Chinese New Year Dinner 2012

This is the second year we've met up with friends at a local Chinese restaurant that has a Lion Dance in celebration of Chinese New Year. Good friends, good food and good times. Happy year of the dragon!

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In Honor of Martin Luther King

On a gray and rainy day last October I had the privilege to see the newly unveiled Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington, DC.  May we keep the dream alive.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. -Martin Luther King, Jr

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012!

I've been delinquent in blogging lately. We've done a lot of living since Thanksgiving - Sammy turned 6, Carley turned 3, we celebrated the sixth anniversary of Lindsey becoming our daughter and then Christmas and New Year's.

We spend New Year's Eve in Las Vegas.  We took our trailer down and stayed at the KOA at Circus Circus.  It was the most affordable place to stay on the Strip and it turned out to be a whole lot of fun to "camp" in Vegas. 

The Strip closes down to all but pedestrians on New Year's Eve night and we pushed the kids around in strollers down the middle of the Strip and had a blast!  We then went back to our trailer and had our own private party. 

At midnight they shot off fireworks from the top of several casinos including the Stratosphere which we had a great view of from our trailer.  Unfortunately Lindsey was the only child we could get to wake up at midnight but Blain, Lindsey and I thought it was great!  It was a wonderful way to ring in the new year.

Thanksgiving 2011

We spend Thanksgiving Weekend in Reno.  Cindy, Brian and their son Rhys joined us.  We went to Lake Tahoe on Thanksgiving Day and had a great dinner at Harrah's in South Lake Tahoe.  We also toured the capitol building of Nevada in Carson City, spent a day in Virginia City and met up with my uncle and other relatives who live in Reno.  Another year to be so thankful for wonderful family and friends.

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Trick or Treating 2011

We had a great Halloween.  The weather was warm and the candy plentiful.  And this is the first Halloween where Carley really understands.  You say, "trick or treat" and strangers give you candy and it's okay. 

All the kids really enjoyed getting dressed up this year.  Lindsey as Scooby Doo (of course), Sammy as Spiderman (of course) and Carley started out as Tinkerbell with a Princess Tiana crown.  I had to come up with a quick impromptu costume change for Carley, though, when we made the cardinal parental sin of taking a two year old trick or treating without making sure she had used the bathroom first.  To Carley's credit, we were several houses down the street when she called the potty alarm and she made it just inside the bathroom door but not unfortunately to the potty.  

As I was changing her, she saw the dog's Dracula costume and wanted to wear that and I threw the rest together in about 2 minutes.  Tada - a toddler girl Dracula with a Jedi lighted wand she had gotten from one of the neighbors who always gives away light toys instead of candy (great idea but must be expensive).

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Skating "Spooktacular"

This fall Lindsey has taken another 6 week class of "learn to skate".  She's really enjoying herself.  She passed Basic 1 last week and is ready to start Basic 2 in a couple of weeks. 

Their class skated together in an Halloween ice skating exhibition last night called "Skating Spooktacular".  She got to dress up in her favorite Halloween costume which is Scooby Doo.  That was an expensive costume when I bought it but I've definitely gotten my money's worth.  She was super excited and did great!

Final Bow with special effect spooky fog

Four Years of Blessings

Four years ago on September 17 during the Moon Festival in China, Sam became part of our family.  I can't imagine my life without Sammy as our son.  He is truly a blessing to us.  To honor the day, we went to an "artful" Moon Festival at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts and dinner at P F Changs. 

At the Art Museum, we saw a Lion Dance and to our surprise a picture of Sam and Lindsey feeding money to the lion for good luck showed up the next day in the Sunday newspaper entertainment section.  We also did chalk art, decorated paper lanterns, made paper Peking opera masks - at least that was the idea, the end result looked quite different but the kids had fun.

Picture in the newspaper, Sam with Lindsey behind him are feeding the lion

Labor Day Weekend Festivities

We celebrated Labor Day weekend by going to a local festival "Stampede Days" on Antelope Island.  This island has been described as one of the wildest places in America that's so close to a developed urban area.  The day was beautiful and our friend Dave joined us for the outing. The perfect ending to our summer.

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Summer Solstice Fishing

Tuesday evening we took advantage of the beautiful weather and the longest day of the year by going fishing at a local trout farm with our friend Dave.  You just fed the fish and they swarmed up for the food and you could easily hook one.  Easy enough for young kids and inexperienced fishers to be guaranteed a catch.  Then they filleted the fish for you and we got to take home fresh trout for dinner.

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Father's Day 2011

We had a full and fun Father's day starting out by letting Daddy know just how much we appreciate him by getting him an ice cream cake and cards to celebrate the day.  We even had a surprise visit from our friends, Rick and Chris, who stopped by on their way home from camping over the weekend.  We hadn't seen them in a while so it was great to visit with them.

Then Lindsey and I met Cindy and Brian at the movie theater to see Kung Fu Panda 2.  I had heard there was an adoption theme to the movie (Po, the Panda, goes in search of his early beginnings before he was adopted by his father who is a goose.)  I didn't realize how heavy the adoption theme was, though, and found myself getting very emotional at the end when Po finds out about his birth parents, and how he came to be found by his adoptive father, the goose, but tells him "you'll always be my dad!" 

I asked Lindsey on the way home if she understood Po's beginnings and where he was from and she said, "yes, Pandas don't come from fruit baskets" (his adopted dad found him in a radish basket).  I think she really believes that most people are adopted because that's the reality of our family.  She asked me not that long ago, "Who adopted you, mom?"

http://youtu.be/YIW5oo-8NYw

Finally in the evening we had a sitter come over and Blain and I went to a heavy metal concert and saw the New York Dolls, Poison (I'm a Bret Michael's fan) and Motely Crue.  Nothing like some head banging music to end the weekend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTy9cG8Njok

Memorial Weekend Trip 2011

We went down to central Utah to escape the wet weather we've been having and were rewarded with beautiful, sunny skies and warm temperatures.  Felt great!

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Easter Festivities 2011

We had a fun, fun Easter today!  We started out with a really exciting Easter egg hunt.  There was a little confusion on how many eggs the Easter Bunny had hid in our backyard but I think the kids managed to track them all down.  And after watching the Easter Egg hunt video again, I have to say I am so very proud of how Lindsey and Sammy helped their little sister out. 

Then we had Oma, Cindy and Brian over for a delicious Easter dinner.  Afterwards we visited, played and drew chalk art on the driveway.  What a great day with family and friends.

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Lindsey's Sixth Birthday Party

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Weekend Alphabet Soup - NYC & SLC FCC CNY

I had a great weekend getaway meeting up with my good friend Lily in New York City (NYC).  Meanwhile on Saturday, Blain and the kids went to the Salt Lake City (SLC) chapter of Families with Children from China (FCC) celebration of Chinese New Year (CNY).

On top of Rockefeller Center



Dressed up for the Party



Happy St Valentines Day

Hope everyone had a great Valentines Day and ate too much chocolate.

I came across this youtube video about Valentine's flowers coming from Kunming, China.  That's where our Sammy was born so this has special meaning for us.

And being a Green Day fan, I couldn't resist posting the second youtube video below but watch at your own risk! 

Warning: If you are a Green Day fan or heavy or punk rock fan you should enjoy this video. If you aren't, then you won't so just skip it. 

St Valentine's Day Party

We have a new record!  Blain and I had two nights out in a row without kids!  I think that's the first time we've done that since becoming parents.  We met up with friends last night for dinner and then met more friends at a local bar to see a band called "66 & Main".  Here's a shout out to the band who did a great job, especially to Cindy, one of the singers in the band, who was one of the friends we met up with last night.

The Tooth Fairy Again?

Lindsey lost her last front baby tooth last night.  By now the tooth fairy has worn a flight path to our house.  Another nice surprise last night was having a romantic evening with my husband by celebrating St Valentine's Day early.  He surprised me with some roses, then we packed the kids up for fun kids activities at a "parents night out" at MyGym .  Then Blain and I enjoyed a much overdue date night.  Everyone, including the kids, had a great night.

Happy New Year - Year of the Rabbit

Chinese New Year or the Spring Festival is February 3 - 17th this year.  We met with several friends last night to celebrate at a local Chinese restaurant where the Lion Dance was being performed.  What fun!  Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas 2010

 

Lindsey's Family Day and the Christmas Village

Today is Lindsey's family day.  Five years ago in Nanning, China on December 19th we became new parents to a beautiful little girl we named Lindsey.  She is such a beautiful spirit, wonderful daughter and amazing big sister to Sammy and Carley.   She wanted Rudolph the red nosed reindeer more than anything else as a present for her family day, but she made sure that Sam and Carley got presents as well (the Abominable Snowman and Clarice respectively).

We celebrated last night with Oma and friends.  We went out to eat then walked down the block to see the Christmas Village in the town square.  It was magical with all the Christmas lights reflecting on new fallen snow and the cute little gingerbread houses. 

There was a Christmas "train" that drove around the block and thanks to Oma's over assertive ways, we got to ride in the car with Santa and Mrs. Claus.  Since we were pretty packed in, Lindsey even got to ride on Santa's lap.  Carley spent the entire ride repeating everything Santa said including lots of ho ho hos and Merry Christmases and waving to the crowds like a true ambassador of Christmas.

After the train ride, we walked to our friends condo a block away for home made hot chocolate and hot cider and gift exchange.  It was such a fun night full of Christmas cheer!