It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like.....
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> We went last weekend to Butlers Orchard in Germantown, MD to cut our own Christmas tree. It was warm but a great day filled with caramel apples, cider, apple cider donuts...yummo!
> We finally got the tree decorated Saturday night and the trains out tonight. Also on Saturday, Jay and I took turns watching the kids: early in the morning, I participated in the DC Hot Chocolate 15K. While the race was cold and totally unorganized, it was worth the 9.3 miles for the hot chocolate fondue and cups of hot chocolate at the end. Jay, on the other hand, spent the afternoon strapped to a tree looking for deer...I ask you: Which of us had more fun:-)
> On Sunday, we went to hear Handel's Messiah at The Falls Church. What a great experience! The church was built in the 1730s...pipe organ, choir, and full orchestra in the balcony. I think it was one if the best performances I've heard. It was also really cool to know that George Washington himself was once a vestryman there...very cool day!
> Hope you all are enjoying the sights and sounds of Christmas. Love to all!!

Summer Update

Greetings friends and family!
Has your summer been as crazy as ours?
Since I have not updated you all since Easter, I'll try to hit the highlights!
Our adoption paperwork for Kai is moving along slowly...and we have no one to blame but ourselves.  However, we have recently burnt the midnight oil to make some significant progress, so we hope to have the final dossier paperwork out in the next month or so...
In July, we had the privilege of a visit from my brother Cole and his family.  We were able to play tourist for a couple of days to Mount Vernon, The Naval Academy, and the Sunset Parade at the Marine Corps Memorial.  Here are few pictures from those events:

In late June, Cael had undergone a second surgical procedure that, unfortunately, was not as successful as anticipated.  Therefore, he had to undergo a third procedure just two days before Jay had a scheduled surgery to remove one lobe of his thyroid.  Jay's procedure was a huge success and we received word late last week that there was no cancer.  PTL!!!  Cael is hanging in there but is continuing to have some pain that we are having trouble controlling well, so we covet your prayers for him during this battle.  Here is a picture of my two patients shortly after their procedures and the big brother who came in to comfort his little buddy...so sweet!

Finally, on the first of August, Cael lost his first tooth...with 3 more ready to go at any time!!  We had been patiently waiting for it to come out.  After breakfast one morning, Campbell looked and said, "Cael.  Your tooth is gone!"  So we think he might have swallowed it...oh well!  I can report that the tooth fairy DOES still come, even when there is no tooth to leave under your pillow!

Last but not least:  Last week Campbell celebrated birthday number 9!  I can't believe it...seems yesterday he was still in a crib:-(  We are so proud of the young man he is becoming...if much to quickly for his mommy!  Happy Birthday, Big Boy.

Merry Christmas and Happy Easter

Dear Friends and Family,
I have not been good about keeping up with the blog and we have SOOOO much to tell you!
I will keep it to the condensed version, as much as possible, but the bottom line is that we are doing great and are continuing to grow as a family...on many levels...more on that later.
So Christmas was great.  Cael decided that Christmas should come around more often than once a year.  We stayed in DC this year and enjoyed a little down time.  The boys both played basketball for the first time and had "a ball"...get it!  Anyway, baseball season starts this week and they are both excited about giving that a try.  They were also enrolled in Chinese school for the Spring Semester, and although they enjoyed it, it is something they both decided that they did not want to continue.  The fact is that Cael spoke mostly Cantonese and the only language they taught was Mandarin, so it was brand new for both of them and they decided sports was more fun...oh, well...I'll keep trying.
We celebrated Cael's first birthday in the US, our first "Gotcha Day" anniversary, and Campbell's baptism... all in one weekend!!  My parents were able to join us on short notice and since my father is a retired minister, he was able to baptize Campbell.  Suffice it to say that I was an emotional wreck ALL weekend and cannot remember as many happy occasions in such a short time span.  I believe the pictures speak for themselves!
Finally, on Good Friday, we received our "Pre-Approval" for a beautiful one year old little boy in Shenzhen, China.  So that means that the flurry of paperwork will begin, once again.  We hope to have him home in 6-9 months.  My joke at work has been that I have not even lost the last adoption weight and now I am right back to eating for two, again.  I did promise to have my adoption tubes tied after this one...God is so good!  I promise to share more details and pictures of Kai (his Chinese name, but we kinda like it!) as soon as we can!!
We miss you all...Come visit when you can!
Love,
Kim and Gang