Weekend Getaway

Last weekend we took our annual trip to Palm Springs. The three of us along with my mom headed out late Wednesday night and got into town around 10:00pm. After getting settled into our rooms, we got Lily ready for bed. She was sitting on my lap with a very concerned look on her face, and then her lower lip started trembling. I asked her what was wrong. She looked right into my eyes and said, "Go home?" Uh-oh. I had been explaining to her about us going on vacation, and this wasn't her first time going away with us, so I wasn't worried...until now. I told her again that we were on vacation and told her about how much fun we were going to have. We turned her music on, prayed with her and put her down. As we walked out of her room we feared the worst. But she was out like a light. She was one tired little girl! She did great the entire trip with only a couple of major meltdowns. One was as we were leaving the Living Desert. She did not get her way so she screamed her head off the entire way to the car. Boy was that a long walk! As we hit the road to grab a bite to eat, she was out. Her other meltdown was on our last night. She disobeyed mommy and had to stand in the corner. Once she calmed down, she apologized and was fine. Thankfully she usually recovers quickly...and I have noticed that they mostly seem to happen when she is tired.

Then there was yesterday. We always have great mornings together...it's my favorite part of the day. We watched a little Curious George and then had some breakfast. After breakfast we headed out to her gymnastics class. The kids play around for a few minutes until the teacher is ready and we have circle time. Lily usually likes this part, but this morning, she did not want to do circle time. She wanted to play. When I told her no, the tears started flowing. The teacher looked over at me and said, "Oh! She does cry!" It's not a usual occurrence. Once her teacher started singing, Lily forgot she was upset and had a great time for the rest of class. After class, we headed over to Target. We needed to get a refill of her prescription and I had to pick up a few other things. Lily's favorite thing to do now is to look at Christmas trees. Anytime we go to any store she wants to look at the Christmas trees. I told her as soon as I was done at the pharmacy, we would go look at the trees. As I was talking to the pharmacist, Lily kept grabbing at my wallet. I looked over and told her no. She kept grabbing it. I took it away from her and told her no again. I told her she needed to apologize to mommy for not obeying or we would not look at the Christmas trees (I know...I am so mean!). Then it happened. Our first temper tantrum in the middle of a store. Why is it that a toddlers screams never seem so loud as when one is in a store full of people? I pushed her around in the cart as she kept screaming. When she is like this, there is nothing anyone can do to calm her down...she just needs to work it out for herself. As I was debating whether or not to leave, I picked her up from the cart and she started calming down. She looked at me and said, "Sorry mommy". She just kills me! Someone had commented on Robert's blog about how we will have our hearts broken and melted many times by this little girl. Boy was she right! Anyway, we of course went over to the Christmas section and looked at every single tree.:o)

Here are a few shots Robert took on our trip.

In her footie jammies and ready for bed.

Running around the resort and having fun!

Lily playing with daddy's new magic trick.

What a beautiful smile.

The cutest butterfly in the Living Desert!

Some great shots by Robert.

We love this place for breakfast. We stop there every year on our way home.

Enjoying a BIG bowl of oatmeal. No, she didn't eat the whole thing.:o)

I'm Still Here!

It's been a while since my last post. As usual (ugh) things have been busy lately. We just got back from our vacation to Medford, OR on Wednesday and have been busily preparing for Lily's birthday party tomorrow. She turned 2 while we were in Oregon so we had a little party for her there, but tomorrow is the big Panda Party. My sister-in-law came over tonight to help me decorate the cake. It came out soooo cute! I made a couple of birthday banners for decorations and we'll have lots of balloons and streamers up. I'll be sure to post pictures after the shin-dig. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know we haven't fallen off the face of the earth. Robert's still been updating his blog, so you can read all about our traveling adventures, including a second surgical procedure for him at one of Medford's finest hospitals! He has lots of pictures up from our trip and the first of Lily's birthday celebrations. I'll have more birthday pictures up soon!

Home Again and All is Well

First of all, I had an amazing time in Salt Lake City! I didn't get to see much of it...the convention kept us pretty busy. The lake looked really nice from the airplane though! We had so much fun and got lots of new stuff. We got to make several projects (I'll post pictures soon), buy lots of stuff at the Momento Mall (that's where they sell convention memorabilia) and got tons of new ideas. I'm having my New Catalog Open House this Saturday and can hardly wait! But more importantly, Lily did incredibly well while I was gone. God must have really prepared her heart for my being gone. Almost always she cries in the morning if I'm not the one to get her up...even daddy won't do. But she didn't do that while I was gone. She was happy to see her Nai Nai and from what I've heard, they had a pretty great time together. I am so thankful for that. Thank you Nai Nai! It made the trip so much more enjoyable knowing that she was doing so well.

On another note, Robert is having his gallbladder surgery tomorrow at noon. If it comes to mind, please pray for everything to go smoothly and for a quick recovery. We leave for Oregon a week from tomorrow, and I just want him to be comfortable so he can enjoy the trip. The doctor said he should be fine to go...a little uncomfortable and it probably won't be a good idea for him to drive. That's fine as my mom is going too, so she and I can take turns driving. I just pray the surgery and recovery go smoothly and that he won't be in a lot of pain.

And on one more note, for those of you who may be interested in following up with Steven Curtis Chapman and his family after the loss of Maria, they are scheduled to be on Good Morning America this Wednesday, 8/6, on Larry King Live Thursday, 8/7 and they have an "extensive feature" in People Magazine scheduled to be on shelves 8/15. I pray God will be glorified as they proclaim their faith in and love for Him, even as they walk through this valley. They know Gods' promises are true and He has promised never to leave or forsake us, and that all things work together for good...for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. I pray many will seek Him after hearing what the Chapmans have to say.

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's 2008 already! (For the record, I did start this post last week, but have been having some computer issues...I swear it's not user error! Anyway, everything seems to be ok now...on with the post.) I thought time went by fast before we got Lily...now it seems to be going by faster than the speed of light. I hope you are enjoying the New Year and haven't broken all of your resolutions yet! I don't make them anymore...they don't really work for me. I, like everyone else, would start off with the best of intentions which lasted until maybe the beginning of February...if I was lucky. Now I just continually pray for God to continue His good work in me until He returns, which He has promised and been faithful to do.


We actually spent the New Year holiday out of town. We went to Austin, TX to visit some very good friends of ours who moved there last summer while we were in China. It was so good to see them, and to be in Texas. I sure do like it there. It's so much more beautiful than what I thought it would be. Even though I have lived in California for more than half of my life (!), I have never really felt at home here. I think a part of me will always consider home to be Anchorage, Alaska. Of course, now that I think about it, no matter where I live on this earth it will never really be my home. My treasures are stored in Heaven where my Father is preparing a place for me...so awesome to think about and just incomprehensible at times. Life is short and eternity is forever...too long to be wrong! Anyway, we enjoyed our visit in Texas. Here are a few pictures from our trip...

Lily got a beautiful new coat for Christmas...

...I think she likes it! And she certainly looks adorable in it.

Lily had a blast playing on the swing.

She took turns with Reagan.

Robert and I in front of Lake Travis. The weather was beautiful while we were there...a little nippy, but I enjoy that.

Our dear friend Angela (in the blue shirt) playing Scrabble with her boys. Julian is on the right and Jordan is in the yellow shirt. Angela's mom, Kay, was also playing, but was a little camera shy.

Angela's husband Marcos (also our dear friend!) having some quality time with Reagan.

While in Texas we were also able to visit Robin, Travis, Samuel and Lucy. We met them in China when they were adopting Lucy. They are such an amazing couple. We hope to see them again sometime soon!

Lily enjoying some Oreo Cookie cake. Apparently it was finger-lickin' good!

On New Year's Eve we went with Marcos and Angela to visit some other friends who moved to Texas last year. We all used to be in a bible study group together when we first started attending our church. Slowly but surely, everyone is moving away. Sad for us, but it's nice to be able to go visit! Anyway, Lily met Gabriella who is exactly one month younger than she is. All of the kids (I think there were about 8 or 9 of them ranging in age from 15 months to about 10 years) had a blast and all but Gabriella managed to stay up until midnight. The kids were all so good with Lily and she had so much fun.

Lily in her western wear. We bought her an adorable pair of pink cowboy boots while we were there. It will be a while before she can wear them...they are size 5 and she is still in a size 3 shoe...she has such cute tiny feet!

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!