Through Review

We are officially through the Review Room in China! It only took 22 months!! (ha ha) Even though our wait is still long, it is encouraging to get some good news. We would love for this process to speed up so that we could bring our little one home soon, but we also know that God's timing is perfect. So, we'll continue to wait and see what this year brings.

Five

My little girl just turned five! A few days before her birthday she also lost her first tooth! This is almost too much at once for a mama to handle! Ella is a constant source of entertainment and joy for our family. She is full of energy and life and certainly makes our lives more fun!

We had a princess spa party for Ella's birthday. Basically, this consisted of 8 very energetic little girls taking over the house for a few hours! We painted nails (which were all chipped off by the end of the party!), did a little craft, and ate cupcakes. Ella had a wonderful time- she is always up for a party! (I think she gets this from her Daddy!)

Grammy made a very special dress for Ella. She can't wait to wear it to school!

Pom Pom Dress

Thank you for the pom pom dress, Grandma!

I love it so much and I wore it to school today! Love,Ella

Back in the Saddle Again...

Vacation is over and we are back into the swing of things with the kids. Tristan was very excited to get back to school and be with his class. He is starting to learn cursive and is excited to finally be able to practice (Tristan's teacher told him that they wouldn't start cursive until Jan., so being the "rule abider" that he is, he wouldn't let me teach him earlier than the new year.)

Ella is back to "special" gymnastics, the highlight of her week! She is very strong and determined and her teacher says that she is doing great!

We call Aidan the "spinner," as that is his latest talent. He likes to sit on the floor and spin in circles. He hasn't started crawling yet, but I don't think he's too far off. I am happy to have him just sit there and spin.

Here are a few more pictures:

hording the cookies!

Christmas slippers

family skate at the Petit Ice Center

wonder

Hi Maetia, Eli, and Asher!

Hello to our cousins!

Hi from Aidan!

Merry Christmas from Ella!

We miss you guys! Love, Tristan

Sinter Klaas

Our friend, Rose, from the Netherlands, came to vist us. We haven't seen Rose in 3 years, so it was a really special time for us to spend with her. One of the highlights of Rose's visit was celebrating Sinter Klaas with her and the kids. Tristan and Ella really got into it and were counting down the days until December 5th! After supper, we were surpised with a knock on our back door and a bag full of presents left for us. The kids got a bag of traditional Dutch candies, John received dropjes (not sure on the spelling of this one!), and I got marzipan- my favorite! Someone knew what we liked!! Here are some pics from the celebration...

Christmas Tree

John and I took the kids to a Christmas tree farm in Indiana today. I was doing a photo shoot at the farm and the kids were able to come and enjoy the snow! It was quite chilly, but they didn't seem to mind... even Aidan was a happy boy! The family gave us a tree for our house... we are very grateful. So, tomorrow we will spend the afternoon decorating ...I can't wait!

enjoying a hayride to the field

aidan is 8 months old

snow angel

tristan loved to jump out with the surpise attack!

the car ride home... i think they're tired!