our first family day.

i finished it. our one year slideshow is complete. and *before* my extended deadline, too. because, you see, one month ago tuesday, we celebrated our first family day. so, without further ado, here's how the celebrating went down.

on december 17, 2010, choi boy was placed in our arms forever. though we didn't come home and land on US soil until december 20, the day our agency considers our placement date, we will always recognize december 17 as the day we became a family.

so, on december 17, 2011, we proudly celebrated our one year milestone! 365 days of familyness. :)

we decided to make the day all about cb and his loves.

we started the morning with some cinnamon rolls (*not* homemade, thankyouverymuch). cb thought i had lost my mind and asked me, wide-eyed, "umma, eat cake??!" yes, baby, you can have cake for breakfast on family day. ;)

after "cake," we moved on to our main activity for the day. if you couldn't already tell, choi boy has been quite interested in and excited about trains lately. because our family day falls during christmas season, there was no shortage of train shows we could attend. we chose one close by and cb had a blast looking at and watching all the trains.


we even got to chat with a certain man in red. :)


but, not for long, because there were trains! to! see!







child was mesmerized.

and seeing cb so excited made us *so* happy.


after coloring some pictures of trains (what else?),


we headed off to grab some of cb's favorite food for lunch. we contemplated going to a korean restaurant, but our little boy LOVES soup -- pasta e fagioli, in particular. :) so, we set off our local pizza shop that happens to make *the best* pasta e fagioli!


someone was very excited as we waited.


and though the pizza is amazing,


nothing beats that soup!


the rest of our day was pretty lowkey, but the best part was just being *together*.

we are so blessed.

happy one year home, cb! we are so grateful to be your umma and appa!

and to celebrate, here is a slideshow of our journey to choi boy and our first year together...

please note, it is LONG. like, nearly as long as a sitcom long. i know, i'm crazy! but, i'm so glad to have everything documented in one slideshow to show cb now and as he grows up. don't feel the need to watch all (or any) of it (it's mostly for his sappy momma family anyway), but around 12:30, you might recognize some familiar faces. :)

p.s. i just realized this is my 300th post!! how appropriate that it is so celebratory! :)