Skating

We went on a field trip to the Cupertino Ice Park with PILA last Friday. Both Nathan and Matthew were apprehensive about ice skating. Matthew in particular was anxious and was even more reluctant than usual to go to school that morning. I tried to comfort him by recounting how fun ice skating was (for me).

Phew - he and Nathan had a wonderful time! There was a LOT of falling. But a lot of getting back up. No one cried. They (and they whole group of kids who were there) were amazing. I loved their perseverance and glee. I got on the ice as well for the first time in at least 15 years. Even helping all of the kids lace up their skates brought back such fond memories of skating with friends as a kid. And oh - I remember so well the feeling of getting out of your skates and putting on your own shoes - and how they feel like the most comfortable shoes in the whole world.

Good Times

I have been neglecting my blog as of late :-(. Dave and I have really, as of late, been hearing from the Lord about making our marriage and our family time a priority. And we have both very much felt through circumstances and God's discipline - the Lord wanting to gain us in a real way.

On to lighter topics! Last Sunday, Dave and I, and John and Rachel Ku had our first ever double date. Actually, I can honestly say that this is the first ever double date I have ever been on EVER. Don't worry, we didn't paint the town red, or go dancing, or even out to eat. We drove our kids over to the Hos' house and we ate in at the Kus' home and played. . .

Something I haven't played in 15 years. . .

Something I was quite into for a while in college. . .

It stretches the mind and brings out my competitive spirit. . .

SCRABBLE!

And it was sooooo fun. Here's our board at the end of the game.


And I won!

And thanks to Sam, I have photographic evidence of what our children did while we were managing our racks, looking for bingo words, and strategizing how to get the triple word score...





Ah yes. Gotta love the glow of screen light on my dear children's faces. It makes them look both intense and out of it at the same time.




That's Nene playing the cajon. Pretty cool percussive instrument. When we came to pick them up, everyone there was having a worship jam session. Guga on the guitar (amped), Dorothy on piano, and Grace (and others) on the cajon. It was so nice. Actually, it sounds corny, but we joined in for a couple of choruses and as I saw there next to my wonderful husband singing praises to the Lord - I felt like it was such a balm to my soul. I needed it.

{Blue}

I love blue.
Blue is for the Dodgers.
Blue is for Cal.
Blue is good :-).
Matthew thinks so, too.

Wordless Wednesday

LID! LID!!!

I e-mailed Xiaoqing today (BAAS was closed this last week because of the holidays) and found out that our dossier was received in China and our log-in date was 12/21/10. Woohoo!

This means that we are now eligible to be matched with our little girl!!!

A dear friend of mine said, "Congrats, Chenning! This is so exciting! It's like being pregnant and not knowing how long your gestation is going to be."

Christmas Fun

Fun stuff. We went down to Los Angeles for Christmas. We are a lot, saw a lot of friends and family, and opened LOTS of presents (well, at least the children did - and they loved it). The adorable little girl is my niece, Tabitha. And that is Nathan holding his cousin Evan in the last piccy.

So thankful for the Christmas season and all that it brings. Most thankful for God giving us His wonderful gift - JESUS. Praise Him - He makes all the difference. He is Life itself :-).

Hair Today, Goin' Tomorrow {to Someone Else}

Well, I chopped it. My hair. This is the second time I have grown out my hair to donate to Locks of Love. If you have never heard of it, Locks of Love is an organization that takes hair (and monetary) donations and creates wigs for children with alopecia areata. Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease where your body treats hair as an antigen - so people with this condition do not have hair on parts of their body, usually the scalp. It can happen where it is alopecia totalis - where hair does not grow at all on the scalp. As you can imagine, this can be very stigmatizing and devastating for children and adults alike. The cool thing is that 80% of the donations to Locks of Love are actually from children who want to help other children. Isn't that awesome? You can check them out here www.locksoflove.org

Those of you who know me know that I have very thick and bushy hair that becomes a wild beast when it gets long (thus the ever-present ponytail once it is long enough to be tied up). I have had to show my ever growing hair who's boss by keeping it under literal wraps and in things like scrunchies, bands, and hairagami. Anyway - it finally was long enough so that I could cut off the required 10 inches and still have enough to look ok (you can be the judge of that). So - I miss my ponytail, I do - but I am so happy that my hair is going off to help someone. And I feel so much lighter, too :-).