Fun with Friends!

On Monday we met up with some friends at a huge indoor play area. The best way to know it was a success was that we adults had lots of time to chat because the kids were busy off playing with each other : ) Four families came so we had 5 little ones from China and 2 from Korea (two of us are also "waiting families" so hopefully soon we will have one more from Korea and one from Vietnam) Kobe was the only boy but he didn't mind as he totally entertained Annslee and Emma Grace with his silly stunts! Lola, who is 15 months old was the hit with all of us!

We tried to do a group shot with the kids but Lola was not happy about it. I love how Annslee is looking up at Laurie (Lola's mommy) and seems to be asking "hey, are we going to just let her cry?" We did want one with Lola not crying so we had to have the Mommys join in, hence the pic at the top

On Tuesday Mia came to swim. I don't have any pics of Annslee without goggles on b/c she puts them on when we arrive and keeps them on most of the time. The girls had fun swimming and then floating in tubes while we pushed them around~ little spoiled Princesses that they are : )






Since doing "Beach Party" at VBS she can't help but "surf" in most pics I get of her...so silly!

The Lake!

We went to Alabama this weekend for my family reunion. We have been doing it at this lakehouse since before I was born but haven't had it for the last two years so this was Annslee's first one. I remember well watching others with their little ones and knowing someday it would be my turn and it finally was : )

She loved fishing and kept looking under the pier to see if she could see a fish LOL


She was so cute on the pier with her fishing pole

Cousin Isaac received the bulk of her attention and she thought it was great when I put his long hair in a top knot!

This is how humid it was~ my lens fogged up immediately when I tried to get a pic of her on the swing that goes out over the water

Yeah, we didn't do that long as Mama was not loving it and honestly, Daddy wasn't either~ you can't tell in this pic but she is holding on TIGHT!

Hop on Isaac happened each morning. I am amazed at how great a 12 year old boy is with her

Cousin Shelby kindly read her bedtime stories and she loved the attention from a "big girl"


She has only ridden on a boat a few times but she loved it! Eating her cousin Hayden's snacks added to the joy

Everytime we drive by a lake, river, creek we joke "would you swim in that?" and she says "NO" because well, it is not as clean as a pool ~ so we were worried b/c when we mentioned going to the lake she said she was not getting in. She obviously changed her mind! She really wanted this duck to come over to her but she never got much closer (Annslee was pretending to have food and saying 'yum yum' to the duck)

Daddy was helping her fish (I think she has fished more times than he has though)

I have many more pics from the weekend but thought I'd share a few : )

Smooches Secret Buddy!

After she woke up from her nap I took a box upstairs that was addressed to her. I cannot even describe how much she LOVES getting mail. She has been a little under the weather so her voice is hoarse so when she yelled "Oooo La La" it sounded pretty funny : )

Here she is with all her loot!! (a swimsuit, game, cup to paint, ice cream lip gloss, Fan*cy Nan*cy purse and sunglasses)


She loved opening all of it!


She is so POSH!!

This morning we met friends at the movies then stopped for ice cream. We had a coupon she got from the library for "reading" so many books. Nothing is better than an ice cream cone in the car!!



Thank you so much for everything Secret Buddy. You are right, we are still uncertain about our Vietnam adoption and it is so sweet of you to choose to spoil Annslee instead. Believe me, she loves it!!!

When can we sign her up

for swim team?? Actually I know the answer and it is FOUR. I know I'm her Mommy but seriously, the girl has skills : ) I think the biggest thing is how comfortable she is. She wants her face underwater constantly and can swim pretty fast now. We have always known she was a natural swimmer ~ the first time we took her to a pool at 15 months old she jumped right in. She has been doing it ever since.

Yesterday she learned how to "dive off the block" aka, dive in for a swim meet. Elle Kate was doing it b/c big sister is on the swim team. Annslee loves doing it now! Here she is set to go~

Arms are straight and she is poised to spring~

Ha ha, she did a "tuck jump" instead (that is from gymnastics) and check out the smirk on her face knowing we were expecting a dive ; )

The funniest thing is the concentration on her face each time. This girl is serious!!

After being told by another Hubei Mama we too researched and it seems most of the swimmers and divers on the Chin*ese Oly*mpic team are from Hubei and the training facilities are there. Guess she comes by it naturally : )

Playdate Fun!!!

Today we had our much anticipated playdate with Paige, Elle Kate and Corley! I have known Jennifer (E &C mom) for a while from church (she doesn't have a blog~ tragic) and a few times I heard them mention a Paige in Corley's dance class. I never put it together that it was the same Paige we knew. Finally we did figure it out and decided we all needed to PLAY!!

When we got there Paige and Annslee played for a while. She was so great with Annslee and Miss A loves attention from a "big girl" Here they are signing "I love you" with some silliness : )

Elle Kate and Annslee planned ahead to wear matching swimsuits. I don't really know what kind of poses they are striking but they were pretty funny together all day (Jennifer gave Annslee some ice cream and as you can see she enjoyed it!)

Here is the gang!!

She practiced her underwater flips a lot today ~ I know it is hard to see but here she is in the "hand stand" portion of the flip

and here she is doing the flip part : )

She worked on doing hand stands too...she can get her legs pretty straight for only a second then they go into the splits LOL

They are looking at Paige's dog but what sweetness Missy captured...check out that hand on her leg : )

It was a long day...we were in the pool for almost FIVE hours! Elle Kate is doing a model pose and Annslee is pretending to be asleep (I think she really wanted to be as she fell asleep before we were out of the parking lot)

We had a great time and the most amazing part was how well they all played together. There was very little fussing, whining or fighting...and the sharing was great. Seriously, can't ask for much more.

Go check out Missy's blog to see more pics and read what Paige thinks of Annslee~ so funny and sweet!

Tick Tock~

This morning we went to the park before it got too hot! I asked her to stop so I could snap a picture really fast and I think you can see what she thought of delaying her trip to the swing ; )

Fine, how about this and we can move on!

She hopped on the glider swing and we did that for a while. I got off to take a picture and I think her mood had stayed the same : O

I kept bugging her until I almost got a giggle. The funny thing I noticed is her tan lines in the "creases" of her skin.

She eventually made her way to the "big girl" swing

No trip would be complete without pushing "pretend Malia" (sometimes it is pretend "boy name")

After swinging "tend Malia" needed to be carried for a while : )

We are at T minus 46 days and counting until our hopes for a referral are over. No word on anything as we won't hear until we get "the call" and believe me, you will all hear it then!! I did read an interesting post on VVAI today and I was happy to see our agency mentioned in a very positive light. Keep thinking of us and praying for news for our family and all the other Vietnam families who are currently hanging on to that fraying shred of hope. As you can see, Annslee is very anxious for some good news about being a big sister!!

Where does the time go?

When you see someone every day you sometimes don't notice how much they change...then you take a picture of them and it reminds you of others you have taken and you realize how big they are getting *sigh* Yeah, there really was a time when she couldn't even reach the doorknob ; )

~ Summer 2008



~ Summer 2007



~ Summer 2006



Our baby has lost the toddler look and is in full preschool mode now. Thankfully with an October birthday I don't have to send her off the Kindergarten for another two years : )

Three is still my fav age (so far)

We wrapped up VBS and what a fun time we had!!! She loved all the activities and mainly enjoyed hanging out with friends : ) She is so funny and kept saying "Mommy teacher, thank you Mommy" over and over ~ smooch! We had over 500 kids involved this week and it was LOUD and FUN!!


Ranger Dave was our storyteller for the week and in this story he told them to take the heart to someone and say "God loves you" Oh, what sweetness to hear my girl saying it : ) As a side note Dave is Daddy War*bucks in 'Little Orph*an Ann*ie" on broadway (he is a really good storyteller LOL)

This giant grin was because at the Friday night end of VBS party they had a rock wall set up. It was a hard one too with no one belaying for you but Miss A had to give it a try. We walked over and the guy nicely said she could. Yes she is three, wearing sandals and the harness was huge on her!

He helped her up as far as he could reach (about 7 ft I guess) and she continued to try and do more. Poor baby, of course she couldn't do much and all night she kept saying "Annslee try" and looking sad b/c she didn't get to the top. I bet she will in a couple of years!!

This is Sparks and he was there all week and the kids LOVED him!!! There is just something about a fox telling a story I guess : )

Of course Ranger Dave let her help last night. She ran right up there when she saw him and Sparks

Yes, they all fell over right after this picture as Annslee was laughing and pulling them down!

I think one of my favorite parts of last night was when we were going through the food line and she said in amazement "My church has sun chips!!"
Yeah, that is why three is my favorite age so far!! It takes so little to make their little hearts happy : )