Countdown to Thanksgiving - Day 11

Today was the 12th anniversary of Sophia's adoption day.

Sophia's referral picture.

So, her special day - rather than the Countdown to Thanksgiving - was our focus for the day.

Moments after the nanny brought Sophia into the room,

she was placed in my arms.

Sophia holding up the cardigan that she wore on her adoption day.

However, we did read the Thanksgiving fact, gratitude quote, and Thanksgiving joke.

Thanksgiving Fact: 

Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird of the United States.

Gratitude Quote: 

The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving. ~H.U. Westermayer

Thanksgiving Joke: 

What kind of tan did pilgrims get at the beach? (Puritan.)

Other Activities We Did:

In the morning, we started with a breakfast that Sophia requested for her adoption day anniversary: an egg bake casserole.

Afterwards, she opened a couple of presents.

We took Cooper to agility training. He did very well.

Sophia with Cooper on the smaller, puppy-size walk.

He had a chance to do the taller, regulation size one 

which he enjoyed doing.

He was particularly excited about doing the A-frame ramp and walking platform.

Doing the jumps at the end of the class.

Another favorite activity.

Cooper was wiped out after the end of class.

Cooper resting on one of the back seats in the car.

Olivia went to the local elementary school to get some help with math, reading, and speech. After that, she went to her Learn to Draw class through community education. She's enjoyed taking that class for the past two months.

While Olivia was at school, I took Sophia to harp lessons. After that we stopped at the co-op at picked up some essential oil to make homemade Thieves Oil.

Five essential oils that are needed to make homemade Thieves Oil.

Then we went to the nursing home to check on one of the people we enjoy visiting. He had been in the hospital for several days with pneumonia and an infection. He's back at the nursing home so it was nice to see him a bit more alert and responsive. We also visited another resident who we have been seeing since November 2012.

For dinner, Sophia wanted to go to Applebees, so we went there and had a delicious meal to celebrate her adoption day.

Sophia and me at Applebees.

When we came back home, we looked through her bin of items that we brought back from China.

Sophia and Olivia playing Chinese instruments.

She chose two items from the bin to keep out and enjoy. One is a jade bracelet.

Sophia with the jade bracelet that she picked out.

The other is a sphere that is painted from the inside. The image is a dragon, and Sophia's name - both in Chinese and English are hand-painted on it.

The hand-painted dragon in the globe with 

Sophia's given and Chinese names.

The man who painted the image and her name had only one hand. It was impressive and inspiring to see him paint with such detail and only be able to use one hand.