For Anna

Today we have a special message for M's Wuhan sister Anna.

M's dictated letter:

Anna,

"I want to make your heart feel happy and ahh.. Happy New Year. Merry Christmas, I can say. I wanna send happy holidays. My Jesus make your heart feel very very happy. We send a dress my mama made to send to you. I send you stickers too. I wanna say my Lord is God. We have the same outfit. I wanna tell her I lova her and I wanna tell her I miss her too. "

M

Merry Christmas to Anna and the whole B family!

Christmas preparations

Here's our now annual "hanging of the first ornament" picture.

This "forever family" ornament was a gift from my co-worker and friend, Penny.

M hanging her new Mulan* ornament on the tree.
Things always get interesting when using the 10 sec. timer to take self-portraits. You really never know what you will end up capturing.
Here are a couple of our failed Christmas card picture attempts that did not make the cut.

Shadow was trying to lick M's face as we all were trying NOT to laugh.

The shot we ended up picking while not "great" was one that John said of, "Well we all look happy and that's what really matters." Cards should be mailed by Saturday, so you won't have to be in suspense for too long.

Jenny

M's 4th b-day pics

Still hard to believe she is already 4 and been home almost 2 years.

With her panda that we sent to her in China for her 2nd birthday.

Guess who saw the Big Guy?????

M was pretty excited to see Santa.

She had been asking to see him ever since she first saw his set-up at the mall.

What did she ask for? "A nightgown and some toys."

The Birthday Party

M had a family birthday party. She's wearing a dress from the second hand store that she has been asking to wear everyday for MONTHS. She was thrilled when she finally got to wear it.
She is opening a Ni* Hao Ka*i-Lan* Lea*pster game. She loves all things Kai*-Lan these days.

Nai Nai and YeYe gave her a card that played Happy Birthday. She was quite impressed and listened to it several times.

The Lotus Flower candle made for a great show. As the petals opened the flower turned and played Happy Birthday. M was a little taken aback with the big flame.

But enjoyed the spinning candles and music. We all sang to her with the music from her candle.

Blowing out the flames.

Here she is with her real cake. Per request I made her a giant cupcake cake. As you can tell from the picture, she was sneaking some frosting.

This year for her pinata, she requested an orange cat. One of her friends came over from across the street to help her knock it down.

Yeah candy!!!!!!!!!


She had a great time and we are so thankful for our family who came to celebrate with her. She spent the next several days opening new toys and playing, playing, playing!!!!!

M is FOUR!!!!!!

Last week M turned four and we celebrated with a trip to Amer*ican Girl*. It is so hard to believe she is 4 already and that she has been home nearly two years.

She wanted to have curls for the special occasion, so she slept in sponge curlers the night before.

She was thrilled to ride the train with her baby Ada.
Checking out all the Bitty* Ba*by stuff. She asked for clothes her baby for her birthday. But then also decided she really wanted a big girl doll.

Showing me the Ivy* doll she wants.

Having lunch in the cafe with Baba and her baby.

Helping Ada get a drink from her doll sized tea cup.

Our waitress put a candle in M's cake and sang for her.

M was very happy about that.

Smelling her fake flowers from our place settings.

M with her Ivy* doll.

Yes, we caved, but she did have to put some other things back.

Which she was willing to do to get her new big girl doll.

We are so happy that M is our daughter.

We thank God for the amazing blessing that she is in our lives!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

Down on the Farm

This past Sunday we visited our favorite children's farm. It is an absolutely wonderful place where children are invited to pet, hold, brush, ride and love on the animals. We went once last year and M has been asking to go back for a few months now. Baba was on a hunting trip, but met us at the farm on his way home. M ran to him when she saw him.

I was so glad I had my camera ready. She was so thrilled to see her Baba!

The pigs, Taffy and Apple. They were quite nosey with their noses. Not M's favorite.

John and I both laugh at this photo.

It looks like it should be accompanied by a caption reading,

"For a gift of only $20, you can give a chicken that will support this child's family."

Seriously though, she did really like the chickens and kept following them around trying to pick them up. She was really brave.

Meet Muffin the goat. M fell in love with her and we spent quite a bit of time in the goat pen, brushing and giving hugs and kisses.

Yes, she was telling Muffin all her secrets.

Muffin actually seemed quite fond of M too. When M would walk away Muffin would follow and try to regain her attention.

And here is what she had been askng about for weeks, riding the horse. Last year they had a small horse for riding, this year, well see for yourself. M was not phased one bit.

She really enjoyed her ride.

On the hayride.

We spent our last half hour on the farm cuddling with the rabbits. They have toothbrushes to brush the fur with. This little gal fell asleep right in M's lap.

M started asking to go back the minute we left. After being in bed for an hour that night she started bawling. When I went in to see what was wrong. She said, "I miss da animals. I want to see Peter!"(one of the rabbits). To say she really enjoys this place would be an understatement. Mama and Baba love to go too, so don't worry baby we'll see the rabbits again someday.

A Little Halloween Fun

Sorry we've been out of the loop for a while. I am going ahead with Halloween and hopefully then go back to catch up on the happenings in September and October.

Here is M with her pumpkin this year. We have a great patch where the pumpkins are super cheap and really nice. M's pumpkin was $3.00! She was really excited about pumpkin picking this year and made her selection really fast.

This big pumpkin had lots and lots of seeds. They spent a good deal of time digging and scraping, but M enjoyed it all.

The finished product.

M as a butterfly. I actually made these wings several years ago as a costume for myself. When M said she wanted to be a butterfly I dug them out. They were quite big, but she loved them! However, I think her favorite part of Halloween is the make-up. These pics were taken after trick or treating so her make-up is a little smeared. Before trick or treat I couldn't get her to smile for the camera. She just wanted to head out and get that candy!

It was pretty cold, M had several layers of clothes on. We just did about 2 blocks and headed back home. Then went Nai Nai and Ye Ye's house to trick or treat for them.

First Day of School

M is off to school, all by herself this year. She continues to attend 2 days a week at a Chinese immersion preschool with me, but is going to our public school preschool the other 3 days of the week. She loves both! She was super excited her first day at the public school. She marched in the building and didn't even look back. The second day I walked her to school she said, "Are you going to leave me there again today?" "Yes" I responded to which she hollered, "YEAHHH!!!" as she threw her hands up in the air. I had to smile. Yeah, she was ready to start school all on her own.