Friday, December 26, 2008

One Year Ago Today....

...we got the phone call we'd been praying for and we layed eyes on our beautiful Claire for the very first time


It's hard to believe she's been home with us for nearly 9 months already.....we're so blessed!




Sunday, December 21, 2008

Meet Our New Niece!

Say, "hello" to our new niece, Olivia Rose Hart. She was born last Friday evening to Christa's brother, Brian, and his wife, Kristy. Both Mom and Olivia are doing great. She's a beauty! What a wonderful early Christmas present!!

Here is Olivia's big sister, Vivian, meeting her for the first time.


Love this picture of Brian and Vivian!


Holiday Fun!

We've been very busy enjoying the holiday season! This will be our first Christmas with Claire, so we've been busy showing her some of our traditions. Here are some pics of what we've been up to.


At Supper with Santa, Ben got up close and personal with the big guy!


Claire, on the other hand, was not impressed with the guy in red. Ben told her she would understand soon that he really is a good guy.





Ben picked out a great tree for us!


Claire helped to decorate the tree...


And so did Ben!


Check out the finished product!



A couple of silly elves!

Check out Claire's first snowman (yes, the "M" is for Minnesota...like Goldy Gopher has on his chest).



It's time to make some cookies!




Works of art!

We got hammered with a snow storm this weekend, so we took the opportunity to introduce Claire to sledding! She LOVED it and cried when we took her home to get warm.

On your mark, get set, GO!!


We took Claire to get her first haircut....she was not amused!



I took this picture of Claire just a couple of weeks ago...she snuck into the pantry and was helping herself to some snacks. Check out the picture of Ben below, which was taken a couple of years ago. Coincidental....even down to what clothes they are wearing!



We wish you all a wonderful holiday and a safe and happy new year!

Love, Christa, Dave, Ben and Claire

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Thank you, Mrs. Lee and Mr. Kang!

What a wonderful surprise! We received a call from our adoption agency telling us there was a package for us from Claire's foster family in Korea. Inside, there were new hanboks for both Ben and Claire (in larger sizes) and some beautiful hair accessories for Claire. That, alone, was such a generous gift, however, there was more! They saw our posted video clip on the blog of Ben doing Taekwando and decided to send both Ben and Claire Taekwando outfits from Korea! Ben was sooooo excited!

THANK YOU MR. KANG AND MRS. LEE! We are so lucky to have you in our lives!


Dave, Christa, Ben & Claire



Catching Up

Okay, so it's been quite a while since we've posted any updates. Here are some things we've been up to over the past month or so.

A trip to the circus wouldn't be complete without a ride on an elephant! Ben had a great time!

I couldn't resist snapping a picture of this. This is Claire's "bug" that came home with her from Korea and she falls asleep holding onto one of its legs every night.

The second annual outing on the pumpkin train was fun for everyone! Here, Ben and Claire are eating their lunch with Jack and Lucy.

Pullen South came along as well. Here they are picking out their pumpkins!

Here's Ben's pumpkin choice!

Ben & Claire are hanging out with their cousins, Mia and Vivian!

Happy Birthday, Mia!!!
Vivian is getting so big...such a cutie pie!

It's pumpkin carving time!

Check out their work!

Claire's first experience jumping in the leaves-very fun!

Such a ham!
Halloween is finally here!
Batman is ready for trick or treat!

Claire's costume looks just like her "bug"!

Claire's not too sure about this trick or treating thing.
Look at all of Ben's loot!

Couldn't resist posting this clip of Claire doing one of her favorite things of late!

And she's now walking (albeit much like Frankenstein)! Here she is in action.


Saturday, October 18, 2008

Rest in Peace, Dad and Grandpa



It is with a very heavy heart that I (Christa) write this post. In the very early morning hours on Thursday, October 16th, my Dad, Bill, passed away suddenly. He had been struggling with several serious health issues over the past several years, however, we had no indication that he would go so suddenly. He and Mom had just been in Minnesota this past weekend to help us celebrate Claire's adoption finalization and her baptism. He certainly took advantage of his Grandpa time with Ben and Claire and it was obvious he was savouring it. We feel so blessed to have had this time with him. We are all finding comfort in knowing that Dad is no longer suffering from his health issues. Ben is particularly comforted knowing that Grandpa Bill is now playing fetch with Scouty Dog up in heaven. We will all miss him terribly.

Rest in Peace, Dad. I love you.

Pollylop

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Happy Occassions

We celebrated two very happy occasions this past week. First, we had our adoption finalization hearing so, after lots and lots and lots of time and lots and lots and lots of paperwork, fingerprints, background checks, interviews, more paper work, more fingerprints, 2 very long plane rides and still more paperwork, Claire Se Jin Pullen is "officially" part of our family and a U.S. Citizen! This part of our incredible journey is over, but there is so much more to come. We are so very blessed and fortunate to have Claire. Here are some pictures of the big day.


Oh, did I mention that she's walking now? I'll try to post a video clip of her walking, but you can see you walking in this picture.

The following Sunday, Claire was baptized...another blessed occassion.



Uncle Steve and Aunt Teri-Claire's Godparents

Pastor Jan, who did the honors.

We were so thrilled that Grandma and Grandpa Hart could make the trip to Minneapolis to be a part of these two very special occassions.