Beautiful!

Back in March of 2008, I took a training that reminded me that one needs to "Start each day with a grateful heart." The gentleman that did the training said that he posted this where he would see it each morning. I thought it was a good idea so I took a picture of my kids and wrote that under it and it is hanging in my bedroom. When I saw this picture, I thought, "How could I not start each day with a grateful heart?" The funny thing is both pictures are taken in a tent! Hmm . . . Honestly I do well up with gratitude when I look at these faces. For any of you that knew me when I turned 40 and then 45, you probably remember that I was so sad. I really thought my dream of being a mother had escaped me. 50 was easy because I had my girls. By 55 I had my girls and my boys. Don't ever give up on your dreams! My newest dream . . . be debt-free by 65! Stay tuned!

Praise God!

Tracy's hearing has improved. Dr. Chi of Children's Hearing Clinic is thrilled with the results and Dr. Haddad confirmed that her eardrum looks normal! Wow! Who could ask for more? Well, I guess we could . . . stay tuned for another surgery on March 10 for the other ear. This picture was taken during recovery, Tracy was reading the get well cards that her classmates had made for her. I wish I had my camera with me the day Dr. Chi gave us the results. His grin was as big as Tracy's is in this picture.

We LOVE the snow!!!!

Christmas at the Beach!

You gotta love it! This is just the absolute best group of kids one could imagine! Fun was had by all! Really, they enjoy each other so much! The trip was so fun. It was worth the 11 hours in the car with one child that threw up and my 83-year old mother continually asking, "Are we going to Bob's today or tomorrow?"

And below is my brother, Bob, teaching reluctant Sam to ride a bike! Hooray for Bob! I am so tired of dragging him along on the tag-a-long! 3 down and 1 to go! I cannot wait until we can take a family bike trip!

Christmas 2008!

I have become somewhat of a blogaholic as I wait for my sister's referral from China. It is fun to watch others joy as they add to their family and also I get some cool ideas. I came across a woman who did a Christmas tree to honor her daughter's birthmother. I do talk about the fact that all of my children have a birthmother that is not me, but they don't seem too interested in pursuing the topic just yet so I told them that this tree was to honor their birthcountries. I also included many adoption ornaments that I have gathered over the years. This tree sat in our entryway and our bigger tree was in the den where we spend most of our time. I liked this idea. We will do it again, in fact I just found a Chinese angel to use for our tree top next year.

Jack meets Miss Patty Cake!

Yes, we were all there for the show, but who couldn't wait to sit on her lap? You guessed it.

Santa and the Kids! Woo hoo!

I never had a photo of my children with Santa Clause or any other holiday character until Jack joined us! He loves Santa and everyone else for that matter. See: Jack loves characters! The other kids can now at least tolerate being in the photo. (This photo was taken at the Chippewa United Methodist Church Christmas Cookie Sale and Bazaar by BilDeb photography 724-775-4730.)