B.F.F.

Wow! What a fabulous weekend we had visiting our dear friends and Wuwei sister. It was the perfect combination of action packed fun for the little ones and low key quality time for the grown ups. I will see if I can give a run down that gives it justice! Be warned - this post will be long and lots and lots of photos ahead! :D

We arrived in Chattanooga around noon and played at Lindsay's house for a little while before heading out to the nature center for a fall festival.

Frances asked the girls if they wanted to dress up and of course they did! We were not prepared with a costume so Lindsay offered Linzi her princess dress. Lindsay had already decided she was going to be a cheerleader. Well, because she is four, Linzi wanted to wear Lindsay's costume. No worries, we stopped at Walmart and picked up a matching cheerleader costume for Linzi and we were off.

The kids had a blast at the fall festival. The hayride was fun and FAST - Eric called it the Mario Andretti hayride. The girls both took a 30 second power nap on Frances during the hayride. The petting zoo was fun and we even got to feed the baby calves a bottle - the highlight for me. ;) The girls have the most amazing bond and just seeing them together is such a blessing to watch.

After the nature center, we went to Lindsay's grandfather's house. They were so sweet and welcoming. Their property is so beautiful!!! The girls had more fun driving a golf cart around the property with Kathy while Frances and I had some time to just visit. Alex and Mandi also took turns driving the golf cart. I wish I had some pictures of the golf cart driving, but I had left the camera up at the house. After such a nice afternoon, they treated us to a delish dinner of ribs and all the fixins. Oh it was soooo goood!!!!

This was such a sweet moment - Lindsay was running in and out of the kitchen while Kathy was getting dinner together, so she handed Lindsay a rib. So Lindsay turns around and starts feeding it to Linzi. So very sweet.


After dinner, they ran through the house like wild banshees while Alex chased them and then settled down to watch Dora before we said goodnight to Ed's father and Kathy.

The girls were beyond exhausted, but Frances and I were not finished playing yet! ;) So we put our girls down to bed and took Alex with us for a frightful night here. It was Alex's first haunted house and probably his last! I am afraid I may have traumatized my child for life. But Frances - she is so brave! We made her go first and she gladly went and laughed while Alex & I were shaking in our boots. Alex was not going in the second half down in the caves, so I sat out with him and Frances went in with a couple girls we met in line. What fun!

Day 2
We met at Lindsay's house again and the girls played on the playset some more. The weather was so perfect both days.

Then we loaded up and headed for a beautiful park in downtown Chattanooga. The girls had so much fun running around the park.

We walked across the pedestrian bridge, had lunch, rode the carousel, had some ice cream and played some more. The time to say goodbye came way too fast. Everytime we see them, Linzi refuses to say goodbye when it's time to leave. I think she thinks if she doesn't say goodbye, we won't leave. :(

THANK YOU FRANCES for such a wonderful weekend! Ed, I wish we could have seen you more, maybe next time. :D Frances, I am making a cd of all of my pictures and dropping it in the mail this weekend. We will see you guys soon. XOXO XOXO

Busy, Busy, Busy

I used to know someone in my circle of friends who always seemed too busy for the rest of us. Everytime we would say "We've missed you!" or "How have you been?" or invite her to have coffee or whatever, she would always reply "I am just busy, busy, busy! Way too busy!" After a while, it seemed more like she was just too busy to make time for friends and she drifted away from our little circle. We are all moms, most of us have the same number of kids with about the same number of activities to keep up with. Our families are our number one priority. Some of us have husbands who travel, which means that mom has no back up or anybody to tag team with. This person was no more busy than the rest of us, she just didn't make time for friendships. I never wanted to be like that. I never want my friends to think I don't have time for them. But lately, I am afraid I HAVE been that person. I am just "busy, busy, busy". And this would be the cause of my lack of blogging and visiting my bloggy friends. I actually have visited my regular ones, just not commented. I have really missed blogging, but lately, it has been hard to find a balance between my family, myself, the house and everything else. Hopefully things will get better soon!

Today, we are heading out of town to visit our dear friends and Linzi's Wuwei sister, Lindsey. I have talked about her a lot. She is just that special to us. I am sure I will have lots of pics to share when we get back.

We also had fun little camping experience that I don't have the time to blog about right now, but will when we get back. I will leave you with a couple recent pictures of Linzi, just to prove we are all still alive! Her preschool class had a visit from the local firestation and a tour of the firetruck. So, her class made firedog hats and noses. Our Teddy dog is black and white, so now she calls him a firedog. Oh, and the belt around her neck is her "collar". That was her little touch. I just had to keep making sure it was loose! :D

Have a great weekend ya'll!!!

Happy Fall Ya'll!

We had a beautiful and fun day today! After a birthday party and school fall festival, we loaded up the kids and drove to the country to visit the first of a few pumpkin patches on our list for the season. We only got one pumpkin, because we will be visiting a few more and the kids have to buy a pumpkin at each one. It turned out to be a lovely day. After the pumpkin patch, we ventured a little farther north and toured a neighborhood we have been wondering about. It was beautiful and everything we are looking for. Just not sure if we want to relocate that far and the timing with the market is not good, so even if we do move up there, it won't be in the near future. After that we had dinner and ice cream in downtown Dahlonega. And right next to the ice cream shop was a wine tasting parlor. :D How much more perfect could the day be?!!! So we left the kids on a bench and ducked inside for a few little sippies! Our fun was cut short when Mandi called on the cell phone and said they were done with their ice cream. Talk about role reversal! This little town is soooo cute. I felt like we had stepped back in time. Everyone was just hanging out, visiting. People were selling their crafts and there was even a lady with her little dogs doing tricks. It was all very Mayberry-ish. Here are a few pics from our day.

I just realized that I have done a LOT of posts with Linzi wearing this dress! She DOES have other clothes! :D She just really likes this one and it is still too warm for fall clothes.

Taking a hayride on the beautiful farm

A ladybug landed on Linzi while we are on our hayride!

Alex & Eric had fun shooting the apple cannon. Here is their target and right behind it is the cows. I asked the boys if they were concerned about the cows being hit but they said it hasn't happened yet and the apples were a yummy treat for them.

And I will end this post with a couple more pictures of my beautiful girl

And her dimple!

How can this sweet, little innocent kitten



grow up to be PSYCHO cat?!!!



I am sure that I see evil in those eyes. Seriously, this cat is RABID! She stalks me in my own house, bites anyone who attempts to love on her and has banished my other (very sweet) kitty from her very own backyard. She even tried to attack a neighbor who was holding her 6 week old baby. My neighbor was sitting in a chair in the backyard, visiting, when Sophie sneaks up behind her and jumps onto the arm that the baby's head was cradled in! I tried to shoo her off but she came right back and did it AGAIN!

And to prove my point as to just how BAD she thinks she is - She tried to attack the HORSES in our backyard at Linzi's party! Thankfully, the horses were very calm and mild mannered. They didn't even flinch as Sophie is jumping from the bushes and trying to wrap her claws around their legs! Who exactly does she think she is?!!!

Prayer Request Update

Thank you so much for all who offered to pray for my friend I mentioned in the last post. I know she appreciates each and every one and she is feeling them like never before. She is ready to share a little more publicly. Linette and I have never actually met, but we have been in contact for almost two years now. She contacted me to do her adoption video and when we found out our daughters were from the same SWI, we became friends. Geography has prevented us from ever physically meeting, but I feel like I have known her my whole life. I just know if we lived closer, she would be the one I would meet for coffee and play dates on a regular basis. The joy she finds in her family is contagious and I can honestly say I love her just like I love my closest "real life" friends. I do consider her to be one of my "real life" friends. I received an email from her on Sunday asking for prayer and I sat there, stunned, as I read what she is going through. It is a very scary time for them. She has been on my heart and mind constantly since then. Her surgery was postponed until she sees another doctor today. Hopefully in the next day or so, she will be able to have the surgery and get more answers to exactly what she is dealing with. Please continue to pray for her and for her family. You can read what she has shared on her own blog and leave her good wishes there if you would like. One of the many things that makes Linette so incredibly special is her unwaivering faith and ability to spread God's love in everything she does. She is the true definition of a Christian. And her daughter, well, you will just have to see for yourself!

Linzi's Birthday Party & Prayer Request

I said I wasn't going to do anymore videos for a while, but I had too many pictures that I wanted to include from the party. Hence, ONE MORE video! :D This will be my last one for a little while, I promise! Be sure to stop the music on the little dancing enip guy to the left before you begin the video.



Thanks for all the well wishes for my sick little Linzi Lu. She has the croup (sp?). We went to the doctor early Saturday morning and got some meds which she won't take. It has been a looong weekend but I think she is on the mend. On top of the croup, she has had a sick stomach. Not sure if that is from the croup or something else. Linzi NEVER gets sick, so just not feeling well was a little scary for her. I am thinking she will be back to her old self by tomorrow, I hope!

One last thing, I want to ask for a prayer request for a dear friend. She is another China mom and I don't want to give away any information to protect her privacy. God knows everything. I do know that many who visit my blog also know her, so please do not reveal any info. She is going through a very hard and uncertain time right now. She will be having surgery tomorrow and getting more answers later this week as to exactly what is in store for her. This friend and her family are scared and hurting right now, but they are also SO strong in their faith. They know that God is control and have placed all of their faith in Him, just as they have always done. Please pray for her health, her and her husband's peace of mind and strength to face whatever comes their way, the doctors' wisdom in healing and also for their sweet daughter to remain protected and as untouched as possible during this difficult time. There is POWER in prayer and in numbers!