Glenn Hadsall

Girija's 3rd Birthday

2011-03-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

Snow Day #2

2011-02-05T09:04:00.000-08:00

We got our second snow in Texas this winter. It was actually a week of ice followed by a fun day of snow. Here are a few pictures.

San Antonio

2011-02-05T08:56:00.000-08:00

We drove down to San Antonio last weekend to finalize Girija's adoption. We made a weekend out of it at the JW Marriott in Cibolo Canyons. The weather was perfect.

Girija's First Snow

2011-02-05T08:48:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures I took of Girija's first snow. She loved catching snowflakes on her tongue.

Christmas in Oklahoma

2011-02-02T12:23:00.000-08:00

We went to Oklahoma to spend time with Christi's family for Christmas. These are a few shots I took of Girija one morning at breakfast.

Christmas Pictures - Round 2

2010-12-05T18:33:00.000-08:00

We took some more Christmas pictures this weekend.

Christmas Pictures

2010-11-29T07:07:00.000-08:00

I set up my lights this weekend & took some fun pictures of the kids for Christmas.

Halloween

2010-11-06T20:31:00.000-07:00

Girija had fun passing out candy for her first Halloween.

Preparing for Halloween

2010-11-01T09:33:00.000-07:00

Mackenzie put the final touches on Girija's costume.

Got a little cuddle time in with her.

And posed for a quick picture.

Putting Her to Work

2010-11-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

You can't expect her to sit around and watch Barney all day.

Picking Flowers

2010-11-01T09:28:00.000-07:00

Girija had fun pulling up flowers for the winter.

Lunch Time

2010-10-15T10:34:00.001-07:00

One of Her Favorite Things

2010-10-14T20:19:00.000-07:00

Christi's Aunt Sue hand made Girija a beautiful pink bear that she has fallen in love with & has been sleeping with every night. I was able to get a shot of her cuddling up with it this afternoon right before her nap.

Testing the Water

2010-10-14T20:12:00.000-07:00

We took Girija to Primrose on Tuesday morning so she could meet some of the kids in her classroom & get a taste for her new school.

At first she sat in Christi's lap.

Then she ventured over to the toy shelf to explore the toys.

She met some new friends.

And played with Playdough.

Diva

2010-10-12T08:01:00.000-07:00

My parents came over this past weekend to see Girija. My mom brought her a new purse which is her favorite thing to play with now. She instantly put on her sunglasses, strapped on her purse & hopped into her mom's shoes. What have we created???

Peas

2010-10-12T07:55:00.000-07:00

Girija has enjoyed all of the new flavors of food. She especially likes fruits and vegetables. I took some fun shots of her eating peas the other night.

She also likes to put peas in her hair.

Hair Clips

2010-10-12T07:49:00.000-07:00

Christi bought Girija a variety of hair clips so I took the opportunity to fix her hair with every clip. She got a good laugh out of it.

Bubbles

2010-10-03T16:04:00.000-07:00

Girija is enjoying her new family & home. Since the weather has been perfect we have been enjoying our backyard for once. We blew bubbles & enjoyed watching her belly laugh as they flew by.

Heading Home - September 29

2010-09-30T21:09:00.000-07:00

We were able to get a very short nap in before heading to the airport at 11:00 for our 1:00 am flight. Earlier Girija waved goodbye to New Delhi through our hotel window.

She did great on the flight. She ate a bite and then fell asleep all of the way to Amsterdam. We played and walked her around the airport during our four hour layover. On our flight back to Dallas she got a little fussy at the beginning and then quickly fell asleep for the remainder of the trip.

Everything went well through customs and we had a warm welcoming committee waiting to shower her with gifts and affection. She smiled, laughed and quickly won everyone's hearts.

She has been adjusting well to her new life in Texas. She keeps our living room floor littered with toys, our dining room floor speckled with food crumbs & our hearts filled with joy.

This is the end of one short and life changing journey and the beginning of another one filled with skinned knees, laughs, temper tantrums, birthday parties, graduations, artwork for the refrigerator, broken hearts, first jobs & never ending joy.

A Day of Shopping - September 28

2010-09-30T19:55:00.000-07:00

Since we had a free day before our flight back to Dallas we decided to take advantage of it and go to the coolest shop in New Delhi, The Central Cottage Industries Emporium. I could spend a ton of money in this place. They have some of the most beautiful handmade items. Everything from clothes, fabrics, wood carvings, marble carvings, paintings, toys & furniture.

We picked up some cool hand carved elephants.

Somehow they carved an elephant inside of an elephant.

I also picked up some beautiful Mithila paintings. This unique artistic tradition has its origin in the ancient kingdom of Mithila. Nowdays, this art form is identified with Madhubani District in the State of Bihar and hence is also known as Madhubani Painting.

Practiced exclusively by women, the pictures are made by them on walls and floors of their traditional homes on auspicious and festive occasions. Since the late sixties, this art form has encompassed the medium of eco-friendly hand made paper.

Devotional in theme, these paintings depict scenes from the ancient Epics and Legends and are rich with Vedic and Tantrik symbolism. They are, in fact, simplistic manifestation of the philisophical heights achieved by Indian civilization. Tatoo, also called Godna, is a very distinct form of Mithila Art. Traditionally people get their body tattooed in the belief that it enables them to meet their kith and kin in heaven.

I found some goodies for the kids.

And some tapestries for the living room.

Back to the Embassy, on the Roof & Celebrations - September 27

2010-09-27T08:40:00.000-07:00

The girls went with Rajeev back to the American Embassy to take care of paperwork while I went up on the roof of the hotel to take some pictures of the city. Rajeev said this is the most modernized portion of New Delhi. From what I've seen I have to agree with him even though it's hard to believe looking at the buildings.

I went to the front of the hotel to people watch and to wait for everyone to return. The doorman kept asking me to take his portrait and wanted me to mail him some prints. I snapped a few and he wrote down his address for me.

The girls showed up soon after with the good news that the missing paperwork was sent over and we have the green light to travel back to the states with Girija. We went back to the room to celebrate & rest so we could have a celebratory dinner with Rajeev later that evening. Girija was happy with the news too.

Rajeev took us to a place similar to Dave n' Busters. Girija got to play on her first playground.

We also found out she loves french fries.

Rajeev bought us all a popular Indian desert. It's basically a mixture of rice, sugar & milk. We got to see another side of Girija this evening. The hyped up on sugar side. She was screaming and belly laughing all the way home. Note to self: don't feed her sugar on the plane ride home.

Lunch with Rajeev & Back to New Delhi - September 26

2010-09-26T23:14:00.000-07:00

We were able to relax at the hotel and play with Girija before heading over to have lunch with Rajeev and his wife. Girija is adjusting well. She loves having a lap full of toys and has enjoyed all of the affection she is getting.

We stopped for a few quick shots by the doorman.

And a shot of Christi & her mom in their Saris.

Papu picked us up at 11:30 and took us to Rajeev's place.

Here is a shot of Grija not wanting to go for another car ride.

Rajeev has a beautiful home. We visited, ate a delicious home cooked meal & rested for an hour before having to get on the road for the 4.5 hour drive to New Delhi.

Lunch is served.

Rejeev and his beautiful wife.

Rajeev is an amazing man. He adopted one of his daughter's from Nepal. She is now 28 and helps run an orphanage they opened in Nepal three years ago. His goal was to create an orphanage that felt like a home. Most orphanages he workes with have caregivers that treat it like a job. Many do the minimum required to fill that job. He showed us video of the building he just finished renovating for the kids. All of the kids have their own bed, there are tons of bedrooms so they don't all have to sleep together. They have a large kitchen with a permanent house mom & house dad looking over everything. The outside has a walled in garden so the kids can play outside in safety. They have a warm staff that puts the welfare of the kids first. They teach the kids & get them out of the orphanage so they can experience life. If you are looking for a good place to donate this orphanage would be the ideal place: http://www.shristinepal.org

We arrived back at the hotel around 6:30, had dinner & played with Girija in the room. She smiles constantly and loving all of the attention.

Tomorrow it's back to the Embassy to see if we can get all of the paperwork worked out.

Agra & the Taj Mahal - September 25

2010-09-25T22:43:00.000-07:00

We got up early, ate a bite at the hotel restaurant and hit the road for Agra to see the Taj Mahal. We drove south into a downtown area that would have looked like any typical downtown area in the States with high rise buildings. That is if you ignored the cattle in the streets and the shacks along the road. It was nice to see some modern buildings. Girija instantly fell asleep and slept until about the last hour of the trip. She woke up and soon started getting sick from the car ride. Not surprised since this was her second time in a car. After spitting up her stomach settled down & was calm the rest of the drive.

On the road to Agra we avoided the typical livestock,

elephants,

and camels.

It's never a dull moment driving in India.

We made it to Agra around 1:00, got settled in the hotel & had a bite to eat before heading over to the Taj Mahal to take a tour. The Taj is an amazing place. They began construction in 1632, a year after the emperor Shah Jahan's wife Mumtaz Mahal died giving birth to their fourteenth child. The principal mausoleum was completed in 1648 and the surrounding buildings and garden were finished five years later. The outer buildings are constructed of red sandstone and were inlaid with simi-precious stones and white marble.

Cathey and Girija.

Christi and Girija.

A Day of Frustration, Rest & Joy - September 24

2010-09-24T10:08:00.000-07:00

Christi, Cathey, Girija and Rajeev went to take Girija to the doctor to get looked over. It's part of the adoption process. It's hard to tell how the locals feel about a white woman with an Indian child. They have been staring since we left the orphanage. While she was in the waiting room everyone in there was staring her down.

From there they went to the American Embassy to do paperwork. Turns out a form from the U.S. government wasn't sent over and Christi has been scrambling to see if she can get it faxed over. Unfortunately it's not an easy process to get someone on the phone. We are hoping it doesn't cause us to stay longer than planned. Christi's cousin & her husband works in Washington DC & they have been working like crazy to get the appropriate people involved to help us out. They have been a blessing. The orphanage also didn't sign a document. Their home office is in New Delhi and Rajeev was able to take care of that part.

I stayed in the hotel, updated the blog & rested. The spices have been hard on my stomach & it's catching up with me. We were suppose to head to Agra this afternoon but with the missing orphanage document Rajeev had to take care of we decided to drive there tomorrow morning.

We had a great afternoon with Girija. She is feeling more comfortable around us and her personality is starting to come out. She knows how to turn on the charm. When she smiles her entire face crinkles up. It makes you melt. We took her down to the lobby to walk around. She smiles and waves to everyone that walks by.

She made friends with the security guard at the hotel.

And played on the bed with her new toys.

She loves warm milk.

And always gives us a huge grin when she finishes drinking it.

Tomorrow morning we are driving to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and have dinner with Rajeev and his wife at their home. It's going to be a fun day.

Our Trip to Nagpur To Pick Up Girija - September 23

2010-09-24T00:03:00.000-07:00

After a restless sleep we got up early to catch a flight to Nagpur which is in the center of India.

We dodged the usual cattle on the way to the airport.

This is a shot of our coordinator Rejeev. He is an amazing man. There is no way we could have done the trip without him. He told us he has handled close to 600 adoptions. He has a deep passion for what he does & it shows.

We landed in Nagpur around noon and our driver picked us up. We navigated through the streets of what was as close to a third world country as I have ever experienced. I thought the driving conditions in Italy were bad. This city made it look civilized. Rajeev compared the traffic to water. Each person finds their spot as they work their way down the street. Lanes do not exist & when they do have them they don't pay any attention to them. We weaved in and out of cars, trucks, motorcycles, cattle & thousands of pedestrians. It was a real eye opener for me. I was thinking that I would see poverty like I've never seen, but didn't realize I was going to be immersed in it.

We drove for about 30 minutes & rushed out of the car, down an alley that was surrounded by buildings that looked like they were in a war zone, up three flights of stairs that smelled of urine before reaching the steel gate at the front of the orphanage. It all felt like a secret government black ops mission.

This is a shot of the top view of the alley leading to the orphanage.

They put us in the director's office while they got all of the kids ready. Girija was getting upset from all of the focus on her. She was told we were coming & was getting nervous about it.

Then we were directed to the back of the orphanage where all of the kids were waiting for us. They put most of the kids on a rug so that Girija wouldn't feel so anxious.

This is the first shot I took of Girija. She maintained that stare for some time while she tried to figure out what's going on. The caregiver to the left is the one that from what I could tell had the closest connection with Girija & called her mom.

A shot of Girija trying to figure us out.

We played it cool and gave all of the kids equal attention so Girija would feel comfortable. We handed out suckers to break the ice. Then we would slowly give Girija some things to make her feel comfortable around us. She would take each item and stuff it under her legs to keep them protected from all of the other kids. One of the caregivers told us she was the boss of the orphanage & was almost always happy.

She finally warmed up to Christi and let her hold her.

She soon fell asleep from exhaustion. I can only imagine how stressful the entire event was for her.

The other kids in the orphanage were so cute. There were several that we wanted to take with us. This little girl is six and all of us connected with her. She has such a fun personality. Fortunately she is waiting for a family from Italy. Lucky girl!

They took us in the office to ask the caregivers any questions about Girija and to have lunch.

Girija woke back up and we got the pleasure of watching her interact with one of the caregivers. It has to be hard on the caregivers since they have raised Girija from an infant and have grown close to her.

I was able to get some fun shots through the side window of the caregiver giving Girija some affection.

Girija trying to figure Christi out.

She is absolutely beautiful.

We posed for a few pictures with Girija's favorite caregiver.

And they said their final goodbyes.

The view from the balcony of the orphanage. Our driver is waiting in the white car to the right.

We left as fast as we entered. Girija was screaming the entire way down to the car. Many of the caregivers came out to the balcony to wave goodbye.

Girija stopped crying and gave an angry wave back.

Then we hit the busy streets again for the airport.

At the airport we played patty cake and got her to laugh for the first time.

We boarded the plane back to New Delhi to start our new life together.

And flew off into the sunset.

New Delhi, India - September 22

2010-09-22T04:48:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday we got up and met Rajeev for breakfast on the top floor of the hotel. I have been a little nervous about the food since I don't eat much Indian food. I had an Indian meal on the plane which made my stomach upset so I went with the American breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast. Rajeev ordered us a side of what tasted similar to a casserole in the shape of a pancake. It turned out to be better than my eggs so I'll be sure to order that tomorrow.

We went back to our room to clean up and so we could drive to some of the shops in New Delhi. The view from our hotel is very entertaining. As the city was coming to life there were dozens of kids making their way to school along with cars and pedestrians making their way to work. Mixed in with that is your occasional ox or wild dog. To my surprise they were all over the city walking up and down the streets.

This is a shot I took from our hotel window. It was raining and under one of the buildings was a man walking his daughter to school along with a wild ox. Not something you see in Dallas every day.

Dallas to New Delhi - September 20-21

2010-09-22T04:33:00.000-07:00

Christi has been working on adopting a child for over four years. Soon after we started dating she signed with a new agency and got matched with a little girl from India. Her name is Girija and she is two and a half years old. The adoption finally went through and we got the call to head to India. Over the next 10 days I will share our journey.

On Monday, September 20th we started our trip to New Delhi, India. We took off at 3:25 pm from DFW and landed in Amsterdam nine hours later.

After a three hour layover it was another nine hour plane ride to New Delhi. Our coordinator, Rajeev, & his driver, Papu, picked us up at the airport at 1:00 Wednesday morning. Rajeev will stay with us the entire trip and help us with the necessary paperwork. Rajeev set up our hotel reservations at the Hotel Saptagiri which is close to the airport and the American Embassy. This is a hotel that he typically uses for families since it is centrally located and kid friendly. We drove through pothole filled dirt roads into this area that was crammed full of shanty businesses and homes all piled on top of each other. Right in the middle of it was our hotel. Fortunately the inside looked much better than it's surroundings. We checked in, visited with Rajeev for a short period and then went to sleep.

A Day in the Life 365 - Day 71

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 70

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 69

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 68

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 67

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 66

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 65

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 64

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 63

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 62

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 61

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 60

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a day in the Life 365 - Day 59

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 58

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 57

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 56

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 55

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 54

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 53

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 52

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 51

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 50

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 49

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 48

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 47

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 46

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 45

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 44

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 43

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 42

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 41

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 39

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 38

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 37

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 36

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 35

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 34

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 33

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 32

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 31

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 30

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 29

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 28

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 27

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 26

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 25

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 24

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 18

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 17

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 15

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 12

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A day in the Life 365 - Day 10

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 09

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 08

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 04

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 03

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 02

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A Day in the Life 365 - Day 01

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In order to sharpen my photography skills & push the way I think about composition I am challenging myself to post up at least one picture a day. Here is my first entry.

Emily & Tommy's Wedding

2010-04-20T19:58:00.000-07:00

Christi, Cathey & I went to Gruene, Texas this past weekend for Emily & Tommy's wedding. These are a few of my favorite shots.

I ♥ Faces: Focusing on Angles

2010-03-23T06:19:00.000-07:00

I took this shot of my sister & her husband last year at my niece's wedding in Colorado.