Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween 2009!

Simply a great day!

Today was a great day! When we got home from school we carved our pumpkin. This was a new and exciting experience for Josh and Jess as I don't think Josh has carved a pumpkin before and Jess was too little to remember last Halloween. They had a blast! Lilly was a great "teacher" to both of them as well.

THEN ....

LILLY LOST HER FIRST TOOTH!!!

THEN ...

Lilly went up to Josh and said, "I love you little Mister!" and gave him a huge hug. They both wanted their picture taken together right after.

It has been such a blessing this past month to see Lil, Josh and Jess develop their love and care for each other. The past 6 months or so have been a period of adjustment for all of us as our family instantly grew and we had to find our new normal. They are truly siblings in the greatest way!

I'm a BLESSED mama!!

Fall Fun!

I know ... they're just too cute!:)

Happy 2nd Birthday Sweet Jessica!

I can hardly believe that my sweet baby is two years old today! What an incredible blessing she is to our family. She is such a happy girl and has a ready smile for everyone she meets. These are just a couple of pictures snapped at preschool and our little family party.

We love you dearly sweet Jessica - what a HUGE blessing you are to us!

Joshua's Dedication

Today was Joshua's dedication. We dedicated ourselves to raising Joshua in a Christ centered home and also dedicated him to the Lord. Lilly and Jessica joined us on the church platform and did a great job too! We are blessed indeed with this sweet little man and are thankful that the Lord has blessed our lives with his!

Grow in Christ little man ... we LOVE you!

Kindergarten!

Today was Lilly's first day of Kindergarten! She loved it! Her comment to me was, "I was a little nervous at first, but I made friends today!" Way to go sweet girl - we are SO proud of you!

The night before my first day of school ... I'm so excited!

Getting ready to go!

Mrs. Kelley is my teacher and this is where I line up.

Going into my classroom!

What a great day!

Happy Birthday Sweet Kirk Daddy!

September 5

Yes, Kirk is a little older than one ... but I didn't have enough candles! :)

We LOVE you!

First day of Preschool

Jessica and Joshua on their first day of preschool. They had a great day!

Don't they look so grown up? Where does time go!?!

More birthday pictures

Joshua just woke up and wasn't quite ready for the festivities. I don't think he really knew what the "birthday party" thing was all about. It didn't take him long to realize the fun to be had!

"I'm excited!"

"Look Mei-mei ... more trains!"

Happy 3rd Birthday Joshua!

August 27 ... Joshua's 3rd Birthday!!

We had a simple celebration with pizza (his request) and cupcakes. On Sunday, we'll have his "Thomas the Train" party with our family. We are so very proud of our handsome little man!

"I'm SO excited ... I can hardly stand it!"

Daddy helped me blow out my candles.

"We think the cupcakes are delicious too! Thanks Joshua for picking such yummy cupcakes!"

Passports!

It is exciting ... Joshua and Lilly now have their US passports!

Wearing them one way or another!

Here is another shot of Josh with his underpants. This time it is during his nap.

He's going to wear his "trains" one way or another!

Too funny not to post

OK, some day Josh may be mad at me for posting this, but it is just too funny not to post! Josh is doing very well with his potty training and absolutely LOVES his "Thomas the Train" underpants. So much so, that he insists on sleeping with them in his hands (he still needs a pull-up at night). So, I was checking on him last night before I went to bed and this is what I saw ... mind you, he is SOUND asleep!!! Kirk and I had a pretty huge chuckle over this one!

Forgive me Josh, but someday you'll understand how funny this is! :)

Happy 4th of July!

We spent the 4th at my parents' lake house. We had a great time with Maw, Poppy, Kathy, Ken, Nicole and Stephanie. We all had a blast!

Maw and Jessica

Sweet Lilly peaking outside to see if it is warm enough to go swimming!
Joshua's first 4th of July!
What a blessing to know he now lives in a country where he has freedom! He spent about 10 minutes running around the yard (in his PJ's of course) waving the American flag. He just giggled and giggled! He probably doesn't realize the significance of his new found freedom. We are blessed indeed!

Happy 4th of July!
Brenda

Our first family picture!

Getting all the children to smile in the same shot was a challenge ... so here are 2 shots. :) We are incredibly blessed!!

Some great shots

Photos were taken by my talented sister-in-law Melany. It was a difficult shoot as the children didn't want to cooperate - especially Jessica! :) Still, I think they turned out pretty amazing!

Handsome little man

Where are the smiles Jess?


Precious picture!

Sweet kisses!

Finally ... smiles!

US Citizenship!

This weekend, Joshua received his US citizenship! A cool way to celebrate Memorial Day!

Fun at the park and some other cute pictures

Joshua, Jessica, Gabe (a good friend's son) and Lilly

Grandma and Jessica enjoying the sunshine!

"Hey mom ... are you taking my picture again?"

Lilly, Gabe and Josh being silly.

We love to slide!

A friend of mine gave these T-shirts to the girls before we left for China. Jessica's says, "little sister" and Lilly's says, "big sister". Each shirt has their name on the back.