Happy Birthday to Jadyn!

Yesterday Jadyn finally turned 6. She could not wait! The 3 months that the girls are not the same age actually kills Jadyn.

So, Bill thought he would surprise her with taking just her to Disney. Jadyn woke up and got dressed for school. We told her to change because she was not going to school. She was actually sad about this. It was library day! And she would get to wear a birthday crown! I promised her that she would have fun and that her teacher said she could wear her crown on Wed. BTW, she did not want to change clothes. So she went in her school clothes.

She was very happy when they got to the Magic Kingdom. They did a lot of rides. Bill said the lines were all short. They had a snack (an apple), lunch (fish & chips) and then ice cream later. As you can see in the photos, Jadyn had a great time.

Around 11 AM Bill asked her if she still wanted to go to school. She looked at him and said "Is that okay? Is it still open?" I love how she loves going to school. But no, she did not go yesterday. They got home around 3:30. Jadyn got $68 I think for her bday from Mickey Mouse. And she bought gifts for all of us.

Enjoy the slideshow. And Happy Birthday my sweet Jadyn Mei! We love you very much!

Much Needed Update

Life has been super busy. And I don't see it slowing down any time soon.
The girls are growing up fast. Tiffani is talking about wanting to get her learners permit. She turns 15 in April. Abby is literally growing tall. We are surprised with how much taller she is than Jadyn right now. And Jadyn is counting down the days until she is 6. Two more days! She's excited. We also are waiting for the travel call, any day now. We anticipate meeting Ethan on Jan 11th. We are excited.

I have a bunch of photos in this slide show from the last month or two.

Tiff has finished marching band for this year. She is sad. But I'm relieved. We now get to see Tiff again. Newsome came in 3rd in their division in state. We are proud of them. Jadyn was chosen as Terrific Kid for Cooperation at school. They did a ceremony and she received a bumper sticker, certificate & pencil. She was excited. Abby has lost 5 teeth now and #6 is coming out soon. Tiffani has faced her fear of Tower of Terror, and she went on the ride with dad & her friend Brooks. She got off the ride and said she had fun and it was awesome. She can't wait to do it again.

Jadyn has had 3 birthday celebrations. We celebrated with our families during Thanksgiving. And then she had a tea party with 4 friends. She loved it. We had "tea" (lemonade) and some snack foods. Then cupcakes and the best part, presents. She had fun. We also played games and laughed a lot.

The girls are excited about Christmas. They love the decorations. They love knowing it's Jesus' birthday.

Last night we went to The North Pole. We took The Polar Express there. The girls were excited. And they had fun. The train ride was fun. Then when we arrived at the North Pole, there were a lot of fun activities to do. Tattoos, crafts, making reindeer food, and hot chocolate & cookies. And of course, SANTA was there. After we met Santa, it was time to eat. They sold hot dogs & chips etc. The girls had fun and they were exhausted when we left.

One more week of school. And this is another busy week. Tomorrow (Dec 14) is Bills birthday. We are hoping that he & I can drive up to Disney for a few hours, alone. Disney is giving you a free day for your birthday. Since we have annual passes, Bill will get a gift card for the amount of a day's admission. Tomorrow night Tiff is playing her flute at her friend Hannah's recital. Tuesday is Jadyn's birthday and Bill is planning on taking Jadyn to Disney, alone, to get her gift certificate, and to spend some one on one time with her. She does not know about this yet. Next Sunday the girls are singing in church in the Christmas musical. They are excited. Friday is the last day of school for 2009. Where has this year gone?

We think that we'll be in China in 4 weeks. So 3 1/2 more weeks here with just the girls. So much to do!

We have set up a travel website for Ethan. It is www.ethanwilliam.com

Here are the photos I've promised. Enjoy!

Pumpkins and Kindergarten Party

We finally found time to carve our pumpkins. Jadyn could not wait. We waited for Tiff to get home from band last night before we started. The girls had a great time. Dad had fun too. I have a TON of photos in the album. You can see how silly the girls (and dad) were. It was fun.



Today was the girls class party. Bill & I went. I volunteered and Bill took photos for me. The girls really wanted daddy to come. I'm glad he did. They had fun doing all the fun activities that were planned. Of course they were loaded up on sugar. :-) Here are a few photos from this afternoon.



Tomorrow we'll have more photos from Halloween. The girls will be cute. I will try to uploade the photos on Sunday or Monday.

Until next time....

Daisy Girl Scouts

Abby & Jadyn are now Daisy's. They are so excited. I have to tell a cute story though. They have a friend named Daisy. They kept thinking they were going to "Daisy's" Girl Scouts. At the 1st meeting, they kept asking "Where is Daisy?" I had to explain to them that it's not "Daisy's" Girl Scouts, that they are Daisy's. I think they understand now.

Today was the investiture ceremony. They had to say the Girl Scout Promise. They had fun.

Here is a slideshow of today's meeting.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Patch 2009

Less than a week to Halloween and we finally made it to the local pumpkin patch that we go to every year. It's at a church. The money raised goes to the youth group of the church. It's a lot of fun. When we arrived, they were putting up signs that said "Buy one get one free". We were excited. So we bought 2 medium size pumpkins to carve, and Abby & Jadyn picked 2 little pumpkins to decorate. All of this for $9.00. We were happy. Here are some photos from our visit. Unfortunately it was not "fall" like weather. I think the temp is around 83 degrees.
Enjoy the photos....

Oct Updates

Wow, it's already Oct 15th. Time is flying by. I'm going to do a quick update on what has been going on with our life.

-Our church had a Missions Celebration at the end of Sept. The girls sang during one of the services. They wore their dresses from China. Of course they were beautiful.

-Tiffani got sick. She was afraid she had "the" flu. So I took her to Urgent care and they tested her. Thankfully she only had a virus. Why did I have my camera with me at Urgent Care? I have no idea. :-)

-With Ethan's arrival coming soon, we knew we had to make room for him. We've been busy trying to figure out the bedroom situations. We moved furniture around, and even started looking at bigger houses. We do not want to move. But we felt that we were cramped. Then one weekend, we made a huge mess. We moved all of Tiff's furniture downstairs and Abby & Jadyn's furniture upstairs in that bedroom. And everything fit. We were happy. The girls are no longer cramped into the downstairs bedroom. And Tiff fits comfortably in the bedroom downstairs. Everyone is happy.

Tiffani's band has had 2 marching competitions. The first one they came in 2nd place. The one last week, they came in 1st. We were so proud of them. They did a great job. I was glad Bill & I were able to go. Uncle Daniel even came. It was a fun night.

On Sunday, Tiffs singing group performed in church. We are so proud of them and they do a great job.

Abby & Jadyn started Daisy Girl Scouts this week. They were excited. They were confused though because they thought they were going to their friend Daisy's house. I think they had a great time anyways. They are excited. Unfortunately no photos from the 1st meeting. My memory card was not in my camera. :-(

And finally it's Homecoming week at the high school. So each day there is a theme. Today was "blast from the past". Tiff was a "pink lady" from Grease. She looked very cute. I had her take my camera to school today. She came home with some good photos.

Be sure to check "Another Blessing On The Way" for adoption updates.

Enjoy the photos. Until next time......

Bowling

Today Abby & Jadyn were invited to a bowling birthday party for one of their friends. This is the 2nd time they have been "real" bowling. They love bowling on the Wii. Their 1st time at a bowling alley did not end too well. They did not like it. So today I was concerned.
Well I think they had fun. Jadyn does not do well with a lot of people. And today was no different. She does not like people watching her and she does not like being around large crowds. After about 30 min she was shutting down and did not seem like she was having fun. BUT she kept up with when it was her turn and did do her turn everytime. Abby on the other hand loves the attention and loves it when people show her attention. She goes to everyone hugging them etc. Typical Abby. :-)
After bowling was done, the birthday girl's mom got game cards for every child so they could play in the arcade. The girls had fun. They each had $5 to spend. Most of the games cost $0.25 and they can earn tickets. They loved it. And came home with some "junk". LOL
One thing the girls liked, was daddy even bowled. They had a lane for the parents. I did not bowl because I did not have socks (and did not want to buy some). Bill had fun. He came in 2nd. I think he was worried how he would look since it has been years since he bowled for real. Well, he looked pretty good compared to the other dad's. :-) It was fun to watch.
Here are some photos from our time at the bowling alley. This was a nice alley. And I liked it because you had a certain amount of time to play and then all the lanes shut down. It's all time controled. Very nice. :-)
Enjoy the photos.

Breakfast at School

Well, the girls were so excited this morning. We told them they could eat breakfast at school. This means they can type in their 7 digit student ID number. They were thrilled. We waited in the line and then went up to get food. This was our first time so we were confused. But it worked out. Abby chose 2 biscuits, strawberry milk & OJ. Jadyn chose 3 french toast sticks, strawberry milk and OJ. They felt like big girls this morning. Of course I had my camera with me to document this. :-)

They are LOVING school. They walk to class together every morning (no mom or dad). They are happy to see us when school is over. They tell me every day how they have been good and how much fun they are having. Their teachers are very nice and we have constant contact with them.

Enjoy the photos!

First Homework

Homework has begun for Abby & Jadyn. It's quite simple. There were a few tears from Abby. But not too bad. :-) They have to read a poem (I read it) and then do some activities that go with the poem. Then they have to learn 3 words (red, I and purple). These should be sight words. The teachers want them to recognize them and spell them. So we wrote the words 10 times each. We'll do that a few times this week.
It's good for the girls. And good for me. They will have a little activity each night. I took photos of the girls doing their homework tonight. They are growing up too fast.

First Day of School

It's here! Finally! The first day of school. It's a bittersweet day for me. I'm happy because this summer felt SOOOOO long! But I'm sad because I'm not ready to have a freshman in HS and 2 Kindergartners.

The morning went very well. We had all the bags packed last night. We made lunches last night. So all we had to do this morning was get up, eat breakfast & then get dressed. Tiff was up at 6 AM. It's nice that she is FINALLY getting up on her own. I think she is excited & nervous, so that is why it was easy for her to get up today. I hope she can do it all year. I woke up a little after 6. Took my shower and then made sure Tiff was up. Then about 6:45 I woke the girls up. I wanted them to say goodbye to Tiff.

Tiffs friend Ashley's mom has offered to take Tiff & her friend Terry to school every day, since she works right across the street from the school. We are so grateful for this. So the girls were at our house about 6:55 AM this morning. We took a few photos and then off they went. I did very well. No tears. This is a huge difference from middle school. I cried all morning. :-) I asked Tiff to call or text me when school was over so I could hear how her day went. She has band practice after school so I won't see her until 6:00 or so tonight.

Then it was time to take Abby & Jadyn. They are so excited. They are finally going to the BIG SCHOOL! They have waited for 3 years to go here. They chose their outfits, got dressed and wanted to go. We left at 7:30 and walked. I thought it would not be a big deal. Well, it was crazy busy with walkers. We got to school around 7:45 and they went ahead of us. Bill & I slowed down because we saw a friend and Abby & Jadyn did not look back. They were walking right to class. This gives me comfort that they do know where they are to go, because starting tomorrow we will not be walking them to class. We will stop at the front office and let them continue to their class together. This is something the school encourages.

Bill takes Jadyn and I take Abby (they are next to each other, their rooms are joined). Of course I took more photos. The girls are so excited. I think it's neat, because there is a girl in Jadyn's class names Sydney. Her big sister is Amara. She was good friends with Tiff. They met in 1st grade. So we took a photo of Sydney & Jadyn because we have photos of Tiff & Amara.

After a few minutes in their class, we said our goodbyes. They did fine. No tears. I did fine. No tears. I think Pre-K really helped me. I do miss them. I wonder how they are doing. But I know they will all be fine. I'm eager to find out how their day went.

Here is a slideshow of photos from this morning. Enjoy!

School is almost here

What a busy week. Wednesday night Tiff & I went to the high school for Orientation. Thursday night we went to the elementary school at 4 PM to meet Abby & Jadyn's teachers. They seem really nice. A & J are so excited. At 6 PM we went back to the HS and did a run through of Tiffs schedule. We were there over 2 hours. I think all 3 of our girls will have a good year. Tiff is a little nervous about HS. I think the older kids make her nervous. She does have lunch with one of her BFF's so that is good.
The last few days of summer are here. This summer felt very long. I don't know why. I'm ready to get back into a routine. Tuesday is the BIG day!
Here are photos that I took this week. I'll post 1st day of school photos on Tuesday.
Until then.......

Ice Cream for Breakfast

This is something I don't normally do. But I could not resist today. Last night, I had to go to a band booster meeting and I had to take Abby & Jadyn. Bill had a meeting at church and Tiff was at band practice. So I told the girls they had to be good for me. Well, this usually always never happens. They whine about something. We took the Leapsters to keep them entertained.

The meeting lasted 2 hours. The girls were GREAT! I was so proud of them. After we got home (which was 8:30) I told them how proud I was of them. That this is how they should act when we go to places. I told them since they were so good, I would reward them in the morning. It was too late for a reward when we got home.

So they got up this morning, looking for breakfast and I said "Since you were so good, I'm going to let you have ice cream for breakfast." They were so excited.

Here are 2 photos from this morning's breakfast. :-)

The Last Week of School

It's officially summer here. Schools are out! Abby & Jadyn are so happy to be going to kindergarten now. Tiffani was very sad to leave her friends, but looking forward to High School. This week has been a very busy week with all of the end of the year stuff planned.

The preschool had water fun days. Unfortunately for me, they did not schedule Abby & Jadyn's class to go on the same day. So I had the "pleasure" of doing it twice. First Abby's class went. They had fun. Chasing each other and making sure everyone got wet. The next day was Jadyn's day. She was not as adventurous as Abby. She got a little wet, but did not want to get soaked. Thankfully both girls got tired and we were allowed to leave early. :-) Here are some photos that I took of our fun water days.



And yesterday, was the official last day of school. Of course I had to get photos of the girls. I love seeing how much they have changed since the first day. After we took the photos of the girls, I took Abby & Jadyn to school. They were so excited. They were going to have an ice cream sundae party. When I got home from the preschool, I noticed Tiff changed her outfit. Typical for a 14 year old girl. Then her friends Maddy & Terry came over for a photo shoot. Then off to school for the last time.

Tiff called me at 1:30 saying she was on her way home. So the girls & I met her. She was crying. She said she has been crying all day. Her teachers kept giving speeches and that would make her cry. She cried for about 30 min after school was over.

Then her friends started showing up for her party. Unfortunately so did a thunderstorm. But that did not stop the fun. The girls were silly upstairs for about an hour, then into the pool once the storm passed. They had a great time. Around 7:30, the mom's came over and we watched a DVD that I made for the girls. I had photos of the girls from 6-8th grades. The girls screamed & laughed. Us mom's laughed so hard we were crying. It was a lot of fun.

Here are photos from the last day of school.


Summer is officially here. And Tiff is already gone. She's gone to the beach for 4 days with her friend Maddy. I hope she has a blast. I wish I could have joined her.

Until next time......

Graduation

That time of year. Can't believe it. Seems like we were just looking forward to starting preschool, and now we're done. The girls have had a great 2 years at their school. They have made such wonderful friends. I think they are more than ready to go to the "big" school in the fall. Kindergarten, here they come!!!

Here are some photos from the preschool graduation the other night. The girls were so cute. Jadyn HATED being up on stage, walking across by herself, all the way to her teachers to get her diploma. Abby on the other hand ate it all up. She loved it.




Here are a few photos of the girls teachers.



And last but certainly not least, Ms. Tara. Jadyn's favorite teacher. She was a great teacher for Jadyn. Unfortunately her husband got a job transfer and Ms Tara had to move. We were so happy that she came back to see the kids graduate. Jadyn was in heaven.


So hard to believe how fast all 3 of our girls are growing up. We have 5 days of school left. Then we'll have a freshman in high school and 2 kindergartners. Wow!

Until next time.......

AWANA Awards

Tonight was the award night for AWANA's at church. This was the girls first year in AWANA's. They were in cubbies. Tonight, they earned a certificate and also a bear for completing their 1st book.

Abby was also asked to hold the bible for the pledges. She loved it.

Enjoy the photos.

Band Awards/Ice Cream Social

Last night was the final middle school band awards for Tiff. She is in the stage band and they played 3 songs. They did great! Ice cream was being served while they played. Then it was awards time. This could have been long, but her teacher did it quick, which was nice. I was concerned about tonight because the past 2 years have not been fun with Abby & Jadyn there. Their attention span was 0. I had to tell them if they are good then they can have ice cream. And guess what? They were good.
I have to thank Brianna for keeping them busy for a little bit. She opened her purse to them and they began to give her a makeover. Here is a photo of Jadyn doing Brianna's hair.

Here is an "after" photo of Brianna & her new look with her new hairstylist & make up artist. :-)

It's nice to know the "big girls" still like to have fun. We told them to do a silly face. This is what we got. Ashley's mom & I said we'll be using this photo later in their lives. :-)

Another silly photo here. This is the girls doing their infamous Charlies' Angels pose. But this time they were using their trophy's that they won.

And finally, the little girls. They have watched and learned from their big sis. They also wanted to do a Charlies' Angels pose. This is their version! I love it!

I hope you have enjoyed the photos. Next Tuesday, we have the High School Marching Band ice breaker. Tiff will officially be signed up for marching band after this meeting. We're all really excited about this.

Until next time......

May Happenings

May has been a very busy month! I have no idea where the month has gone. As you can tell it's been over 2 weeks since my last journal on this blog. Life has been busy.

School is almost over. 2 more weeks and Tiff will be finished with middle school and Abby & Jadyn will be finished with preschool. They are all very excited about the new schools they will be going to in the fall.

We are so proud of Jadyn. She has learned how to ride her 2 wheeler bike with no training wheels. Abby is still nervous and will try but would rather not try. Jadyn took the challenge and after a few tries, she took off. This is a video of one of the first times she took off with no help.

Tiffani had her final middle school band concert last week. Tiff has been saying for months how she's "done with middle school". Well, the reality that it's almost done is hitting her. She & some of her friends cried a little when the concert was over. I have no idea how the last day of school will go for her. LOL Here are 2 photos from that night. In one, she's with her band teacher. We've been friends with her & her family since we moved here in 2001. Tiff & Her daughter were BFF for a while (they still are friends today).



May is also the month where Bring Me Hope does their annual Night Walk. This year we walked as a family. We waited as long as we could to walk. The walk starts at 7 PM PST (10 PM our time). Well our girls are usually in bed by 7:30. We walked a little around 8:30 and took photos. Abby brought along her little class pet Cricket. We had fun. Unfortunately we did not call in to the "walk call". And I found out that Billy was on that call. I was very upset that I did not get to hear his voice. Maybe it was better that I did not hear it. My emotions are still very raw over him. I still get upset at the thought of losing him. Hopefully I'll be able to hear a recording of the call. I just need to know that he's okay. Sarah saw him this weekend and I'm anxiously waiting to hear from her.


We are almost finished with our adoption paperwork. You can read more updates on the adoption blog.

The next 2 weeks will be busy. Not sure when I'll be able to post again. But I promise I'll do my best to post soon.

Until next time......

Animal Kingdom

Today we drove to Animal Kingdom for Tiffs birthday. The weather was beautiful. Not too hot. A nice breeze. We got to the park before 9, when we walked in a lady asked if we would like priority seating for The Lion King. (She informed me this was free LOL). So we accepted. That was for 11 AM. We walked over to Asia and Tiff & Bill did Everest. Tiff loves this ride. Jadyn so badly wants to ride it. She loves roller coasters. We were not sure if she was tall enough. (We learned later she is and she got to ride it-story later in the post).

After Everest we walked over to the Safari. Fun ride. Then it was The Lion King time. We were seated right behind the handicap seats, but there was nobody in front of us. Once the show started it was fun. One of the cast members came up to the girls during a song and asked for a high five. Then later in the show, they came to Abby & Jadyn and asked if they wanted to come and be in the show. They got to shake an instrument and walk around the room with other kids & cast members. I loved it. I took video. I was shocked that Jadyn did it. And shocked that they left us without even looking and saying bye. :-) They had fun.

After the show was lunch. Then we walked to Dinoland and Tiff & Bill did Primevil Whirl and the girls & I did Triceratops Spin. Abby loves this ride. She got to ride in the front all by herself. A big deal for her. Jadyn was upset because she wants to ride Prime Evil Whirl. But she's too short (see photos).

Well, Jadyn kept saying "I want to ride the roller coaster". So we walked back to Everest. She is tall enough. The wait was 55 minutes so I took Abby back to Dinoland to "dig" for bones. Well we were there maybe 5 minutes and Bill called asking where we were. He said that a cast member came up to them to check her height. Saw she was good and then said "Do you want to take advantage of a million dream gift?" Bill said "Of course". So the guy took Tiff, Bill & Jadyn and they skipped the whole line and walked right on to the ride. It was great. Bill said Jadyn LOVED it. And she said she wants to do it again next time.

Our day was fun. We're exhausted. I hope you enjoy the photos & video.

Until next time......

Spring Break

This week is spring break for the girls. I'm so thankful we have the pool because that keeps them entertained. Except, for some reason, we're getting COLD weather today & tomorrow. Not pool weather. We went to the park today to meet a few friends and it was cold and windy. We did not stay long. But the girls had a great time. Here are a few photos. Abby & Jadyn were pretending to be babies in the baby swing. :-)




Last night I had another girls night out. I had a great time. We were saying goodbye to another dear friend. Her family is being stationed in VA. They will be leaving sometime this month. 8 of us met at The Cheesecake Factory. It was very good. We were there about 3 hours. Tiff & a friend babysat 7 of our kids. They did a great job. I was so glad I had the opportunity to go out. I really need this. Here is a photo.


Miss Abigail is growing up way too fast. She informed us on Sunday that she has a loose tooth. Sure enough, she does. It's very wiggly. She's so excited. She wants to eat an apple so it will come out. She told us that when it comes out, she will put it under her pillow, and then a fairy will come, give her money and then take her tooth to give to another baby. :-) I am a little sad that she already has a loose tooth. It is just another reminder that she is growing up.

Then today, Miss Abigail informed her big sis Tiff that she has a boyfriend. No, not that Tiff has a boyfriend, ABBY has a boyfriend. She said *B* came up to her at school and said he wanted to be her boyfriend. Would she be his girlfriend. Abby said (as she was shrugging) "sure". So I asked Abby what does this mean? She told me that *B* is "in love with her". WHAT????? Oh, she's following in her big sister's footsteps too closely.

Bill does not know this bit of info. He's out of town until tomorrow. I can't wait to hear how he reacts to his Abigail having a boyfriend. I'm also going to have to check this boy out next time I'm up at the school. :-) You know me, the camera will be coming out. ABBY'S FIRST BOYFRIEND!

Until next time.....

Table Talk

I think I should go to the dinner table with pen & paper. This is where some of the cutest conversations happen. And I always say I'm going to write it down and then never do. Well last night, during dinner, I did. I jumped up and got a scrap piece of paper & a pen. Here are 3 conversations that went on.

-We were talking about sharing something with sisters and Abby said something like sharing with a brother.
-Mom- Abby, you don't have a brother.
-Abby- I'm gonna get a brother. A Big Brother.
-Mom- What if China says No?
-Abby- (With the biggest eyes, and head roll) What if China says YES!
We all BURST into laughter.

-We were talking about kids.
-Mom- Jadyn do you want to have any babies?
-Jadyn- Yes
-Mom- How many do you want?
-Jadyn- I want 1 girl
-Mom- What would you name her?
-Jadyn- Sally

-Mom- Abby do you want to have babies?
-Abby- Yes
-Mom- How many do you want?
-Abby- 2 kids; 1 boy and 1 girl
-Mom- What would you name them?
-Abby- The boy, Dillon; The girl, Sparkles

-This is the 3rd topic;
-Mom- Do you both want to adopt?
-Abby- I'm going to adopt from Vietnam like Ms. Kris. Ms. Kris & Mr John need to take me there.
-Jadyn- I'm going to adopt from Chinese.

I hope you enjoyed our conversations as much as we did.

Debbie