The rest of Christmas...

As most of you know, we DID have some pretty exciting news to share on Christmas night with the kids...
They are getting another little sister from China!
YEA!!!
Her name is Anna Chenghao and she is currently living in Yangjiang at the JiangCheng SWI. That city might sound familiar because it is the same town Amy is from! :) And JiangCheng is just a hop, skip and a jump down from Yangjiang City SWI (Amy's orphanage). We are so blessed that Amy and Anna lived for 5 months just down the road from eachother.
She was born on November 1, 2005 (so she just turned 1). She is happy and healthy and we are so excited to bring her home.
We just sent our LOI (Letter of Intent) to China on December 20 and are hoping to send our dossier to China in late January or early February. And then hoping to travel in the summer to bring her home.
You will see that she is just adorable and we can't wait to get to know her.
Enjoy the pics!




 

Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning

I have GOT to get over trying to have a "perfect" Christmas. I have got to realize that the "perfect" Christmas only happened ONCE and it is a sure bet that THAT Christmas was far from perfect also...
We have three coughers (Ash, Austin and I) and one fever (Amy) on Christmas Eve and Morning. Amy was unable to shake the bladder infection/cold she had (until the day AFTER Christmas). It certainly wasn't the Christmas morning I imagined and hoped for.
But, overall, it was a wonderful Christmas. More on the entire day and evening to come later, but here are some pics to get you started...

Christmas Eve - the kids opening their stockings! We had the added blessing of sharing our Christmas traditions with Yang - our international WSU student that has become "family" for the school-year (and for some time to come!)
Christmas morning - beginning to open presents.
Yang opens a Jones soda bottle featuring my kids and a Christmas message!
Our traditional Christmas morning breakfast - shared with two "Yang" Chinese nationals celbrating their first Christmas. (Yang is the name of our student and was also Amy's Chinese name - and it is pronounced "young") See - I AM funny! 

Two little Monkeys...

Katie and Amy. Katie's mom - Joy - and I are convinced that we may never get a "good" picture of these two Yang-sters! Usually one is looking at the camera and the other is not. The first picture is the best one I got the other day when we met Katie and Joy for lunch at McD's. Aren't they a festive pair? I love that Katie picked out the red shirt and really wanted to wear it when she say Amy!
Their friendship is at a distance right now, but Joy and I (along with the girls' daddies) are trusting that some day the girls will see what God did in bringing them together again.




 

This is what it's all about...

Luke 2
The Birth of Jesus
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
The Shepherds and the Angels And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

My beautiful children...

I don't even need to give a commentary...




 

Baby Jesus and sleep... (or lack thereof)

It has certainly been an... interesting day with little Miss Amy-Hui. Spending the day with a two year old is never boring! I have seen her play with her Little People nativity and then whine because... well, I am not sure WHY she whined :)

BUT these pictures sum the day up in a way that words could not describe. I love being a mom. People sometimes say that this job doesn't have benefits (I confess that I have said that a time or two) but I beg to differ. Loving my children and seeing them grow into the people God created them to be is an awesome benefit.

I took a few pics from today of my little one. Enjoy.

I was unloading the dishwasher this morning while Amy was playing with her nativity. I looked up and saw her taking tiny little bites of her animal cracker, take it out of her mouth and then feed it to Baby Jesus. It was so sweet. If you know Amy, you know that she isn't too likely to share her food with ANYONE. Apparently Baby Jesus is worth sharing with.

And then there's my child that FIGHTS going to sleep - tossing and turning and kicking her legs around her bed. This is how she finally fell asleep tonight. 

I created a Slide Show! Check it out!

Celebrating Ash

On Thursday my Ashleigh turned 10. MY OH MY! I think she grew up last weekend; or maybe it happened when I wasn't looking.

I am not sure what it is about first-borns. Both Chris and I are first-born (still not sure how we managed to attract eachother). So much responsibility. I know that with each child I have become more patient (and certainly more flexible). She is such a mother-hen to her younger siblings.

She came into the world with a little strong-willed spark in her and that hasn't changed too much. The good news is that I am confident that the quality that challenges my authority as her mother will be the very quality that will take her where all her dreams lie. I cartainly have no idea what God has in Ashleigh's future, but I am confident that she will promote serious change in the world around her... she already has.

Admirable - She has especially risen to the challenges of the past year and has shined!
Sensitive - she has always been so sensitive to the feelings of others
Happy - there is a JOY that follows Ashleigh where ever she goes - and it is contagious
Laughter - although the sound of it changes from time to time, her laugh is infectious
Eager - she is eager to try new things and strives to excell
Intelligent - and not just book smart
Godly - she strives to honor God in all she does and says
Honest
Ashleigh opening her presents first thing on Thursday morning
Blowing out the candles on her birthday donut!
SNOW DAY!!! Although we only saw about an inch of snow, the kids' school cancelled because of the threat - and Ashleigh got what every kid hopes for - a snow day on her birthday!
Amy and Austin watching the first big snowflakes fall on Ashleigh's birthday.

Ten years ago (actually about 10 1/2 years ago) I told Chris that our baby would be born on the day of the first snow (that season). And surely she was. It was really neat that we got our first snow this season on her birthday!