Camping fun...

Well we made it through our final camping adventure of the year. Unfortunately we only made two since we were so busy driving around the US all summer! Anyway, we went with two neighbor families out to a teeny tiny town in the middle of NOWHERE! We drove on the freeway for almost an hour then headed out into the corn fields. We went through some of the littlest and most isolated towns I've ever seen. They looked just like you'd imagine a small mid-western town might look. The old houses were so cool and there we some of the most beautiful churches out there with spires rising above everything. Well we finally found the campground at the end of the road (literally) and got settled in. It was a nice campground with big spaces and lots of trees. Since it was the last weekend of the year they'd be open they celebrated Halloween. Complete with decorating contests, a haunted house, trick or treating and a dance. Now when you plan your kid's Halloween costume you usually think about how to make it warm - especially in the mid-west. Unfortunately trick-or-treating a few weeks early can be a problem for this. We had 90 degree weather all weekend!!! With about 90% humidity on top. The kids were dying in their costumes. Caden was a Seattle Seahawk, Trace is wearing Rick's old karate uniform and Paige is a fluffy, furry ladybug! By the time we returned to our campsite Trace had his whole shirt open in the front, Caden had lost his helmit and jersey and Paige had on nothing but shorts! It was one of those weekends where you give up trying not to sweat or be too hot, you just couldn't do anything but stand there dripping. We all had a great time though and managed to get packed up seconds before the rain started. Now that we are home Rick and I washed down the trailer and Suburban and I get to spend the next few days getting the inside ready for winter. Fun, fun, fun.

Chuck E Cheese, Chinese Moon Fest & Mia

It's been a busy couple of days around here. Since the boys birthday's aren only six weeks apart and they both wanted a Chuck E Cheese party we split the difference and had a joint party on the 28th. It turned out really well and they had an absolute blast. Then, since we completely forgot Chinese Moon Fest on Tuesday we finally celebrated on Friday night with friends. It was a short, uneventful event with a fire and some moon pies. Today we had the fun of getting to see Mia again. We met Mia and her parents in China and traveled with them. Since we haven't seen them in almost a year it was fun to catch up and see the girls together. Mia is only ten days older than Paige and their size difference is pretty funny. Paige is little for her age and Mia is big but both are healthy, beautiful girls!

The best of the photo shoot

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

A year ago today...

we found out we had a daughter in China. Of course we already knew that but after two years we finally knew when she was born, where she was and what her name was. The pictures we received were actually taken in June or July but they were the first we ever saw of her so I've put them in the collage to show how much she has changed!

I still remember waiting for the phone call and the way my heart was pounding in my chest when the call finally came, the surreal feeling as I told the boys they had a sister and then ran out to tell Rick we had a daughter. What an amazing day that was!

Today also happens to be Chinese Moon Festival which is a huge family event in China. So we will celebrate tonight with moon pies and a fire outside while we remember what it took to make us a family forever.

It's never as easy as it looks!

Just trying to get one good picture took over 40 tries! She knows I want her to look at me and smile and is bound and determined NOT to do exactly that. I thought the attempts were pretty funny. She danced in the chair and tried to run away giggling, rolled on her back on the floor and pulled the blanket down on her head! It's a miracle I got any good ones!

Paige's Bebe's!

She loves her babies and when ever she can get ahold of all three this is how she carries them around.

In the last few weeks her vocabulary has just exploded! She will tell you "Dada wuk" or "Bace cool" (Daddy work and Trace school) among a ton of other things! It is so fun to hear her little voice. She is also a great supporter of her big brothers at their soccer games and practice's each week. Paige is a busy little girl and keeps us on our feet. She loves to giggle and tease. And we adore her.

I've waited so long for this moment.

I have always hoped my daughter would love dolls and especially dollhouses as much as myself. She has already shown an interest in babies but this was truely the icing on the cake for me!

However...

I just didn't imagine it quite like THIS.

Now to their credit, Caden aksed for his GI Joe guys and Trace was putting the babies in the mailbox and refridgerator!

Do we need to start therapy?

I'm wondering if Caden has "issues" with women. He drew this picture last night of Rick and I. Rick is on the left with the nice smily face. That would be me on the right with the medusa hair and buck teeth. Hmmmm...

In our arms as long as another's...

Our beautiful baby girl has passed two important milestones almost simultaneously. She turned 18 months old and has now been with us longer than she was in China. We are constantly amazed at the changes. She's finally starting to really try talking and says mama, dada, please, no, apple, bye bye, sit and night night all pretty clearly. There are a bunch of others but they can only be interpreted by us! She has started nodding her head yes also. Paige loves water. The bath, the shower or a pool. I never shower alone any more. One morning I was rinsing my hair when I felt a little hand on my leg! Guess who had joined me?! She knows where the crackers and cereal bars are kept, has been successful once on the potty, uses a fork and spoon like a pro, puts things in the garbage, gets a diaper when asked, and loves to scowl at us just to get a laugh! Such a joy she is to our family! In a couple weeks we will also be remembering the day one year ago when our long wait finally came to an end. The day we found out who our daughter was! We thought we waited a long time but in the last year China has only gotten through 4 months! In other words we were logged into the China system July 26, 2006 and they have now assigned babies to families who were logged in up to November 25, 2006! I am so grateful for God's timing and how perfect Paige is for our family.

Six Flags Summer Send Off

We had a very busy Labor Day weekend around here! On Saturday we took the kids on a long promised trip to Six Flags. It was a wonderful day with beautiful weather. We all had a lot of fun in Bugs Bunny's Ball house. Rick had the hugest grin on his face as he was launching balls through the guns at me and Paige. We were probably in there almost an hour! Trace and Rick were also very excited to be able to say they rode on every roller coaster in the park! Never mind the last one they went running to with the park closing in ten minutes and they were the last ones on! It was almost midnight when we made it home and collapsed into bed.

Take me out to the ball game...

Once we drug ourselves out of bed on Sunday Rick took Caden up flying. While they were gone the neighbor mentioned going to the last Jackhammer's game of the season. (minor league basseball). I knew Caden really wanted to go to one so we agreed to go. The kids were so excited! I'm not sure they saw much of the actual game but it didn't matter either. Part way through a man came over to us and asked if he could give Caden a ball - Cadne was thrilled! Then later his friend came back and gave one to Brandon too (our friends/neighbors littlest one). The bigger boys were sure jealous! The game finished off with a fireworks display the Paige was fascinated with and then autograph signing. The boys got everyone's autograph before we were able to leave!

Asleep in the bowling alley

When we got home from the ball game Sunday night there was a message from another family wanting to see if we were interested in bowling the next afternoon! Since we've promised this to the boys all summer also we decided to suck it up and go. Especially since they had cupons for .99 cents! Trace loved the time he got to spend with his old school friends and Caden just loved getting to bowl. It was a nice afternoon that Rick and the boys finished off with another quick flight. All I can say is Whew! Glad that's over now we're back into soccer season!

The First Days of School

An unplanned bath...

Caden got in the tub this morning and when I left the room Paige decided she wanted to get in too! She was quite proud of herself.

Holt Picnic 2007

Last Saturday we went to the annual picnic our adoption agency has for the midwest. It was about 45 minutes away and the first day in weeks that it didn't rain. The kids had fun, especially at the splash park. Paige was content to observe though! It was fun to see so many other families like ours and definately a good thing for the boys. They are always so inthralled when they realize there are other boys with sisters from China.

Weather

Ahhh, the weather. Let's just say we've had some interesting weather this summer. Recently we even made national news! Apparently a town a few minutes south of us got 10 inches in one night last week. I think we did too because our sump pump decided it couldn't take any more (this was following about two weeks of rain/thinderstorms). Trace went to play downstairs and immediately came back up to tell me there was something I needed to see. I was not impressed. Two floods in one year is enough for me thank-you-very-much! We learned a little last time and most of our stuff was ok. But nearly all of our books including yearbooks were completely soaked. The good part is that each time this happens we toss out a little bit more! The basement is getting emptier each time!

Family Recipes ...

I realized that if we were going to have our annual strawberry glaze then it would be up to me (and a couple little helpers) to figure it out. Which we did and Rick and I loved every last one! The boys were underwhelmed but that just left more for us!

The Video Is Up!!!

Scroll down on the right a little bit and you'll see "Paige's Adoption Video" click under it on "Our Journey to Paige". This is the video I spent six months working on and it is originally 15 minutes long. Youtube only allows ten so I had to do some major editing! Unfortunately I'm not happy with the end result of the edited version, but it gives you the basics. I won't be going back to make any changes either since it took over three hours to get onto youtube! The original had much more labeling and the music was timed and there were a lot of photos of others in our group as well as some during the time we waited. Well, enjoy it...

Try this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQ6Eiq2WjWY

I'm hoping that if you click on this link it will take you to the movie that I made of the boys more than a year ago! If this works then I'll attempt Paige's video!

End of summer busyness...

This last weekend was pretty crazy around here. I think we are finally recovered! Friday night Rick and I went on a date whoo-hooo! Can't remember the last time we did that. Saturday morning Rick mowed the lawn and nearly died of heat stroke, then helped our new neighbors/friends move in next door. I spent most of the day back and forth between the two houses and supervising the six kids! It also happened to be the block party on the street behind us so the older kids ran amok over there getting their faces painted, bouncing in the bounce house, playing in the fire hydrant, and eating free snow cones. They didn't all collapse into bed until well after 10:00. Sunday they had fun having friends live next door and Trace was supposed to spend the night. I think the weekend had worn him out too much though and he came home around 9:30. Then yesterday we borrowed a smaller bike for Caden to try and learn on and guess what!? He rode on two wheels all the way around the block! Yeah! Finally! Friday night he also lost his second tooth! It has been loose for months and the extremely crooked adult tooth was breaking through behind it. After I explained that the tooth fairy would leave him money AND his tooth if that was what he wanted his response was, "I like this tooth fairy thing!"
I get to spend today trying to get this house caught up now! Mercifully no one has called to see it in the last couple of days but I know my luck is running out!
One last thing! For those of you reading this who haven't called in a while because you already know what's happening in our life - CALL! I don't know what's happening in YOUR life! I miss everybody...

A few of "my favorite things." (Grapes & Flip Flops!)

Pretty scary guys.

Look who's on TWO wheels!

I am SOOOO excited!!!

On the day we were given Paige we discovered tucked into her rolled up sleeves the tinyest notes with Chinese writing on them. Once we were home we had them translated and sure enough they were the name and address of her foster family! I started assembling a care package and in February I sent it off. Since it was so expensive to send I had no way of tracking it and therefore had no idea if they ever received it. Well in today's mail was an envelope with a handwritten Chinese return address! I started shaking because I knew there wasn't anyone in China who would be hand writing us other than the foster family! Sure enough it is a two page letter (written in Chinese) and several pictures. She included a picture of herself, her husband (?) holding Paige, her daughter (?), her son (?) both grown, and one of Grace and Paige together. WOW! What an amazing connection this will be for Paige. I can not wait to get the letter translated! Hopefully soon!

Coast to Coast in 2007

We arrived home from New Jersey around 2am after DRIVING from Newark airport in a rental van! Our intention was to fly home but there weren't any flights we could get on so we rented the van, loaded everyone up and headed out! It took us 12 hours and really wasn't too bad. It means that we have literally driven from one coast to the other this summer and the kids have been in 12 states! ( WA, OR, ID, UT, WY, NB, IO, IN, OH, Penn, NY, NJ)
We had a wonderful time in Jersey! It was so great to get re-aquainted with Tom and Diana and to meet Emily. Ella has grown and changed since we last saw her in China too! It was fun to get to know her goofy, happy self rather than the somber one we met before. Paige's personality was quite evident as we watched her with another little one her own size. Watch out! She has no problem taking what she wants and then "spitting" raspberries at the poor soul who tries to get it back! She also does not enjoy sharing a stroller with anyone and pinched and scratched poor Ella to show her displeasure! But they were also awfully cute following each other around, giving hugs/kisses, and just being together. We all enjoyed a day at the Jersey Shore with beautiful weather. Trace had one of the best days of his life learning to Boogie-board! He spent hours in the water and got aquainted with the lifeguard when he drifted too close to the jetty and couldn't get away. Paige eventually got used to the water and completely enjoyed the sand too. Each day was pretty packed with swimming, family gatherings, arcades, carnivals/boardwalks, you-name-it! I was worried that Trace would be bored but I don't think he asked me once when we were going home. Caden kept begging us to stay "just one more day"! On Tuesday, Rick and I took the boys into New York City to see Ground Zero. They are well aware of what happened there and we all wanted to see it before it was all built over. Unfortunately it is really just a HUGE construction site right now and the safety fencing is really hard to see through. It also felt like it was 110 degrees and 110% humidity! I'm not sure what it really was but it was REALLY hot. We rode the train in to Penn Station then got on the subway right to Ground Zero. After walking around the site we walked down by the water to see the Statue of Liberty (waaay off in the hazy distance) then headed back to the subway and home. It was a pretty long day and we are all really glad we did it. Someday I'd maybe like to return to New York with out kids but I won't be dissapointed if I never see it again either! Paige was very happy to wake up in her own house this morning. She ran around like a banshee just like when we got home from Vancouver! It is pretty funny. Hope you enjoy the pictures!
Now it's time for school to start!!!!

A week in Jersey...