Christmas Magic

Both Hunter and Lily truly believe. Marhsall, being the best big brother, has done nothing to lead them to believe otherwise. The cutest thing happened Christmas Eve. We went to my Mom's house for our traditional Czeck dinner. We got home about 10:30 and hoped Hunter and Lil would be sound asleep. To the contrary, they were totally wound up with excitement. Jim's Iphone has an application that lets you hold the phone up to the sky and it shows you the constellations and stars you are looking at. When we got out of the car, he pointed it at the sky and there on the screen was also Santa's sleigh and reindeer who appeared to be ready to land momentarily in our neighborhood!
The kids screamed, "Oh no! Santa's coming, Let's get to bed!" and ran in the house. They tore off their clothes, got on jammies and dove under their covers and begged us to tuck them in. Lily told me to "pray faster." Hunter assumed the mummy pose and laid stiff as a board pretending to sleep as Jim tucked him in. When I tried to chat with Lily about Christmas Eve, she told me to "be quiet!" When I kept on talking she said "What part of 'be quiet' don't you understand?!" They were both sound asleep within 15 minutes and Santa worked his magic later that night. Marshall was with his father's family in Virginia and he got a white Christmas. He came home a day early and we celebrated all over again when he got home. We hope your Christmas was magical too!

Reflections on 2010

Wow! This has been a busy fall and winter as you can see from the lack of posting activity! I began the last day of this year with coffee on my dock, listening to the newly hatched herons making noises in their nest in my neighbor's pine trees. Later I am taking the kids to burn off some energy at the beach before we head to a friends house later for a party. It is the perfect time to reflect on the past year and look ahead.
We just celebrated Marshall's 13th birthday and Lily's birthday right before Christmas. Lily and Hunter both learned to ride their bikes without training wheels the week of Thanksgiving. Jim and I took a second trip to St. Croix this year. I went for work and he got to tag along for the weekend! We also went to Memphis for a weekend for my 25th college reunion and had a blast. We won the "most original" table at our festive meal at our church with our Chinese New Year themed table. Moon Festival with our Families from Children from China group was the best ever held at our local science center. Everyone except Marshall had strep in December which made holiday preparations a bit harder but Christmas was magical. Hunter was a shepperd and Lily was a sheep in our church Christmas pageant.

There are so many blessings we are thankful for this year. For me these include:

Reconnecting with old friends especially Sissie, Julie and Eric, Heather, Bianca, Ann Webb, Kathryn, Carol G.; connecting with new friends who also adopted children from Vietnam with Holt; my loving husband who encouraged me to attend a yoga retreat where I had a rejuvenating weekend with old friends and new and began to learn yoga; my wonderful yogis - Tara, Denise, Ericka and Erin; losing 30 pounds and keeping most of it off; Connie Lowe who encouraged me to run several 5ks this year; that Jim and I have jobs we enjoy with people we like and respect; new neighbors who are great and have kids; that when our beautiful pine tress were hit and killed with lightening in September that our house was not harmed; our family trip to Montana; that all of our children have fabulous, caring teachers this year; that our mothers and siblings are all doing fine; that our brave brother-in-law Jim G., who was shot in the line of duty as a police officer in Chicago is recovering and returning to work soon; that my brother David's family sold their home in NC and were able to move back to Florida; that my brother William remarried and is working in his chosen profession; that Hunter and foster sister Jaya were able to spend time together this year; that Hunter has learned vocabulary to express his feelings; and best of all - we became God parents to the incredible Ms. Sarah who is from Ethiopia.

2010 was really a glorious year for our family and we are looking forward to 2011! We wish you much health and happiness in the coming year! Happy New Year!