Merry Christmas to All!

Mighty big shoes to fill....

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Nina is all about Christmas this year. We went into the woods and cut down our tree, which she continues to talk about daily, that Daddy cut the tree and gave it an ow-ie. When it was time to decorate she did put a few on the tree (all on one branch) but was more interested in putting the hooks on the ornaments. So far she has not really bothered the ornaments much. But she is always asking to put the lights on. So far she has seen Santa (more on that later), helped wrap some gifts, listens to Christmas music ALL day, EVERY day, and this weekend will help bake some cookies. It will be a busy holiday season but so far Nina is loving every minute of it. Us too!

One Year Ago Today...

We were in China meeting Nina for the first time. It has been an incredible year. We have all grown so much as a family. She is a happy, healthy and helpful girl and sometimes it is still amazing to us that she is our daughter. The sights of China are still fresh for us. It was a whirlwind 14 days but we remember so much: The first night with Nina in the hotel and the Christmas party in the lobby, the trips to the orphanage, zoo, Walmart, civil affairs office, the Cafe at 2; and our time in Guangzou on Shamian Island, at the park, the Italian and Mexican restaurants, and the Friendship store. Nina was apprehensive with us at first but soon we would see her trust in us blossom and now it is clear she is firmly attached. If every year is as good as this past one has been we will be very fortunate!

Fall cleanup

We don't have many large trees in our yard and most of the leaves come from the neighbors trees, but that doesn't stop the ever helpful Nina from raking the leaves. We have to be careful of the dog deposits, but she did a fine job of getting the yard nice and tidy for winter. She is available for hire if you need a hand with your yard. ;-)

Happy Halloween!!!!!

Nina's first Halloween with us was perfect! We went to a party at her daycare and then trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. she quickly got the hang of it. She said "one more house, then home" after every house we went to. Twenty houses (and a bag full of candy) later we headed home! She was the cutest trick-or-treater of all and her costume was a hit. I think she wishes Halloween was more than once a year - me too

Nina's 3rd Birthday

Nina turned 3 years old yesterday. It was a great party with cake, ice cream, balloons and presents. She had a fun time and enjoyed all of her gifts. This is her first birthday in our family and we are just so thrilled to be a part of her life and overjoyed that she is our daughter.

Our First Overnight Stay at YNP

Despite all the times we have been to Yellowstone, we have never stayed overnight - until this past weekend. It was great waking up in the Park! We had a cookout (always an adventure) the night before and stayed at the Old Faithful Lodge (not to be confused with the Old Faithful Inn). We took a hike in the morning to the "Solitary Geyser" and saw a few animals throughout the weekend, including a couple of bald eagles. We are planning a return trip next month, but will stay in a different part of the Park. It is one of the reasons we love living where we do!

First Haircut

Nina had her first haircut on Monday (with Mom). She did great! She sat in the booster seat and held Mama's hand. she didn't cry but was a little curious about the scissors. She sat still long enough to get a trim. Hopefully we can start getting haircuts on a more regular basis.

Festival Fun

Nina went to her first festival last Saturday (the kids run was part of the festival). There were lots of kids activities, that we never knew about since we didn't have kids before, and lots of good food. She hada chocolate covered banana (yum!) and enjoyed hammering and painting a beautiful wood creation, blowing bubbles, making a picture and a magnet. That was about all we had time for as she fell asleep in our arms!

First Race

If you know Tim at all you know it wouldn't be long before Nina ran in her first race. Last Saturday she ran in a 1K kids run in town. While she spent most of the race being carried by Daddy, she did manage to run long enough for us to get a couple pictures.

A visit to the goat farm

Last week we visited the goat farm as part of the Rec department's summer program. There must have been about 100 people there! Nina had a wonderful time feeding and petting the goats. She especailly liked "walking" some of the ones that were on leashes. They were quite a bit smaller than Thunder, so she was a pro at it. She cried when we had to go home and leave the goats behind. she wanted to take one home! (They were cute!)

Enjoying the Summer

I know it's been a while since I posted, but the summer goes so dang fast! It is so easy to let it slip away! Anyway, we have enjoyed the summer so far and had a special visitor a few weeks ago - Ellen. Nina had so much fun with her and continues to talk about her. We were busy while she was here, visiting Yellowstone, some caverns, a "ghost town," and just hanging around. The bear was not really this close - zoom lens!

More Happy Hollow

Happy Hollow

We also visited Happy Hollow, a park with a few rides and a zoo with a petting zoo. Again, the rides were a big hit. Nina also liked feeding the animals. There were donkeys, sheep, goats and a cow. Some of the animals were a little more "hungry" than others.

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