Naughty or nice???

Last night Josh called us down to take a look at the girls. Seems they thought it was a slumber party.

O Christmas Tree...

So the Crebbin Family trims the tree early. Mike doesn't have another Saturday off from wrestling until near Christmas, so if we don't do it now, who knows when it would get done. We had Kellen's friend Mikael with us, as he is like family to us too.

Jaelyn was once again scared of Santa, but Kaia loved him. Jaelyn didn't even want to get out of the car, because she knew he was there. We've been going to the same tree farm since Kellen was little, so it is the same Santa in the picture every year. If you look closely at the group Santa picture you can see Jaelyn in the background. We had Mikael walk way behind Santa so that Jaelyn could be in the picture too! It worked:)

We spent the evening decorating the tree. You can't imagine how difficult it is to get everyone in the photo smiling and not being silly at the same time. As you can see, we weren't successful!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had a restful time, and are so Thankful for all the blessings we have.

Mom Humor

Okay all you moms, see if you see yourself in this video. I know I hear myself in a few words...

Chinese ornaments

One of the families who adopted on the same trip when we adopted Jaelyn is adopting again. They are wonderful people, so I want to do what I can to help them out with their finances. They are selling beautiful chinese ornaments as a fundraiser. They are leaving in just 3 weeks to bring home Sadie, so time is short. Check them out at http://holidayadoptionfundraiser.blogspot.com/

Each of these lovely glass ornaments is painted on the inside by talented Chinese artisans using tiny paint brushes. Each ornament comes in a beautiful silk box and includes a story card about how they were created. Peace, Love, Good Fortune and Double Happiness characters are available at $15 each. Or you can purchase a set of
all 4 for $50. $8 of every ornament sold will go towards Sadie's adoption fund to help us bring our sweet little girl home for Christmas! Orders will be placed at Thanksgiving time and if you order before then the ornament/s will be delivered to you the first week of December, just in time for Christmas!

***When placing your order, please state that your purchase is going
to benefit Sadie Reed's adoption.

Darn Him

Darn that Steven Curtis Chapman, he's done made me cry again! For those of you who aren't familiar with him, he and his family have had a huge impact on adoption across the Christian community. Seeing him in concert started the conversation at our house 4 years ago this month, and you know the rest of the story! Anyhow, he is a fantastic song writer and he always seems to know just how to bring tears to my eyes (& Mike's too). His latest song is called Cinderella, and below are the lyrics. This is an "unplugged" version from his blog.

She spins and she sways to whatever song plays
Without a care in the world
And I'm sitting wearing the weight of the world on my shoulders
It's been a long day and there's still work to do
She's pulling at me saying "Dad I need you!
There's a ball the castle and I've been invited and I need to practice my dancin'
Oh please, Daddy, please!"

Chorus:
So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh I will dance with Cinderella
I don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone

Verse 2:
She says he's a nice guy and I'd be impressed
She wants to know if I approve of the dress
She says, "Dad the prom is just one week away
And I need to practice my dancin'
Oh please, Daddy, please!"

Chorus:
So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh I will dance with Cinderella
I don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone

She will be gone

Verse 3:
But she came home today with a ring on her hand
Just glowin' and tellin' us all they had planned
She says, "Dad the wedding's still six months away but I need to practice my dancin'
Oh please, Daddy, please!"

Chorus:
So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh I will dance with Cinderella
I don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone

Happy Halloween!

Wonderful Birthday, Wonderful Family

I have to say the older I get, the less I care about birthday presents, the more I enjoy some rare special moments when we're all together. And with Kellen being a junior now, who knows how many more birthdays I can enjoy being all together.

We started off the day watching Kellen run at his league championships. He really enjoyed his first season of cross country, and is looking forward to it again next year. Afterwards we took the kids to a pumpkin patch where we rode a train and dodged the puddles for the perfect pumpkins. Kaia and Jaelyn insisted on carrying their own. Boy, those pumpkins are pretty tough, as they never cracked after being dropped several times. As you can see from the pictures, everyone had a good time. I also posted a picture of Joshua in uniform. This is from last week's game. His season ends on Wednesday. He really learned a lot his first season of football.

As for my birthday, it's not like I don't enjoy presents at all anymore...I got some great gifts, but I especially like the gift the kids gave me. It's a great CD of a group called 12 Girls Band. They are from China, but not your typical Chinese musicians. They play authentic Chinese instruments, but in a modern way. Check them out and let me know what you think.