Catching Snowflakes!

Snow:
It just keeps snowing! Yesterday, I snapped this picture when I came to pick up Olivia after school. The snowflakes were huge and all the children were happily running to catch them. Winter is such a beautiful time of year here. The snow has been steadily covering the ground since some time in November. Sometimes it starts to melt but pretty soon a new storm will come and dump some more.

Grace and school:

Grace loves going to school! She had a wonderful time on Valentine's Day. I don't think she quite understood the holiday but she found out it involves lots of treats and cards from her class which she really enjoyed. The other children in her class are so nice...almost too nice! One day, Eliza and I came to have lunch with the girls and sat by Grace and her friend. When it was time to leave, her friend picks up both of their trays! (I kindly asked her to let Grace carry her own and she could watch her to learn how). Grace is kind of klutzy, so I can see why her friend would want to help her, but she needs to learn to do things on her own. Also, she has friends in class who will hand her her coat, pick up things she forgot, etc. They are so sweet! Their has been so much love and acceptance that I try not to worry that she is a little bit coddled by the other kids. I just try to make sure she learns to do things and let people know that she can! She can even get her seatbelt on in under 2 minutes now! I feel blessed that Grace is where she can learn and be happy and I'm trying to be patient with the things that take more time to learn.

Learning the language:

We have been amazed at how fast Grace is learning English. In fact, the other night we were visiting cousins and my brother-in-law Doug heard her from the other room talking to one of the boys. He was so surprised that it was Grace! She speaks clearly and does not have an accent. She has many phrases that she uses, such as: "Let's go, Be careful, Don't worry, It's OK, school tomorrow, I'm hungry, let's say prayer, go to sleep, I'm sorry, Thank you, let's go home, Oh my goodness, Oh my gosh, (we taught her that one when we were still in China after she said it with "God" instead, which we don't allow). She can say her prayers by herself and she knows many basic words we use everyday. We are so pleased with her progress and can see that she is understanding more each day.

Two years and two months!

March 2007

Eliza, January 2007 (day we arrived home from China)

This weekend will mark two months with Grace! We met her on the 14th of December and it was made official on the 15th. As I was considering that, I also realized Eliza has been with us for about 2 years now! Our adoption for her was January 2007. It seems like so long ago but at this point that is just half of her life. She has changed so much in that time. Yesterday I looked at her and thought, "Wow, she looks so big!" She's not a toddler anymore. She is very proud of her "long" hair and is very much the princess. I'm so glad we took a leap of faith and brought her home to be in our family!

Comments are welcome!

OK, several family members and friends have told me they can't leave comments. Hopefully, I've changed that now, so give it a try!

Olivia and friends at dance yesterday. She was really working hard and kept sticking out her tongue! I had to keep motioning to her to close her mouth-yikes!

These are two photos we have on our wall in our front hallway. We've had so many people come to our home and see them and love them. I'm wondering if we could sell prints of them...E-Bay possibly? I would love to help pay for our recent trip to China (it was expensive to take everyone, but worth it). I've been also wanting to go through our house and get rid of things we aren't using just to make more space. This is usually when Mike starts getting worried about his stuff. Don't worry dear, I'll make sure and ask you before I sell anything of yours!
We happened to see the bull and cow moose as we were driving through the Alpine Loop in American Fork Canyon a few years ago. The bull was on one side of the road and the cow was on the other. Mike was lucky and got the bull. I quickly got the picture of the cow on my side. What are the chances of that?! (Notice the bull is in the showy background while the cow is almost hidden in the trees.) This is the only time we've seen a pair of moose on our many trips up the canyon.

Have a great day!

"What comes from the Heart"

Olivia chose Martha Washington as her hero for the school's "wax museum". I ended up reading a lengthy book about her that Zach brought home from the library. Most people would wonder what her contribution to our history was, but after doing some research, Olivia and I found out how much she really did for others. If you want some interesting reading look for Martha Washington First Lady, McPherson.

The quote “I am fond of only what comes from the heart”, refers to her style of conversation. She was a warm, engaging person and didn't put on airs but really cared about people. She also said “I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be.” I agree with that statement and try to teach that to my children whenever they are feeling sorry for themselves. It is remarkable that she could be happy after losing her first husband, all her children and various other family members. She and George Washington had no children together but basically raised her sons two young children after his death.

Olivia is sitting with some sewing things since Martha did a lot of sewing and darning for the soldiers under her husbands command. She was very concerned about the soldiers and especially her husband during his years of service to his country. It took a lot of bravery on her part to do the things she did. I don't think George Washington would have been the man he was without her support and encouragement. Isn't that the role that many of us as parents and mothers have? Helping and serving others is a noble "profession" and is something she did very well. By the way, she was a religious person and spent an hour each morning in solitude, studying and praying. That couldn't have hurt her attitude much either!

It is nice to learn about the history of our country and the people who shaped our nation. I definitely learned some new things and found a new perspective on the "Father of our Country".

Cross-country Skiing at Soldier Hollow

I have to admit, I've never considered cross-country skiing but it was really a lot of fun! I used to go down-hill skiing more, but it is pretty expensive and my fear of heights sometimes bothers me on the steep slopes. Today I was one of the parents that accompanied Zach's class to Soldier Hollow. It was a beautiful day to be outside and was really quite pleasant!

Zach E. , Zach A. and Zach C. Yes, they have 3 Zachary's in their class and they are all friends and ride to school together.

Of course the hill at the lodge was more fun than the actual skiing! Notice the Olympic Cauldron in the background from the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Zachary getting rid of more clothing after his climb up the hill. We were all too hot! But it was quite cold this morning, so we layered a bit too much.

Next time we go, we will get the "skate" skis and make sure we don't wear too much clothing! Or, we might just go on the tubing hills instead!

Wordle of the Articles of Faith

Kirk and Zach made this on Wordle. It's kind of fun because it will be a little different each time. I wouldn NOT use their gallery though, since anyone can post anything on it.

Stephenie

Chinese New Year's Party

We have a fantastic local group for families with children adopted from China. Our biggest get-together of the year is the Chinese New Year party. It was so much fun! I'm so grateful we have a group of other families to share these holidays with and to provide some familiar faces for our children. We had around 100 come to the party and make crafts, share Chinese food, dragon parade, fireworks and cake.

The girls just had to have a picture in these neat hats!Grace sang a couple of her songs and Olivia (the dragon) is in the children's parade

Zachary was one of the other dragons (complete with his own special "sound" a very loud one of course!)Grace was the star attraction. Everyone was so happy to hear her sing and meet her in person. She loved the party and had a great time!

Zach and Kirk were one of the first in line to eat from our table, as you can see! Taylor and Abby are friends of our sitting with us.
Me and the girls posing in our finery.