The next year

The next year was wonderful! and that doesn't even describe it fully. We kept in close contact with Amanda through email. I always tried to email her weekly and give her updates on Ms. Hollie. I wanted her to know how good she was doing, how cute she was and how happy we were as a family. Our dream came true and we were loving life with our daughter. She was everything to us and still is. Everything we did was around her, for her and we LOVED it. Life with a baby girl was precious.
We were able to see Amanda in August when we took a trip up to Idaho. It was great seeing her and she looked fantastic! Our time with her was short, sweet and perfect! Ryan and I were even able to spend our 5 year anniversary with her and Hollie. We truly couldn't have asked for more. Seeing Amanda was great! Once again, I always have a hard time leaving her, but seeing her and seeing how good she was doing helped me every time.
When Hollie was born Amanda asked if she could come to Hollie's first birthday. Our response was, "Ofcourse, we would LOVE to have you." So, when March 30, 2007 came Amanda was here for Hollie' first birthday. It was a perfect day and I couldn't have asked for the day/weekend to go any better. Amanda was able to meet our family and friends and that meant a lot to us. We LOVED showing her off and introducing her to everyone. Her and I spent late nights talking, visiting and just talking about life. It was great and I never wanted the night to end. One of my favorite moments was, Sunday while we were watching conference. We were all sitting on the couch and she was laying down. She came over, layed her head on my lap and I played with her hair. Tears welled up in my eyes and I felt like she was my sister. We were all so comfortable and all one family. I couldn't ask for this experience to have gone any other way. I love being in contact with her, talking to her and just knowing that she is there. Her and I will always have a special bond between us because of what we share with Hollie. It's something so special and sacred and I feel so lucky that I am able to experience this.