Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Happy New Year!

My little fashion disaster! Here's wishing for 'hip'r fashion in the new year.
(Notice the striped shirt, velour pink pants with hearts and polka dot socks. It's called no matching clean clothes after numerous trips to outside in the snow.)

It's almost 2009 - I can hardly wait!

From our home to yours
Wishing you all a very Fun and Safe Happy New Year!

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Christmas at Grandma's

Since we've been buried in snow (it took hubby and I 2.5 hours this morning just to shovel the street which is inclined in front of our house to be able to park our van there again) we weren't able to have Christmas until today with my family.

So with all the slush and mush (the roads were way worse today with all the wet rain we've been having, than when it was snowing) we mustered our way...over the meadow and through the woods to Grandmother's house we went.

3 generations - Grandma, Mommy, Daughter (Abigail doesn't want to play along)


Our "4" children

Cousins - Abigail found something else to look at

Christmas 2008

Having fun at the dinner table

Friday, December 26, 2008

Countdown to 2009


As we say 'good-bye' to Christmas 2008 and begin the countdown to 2009, here are a few holiday pictures for your enjoyment.

We have been working on teaching little miss A to smile - she got it this time.

Daddy got his Christmas present...and it even came with a bow!!!

We agree - 'good things DO come in small packages'

"I think a raindrop fell on my head"

Playing peek-a-boo

Now if I could have only gotten them to do "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" hand motions

Pretty big boots to fill

Still working on the smiling thing

Wanna smooch? (either than or she's got some sweet smelling something on her upper lip that she can't live without)

"Snow, snow go away, please don't come for one more day!"

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas

Click to play Christmas 2008
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Monday, December 22, 2008

Same Post, Different Day

Literally I could recopy the last post and re-post it here as there hasn't been a whole lot of change except MORE SNOW!!! 19 inches at last count and they expect more snow for this entire week.

Now I know that many of you (especially those in the Midwest/East - to which sorry you guys are having it so bad as well) are thinking "What's the big deal - 19 inches, sheesh, we can get that in a day." According to the weathermen/women we haven't seen snow this much in the lowlands since 1969. The last recording of this much snow was 14" in 1990 and 12" in 1996. Not only that but the entire state is covered in snow - no lie, the entire state. We couldn't even get in our car and drive somewhere to escape it if we want to. Flights out of SeaTac have been cancelled leaving 1000's stranded at the airport with no place to go. And the small town that we live in, well is comprised of hills, lots and lots of them making traveling an adventure.

So, Christmas looks different this year. We already missed celebrating Christmas with hubby's side of the family over the weekend and we will see what this week brings if we can have Christmas Eve with my side or not.

So for now..."The weather outside is frightful,
but the fire is so delightful.
And since there's no place to go (well not true as we haven't finished Christmas shopping yet),
Let it ...no I can't say it, I just can't."




Here is our park bench on our front porch. Doesn't look like it'll be seeing any visitors anytime soon.

View across the valley


These icicles are beautiful, but extremely hazardous when they under the pathway of the front door.

One of our cars, buried under the snow. I have actually cleaned this car off twice in the past 4 days.
Having fun sledding. Baby girl really enjoyed this activity as long as it didn't get in her face.

Baby-cakes also found that crawling in the snow was a way better way to get around considering that the snow was waist deep for her making it difficult to walk. I suppose this pic I could say "Ho Ho Ho" as she landed face first and came up with a white beard.

And of course, Daddy's favorite position after a day in the snow!


Thursday, December 18, 2008

North Pole

I thought we were done with the snow the other day, but we woke up to 6 more inches of snow this morning. As the day went on, so did the snow, it reached 12 inches by noon. It continued to snow and snow and snow, we literally thought we were at the North Pole. I think we may have seen Santa's sleigh today, however it wasn't occupied by anyone ~ after all it is 6 days early.
but alas, we are in WA. Hey, wait a minute we don't get snow like this in our small town.

So, it may have been 90+ degrees in China when we got baby cakes but I have to tell you she LOVES the snow!!! This will give you a good idea of how deep the snow is in our front yard.

The other fun thing to do is to EAT snow!!
And play with my brothers!!!
Well, as I look outside it is beautiful. This is the Daddy signing off from the North Pole.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Happy 3 Month Anniversary

Wow, it's been a long time since I've titled a post with the words Happy # Month Anniversary.

I remember reading blogs while I was in the "expectant wait" period of our adoption, of people saying how they couldn't remember or rather 'forgot' how long their wait really was after they received their beloved daughter and my thoughts at that point were usually, "I don't know how you could ever 'forget' how incredibly long the wait is/was."

I think I'm going to have to eat my words!

3 months ago today, 10 families gathered in a hotel conference room 6000 miles from here to share together in an experience that bonded them forever.

29 (siblings & grandma's included) strangers with only a few days beforehand to meet & greet (so to speak), sitting rather impatiently filling out necessary paperwork - lots of paperwork, trying to write carefully, working really hard to concentrate so as to not make any mistakes on their crucial official Chinese documents.

Checking and re-checking the spelling, doing whatever it takes to keep our minds occupied while we waited to hear even a whisper of news.

{ring, ring} our guide Marie's cell phone rang. I remember thinking how much I wanted to know and understand Chinese at that point as she spoke quickly and clearly. Hanging up the phone she announced "The first baby is 10 minutes away."

See, our group of 10 families were adopting babies from 5 different orphanages. 5 babies from one, 2 babies from another and the remaining 3 from individual orphanages. Tears began to well within the eyes of many parents, the thoughts of panic ran through the minds of some ~ sheer elation, fluttering butterflies ~. The mood in the room was, well hard to put into words. I remember thinking, "Oh my gosh, this is it. What will she be like? What will she look like (mind you I had photos but there still is a wonder)? Will I recognize her at first glance? What if she cries? I've waited so long for this, am I really ready?" I can only imagine the thoughts of those who were going to be first time parents as this was going to be our 4th and I was having the "not sure about it" thoughts myself.

Babies arrived that day.

Couples became parents, families became whole. Dear sweet Abigail was placed into our arms a quiet, watchful, scared little girl.

Her whole world turned upside down in the matter of a few hours. 'Who are these white people? They smell different, they talk different, they look different and I'm not sure I like it. Where are my nannies? Where are my friends?' I can't even begin to imagine what must have been going through her mind. She did her best not to look us in the eye for the first few days. She worked really hard not to smile or even show us signs that she was enjoying her new family. She didn't know she 'needed' a family or even wanted one for that matter. She didn't know that hugging, kissing and cuddling were all necessary touches for her soul to grow. She didn't understand that we waited almost 3 years to bring her into our family, to bring her home to love her forever! She would learn all of this very soon! And the results of learning it...well see for yourself.

Say CHEESE!!!
(literally this is the first time ever I have gotten her to respond at all when I've said "cheese" with a camera in hand).


September 16, 2008 Dalton's first time holding Abigail (then - Abigail Day!)

Now - 3 months later, Dalton's ___?(I lost count) time holding Abigail


Curious and inquisitive she is.


Happy and well loved.

Loving her family ~ forever!

Monday, December 15, 2008

A much Happier Camper

Baby girl hasn't been quite herself these past few days. BUT, we are thinking she's out of the woods and doing so much better now. These should be proof enough! Oh yeah, I actually got her to leave a "tied" ribbon/bow on her head for a few hours! Big accomplishment since she really doesn't like hats, bows, clips, etc. That's okay though, we'll keep trying.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Let it SNOW!




Well, we woke up to snow this morning. Not a whole lot by "snow" standards but 3 inches is enough to play in and have fun. Abigail LOVED it so much she pitched a fit when it was time to bring her inside (the evidence of chattering teeth and bright red hands were the indicator). Temps are pretty cold - in the 20's and they do not expect it to warm too much over the next week so we are in for some icy roadways. That should make it fun for day to day activities.