One of Drew's many projects

Before the arrival of the baby, we are on a mission to completely clear out our house and so far we have done a great job. Countless trips to the Salvation Army have enabled us to have 3 "clutter free" bedrooms AND closets and the final stage is the garage.
Our canoe has always taken up way too much space so my husband finally came up with a creative idea to properly store it utilizing the fridge in the garage (smart I tell ya). He did a little research online and came across directions to build himself a little shelf (probably doesn't like me to call it that) but I must say it was an AWESOME idea. I don't think we will use the canoe much in the next year unfortunately so it really was worth it to gain the space.
Oh, what life would be like with a basement!

The year has come and gone :(

It is with mixed emotions that we took Jena to the airport on Saturday, June 6th. The year went by so quickly it is truly scary how quickly time passes us by as we get older. The above picture was right when she left us to go to her gate.

Jena was sad to leave yet so excited to return to her country and her family that she had not seen in 10 months. Such a HUGE thing for a 17 year old and she handled it like a champ, rarely ever showing any signs throughout the year of being homesick.

I have to say I was more emotional than I thought I would be putting her on the plane knowing how long she had to travel and the thought that we may not see her again for along time. I am confident we will keep in touch forever, and she still has high hopes of visiting us when we finally ever get to travel to China to bring our daughter home. It was a wonderful that she got to share most this pregnancy at least with her host mom, and I am certain we will meet again one day in the near future, especially if she comes back to the states during college.


We miss you Jena! Love, Drew and Nicole

Jena's going away party

We had a get together for Jena with the people/families she was close with this year one week before she left. We had pizza and cake at our clubhouse pool and it turned out really nice. Great weather and great friends all together one last time before she left us. It was actually sad realizing that a whole year had passed us by so quickly. I truly hope the contacts she made will stay with her throughout life.