A TON of Thanksgiving and Tree Farm Pictures

We are so thankful to have our first Thanksgiving with Anna Grace. She loved eating "turk" on Sunday with Mike's family and then on Thursday with my family.






Yesterday we made our annual trip to cut our tree from a tree farm. We had debated not going this year because Anna Grace is not very easy to ride in a car with. She says "Mama, Mama, Mama" at least 20 times a minute and then babbles her little stories continuously unless she is "torturing" everyone with her Chinese children's songs that she likes to listen to in the car. It is not that bad for a short trip to the store, but 2 1/2 hours to get to a tree farm is not easy for any of us! We survived by giving her a DVD player and movies and her pacifier (that is usually reserved for naptime). The weather was cold and windy, but we had a great day spending time as a family.

So Thankful for Six Months with Anna Grace

Six Reasons to be Thankful:
1. I am so thankful that God spoke and told us that we had a daughter in China. I am so thankful that He made it so clear to us that our little girl had a heart defect and would come to us through the Special Needs Program. It was His Word that gave us the strength and the determination to persevere the long wait for our daughter. It was not until we received the referral for our sweet girl that we learned that Anna Grace was born at the same time that God was speaking. At the time I did not understand why I felt such a sudden, nagging urgency to complete all of the adoption paperwork, but God's plan is larger than I could ever imagine.
2. I am so thankful to Anna Grace's biological parents for the sacrifice that they made to allow Anna Grace the chance for a healthy life. My heart breaks for the pain that they must still feel for the loss of their daughter. But, they gave her the chance to have a life saving heart surgery. I pray that they might find peace in somehow knowing that their little girl is growing and thriving in her new life.
3. I am so thankful for all of the people who cared for Anna Grace while she was in the orphanage, hospital, and foster home. I know that they cared for her to the best of their abilities.
4. I am thankful for all of the friends and family who have been so supportive to our family and for the way that they have welcomed Anna Grace and made her feel special.
5. I am thankful for the way that Cole and Alex have adjusted to life with a little sister. Even when they groan when Anna Grace insists on listening to her Chinese music in the car, I know that they love her. They love to cuddle with her and watch cartoons in my bed on Saturday mornings and read her bedtime stories at night. Their eyes light up when they walk into a room and she shouts her "hello." Their sacrifice in sharing the time and resources of our family has been large, but Cole and Alex have a love for their sister that grows more and more each day.
6. I am thankful for each day that we have our sweet little girl. I love watching her grow and learn and explore the world. I love watching her sing and dance and cheer when it is time to go to "tada" (gymnastics). I love how excited she gets when it is time to go to church and how she adjusts to new experiences with such courage. I thank God for every day of the last 6 months and for the life that we now have as a Family of Five.

A Ninja, an Army Man, and a Lady Bug

We had a busy, but exciting weekend celebrating Halloween. Even though Halloween was officially on Sunday, most of our neighborhood did their trick-or-treating on Saturday this year. We live in a neighborhood with lots of kids, and we get several hundred extra visitors to our neighborhood for Halloween every year. We always hand out buckets of candy.


We invited another family over to watch the football game and eat chili. I believe I have eaten chili every Halloween of my life. After supper we set off for a night of trick-or-treating. All of the kids had a blast. Anna Grace had 2 other little two year-old girls to trick-or-treat with. It did not take her very long to figure out how to say "trick-or-treat" and open her little lady bug purse to collect her candy.





Sunday night was another round of trick-or-treaters visiting our neighborhood. Cole, Alex, and Anna Grace put their costumes back on to pass out candy. Cole and Alex had fun hiding in the bushes and jumping out yelling "boo!" Anna Grace had a chance to wear her second lady bug costume.

Our first broken bone...

We have had an eventful week that started with Cole breaking his collar bone. He was playing football with another kid during Alex's Tuesday night soccer game when he got tackled really hard. Thank goodness the orthopedic clinic is open late because they were able to get him in and out really quickly Tuesday night without a visit to the ER.
Cole will be in a sling for several weeks. He is having a really hard time with his school work because he is left handed. He also insists that he is not going trick-or-treating next weekend since he will have to wear a sling over his costume. I am really sad for him, because unlike Alex who does not care too much for Halloween, it is one of Cole's favorite holidays. He talks about his costume for months and has so much fun with the decorations. I really hope he changes his mind when he sees the other kids coming to our door next weekend.



We had the fall festival at the boys' school yesterday. Back in August I signed up to help at Cole's class booth. Mike took Alex and Anna Grace to Alex's soccer game while Cole and I headed to the festival. They would join us after the game when my shift was over. Even as I was walking up to the festival yesterday I thought I would be helping with a cake walk or ring-toss game. I was quite suprised when I arrived and was told that I would be helping with the train ride, and then I dicovered that I would be driving the train! The "train" was a 4-wheeler pulling a dozen "cars" filled with kids. It has been a long time since I have driven a 4-wheeler, and I have never driven anything that was pulling a trailer. I have always had a fear that I would hit something if I had to pull our camper (and this train was way longer than any camper).

The first time around the PE field I almost hit a huge pile of sticks with my "train cars" filled with little kids. My train was often loaded with 5th graders shooting waterguns at each other and sometimes even a crying baby. But, I survived my 2 hour shift without any casualties. Cole, Alex, and Anna Grace had a great time, and hopfully they will realize someday that I was truly out of my "comfort zone" but I was trying to be a good mom.


Anna Grace says "xiexie" (thank you) to Unmi and her sweet family for sending her favorite Asian yogurt drinks. She also loved her yummy panda cookies!

Another Fun Fall Weekend

We had another great weekend full of fall activities. Saturday included a fall festival and a pumpkin carving party at the neighbors. We had a great time at the party visiting with friends and eating great food. Cole and Alex also enjoyed carving pumpkins and once it got dark, they watched a movie projected against a sheet on the patio.






The boys went to a birthday party on Sunday while Anna Grace and I went to a "Runway Show" hosted by the Asian mentors.
Anna Grace is going to be a ladybug for Halloween this year. She was given two really cute ladybug costumes to wear, so I think she will have to wear both of them before all of the Halloween parties are over for the year.

Enjoying Fall

We went to the pumpkin patch last Saturday morning to pick our Halloween pumpkins. Cole and Alex look forward to our annual trip each year, and we were really excited about taking Anna Grace for the fist time. She tried so hard to hop from row to row of pumpkins like her brothers and got mad at them if they left her behind. Anna Grace picked out a green pumpkin- she has no idea that a pumpkin is supposed to be orange!

The outfit that Anna Grace is wearing in the picture below is my first attempt at making a pillow case dress. This was quite a challenge for me because I really don't sew. I hemmed the dress to make it into a long shirt, and my mom helped me by making the matching pants. There is no way that I would have been able to sew those ruffles! We really had a great time working together to make this outfit.

Anna Grace still loves going to gymnastics on Monday nights. She has difficulty with the balance beam, bars, jumping, pretty much most of what they ask her to do. But she is the most flexible kid in the class and amazes everyone with her ability to do splits.




Anna Grace loves our next door neighbor, Bryce. Every time we go outside she says "Bryce play?" He came over for a little while last weekend to play, and I thought it would be cute to take their picture of them watching the football game on TV. Bryce is much more active than Anna Grace and he kept sliding down off the ottoman before I could get a good picture. So, I asked Anna Grace to give him a hug, thinking that he would be still for just a second longer. By the time I got the picture, Anna Grace's hand had slid down to his bottom! That was not quite what we were going for, Anna Grace!!