Christmas Day

 My parents always do a great job spoiling the kids, and they always do a great job making the holidays special. Adoption is hard and our days can be challenging so when we can have fun, we all try really hard and the holidays have always been a special time. Grandma and Grandpa usually try and come up with a big gift at the end for the kids. This year was a big boat for the pool filled with snacks and money. My parents are always very creative, and we always appreciate how much they do!

Christmas Eve Celebration

We had a great Christmas Eve celebration with Grandma and Grandpa. We went to church for Christmas Eve service, out to dinner for our traditional Chinese dinner, home to take some pictures, open our one "surprise" present which is always new pajamas and Christmas socks, and then time to put cookies out for Santa. Then, everyone comes to our room to watch a movie and spend the night. This insures there is no peeking in the middle of the night! Grandma and Grandpa will be back to celebrate in the morning.

Gingerbread Houses

 I try to make lots of traditions for the kids and one is decorating gingerbread houses. I am sure it will only be a matter of time before they will tire of this tradition, but I will continue for as long as I can! Everyone had a good time and they did a good job. The key is to give each person their own!

Juan's Christmas Parade

 Juan is now playing the trumpet at Odyssey and got to participate in the Christmas parade. It was a great way to get into the Christmas spirit and brought back memories of my childhood when I use to march in parades! I think he had a good time!

Decorating for Christmas

Since Dainis and I were born, both of our parents started an ornament collection.  We each got a special ornament each Christmas, and we continued this tradition after we were married.  Now that we have kids, we started this tradition with them, starting our first Christmas together.  This year, we decided to decorate our whole tree with all of our special ornaments.  The kids loved seeing ours, and it was special that we could do this together!  I think it gives the kids a great sense of security when they can see what it means to have family traditions and be a special part of our family.

Our family loves Christmas, and we always spend Thanksgiving weekend getting the house all decorated. This year was especially nice because we had very little time to decorate last year, since we moved into our new house only 3 days before Christmas!  Overall, the kids cooperated and were a big help.  Everyone is excited for the holiday season to begin...even our dog Buddy!

 

Thanksgiving Is Here Again!

It is hard to believe it is that time of year again.  A time for cooler weather (or at least in the low 70s), Christmas shopping, decorating for the holidays, baking, and celebrating all of the things we are thankful for. This will be our fifth Thanksgiving we have celebrated together!  The kids did a great job helping to make the Thanksgiving meal.  Angie made my Dad a home-made carrot cake for his birthday.  Ingrid made our favorite seafoam salad. Juan made our traditional  spinach, cheese, and rice casserole.  We enjoyed having Lori's parents over and had a very nice day together.  This was our first Thanksgiving in our new house!

A Boy-Girl Birthday Party

Angie has her first boyfriend.  His name is AJ, and he is a very nice young man.  They are very compatible, and we have become good friends with his family.  We all go to the same church so it is very nice that we have had the chance to really get to know him.

One thing that is very special is that they share the same birthday!  So this year, they celebrated with a joint birthday party.  AJ plays football and so we made his a football theme, and Angie had a girl teenage theme. We had about ten boys and girls over for games, a cook-out, cake, presents, and pinatas. After a few hours, the boys left, and Angie had a sleep over with her girl friends.  Although it was quite busy and a little crazy, the kids had a good time.

Angie's 15th Birthday

Angie celebrated her 15th birthday on November 10th!!!  It is hard to believe that this is the fifth birthday we have celebrated with her!  She is growing up so fast and becoming a beautiful young lady.

Lori's Therapy

Prior to becoming a Mom, Lori's main job was on therapy and getting better.  Over the past few years, the focus has turned to the family.  As the kids are getting older and our health insurance allows more benefits for therapy, Lori started back at SWAN Rehab located in downtown Phoenix.  SWAN is an excellent therapy clinic that focuses on people who have suffered a stroke or brain injury.  Lori was one of the clinic's first patients and has been going there for twelve years now.  She would never be where she is today if it wasn't for this clinic and great therapists.  Along with working hard with the therapists and trying out the newest therapy equipment that is out there, the therapists have decided to try and do something new with her.  It is called serial casting.  Due to the stroke and limited movement Lori has in her left ankle, it won't lift as much as we would like to get a good heel strike when she walks.  The idea of casting is similar to concept of braces. They will place her foot at the correct angle over the next four weeks by putting on a new cast every week. The goal is that at the end of the month her ankle is in a better position to have a better walk.  We hope it works! So for now, Lori gets to see what it feels like to have a walking cast for a month.  She will have to be very careful of balance and although it will prose challenges, if it works it will be worth it.

A Halloween Party!

We decided to plan our first Halloween party for the kids. The kids like to go trick-or-treating around the neighborhood for candy, but we wanted them to have time to enjoy being with their friends.  So we decided to have a party with games, a pinata, and pizza before going around the neighborhood for candy.  We ended up having 13 kids and everyone had a good time!  Juan dressed-up as Spiderman, Ingrid dressed-up like Cleopatra, and Angie dressed up as a cat.

Getting Ready for Halloween

It is hard to believe it is October already and time to get ready for Halloween again!  For the first few years, we took the kids to a pumpkin farm to pick out their own pumpkins.  Now we have resorted to Sam's or Walmart due to the busyness of other activities.  Here is a picture of carving pumpkins our first Halloween together in October 2011 and then this year.  The kids have grown up and have changed so much!

October 2011

                                              October 2015

                                                                      

Ingrid Goes To CA

All of the kids have had the opportunity to go on a class trip with their school each year.  Their school feels strongly about teaching the kids beyond what is just in the classroom.  It has been a great experience for them all! Earlier this Fall, Juan had the chance to go to Catalina Island in CA.  Ingrid has now had the opportunity to go to Astro Camp in CA.  She learned all about space and had a great time.  We are very thankful that they are having these opportunities, and they do so well away from home.

A Field Trip to CA!

One of the things we love about the kids' school is their emphasis on learning outside of the classroom.  Juan had the opportunity to go to the Grand Canyon last year and traveled to Catalina Island this Fall.  The kids spent time at the marina learning about biology.  One of many activities they had the opportunity to do was to go snorkeling.  He had a great time!

The Girls Play Volleyball

The girls played volleyball for the first time this Fall with their school's team.  They had practice every week and then had the opportunity to play in one big game called a Jamboree.  They had a great time and learned a lot.

Basketball Time for Ingrid

We have tried to give the kids different activities to try over the past four years.  It is hard to believe we have had the kids for four years now!  Ingrid has enjoyed ballet, soccer, swim team, and basketball.  Basketball is definitely her favorite so far.  We found a special league for her to play on through a local church, and we all love it!  She has practice once a week and a game on Saturday.  In the middle of each practice, they stop and do a small devotional with the kids.  Ingrid is the only girl on this team but doesn't mind it.  She is very fast and loves it. Like Juan's baseball team, the focus is on learning to work as a team and improving their skills rather than just winning or losing the game.

Ingrid Rides Her First Horse

For Ingrid's birthday, one of her special presents was to go on a trail ride with Dainis.  We were a little nervous, but she loves horses.  This was her first time on a horse, and she did great.  They went on a two hour sunset trail ride through one of the small nearby mountains.  She had a blast and would definitely do it again!

Baseball Time for Juan

Juan has participated in soccer and swim team in the past.  His older brother is very talented in soccer, but Juan is now getting excited about baseball.  He will be playing Little League for a city league for the first time this Fall and is so excited.  We love his coach!  He is very focused on helping the kids improve their skills, having everyone try every position, encouraging outside practice, and concentrating on becoming a better team throughout the season rather than how many games the kids win or lose.  We are excited to see Juan play, and it is great to have him find something he likes!

Dainis took Juan to a Diamondbacks game as part of his birthday gift from us last month.  They had great seats, and Juan got the autograph from one of the catchers.  On top of it all, he made the highlights on the sports portions of one of the local news stations!

Trumpet Time

Juan's school had a Patriot's Day where a small band played, poems that the scholars had written were read, those in our Armed Forces were recognized, and there was a moment of silence for all of those who died on 9/11.  Juan was one of the trumpet players chosen to be a part of the band.  He is doing great learning his instrument and practicing every night!

Back To School!

The kids are all attending Odyssey Preparatory Academy charter school again this year and love it!  It is hard to believe it is their third year there.

Juan is at the elementary school again this year and in the 5th grade.  This is his last year there, and he will move up to junior high next year.  So, this is a big year for him.  He really likes all of his teachers and got his favorite teacher as his home room teacher.  In 5th grade, the kids change classes for every subject this year. They stay together with their home room class except for Language arts and Math.  They break out to different teachers for Language Arts and Math based on their skill level.  Juan loves school!

Ingrid moved up to the junior high school this year.  Her campus is about 10 minutes from Juan's.  I take the kids to Juan's school every morning and the girls ride a shuttle bus from Juan's school to their school and then back to Juan's in the afternoon.  I then pick everyone at Juan's school in the afternoon.  Juan's school is only about 10 minutes away from our new house, which I love.  Although Ingrid was a little nervous at first, she really likes the school and her teachers.  She changes class just like she did last year in 5th grade.

Angie is in 8th grade this year and is now on the same junior high campus this year with Ingrid.  This is a big year for Angie as it is the last year before high school.  Angie doesn't love having her little sister at her same campus but they don't see each other much.  Angie changes classes but it is with a different group of kids each class based on her skills in each class.  She really likes all of her teachers.  Up until 8th grade, the kids have PE.  In 8th grade, the kids can chose between PE or Fitness Training.  Angie chose Fitness Training, and it is a lot more strength training.  Surprisingly, she loves it, which we are very happy about.

The one thing we are trying to do this year is really take a step back and leave the school work and communication with teachers up to the kids.  Their school is very big on having their students, called scholars, be responsible for their own work and accountable to their teachers.  We are excited for a good year for all three kids!

Special Times This Summer!

Our kids have an older brother and sister that were adopted by a family at the same time as we adopted our kids.  They live in WI.  It breaks our heart that they have been separated, but we try and do all we can to keep them in touch with each other.  We strongly encourage regular phone calls and try and arrange for the kids to be together in person every six months.  We planned a family vacation to WI in July.  The kids were surprised by the special gift of being allowed to stay for the whole month of July.  It was a chance of a lifetime experience, and we are so glad they had that time together.  There month together concluded in a road trip from WI to AZ.  The highlight of the trip was Yellowstone!  We know they made lasting memories together.