My little helpers

Annslee is being a huge helper wrapping gifts this year. I admit they may not be perfectly done but a lot of love goes into it : )






I think she is doing great writing on the gifts. We had to ditch name tags because she can't write that small : )



No worries...the "Grinch" makes his appearance to help too LOL



Speaking of the Grinch...the other day Annslee said "do you think he turned nice b/c the kids prayed for him?"

Getting in the spirit of the season

On Monday it was sunny and 64 but we still managed to get in the holiday spirit by visiting Santa and going to Opr*yland Hotel to see the lights. Katie and her parentals came along too and the girls had a great time.

I know I am biased but aren't these the cutest cousins!





Coby enjoyed the trains but then was asked if he wanted to see Santa~ he is clearly saying NOOOOOO..but mommy didn't listen : )



Gotta love that Santa smiles through it all. Last year he didn't cry but made up for it this time.





Annslee jumped up for her shot with Coby before we rescued him



Santa offered her a candy cane but she doesn't like them so she clearly didn't want one








After Santa we headed to the hotel to check out the lights and trees.



Group shot attempts were plentiful but not successful



He was constantly jumping out of the shot ~ good thing he has that winning smile





There was a wall that changed colors and the girls loved it



Annslee's fav animal so she asked me to take a picture for her



NaNa wasn't around so he had the buttons all to himself



My favorite part is the outdoor Nativity with the Christmas story being played. Annslee wanted me to show her the three kings because that was her line in the Christmas program at church.



On the run again~ checking to see who is on the chase!



Singing-telling the story









Everyone gets a ride on the shoulders of course!





We had a great time. Sorry it is so picture heavy but I just couldn't pick only a few I liked LOL

On the Nice List

Just take a look at these two...they must be on Santa's nice list : )



Here is Annslee's letter to the big guy (for the record the iPod is a $4 one she saw LOL)



I wrote Coby's so it isn't nearly as cute but it said a train and a firetruck : )

The other hope for Christmas for Annslee is that Baby Lily is home. Baby Lily is still in China and the airport calls about her all the time. Annslee will get on her phone and then when she gets off she will usually say "the airport called, Baby Lily is asleep so we can't go to China yet" or some variation. She is cracking us up being a mommy playing that waiting game a lot of us are all to familiar with : )

* just to clarify Yes, Baby Lily is HER baby..her honey : ) She is pretend and is always so close to coming home but the airport won't give us a good report...she apparently sleeps a lot LOL

The other day she told me that Lily is "in my belly" but I told her she was too young for that (didn't mention she was 25 yrs too young and too single to adopt from China). So she said she was joking and Lily was in China and was going to come home and share a room with Coby : )

Our first hours together~

Just thought I'd post some pics from our first hours as a family of four last year. If you want to see the journal from our journey you can click on Coby's website on the right : )

We flew 36 hours, brushed our teeth, changed clothes and drove straight to the orphanage. We were ushered upstairs and I remember we removed our shoes before entering the room. I was removing Annslee's and she was already focusing on her brother : )



He was getting ready to be bathed and had the sweetest little smile when we walked in



Annslee literally screamed "My baby brofer!!!"



After his bath Daddy held him up for a big smile : )



We had a hard time getting a family pic b/c Annslee couldn't keep her hands and eyes off of him





He literally had a death grip on Daddy's tie ~ he had no idea who we were but we were holding him so he was NOT letting go !



Leaving the orphanage



We immediately headed to the Giving & Receiving ceremony



The customary picture with the orphanage director and he is legally OURS in the eyes of the Vietnamese government



Back at the hotel he quickly settled in



After a bath and a change of clothes Big Sister Annslee took over and never let go. Looking at this pic I notice he is reaching for the bottle. He was so used to holding his own and we had to literally force him to let us hold it for him.



We had waited a long time for this day and it was finally here. He was so ready for a family and we were so ready to complete ours. He is true joy and our we can't believe how blessed we are!

One Year Together!!

One year ago we took this picture of Annslee holding her brother for the first time. I had waited so long to see them together : )



Here they are one year later ready to go have breakfast with Santa : )



*I will do a longer post with more pictures from last year later I promise

Remembering and some random cuteness

One year ago today we were flying to the other side of the world to meet our sweet boy! We were so excited and also very stressed as we literally had 36 hrs notice before travel! Annslee did soooo great on the whole trip : )





I can't believe a year has passed but at other times it feels like it was ages ago. We are so blessed to have our boy HOME!

Yesterday I caught him in the act of messing with the tree LOL



Good thing he is so cute or he'd be in BIG trouble : )



He had put on this hat with and when I saw him I was reminded of one of my fav pictures of Annslee taken in 2006



Hey, as long as I have the hat on...let's go outside!! He cracks me up b/c he will go get Annslee saying "moan (come on) NaNa" and drag her to the door to help him escape.



*it wasn't planned but I noticed the pictures were taken of each of them 2 days before their first family day anniversary (Annslee is 2 months older than Coby in the pics) Also, I will point out that the hat is an adult one ~my kids have big heads : )