Go Dragonflies

Daniel had a blast today at his first coach-pitch baseball game. He played third base, pitcher and first base. He got three hits and did a great job getting the ball and throwing it to first base. He has a lot of friends on his teams so that is really fun for him. He was a little concerned at first because Daddy was not going to be there. He asked "How am I going to play if daddy isn't there?" I assured him that he would be fine. John does have to work at the airport sometimes so we can keep our flight benefits. I have lot of trips planned for the next year or so.

Daniel starts fall ball

Tomorrow Daniel has his first fall baseball game. He received his baseball jersey today and guess what. His colors are green and gold (yellow). John is not happy but his little jersey is so cute and it even says Daniel on the back. He is so excited to have a game tomorrow. He has missed so many practices due to our trip out of town and his illness but he is still excited. He knows a lot of the other kids on his team and he loves that. They are the dragonflies so they will be buzzing around tomorrow morning.

2008 Steele Family Reunion

2008 Steele Family Reunion

This year our team was the men and women of Steele. Yes I am clever. We converged at the Washington Peninsula in Seaview. We had a blast playing at the beach, visiting Seaside and hanging out around the fire.

Hanging Out in Moscow

After we got Daniel we slept in Samara one night and then headed back to Moscow where Grandma Gwen was waiting to meet her newest grandson. We found a wonderful tour guide named Mila who showed us the whole city.

Some of the sites we saw were Red Square, Kremlin, Beautiful Churches, Moscow University, Csar Bell, St. Basil's Cathedral, Museums, Swan Lake, Government Offices.

Adoption Day

Today, we are legally Daniel's parents. We went to court this morning and the Judge said "yes" or "da" that we could adopt you. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and we walk around Toliatty a little after court. We were with another couple adopting 2 children and a single mom adoption a 2 year old girl. After court, we went to lunch while Natasha went and got all of the children's passport and other legal paperwork. After dinner we all wanted to get our kids but Natasha said it would be too late by the time we got back to Toliatty. We had a mutiny and we ended up winning. The orphanage workers had to go and get you out of bed. We had to dress you and give back the clothes that belong to the orphanage. All the other kids were crying but not Daniel. He let me dress him while John videotaped the whole thing.

The Day We Met You

Today is the day we have been waiting for has finally happened. Today we met you. We drove straight from the airport to the orphanage. It was still a little cloudy by quite warm, it felt like a perfect day. This was the day our lives would change forever and we were so ready.

I was surprised when we drove up to the orphanage because caregivers of the baby house had a group of babies and young children outside in strollers.

There were flowers and a little playground area. We waited in a second story playroom. First a baby girl was brought in and given to a couple, then a little boy and given to the other couple. I was about to burst. Then a couple more minutes passed but it seemed like a lifetime. A caregiver came in and handed you to Dad. I immediately took you. You were so good. You didn't cry or fuss. You loved to stand on my lap and bounce. You were such a happy boy and was smiling most of the time. I put you down and you crawled right out of you pants, which were bright yellow and 2 sizes too big. We were amazed that you were crawling. You were slow but you were very steady. We played for about three hours with a short nap in there and then we had to leave but we were able to come back the next day for 3 more hours.