This has been an amazing year for our family. Our family was now complete and we were all settled in and getting into routines. The kids continue to grow and learn each day and we were blessed to spend time with family and friends.
The year started with Sela's formal readoption day. We went to the courthouse in Howard County with Nathan and PopPop, where her name was formally changed to Yisela Mari Shooman.
Nathan started the New Year with yet another scrape and bruise on his precious face, and continued his love of being naked.
We celebrated Sela's first birthday in January with family and friends. She loved her birthday cake and enjoyed eating it with her hands.
In January, we also had a visit from our dear friends, Auntie Mary and Juliet. We walked around downtown Baltimore, visited Washington DC and spent some time at the Air and Space Museum.
In February, we were visited by more friends. Lisa, Lori, Benjamin and Joel came to visit from Chicago. While they were in town, we met Pattie and Noah at the Aquarium in Baltimore.
Aunt Teri joined us for a show in DC called Disney on Ice. We met our friends Patty, Ella Rose and Liliana for the show and joined them and Mr. Brian at a wonderful Mexican restaurant afterwards. The kids sat still the entire time and loved the show.
Juhani, Nathan's Godfather, was preparing to leave for his move to Indonesia in February to be with his fiance who is working at the Embassy in Jakarta for the State Department. We wanted to spend some special time with him before he left, so Juhani and I took the kids to Disneyworld for a long weekend trip. The kids loved everything about the trip, but mostly just being with Juhani.
We were very lucky that while we were in Florida, Auntie Mary and Juliet were there too and we were able to spend a wonderful day with them at Disney.
March brought on the ACC tournament. The kids love to watch basketball with me on TV and will yell and cheer for the TERPS!!
Onyx and Mishu continue to do well and are tolerant of the kids. Onyx is now 6 years old.
And, Mishu turned 6 as well this year. Thankfully both girls are healthy.
In March, we had another visit from Auntie Mary and Juliet and this time they brought Mr. Rob with them. We had a wonderful time visiting Washington, walking by the reflecting pool and visiting the World War II Memorial.
That weekend, we also hosted a get together of the local families of our Guatemalan Adoptive Families Group. We had lunch and playtime in the park. It was so wonderful to see all these beautiful children together!
The kids are growing so much and learning new things every day. It is such fun to watch them experience all these new things!
We are so very lucky to have our family close by and were able to spend lots of time with Bubie and PopPop and Aunt Teri over the summer.
Aunt Teri even taught Nathan to jump into the water.
After a few practices, he wasn't even afraid to jump, then "swim" to Aunt Teri.
For Nathan's third birthday, we had a pool party at Aunt Sherry and Uncle Saul's house with family. Nathan received a surprise phone call while eating cake from Juhani in Indonesia! Unfortunately, he was more interested in the cake at the time.
We were so glad Laura was able to join us for the party. The kids love her!
We also had a short visit to Charlotte to visit Uncle Rick and the family. My kids had a great time at their community pool. They enjoyed playing with their cousins and we hope to visit them again soon.
At end of August, we traveled to Hawaii for Juhani's wedding. We decided to go early and do some sightseeing. Bubie and PopPop left about a week before us and headed first to the Big Island of Hawaii. The kids and I flew directly to Maui where PopPop and Bubie met us a day later.
While in Maui, we took a ride on the Sugar Cane Train.
And, I think the hightlight of the trip (at least for me) was the snorkel trip we took to Molakai. The kids loved being on the boat, and Nathan even got in the deep water with us to snorkel. 
Sela tried on the mask, but was more comfortable waiting on the boat with Bubie.
It was a long hard day, and the kids were worn out!
The next day, we took the very long trip down the Road to Hana. We made it to Hana Beach and saw the black sand and had lunch.
The following day was a travel day. We went to Oahu to get ready for the wedding in Honolulu. Mom and Dad made a very attractive couple in their matching outfits.
Sela and Nathan took their first ride in a limo.
It was a beautiful ceremony and we were so honored to be invited and take part in Sarah and Juhani's special day.
Of course, it was extra special because Bubie and PopPop were there with us.
The luau we attended after the wedding was fascinating - and the food was good too!
After the wedding, we took a day trip to a beach in Oahu with Juhani, Sarah and Laura.
While in Oahu, we took a trip to China town. Sela dressed up for the occassion and looked so pretty.
Here she is at the end of the meal with rice all over her nose and face.
We had an amazing summer and were fortunate to have spent time with some of our favorite people.
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