Weekend Away

This past weekend we had a little family getaway. We went to Cherokee, NC. I have family on my mother's side that were Cherokee. I have been wanting to go there for some time. They have a museum and mock Cherokee village. They also put on a play that tells the history of the Cherokee nation. It was very educational.

Sunday evening went drove over the mountain to Sevierville, TN. There was a group doing Legends of China shows. We got to watch a show about Kung Fu. Of course we had several of the people that work with the shows ask us about Hannah. We also told them about Ethan.

Ethan is in Henan provience of China. It is there that the Shaolin temple is located. This is also where Kung Fu originated. We found out that all of the boys in the show were from the temple. We were not able to talk with them very long. They were very nice.

One of the main guys had a partial right arm. I would say he is probably in his 20's. Knowing what has happened to so many children like this in China I could not help but wonder what his story might be. Did his parents decide to keep him in spite of his disability? If they did not keep him did they drop him off at the temple or did one of the priest find him on the steps to some office.

Anyway, if you are ever in Sevierville, TN I recommend you go see the show. It was really nice.

Hello I'm Still Here

Sorry that I haven't posted in awhile. Work has been crazy and all I have wanted to do when I come home is relax. I started reading the Harry Potter books from the very beginning.



On July 30 we celebrated my 35 birthday. It was a nice day. Greg had been out of town the week before that.



I have been kind of depressed. I think it is a combination of things. I am wanting Ethan. I have been working overtime and feel like nothing is getting done. I am definitely ready for a break. Today was also a very hard day. But enough of that.



There is no news about Ethan. We are getting a care package together for him. I am seeing if some friends can translate a letter for us before we mail it.



Hannah had pictures made at daycare. Here there are. I will being mailing them out to the China family soon.

My Smart Little Monkey

I found a cheap puzzle of the map of the USA at Target the other day. I bought it for Hannah. She loves it. It has amazed me how she is already starting to learn where several of the states go. Also, when asked which one is her state she will find TN and show us. She is a smart cookie. My sister who teaches Pre-K said that her Pre-K teacher will be happy to have her in the class. I just hope we can find a good one for her to attend.

She also is learning what streets lead to our house. On the way home she will ask what street we on on. When we get on the street that our road is off of she will shout that our road is next. Then she will shout out our address at this point. I taught her our address with the tune of Our you sleeping Father John. It starts with her singing her name"Hannah Shockley, Hannah Shockley, is my name, is my name, "address", "address", is where I live, where I live" After we sing "her" song we have to go through all of our families. We told her that she will have to help teach it to Ethan.