Katie's Wedding Reception

Sophie and Sage with the beautiful bride (Katie, their cousin)

Remembering Grandpa W., only second time seeing him

Sophie, Grandma, Aunt Gwen, Mom, Sage

Fun with Grandma!

This is the second wedding/reception Sophie and Sage have been to since they've been home. Think they're getting the hang of it...
~say "hi" and hugs to everyone they know
~see people they haven't seen in awhile (that live far away)
~meet new family and friends for the first time
~each time we sit down, get served yummy food
~try not to catch the bouquet yet
~try not to steal the show (the photographer almost took as many pictures of S & S as the beautiful bride, should've billed him for advertising)
~try not to knock over the cake that's in the center of the room.
~try to remember, although it looks fun, it isn't Little Gym

S & S were much more relaxed at this one then the last, and they kept me on my toes. Couldn't believe it when we walked past the wedding cake and Sophie thought she would be the first to sample it on her little finger. Had to make sure it was good for the rest of us :). (luckily, it only left a little mark, so we quickly walked away while I gave them a short lesson on what not to touch as my mom cracked up laughing, sorry Katie:)
Good job Nick and Candace (cousin) at the gift table, did a great job keeping track of all those gifts!

Big Hugs to Katie & Sam on their temple marriage- match made in Heaven! Very nice reception, we had a wonderful time!

Best Mother's Day Gift!

A little late, but had some inquiries and wanted to share...

My DH put together this book of my blog for Mother's Day. I love it! It's a bound hardcover book with my words and pictures of our girls on each page. He spent hours on this... it will be such a nice keepsake for Sophie and Sage- already is for me! It starts from when we heard the great news, to touring Beijing, gotcha day in Guangdong, then home for 8 months- up to April. Thanks for all the effort and time put into this hon. It's a very thoughtful gift and you did a fabulous job!
BTW- He used mypublisher.com. It took a good 7-8 hours, you can't just cut and paste, he retyped each post and downloaded each picture. It's a large 100 page book, they come in different sizes. Great price for only $60, think he had a coupon from his buddy. You can make mini ones for different trips, celebrations, etc. Great, great idea! I love it!
Strange to blog on the book of our blog ;)

Memorial Day Memories

Paying respects to our loved ones- Memorial Day week-end... First we went to my FIL's grave. He was such a good father figure to me and wonderful Grandpa to our boys, not to mention he raised an incredible son! Our boys best memories of him are the many cozy times when he read to them on the couch, and the awesome paper airplanes he made! He passed away 6 1/2 years ago (cancer) and is truly missed! He would've loved our girls!

Then we went to my brother's grave, different cemetery. He is one of my heroes and I will always have great memories of him. He was born physically and developmentally disabled, not expected to live to see his teenage years, but lived until his mid 30's. He went through so much in life, including having his leg amputated in his 20's (received prosthetic leg). He couldn't speak but communicated well (signing) and although he was often in pain, he never complained and always had a smile on his face. He brought joy to all those around him and blessed our family in many ways. I'll never forget the great birthday celebrations with him and Christmas with my bro, Michael.
Families are Forever!

We rode Roxy today!

Roxy is so gentle and nice

Getting a good education
Mischief is sooo soft~ isn't this the cutest?

Our neighbor's horse had a baby! Sophie and Sage got to ride Roxy today, proud mom of her colt "Mischief". She is so adorable!
The girls were a little nervous at first, more from me backing away to take some pics then being on the horse. When Roxy started walking, they started giggling so hard, wish I had it on tape. They loved it and didn't want to get off. They got to feed Roxy her favorite- carrots. Then they gave Mischief a hug and kissed her good-bye on the leg. What great horses, thanks Laura!

Updated 7-22-07 for FFFF #36 To see more cute horsey pics, Click on Donna's Double Happiness

Happy Birthday Sophie & Sage!

Everyone's singing to us sis...

(first birthday celebration)

Wow, birthday's are a blast!!

With our good friend Addison, she's so much fun!

So glad Lindsay and Dannie came, they are our awesome primary teachers. We love playing with them! Like our whole body bib mom put on us to eat our cake?

Jen & Philip (Addison's mom & dad), playing keep away from Trev

Pampered for our Birthday!

I love the expression on Sage's face in the middle. They showed sheer delight with each gift they opened, especially the "My Little Ponies" from Uncle Mike.

Thanks everyone!!
Sage put all her stuff in the bags and held them on her back and said "it's my backpack". When I put them down for bed, I noticed all of their gifts safely tucked away right by their bed. Can't blame them, they've never had "their own" stuff like this, but they still crack me up

Our first birthday party, Wow! What a magical day. We invited our favorite people and had a great time in our back yard. A big thanks to everyone who came and all the nice gifts, and to mom & dad for the fun celebration. We feel loved!

Thanks to everyone who came at such late notice! [busy week] You made it very special for Sophie and Sage.

Sage- white dress, Sophie- red flowers

Worked Hard, Time to Play

We worked hard this morning helping mom plant her garden, then we got to take our first dip of the year. It was a perfect sunny day and the water was pretty warm. This is going to be a fun summer for sure!

I've been tagged!

Rony, mom of cute twins, from insanemommy tagged me with this mame. I'm supposed to share 7 unique things about myself...

Here goes...

1. Growing up, although shy, I was a daredevil, nothing scared me (that all changed after having children, now I'm not so shy but can be a big "scaredy cat" ie. mice, spiders, blood, especially from children...)

2. My best friend Katheleen & I (6th grade) had a school article written about us saying we were siamese twins, seperated at birth, finally reunited. We were such good friends and so much alike. I had awesome friends growing up!

3. I was a slob until I turned 12, just ask my sister, then overnight I astoundingly became a neat freak and have been ever since, well, before bringing home two treasures from China. My biggest pet peeve is crumbs and clutter on the floor, I've had to close my eyes a lot lately.

4. I met my husband with a wrong telephone number... we met the first week of college and got married 3 years later. I married my best friend and we're heading towards our 18 year anniversary, where has the time gone?

5. I hate epiderals and had all three child births natural- no medication, what was I thinking? Whatever's best for my children :)

6. I love music and I choose & conduct the hymns in church each week. Yikes- this is new to me!

7. Seven "would be" my lucky number, if I believed in luck, especially while in China... Flew in a Boeing 777, received our girls on Aug. 7, my b-day is Aug. 7 (best ever), we traveled in a group of 7 (then became 9), we checked 7 bags, now we are a happy family of 7 :) Such blessings!

O.K. Rony, although I normally don't do a post all about me, this was fun reminiscing, Thanks- anyone else who wants to play and share 7 random things about themselves, love to hear!

Hit 10,000 visits today, thanks for following our blog and for the many nice comments.

Go Jazz! They just won the Golden State Warriors and moving on to the Western Conference Finals! Yahoooo!

Happy Mother's Day

Visit to my mom's

Watching the Ducks out back

Then off to Paul's mom

Sophie- white bows, Sage- pink bow

We love our Mom's & Grandma's, and I love being a Mom!
Wishing everyone a Happy Mother's Day!!

To view other Mother's Day pics, go to Double Happiness

Dinner for two...

We normally do the fancy restaurants, but this year I wanted to do something more memorable. For Paul's birthday, I planned a black tie ;) dinner for two on our back deck. When Paul got home, he had to knock, then was politely greeted and seated. We enjoyed a peaceful candlelight Italian Dinner for two. We had the cutest waiters... Nick and Josh, they dressed for the occasion and did a fabulous job serving us (I could get used to this:). The food and service were excellent, except for the mandatory tip they threw in... good try boys. We enjoyed the soft music and couldn't have planned it better when our song (from college) came on as we were finishing up. "True Colors"- great memories hon! Then, the family joined as Paul opened his gifts. After dinner, we took the girls to play at Grandma's as we enjoyed a movie, Spider Man III. Of course, we couldn't end without celebrating with some some ice-cream. Happy Birthday Hon, wishing you an exceptional year!!

Birthday wishes from Mom & Dad D

(on Mother's Day- he's so spoiled :)

Happy Birthday Daddy, We Love You...

Here's why...

~We love you for being so funny and always making us laugh
~We love you for working real hard so mom can stay home to play with us
~We love you for letting us help you mow the lawn and ride on your tractor
~We love you for taking us boating, swimming and sledding
~We love you for not getting mad when we make mistakes
~We love you for your big hugs and playtime when you get home
~We love your mustache and how it tickles our face
~We love you for never complaining when you see our messes

~We love you for buying us pretty dresses

~We love you for teaching us to speak English
~We love you for helping us sit quietly at church
~We love you for treating mom like a queen and us like a princess
~We love you for agreeing with mom (finally:) to have more children
~We love you for coming all the way to China to bring us home
~We love you for keeping us together as sisters, and giving us 3 awesome big brothers- our heroes!
~And for loving us dearly and treating us like little ladies
~We are lucky to have a daddy like you!!! You're pretty lucky too!

Happy Birthday to Our Awesome Dad!!!

Saw this idea on Lisa's great blog

Mom's behind the Glass!!! Little Gym Update...

Hide & Seek

"They'll never find us here!!"

It happened! The girls walked right into Little Gym yesterday, pointed to an empty chair where the parents sit behind the glass, and said "we'll be right back." They are so proud of themselves (rightly so) and have come along way. Thanks Janet, Kim and Summer for your fun loving ways that helped my girls feel secure at Little Gym! They have been home for 9 months now, and have bonded to us very well, it is great to finally see them trust enough to let us go for a little while and know that we are coming back . They are going to primary on their own and don't mind when I get a babysitter every once in awhile- Thanks Lindsay & Dannie, and Laura- they love you guys! They will do great in pre-school. I'm so proud of Sophie and Sage, this was an enormous step and a big fear to overcome.