Christmas in Connecticut

Celebrating Christmas continued with our trip to Connecticut to see Grama Barb and Aunt Linda. Uncle George and his family traveled to Connecticut too. Grandma was happy to have her children and most of her grandchildren there. The kids had a blast together, running around, having dance contests and opening gifts. It is so neat to see them all get along so well.
Our final Christmas celebrations were eating lunch at UNOs with Nick working our table. It wasn't an ideal way to celebrate but he did get a chance to open his gifts between bringing food to the customers. We then brought Katie back with us were we celebrated once again, this time at Grandma and Pop Pop's house.

Christmas 2009

What a great Christmas. Sophia clearly understood that Christmas meant waking up and seeing gifts from Santa and spending time with family. Of course spending time with family also meant opening more gifts!!

Christmas Eve was spent making cookies for Santa, making a gingerbread house, going to church and leaving a note for Santa.
Joy filled the house on Christmas morning when Sophia came down to find that Santa did indeed leave her lots of toys. She got a kitchen set which she LOVED. She immediately started making coffee and cooking breakfast on it. She also got a Leapster which she tested out and ended up playing a game for quite some time.

Grandma Beadle, Grandma Bev and Pop Pop came over for brunch. It was nice to spend some time with them on Christmas. Sophia made gifts for her grandparents. She felt so proud giving the gifts to them.

After a wonderful visit we packed up the car to head to Connecticut for another Christmas celebration with Grandma Barbara. We left around 5:00 PM so went straight to the hotel. Sophia could not wait to see everyone in the morning.

SNOW!!!

22 inches of snow!!! Amazing!!

It is very rare to get any snow here never mind 22 inches. We had a blast digging out, making snow angels, having Boba pull Sophia on a sled ride. The roads took several days to be cleared and schools were closed so we had lots of time to play. It may not snow on Christmas but we will certainly have a white Christmas.

Getting Ready for Christmas

Christmas is such an exciting time of the year. The anticipation this year is tangible. Sophia is over-joyed with the thought of Christmas. She loves every aspect of it. She loved putting together her list for Santa. She loved decorating the tree. She has been making gifts for family and friends.

No doubt the Grinch was right when he said, "What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more." Seeing the joy that comes from the anticipation, taking time to celebrate as a family, making gifts from the heart and remembering that life is all about enjoying these moments is something you can't buy from a store and truly means so much more.

First Snow of the Season

These pictures say it all. We got a couple inches of snow on December 5th. Sophia could not wait to go outside to play. We had a blast. We took the dogs for a walk at the park. Sophia then played in the snow making snow angels. She went sledding with some neighbors before we had to head in. It was a wet snow which made us both cold. We went out later that night after the snow stopped and made a few small snowmen. It was so much fun!!! I am not sure who loves the snow more, me or Sophia.

Visit with Santa

We went to the Baltimore and Ohio train museum to visit Santa again this year. Sophia made a list of things she wanted for Christmas. It was quite the list. She cut pictures out of toy magazines and taped them into a little book. She asked for a toy kitchen, a Super Why computer, a ride-on Thomas toy, a microphone, Leapster and other toys. She sat with Santa and reviewed her list. She was so brave this year. No tears this year. After reading the list together we took several pictures.

Sophia decided to take the train ride with Frosty this year. She was a little shocked to see it wasn't a real snowman. She understood that if it was a real snowman it would melt. She was glad Santa was the real thing and not in a costume. We took some time looking at all the trains including the toy trains. Sophia can not wait until Thomas the Tank Engine comes to the train museum this spring.

November Update

Are the months going by faster or are we just getting busier? November was another month which we packed a lot of fun into.

Sophia and I took another trip to the Zoo. It was a beautiful November day this time around. We visited all the animals and feed the giraffees. Sophia loves seeing the animals and enjoys looking at the map to find the animals she wants to see. We did a lot of walking and Sophia never complained. She is such a trooper.

Steve, Sophia and I took a weekend trip to Williamsburg. We had a great time. On Saturday we went to Historic Williamsburg. We listened to Thomas Jefferson and then checked out some of the shops. Sophia loved seeing the kids march in the parade. She followed behind them marching along. She even got a drum afterwards so she can make her own music. We took a horse and carriage ride too.

On Sunday we went to Jamestown. Sophia loved seeing the fort and ships. They had a lot of hands on stuff for us to do. Sophia enjoyed grinding corn, scrapping out a tree to make a boat and trying on the armor. We had a great weekend.

We had a lot to be thankful for on Thanksgiving. Nick and Katie joined us, so we were all together. Grandma Bev made turkey and stuffing and we brought the fixin's for a true feast. Sophia made Pop Pop's favorite pumpkin pie cake. We all enjoyed spending time together. These weekends seem to go too quickly.

FOUR years old

My goodness! Where does the time go. Sophia turned four today. It is so hard to believe. Over the past few months she has really starting to look forward to special events. She could not wait for her party. We had such a fun-filled day. It started with our tradition of a cupcake and balloon being delivered to her first thing in the morning. She also opened her gift from China. This gift from her birth county hopefully serves as a symbol that her roots are important to her and us and will never be forgotten. This year's gift was a puzzle of China.

We then had a party at the music school where Sophia takes lessons. This was her first birthday party which she celebrated with her friends. She loved every minute of the party. She loved all the attention, games, songs, dancing, cake and presents.

Baba saved the day with checking on the cake order on Saturday. It is a good thing because they never had record of us ordering her Thomas the Tank Engine cake. She loves Thomas and had picked out Thomas favors and we made a Thomas craft project. She could not wait for her special cake. I can not imagine going to pick it up only to find out they lost the order. Baba went to another store and they rushed the order for us. They had the cake ready Sunday morning. What a great Dad!!! He saved the day.

We celebrated with Grandma Beadle, Grandma Bev and Pop Pop Skip. We all went out for dinner and then came back for more cake and presents.

Needless to say at the end of the night Sophia was all partied out.

Halloween

What a Halloween! Sophia could not wait for Halloween. She has been talking about it for months. She started out over the summer planning her Halloween costumes. We had everything from Mickey Mouse, a banana, an elephant, a witch, Dora, a dinosaur and Minnie Mouse. We finally told her she needed to make a decision and stick to it seeing we were going to buy the costume. She decided on a purple butterfly. We got her wings and a purple outfit. She even went to the zoo in this costume. Her mind was made up... until Halloween morning when she decided she wanted to be a race car. She finally settled on Minnie Mouse, a costume that her cousins had given her. Seeing that she had the costume in her closet we decided it was okay for her to change her mind.

She had a blast walking around the neighbor and getting candy. She was very polite, thanking everyone for her treats. It was a great night.

October update

We had lots of fun in October. Nick and Katie came down one weekend. It just so happened that it was the weekend of the Family Day Picnic at the adoption agency we used when we adopted Sophia. It isn't often we are able to do things like this as a whole family. Nick enjoyed himself playing soccer with some of the boys there and Sophia was her typical outgoing self, running around and playing.

Later that month Sophia and I took a trip to visit Grandma Barb. We all had fun. We went out to eat with Grandma Barb, went to the beach (even though it was COLD) and went to Aunt Linda's to celebrate her birthday. Seeing Stephanie, Hollie, Sophia and Auntie Linda all have fall birthdays we had a little birthday celebration with cake. Sophia loves playing with her cousins.

Gearing up for Halloween we went to the zoo for Boo at the Zoo. Sophia went as a butterfly. She loved getting the candy and visiting the animals. Unfortunately it started raining so we weren't able to feed the giraffes but I am sure we will get back there again soon.

We had fun playing in the leaves. I remember the joy of jumping in piles of leaves as my Dad raked them up. Watching Sophia do the same reminded me of my childhood days. Life is so carefree when you are young. It is about enjoying the moment and not trying to finish the task. It made me pause and enjoy the moment without worrying about getting the leaves in the bags and heading in for lunch. It is great to have a four year old around to help us remember what life is all about.

Disney Cruise

Where should I begin? The Disney Cruise really is magical. Believe all the advertisements you see. From the moment we boarded the bus from the airport to the ship Sophia was captivated.

I was a bit worried about her seeing the characters. She was not thrilled with all of the of the characters but she LOVED seeing Mickey and Minnie. She took pictures with them several times. She even took pictures with Goofy and Cinderella.

She loved the pool. The best part was her and Katlyn could run in and swim with Heather and I sitting pool side. They entertained themselves for hours.

Castaway Island, Disney's private island, was amazing. Sophia and Katlyn loved swimming in the ocean and playing in the sand. They went to the kids club for a musical scavenger hunt so Heather and I got to check out the adults only part of the beach. It was beautiful.

I can't think of a better vacation for young children. I can't wait to go back again someday with the whole family.

Sophia says, "No more pictures Mom!!"