celebrating five

Once upon a time Ian and I traveled to China to meet our first child.  And while we least expected it, our family grew more than by just gaining a child as we made lasting connections with several other families whose girls were from the same SWI.

kylie and sweet d, one of her 'LJ China sisters'

Twenty months later we crossed the globe with this family again.  This time to find out what little boys are made of.

caleb and his 'china brother', h

So my two oldest children each have 'China siblings' in the same family.  And as God would have it, that family lives in the same metro area as us.

And so we get to celebrate shared Gotcha Days twice a year ~ once in February for our girls and once in October for our boys.

Our tradition to celebrate the boys?  What better way to enjoy crisp October afternoons than to go to a corn maze, complete with all sorts of farm related activities?

There are pedal tractors to ride,

bounce horses to race,

I feel compelled to add here that I am the reigning M family champion (two years running) in the 'grown up' division.  Hoping to get some pictures from my friend's camera soon.

pedal carts to ride, (and get a push start)

and hay bales to climb.

From the corn maze we headed to dinner at ~ of course ~ a Chinese buffet, but not before we paused to get a shot of our two families together.

just had to laugh at how the girls sit so sweetly and the boys are a blur of motion!

We parents have learned a lot together over the past six years (since we met our girls), especially over the past five (as we've learned what little boys are made of) and our kids have bonded as tight as siblings.  So thankful for friends that become family when neither of us live that close to our relatives!

Happy FIVE years to our boys!