New Blog Design

I have the best daughter in the world! Don't you just love this new blog she designed for me in honor of Chinese New Year? She is the greatest. Her talent amazes me. Head on over to her blog at www.ashtonsmeimei.blogspot.com and let her know how awesome her work is! I can't wait to post all of the beautiful pics she has photo shopped for me-I love you Ashton!

Happy Chinese New Year

Our little Chinese Princess quite enjoyed her photo shoot with all of her "China" goodies.  She kept holding her tea pot and cup saying "Mommy I love my China set, mommy I love my China umbrella, ect." She is very much loving anything that came home from China with us.  It makes me smile.  I hope that we will always be able to encourage her and teach her how blessed she is to have such a rich heritage.  Tonight we are celebrating with our family at our favorite Chinese restaurant. We are a day early but they are closed on Sundays to be with family and we wouldn't miss celebrating with them.  

Anna Grace Day

Here is a rough draft of our sweet Anna Grace's Gotcha Day! Tell me what you think!

This is a VERY rough draft of our Gotcha Day video of Anna Grace. It has taken me almost 19 months to get it downloaded from my video camera to computer.  I am having a video made but I wanted to share this with those of you who have continued to ask.  I did add music but I could not figure out how to silence the video so please bear with me.  I love this song-I clung to it during our 2 year wait knowing that it would be worth it.  I find it amazing that my favorite part of the song is when Hal gets to hold his daughter for the 1st time.  This precious man waited for his girl for 15 years.  He prayed and waited patiently for me to hear the call to adopt.  I am so grateful that he was so faithful to the call and willing to wait for the right moment.  Our lives have forever been changed.  I would go back to China tomorrow if I could.  Hopefully soon we will have the professional video to share with you.

Happy New Year

I can't believe that it is 2009. Wasn't it only last week that we were home from China with our newest little one? Time has flown. I remember a time when "time" was measured by initials. DTC, LID, TA--- now we have been home with Miss Anna Grace for 18 months. Time has flown by. I don't get to update my blog as much as I would like. I am going to attempt to do a better job. Becoming a mommy to 4 children has been wonderful but very bad for scrapbooking days. I am so grateful to have my blogs to remember exactly what has happened during the last 18 months. When I do have time to scrapbook, I will have a tool to help me remember dates, milestones and more. 2008 was wonderful for our family. We are so blessed. We have done so many fun things and I am looking forward to 2009 being even better. I have so many plans and dreams but I must remind myself that most days I do well to dress everyone, check homework, plan dinner of some sort and get everyone to bed. As I read Mary Beth Chapman's Christmas letter, I was reminded that I need to enjoy the little moments. Stop cleaning and play a game. Enjoy bedtime routines and listen to my children. Stop trying to just get through a day and actually enjoy it. These are hard things for me. I spend most of my time just getting by. I want to be a part of my children's lives in even the smallest things. I am going to strive to put them first. My house will be here long after they are gone(mind you I do not have a spotless house, I just feel like I spend all of my time trying to keep it from getting completely out of control) Laundry piles up daily and I have a hard time getting it put away. I need an organization fairy to come to my house and smack me with her wand. I dream of Clean House choosing me as their next project-a girl can dream! I am spending this week doing my best to organize and clean while the kids are at school so that our evenings can be spent together. Next week it will be back to work selling t-shirts. I am enjoying the break and praying that my fairy will show up(think Princess Aurora singing "Someday my prince will come" except it is me "Someday my fairy will come, someday I'll find someone who can clean through the clutter and help me be a good mother" ha ha!
I hope everyone has had a wonderful New Year. I will be back this week to post lots of new pics of all the kids. We had a wonderful break from school and have lots of pics to prove it :)
Here's hoping 2009 is all that you dream it will be!

Christmas Fun

We had such a wonderful Christmas with our family this year. It was full of laughter, fun and food. We started Christmas Eve with Hal's family at our house. We enjoyed lunch and some gift swapping. My family came over later in the evening to celebrate my brother Johnny's birthday. It was so wonderful to have him home this Christmas. The kids had a ball and we gave them their gift from us(Guitar Hero Bundle). It was quite hilarious to see the adults play guitar and sing. I think we may have enjoyed it more than the kids. Uncle Johnny seemed to really enjoy helping the kids decorate cookies for Santa. Hayne ate every one that he decorated-poor Santa :) We are so very blessed. We were able to spend a very special day with all of our brothers, sisters and parents. There is not much more in life that you can ask for.
Christmas morning, everyone was at our house again to see what Santa had brought. We had a huge flashback moment as we watched Anna Grace cleaning in her high heel shoes(Many years ago, Ashton did the exact same thing-I am going to have to dig out our old photos and show you) Mema and Hal cooked a yummy breakfast and everyone had a great time. Next we headed to Nana's to see what Santa Bop-Bop and Nana had left for the kids. We spent the day there and it was so much fun. No rushing around - we actually relaxed and enjoyed our time together. It has been a wonderful Christmas. It is so nice to celebrate with those we love most.

Merry Christmas!!

Wishing you and yours a VERY Merry Christmas and a VERY Happy Birthday to my little brother Johnny!!! Happy Birthday!!