Bell Ringing

JuJu, Emily, and Mommy...glad to help!

For the past three years, we have helped our church ring the bells for the Salvation Army at Christmastime to help people in need. I feel this is an invaluable lesson for Emily to learn about helping others who are less fortunate than she is. The first couple years she didn't quite understand the concept. But I must say, this year she did wonderfully well, and truly does understand the concept of volunteering, giving to those in need, and what it means for her to be blessed with all that she needs or wants..

JuJu and Grandma's birthday!

Emily's Auntie JuJu and her Grandma share the same birthday, and we went out as a family for a great evening to help them celebrate. It may have been SUPER crowded, and very loud there, but the food was good and the company even better!

Happy birthday JuJu and Grandma

Gingerbread House 2014

We made our annual Gingerbread House this December with my girl Emily! We have been doing this every December since bringing her home from China in 2010. It is a tradition that requires the entire family, much fun, lots of candy, laughter, joy, and the holiday spirit.
This is probably Emily's best one to date! She was very proud of herself, as she should be! Great job Lovey Bug!
Kathy

So much sweetness

Let the decorating begin!

Proud girl!

JuJu's 50th Birthday Party

Happy 50th

In December, we celebrated Emily's Auntie JuJu's 50th birthday by throwing her a bash! We had so many friends and family come to wish her well. Emily was very excited to see everyone, and to wish her JuJu lots of love and many more years of happiness to come! We love you JuJu, and we love sharing a home with you so we can see you each and every day!
Love,
Kathy

Delish!!

This is what first graders do at a party for a 50 year old!

Emily LOVES her JuJu!

Thanksgiving 2014

Emily's picture for her grandma and grandpa

We celebrated the day with family at my dad and step mom's house, otherwise known as Emily's grandpa and grandma! We had lots of family there; step siblings, nieces, nephews, etc. Emily loved that grandma gave her a job to do. Once Emily saw that other people had a "job," she asked grandma for one too. Grandma had her gather all the plates from the individual place settings and bring them into the kitchen so everyone could dish up in there. Thanks grandma for finding a "job" Emily could do with pride!
It was fun to spend the day with family and enjoy some time together with good food, laughter, football, and much more. This year my nephew Jeff was handed the carving knives and had a go at carving the turkey for the first time. Way to go Jeff! Nicely done! We hope you all had a fabulous time with your families as well!
Kathy

My girl

My nieces Makena and Karley

Emily doing her "job"

Great job Jeff

Sampling his cutting technique

My niece Linsey and Emily

Thanksgiving Feast at school

Grandpa, Grandma, and Emily

Grandma and Grandpa came to school in November to have the annual Thanksgiving feast with Emily! Our principal was dressed as a turkey, which all of the kids loved! Emily loved having her grandparents visit her school to celebrate with her!
Kathy

Emily and her friend Emma

The girls with our school principal as the TURKEY!

First Swim Meet November 2, 2014

Waiting for the meet to begin!

WOW...my baby is on a swim team and rockin' it!! Her first ever swim meet was held at Mount Hood Community College in the "bubble." This is what they call the outdoor pool in the winter as it has a HUGE white tent like dome over it for the cold months.
We had NO IDEA what to expect as this was our first swim meet ourselves. Needless to say we found out that after that first one we needed to bring bleacher seats to all of the rest for the season! Swim meets are LONG, if you didn't know. 3 1/2-4 hours. But, when it's your baby, time goes by fast. And actually watching all of the kids swim is thrilling!
The team is a CYO team which is Catholic Youth Organization. Yes, you are correct. We are not Catholic. But since Emily's school doesn't have a team, she can try out for this Private school team as a member of the community. Cool huh??
She was entered in three events in her first meet. She was in the 25 yard freestyle, 25 yard backstroke, and the 100 yard freestyle relay. Her first race in the freestyle she came in 2nd. Yippeee!!! Her first team race!! Way to go babe! She came in fourth in the backstroke, but actually got a ribbon for that heat as the other girls all turned over onto their tummies or sides. That's my darling! She actually has some of the best looking swimming for the Polliwogs, but just needs to work on her speed. That's what I love about this team. They focus mainly on the love of swimming and each child getting better individually! Save the super competitiveness for the later years! She did great at all of her meets this season, and actually has just one meet left on January 18th. This will be the championship meet for the Polliwogs! There will then be an awards ceremony in February where each swimmer will receive a medal from their coach!
These pictures are from her very first meet!
Enjoy!
Kathy

Cool...inside the "bubble"

My baby is going to swim here...

Emily and Olivia

Such a cutie patootie swimmer

Very first ribbon for the backstroke!