First Communion!

Emma and Ellie have been so excited for this day!

They could not wait to wear their beautiful white dresses and have communion like Sarah and the adults in the family!

They love to dress up and look pretty AND they have gentle love for Jesus.

Ellie is always asking us questions about Jesus.

As they walked down the aisle at the beginning of church I was overcome with emotions.

It took me by surprise.

Tears welled up in my eyes and I had to fight them off.

These two girls have come so far in the 21 months they have been home.

I am so proud of them! 

They have been through so much in their short lives.

And now, here they are wearing white before the Lord and receiving Holy Communion.

They were a little nervous before and during the service.

When it was time for Emma to have her first communion she forgot everything we had practiced and talked about. Jim helped her through it.

Ellie was with me and she remembered and did everything correctly.

One of our priests is from Vietnam.

He has a special place in his heart for our children.

He talked briefly about adoption and had our family stand at the end of the service.

He said how thankful he is for adoption.

For being adopted by Jesus and for our church welcoming him into the parish family.

He was very kind and even got  little teary.

I am so thankful that these children are home!

They are like a flower unfolding.

It is an incredible blessing!

After church we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant!

The girls were on top of the world happy!

Mark had to catch a flight back to Denver right after dinner.

Yes, the big kids are dressed very casual...

pick your battles friends, 

pick your battles!

And that was not one I was going to pick!

Besides they usually do pretty good with dressing appropriately.

We brought the cake to the restaurant hoping we would have enough time to have it there- but it didn't work out, so we served it at home.

Ava was carrying the cake into the restaurant and she fell...

with the cake in her arms...

It hit the ground hard but landed right side up...

Whew...

Ava was fine and I think she was thankful the cake was okay too.

There was a little shifting going on as you can see in the picture!

Emma and Ellie never noticed a thing!

They were too busy being happy!