A week and a half ago, Annie and I were invited to tell our story — Elise’s story — onstage at our church. Basically, our pastor asked us a few questions toward the end of his sermon. I thought it was quick — four or five minutes — but then I listened to the sermon podcast. It was nine minutes long! I guess time flies when you’re talking about your crazy adoption journey. At the end of the day, after speaking in all three Sunday services at IBC, we were exhausted but grateful for the opportunity.
If you’re interested, you can listen to our nine-minute interview below.
Wow, what a year it has been. Believe it or not, one year ago today we arrived at DFW airport with little Elise in tow. Here’s the last video from our Vietnam trip:
One year later, we celebrated our first traditional Christmas morning (no international flights). Elise came downstairs to discover a new kitchen and a backyard blanketed in snow. Naturally, we captured everything on video:
What a difference a year makes! We hope your Christmas was a great one.
Around this time last year, our lives changed pretty dramatically. It has been cool to think about what a difference a year makes. Where we’ll be one year from now … we have no clue.
Anyway, I wanted to give you an idea of what our life is like these days:
Elise (eating at the table): “All done!”
Me: “Oh, you’re all done?”
Elise: “No.”
Me: “OK …”
We weren’t sure if Elise would get to experience her first Halloween; she got diagnosed with type A and type B flu (again) on Wednesday, plus an ear infection. But our little Elise bounced back, so she could be Minnie Mouse. She didn’t really get why you went to peoples’ houses but didn’t go inside. She did, however, get that there was stuff in her treat bag that she didn’t want to let go of – surrendering the treat bag resulted in a minor melt down. But all in all, we were glad that Elise was feeling well enough to put on her costume.
This was her outfit for school, but she missed that because of the flu.
Not sure about the ears
Which box does not belong?
Scott (as his dad with a moustache) and Minnie Mouse
Not so sure about all the commotion
Meeting a dog
Kate and Elise (We borrowed the Minnie Mouse costume from Kate.)
Mommy and a tired Elise (You can see the strap of the treat bag on her arm.)
It has been quite a weekend in McClellan Town, let me tell you. Why? Well, the little one came down with the flu! Our three-day holiday weekend turned into wrangling an ailing but active toddler … not exactly what we had planned. The good news is that Elise’s fever has subsided and me and Annie managed to keep from coming down with flu bugs of our own.
The other good news is that Annie and I put together a little summer highlight reel of some of our favorite Elise moments (that we managed to capture on video anyway). Grab a bag of popcorn and enjoy:
Summer is winding down so we’re doing our best to make the most of it. Recently, we took advantage of a day off to take a family trip to the Dallas World Aquarium. Of course, I had to shoot some video on my phone (beware the shaky footage for those with weak stomachs and beware the bad acoustics of a crowded aquarium).
This week we put together a new video of Elise showing off some tricks. Specifically, here she is dancing, clapping, and weighing in on Dallas sports teams:
An update on Emily: We recently found out that Emily is back on a ventilator but off of her blood pressure medication. She still has the unknown infection and has also come down with a touch of pneumonia. In spite of all this, the family sounded like things were better. Please continue to pray for all of them.
Annie and I decided that McClellan Town was looking a little tired so I took a stab at a new look. Of course, I’m a desperate wannabe when it comes to web design, so I just picked out a new WordPress theme and made a few tweaks to it. More to come … at some point … probably.
Adoption, Elise | Scott | May 4, 2010 | 
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