Continuation of Christmas Pictures

My Sister Christine with Julia

My sister in law Lucy with Julia

My brother John with Julia

My nephew Ryan

My Step Father Allen with Julia

Continuation of Christmas Pictures

Continuation of Christmas Pictures

Here are some more pictures from the day!

Merry Christmas!

Yesterday was an incredible Christmas! Evan and Julia were so excited about Santa coming! We went to 4 PM Christmas mass which was so sweet. I usually sing in the choir at midnight mass but this year I decided to go to the earlier mass to be able to spend more time with my family! The childrens choir was so adorable and they had the nativity scene reenacted by the 2nd graders to a beautiful Amy Grant Christmas song. Julia was so excited pointing at them and telling me that that was Jesus mommy and daddy! We then had my side of the family over for drinks and appetizers which was really nice! The gift that Julia had wrapped in my previous post was apparently only a wrapped piece of cardboard...the outside decorating was actually the gift which I ripped apart thinking there was something inside...I of course had to tape it back...we all had a little laugh!

Christmas morning Evan woke up first and then Julia was crying out! No sleeping in when there are Santa gifts! Julia was very surprised to find her kitchen set all assembled by dada. My sister bought her all of the pots and pans and plastic food and canned goods and tiny boxes of cake mix. She now cooks breakfast lunch and dinner for all of us and is very proud! Evan was very excited to find his top gift which was the Wii. We had a lot of fun doing Wii Fit Plus last night. I love the tennis and the obstacle courses! We then went to John's parents for dinner! His parents yearly tradition is Shrimp Newburg with salad and trifle for dessert....all very yummy! We then stopped off at my moms house since she was having all my cousins and my uncle over from Madison. It amazes me how she cooks for 35 to 40 people at her house every year for Christmas. It was really nice seeing everyone I took Julia into the doctor today and she has another sinus infection and fever so another round of antibiotics...hopefully we will see some improvement soon. Tonight we are going to the Bucks game! Hopefully the roads won't be too bad...it is really snowing hard. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Two Special Gifts

I had to post the two special gifts that were created by Evan at school and Julia at daycare. Julia brought home this package that is all wrapped and decorated and signed To Mom and Dad Merry Christmas Love Julia and has her picture on the top. She is very excited about it and has it waiting for us under the tree.

Evan brought home a wrapped gift for us as well today. He said that he worked real hard on it and could hardly wait for us to open it. Then he said that we should open it today since it is more of a decoration for Christmas. It is a Christmas tree made out of string that he threaded through paper. I love homemade gifts that come from the heart! I cry every year when they are given with so much love!

Preparing for Christmas

I have been wanting to catch up on my blog...seems as if there is never enough time in the day to do all of the things that I would like. This past weekend Julia and I decided to bake some cookies. Julia loves watching me in the kitchen and always wants to help. I handed her the bag of chocolate kisses and she managed to help unwrap most of them for the Peanut butter kiss cookies. It was fun watching her concentrate on the foil wrapping and she was so proud. I did get a picture of her with my mixer..it was off of course!!

On Sunday we all decided to go to the mall so that Julia could sit on Santas lap. I asked Evan to dress up in case I needed back up since I was unsure of how Julia would react....you see we had been to the mall once before and she waved at him and as he waved back she held out her arms for my sister and said help me help me!! Evan was not too willing to help since he is a 6th grader and it is soooo uncool to sit on Santas lap or be near Santa when you are in 6th grade. Julia seemed eager to go on Sunday and we waited about 40 minutes in line. She kept watching all the other kids and waved Hi to Santa and kept peaking around the corner at him. The elf that greeted us at the head of the line asked Julia if she was there for Santa and Julia nodded her head yes. She then asked Julia what she wanted for Christmas from Santa and Julia said, "A Choo Choo book and a bike.....a blue bike" I was shocked since this is the first I had heard of that...It seems as if Blue is Julias favorite color. Well Julia turned the corner to go to Santa and had a complete melt down. She did not want to go near Santa.....Santa said to me..I don't think she will be sitting on my lap...lol I sat down next to Santa real quick and at least got a consolation shot....Oh well...better luck next year! '

This is such an exciting Christmas that I don't want to miss a moment! I want to take a moment to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Health and Happiness in the New Year! It is actually snowing here tonight so looks as if it will be a White Christmas this year

Happy Birthday John

Today was John 's 20 something birthday....lol He always rubs it in how I am older than him...only 6 months! We had a lot of celebrating to do. We started out going out to breakfast with John's family. His niece Linden is home from Winona and shares the same birthday as him. She is 19 today! Then we had a Packer party at our neighbors house across the street. They are Packer fans 100 percent. They have Packer carpeting in their finished basement and their Christmas tree is loaded with only Packer ornaments. I happened to see Leroy Butler out at our local grocery store yesterday and had him sign a cookbook for her. I really was looking for something to bring as a hostess favor and it was there staring me in the face. We had a terrific time at the party and it was fun catching up with all of our awesome neighbors.

Evan and Julia made a homemade card for John which was precious. Happy Birthday John! I Love You and Hope for Many More Birthdays Ahead! I love celebrating and sharing each new year together!

Snow Day

Yesterday we had a snow day and Evan's school was cancelled. We ended up with 8 inches of heavy wet snow! It was pretty from inside but a mess to drive in. Julia was so happy that her big brother was home. I wanted to take Julia outside to build a snowman since we have been reading so many stories about snowmen. It was kind of funny when I dressed her in long underwear, boots, hat, scarf, mittens and she just stood there like a statue. I went walking into the drift in the front yard and she followed and I told her she had to lift her legs up and she got stuck and I lifted her up and her boots stayed in place and her socks just came out. It was at the moment that I knew she had to stand and watch on the walkway while I put together my own snowman. Julia helped me with the finishing touches. I wanted to make a large one but Julia was too cold to stay outside. She took a fall right into a puddle in the garage and her mittens were soaked and that is when we went in. Evan ended up deserting us for sledding with his neighbor friends at a local park. Today was extremely cold so got caught up with a lot of indoor Christmas preparation! Donna Joe and Lauren...Arizona is looking great about now!

Happy Late Thanksgiving

I did not get a chance to post on Thanksgiving. We were very busy. We actually celebrated with both sides of the family. We ended up going to a supper club upnorth to celebrate with my mom and stepfather and all of his kids and their spouses and children.....wow what a large group of people. I can understand why my mom would be overwhelmed with a grp this large for Thanksgiving. We then end up going to my inlaws house for evening Thanksgiving dinner. Two Thanksgiving celebrations and a lot of YMCA the following days!!! My mother in law wanted me to bring an appetizer and I decided on a veggie tray....needed some low calorie options. We all had a terrific time! Julia loved the dessert from Baskin Robbins which was ice cream decorated as a turkey. Tradition has been to wake up at 2 AM the next day and go shopping. I have gone to Best Buy every year and really have gotten good deals but the past few years have been discouraging since I find that people start camping out in tents at 5 PM the evening before. This year I set my alarm for 230 and IT DID NOT GO OFF!!!...must be a sign from above. I actually woke up at 530AM and I am grateful it was not later since I had to be at work at 730. I did end up at Kohl's and then went to Fleet Farm. I had a couple of good deals and a lot of long lines! Hope you all had a terrific Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Wishes

Julia's Thanksgiving card/with turkey hand cover

I find myself thinking about all of the things that I am thankful for. Evan and I were talking about how we are thankful for the men and women in the service who are protecting our country and for their families who are making a large sacrifice for our freedom . I am thankful for all of my friends, old and new that have touched my life in so many ways. I am thankful for a loving husband and two wonderful children. I am thankful for my mom and step father as well as my sister/brother who have been extremely loving and supportive. I am also thankful for my father who made me a better person and pushed me to become the best person I could be! I am thankful that God had a plan for Julia and brought her into our home. I could go on and on and on but I especially wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Thank you for touching my life in so many big and small ways!!!

10 Month Anniversary

I can not believe that it has been 10 months since our Julia came home. She has brought such Joy and laughter to our home. I will never forget our first meeting when she walked out in her pink corduroy pants and jacket with her Chinese name in tape across her jacket and the cutest pink patton leather shoes with charms! She looked around and held her arms out to me when the orphange workers said "Go, there is your Mama" She had big tears welling up in her eyes and she looked so afraid. I had so many mixed emotions at that moment....those of love at first sight and also of sadness that she was leaving the only world she ever knew. When we drove up to our house after the long flight home I could hardly wait to introduce her to her big brother who missed his mom and dad for two whole weeks! I whisked her out of the car and out of a deep sleep to walk into a place which was so unfamiliar. Evan cried so hard when he saw her and kept telling me how cute she was!! She just looked around and was very quiet!

Since then she has evolved into a very happy,high energy little girl! She loves to blow me kisses and giggles after each one! She is inquisative asking me, "What's that"??? and she always wants to see what is going on scooting a chair up or a stool and saying "I see" We truly have been blessed with two wonderful children! We have also been blessed with many wonderful friends who we have met along this journey in China! Wish we all lived a little closer but nice to visit everyones blogs! Happy 10th Anniversary Travelmates!!!!!

Halloween Pictures!!!