Thursday, December 29, 2011

Christmas Day

We had a wonderful Christmas this year.  We couldn't help but think through out the day that this would be our last Christmas as a family of three, so we soaked in each moment with Adair as an only child.  We woke up early to discover that Santa had visited with three special gifts, enjoyed watching Adair open our gifts, then headed to church.  

One of the highlights of the day was during the service.  Our pastor, Tim, had all of the children come to the front and began to ask them questions about the Christmas story.  One of those questions was, "Who is your favorite person in the Christmas story, besides Jesus?".  Now, bear in mind, he was obviously talking about THE Christmas story...the story of Jesus...one Adair has heard a thousand times before and knows very well.  Her hand shot up and I fully expected she was going to say "Gabriel" or "Mary", but when Tim called on her, her response was "Santa".  Hank and I almost crawled under the pew!  It was one of those "proud" parent moments!  Everyone in the congregation had a great laugh and Adair was quite pleased with her answer.

After church, Mom, Dad and Mama Alice joined us for lunch.  Adair was spoiled this Christmas, as usual.  I think she would say that her top gifts were her see saw that Santa brought and the guitar that Nona and Joe-pa gave her.  She also thought it was very special that Santa brought a baby doll for Emalyn just like the one he brought to her.

It was a wonderful day full of joy and remembering the birth of our Savior.  So many times this season, I
 was reminded that without the birth of Jesus we would still be hopeless....without the birth of Jesus there would have been no cross and there would be no salvation.  I am so thankful that God had a perfect plan to redeem His people.

First glimpse of Santa's gifts

Checking to see if Santa finished his milk and cookies

Lifelike grocery cart complete with Emalyn and her baby dolls

See saw!

Adair, Adair's baby doll, and Emalyn's baby doll

Excited to open gifts


Adair and Daddy

Adair, Mommy and Daddy

Princess Belle

Mommy, Adair and Daddy

Nona, Mama Alice, Adair and Joe-pa

Merry Christmas!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Christmas Festivities

Picking Out the Perfect Tree

Adair loved the wagon ride at the tree farm.

Daddy "measuring" the width of the tree we chose with Adair.

Checking out the tree from below.

Advent Wreath Making

One of the highlights of this Christmas season was creating an advent wreath and reading the verses of advent at home each night.

Adair and Caroline enjoying pizza.

Passing the light.

Our (almost) finished wreath.

Homemade Tree Decorations

Stringing fruit loops for our kitchen tree.

Visiting with Santa Claus

Adair loved the idea of Santa this Christmas.  She still wasn't super keen on the idea of him coming into our house, but she was enthralled with the stories of the North Pole, Santa's reindeer, and Santa himself.  She was excited to visit with him, sit in his lap and tell him what she would like for Christmas.  She remained consistent all season on her list.  She asked for a see saw and a baby doll, making Santa's job relatively easy.

She insisted on taking Santa's picture before sitting in his lap.

Telling him her wish list.

Adair and Santa.

Zoo Light Safari

Adair and Ginger the deer after Ginger gave Adair a "kiss".

Adair and Anne Fulton.

Baking Christmas Cookies

One fun family tradition is baking cookies together.  It's something my mom and I always did together and now, Adair enjoys it too.  We make a big mess, but we have so much fun in the process.

Cutting out the cookies.

Decorating our Gingerbread House

Any activity that involves candy is a favorite of Adair's, so she was dying to decorate our gingerbread house.  She had so much fun icing the house and placing all of the candy. 



Proud of the finished product.

Christmas Eve

Adair and her new Christmas eve pajamas.

We spent Christmas eve with our sweet friends the Hawleys this year.  Adair and Webb had a great time bouncing on the trampoline (yes, even in the cold), decorating cookies and playing together. 

Webb enjoying the candy from his cookie.

Adair decorating her "tree".

Adair, Marlen and Webb.

After our company departed, Santa went to work.



Sunday, November 27, 2011

Give Thanks

"But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57

Above everything this season, we are thankful for our Savior.  We are thankful that God sent His one and only son to die on the cross for our sins and the sins of all who believe in Him and call on His name. 

"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His steadfast love endures forever!" Psalm 106:1

We have so much to be thankful for this season. 

One year ago, we were only talking about beginning the adotion process to bring our precious daughter home from China.  During those conversations, Emalyn was born in our hearts and little did we know, she was already waiting for us in an orphanage on the other side of the world.  Today we are thankful that we are so close to bringing her home, to having her in our arms, to showing her what a family is.  We are thankful that one missing piece of our hearts will join us in February or March.

We are thankful for surprises.  Our third daughter that I now carry was quite the surprise, but we are so thankful for her.  We are thankful that God is God and we are not and that He does not let us make our own plans.

We are incredibly grateful for our first born!  Adair brings us so much joy and we cannot imagine life without her.  Through her we see what faith really looks like.

"I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers." Ephesians 1:16

We are also thankful for our sweet families, our amazing friends, and our church.

I had a several sweet converstations with Adair leading up to Thanksgiving Day about what she is thankful for.  Here's a short synposis of what she said:  her lovies (aka "Ribbits) were always number one, Mommy, Daddy, Nona, Joe-pa, Mimi, Grandpa, chocolate milk, gummies, toys, trees, swings, and the princesses. 

It is humbling to me when I really stop to think about all that we have to be thankful for.  We are blessed beyond measure.  May we always give thanks and count our blessings.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Our Delightful Disney Vacation

As our last big trip as a family of three, we headed off to Disney World last week.  We had such an amazing week.  Adair loved everything about it...the princesses, characters, rides, pixie dust...you name it, she loved it!  One of the cutest things about Disney is that everyone who works there calls every little girl "princess" when they address her...from the waitresses to the princesses to the ride operators.  I think Adair decided she could definitely get used to that!
  
We spent the first day at Animal Kingdom.  Adair's favorite attractions were the Festival of the Lion King show, the Finding Nemo show, Kilimajaro Safari and seeing the Tree of Life.  The Tree of Life has thousands of different animals carved into it.  It is an amazing site.  She also loved meeting Pocahontas and Mickey Mouse.

Pocahontas was the first princess we met.   

Our first encounter with Mickey.

Adair and Daddy on the Kilimajaro Safari.

That night we headed to the Magic Kingdom.  This was by far our favorite park.  It is perfect for small children and has so much to offer.  We had so much fun at the Main Street Electrical Parade and the fireworks at the castle.

Cinderella's carriage in the parade.

Fireworks over the lit castle.

Adair loved the rides at the Magic Kingdom, too...It's a Small World, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Dumbo, Aladdin's Magic Carpets, and the Mad Hatter's Tea Cups were her favorites. 

It's a Small World

Mommy, Adair and Daddy.

Mommy and Adair at Cinderella's Castle.

Minnie, Adair and Mickey

Adair was so excited about the characters and begged us to stay out of her pictures, so you'll notice that there is only one picture of the three of us and a character.

Adair and Daddy on Dumbo.

Adair and Mommy on the tea cups.

Adair and Grace

One day we had the pleasure of the company of one of my best friends, Mary, and her daughter, Grace.  Mary and Grace live in Orlando and popped over to spend the day with us.  Adair and Grace had so much fun together and Adair thought it was so cool that Grace lived so close to Mickey's house.
  
Adair and Rapunzle.

Adair, Princess Tiana, and Grace.

Adair, Peter Pan and Grace.

Adair and Winnie the Pooh.

One of Adair's favorite events was the Street Party.  She loved the music, the characters and the dancing.

Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast.

Adair dancing with Minnie.

Adair insisted on getting close enough to dance with Minnie Mouse during the party.  She slowly worked her way up to her and at the end of the song, Minnie kissed her on top of her head...too bad I wasn't quick enough with the camera to catch that sweet moment.

Woody and Jessie.

Aladdin, Adair and Jasmine.

Another highlight of the trip was the afternoon Main Street Parade.

Snow White and her prince.

Cinderella and Prince Charming.

Belle

Dinner with the princess was so much fun!  Adair couldn't eat she was so excited for each of them to come and visit with her.  They all told her how much she looked like their friend Cinderella, which she, of course, thought was so cool.  Cinderella talked all about how much she loved Adair's crown and how she had to keep her crown in the highest room in the castle to keep it safe, but she wished she could wear it more often.  It was really impressive to see them all interact with Adair and carry on a conversation with her. 

Adair and Belle.

Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) and Adair.

The Cinderellas.

Mulan and Adair.

Snow White and Adair.

We had a wonderful time and our trip was so easy thanks to the good planning, advice and direction of my sweet friend, Katie.  Katie and I used to work together and one of the first things I learned about her when we met was how much she loved all things Disney (obsessed might be a good word to use here).  Katie travels to Disney quiet often and truly knows the "ins and outs" of the parks, resorts, transportation, dining plans, etc.  If you are pondering planning a trip, please let me know.  I would love to put you in touch with Katie.  She is a great help, so sweet and very affordable. 

Thanks, Katie, for everything you did to help us plan our trip.  Each time Adair and I would talk about anything she wanted to know about Disney World, she would say, "Mommy, maybe you should call and ask Miss Katie."  She quickly realized you were the expert.