Our 5th Gotcha Day Celebration!!

It is hard to believe we have already been a family for almost five years! Our official Gotcha Day is this Tuesday, April 12th! Some days are good and some days are hard but we are all smiles today! Like I have said several times, I am big into tradition and routine and the kids like that. We started the tradition of going to get yogurt and going to the movies and the kids really liked it so that is what we decided to do. Today we are going to see the new Star Wars movie. We will have a special celebration with Grandma and Grandpa and some friends later tonight.

Happy Easter

It is time to dye Easter eggs and wait for the Easter bunny! Again, the kids put up with Mom and her silly traditions, but I know they never had these opportunities prior to joining our family so I like to add as much as I can now for as long as I can! 

In all seriousness though, we are thankful through all the mess of emotions and challenges we have faced with adoption parenting that all three kids are Christians and enjoy church. You never know what each day will hold so we will just keep going! Happy Easter!

Spring Break in Carlsbad

 It is time for our annual spring break trip to Carlsbad Beach in California. We have a timeshare at the Tamarack Beach Resort and look forward to going every year. The kids thrive on routine and tradition. They know once we get settled in we always take a walk on the beach and half to pose for some pictures the first night before we go to dinner! Dinner the first night is always pizza and then off to the grocery store for any essential items we did not bring with us.

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.