Our Winter Happenings

Our winter has been full of cold weather, trips, and some firsts for us...

This winter was unseasonably cold and these Hawaii boys were shocked! Our boys still don't like jackets (we've learned to deal with pants, and that took awhile), so we spent a lot of time inside doing crafts and activities.

Every year, Abram asks to do a gingerbread house and this year we finally did one! It was fun to watch all three boys add their touches. It was a good activity to save for after the Christmas busyness and when it was freezing outside. 

Also, during the Christmas break, Abram had art camp at a local church so while he was gone, the boys had art camp, too! They made snowmen and winter trees. They absolutely love to paint! I love to see their excitement and creativity. 

Because of the extremely cold weather we had, we took a trip to Blue Springs State Park to see the manatees. They don't like cold water, so in the winter they head to the warmer water in the springs. The day we went they counted almost 500! 

After the manatees, we took a trip to Orlando to the Crayola Experience. It was crazy busy, but the boys had a great time! They had crafts to make and a huge play place.  

Standing in front of the worlds biggest crayon!

A big thing that happened at Abram's school was that he was chosen as Kindergarten's  "Student of the Month" for January! We were super proud of him! We took him out to dinner to celebrate and of course he chose Chick Fil A!

Celebration dinner

At his school's bulletin board with his picture. 

Another first experience was taking all three boys to Disney World. When we went at Christmas we only took Abram, but once we figured it out, we felt good about taking everyone! It was such a fun, crazy, busy day! But it was wonderful to see all three of them experience it together!

On the tea cups ride! 

Sweet brothers!

I love this picture of all of us!

This winter Abram had his 100th day of school.  He was able to dress like a 100 year old man and he also had to bring a collection of one hundred things. I think he looked adorable and his gum ball machine turned out super cute! 

Our last event of the winter was taking Abram to see the Monster Trucks! What a crazy (and loud) event. Abram loved to watch the trucks spin and flip. He is already asking to go back! 

Of course he had to wear headphones because of the noise!

Abram's favorite truck was "Zombie." 

Racing!

All the trucks lined up ready to go!

Flipping! Crazy!

Wer had a fun, eventful, busy winter but we are definitely ready for some warmer spring weather!

Chinese New Year

Ever since we brought Abram home to Monterey about 4 1/2 years ago, we have been looking for a group of other adoptive families from China.  Well, we finally found one to be apart of in Jacksonville and we are so glad we did! The first function we were able to attend was their Chinese New Year dinner.  We were so excited. We all dressed in red and headed out!  There was a raffle of gift baskets (we brought a movie basket and won a pasta basket), a Chinese buffet, and a lion and dragon dance.  We loved seeing and meeting other families.  I looked around the room after dinner and got all teary-eyed thinking about all these children who at one time didn't have families and now they do.  I was reminded once again what a blessing adoption is! Here are some pictures from our evening. We are looking forward to doing more activities with this group throughout the year!

Our family after dinner.

Feeding the lion.

The dragon dance. 

A picture of some of the children who were there that night. So sweet! 

Abram pointing to his city, Anyang, and putting a pin in it on the map.

Its the year of the dog... such a fun craft!

I Heart You!

We try to make holidays special in our house. Nothing over the top or super grand, but just special. So Valentines Day was no different. Our morning started with heart shaped cinnamon rolls, strawberries cut like hearts and red juice. The boys loved all their heart stuff!

Jack and Luke have really started to like painting lately, so I try to do it as often as we can, especially on holidays. Its so fun to watch their faces and hear their squealing voices! Also, they love seeing their work on the refrigerator when its dry!

When Abram comes home from school and the boys are napping, we love to play games. Today we played tic tac toe with conversation hearts, pink frosting and graham crackers. Such a yummy game!

I told Chris this might be our last year doing homemade Valentines since next year, we will be making for three boys. But these are what Abram wanted to make this year. I thought they turned out super cute! 

Hope you had a wonderful Valentines Day and that you were able to celebrate with the ones you love!!