On the days ..

Before Christmas McKaden gave to me ...

A smile in a Santa Dress, Baked cookies with Daddy, Played with baby Jesus [and plastic snakes?], Sang in a Christmas program, Took a nap, Sparkled in a Christmas dress, Went to the Nutcracker, learned about poinsettia's and dazzled us in velvet!

A Growing Boy

We got some more pictures of Max ... he is growing and changing before our eyes. Thought you might like an update on him. We don't have anything more than pictures right now. Please keep praying for this little guy - that he would be prepared for the move to our family. As you can tell, he seems to be all boy .... except for the clothing choices!!!

The Photo Shoot

Is there a way to get great pictures of two, three year old, silly girls? McKaden loves her friend J and would love to have her around all the time. She draws pictures of them together, they attend music class once a week and they have playtimes often. We are so glad that McKaden has a best little friend ... it is so cute!

Happy Birthday Daddy

Mark had his birthday and I will not tell you how old he is ... McKaden had fun making his cake and celebrating with him. What an amazing husband and Dad he is! We are so blessed!

Share and Share A Like

We have had some concerns about McKaden's ability to share when Max comes. She shares well with some kids and is terrible with others - we are concerned. We are trying to buy two of things and toys that the kids will enjoy sharing ... and now clothes. Janet sent over Braden's hand me downs for Max - McKaden picked this outfit from the bag and LOVES to wear it. So now poor Max will have to share even his own clothes ... what is he getting himself in to.

They say it's your birthday!

Happy Birthday McKaden!
How in the world did you get to be THREE already?! It seems that we were just having your first birthday party - we were all jet lagged from our long journey to China ... seems like yesterday. And now you are three - doing all those three year old things that amaze me everyday. You are such a special child, created to be in our family and to bring us much joy. This birthday was special as Nana and Papa were able to be here to celebrate with you [and Auntie Di for the cake!] I can hardly believe that it has been a year since Grandma and Grandpa were here for your last birthday ... what a blessed kid, grandparents for your party every year! This year you wanted a ladybug cake that Nana and Mama did their best to create for you


- you got a basketball hoop that is your own size!


a scooter that you can ride around on


bowling pins


AND you own ladybug "farm"! How cool is that?

Am I Thankful?

More than words can even say ...

That I wake to a sunrise that has been painted for me, by my amazing God!


That I am married to a man who is passionate about God, me, family and life!


For our Thanksgiving blessing, born on Thanksgiving, in China, 2004!

And for our friends and family that bring us many blessings. The list goes on and on as I sit here, looking out my window at the sunrise painted for me ... I AM Thankful!
ps. also thankful for our little Max ... NEW pictures to come SOON!

Disneyland Dreams

What a great time we had at Disneyland! We had this trip planned long before we knew about Max, so decided to do it anyway. Just think, next time we go, we will have TWO kids! That kind of makes me tired thinking about it! Anyhow, we had a great time celebrating McKaden Day- two years since she joined our family- and our pre-basketball trip. We had three days at the parks this time and thought that was just the right amount of time. Mac's favorite rides where the tea cups and anything that spins. We also found that - shhhhh, don't tell anyone ... that this is a GREAT time of year to go. There were so few people at the parks that we were able to go on rides over and over ... sometimes not even having to get off the ride! Mac also loved seeing Mickey and Minnie. What a great time ... I wonder how long before I can talk Mark into letting us go again ...

Two Years Ago

Two years ago I was both excited and anxious to become a mother. When that door opened and McKaden was brought into that tiny room, all things changed. From the moment that she was placed in my arms I felt at home - like it was right. She has brought us so much joy ... words cannot describe. Today is McKaden Day! Two years ago she joined our family and we have not had a dull moment since. Look back to our posts from November 2005 to see just how much this little one has changed. We love you McKaden Joy!

Leafing Fall

Fall is quickly heading out the door ... where is time going? We have tried to enjoy these last few weeks of cooler weather, bright colors and the quiet before the busy holiday season. Here are a few shots for Mac enjoying autumn in all it's glory. The other girls are her cousins, who is absolutely adores!

Halloween Collage

A Buggy Halloween

Once again Mac wanted to be a ladybug for Halloween ... we did get a new costume for her - even though she still fits in the 12-18 month one from last year. She loved her Noah's Ark party at pre-school and the Halloween party we had at our house. We had a fun time with her other pre-school aged friends and their parents. There was food, story time/arts and crafts [Thanks Christy!] and indoor trick or treating!! I would say that it was a very good Halloween for her.

Our Itsy Bitsy Spider

Make your own slide shows and scrapbooks

We have a LID

that is a Log In Date - meaning our stuff has been logged in China! What does that mean now ... I have no idea! ? I do know we are one step closer to Max!

Life is moving along

Where has the month gone?? We have been busy and time has just flown by. Sorry for the lack of updates and photo's. Here are a couple of highlights from the last couple of weeks.

We went to check on Grandpa and he is doing better. He could still use your prayers. Mac loved helping Grandpa with his food, helping push him in his chair and push the button to help him get out of bed. She likes to sing, "You are my sunshine" to him and tells him some lame knock, knock jokes. He always humors her and gives a good laugh.

Mac also had her school trip to the pumpkin patch - I almost got a little teary eyed when we got there and I thought - Oh, it is her first field trip - [I need to get more sleep]. She had a great time and I wish I had more pictures but I ran out of battery in my camera ... oh, well. The funny part was her out in the field trying to find the right pumpkin to take home. She looked around and found the tiniest one - I encouraged her to find a bigger one, but she would have nothing to do with it. Sooo, we will have to make our THIRD trip to the patch this year to get pumpkins that are large enough to carve.

It's a BOY!!!

We are pleased to announce that we will be adding a wonderful little boy to our family this spring! Please meet our new son and slightly younger brother to McKaden ... you see, we are going to have "twins" in our home!

Max AiGang

Born 1/25/05

Mao Ming City, Guangdong, China

McKaden will be 3 in November and Max will be 3 in January ... are we crazy? We just don't know?!

Will you join us in prayer everyday for our son? With McKaden I think I was more worried about the money and prayed that God would provide for us - and of course He did! With Max I feel more concerned about how this little guy is going to adjust, that he is safe and healthy.

Last thing - we must rename our blog ... any catchy titles? Missing Max?

Friends and Farms

We had a great time this weekend with friends who came to visit! This is McKaden and her friend Jack- who is 6 months younger and a head taller! They played great together and had a blast at the pumpkin patch.

Mark's girls at the pumpkin patch!

Cheetos

So, how do YOU eat your cheetos? I am not a fan of the messiness of this orange food [is it really a food?] so I was thrilled when she wanted to use her chopsticks to eat them. What a smart kid!

All in a Days Work

As life would have it, our laundry room is downstairs. I started, when Mac was a baby, carrying her in the basket to the laundry ... well she still loves it and now I am carrying around 28 pounds of her AND the laundry. I hate to see these days end as it seems she is getting to be such a big girl now. I guess you could say that I still like the times when she is like my little girl. I suppose that I can count this as my work out???

Tea Party Time

My folks came for a short visit [along with my sister and her son] and they had some fine tea parties on the deck. As you will notice they are all practicing their manners and holding out their pinkies while drinking tea. I have great memories of having tea with my Mom when I was a kid. There were many days we sat at, or under, the table having afternoon tea. It was fun to see the tradition carry on.

PreSchool part two

Quick update ... the second day of preschool went GREAT! I still feel silly that in my need to prepare her to be at school, I forgot to mention I would not be there. We talked about her going to school and I would go to work ... and I would come back and get her. She walked right into her room, found her desk and sat down ... waved and smiled. What a relief!

First Day Jitters

Today was McKaden's first day of pre-school. After much talk about school, practicing raising her hand, the pledge of allegiance and writing her name ... the big day came. I guess what I forget to tell her was that I was going to leave her there ... ooops. There were some tears, but overall a great first day. What a big girl we have!

The Sisterhood of the Traveling PINK Cowboy Boots

Mac is blessed to be close in age to her cousins that live close by. Every now and again we get some great hand me downs ... these pink boots were given to her. Mac's cousin Faith has loved her pink boots for some time - in fact her mother told me that Faith would choose to wear those boots with everything! These boots have made their way to our home and the "Sisterhood" continues. Mac wants to wear these everyday ... and puts them on with every outfit. She wears them shopping, to the aquarium and to the fair. I don't pictures but she wore them with shorts the other day ... great way to start conversations with strangers!!! I wonder where these boots will take her next ...

Meeting Mariah

For those of you out in blog land that have known us for years, here is a photo of Mariah and Rick. We had a great time getting to know Rick and catching up on life. We miss you Mariah!

Majesty

We were once again amazed at God and His Majesty! Hawaii always reminds us of how beautiful creation is! These are some photo's from our plane ride to Molokai and on our ATV ride and hike to the clouds ... amazing!

Aloha McKaden Style

Amazing vacation in Hawaii with my sister and her family. McKaden had a great time and LOVES the water. She spent a lot of time riding the waves, swimming underwater in the pool, going down the water slide by herself, digging in the sand. We love to vacation in Hawaii and it was fun to bring McKaden this time.

Loving the Small Town

We love our small town! We feel so fortunate to live NEAR a large city that offers us everything and anything that we could imagine - we also love that we live IN a small town that offers us a feeling of home. This weekend we had our small town festival that brought out most everyone in our community. We had fun on the carnival rides, watching the kids parade, the big parade, getting a variety of random free things [candy!] and eating corndogs and ice cream! We stayed up late and listened to the bands play and to watch the fireworks over the lake. I did not grow up in a small town, but Mark did, and this brings back such memories for him. I found myself laughing at some of the "small town antics" ... but at the same time finding they bring me much joy. Long live the small town!

ps. The pictures are from the parade ... on the balloon it is now you see it ... now you don't