One More Red Box

                                   Where do I begin?

We have been home for about 5 weeks now and life has been full...to put it mildly. Hannah is adjusting very well, she is:
* busy
* energetic
*helpful
* thankful (her first words to us were "Thank you" and she says it so many times every day that it makes my heart melt)
*hungry (especially for hamburbers and "freshy-fries!)
*and did I mention busy and energetic?  ;)

 So many prayers have been answered; she has a good heart, she has a conscience with a knowledge of the difference between right and wrong (although she doesn't always choose the "right", she is learning and making tons of progress, and some things that were "right" in an orphanage aren't "right" in a family). She also has a very teachable spirit; earning pennies for good behavior to save up for a bike (she saw on a blog that her friend had one, so guess what?)  - 200 pennies buys a bike doesn't it - anyway it did for her.

One of our first outings was feeding the ducks at Duncan Park. It looks pretty harmless doesn't it? When Sarah and Madeline were little we used to have to coax the ducks to come close enough to get the food....not any more. Those things are so used to getting fed (the good stuff like potato chips and cookies :( that they have become aggressive.

I had to let her stand on the bench because they were pecking at her. But since fearless is her middle name, she had a blast anyway.

She has grown to love Duke and Maggie. She now knows they aren't lunch, they don't have mange, and they will not eat you. She now even wants Duke, the little one, to sleep with her...which, of course, he loves!

And a plastic swimming pool makes a great chew toy for a Mastiff ;)

Then there's the swimming pool at "Grumpa's" house...
Did I mention she's fearless?
Before we got the life jacket she would just jump in..
shallow end, deep end, it didn't matter.
She can't swim, she doesn't try to doggie paddle, and she floats like a rock.
She would jump in (in the deep end, after being told not to),
sink to the bottom and wait for Paul to come pull her up (I am not storng enough to do it).
Upon entering the world of air she would exclaim with a huge smile on her face,
"Thank you verrrry much!"

Peace signs are very popular in China...