Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a great holiday. We certainly did! Here are all of our kids sitting still in one place! Asking for them all to look at the camera was too much, as anyone who has tried to take a picture of more than one kid at a time will understand. We are so thankful for all of our amazing kids!

And here are Theo, Barton, Evan and Orion. 

I am blown away by the difference in this picture compared to their older photos. These kids are doing so well. Theo still loves all things Thomas the train, plus firetrucks. Barton looks like such a hipster! He went to see the new Star Wars movie and he loves to tell me that Star Wars is awesome. Evan is eating all of his meals from a spoon now, after drinking from a bottle for his whole life. Orion is still growing like a weed! Their old photos look so different. I found a few to compare just how much they've grown.


Theo used to be a lot smaller and less confident.

This was in our apartment waiting for passports!

Even though it is blurry, I love this picture. This was our first morning home! My daughter in the middle had just turned 7, to give you an idea of how small the boys were! Orion is on the left and Theo is on the right.

Barton was so small and shy. He has grown into himself and grown up so much.

His first picture with his papa!

He is so tiny! This is in the apartment right after leaving the orphanage for the first time!

Evan was so small and frail. I am shocked by how skinny he was. He used to be so easily overwhelmed but now he loves to sit on the couch with me.

This is on his 11th birthday while we were traveling home. That shirt and the other clothes he wore when we left the orphanage fit one of my younger sons when he was only 2.

Here we are in the orphanage getting him ready to leave. He was such a wee thing and he was so confused by everything going on, but also so happy to be able to stretch out and roll over beyond the bars of a crib. 

I'm sure I've said it a few times, but Orion is as tall as I am now! He is definitely a gangly teenager who doesn't always know where his body is in space because he has grown so quickly.

This was taken on our court day after we passed!

This was in our apartment waiting for passports. He is not only smaller, but his face looks so young.

I can't wait to see what the next year brings for our kids. We might also have another surprise in store, so stay tuned! 2016 is going to be awesome!