.: On the Journey :.: Time Flies!!!

Well, as seems to be a pattern, I am updating the blog now that we have completed our most recent home visit. A few weeks ago, we had our "annual" visit... although it has not quite been a year since Alex has been in the U.S. However, Nov 9 marked our one-year anniversary of completing court in Russia, which is technically when we were named as Alex's parents.

It's difficult in a paragraph or even an entire blog entry to summarize a year. Reminds me of the song from Rent ... you know, Seasons of Love - "525,600 minutes... how do you measure, measure a year?" There have been many times that we have looked back at pictures from when we were in Russia with Alex, and we are always in awe at how much he has grown and changed in this past year. The year has not been without it's trials and "lessons-learned"; there have been many "ah-ha" moments, as well as many "DOH!" moments! We have had a fair helping of fits and tears, but also an equally generous portion of hugs and kisses. And, of course, he has not been the only one changing... the girls (Lydia - 8 and Maddie - 6) have changed equally... they are getting SO big as well. Both are in school now and loving it, which is nice for Alex as it gives him a lot of one-on-one time with mommy.

Well, enough rambling, here is the most recent set of pics. Again, they are only a sampling... we have to provide Russia with 12-pics since the last report (in May). It is always difficult to narrow the pics down to just 12 when he has experienced so many new things in the past year. Now, our next visit is in a year... I can only imagine how hard it will be to narrow down a year's worth of pictures to 12!!

Enjoy!