHE IS HERE AND BEAUTIFUL!!

2009-03-14T13:45:00.000-04:00

We finally saw our beautiful daughter at 1030 this morning. She went straight to George and me smiling the whole way. She has been laughing so much! She had egg noodles and broccoli for lunch. They said that she eats everything and dislikes nothing so it looks like we have another easy eater here. She has been playing with her play telephone since we gave it to her..and keeps putting it up to her ear saying "Hello". I will post more later but here are the pictures you have been waiting for!!

We are in DC!!

2009-03-13T21:20:00.000-04:00

It took us 4 1/2 hours to drive to DC today instead of the normal 2 hours and 45 minutes. We ran into a lot of traffic. We arrived at Embassy Suites at 6, took showers and then headed out to a mexican dinner. YUM :)

We just checked on Bella Dasash's flight. They have completed the 6 hour flight to Rome and will leave shortly for the 9 hour flight to Dulles.

LiLi is having a blast with Claire. She wasn't concerned at all when we left for DC. She asked Claire before bed.."how many days until I can see my baby sister Bella?"

Please pray that the entire Thornley Family stays healthy. Please also pray for good bonding. I'm sure that she is very scared since she has left the only country that she has ever known.

We will be posting pictures tomorrow afternoon. Please leave comments so I can print them for her baby book.

The Thornley Family

Introducing Isabella Dasash Mulu Thornley!!

2009-03-12T19:31:00.000-04:00

18 months

15 months

I am walking out the door to go pick up Claire from the airport. She will be keeping LiLi Friday through Sunday while George and I go to DC to pick up Bella Dasash. I received the okay today from the agency to post pictures. I will be posting many more on Saturday so please check then as well!

Happy Anniversary Baby!

2009-03-07T20:43:00.000-05:00

Four years ago today George and I got married. Our big wedding was on April 9th. March 7th was very special because it was just the two of us together with our preacher. After we were married, we went downtown and had lunch at Magnolia's, then we headed to the Market Pavilion for a drink. It was a very special day.

7 days to go!

Getting things ready!

2009-03-02T08:58:00.000-05:00

Bella Dasash will be here in 12 days! LiLi and I made a chain out of colored construction paper and every morning she tears one off. Today she said, "it's getting shorter".

George has made several trips to IKEA. He has now put together a chest of drawers for our room, a great wooden organizer for the hall closet(which is our pantry) and side table with drawers that we have next to the computer. He did this with LiLi's help so it took a VERY long time. The only thing else that we need is a wooden organizer with colored bins to go into the girls room. Bella Dasash will be in our room for the first few months so there is no rush.

I have made all the appointments. Over the next 12 days, we are getting the cars washed, the oil changed, haircuts, my lip and brow waxed (TMI :)), and making our final trip to Buy Buy Baby for wipes, etc. We have made Bella Dasash's appointment with The International Adoption Clinic at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and have a call into the pediatrician.

Today is a snow day so LiLi's preschool is closed BUT George had to go to work! We will make it to her Little Gym Karatenastics class. :)

Please continue to pray for a safe trip home from Ethiopia as well as a smooth transition!

DASASH (Bella) IS COMING HOME!!!

2009-02-25T17:52:00.000-05:00

We are so happy to announce that we received a copy of Dasash's travel plans today. We will meet our newest daughter the morning of March 14th. :) We will start off calling her Dasash since we found out that is what they call her at the orphanage. We will slowly transition her to Bella. Our friend and babysitter will be staying two nights with LiLi so we can have a couple days to bond with her. Please continue to pray for safe travels!

GREAT NEWS!!

2009-02-23T15:13:00.000-05:00

Our adoption agency called this morning to let us know that they have confirmation from The US Embassy in Ethiopia that our I600 approval has arrived. This is the last step. Our agency started making travel arrangements today. As long as there is flight availability..we should have Bella March 14th or 15th!! :)

We will keep you posted!!

We are almost there!

2009-02-12T09:20:00.000-05:00

Our APPROVED I-600 arrived at the National Visa Center in New Hampshire on Monday. It will be forwarded to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia sometime this week. When it arrives in Addis..probably mid next week it will be time for the escort to travel. After confirming that the I-600 arrived in Ethiopia she will travel 2 weeks later. We are hoping to have our daughter home the first or second weekend in March! We have the double stroller ready, outlet covers in place, bottles, sippy cups and cloth diapers bought. We are in the process now of sending 7 outfits, a cloth photo album, blanket, and snuggle to Tami (the escort) so she can take it to Ethiopia with her. I am DONE with paperwork for the moment! :) Claire, our family friend as well as LiLi's first babysitter, will fly up here to stay with LiLi while George and I travel to DC to pick up Bella. We feel that this would be best since LiLi is so excited and does not understnad that Bella will be scared and not ready to play with her at any given moment. I am really happy with our decision that George and I are traveling to get her alone.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers and to pray specifically for safe travels and good health for Tami, Kari and our daughter.

LiLi's Big Day!

2009-01-23T18:53:00.000-05:00

Today LiLi had her "big show" at The Little Gym. She did great and seemed to really enjoy herself. At the end of the show, she got a medal that they put around her neck. LiLi thought that was great.

On another note, our paperwork made it to our local CIS office. They are processing the final paperwork for us to bring Bella home. We seem to be on target for bringing her home mid to late March. My friend, Claire, is having a baby shower for me on Sunday. I am super excited.

We are leaving in the morning to go to Charleston. We will be there until Friday and then we are heading out for our cruise! Our last trip before we expand our family. We are all very excited. We actually got an updated picture of her today! She is growing like a weed! :)

I have been tagged!

2009-01-20T10:55:00.000-05:00

I was supposed to pick the 4th picture in the 4th file in my pictures section. This is it! It is a picture of LiLi feeding Ava (our granddaughter..who is one month younger than Bella) a bottle! Sweet picture!

Almost forgot, I tagged Dena, Kathy, Rebecca, Jen, and upstate mom (sorry don't remember your name)

The paperwork is on the way!

2009-01-19T20:57:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to give everyone an update! Our adoption agency called tonight to let us know that they received the paperwork that we have been waiting for from Ethiopia TODAY!! They are overnighting it to us tomorrow so we should receive on Wednesday. At that time, we will fill out all the paperwork and send to the Charleston CIS office. Hopefully everything will be back to Ethiopia in 4-6 weeks and then the escort will go to Ethiopia to bring her home. This is great news since the paperwork usually takes 4-6 weeks to get here from Ethiopia and today was only week 3! :)

God is Good!

Heading to Washington, DC

2009-01-12T16:44:00.000-05:00

We are taking the train to DC tomorrow night until Thursday afternoon. George has a couple of meetings so LiLi and I are going to do some sight seeing. We are staying right near China Town so we will definitely go there.

We are waiting on paperwork from Ethiopia. Once we get that... we have to fill out some forms and just wait. We should be on track for mid March. We are so excited and can't wait to bring home our precious girl! :)

PRAISE THE LORD! WE PASSED COURT TODAY!!

2008-12-29T16:41:00.000-05:00

Our adoption agency called today at 11:37 am to let us know that everything went through today and that Isabella Dasash Thornley (Bella) is officially our daughter. We are so very happy. We should have her home by the beginning of March! Our adoption coordinator suggested that we not post a picture until we actually have her in our arms so I won't be posting a picture. This is such an important day for us, as well as Bella. I think about how her life is getting ready to dramatically change. I pray that she will make the transition easily. I also continue to pray for her good health until she comes home to us. Thank you for all your support!

Court Postponed Till Monday

2008-12-27T18:57:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! I received a phone call Friday morning to let me know that the judge got sick and that court is rescheduled for Monday, the 29th! Please keep praying..I will post Monday as soon as I hear something.

We are having a great time in New York. We saw Shrek on Broadway today and it was awesome. We also went to The American Girl, Toys R US, FAO Swartz, and much more! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2008-12-25T18:08:00.000-05:00

This has been a wondeful holiday season. On Christmas Eve, George, LiLi, and I did a little shopping in the morning. Then we took LiLi to get her bangs cut..she can now see again! :) We went to the 5:30 church service then went out to dinner at a wonderful Italian resturant. LiLi fell asleep on the way home but she woke right up when I asked her if she was ready to put out Chocolate popcorn and milk for Santa. We decided that Santa gets enough cookies so we left him "Dreamy Chocolate" popcorn from Dale and Thomas Popcorn. It is AWESOME!! George and I had a great night together..just the two of us reminiscing about our wonderful life together.

Christmas morning LiLi woke up at 3:50..yes..that's what I said 3:50. She came into our room and I went and got her sleeping bag and told her she could sleep next to our bed but it was not time to get up yet. She said, "I think I saw what I just saw". We were pretty impressed that she came into our room and that she didn't start playing with her toys. She woke up a couple more times and then at 6:10 we all got out of bed. SHe loved what Santa brought her. George had a great time taking pictures of her with his new camera..a Nikon SLR. That was our Christmas gift to each other. This is the first year in a long time that I didn't leave the house AT ALL. It was great. George cooked a turkey stuffed with oyster dressing, butter beans, and rice and I made a sweet potato casserole. We had so many leftovers so we took them to the lady at the front desk of our apartment. She was very appreciative. We then all took a nap. I will say that I missed my family in charleston this week. Not necessarily today because there have been a few Christmas's when I didn't see them (especially working as a nurse) but I always see them during the holiday season. I really enjoyed spending the actual day at home..just the three of us.

Tomorrow we leave in the morning to take the Acela train to NY. We are spending three nights there. Anna is flying up tomorrow to meet us there. We are taking the girls to see Shrek on Broadway as their Christmas gift ( as well as a weekend in NY). Anna is keeping LiLi on Sunday while George and I see The Jersey Boys! It should be a great weekend.

Tomorrow is also our court date for Bella. I have been thinking about it all day. I pray that everything goes through and that we pass court on the first try. Our adoption agency said that she will call me tomorrow and let me know. I thought this was very nice of her since the agency is actually closed. Please pray for us to pass court..this should be one of the last hurdles!

I hope everyone had a fun filled family day..and Merry Christmas!

Gingerbread House Decorating at The Ritz Carlton-Philadelphia

2008-12-21T18:10:00.000-05:00

Today was so much fun. We created memories today that we will remember always! George, LiLi and I went to The Ritz Carlton for the Gingerbread House Event. It was GREAT! When we first got there, they put an apron and chef's hat on LiLi while passing out mimosas to the adults. They had carolers singing all the Christmas favorites. We went in to the ballroon and they had big tables for all the kids to sit and decorate the gingerbread house. The best part was that the houses were already put together so there was NO frustration waiting for the house to crumble. LiLi had a BLAST and decorated most of it herself. Santa Claus made a surprise visit after an amazing brunch. He read all the kids "Twas the Night Before Christmas" while they all gathered around him. Then all the kids had their pictures with Santa while they staff at The Ritz wrapped up all the gingerbread houses. It was a wonderful experience that we will definitely do again.

PICTURES!!

2008-12-21T17:50:00.001-05:00

LiLi showing Santa her gingerbread house!

LiLi mailing letter to Santa at Macy's

Christmas Pagent at school

Christmas Party with new friends

Daddy with the Flea

LiLi and Lucy

G-Daddy, Nana and LiLi

LiLi with her dog, Biscuit

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! :)

2008-12-16T20:35:00.000-05:00

We are back in Philadelphia after our vacation to Keywest and a week in Charleston. We have a lot of fun things planned...Gingerbread house making, Shrek on Broadway in New York, friends visiting for the New Year and much more. LiLi has her Christmas Pagent for school this Thursday so we were busy making cookies today. It was a lot of fun!

When we were in Charleston, LiLi had an appointment with her plastic surgeon. I knew that her mouth didn't heal exactly like we wanted after her surgery in Sept. but the doctor confirmed that she will need surgery again due to a fistula (hole) that has formed in the roof of her mouth. BUMMER~~He wanted surgery in March but that will really be difficult since we will be getting Bella in March (hopefully). I asked about January but he doesn't want to schedule surgery during flu season! Good thinking! We are planning the surgery for May. Please keep LiLi in your prayers and pray for a successful surgery.

Our court date is next Friday! As long as we pass, Bella will officially be ours and I will be able to post a picture! :)

Hope everyone is having a great holiday season.

LOTS OF NEWS!!

2008-11-27T14:52:00.000-05:00

Today is LiLi's 4th birthday! We can't believe it. Time has flown by. She had had a great day. The guy at the pool bar brought her a big piece of chocolate cake on a plate that said "Happy Birthday LiLi". There were chocolate swirls everywhere! For lunch we went to Sloppy Joes (we are in Key West) and the guy singing announced that it was her birthday and the entire restaurant sang Happy Birthday to her. Tonight we are having our Turkey Day dinner at the hotel.

Bella turns 16 months today. We received 2 new pictures of her yesterday. She is smiling and her cheeks have filled out some. Her hair has gotten longer and it looks so soft and curly. She is truly a beautiful child. They did some more bloodwork and everything came back negative. We also received updated height, weight, and head circumference.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. We are so truly blessed!

WE HAVE A COURT DATE!!

2008-11-17T16:23:00.000-05:00

I just received an email from our agency..We have a court date..December 26th!! Please pray that everything goes smoothly!! If all goes well..she should be escorted to Washington, DC to meet her new family at the beginning of March! :)