Gymnastics

Lily is taking her first gymnastics class. We want her to get used to being in a class setting with other chidren her age. For now, I stay in the room with her. At the first class, she wanted me close at the beginning, but I was slowly able to back away. She did very well listening to the teacher and following the other children. By the end, she would look back to check in with me, but she was letting the teacher be the one to help her.

After the class, she kept talking about "Lily's school". She was very excited to tell her brother's about her school.

Lily with her friend from the neighborhood, Maddie.
On the balance beam. She was very brave as she is scared of heights.

The First Time We Saw Her Face

A year ago today, on a Sunday evening at about 9pm the phone rang. The caller ID said "private number", which could only mean our agency coordinator in California. X is wonderful and always working for her families.....even on the weekends. Of course the nerves immediately kicked in as I answered the phone. She told us she had a file she wanted us to review. This little girl's special need was not on our list, but she thought we might be interested. Although this little girl was over 2-1/2, the information in her file was more than 2 years old. Reviewing files is very difficult. We would see these beautiful, special children, but often their needs were more than we felt we could handle. It is VERY difficult to say no. We had already said no to a couple of files, and I dreaded the thought of having to do it again, but we knew our child was out there. Just 2 weeks prior we had seen a file of a little girl with old information in her file, and she ended up having an undisclosed special need we were not comfortable with. I was just praying that this was not going to be the same type of situation. Ruben didn't even look at the file right away. He was to afraid of making a connection with a child, and then having to say no. Fortunately, our agency coordinator had dealt with this orphanage before and she was able to call that night and get us an update. It appears that this little girl's file had been written when she was 5 months old, and then because of some computer changes, was set aside and forgotten. It was discovered in December of '09, and entered into the system where our coordinator, who is always reviewing the list, found her! After hearing that there were no surprises in her file, we just knew she was going to be ours. We still were going to have her file reviewed by a doctor the next day, and the orphanage promised to send updated photos, but..........we knew!
As sad as it makes me feel to know that she had to wait longer to find a family, if there wasn't a computer issue, she would not be our daughter. We know God's hand was in the discovery of her lost file and the timing of her file being published. We're so humbled to see him working in our lives.

The first picture we saw of Yu Feng taken when she was 5 months old

As promised, the next day we received updated pictures of our little girl. She looked scared and oh so adorable.

On Tuesday, 12/15 we sent our LOI (Letter of Intent) to adopt our daughter Lily Sara YuFeng.

The Santa Call

Santa Claus called tonight to talk to the kids!
Alex talked first and was very excited and animated. He told Santa that he wanted a DSi and a dog. He also asked Santa to bring his brother Tyler an extra present since he had been sick. (I love sweet brother moments!)

Tyler was quieter and didn't say much. A lot of smiles, nods, and yea's.

Michael told Santa that he wants a real football helmet and a StarWars helmet. His 2 favorite things.........sports with balls, and Star Wars!

Lily just stared and looked a little nervous. She listened and didn't say a word, but she was happy to tell us later that she talked to Santa!

Ahhhhhh!

There's nothing cuter than little kids in sleeper pajamas!

Santa

The kids kept asking about seeing Santa, so we surprised them one afternoon, and had Daddy leave work early and meet us at the mall. We decided to make an evening out of it and see Santa, play in the play area, and have dinner at the mall. I love that the kids are still young enough that dinner at the mall food court is a huge treat!

Lily had seen Santa from a distance and knows that he brings presents, but she was a little leery about being up close. She did sit on his lap, and didn't cry, but she was quick to jump in my arms when it was all over. This was also the first year that Michael didn't cry!!! He actually ran right up and even smiled!

Anticipation
The gang

Alex always has a lot to say to Santa :)

At the play area

Tyler standing on TOP of the tunnel! This is the first time I've seen him climb up and balance on the top!

O Christmas Tree

I usually try to have the tree up and lights on before leaving for Thanksgiving so we can decorate when we get home, but this year, the time just got away from me. So, I spent the first 2 days back getting the tree up. We have one of those old trees with millions (only a slight exaggeration!) of branches that need to be shaped and put in. Ruben helps with the tree, but I'm I'm a little possessive about the lights, and he lets me do those myself. 2,250 lights this year! We love a pretty, colorful tree.

Lily had seen some trees at stores, but had no idea that one would be appearing in our house. She came in the room when it was about a third up and just stopped and stared and said, "ohhhhh". When it came time to hang the ornaments she jumped right in there with her brothers. Each year I buy the kids an ornament that represents something they liked during the year. Lily had helped me pick out a Hello Kitty ornament weeks before, and she was quick to follow her brothers and hang it on the tree. They all had a lot of fun decorating.

Of course the big question is, do I rearrange the bunched up ornaments at the bottom of the tree, or just leave them be? :)

Checking out their ornaments, and getting ready to hang.
Siblings!

Look at that tongue........he's really concentrating!

Taking a break from the decorating to play with the ornaments!

Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving we headed down to my parent's house in Florida. My 3 sisters and their families were also there. I absolutely LOVE being with my family. Seeing my parents, my sisters, and all of my nieces and nephews was the highlight of the holiday. It's so hard to live far from family. I'm only able to see my nieces and nephews once, or maybe twice a year. They grow and change so much. I do wish we all lived closer. Our kids have so much fun with their cousins. The weather was beautiful and we swam, went to the beach, went to a park, and just enjoyed being outside.

Lily was a little overwhelmed at first and stuck close to me. She did open up though, and it wasn't long before she was running around with her cousins. She checked back in with Ruben and I often, but she really did well handling all of the new people and staying at a new place. Nights were not great, as she woke often and cried, but that was not unexpected. She also reached a turning point with her daddy........she started initiating contact with him! By the end of the week, she was running to him to bury her head in his lap, or play with him. It was so wonderful to see!

We have so much to be thankful for this year. Our beautiful children. Our new daughter. All the new friends we have made through the adoption community.....they have been so supportive. Ruben's job. Our kid's teachers. Our health. Our home............and the list goes on and on. We're grateful for God's hand guiding us through this past year, and pray that we'll be sensitive to God's leading through the next year.

Two of my little Indians
The kids always look forward to a golf cart ride with Grandpa. Lily's cousins Allison and Amy take her on her first ride.

The 'guys' hanging out. Tyler, Andrew, and Alex

Couldn't get the boys to take a picture with the race car, but Lily was ready to strike a pose!

Fun in the firetruck

Jessica and Amy with their new friends

Michael would have stayed in the water the whole trip if we would have let him!

First time at the beach! She loved the sand and joined right in with the castle building.

Another sand lover

First walk into the ocean with Daddy

Our water lovin' boy!

My teenage nephew, Brian, does not like to have his picture taken, but I managed to sneak a few in.....isn't he handsome?!

A walk on the pier with Grandma.

6-yr old cousins at the park

Lily taking a walk with cousin Andrew. When Lily saw this picture she said, "Andrew my friend"

I told Ruben that if he was going to perform childish acts, his picture was going to be on the blog! :)

Alex, our climber

The park we went to had all sorts of fun bikes to rent. Big cousins Max and Matthew take little cousins Tyler and Andrew for a ride in the surrey.

Ahhhh!

The sisters.......Debbie, Lori, Kathy, and Kelly

The trip home. Only a few minutes in, and the kids are already zoned out!