Someone turned 10 this week!

Someone turned 10 this week!!

Happy Birthday Cody!!

And this was his year to have a bigger party with friends!  He chose to have a video gaming party.  So Easy!! and So Fun!! 

All the boys loved choosing from all games and spending an hour and a half playing against each other.

All the boys

The trailer was 50 feet with 4 big screens inside, 8 gaming chairs, and air-conditioned.

All the boys were super excited to get in there and start playing.

Playing a little Mar*o Brothers

A little soccer action

Emma decided to get in on the action and play with Cody.

Woo Hoo!!  Gotta love gifts!

Miss Sonia helped keep me company. 

Getting ready to make the "very important Birthday Wish" and blow out the candles.

And BLOW!!!!!

I think Emma is enjoying her cupcake.  Mmmm!

Hudson is wishing his big brother a very happy birthday. 

What We've Been Up To

I know I've completely neglected the blog for the past month but we've had a lot going on and it's hard sometimes to find the energy in the evening after everyone has gone to bed to sit down and post some pics.

Sooo...I'm going to give ya a little taste of what the Spangenthal 5 have been up to.  There have been lots of "Firsts" for Hudson.

Big Sis Emma gave Hudson his first ride on the go-cart.

He loved it and quickly figured out what button to push to make it go.  In the end, he was taking Emma for a ride.

Hudson had his first trip to the beach.  The water was freezing and he wasn't too sure if he wanted to get into the water...

but.....as long as he was on Emma's lap, he didn't mind getting wet.

Cody had fun playing frisbee with his Daddy.

Here's the smiles we love.

Wheeeeee!!

Playing in the sand was fun.

Handsome little guy.

Love this girl!!

Love this boy!!

 More "Firsts" and Pics to follow.

A Little "Kung Fu Fighting"

Wi* Just Dance is a big hit at our house.

And Hudson decided this morning to get in on the action.

What Does a Month Look Like?

I seriously can't believe that it was one month ago that we saw our handsome little Hudson in real life for the first time.  Everyone we come across asks "How's it going?" and "How's everyone adjusting?".  And I'll tell you like I tell everyone else...Everyday feels a little more normal.  And I like NORMAL! 

Hudson is doing great.  He acts like he has always been a part of this family.

I'll get back to posting pictures from our trip in a couple of days but on this very special

ONE MONTH ANNIVERSARY

of Hudson becoming a Spangenthal,

I thought it would be appropriate to show some pictures of Hudson's life now... Surrounded by so much love that he can hardly stand it.  It's a good good thing.

That first night that we had Hudson, he was so sad.  This precious little boy didn't understand what was happening.  A month later the tears have changed to smiles.  I thank God for walking with us along this journey.  A journey of a lifetime of Hudson being a part of our family. 

Bath time is always a great time with the kids!

Rockin' the Faux Hawk!

You can't help but smile at this sweet face!!

Playing with his puzzles.

Playing Chop Stix with Cody at the piano...get the joke here???  Chop Stix??  China??  Our Amazin' Asian??  Okay...I know bad joke.

These two love playing on the bed.  Nothing beats playing with Big Brother!

Emma is so good at taking care of Hudson.  She always finds things for him to play with.

If Hudson isn't on my lap, he's crawling into Emma's.

This would be a spaghetti face!!

A very Happy Hudson Spaghetti Face!

And this would be The Spangenthal Family!  Our first picture of just all of us. 

So this is our first month with HudFu.  What does it look like?  Smiles....lots and lots of smiles! 

We love you Hudson Fuxing Spangenthal!  Here's to a lifetime of months and smiles!  God bless you sweet boy!

Coming out of the fog...

Out of the Jet Lag fog....

We have been home for 3 nights now or is it 4 nights...I can't remember...still a little fuzzy...

But we are all getting settled and getting used to being a family of 5.  That's a nice number...5.

Hudson is doing amazingly well.  Eating like a champ and bonding with all of us.  Emma (our 13 year old) commented to me after the first day home how surprised she was that Hudson was doing so well and coming to her and Cody so easily.  I said to her it's not just great...it's God.  I told her that we were so covered in prayer that he would bond so quickly that God answered YES!  I really believe it is an answer to prayer.

We had so much trouble posting anything from his province that I thought I would share some pictures from the beginning.  These are from the first moment we saw him in real life.  Such a sweet chaotic scene of 4 families being joined with their children.  It was a little crazy but something we will never want to forget.

He had his back to us as we came up the stairs into the meeting room.  I knew him immediately though because he was wearing the winter outfit that we had sent in a care package.

There's that sweet boy's face.

Hudson's not quite sure what to think about all the craziness and this strange American woman holding him here.

He enjoyed sitting with his Daddy right away.

Here he is getting his hand stamped for some of the paperwork.  Notice he is holding a muffin in his right hand.  He's not about to let go of it. 

Just keeping it real in this picture.  After we brought him back to the hotel that first night, the poor little guy was not happy to be taken away from what he had known.  So Sad.  It broke my heart for him.  He was so upset that he threw up on me about 3 times before he was so exhausted that he was ready to fall asleep.  I wore that throw up proudly.  That's what momma's do.  I made sure that Bill got a picture because it is part of the story...  Part of Hudson's journey of becoming a Spangenthal.

I'll try to be good about posting the next couple of days to share about the rest of our China trip to get Hudson.  We have some great pictures.

It's ChinaEve

It's hard to believe that the long journey to Hudson Fuxing is finally coming to an end. 

And as of Sunday afternoon, February 5 (Ch*na time) the next journey begins.

A JOURNEY OF A LIFETIME...TOGETHER...AS A FAMILY!

Praise God for the miracle of Adoption.  We feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to say YES to one of the "least of these".

Really~~ Our hearts are full. 

We leave tomorrow.  Bill and I should arrive in Beijing on Friday night.  We will tour on Saturday.  Then on Sunday we will fly to Hudson's province and that afternoon we will meet our son.

I am going to try to blog while there so follow along if you would like.  I may be totally exhausted emotionally and physically but I will at least post pictures.

Leave us a note if you stop by.  We will certainly appreciate the encouragement!!

Happy Birthday

Someone special celebrated a birthday this past week.

Happy Birthday Bill!!

 Since Bill was overseas during my birthday, we shared a birthday cake and a birthday song.

Happy Birthday To Us!!!

~~We love you Daddy~~

Catching up...

I've neglected posting the last couple of weeks. So here are some pictures from our Christmas break.

Right before school let out, the kids had their Piano Christmas Recital.  I love hearing them play.   

When we got home from the recital, we took a quick picture for our Christmas/New Years letter.

Bill left for an overseas trip right before school let out for the holiday break but that didn't stop us from having some fun while he was gone.

One of my dearest friends from South Carolina and her family (minus their girls) came for a quick visit so we surprised the kids with a trip to the new LEG*LAND that just opened near here.


We had perfect weather, small crowds, and just plain ole' fun that day. It was soooo good getting to spend some time with my Amy. Love Her!!

Welcome to Leg*land

Pretzels Anyone??

Amy, Kent, Thomas and Cade

Very Cool Christmas Tree!

Spangenthal's vs. Patrick's
Race to see who can get their emergency vehicle down the track - put out the fire- then race back.

Frantically spraying water on the "fire".

Oh yeah!!!!  Spangenthal's rock.  'Bout gave myself a heartattack pumping that thing but we won!

No caption needed here.

Getting wet!

Having fun!

 What a great time we had with the Patrick's.  It was a great start to our vacation!