Winter Wonderland

Skating, Skiing, Snowboarding, Hot-tubbing. A nice February vacation for all.

At the indoor rink, and no, we cannot find a helmet small enough for Cupcake's head.

Apres ski at the rental...

Our best weather day and the day Cupcake went to childcare...

Cupcake made a few runs with J. She likes the lift the best and turns into a noodle on skis just like her big sis did at this age.

A quick air by #1. This kicker is BIG up close.

Ali at 39 months

Here are some new photos of Miss Ali taken last week-ish in Guate. No news on any actual case progress though. Maybe April???

More posts to come in the next few days since we are home from a ski/snowboard trip and have video clips of all four kids ripping it up on the mountain. #1 is competing today in an Air for Autism event, and he hopes to show the judges his newest accomplishment- a backside 360 off the big kicker. (Note: J cannot even do that!)

A Little Late on Spark's Anniversary

I just realized after reading Tracy & Laura's blogs which both have Happy 3 year Gotcha Day anniversary posts on them right now (Happy 3 years, girls!!), that The Spark's Gotcha Day anniversary day did not get a post. We met in Changsha on January 17, 2005 and came home on January 26, 2005. It is always #1's birthday and often CNY right in that same time frame, so although we did remember it had been 4 years (!) on those dates, I neglected to post about it. So here it is a month after the fact...

Here she is at 3 months old in her referral photo:
And here she is at The White Swan after we'd known each other 1 week:

And here she is with a cold being a little silly and a little spacey a few weeks ago:

She is so sweet, so funny, so smart, and of course, so beautiful! We are so lucky that she was chosen for us and that we are her family!

The Spark's Birthday Adventure

The Spark is FIVE! She often says she wishes she could fly, so we took her flying. The rest of us were more than happy to give it a try too. A great time was had by all. Well, all except Cupcake who was too little to do anything but watch, and she's not one for being side-lined. The Spark was so brave; she went first and just jumped right into it like it was no big deal. I was a little nervous, but #2 had just had a turn and said to me, "Mom, I was a little scared at first too, but then it's really fun!" So I figured if little Mr. Cautious himself didn't think it was too scary, I would be fine. He was right. It was fun. And you can probably guess that #1 is already asking about when we can do it again. Thanks for having such a cool wish, Sparky, and for sharing your birthday fun with all of us!

For the kids the wind speed was around 100 mph and for the grown-ups it was closer to 200 mph. The instructors and regulars have the wind speed up at 200 mph, and they can do all kinds of cool tricks. The kids mostly stayed a few feet above the bottom screen thingy unless the instuctor was holding onto them like you can see in the video where he takes The Spark up a bit higher.

More golds last weekend for the big guys. Here's a quick clip of #1 doing a "Japan" grab in the snowboard park at Ragged Mtn.

Tomorrow is The Spark's 5th birthday, and we'll definitely need to post pics from our birthday adventure tomorrow afternoon.

Guate UN-update

Almost two years since I've held my middle daughter. Almost a full year since J splashed with her in the hotel pool. Nine and a half weeks since the judge approved Ali's adoption. Six weeks since our file entered the Guate gov't office that issues birth certificates. Three weeks since that office claimed our file needed two more official documents before they can issue Ali a new birth certificate. Still no birth certificate. Unbelievable is the word that may first come to mind, but it is all too believable based on our experience. It is going exactly as we would expect for this adoption. It will be slow to the bitter end. It will be unbelievable when Ali walks off that airplane, and I can wrap my arms around her and bring her to her new home.

As for the rest of us hanging out at home while the big guys are at a Boardercross competition today...

Cupcake is a little stinker.
Her new favorite hiding place. She climbs in this cabinet and closes the doors.

The sweater I knit for The Spark on my pick-up trip to China the first time around.

Mod jumper I made originally for Ali but now fits Cupcake perfectly.

G' bye Granny Nath

Sorry so long with no posts again. My computer caught a virus and had to be sent away to recover. It's back now, so I can function online again. I've been waiting to create a post about my grandmother who passed away last week. We knew she wasn't doing well since she'd been in the hospital for several days, and it didn't look like life would improve much for her from then on. We thought she had maybe three to six months left in this life.

Two days before my mom called to tell me that Granny Nath had passed away, I was struck by the strongest memory I've had of Gran in a very long time. When I poured my morning cup of coffee, the smell transported me right back to Granny Nath and Grampy Nort's kitchen table in the very wee hours of morning. It was still dark outside, and Gran had been up for hours already with her cup of coffee when I joined her at the table. I was five, I was six, I was eight years old. She read to me the children's stories from her Women's Day or Ladies Home Journal magazine while I had toast with cinnamon sugar and she had coffee. It was the first time I heard Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst which is now a favorite of my kids.

I smell my own coffee brewing every morning, but that morning a little over a week ago, it smelled different. It smelled like Granny Nath's coffee, and I was in that kitchen with her in the 1970's. I think she was preparing to leave her one-month-shy of 90 year old body when I was struck by that memory.

So, here are a few photos of my wonderful Granny Nath who spoiled me rotten every chance she got. Who would yell, "Hey Knucklehead!" out the window of her charcoal gray convertible if someone drove to close to her even though she was the one straddling two lanes. Who would take me for the very best cheeseburgers and cherry soda at the local "Tap" and always had a dime for the pinball machine. Who would let me stay up hours past my bedtime to watch The Love Boat and Fantasy Island and Johnny Carson from a cot next to her bed. Who would always tell people exactly what she thought as the thought entered her head even if it was to let me know that one boyfriend or another was not at all very handsome. Who upon meeting J for the first time turned to me and declared, "He has such nice teeth!" Phew, he passed the Granny Nath test.

Granny Nath, a.k.a. Nathalie, as a toddler...

with my dad...

listening to #1 tell it like it is...

and giving #2 some lovin' at his first X-mas...

We'll miss you, Gran!