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    We are a family of three that is constantly learning and growing in so many ways. Becoming a family has been a constant source of joy and blessing for us.

    Troy and Tricia consider “Dad” and “Mom” to be the most amazing roles they have ever had. In addition to those roles, Troy works as a computer applications engineer and Tricia works as a lawyer. Troy also enjoys college football, board games (which he blogs about here), comic books and bad movies (which he also blogs about, here). Tricia enjoys good movies, reading just about any book (but especially mystery novels - a love that began in fourth grade with Nancy Drew novels) and having coffee with friends.

    Troy and Tricia met in high school in 1994 and were married in 2002. They spent the next eight years learning how to work as a team. Troy is a self-described procrastinator and claims he produces his best work a few minutes before a deadline. He also can do just about anything with a computer (including building his own arcade machine) and has programmed their entire house in one way or another - Tricia is still waiting for an instruction manual. Tricia has to admit to having a few perfectionist tendencies (except when it comes to cooking or cleaning the house) and has been making to-do lists since kindergarten. It makes us an interesting team, but we have lots of fun together and love each other tremendously! We especially enjoy spending time with our friends, going out to eat, and traveling together (recap of our 2009 Italy trip here).

    Throughout their first eight years of marriage, Troy and Tricia each felt a growing desire in their hearts to expand their family by adopting from China. They submitted their application to adopt a few weeks after Tricia’s 30th birthday (minimum age requirement for adopting from China) and, on May 9, 2010, the Olsons were officially a family of three when Madelyn Yihong became their daughter.

    Madelyn is a vivacious toddler who finds joy and humor in all things of life. She has an uncanny love of soft rock music, likes to put a smile on other people’s faces, and has a beautiful, active imagination that has added several friends to our family (ask Tricia for the list because, of course she made a list of Madelyn’s imaginary friends). Madelyn is teaching Troy and Tricia how to be parents and they are trying their very best to be good students of the subject.

    About The Blog

    The purpose of this blog is, first and foremost, to document our journey as a family so that we can look back on our favorite experiences and carry them with us going forward. We are perpetually learning new things and forming/refining /redefining our opinions about parenting and adoption. Putting these things in print seems to help our process of learning. It is also something we hope that our children will enjoy rereading when they are older and something we hope our friends and family will enjoy along the way. We realize that the content is specific to our family, but we are more than happy to share the lessons we have learned as parents and especially about adoption.

    We have tried to organize our blog in a way that makes it easy to find information if you are looking for something specific. On the header, you can use the search tool to search for specific terms or the “Categories” tab to find posts on specific topics such as Adoption, China, and Cleft Lip & Palate. Our “Links” tab includes links to our Picasa picture gallery, YouTube video library, and Pinterest board. The "Store" tab points to our Amazon store, which contains items that we personally enjoy using in our house and may mention from time to time on our blog.
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Monday, February 21, 2011

Madelyn’s 2nd Birthday Party

by Tricia

The big event of our weekend was Madelyn’s 2nd Birthday Party. Madelyn woke up from her nap right before the party and, at first, wasn’t so sure about all of the attention focused on her every move. Once she had some of her favorite foods, however (oranges, cherry tomatoes, and fishy crackers), she warmed up to the idea. She worked VERY hard to blow out her candle and especially enjoyed her Elmo cupcake, and a second Elmo cupcake, AND a third Elmo cupcake. After a brief sugar coma, she moved onto her gifts with true gusto, running back and forth to select her gifts to open. She now has plenty of Elmo stickers to keep her busy and Mommy and Daddy need to figure out how to remove the batteries from all of her singing Elmo birthday cards.

Thank you to all of our family for making Madelyn’s 2nd Birthday party so much fun!

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4 comments

What a beauty and she is growing so quick. Happy Brithday to your little girl.

Alyssa, thank you so much for following our blog! I am very glad that you commented because it gave me the opportunity to check out your blog too.

What a doll she is! Happy Birthday, Madelyn!

Hi! Troy, Tricia, and Madelyn...
The first six pictures show Madelyn, enjoying her party.(and Elmo) The following 12 pictures show how much everyone care and love Madelyn...The 13th picture is ...funny!
Troy, Tricia, and Madelyn, I'am so happy that I slowed down to visit too!
Happy Birthday! Madelyn, it look like you, had a good one!
DeeDee ;-D

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