Christmas 2007

Guess who got spoiled this Christmas?! We did Christmas with just the three of us in the morning. The good part is, she has no idea what's going on so we didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn with her to open presents!

"Hmmmm...this looks like fun."

"Wow! Look at that!"

"Where did it come from?"

"There it goes again! This is tons of fun!"

"Yummy!"

Lily loves Elmo, or "Emma" as she calls him. She had fun with her new Elmo book.

She also got a new "peek-a-boo" book.

Kisses from Aunt Paula.

Later in the day we had Christmas with the whole family. Lily got just a couple of things...(!)

New Little People blocks...woohoo!

And a real stuffed "Emma"!

And a Little People SUV. (Can you tell she likes Little People?) She also got the Little People Nativity set which is just adorable.

She also got a new, yet old, rocking chair. This chair was my mom's cousins, then it was my mom's, then it was mine, and now it's Lily's. A very special gift indeed. And she LOVES it!

Petting her "Key-kah" (Lily speak for "kitty cat), Stella.

Merry Christmas!

In case I don't get to it before the 25th, we want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas…Words by Brad Avery, Music by Third Day

There’s a little girl trembling on a cold December morn,

crying for mama’s arms at an orphanage just outside a little China town,

where the forgotten are.
But half a world away I hang the stockings by the fire

and dream about the day when I can finally call you mine.

It’s Christmas time again but you’re not home.

Your family is here and yet you’re somewhere else alone.

So tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in His arms

and tell you from my heart,

I wish you Merry Christmas.

As I hang the tinsel on the tree and watch the twinkling lights,

I’m warmed by the fire’s glow.

Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white

and make angels in the snow.
But half a world away you try your best to fight the tears,

and hope that Heaven’s Angels come to carry you here.

Christmas is the time we celebrate the Holy Child,

and we celebrate His perfect gift of love.

He came to Earth to give His life and prepare a place for us
So we could have a home with Him above.

It’s Christmas time again and now you’re home.

Your family is here so you will never be alone.

So tonight before you go to sleep,

I’ll hold you in my arms and tell you from my heart…

...I’ll tell you from my heart…

I wish you Merry Christmas.

River Dance Lily

Lily has been doing this little dance for a while now...usually when she is very happy or excited or likes whatever music is playing. We jokingly called it "River Dance", and being the genious that she is, she picked up on the term the first time and will now do her "River Dance" when we ask her. Toooo cute!

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We had a great time with family and friends over the weekend. We had Thanksgiving dinner at Robert's mom's house which was fantastic. She even made Lily her own sweet potatoes with the little marshmallows on top. Lily ate very well! I am probably one of the few people who do not go shopping the day after Thanksgiving. I am not one for large crowds and all of the chaos at the malls. Whoever said Christmas brings out people's good holiday cheer has not been to the mall parking lot in December. However, we did go out to breakfast with my mom and my cousins, Donna, Perry and their son Derek, who were visiting from Oregon. It was their first time meeting Lily and we had a really nice visit. Later in the day we started pulling out the Christmas decorations. After we put Lily to bed we put up our Christmas tree (yes, we have a fake tree. I do miss the smell of a fresh tree, but having a tree that already has the lights on it...totally worth the trade off!). Anyway, Saturday morning after breakfast, Lily walked into the living room and then came running back to the kitchen with this priceless look on her face that said, "What IS that thing in our living room? It wasn't there yesterday!". I picked her up and we went to look at the tree. Now she loves to kiss the tree, say "Hi!" and wave to it. That evening we had friends and family over to help decorate her first Christmas tree. So far she has been very good at not touching the ornaments, but we'll see how that goes! Here are some pictures from our weekend...

Thanksgiving morning, Robert and I took Lily for a walk and ended up at the park. First we put Lily on the swing with me...

Then she tried it all by herself. I think she's getting to like it now!

My mom (Lao Lao) reading Lily's favorite book with her. Lily doesn't care much for the actual "reading" part yet. She just likes to look at the pictures and point to everything and turn the pages by herself.

The Thanksgiving family picture.

Lily LOVED her food!

My cousin Donna reading with Lily.

My mom, Derek, Me, Lily, Robert, Donna and Perry.

Saturday we had friends and family over for a tree-trimming party. This is Christopher (on the left) and Garrett. They did a great job of putting on the ornaments and did the bulk of the work themselves. Thank you guys!

Me with Lily and her friend Rachel.

Kerry (mom to Garrett and Christopher) helped decorate the tree.

Our friends Sean, Michele and Rachel.

Daddy and Lily watching the train go around the tree. Lily loves the train, until you put one of her toys in the empty car and she watches it go away. That part she doesn't like so much!

Daddy reading with Lily. I am so glad she has taken so well to books. I loved reading when I was younger and still do, I just don't read as much as I used to! I hope Lily enjoys it as much as I did.

Lily's First Meeting with Santa...

...didn't go over too well, but we weren't very surprised. It makes for a cute picture though...poor little thing.

Lily feeling much happier!

Last Sunday, November 11th, we went over to Mike, Jenny and Samantha's for dinner.

Lily had lots of fun playing with them.

Lily doing "psycho face" for her Nai Nai...soooo cute!

My new favorite picture of Lily. Too precious.

Happy Birthday Tom and Dwight!

One of the many things Robert and I have in common is that our dads share a birthday...today. Different years, but the same date. We are thinking of you both today and missing you horribly. But we have joy knowing we will see you again one day to celebrate with our Heavenly Father for eternity!

Lily's First Pumpkin Patch

Since Robert had the day off on Monday, we decided to finally get Lily to the pumpkin patch. We went to Underwood Farms, formerly Tierra Rejada Ranch. I had heard about it but had never been there. What a fun place! They had all kinds of animals, kiddie rides and TONS of pumpkins! Of course, we took just a couple pictures while we were there...

Even though Lily isn't smiling in this picture, I love it because of all the bright colors.

Lily knows that the cow says "moooo" (in Lily talk, it sounds more like "boooo"!)

A little pumpkin for our little pumpkin.

I think she was starting to cry here, but again, I love all of the bright colors in this picture!

Mommy and Lily surrounded by pumpkins.

Lily LOVES to ride on her daddy's shoulders.

She especially loves it when he runs or jumps up and down with her up there.

Walking off into the sunset...the loves of my life. I love this one.

P.S. I Love You

We spent the week in Palm Springs last week and had a really nice time. Lily did pretty well, all things considered. We tried to make things as normal as possible...she had her Panda with her and we brought the music she listens to at night. She was more "clingy" than usual and a little fussier than normal, but she did amazingly well...should I have expected otherwise from our brilliant daughter?;o) Here are a few shots from our week...

Discovering the joys of oversized jacuzzi tubs!
This was her lunch one day.

Lily LOVES pancakes...and how cute that they made it a Mickey Mouse pancake!

My big girl drinking her bottle all by herself.


Sleeping angel.

Daddy feeding Lily...well, not really. She's become quite independant and can feed herself, thank you very much

Mmmmm...more pancakes!

Our last night night in Palm Springs we met up with our friend Martin and his daughter, "H". Lily had soooo much fun with "H". She's never responded to anyone so well. "H" was great with her...she carried her all around the restaurant at dinner showing her all the trees. (Lily learned what trees are this week and now points at every tree she sees.) I just love this picture of the two of them. Lily also had her first taste of ice cream at Cold Stone this week. Let's just say this girl takes after her mommy and daddy with her sweet tooth. She has never done the sign for "more" as fast and furious after her first bite!