and Gabe makes five

Hays featured on CNN.com

andystanton — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:09:31 +0000

Our little berg of Hays is featured on CNN.com today as a place to “ride out the gas crunch” - I guess they like our small town life. They report we have a “median commute of 9.12 minutes”. My commute is much shorter (if I’m not dropping off kids) it is usually about 5 minutes.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/moneymag/0807/gallery.bplive_gas_crunch.moneymag/2.html

Those eyes…….

andystanton — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:36:23 +0000

Cute, cute and even more cute, originally uploaded by andystanton.

I think he has a future in advertising. Anybody want to buy some bubble bath???

What a look!!!!

andystanton — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:35:13 +0000

What a look!!!!, originally uploaded by andystanton.

Need I say more???????

Waterpark

andystanton — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:33:24 +0000

Hi Everyone,
Well, we spent the week after vacation just relaxing. Today we went to the Hays Waterpark. Jackson has always been a great swimmer. This Summer Grace’s swimming skills have really taken off. She loves to swim underwater - she looks like a little mermaid swirling around at the bottom of the pool. She has already learned to float on her back. It is a little hard to swim with her in deep water. You never know when she needs an extra hand. If you try to grab her too soon she gets mad and tells you “I don’t need any help. I KNOW how to swim.” The next minute she is sputtering mad at you for not helping her sooner. I have told her many times that when she swims on top of the water her “swimming” doesn’t look a lot different that her “drowning”. Just to be on the safe side either Mom or Dad is always close by. Last trip to the waterpark Grace discovered she loves going down the big white water slide - of course Mom has to go with her (Dad can’t because of his insulin pump). Today I bet we went down that slide 30 times (and up the stairs to the slide). I am pooped! Gabe continues to make progress. He can kick his feet and put his face in the water. Today I even took him on the big white water slide. He loved it! Below, find a couple of pics from our day.

Dana

Happy Farmer

andystanton — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:41:58 +0000

Happy Farmer, originally uploaded by andydanastanton.

I’m playing around with my Flickr account today and found I can blog about a photo directly from Flickr to the WordPress blog.

This is my brother-in-law-to-be (in just a couple of weeks) out in the harvest field a couple of weeks ago. Ken and his twin brother, Dan harvested 2100 acres of wheat on their family farm near Burr Oak, Kansas.

Hengshan Reunion - Day 4 - Continued

andystanton — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 04:25:41 +0000

Hi All,
Tonight was the last night we spent as a group - in fact a few families have already headed for home. After a GREAT meal at Ed’s Cantina everybody came back to our condo for leftover cake and ice cream. I can’t describe how great it was to see everybody this weekend. Our nine families are from all over the United States. We are as different as can be except for one thing - we shared a life changing experience 3 years ago. Some adoption travel groups stay in touch, but I doubt any are closer than our group. To us they are family. We consider the girls to be sisters. It was especially sweet this reunion because the girls are really forming friendships.

Tomorrow we are heading to Kansas, but not before a stop in Denver for a tour of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. They have a mummy or two and Jackson can’t wait.

Below are some pics from this evening.

Dana

Grace and Kate

Katie

Beth, Dan and Grace

Pete and Grace

Sophie and Grace

Hengshan Reunion - Day 4

andystanton — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 23:10:02 +0000

Hi Everyone,
This morning we got up and walked the trail around Bear Lake. After dropping Andy, Gabe and Grace off at the condo Jackson, Kate, Jessica and I continued on to Copeland Falls. Below, find some photos.

Dana

Hengshan Reunion Day Three

andystanton — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 04:48:18 +0000

Hi All,
We were up bright and shiny this morning and we took all the girls to a nearby lake and had a professional photographer take their portraits. As you can see from the photos I posted they looked just beautiful. It is amazing how much they have changed since we met them in Changsha, Hunan three years ago.

After lunch - horrible service - some of us drove up Trail Ridge Road and saw some of the prettiest scenery I have ever witnessed. We traveled above the timberline to the tundra - there is snow on the ground there year round.

This evening we had everybody over to our condo for a pizza party. We also had cake and ice cream to celebrate that all the girls had turned four this year. It was great to be able to let the kids run and play while the grown-ups had a chance to visit. Tomorrow we are going to go hiking.

By the way, I don’t know what we would do without Jessica and Katie. They have been life-savers - especially helping us with Gabriel. We love them!!

Dana

Good Morning from Estes Park

andystanton — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 14:39:43 +0000

Here’s the view from our condo this morning!!!!

Estes Park Sunrise

View from our condo

Hengshan Reunion - Day Two

andystanton — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:50:37 +0000

Hi All,
Today we got up and made the scenic drive to Estes Park, Colorado. When we arrived we visited with our good friends Dan and Branna and their kids Thomas, Beth, and James. After lunch we all lounged in the pool. A great time was had by all. We are staying at Mary’s Lake Lodge and it is BEAUTIFUL!! Our condo is great - four floors! Three bedrooms 2 1/2 baths, laundry room, 3 decks - the works!!

Tonight we had dinner with all nine families. We all traveled together in March of 2005 to adopt our daughters. The girls were all from the Hengshan, Hunan orphanage. To us they are like an extended family - the girls just like sisters. The girls renewed friendships and had a great time.

Below, please find a few pictures.
Dana