Visit with our friends from Texas.

Ashlynn, Alexa, and Aleia sporting their new jammies.
The girls calling for the horses Zip and Nanny at the Bichsel's.
The girls, except for Alexa, each took a turn driving around in the golf cart.
Having a ball at Tuscora Park.
The girls just couldn't stay awake any longer. We wore them out before they wore us out. That is something new. This past weekend we had some of our friends from Texas in town to visit. We were in China with them for our first adoption. We have been the best of friends every since. We had such a great time together visiting and watching the girls hang out. Aleia and Ashlynn will always have a special bond having been from the same orphanage in Gao'An China. They are also only thirteen days apart. The Tapley's are patiently awaiting their referral for their second China doll. While they were here, we kept very busy. We went to the Bichsel's to ride the horses, went to the Cleveland Zoo and Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, and spent tons of time at Tuscora Park. It is just amazing to see these little girls interact with one another. As I have said so many times before, we are just soooo blessed. Lisa

Vacation at the beach

We were recently at Hilton Head for one week and Pawley's Island, SC for one week with our family. Lisa's parents were also along for the trip and we had a great time. The girls were awesome and Miss Alexa blossomed so much. Alexa started pulling herself up in Hilton Head. She began babbling more words. Her favorite on the trip was "bird". It is so cute when she tries to say it, because she makes a funny face when she does it. Her little legs are getting stronger and stronger. Aleia loved to be out in the waves with her daddy. They both love the ocean. They also enjoyed building sandcastles. They would build them and Alexa would destroy them. Sure hope you enjoy our pics. It was one of our best vacations ever. Lisa

Dance Recital/Baby dedication.

Aleia with one of her buddies, Lili, as they ham it up before the dance recital begins. They don't look like they are having too much fun do they?
CHEESE!!!
Daddy with his girl presenting the traditional flowers after the dance routine. Would you say that is a proud papa?
Alexa Lin getting dedicated at the church last Sunday with Pastor Dwight.
Lunch with Lisa's parents after the dedication.
Aleia had her first dance recital the night before we left for vacation. All I can say is it was quite entertaining. Aleia and ten of her dance mates performed on stage in front of a couple hundred people and everyone was laughing and carrying on. Their routine lasted about two minutes, yes you read this right, two whole minutes, but we all got our monies worth. They danced with their dolls which had the same dance costume to match the theirs. They all came onto the stage with their dolls in hand looking for their designated spot on the floor. The music starting playing pretty quick. Some of the girls danced, some were looking for their parents waving, some just stood there and smiled, and some of the girls froze when they saw all of the people. It was priceless!!!!!
Alexa was dedicated at church last Sunday with some of her Asian friends as Aleia refers to them. We were with the Bichsels', the McConnell's, and the Browning's. After the dedication we all went out to the lunch with all of our families to the Good House in Ragersville. It was a very special day for all.
Life continues to get better and better with each passing day. We are so happy with Alexa's day to day progess and just love being a family of four. Love to all, Lisa

Aleia, the flower girl, in Ashley's wedding.

Aleia Mei with Ashley, the bride.
Alexa and Aleia before the ceremony started.
Bob, Aleia, and Victoria hanging out at the reception.
Ashley trying to teach Aleia a few moves!!
Cheese!!!
We spent last evening at the wedding and reception for Ashley and Chris Wagner. Ashley is the second of six children of the family who babysits our girls. This was Aleia's first flower girl experience and she did great. She had so much fun. Our morning began going to a salon and getting Aleia's updo. She loves to be pampered already. Watch out Daddy!!! This was followed by an awesome brunch. It was then off to the church for pictures and the ceremony. Aleia walked down the aisle with the ringbearer and threw flower petals the entire way as she smiled. It was then off to the reception for boogy woogy as Aleia calls it. She was a big hit there too. She just doesn't meet a stranger. Thanks for sharing in Aleia's big day.

Our first trip to the pool.

Alexa loves to play with Mommy's cell phone.
Kaitlin and Alexa being pulled around by Aleia.
Mom are you sure about this?
Aleia loves to pretend she swims with goggles.
One of our bathing beauties!!
I took the girls to the pool for the first time on Memorial Day. Aleia of course loved it and Alexa wasn't quite so sure. She was pretty clingly. It may have been the fact that the water was kind of chilly too! ha, Ha!!! We went to the pool again this afternoon (Wed) and Alexa didn't want to get out of the pool. The moms sat on the bottom of the baby pool while the girls floated around. We had four of the girls Asian buddies in the pool. We had the whole baby pool to ourselves. The girls had so much fun and the moms enjoyed visiting. Life is good. Lisa

Mother's Day.

Our first Mother's Day with our three girls. Priceless!!!
Aleia loves to pull her little sister around in the wagon.
The best of buds hanging out watching cartoons together.
Alexa wasn't real fond of any more pictures. This is her great -Grandma Patrick and her cousins Logan and Kaden, along with her big "sis".

Our first Mother's Day as a family of four was wonderful. We could not have asked for a nicer day. We had lunch with all of our family, followed by lots of relaxation. Being a mom with these two girls is the best Mother's Day gift ever. What a blessing!!! Love to all, Lisa

Alexa turns one!!

Well, the newest Alsept addition is officially one. Her first birthday was Saturday the 28th. We had her big party on Sunday with lots of family and friends. We had a great time. We had a big cookout and the weather was perfect. Alexa absolutely loved her cake which you should be able to tell with the photos. She really destroyed it. Ha, Ha. She received tons of nice gifts. It was just a great day spent with many people who are so dear in our hearts. Love, The Alsept girls.

The girls are so special.

The girls are doing so well. Aleia is such a huge help for us. She loves to get things that we might need for Alexa and absolutely loves to get in Alexa's crib when she cries. We are just amazed how she adores her little sister. She tells us about every day that she is so happy we went to China to get her sister. We feel so very lucky and blessed.
We took the girls to the club the other evening for Alexa's first golf cart ride. She babbled the entire time. It was so sweet. Aleia was showing Alexa how to remove the tee box markers. Ha, ha. That is one of Aleia's favorite pasttimes at the club. Well, the girls are waking up, so I better go for now!!

Alexa is doing great.

Well, what can I say!! Alexa continues to do well with each passing day. Her smiles get bigger and bigger and she almost has a little giggle now. Just amazing!! We went to her first doctor's appointment here at home yesterday and it went great. The doctor said she looked real healthy and that she had taken huge strides since we had received her. She is seventeen pounds and twenty-eight inches long. She is in the fourth percentile for her weight and the twenty-second percentile for her height. She said to just keep feeding her which isn't a problem at all. The girl loves to eat. That has never been a problem.!! Alexa has to go back to the doctor in four weeks for another check-up and to receive her first set of shots here in the US. The doctor said based on her immunization records that we received in China that she was all up to date with everything thus far.

Aleia is still doing great and she absolutely loves being the "big sister". We could not have asked for her to have done any better with this whole situation. She loves to give Baby Alexa kisses and really enjoys helping me feed her. I have taken some darling photos of the two of them that I cannot wait to share.

We had some good friends in this weekend from Michigan and had a great time with them. Aleia got to play with someone that talked with her and she was wild. Everyone that has been coming over wants to see the baby and she says they don't talk to me mom. Well, that wasn't the case this weekend. Our friends have a four year old guy that wore Aleia down in a heartbeat. It was good for her.

We also wanted to take a minute to also thank everyone that has come to see us since we have returned home. We have had soooo many people come over and bring stuff. It is very nice to know that so many people care for you. Please continue to come see us and call. We love it. There are so many people who have followed this journey and it is nice to share it with you all. Thanks for everything. Until next time, Lisa

Home at last and doing well.

Hi everyone. We finally made it home safe and sound on Thursday evening. We have been getting adjusted to our house again and not living out of a suitcase. Boy is it nice!! Alexa has been a trooper throughout the whole ordeal. We just feel so lucky and blessed. Aleia is such a big helper for us and she really enjoys being a "big sister". She keeps telling us that she wants Alexa to call her sissy. Needless to say, she isn't yet and Aleia keeps asking why. We wanted to thank everyone again for following us through this twenty-three months of childbirth. We will try to post again soon. Love to all, Lisa