Hanging Out With The Cousins

We had a fabulous time in California with my brother and his beautiful family. The girls all get along so well and have non-stop fun. S is like a wonderful little mother hen and takes such good care of the younger ones. Ellie and L were inseparable the whole visit, spending much of their time together in front of the piano. We went to the girls' favorite Pinecone Park and experienced an pretty big earthquake while we were there. Our planned trip to the local Children's Museum had to be rescheduled for the next day because it closed to inspect for damage. So we went to another park and Auntie A bought our girls their very first ice cream from an ice cream truck. We are always so happy to get together and so sad when it is time to leave. Oh how I wish we lived closer to each other.

Abby and Ellie with their cousin L

Maddie knows her body parts

Ellie and L were inseparable

Maddie and her beautiful cousin S

Maddie loves dinos

These girls are the best!

A.C. Gilbert Discovery Village

Our first adventure was at the A.C. Gilbert Discovery Village in Salem, OR. It is a children's museum that is housed in three historic homes and includes a 20,000-square-foot outdoor discovery center. All the exhibits are hands-on experiences for kids of all ages. We explored as much as we could: dinosaurs, bubbles, the human body, rivers, China, a grocery store and a toy invention room. The outdoor structure was a huge hit with the everyone -- the girls even got me to go down the three story slide with them!

Checking out groceries

Climbing the mammoth fossil

Victorian architecture play house

African village playhouse

Inside the climbing maze

Road Trip!

Abby wanted to visit with her cousins in California for her birthday this year. So we decided that since we were going to be out on the road, we might as well make a true adventure (and great geography lesson) out of it. So we all piled into the minivan and spent 16 days traveling throughout Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Montana, and Idaho. We picnicked, swam, hiked, and explored every landmark, historical site, and natural wonder that we saw along the way. The entire trip went so smoothly -- the girls are absolutely the best little world travelers.

The car is loaded and we are ready to head out early on the first day.

We packed the cooler with picnic lunches and hit every rest stop along the way.

Sisters hamming it up

If you give a kid a camera . . .

. . . they will have lots of fun and might even take some really good photos!

A couple of days ago Abby and Ellie were needing something new to do so I sent them outside with my camera and told them to take some pictures of each other and their little sisters. My little digital camera is basically on its last legs anyway so I figured they couldn't do it any harm -- and if they did, oh well, I would have an excuse to get a new camera!

They came back inside about an hour later asking what the big red words were on the camera screen. Did they break it? NO -- they completely filled up the memory card! So we downloaded the photos on to the computer and they were so excited to see how all their hard work turned out. It was fun to see how the girls acted with each other when Mom wasn't around. I think that they did a great job -- we just may have a couple of budding photographers on our hands.

A New Look

This is just too cool -- my blog has a wonderful new look! My friend, Michelle, Day by Day recently got a new look on her blog and I decided it was about time for somthing spiffy myself. Since I am totally clueless about how to go about designing great blogs, I contacted Diana at Custom Blog Designs. I told her the colors and general style I wanted and sent her a photo of the girls to work around -- look at what she came up with!  I think it is absolutely gorgeous! Diana was so patient with all my silly novice blogger questions and guided me every step of the way. I highly recommend her if anyone is interested in a blog makeover.

SIX years ago today

SIX years ago today, June 4, 2002, Brian and I stepped foot in China for the very first time. We were expecting to spend a quiet evening resting and getting settled into our room at the Dolton Hotel in Changsha, Hunan. We would meet the rest of the families in our travel group and prepare for the next day when we would all receive our new baby daughters. Well our facilitator met us at the airport with the news that the schedule had changed and the babies would be brought to us at our hotel THAT evening! We were on our way to our facilitator's room around 4:30 for a briefing on how the process would go but were met in the hall by one of the moms saying "go get your cameras -- the babies are HERE!!" I held my first beautiful daughter, Abigayle Rose YuWei, a few short minutes after that.

Oh my, where has the time gone? My tiny little baby girl is now 6 and a half. She is a spirited dancer and a wonderful artist who can draw anything (her exact words!) She can hoola hoop like you wouldn't believe. And she is the absolute best big sister to Ellie, Annie and Maddie. Our “great rare treasure” is definitely a reflection of her perfectly chosen Chinese name.

A month from now we will travel to Longview, WA for our 6th Annual Spicy Girl Reunion. Abby is so excited to be with her special friends again. It is always so fun to see how all the girls have grown and spend time with the other families who shared that life-changing moment in China with us.

Happy Forever Family Day sweet Abby. Mommy and Daddy love you so very very much!!

Abby's referral photo

Finally in our arms!!

Two years old - Chinese New Year

Three years old and enjoying the beach in Hawaii

Five years old -- growing up way too fast!

Our beautiful free spirit

Abigayle Rose YuWei -- our "Great Rare Treasure"

Happy Birthday Annie!

Today is Miss Annie's 4th Birthday! Today is also the one year anniversary of our Forever Family Day! We celebrated with all the special things that our little girl loves to do. She got to pick out her favorite meals all day long -- chocolate chip granola bars and bananas for breakfast, ramen noodles and strawberries for lunch, and pepperoni pizza and grapes for dinner. After lunch and opening presents, we went to Chuck E. Cheese to play games. This evening all the girls got to take a bubble bath in mom and dad's big jacuzzi tub, followed by manicures and dressing up as "fashion girls". As our evening treat -- pink and white mini-cupcakes and singing Happy Birthday to Princess Annie. She had a smile a mile wide on her face all day long. Some of you may remember that Annie's very first English words were "happy birthday" since we celebrated her 3rd birthday in Nanchang, China. We sang to her over and over and over. She still loves that song. Happy Birthday "Peanut", and happy Forever Family Day!!! We all love you so very much!

Annabelle Mei ChuanYan -- Four years old!

Getting the spa treatment

Lost in the bubbles!

More Bubbles!

Are we all hot stuff or what??

Singing Happy Birthday to Princess Annie