Our very own Kung Fu Panda Boy!!

Merry Christmas and OMG!!!!!!!!

Okay, so first a very Merry Christmas and soon to be Happy New Years to all from the 3 of us...soon to be 4..(yes you read right,4), soon!
So the OMG means....OMG they have FINISHED the month of February of 2006 log in dates and are now currently matching into OUR month, yes you read right again, OUR month of MARCH of 2006!!! For 3 years I felt like they would never get to our month of log in dates...and now here we are. We are totally freaking out that from this point on, we could be next ANY month now, including this month of January 2009! That's right, in only 3 short weeks, it is POSSIBLE(not definet), but POSSIBLE, that we will see our precious baby girls face for the first time!!! I can't even believe that after 3 long years I can even write that we are ALMOST next...I actually can't wrap my mind around it yet...it seems so surreal that they are almost up to our turn in line so to speak...I don't think I will be sleeping well from now on!
If they continue at the pace they've been at for the past 3 years during this slow down, we will probably not be in this next batch at the end of Jan, but in the following one at the end of Feb. BUt....if they do as they implied they would and in this new year of Jan 2009, refer TWO weeks of log in dates at a time each month, we will be next , as in 3 weeks next...AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
I really am feeling it will be in Feb, not in 3 weeks, but still, just the fact that it is POSSIBLE for us to be next gives me more butterflies in my stomach then I've ever felt in my lifetime!!!
WE are over the moon happy and excited and filled with so much joy and hope and love for you our sweet Sophie Ruth!!! I have never once in this loooong 3 year wait felt we should stop or give up on you, and now I finally feel that our reward from HIM is about to be paid off. You Sophia Ruth are soon to be with us, your forever family!!!! WE love you so very much!!!

Preparing for the Birthday of the year-Jesus!!!

Christmas with Gramma Jean and family up north!

Well since Gramma Jean is going to Hollywood for the Holidays this year to be with Uncle Kevin, we took a trip up to her house for the weekend to celebrate Christmas with her and also got to visit with Scott, Emily and Sarah!
Charlie was very excited when he opened up his present from Gramma, it was his future dream car...a blue corvette!! And even better it was a remote control one! I don't know who had more fun running it around the house though, Charlie or daddy? LOL!
And little miss Sophie you were NOT forgotten this Christmas either and gramma bought you the cutest polka dot dress and your very first ornament with your name on it! I'm so happy this is our last Christmas while waiting for you...I can only imagine how much fun we are all going to have next year with you here!
We all love you so very much Sophie and know time is flying and we will be on that airplane to get you sooner than later!!! Love mommy xoxo

Kindergarten Christmas Party!

Well, it's offically winter break! Charlie's last day of school ended with a fun Holiday Party that I(room mother myself-lol!)and some other moms, organized on Friday. He has such an awesome teacher, Mrs Fought, and a really great group of children this year, I'm so happy for him, and very pleased so far with how his very first year of school is going! I actually can't believe the fall quarter is over and almost half the school year already...it's unbelievable how fast time is going and as crazy as this sounds, I sometimes wish I could just stop time for awhile...of course though we want our sweet Sophie girl home first then we can stop!!!

Christmas Concert at Church 2008

Christmas Lights at the Zoo 2008

Once again we braved the cold and walked around the zoo in a winter wonderland lit up in every color imaginable while sipping hot cocoa!!
The weather wasn't too bad actually, and most importantly it was dry and not very windy! Our dear friends, John Kim Ashley and Austin came for a visit this weekend and got to go with us so it was great fun!
We also had breakfast with Jesus on Saturday morning at our church and listened once again to the true story of Christmas and why this is such a season to celebrate.
Jeff and I are trying hard to instill in Charlie why Christmas is so very special and important so that the focus is not entirely on "Santa".
This year we've started a new Christian tradition with an Advent Wreath that I made with the help of the flower lady at Micheals craft store! Each Sunday night of December we light a candle and read a the bible vs that goes along with it leading up to Christmas morning.
Charlie also heard of another great idea to bake Jesus a Christmas birthday cake! We may start this tradition as well!
Okay, now onto little Miss Sophie...I can't remember if I already posted this or not, but it's official that the Chinese Gov't has matched families through Feb 23 2006! I really can't believe there are only two weeks and 6 days in between where they are today and our log in date!
In some ways I can't believe our life has been on hold so to speak(as far as building our family)for almost 3 years...but at the same exact time, it has gone so very fast! And I am so grateful for where we are now, where the Lord has led us and that he gave us strength to hang in here and follow our adoption dream. Looking back I can't believe we considered adoption when Charlie was only 2 years old and we thought we'd only wait 6 to 8 months and that I actually considered taking a newly 3 year old to China(what was I thinking-lol, but thank God I did)!! And now it's so amazing to see where Charlie's come into who he is as a five year old and I'm really excited that he will be able to endure this trip to China so much better than he would have at 3 years old, and that he'll actually remember it to one day tell to his baby sister himself!
More Christmas posts to come!
And Sophie, I can't believe I can finally say knowing 100% for sure, you WILL be here with us next Christmas!!!
Love mommy xoxo

Visit to Santa 2008!

Well, Gramma Jean and Grandy came for our annual day of Christmas shopping and visit with Santa! Charlie really wanted to get his list to Santa, but told me in the morning that he's probably "too big" to sit on his lap and would rather just say hello and give him his list! He did tell me that next year if Sophie is scared he would sit on Santa's lap with her to protect her-lol! We managed to get him to sit on the stuffed reindeer next to santa for a picture!
And on the adoption front....I think they referred six, possibly seven, more days of families last month...I haven't confirmed it yet, but i'm pretty sure that's it! So now we only have 19 (or 18) days of people logged in ahead of us!! One more month down just a couple more to go! I can't believe that in a few weeks at the end of December they will probably be matching into the month of March of 2006, THAT'S US!!! I can't believe that I will be able to say they are in our month one day very soon! All our dreams are so close to coming true Sophie Ruth....
We all love you so very much and pray for you EVERY SINGLE DAY!
Love Mommy xoxo