Celebrating in Chicago

Family Day 7 Years Later

And I thought Connecticut was cold and snowy but.......

The girl can work a snow shovel and we actually have to USE our snow markers here in IN.

both of them...

...completely unaffected

The wind is blowing so hard today that it's created little dunes out of the foot of snow in our backyard.

Coming from the south, this is NOT what you are used to seeing and I never even saw it in CT.  Check out that windchill.  Lily Grace managed herself a snow day from this one for both today and tomorrow. 
Snow days from school don't come easily here.  
Life just moves on.  When is Spring???

Happy New Year!!!! 2014

Happy New Year!  I hope this finds you all ready for a new year.  We've enjoyed the past couple of days celebrating and making memories. 
Scott, Kathy, Lily and Max came to visit and help us ring in the new year.  We have had so much fun!!!!  This was our first time to meet Max.  He was so funny and kind. (and has "the best" model pose around- hilarious!) We can see why his parents speak with pride when they talk about him.  
We enjoyed dinner out, long conversations, staying up until midnight for two nights straight (even the girls managed to hang in there), a girl's day of pottery painting and shopping, a boys day touring Matt's plant and learning about wire (ok..I bet our day was more fun), fireworks, a major snowball fight in the basement and several hours of air hockey that lead to a championship.  Congratulations Max!  
The best part of this New Year's celebration was celebrating with friends who each time they come feel like family.  Friends who see you all put together and in your pj's and could care less either way.  We feel very blessed to live so close to one another and again thank God for this blessing.  
And the girls....oh those two girls.  They have played their hearts out and just as they started their little lives together, this year they started a new year together and that is pretty special.  Kathy and I just said this morning how amazing it is that seven years later here  we are celebrating the beginning of a new year together.  Thanks be to God!
Thanks again "L" family for the memories and laughs.  We'll see you next year!!!!!
Rather than post several pics of this and that over the past days, I'll leave you with a few pics that depict how this visit went, beginning to end.

T-tam!!!!!!  Hurry Back Y'all!

Merry Christmas!

Our latest Nutcracker from the Nutcracker Ballet.  LG named him Greenburg.  

Baking a Red Velvet cake with a mermaid. 

Bob Elf left us a Christmas Eve breakfast along with a letter from Santa granting Lily Grace a very special wish.  She was allowed to open one gift from under the tree early.  

After preparing breakfast, apparently Bob needed an elf bubble bath.

Her early gift was a much hoped for Lego Friends Dolphin Cruiser.

This year Santa got Red Velvet cake.

So excited to have Saige and her horses.

Much of Christmas Day has been spent laughing and playing.  Too bad Santa didn't leave this downstairs in the game room.  Daddy has a big job ahead of him. 

Merry Christmas!  Thanks be to God!

Christmas Card Outtakes

Each year we plan for the perfect Christmas card and each year it's a huge relief when it's printed and in the mail.  Here are a few funny outtakes on our way to the mailbox.  

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Christmas Cutie

cute in her curls

Holiday Fun

Performing her annual Thanksgiving Day job- the mixing of
 the cornbread dressing. Yes....she washes!

Even Molly got to enjoy some turkey, apple and carrots. 
 No...she doesn't wash, but she is patient!

As always, the day after Thanksgiving, we decorated and put 
up our trees. (wrestled with  lights!! Right Matt?)

We woke to this festive banner and the first appearance 
by our elf, Bob.  Lily Grace was beyond excited!!

Reading her arrival letter from Bob explaining that he 
had left donuts and a Scavenger Hunt for our family.  We 
had to follow clues to find 5 ornaments hidden around the 
house.  We had so much fun!

Following the clues and notice Molly put herself
 in the mix, sniffing out the clues or more likely, 
what is on the counter she can get in to

We had a great time hunting for ornaments and 
yes... we enjoyed the donuts too

On Sunday morning, Bob had left us a decorated chandelier 
and a Gingerbread kit.  We had a great time as a family 
decorating our Gingerbread house after church.

So excited to visit with Santa.   

The holidays are upon us and we are having a cold but wonderful time.  
Thanksgiving brought with it flurries of snow, yummy food and family time together and even a lost tooth.  We had a great time and have so many blessings to be thankful for.  We even managed to see Santa over Thanksgiving.  
The trees are now up, (three this year with the addition of our Jesse tree), Bob our elf has started visiting, the Christmas card picture has been taken, the gifts are wrapped and we are joyfully awaiting the birth of our savior.
As I type this post, snow is steadily falling.  It's a mere 17 degrees outside and it truly is a most wonderful time of year.  I hope your family is enjoying the season and staying warm.  Thanks be to God!

Wet Halloween Fun

Enjoying Class Party Treats

Party Crafts

According to Gracie this is a "Cat Pose"

With neighbor Claire

We had quite the busy, fun and wet Halloween. A big storm front moved through and while it made for a messy Halloween, it certainly didn't dampen the fun.  
This year Lily Grace asked to be a black cat.  She was adorable.  
We enjoyed her class party with crafts, games and treats.  We also had some of our neighbors over for some warm chili and trick or treating in the rain.  
Lily Grace, I absolutely love sewing your costumes and sharing in your class parties.  You are the BEST treat ever!!!!!

A Six Year Reunion

Watching with excitement

Having just met-  here they are six years later

Yes, there were even pillow fights

They wore themselves out.  We turned the light on in the basement to take this picture and they never even moved.

Before breakfast this morning and before saying goodbye turned their little smiles into frowns

Where to even begin with this post?  Six years ago, God blessed us with the most amazing little girl.  His blessing would take us all the way to China.  We would become parents halfway around the world and share a connection with a family we had yet to meet. 
As many of you may remember, we met Scott and Kathy our first day in Beijing and from that moment on, we spent each day together. We shared many, many laughs, adventures and special moments.  We became parents together and our Lily's started their little lives together nine months prior to our arrival.  
Saying goodbye to Scott, Kathy and Lilyana at the Minneapolis airport upon our arrival in the United States was one of the hardest parts of our trip.  Being together made our trip more special, easy and memorable. 
Once home, long distance and busy schedules kept us apart.  Until now.....
This weekend, six years later, we saw our Lily's together again, at seven years old. (Having moved to Indiana, we are now only 3 hours apart.)  Leading up to their visit, the girls were beyond excited, pen-paling, sharing pictures of themselves, asking questions about one another and planning.  I will be honest, Matt, Scott, Kathy and I were just as excited.  The morning of their arrival, Lily Grace was glued to the window watching for them with sheer excitement.  I even got in on the watching after a while.  Her excitement only elevated mine.  Once in the driveway, all we saw was Lilyana bolting around the corner and two China sisters (as they call themselves) standing there hugging and in awe of one another. It was truly something special to see.  Six years later, the six of us were home, settled in our lives and finally, together again.  
We spent the weekend cooking out, catching up, laughing a lot, reminiscing, taking lots of pictures and enjoying the giggles of two little girls who were sharing special time together.  
This was the first time either of the girls had spent the night over at a friends.  By mid-day, they had decided that they had to sleep together and two separate bedrooms just wouldn't work.  So, after much play, running around, crafts, giggles, a bubble bath, dolls, a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs and near midnight bedtime, they were asleep, together, the same way they had started life. 
We just melted each time we saw them.  They were the cutest. It was something quite special.  God is so good!  Now the same size, and seven years old, they still looked exactly the same in the face and it was just precious. 
It's amazing when I think about it.  As soon as Scott and Kathy entered the front door, it was just easy to be together, just like it was in China.  It's as if we just picked right up and carried on.  We all felt it and had to say it out loud at least once.  
The girls said goodbye this morning after breakfast but just until Nov. We have been given a gift with this move and the distance it closes between us.  The four of us are making it a priority to get together on a scheduled regular basis.  So while this is the first post of our families together in six years, it's just the beginning of posts for these two growing China sisters who will always share a connection and thanks to God's wonderful blessings, now share in the ability to grow together.  Thanks be to God!