Family Shots

Here's one of Tito and Mei Mei (Chinese for 'little sister'). If there's food around, Ming wants to be involved in the action!
Mommy and Sleepy Ming...She has her snuggly Mommy, her Pinky bear, and her TV clicker. Life is good.

A Letter from Dubya

It's been a busy week at the Szym home...Titus and Levi started school (finally!) on Monday. Yes, they start late at the kids' school. I was out of town the first part of the week as I was tasked with hosting a big sales event at my company. Mommy had her first day on the job as a Lunch Room Monitor at the kids school - she's going to do that one day a week during the school year. And Ming...well, she received a letter from George W. Bush. No kidding. He didn't call her "Ming," but instead he referred to her as "My Fellow American." Which is exactly the point...he was congratulating her on officially being an American. As he closed the letter George wrote: "Welcome to the joy, responsibility, and freedom of American citizenship. God bless you, and God bless America." (Amen!)
The letter came with her official and 'original' certificate of citizenship. Pretty darn cool. The photo, by the way, was taken while we were in Guangzhou during a photo shoot for visa and citizenship documentation.
Ming slept soundly with her teddy bear, Pinky, knowing that she is the real deal here in America. (Don't you just want to kiss those little lips?)

Are You Ready For Some Football?!

Check it out...my awesome football player, and his biggest fan. Today, a beautiful fall-feeling Spokane day, Levi had a football game. We all went to cheer him on, including Ming in her football jersey. You can't see it too well in this picture, but it has the number 12 on it. This little sporty shirt was a gift from Nate & Heidi for Ming's 1 year birthday. She has about a zillion pink things, a half a jillion lavendar and purple things, but now in the midst of all those girly-girl clothes she also has a football shirt. You da man, Levi. And Ming's the fan.

Little Girl, Big Wagon

Here are a few cute shots of Ming in Grandma S's big wagon...

Post-Party Thought: What's Better Than Cake and Ice Cream?

Answer: A Mommy.

Both Linda and I couldn't help but think about what today probably means to a Mommy on the other side of the world. Ming was born on September 10, 2005 at 4:07am. The only reason we know that is because when she was abandoned, the person who abandoned her left a hastily scrawled handwritten note with her in the apple box she was left in that noted the date and time. Was it her birth mother who wrote that? Father? Some other relative? We can't help but wonder about that other Mommy today, one year later. Does her heart ache for the child she gave birth to but never knew? Was the pain especially present today, the birth date? I'm pausing now to pray a special prayer for that Mommy thousands of miles away...that God would comfort her, and that perhaps some how, in some way she would experience a peace associated with the thought or knowledge that her daughter is loved and cared for... Won't you say a prayer for that Mommy too?

Numero Uno!

The real party went down at Grandma Szym's house. And man, was it a doozy. Cake, ice cream, and water in a bottle. When you've grown up as an orphan girl, that is some real living. Besides the Szym family and Grandma S., attending the festivities were Grandma & Grandpa Butler, Aunt Cindy & Uncle Jack, friends Carolyn and Thelma, friends Mary Ellen and Dan, and a few neighbors even stopped by (must have been all the racket we were making). Ming enjoyed the delectables. Every last finger-lickin' bite.
More please!

(Check out the hat from Grandma S...it reads, "I'm One")

What?! Presents too?

Everybody treated Ming with so much love and generosity. She received so many nice gifts and such affection from her family and friends.

Watch the link on the right for all the birthday photos to be uploaded soon to Webshots. I took 100 photos during the party...I won't upload all of them, but I'll send plenty of them to Webshots in the next couple of days.

The Pre-Party

Hey, you only turn one once, so you might as well have a party before your party. Here's Ming checking out the gifts... Actually, this party was for Holden, Ming's cousin. Holden's Mommy and Daddy are Linda's sister Kim and her husband, Roger. Holden and Ming were born on the same day. The party was at Kim and Roger's house and was mainly Holden's celebration. Aunt Kim and Uncle Roger did give Ming a couple of nice gifts but typical of one year olds, she had more fun tearing up the yellow tissue paper!

Here's a happy Holden, and a not-so-happy Ming at the party.










Levi, Holden, and a couple of their friends.

One Year Old Tomorrow

Little Ming turns one year old tomorrow, September 10th. She's been in our life just 1/12th of that lifespan. It seems like we've had her around forever...I wonder how it feels to her.

Tonight Levi said that he didn't think she would be smiling as much if she was still in the orphanage. I'm sure he's right. I love the way she smiles all the time, and even makes silly faces on purpose to get us laughing.

Tonight she zonked out in her cozy crib with an arm around Pinky...you can't do that in an orphanage.

A Thousand Faces Of Ming Mei

Linda and I have laughed about all the different funny faces that Ming makes. Babies in general tend to make funny faces, but our little Chinese baby can sure come up with some cute ones. Check out this one below, for instance...

And we call this one, Kung Fu Ming-A-Ling...

I was in Chicago on business this past week, and it's amazing how much I feel like Ming had changed in just a few days. Oddly she seems a little more grown up. Or maybe I'm just feeling younger...

While I was gone Ming received a fun gift box from our friends Blaine and Connie in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Among other things was a soft, fluffly, teddy bear. Now interestingly, Ming hasn't been too wild about stuffed animals. She's been quite suspicious, and a little fearful of them. But for some reason (maybe the color), Ming took right to this teddy bear. It came with an official name (birth certificate and everything), but we quickly nicknamed the bear "Pinky." Ming loves Pinky, and even gives it hugs and kisses. Here's a shot of the happy baby and bear -

Montana Ming 2

The ride home from Montana got a little long, not just for Ming, but for all of us. That's kind of the way it goes...lots of anticipation when heading out, but when coming home everybody just wants to 'get there.' On the last stretch of the trip we were feeding Ming cheesy crackers to keep her happy. After a couple of them, she decided that it was more fun to pull the crackers apart and pick at the cheese in the middle. When you look at this picture just remember that this is our 4th child...we're a lot more relaxed about parenting!

Montana Ming

We took our lil' Ming Mei to Montana for Labor Day weekend. It was her first extended trip in a car seat, and her first time visiting our hang out in Bigfork, Montana. She did very well as she traveled, and she seemed to enjoy breathing that clean Montana air. Here's a shot of her in her nifty little Eatin' Seat as she enjoys some yummy Fruit Loops at the breakfast bar...
As has been the case for the last few years, Grandma S. and Aunt Cindy & Uncle Jack spent the weekend in Bigfork too. That made it nice for everyone's golfing schedules since we all (including Mommy) got to play a little golf. Grandma was especially accomodating when it came to taking care of Ming while the rest of us hit the links at Eagle Bend. Here's a shot of Grandma taking Ming for a stroll on a beautiful evening...

On Sunday night Aunt Cindy and Uncle Jack hosted us for a BBQ at their place. The burgers and sausages were fantastic (Thanks, Jack!), and the family time was great. After it got dark we went out on the golf course and played a little glow-ball golf. This morning I was tidying up a bit before we left to head back to Spokane. I set Ming down on the bathroom floor as I was working on my sink area. She crawled over to the step by the bathtub and pulled herself up and stood leaning against it for a few minutes as she talked in her own little baby language. I thought she was seriously going to take a few steps, but she end up falling forward and doing a nice little face plant on the carpet. No tears, though...she's a tough little cookie.

Sweet Ride!

Remember me telling you about Ming's high tech stroller? Check it out...

iPod nest and latte holder - very handy.

Cruising Speakers integrated into the console.

Aunt Cindy checking out the high performance steering.

A chariot fit for a queen!