Sledding on Christmas Day

Or, sliding, as Minnesota cousins call it! They let me know that snowmobiling is sledding, and sledding is sliding. Christmas Day was beautiful, and perfect for sledding after the weekend snowstorm. A great time was had by all (at least all the kids!).

Birthday Girls

Yesterday was a very special day at our house. Our oldest daughter, Bethany turned 17 years old (Wow! How did that happen?!), and our youngest, Mia, turned 1 year old! Unfortunately, we postponed our birthday celebration until next weekend, as Lily has been sick for 3 days with a very high fever. Hopefully this won't pass to the rest of us. Bethany did have a great day, anyway. She and Paige went to HuHot and shopping with their youth group. She had Christmas and birthday money to spend, and spend it she did! We also had a great visit with friends that stopped by on their way home from Christmas break. It was great to see Shannon, Pam and their dog, Gus! We don't get together often enough!

Our Girls

More Photos

ICE!!

We've had an interesting couple of days. We were pretty sure we wouldn't have school on Tues, due to the impending winter storm. So, I planned ahead, buying all we needed to make some yummy Christmas treats on that day. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be. We lost power on Tues shortly after 9 a.m. Talk about a loooonng day! Bethany had one friend that had power, so several of her friends had an impromptu sleepover that night at her house. The rest of us hunkered down here at home. It was a bit chilly, but we all survived. When we got up on Wed morning, it was 54 degrees in here. After a couple of hours, the cold started seeping into our fingers and toes, so we camped out at the home of our GREAT friends. The girls and I spent the day there, and by late afternoon, we were told by the power company that it wouldn't be repaired until 9 a.m. Thurs. morning. We were preparing for a sleepover with our friends, when we were told we had power at about 5:30 p.m. YEAH!! So, we all headed home, after a delicious home cooked meal with our friends. We're so thankful that we had friends we could count on. No way we could have stayed at home the 2nd night! Who knows what the temp would have been by this morning! So, our town is a total mess. Bethany finally went to school today, and one elementary school is still not having classes. On the way to school, there were several places with roads blocked with downed lines/trees. So, I tried a different route home, and it was worse! There was a downed power pole and wires blocking the road. This morning the sun is shining (yeah!-so beautiful with all the sparkling ice shining in the sun!). Temps forecast in the lower 30's, so hoping for at least a little melt off today, before the winds pick up and start everything all over again. So, we're enjoying our warm home this morning, and hoping to find some time this weekend to get our Christmas treats made. In the meantime, we need to get some school done around here.

Sleepy Baby

Mia was sick with a high fever last week and is still catching up on her rest whenever she gets a chance!

Duet

Paige and her friend, Steven, are playing a duet for the recital at the end of this month. They wouldn't let me get a face shot, so this is as good as it gets!

Butterscotch Foot

Lily continually cracks me up! This morning she is watching me put candy in our Christmas stockings and she says to me, "I want one Butterscotch Foot!" I can only assume she meant a ButterFINGER! HaHaHaHaHa!!

Buddies

Another Thanksgiving photo (thanks Grandpa!). This is Ariana and Shannon. They are about the same age and love seeing each other on holidays. They actually got to enjoy a few days at camp together this summer. Too bad we live 6 hours apart!

Best of Friends

Last weekend, we had good friends visit from out of town. We have been friends with this family for 12 years. We only lived in the same area for 2 years, but have managed to maintain a special friendship all of this time through 2 long distance moves on our part. They have 3 daughters that match up in age with our 2 oldest, and our 4 year old. Our girls go to camp together every summer, and we manage to get together 3-4 times a year apart from camp. We love you guys! This is Bethany, Alicia, Paige and Stephanie. Sad that our girls are growing up and will be leaving the nest before we know it!

Thanksgiving

OK, I realize Thanksgiving was LAST week, but I'm running a little behind with EVERYTHING these days! Also, we took our camera along with us, and didn't take a single photo! Fortunately, Grandpa send me this one photo of Mia and I.

Saturday

Yesterday was a busy day. We had family come to town for a baby shower that my friends had for Mia (thanks girls-you know who you are!). A fun time was had by all. Mia got to meet some new family, and see grandmas and grandpas that she hadn't seen since the day we landed back home. Here are a few snapshots from this fun and memorable day.

More Lily-isms

Lily: When I was a baby, I had another mother that couldn't take care of me.

Mom: No. I'm the only mother you've ever had.

Lily: But, I had another mother when I was a baby.

Mom: Nope.

Lily: But........ I want another mother!

Mom: Hmmmm.......

Shannon, Lily, Daddy and Mia

Mia's New Faces

Silly Lily

Lily is experiencing the most effects of this new change. She is really enjoying being a big sister, but does have her moments. She informed me yesterday that she doesn't want to be a big sister any more. I guess the honeymoon is over! She is also a tad bit confused. She also informed me that we went to China to get her when she was a baby! Since we've discussed that (and hopefully cleared it up!), she keeps asking me how she was born, and now knows all about how a baby is birthed. You can see the wheels turning, and the questions keep coming. Life can be confusing for a 4 year old sometimes!

Like Father Like Daughter

Two spiky-haired Vikings fans! Thanks Uncle Jay, Auntie Amy and Cousins for the Little Vikings Fan bib. Daddy couldn't be happier!

Fun With Cousins

Yesterday, Todd, Bethany and Shannon met Grandpa, Grandma and Cousins for some fun. While Shannon went to the Science Center with Grandpa, Grandma and Cousins, Dad and Bethany did some shopping. They later met up for supper. This is a photo of Ariana, Bethany and Shannon.

Baby Makes Seven

This photo was taken at the airport on our return trip from China. As you can see, we are all happy be together again. We're a little ragged around the edges, but not too bad, considering we had just completed 24+ hours of travel!

Squatty Potties

OK. I've had several questions about the squatty potties. A squatty potty is basically a Chinese toilet. Most people there do not use a "Western" toilet, as they call our potties. At least not in a public place. Not sure what they have in their homes. We would go to a nice restaurant and even there, most are squatty potties. There would be maybe 20 stalls, with 2 "Western" toilets. The rest are squatties. We never had to wait for a "Western" toilet, as the people who live there usually prefer not to use them.

More Miscellaneous Photos

Todd went on a guys outing to a live meat market. You choose your live animal, and they slaughter it for you. This was one of the delicacies they could choose from. They had frogs, snakes, lizards, chickens, goats, seafood. They arrived right after the slaughter, and there was blood and guts in the street.

We all rode on rickshaws for a tour on Hutong, the old part of Beijing. These poor guys each pull 2 people, and they can really move! It was fun, and interesting to see how these people live. We visited the home of one older couple. We don't realize how much we are blessed by what we have. Basically, in all the cities we visited, no one has a house. Everyone lives in apartment buildings that reach to the sky. The only houses we saw in China were rural.

Red Couch Photo Day

It is traditional to take photos on the red couch in the White Swan Hotel in our final destination, Guanghzou. Mia is in purple, and wouldn't look at the camera. She was too busy visiting with the other babies in our group. They all came from the same orphanage, so they enjoyed seeing familiar faces during our trip.

Miscellaneous Photos

The infamous "squatty potty." Enjoying an authentic Chinese meal. Yummy airplane food!

MIA!!

Yes, she is a very big girl! She weighed in at nearly 21 lbs at her medical checkup!

Gotcha Day!

We suspected this was Mia, as we were waiting for our turn. We were right! This is an orphanage worker holding her.