Ready. Set. Go.

We did art shows in old downtown buildings.

We surprised the heck out of my oldest brother Greg for his 60th birthday!

We celebrated the best Daddy-o EVER and invited our friends and their kids to celebrate his birthday, too.

The weather was unseasonably warm as seen by the brat pack here who ran line drills outside on the sidewalk...with no coats in mid-December!

We visited Bethlehem at the church a few blocks away from us. (And yes, a camel.)

We baked. Nothing like having two left-handed cooks in one kitchen! Ella is quite good at following a recipe. We did an awful lot of sampling that night.

We watched this group of first graders perform at the holiday musical on the last day of school.

We celebrated the performance and the kick off of winter break with Panda.

We did a whole lot of this...

And THEN we celebrated my niece Allison's graduation from college. We are so proud of her.

After months of prep, piano recital day appeared. I fully expected Ella to melt down at the last minute petrified to perform in front of a church full of people. She was first up in the program and she sailed it out of the ballpark. I was ridiculously happy for her.

The Roz-Ella Silent Night duet was just as awesome.

And Roz and Aubrey did so well too!

Miss Gail is a keeper. She is a perfect fit to Ella and we are beyond thankful for her teaching. I am brushing off the cobwebs at the piano during practice sessions at home, too. We are even getting Larry to sit down and read music!

We spent way too much time shoo-ing Thomas out of the Christmas tree this year. He's huge. He doesn't realize he's huge. It makes for delicate removal.

We enjoyed some very special quiet moments too...

...more to come. ~H

Reflect

Quiet reflections to start a new year.

Photos to come soon of our Do All The Things December.

Right now, I'm heading to bed with a book to relish in warm covers and to embrace my resolution of more reading.

~H

Halls Decked.

Some of my favorite images from our Thanksgiving. :)

I did the new normal this decorating season: I let the artificial tree "rest and get used to it's surroundings" before bedazzling it with beads and baubles and ornaments. I do this because of Thomas and Mavis - but really just Thomas. Within 2 minutes of the tree being upright, he had scaled up 3/4 of it where he quickly got stuck. He is such a huge animal that he no doubt thought he could negotiate the climbing apparatus with the same ease that he did a year ago. I spent the next 20 minutes yelling at him to get out then gave up.

Surprisingly, no ornaments have shattered into a million pieces. He is still super curious about everything - like Baby Jesus and how he gnawed at the ears of the manger scene donkey until I had to hide the tired donkey from his sight.

 This year I unearthed the Christmas Village (that I had made for my mom many moons ago) from the depths of our attic. It is now in Ella's room where she falls asleep with it on every night. Because I am freakishly concerned about the wiring of some of these things, I sneak in and turn it off before I go to bed.

While Mama KT and Patrick were off enjoying some much deserved time in Vegas,we checked in on Roz a lot while she and her grandparents were holding down the fort back home. 

 And we did fun stuff.

 And we loved on our foster girl, Miss Hannigan, who has taken over every sink in their house.

We even managed to squeak in a little time at the Art Museum. Larry was with us too but he must have been hiding from the camera more than usual.

~H

A Visit With Santa's Wife!

In a 36 hour period this past weekend, we crammed in just about as much Christmas cheer as we could. We all fell into bed on Sunday sad the weekend had to end. Saturday kicked off with our FCC family hanging out with Santa and Mrs. Claus.

It was pretty much cuteness overload.

Hiding in the back of the room coloring were Ella and Roz. Ella has strongly opposed getting near Santa from her very first Christmas. But when she had her BFF with her, it was easier to push them up on stage. Oh, and she had his wife...which is who she spoke with...the entire time! She wouldn't even look at Santa! I was thrilled she got THAT close. She asked for, "Shopkins, ponies, dresses, puzzles and books", because "Mom, Christmas isn't all about toys". (What the ????? Am I actually being heard?!)

With an hour or two to regroup that afternoon, we dressed in layers to hit our zoo for the festive lights. We drug along with us our friends - the Harrison's and the Hall's. 

 We went early to beat the rush of folks coming once it was dark. Brilliant move! As we were leaving the zoo, miles of cars were waiting to enter in every direction. Yay us! We treated ourselves to dinner out. The kids out-numbered us in energy.

Sunday was spent at our Valentine Theatre watching Ella's piano teacher perform in A Christmas Carol. We had perfect balcony seats.

Miss Gail!!!

 And although I am not a Dickens fan, this performance changed me - so much talent on one stage.

 As we left, we took time out for a family picture near a bike rack in front of the theatre. This isn't just any old bike rack but one that Larry designed. How cool is that!

Perhaps the best icing on the day was that in the form of a peppermint cake pop for our girl. She was such big fun all weekend.

~H

Her name was Veronica.

We had a long-term relationship. She was often on the receiving end of my long-winded emails, my phone calls that begged for answers.

Veronica had to be pretty darn excited to finally make that referral call back on December 2, 2009.

Maybe she wasn't as excited as us to take that call. I remember how she paused and admitted not only was Ella quite young but incredibly beautiful.

I wonder what Veronica is up to these days. The adoption agency folded shortly after our travels to China. I remember her soothing voice and how completely unflappable she was. I remember her calling our hotel room in Kunming that first night, just as I was getting ready to give Ella her first bath. I remember her joy at our joy.

I hope I never forget her name or how her voice sounded that rainy evening six years ago.

Happy Referral Day to us! ~H