A Surprise!!!!!

Last Saturday night, we thought we were going out to dinner with Michael and Kerry (best friends) to celebrate Ryan's birthday.  The funny thing is I kept trying to change the plan all week and say why don't we do this instead or why don't we meet at our house and Michael finally told me we are meeting at our house and don't ask any more questions, please! 
So Saturday night, we drove down the road to their house and saw a bunch of cars.  The first thing I said to Ryan was- is that your parents car?  We also saw my sister's van and my parent's car, etc.  So we knew something was going on. 
Of course, you probably already figured it out!  It was a surprise shower for Rylie.  Most of our Sunday School class was there and our parents and my sister's family! 
It was so much fun.  Kerry and Julie (not me- another very good friend) had cooked and made food all day.  They had decorated the basement and had a beautiful cake for us.  Michael made a flower arrangement that looked like a puppy.  So cute!  And I think there were about 100 balloons, lol. 
The best part was- no shower games.  It was really fun to have a shower before getting Rylie and to get to be surprised.  It is hard missing out on so many of the things women experience when they have biological children.  And this helped make up for that!
We had just gone to K-mart before the shower and I told Ryan "I have NO clothes for Rylie to wear in China that are long-sleeve!  We got to buy stuff."  We were having trouble finding anything we liked. 
NOW- she has plenty and they are all adorable.  It is going to be hard not to take them all to China.  She has a cute jacket and a new doll.  She has a little backpack.  Just for my own records some day when I go back and read this (or Rylie reads it), I'm going to try to list everything here.
So if that is boring, you can stop reading now, lol.
Grandma and Grandpa Pruett gave Rylie a music box, two outfits and a little pink rain jacket.
Grandma and Grandpa Bradley gave Rylie a gift card to Kohl's so we can take her shopping and get her something special.  I'm sure she will love to buy dresses, shoes, and jewelry just like her mom.  Of course, her dad is a pretty good shopper, too.
Fran and Darrell (friends) gave Rylie a pink jumpsuit and her first computer (my own laptop) which the five little boys at the party really liked!
Kevin and Cindy (friends) gave us a cute ladybug dress (which I loved because ladybugs and the color red are good luck and significant in Chinese culture) and they also gave her a cute jacket. 
David and Judi (friends) gave us a purple zebra pajama set (which I also really needed), a purple sweatsuit, and money.  Judi wanted to donate the money she would have used to buy her prayer partner a birthday gift so thank you to her prayer partner as well for the money to bring Rylie home.
Uncle Greg, Aunt Jackie, Logan and Tyson gave Rylie little barretts with buttons, a skirt and shirt from Crazy 8- also with buttons, matching tights and a matching sweater.  I am afraid to go into crazy 8 because we need to finish paying our adoption costs and I might spend all our money, hahaha.
Harold, Julie, and Carly (friends) gave us more clothes from Crazy 8.  And they match the clothes from Aunt Jackie so we can mix and match everything.  They gave us a dress, tights, and more hair clips.  They also gave us a really cute book called paper-doll dress up that is all Asian dolls.  I will try to put a picture of it on here when I get a chance.  Julie also took photos at the shower (she is a photographer) and gave me a CD with all the pictures!  Plus, she helped throw the shower.
Al, Lynda, Cate, and Meghan gave us a gift card to Children's place which will be great to have when we get back and know for sure what size Rylie is and what she still needs.
Barry, Beth, Kyle, and Alyssa weren't able to make it to the shower (they were actually celebrating family day- 7 years since Kyle and Alyssa's adoption!) but last night at choir they gave us a card with more money in it to help with our trip to China!
The last two families came in late and I'm not sure everything got written down- it was a lot of stuff- so I may have missed something. 
Dave, Tina, Carlye, Jacob, and Grant AND Todd, Debbie, Kaci, Kyle, and Kaden gave Rylie her first ever Park Lane necklace.  It is a little ice cream cone.  They gave her a bunch of cute clothes with matching hair bows, two really cute books, and a baby alive doll. 
Bob and Debbie (friends) gave Rylie, Nick, and Alex each their own bucket filled with all kinds of good stuff.  Debbie gave Rylie a very cute dress, hair bows, and tights.  The boys buckets had coloring books, slinkies, markers, graham crackers, fruit snacks, cheez-its, and a bunch of other stuff.  The buckets each had their names on them.  It was very special for the boys to get something of their own at the shower! They also gave us a donation to help bring Rylie home.
Last but certainly not least-
Michael, Kerry, Kaitlyn, Hannah, and Zane gave us an amazing shower and they also gave us a backpack and a cup that will be great to take to China.  I think Rylie will like to have her own backpack to carry around and we can fill it with stuff for the 15 hour airplane ride from Hong Kong to Chicago!!!! They also gave Rylie a cute Dora dress. 
Thank you to everyone who came to our shower and all the wonderful gifts.  Thank you most of all for your encouragement, support and prayers as we get ready to bring Rylie home!