Christmas Photos

We had a marathon of activities from Christmas Eve thru the weekend. We did back to back familiy events & then headed to Milwaukee to visit friends of ours that recently moved there. (I am sad because I forgot my camera for the Milwaukee trip, but I have photos from other family events)

We are so blessed to have so much of our families still living including great grandmas.

CHRISTMAS EVE-

Check out my apron & new dolly

Running some energy off

Looking at what cousin Hannah got

Jammies on, ready for the ride home

CHRISTMAS DAY-

Reading the Christmas Story

Check out my new camera, now I can be like Mommy

I love my new dolly

Whoa, cool new train River!

Photo opp with Grandma

Merry Christmas!

We want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and wish Jesus a Happy Birthday! Please take time over these next days to enjoy family and friends but also reflect on the real meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate the birth of the saviour.

We are sending a special prayer out today for those who have lost loved ones this year and the difficult time this may be. Also, for those who are alone or lonely, we are praying that God's peace be with you this week. Even in the midst of many people, it is possible to feel a deep lonliness that others do not understand, I say this & give a big hug to my friends out there who are still waiting yet another Christmas for their child (or children).

May you all have a wonderful Christmas!!

Making cookies

This year, since Maddy has really gotten into the Gingerbread Man story & her doll she got from Grandma for Christmas last year, I decided to try making gingerbread man cookies. Mind you, I am not Martha Stewart & most of the cookies I bake come from a plastic tube or a bucket so this was quite an undertaking. I could have bought the pre-made kits they were selling at work, but I wanted to hold true to the story (they mix, the dough, cut out the shape, .....). Daddy was a great help in the mixing & rolling because I had no idea gingerbread cookie mix turns into such a thick consistency.

My biggest mistake was not getting enough or the right frosting to let Maddy really go to town with decorating. She was having fun & wanted to do it 'self' as she says, so she got a little crabby with mom for trying to ration & help her. I saved some to frost as a Christmas Eve activity & I may even attempt to make my own frosting. Anyone have any good cookie frosting recipes (that will actually dry on the cookie?)

Mixing the dough with Daddy

Cutting out the shape with Mommy

Decorating by herself

The result (with a little help from Mom)

This was the gingerbread monster Matt made out of the leftover dough

Update on mom & tree trimming pics

Thanks for your prayers & e-mails about my mom. I am happy to report that mom is home now & feeling better. We discovered over the weekend with our trips to see mom & do a few things for her around the house that Maddy just loves going to Grandma's house. She gets very excited when we say we are going to her house & very upset when it's time to leave. Grandma has a little wrought iron chair with a bear on it & Maddy loves to pull them both over to the middle of the room and sit next to it.

These picutres are from a couple of weeks ago when we decorated our tree, but fitting all the same for the season:

Pictures with Father Christmas & a prayer request

We took Maddy to get photos with Father Christmas at a neighborhood coffee shop that does them every year. He is dressed in a Victorian Father Christmas outfit, which I really love. Last year was a complete bomb, but this year we were able to prep her all week.

Also, my mom is in the hospital so I ask for your prayers. She is doing better today & should get out tomorrow.

Here are the pics:




This is last year's photo:

Snow!!!!

We had a couple of inches drop over night. Maddy has been wanting to go outside & play in the snow ever since seeing the Ni Hao Kai Lan episode where they went sliding. She was excited to finally get a chance to do that today. She also 'helped' daddy shovel the driveway with her little orange beach shovel. He would take the snow off the driveway & she would put it back on.

Amazing song & video

I saw this video on another blog & had to post this. This song 'Merry Christmas' by Third Day really meant a lot to me when we were waiting for Maddy. I am thankful that Maddy didn't have to spend a Christmas without us since she was born in February, but I am also sad for all of the children (in China & around the world, including this country) that will spend another Christmas without a Forever Family to love them.

This video also touched me because the family adopted from Jiangxi where Maddy was from so I am seeing some of the same places we sat & went. The room where we first met Maddy has a very distinct dark wood, so that really caught me breath to see this in combo with such a beautiful song.