Grabbing her gold!

Ten years ago on the 10th day of December, Mari and I were just snuggling down in an attempt to get a reluctant 3 year old to nap when the phone rang. I gave a long and serious consideration to just letting the answering machine pick up so the nap train could keep on chugging. Then in a moment of impulse I reached over to the night stand and picked up the phone....

"Senora Susanna, it is I, Olga in Guatemala, and I have a news for you this morning!" the voice said in my ear. The nap train fell completely off the tracks!! While an excited 3 year old used my king sized bed as her personal trampoline behind me, I sat on the edge and listened as the attorney for our adoption agency told me that a baby girl had been born during the night. The birth mother had made the adoption plan in advance and it was now time for the attorney to go and register the baby's birth but a name was required first! Usually we would have had months of an adoption process to hash over our name decision but this birth mother was letting us choose the name!!!!!!!!!

So Julia Margarita it was!!

Our beautiful, calm, easy going baby girl....

the Daddy lovin'....

cousin lovin'....

horse lovin'....

growing up waaaay too fast....

Golden Birthday Girl! 

Keeping true to their opposite personalities and choices...all of Julia's Golden Birthday celebrations are coming on or after her birthday! Unlike Mari, who celebrated for weeks before she actually turned 13, Julia has only a week or so following her birthday to savor the double digit milestone. Tonight we have a veeeeeery special plan! We are trekking into THE big city to eat a special birthday dinner, walk through the Christkindl Market, and settle into our theater seats to see WICKED!!!!!!!!!! Definitely a follow up post coming on that! The friends party comes during the Christmas break. Oh it is such a BUSY time around here in December!! We still have another birthday to fit in before Jesus' birthday celebration!!!!!!!!