Hard to believe another year is coming to a close! Time is flying so fast! This year our searcher Fide was able to see Lily's birth mom before Christmas (in the past it has always been delayed) and give her the Christmas basket and some small gifts we had brought down in August. So we were able to see some photographs of the experience! Plus we had purchased Susana some jeans and a T-shirt so she sent us some photos of her modeling her new clothes. The only downside is because she saw Lily's birth mom in a large group we didn't really get an update...only new photos.
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| Susana doing an Instagram-worthy pose |
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| Susana modeling the jeans and rocking her long locks! |
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| Susana and Lily |
We had a delightful Christmas with our friends and family. Christmas Eve, we spent going to church with the Conte family and making Raclette together. On Christmas day we enjoyed a delicious breakfast, opened gifts, and our traditional Chinese food restaurant with friends. This year, Pop-Pop, Raymond, the Rinkes family, Steve, Jennie, and Jax Lane joined us for dinner. Lily was super thoughtful this year with Christmas gifts now that she is working and earning money. She bought me a backpack for the dog and a console carrier for the dog as well. However, one of her most thoughtful gifts was a pack of Nutty Buddy which she knew I loved! I was so blessed that she was so thoughtful of me, it truly warmed my heart.
We also had a delightful Chanukah celebration with the Bugash side of the family.
Lily continues to work hard at school, for her job lifeguarding at the YMCA, playing travel soccer, and competing for her high school swim team. Just last week she competed in a 100-meter freestyle and she came in first in her heat!
Lately, she has really impressed me with her high emotional intelligence. We've had a situation involving some close family friends of ours that has been just heartbreaking and she has impressed me tremendously with her ability to navigate this very difficult situation.
I pray that as we move into 2024 Lily continues to grow and flourish.
