The Gray's 2009 Year in Review

January
Does anything every happen in January?!?!? I think it it is just a month of recovery from the holiday season. No pictures to share.
February
We celebrated the 13th birthday of Anna Li this month. Her very first birthday in America! We also was surprised with snow! Anna Li came from a province that was very cold and got lots of snow in the winter so this was very welcomed and loved by her.

Party at the Skating rink!

We took Anna Li to Stix for her 13th b'day.


To bad she filled up on junk food from her school party to eat much at her special birthday dinner :(


March



Spring Break!!! We went to Panama City so that Anna Li could see the beach for the first time. She loved it so much! Who would have ever thought by the end of this year she would be living 10 minutes from the beach. We also continued our family vacation at Sea World and Disney World. It was a very special treat for Anna Li and Colin. This was a first for both of them.













April



This month we celebrated the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We used the resurrection eggs to tell the story and the girls really enjoyed it. We also did the annual Easter egg hunt. We went a little crazy on the eggs... hundreds and hundreds of eggs!!





May

Oh No! Say it ain't so! no pictures in May?!?!
I guess with the winding down of school I guess there was no picture opportunities this month:)



June

Enjoying the lazy days of summer! Our highlight this month was going to the Dragon Boat Festival to visit with our FCC family. Anna Li made a good friend.






July
Summer fun. We celebrated the 4th at home this year. Anna Li was introduced to the egg toss, slip and slide, and homemade ice cream. It was a special month for us as a family for we celebrated Anna Li coming into our lives. We went hiking and out to eat with family on her special day. We ended the month with the beginning of soccer season.



Anna Li discoverer the slip and slide.
Kicking off a new season of soccer... Colin's first season.
Some funnies.. when asked how many goals will you score
Colin responded with "$10.50"


Father and Daughter
How painful it is to sit her today on Jan 1 2010 and know she is no longer with us..


Celebrating Anna Li's first year in our family.
As a mom I could not be more proud!


August
The end to another summer. We had one lasting outing before heading back to school. We visited the McWayne Center (a hands on learning center). We started the school year with Anna Li at East and Bethany home schooling. We ended the month with them both home schooling. I look at this month as the calm before the storm.
The storm that caused our lives to be turned upside down.

Digging for dinosaur bones at the McWayne Center


Lots of Fun at the McWayne Center
September
The most difficult month of our lives yet ended with a great blessing, the birth of our son, Dylan Michael Gray. We also celebrated the 5th birthday of our son, Colin. This month was full of trials and tribulations but the Lord carried us through them. He proved once again that He will never leave us or forsake us. My children seen Him at work in our family and we are blessed through His Spirit.



and Dylan makes 4!

October
One of our favorite months of the year. We became good friends with Anna Li's new family. We had a wonderful Halloween knowing it would be the last with our Anna Li. We so enjoyed getting to know our little bundle of joy. It was such a blessing to watch all of our children interact with our newest addition.

Colin's first year of soccer!!

Adjusting to new baby


My favorite picture from Halloween


NOVEMBER

A month of goodbyes and new beginnings. WE said goodbye to our daughter Anna Li in order to give her a better life full of peace, love, and happiness.

The end of a rainy soccer season.

Our last outing with Anna Li before she moved.

Anna Li's Special Night

When Two Families Became One
(sorry at this time we are not able to post pictures of her new family)
DECEMBER
December, we celebrated the 11th birthday of our daughter, celebrated the birth of our Lord, and Colin lost his first tooth.



Bethany turned 11 years old on December the 3rd.

She celebrated it with her closest friends.




Colin lost his first tooth!

The tooth fairy was so generous and gave him $5 for his first tooth.


I made sure he understood that the tooth fairy normally doesn't give that much...

just for the 1st one!

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