Piano Recital

Lunar Eclipse

The moon was HUGE as it rose over the mountains.

Nice and full and bright...

Until the earth got in the way and blocked the light...

 The moon was absolutely beautiful tonight!! Not a cloud in the sky...perfect for viewing the lunar eclipse!

And...look who I happened to run into at the Science Center on our fourth grade field trip yesterday! It's kind of fun teaching the same grade as my daughter. (Although I am grateful she isn't in my class. That would never work for us.)

Auriga

Here is her oral report:

Rachel's Choir

Rachel did a great job performing tonight!

Happy Birthday Rachel!!

I can't believe my baby is 10 years old! Double digits!

We celebrated with friends at the Pacific Science Center. It was a great party. Nothing like mixing a little science with a little fun to make for a memorable celebration.  The girls agree that making glow-in-the-dark gak with glue and borax and making ice cream with liquid nitrogen was the highlight of the party.

After a great time at the science center, we enjoyed the electric train display at the Center House. We then sat in Seattle traffic for a very long time which made us very late for our church's "Christmas In the Park" activity. I was determined to go and we made it there at 7:45. Right before it ended at 8:00. We were too late for any of the craft projects and too late for hot cocoa and refreshments, but we made it for Santa Claus, the live Nativity, and several holiday displays.

I took 281 picture. Crazy.  It is easier for me to make a movie than it is to decide which pictures to upload. I hope you all take the time to watch Rachel's birthday movie:)

Nine Years Ago

Every year on her "Forever Family Day," Rachel gets one "ornament" to place on her adoption tree. I bought all the ornaments in China when I was adopting her. Today, she looked at her ornament and said, "It's Pluto!" It does kind of look like Pluto.

She has grown a lot since she placed her first ornament on her adoption tree in 2003.

Nine years ago, I held my daughter for the first time. My life has never been the same. I loved her from the moment I saw her picture and holding her for the first time was an amazing experience. It seemed that time stood still. Even though we were surrounded by people, I felt the two of us were alone; enjoying every minute of time together.  The long wait was over and my dream of being a mother was finally fulfilled in the tiny baby I held in my arms. As I looked into her beautiful eyes, I felt a love I never knew was possible.

Happy Forever Family Day sweet Rachel! I loved you from the time I first saw your picture 9 years ago and I love you today. Thank-you for being my daughter. Thank-you for teaching me, playing with me, and loving me. I am so blessed to be your mother.

Thanksgiving and Christmas Preparation

We enjoy going to our cousin's house for a delicious, homemade, yummy dinner.

I love how she decorated too:) Fun!!

We usually wait until Rachel's birthday, December 3rd, to put up the tree, but I couldn't wait this year. We put it up this weekend. Our neighbor friends helped decorate.

We have five stockings this year because our neighbors will be joining us for Christmas so Santa will visit them too! We don't have a fireplace so we used push pins and stuck them into the wall. It works for us:)

Here is the great advent calendar my sister gave us last year. Each pocket has a scripture that we are excited to read every night.

My sister gave us this magnetic nativity. The shepherd and animals didn't fit on the cookie sheet so they are off to the side. The shepherd is also watching over the Little Pony too:)

Finished!!

Our tree is always decorated with homemade ornaments and pictures of my children. It brings back great memories. Not exactly fancy, but so fun to talk about each ornament, each picture, and remember the past.