Passports and Reggie

A few days ago we headed to the post office to apply for our passports.  It was a long wait so the family does not look all that happy I took this picture but it is done and now we are free to travel to Korean when we get that happy call.

After our passports we headed off to pick up our new friend Reggie.

Last week when we went to visit Santa we stopped in at a little candy store and there in the corner was this huge stuffed monkey with a sign that read:

Guess my name and you can win me - $1 to guess

Of course Banana jumped right on that using the excuses he wanted to win him for his sister for her birthday.  So he made his guess and we were on our way to see Santa.  While we were waiting Daddy and Bannan thought they figured out the clues so went back to the store to guess again.

Bananan was very excited he said, "I think I guessed it, the lady behind the counter smiled at me really big."

A few days later we got a call and the woman said no one guessed the name so she wanted to give the monkey to Banana.   So Reggie is ours.  He really big but he is a nice addition to the playroom in the basement.

What will happen to all the orphans

I have been celebrating Christmas.  Enjoying my children, visiting family, and eating way to much food.  This week in the background we heard the news that Russia might ban US adoptions.  Then we heard yesterday that this law was official.  I feel so blessed to live in this country and for all that we havet.  It is easy to go about our daily lives and forget this news most of the time.  I am having a hard time forgetting this as I should.  It is devastating.

 Russia has and estimate of over 700,000 children without families.  Russia only deems about 100,000 of them adoptable.  These are staggering numbers.  To be generous there are about 20,000 Russian families registered to adopt children.  So what happens to the rest of these children.

My heart breaks for the 50 some families and children who are in the final stages of their adoption and may not be able to bring their children home. These families have seen these children's pictures and in most cases visited these little ones several times.

There are almost 1,500 families who have started the process to adopt from Russia.  It seems like a small number compared to the number orphaned but imagine the change for that ONE child.

 It is hard to explain, but when you are adopting your heart begins to love the child intended for you before you even know who they are.  My heart would be broken if our adoption was stopped at this point but I could not imagine the heartache after I had seen and held my little one.

What will become of these little ones that have been told they will have a family who have been promised a home and a future.  Some waiting are sick, and coming to America would have gotten them the medical treatment they needed.  Some already have biological siblings adopted here and were waiting to join them.

Russian orphanages are known to have some of the worst conditions.  At around 16 these children's will be forced out of the "system" and so many will end up homeless.  Many end up living a life of crime and prostitution.

Please pray that these families in the final stages will be allowed to finalize their adoptions and that this law will be overturned.

“Defend the cause of the weak and the fatherless; Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.  Deliver the weak and needy from the hand of the wicked.”  Ps 82:3-4

Christmas fun

Every Christmas Eve the kids get to open a present.  They are on to me by now and know it is new Pjs that have been pre washed and ready to wear to bed.  They still had a good time.

We had Christmas Eve snow this year

I normally like to mix my dough for my cinnamon buns before our Christmas Eve service then they have had time to raise while we are gone and ready to roll out and make why we get home.  Of course I decided to double the recipe last minute and there were not enough eggs.  I sent J to the little store and they had no eggs.   A call to sis for advice on what to do and all was well.  We got the eggs on the way home and the mix left in the fridge worked out just fine.

The kids big present this year was a puppy.  We got the puppy about a month ago and the kids understood if we got the puppy he was their main present and they still choose the puppy.  We have been telling them all this time they would get maybe a very small inexpensive present under the tree so there were so surprised when they opened a new Wii U.   Of course Christmas was short and sweet because that is all they had the game unit and one game.  It was a good thing they got to go see MomMom later that day.  Who needs Santa when you have MomMom. 

JonJon's mom sent the kids some awesome hats all the way from Korea

Both J and I received really nice notes from Ooney.  It really meant a lot to hear him say he was appreciative for all we do.

Finally Christmas night after we made our rounds the kids got to settle down and play with some of the toys they got from MomMom

Daddy's favorite was the furby (weird little creature)

This if furby dancing to some music that Carrot put ont he ipod

Our Christmas card photo's

Now that our Christmas cards have been delivered it is time to post the pictures we used.  A hugh thanks to my friend Kyla for taking all these awesome photo's of my family.  It was not an easy task they gave her a hard time :)

We used this first photo for the adoption presentations at our church in the month of December

A different Christmas

I mentioned before that the kids did not believe in Santa Claus this year so that made for a very different Christmas for us this year.   There was no putting out the cookies and mike, not wrapping presents in different paper and gift tags, no having to make sure I wrote from SANTA in capital letters because Banana though Santas handwriting was so much like mine a few years ago, and no wait up for them to fall asleep to get all the presents out.  In some ways all of this was a nice change but there is this part of me inside that is sad it all ended.  They are growing up so fast and this small change makes you recognize it so much.  I am feeling very thankful that we will be able to experience this once more when our new one comes.

One thing that was so special this year and I want to remember forever is that Carrot most definitely was in the spirit of giving this year.   I am sure there were at least an additional 20 or more presents under the tree all wrapped from Carrot.  It started early before Thanksgiving.  I even had to end up getting her wrapping paper of her own because she used to much of it.  I bought gift wrap tape this year and made sure I bought the four pack knowing she was going to go through so much and I still ran out.   I had to dig into her stocking and unwrap the package of tape I put in there that was just for her to use to finish off my presents.  There were times when I had just finished vacuuming the dinning room and I went in and there were small pieces of wrapping all over the floor.  At first I would look at the mess and sign and then I counted my blessings.  I have my kids here with me they are healthy and I am so blessed.

This is a picture of just some of the drawings we got from Carrot

Even sweeter than the drawings were the "gifts" we got.  Many were prizes she was abel to choose at school for bing good all week and she would choose things she thought we would like and bring them home and wrap them up.  I got some bubbles in a ring which she thought I could use for my daycare and daddy got mostly pencils because he has to write a lot (notice one was event used LOL)

This next gift that I got she must have started back in October because there is a clear halloween theme running throughout the book.

I love how she still spells phonetically

There were tons of more that I didn't even post from more coloring pictures down to little torn pieces of paper with sweet little messages on them.   This sweet memory you want to hold onto as much as Santa Clause.

To believe or not to believe

Last year Carrot had a lot of question about Santa and Jesus together.  Did Jesus make Santa?  Did Jesus give Santa his magic?  So J told her the truth.  She seemed ok with it, in fact she promptly came down stairs and said to Banana "you know Santa is not real....Dad told me"  Banana who of course was in 5th grade looked at her and was of course I know that...but the look in his eye told me he was disappointed and maybe still not quite sure.

Well it has been a few months now and we were headed into a small local town to buy our traditional Jim Shore Santa Claus and she wanted to go to the Santa House.  The Santa House is this adorable little building and you wait outside and get to go into this homey little room just your family and Santa - no noisy crowds or crying babyies.  There is a bench for Mom and Dad and the kiddos go over and sit on Santa's lap and you can take a picture and tell him you wish list....adorable.  I'm glad she wanted to do it even if she doesn't believe...or does she?

Seven years

My little girl is 7 already.  I have no idea when she got so big.  

Carrot is so creative and enjoys life so much.  Right now I am looking at about 20 "presents" that she made so far and put under the tree that range from drawings to gifts she made at school and each and every one is individually wrapped with name tags.  She even has a list of who how many more she wants to make and add to the collection.   

I am a very organized person and her creativity can create such a mess but  I am learning to overlook it much better than I used to.  I know one day when my house is empty I will wish I had scraps of paper and beads and tape to clean up.

Along with the organized, clean/neat fetish I have a little streak of perfectionism in me but I am working on that too.  This year I let her icing her own cake.  She  kept asking for a double layer cake and making a big deal about how her cake was going to be double layer.  I didn't want to burst her bubble by telling her all round cakes make a double layer instead I decided to go the extra step and make her a triple layer cake so it was more special and then she was telling everyone that she was having a triple layer cake.  I love that about her.  

Carrot and her friend putting on the icing.  Years past I would have not been able to stand watching all the crumbs mix with the icing but she was loving it and I really didn't care so much.

All finished and ready to put on the decorations

All done.  I think she did a great job 

After her special dinner of eggs, sausage, and pancakes we all piled into the car and went to see the Christmas light display at a local factory

I even let Carrot and Banana take the pictures 

Carrot and her puppy

 Happy birthday Carrot I love you so much!

Tree of memories

I love to see Christmas trees that are all decorated in a theme with matching ribbons and Christmas balls.  Sometimes I think of how my tree would look if I were to trim it that way but there is something so much for special about having ornaments with a story.  This post is a glimpse into the story of my tree.  

This ornament is intended to look like a gingerbread cookie.  It is of a waxy nature and has a gingerbread sent.....or at least did when it was new.   I think I have hung this on our Christmas tree for as long as I can remember and it is so special because when I was a little girl I would always scratch a little wax off the back of it to bring back the gingerbread smell.  So now I have this old ornament with no smell at all and lots of scratches on the back.  I love to pull it out every year and tell the kids why it has so many scratches on the back of it.  I tell they know I tell them every year but I will continue to tell them and I know it will be just as special for one of them to grab it out of the box one day and tell their kids.

These pictures are clearly in no order.  This is a an ornament of a stork we bought the year we were expecting Banana.  Our first family ornament.

Our first Christmas ornament

This ornament was made for me by one of the sweetest people I know who was a co-worker of mine at the time J and I go engaged and she made this for our first Christmas together which also was the day J ask me to marry him

This is old and faded but this ornament is of my Mom and Dad when they were young.  I don't know how I snagged it but am so glad I did.  I love how my kids always say how HiHi almost looks the same and is MomMom wearing a wig? (which I think she probably was)

This is really dating me but my special first Christmas ornament that I will always cherish

Banana's first ornament

Carrot's first ornament

The next two ornaments are two of my childhood favorites.  I have no idea we had various mice ornaments but we they were always fun.  We had others but these are the only two I have.

The tree is full of them and they are all special.  The kids have each gotten their own ornaments almost every year since and it makes our tree so special.