Faith's Birthday & The Pinewood Derby

Today was a good day! Story-time at the library was a lot of fun. This weeks theme was Chinese New Year. After the stories were over, the children got make Chinese Lanterns. As a special treat, Grampy joined the girls (Faith & Lei Lei) at story time. He walked Luke around the library during reading time, but he sure came in handy for craft time.

After storytime we had lunch, playtime at home, bowled for a short while (after the older kids got home) and ate dinner & cupcakes at Panda Express. Thanks to Grammy, Grandpa, Aunt Mimi, Uncle Terry, Lei Lei & Wyatt for joining us.

After dinner, we (Masyr 6) headed off to watch Noah's pinewood derby race. As usual, Noah spend a great deal of time designing and profecting his car. As you can see in the pictures, he did a great job. Evan and I are extremely proud of his creativity and hardwork. His car did not win the race this year, but it was my personal favorite.

Future Scout showing off his two bottom teeth!

Faith Turns 4! 1/27

First Birthday
Second Birthday!

Third Birthday!

Now!

Faith is one of the sweetest blessings in my life. I thank God that she was born on this day four years ago. I wasn't there for her on that day, but God was paving a way for her to be a part of her family. Our love for our Chinese daughter was growing and our hearts were overjoyed with the realization that we would soon have another daughter. As we waited, our hearts were warming towards China and her people. I must admit that I never gave China a thought before deciding to adopt Faith. If anything, I feared their government and its ability to exercise great influence in the world. Through the process of adopting Faith, we got to see China through a different lens.

God loves all the children of the world. The children of China, Russia, Guatemala and the United States, etc.. are all precious in his sight. I always knew this in my head and perhaps in my heart, but it became so much deeper than that. My love not only developed for a daughter, but a sincere true love for the people of the world (not just my world). I was especially grateful for those people in China that made it possible for me to have my "Faith". My fear was replaced with caring and compassion. My heart ached for the moms that could not keep their babies.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl! We celebrate your birthday and thank God for you. You are loved around the world!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year! This is the year of the Ox. Over the weekend, we were able to attend a celebration at the park. The kids got to make paper lanterns and color masks. It is fun to take part in this cultural celebration. The kids may even get a red envelop, but we are going to pass on the Chinese food tonight since we will be having it tomorrow for Faith's birthday.

A Video to Share!

Luke makes some funny faces when he eats, even if he likes it! This video was taken between Christmas and New Years. Luke is 7 months old.

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Luke's 7 Month Accomplishments!

You can see Luke's tooth between his second and third finger.
Look at those teeth! What a messy eater!

Luke loves bathtime! Mommy loves kissing Luke! Luke loves it too!

During Luke's 7th month, he has accomplished a lot.

• He got his second tooth on 12/30
• He consistently waves bye bye
• He claps his hands together and says yeh
• He can go from his tummy to sitting up and visa versa
• He rocks on his hands and knees
• Crawls backwards
• Started the army crawl
• He is vocalizing more sounds, but is not real consistent yet. Sometimes it sounds like he is saying: hey, da da, ma ma, ba ba. I think he'll start saying actual words pretty soon.
• He can now pick up little puff snacks and put them into his mouth.
• He enjoys eating crackers and still can't stand green vegetables.
• He reaches for and plays with toys, including bath toys.

Faith & Lorelei Celebrate 4 years!

Faith & Lorelei picked out the Ariel Cupcake Cake. They almost chose a dinosaur cake Cousins - Almost twins, okay, maybe not!Playtime at the mall!

Build-A-Bear Workshop

Faith & Lorelei getting ready to stuff their animals
Faith covers her ears to block the noise, as she stuffs her monkey!

Faith and Lei Lei give their animals a bath!

Faith names her monkey Sarah

Aren't these girls too cute?!

All the kids hold up a heart and make a wish for Faith!

Everyone places a heart inside of Faith's monkey

Grammy gives Faith a hug

Faith and Luke hold their animals

Noah made Luke a blue bear! Luke loves it!

Sam makes a dog!

PopPop and Faith

Faith & Lorelei had a joint birthday party at Build-A-Bear. All the guests (family & preschool aged friends) met at the mall play area. Samantha and Noah were both awesome helpers, which made me very proud. Samantha made friends with every kid in the play area. After playing for about 30 minutes, we gathered at the food court for cupcakes and juice. Once everyone was adequately hyped up (with sweets), we headed to Build-A-Bear where the main part of celebration occurred.

Faith chose to make a pink monkey. Faith loved the monkey best because it could give her hugs (with the help of Velcro). She stuffed, bathed and named her monkey Sarah. She treasured her new found friend! Before the monkey was stitched together, each friend placed a heart inside. I thought that was a special touch!