HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS!!!

Our family is thrilled beyond words to have JT home with us for the Holidays this year. Our hearts are overflowing!


May you all have a safe, Happy Holiday and may the new year bring you and your family health, peace, and happiness.

JT's First Christmas Tree

Our tradition the morning after Thanksgiving is to bundle up and head out to our favorite Christmas Tree Farm. Why is it our favorite? Because it is a very family oriented place, they are friendly and we have gone there for years before S was born. Why for S and JT? Because they serve Hot Chochoate and candy canes!

For S, this was the same trip she has made for the last six years. She was so excited to go. She loves to "watch" someone else cut the tree and she waits anxiously to help drag the tree back.

This year she was trying to hide from me. Why you ask? Because I had the camera. So throughout all the farm you could hear this little voice shrieking after peeking aroud a tree....run run, its mama she's has the caaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmra!! Notice the forced smile on her face! Can you just see what she is thinking....."take the picture already...I'm smiling...for Gods Sake JUST TAKE IT." She wasn't just thinking it. She had a few choice words for me. Maybe I should have done what the mom a couple of rows over did. All I hear is "Smile for a Lollipop" I think I will try that next year :)

For JT, it was a whole new experience. After playing ring around the rosie, because that is just plain fun to do anywhere, she decided the trees were her friends. There were several there her size so why not give them hugs :)

When it was time to cut the tree, I of course took the photo's because I am just not strong enough to cut the tree...wink wink. But that's OK because I think next year JT will be ready to take over the cutting. Look at that form!

And the best photo of all.....I can't see any smiling faces! I have been dreaming of seeing my TWO girls walking hand in hand for years! May they walk Hand In Hand for the rest of their lives.

WOW, Can I climb it?!!!

Cousins

I just have to dedicate a post to the most wonderful boys in the whole wide world! They are the BEST cousins ever.

C..........

C (currently 15) who is now towering over me at six feet two inches and has a voice deeper than any 15 year old I know, was just a little 8 year old boy when S came home. C is so kind hearted (even though he acts all tough, I know the real C!) giving, loyal, and bright. He has matured a lot over the past two years and amazes me with his adult like decision making skills. He is more mature than many adults I know :)

He can fix anything put in front of him and is very mechanically inclined. He loves to hunt, hang out with his friends, work on cars, and push my buttons! Although he is off with his friends a lot, if ANY one of his family members is in need, he will be the first one by their side. And oh, is this young man quite the charmer. He can charm the pants of anyone! I am so lucky to have him in my life. I am very proud of him!

D..........



D (currently 12) who will be towering over me in the next couple of years too, was only five when S came home. D is so sweet. He is so bright, always able to make the best out of the worse situation. He is the kid that makes lemonade from lemons!

He is very artistic and can draw for hours. Just a pencil and paper is all he needs to create some amazing artwork! Then just a quickly he will jump from drawing to dirt bikes, paint ball, hunting, and sports! He is so much fun to be with. D has overcome some obstacles no child should have to deal with. And he has come out smiling. I love his sense of adventure. He will try anything once and has a great attitude. He too loves his family and deeply cares. He has so much passion and excitement for life. He is one of a kind. I am so proud of him!


I still vividly remember them standing there with roses as we came off the plane with S way back in 2002, finally reaching home after a long and wonderful journey to china and back. That was my one request to my family. PLEASE make sure MY boys are at the airport when we get home! And again, in 2008 I asked the boys to PLEASE be at the airport when we got home with JT. Well, D said he would be there, C said he would "try" with that little grin of his he gets when he is trying to push my buttons. They were both there to greet their new cousin and give Shea loads of attention! Of course JT was freaked out by Cody. She cried if he went anywhere near her. I'm not sure if it was his size or his deep voice, or perhaps the fact that she was crying and he thought it was funny, teenage humor! At eight when S came home, he would have been bothered by this, but at 15 he thought it was funny. Go figure! She went right to D....for a minute, but she wasn't scared of him :) Of course now JT runs to them with excitement when they show up at the door, just like I knew would happen. Geez, I still run with excitement to the door when they show up!

C and D are very different in many ways. Personality, looks, likes and dislikes, but both are just all around great kids! Those boys love their cousins so much. And the girls just adore them. They are very much like the brothers my girls would never have been able to have. "In the old days" before these most wonderful boys found the wonderful social world of friends, they would argue who's turn it was to spend the weekend at my house. Oh, I miss those days. They are growing up way to fast for my taste.

Once upon a time, when I took priority over his friends, C spent many weekends with us. He would play and read to Shea for hours. Now unfortunately, I have to beg him to pencil us into his busy social calendar. The last time I got him over for a weekend is only because he was grounded and couldn't go to any friends houses, ohhh the love :) However, he is always thinking of my girls. Just last week he made a heart shaped stool for Juliana and carved her initials in it. He called me so concerned because one of the screws he had put in popped out one side a bit and just wanted to make sure I watched JT closely so she didn't get hurt. Ahhhhhh, I wonder if his friends not what a marshmallow he is for this little baby cousin. He is currently working on a Jewelry Box for Shea. Oh, he knows them so well, she will love it!


D is getting to the point where we have to be penciled in but not YET! I am fighting this transition of him phasing me out until the bitter end! He still comes over for a weekend about once a month (not as often as I would like) but at least he doesn't need to be grounded to join us for the weekend! He has always showered S with attention and JT is no different. One time while we were out, JT choked (more like a gag reflex than choking) on a piece of bread and D just about lost it. He was so concerned. Now every time we sit down to eat he tells me, "you better cut that smaller. I'm worried she will choke. Don't you want to feed that to her?" This little man is amazing. He will let Shea do his nails (shhh, don't tell his friends), he face paints the girls, plays anything they ask him too and is just an all around great kid! And to balance the nail polish, he can usually drag S outside to play "his" games like baseball, football, or golf!


We just love these boys. And much to my dismay, no matter how much I begged over the years, their mother will not let them move in with me! There have been several occasions when I had the boys and people would make "your son" comments. I never corrected them! My sister and I still joke about this. I love them like they are my sons! Over the years, they have joined us for vacations, and yearly events like Kids Day, First Night, July 4th Celebrations, Halloween, spent a million fun filled weekends at my house, grown up with my girls, called me in the middle of the night when they were scared, and yes, I miss it, even the phone calls in the middle of the night! Call me crazy but I would give anything to go back to the days when they fought over who's turn it was to come to my house.

Please tell me the girls will never choose their friends over spending time with Mama. I know I know, it will happen. It just reminds me to enjoy every minute even more!

We love you C and D!!

Six Years Ago Today......

Happy Gotcha Day S!!! SIX years ago today, the most charming, beautiful, itty bitty soul was placed in my arms and heart forever. Oh my, she was as cute as a button. After the initial shock of being placed in this weird looking women's arms, she began to laugh as my father played a, how many times will this strange man pick up the toy I throw on the floor game :) She was the only one laughing, and I mean belly laughing, in a conference room with many other babies crying. Nervous laughter? Probably, she still laughs when she is nervous, but it was the sweetest sound I have ever heard!

The last six years with S have been fast, amazing, joyful, the best years of my life. I look into her all knowing seven year old eyes and think, Wow! How lucky am I? She is smart, funny, curious, inquisitive, talented, good hearted, extremely artistic, and simply beautiful inside and out. At seven she can tote around quite the attitude when she wants. I just can't even imagine where she got that from :) S has tried many different things over the past six years (some a couple of times) and found she does not care for ballet, tap, gymnastics, or Tae kwon do. She will tolerate swim lessons for her Mama, although I think she is finally enjoying them now. Her passion though is horses. (see previous post) She LOVES horses, everything about them and lives for her riding lesson each week.

S has gone through many changes in the past year, the biggest, becoming a big sister! Having a little sister in theory sounded great! In reality...hmmm, I think she wanted to rethink her position :) While in China S took on the nurturing role, as you see in the photo's. I knew she would. She is nurturing by nature whether it be her little sister, or the latest catch in her bug catcher. Not that I am comparing her little sister to a bug, just that S will give any living thing the same type of nurturing.....her dog, a bug, her little sister :) It took us a long time to convince her that the bug actually prefers the great outdoors to her warm bedroom :) Anyway, once we got home it is like she slammed on the breaks and said Ahh Wooooo, back this bus up. Is she staying here forever? She is taking my attention, she is keeping me up at night, and then oh, when she keeps me up at night SHE gets to go sleep in Mama's room, she is getting presents and EVERYONE wants to see her. UH HELLO, What about ME?? We, and when I say we I mean all of my family and friends, showered S with attention so she would know that she simply is not replaceable. About a month after being home, overnight, she went back to her natural nurturing self with Mei Mei. She is a great big sister and I mean that. Yes, she still gets upset with JT when she steals her crayons and proceeds to snap them in half. Yes, she still gets upset when JT opens her dresser drawers and empties out all of the contents. BUT, in between all those little toddler quirks, S showers her with love and affection. She loves to help her eat, get her dressed, change her diaper (and NO, I never ask her to, she wants to), play with her, help her brush her teeth, teach her things ect. The list goes on and on. If I correct JT in any way, and S thinks it's an injustice (which most of the time she thinks it is, KIDS UNITE) she will run to JT's defense and tell me why I should not have talked to her sister that way. I could just eat her up!

Six years ago, I can only assume a very brave women in China was remembering the precious bundle she left on the steps of a busy hotel a year ago at five days old. We believe she did this in hopes that her little girl would have a good life with opportunity, education, and love. Like so many other women faced with the social challenges and laws of their society, she felt this would be her baby girls best shot at a good future. By leaving her in such a busy place, we can only assume she wanted her precious baby to be found quickly and given what she needed, perhaps things her birthmother could not have given her. And indeed she was found quickly by a police officier who took her to a place where she was loved and cared for until her forever family could come to bring her home. I am so thankful to this women I will never know. We think of her often and we hope she knows her dreams for her baby girl to be loved and part of a family have come true. S asked me one day what her birthmother looked like. I told her, we probably would never know for sure but I think she probably looks a lot like S. The same silky hair, the same sparkling eyes, and a beautiful smile.

Six years ago, S amazed me at how quickly she adjusted to us after being taken away from everything she knows. Then to be placed with strangers she had never laid eyes on, in a strange hotel, with a strange language, strange smells, and strange looks. Only to get on a plane for 22 hours to go to another strange place with more strange people! Six years later, she still amazes me. Six years from now, she will no doubt still be amazing me! We are so proud of her, we love you so much S!!!

A Day in the Life of JT

Oh where oh where has JT gone oh where or where could she beeeeeeeeeee. You have to watch this little climber every second because she is usually on top of, in, or in the process of scaling something inappropriate. She is absolutely fearless. You would think a couple of good falls would discourage her but oh NO, I think it gives her more determination! And she does these things without making a sound, with adults in the room. We got the outlet covers, the gates, put all cleaning products up ect. But no matter, if it wasn't meant to be climbed, JT will find a way to do it! I swear she knows that we really don't have eyes in the back of our heads. Don't all little kids believe that? I must have gone wrong somewhere!



I am so innocent.......what? You don't believe me?

What? I am only supposed to wear one pair at a time?

I helped myself, hope you don't mind. Do you like my new climbing stucture?

OK, No one told me that I couldn't climb onto the counter. I know you stopped me when I was trying to get the cat but you didn't this time.....Safety Smaftey.....

You wait, in a year I will be able to take him all by myself!

Come on, let me in.....

Geez, I just can't find good help, Faster Faster.........

I didn't make this mess.....the big one did it!

I really am innocent........just look at this face. Wait thats not the one, I was just about to get into something here.....

NOW, look at this face, just quietly reading a book with my Gaga, complete innocence. I don't know where these other photo's came from, must be I have a look alike :)

Fall Fun

Click to enlarge photos