Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a very enjoyable Thanksgiving celebration this year. My brother, Xavier, was able to come visit with us even though Grandma, Pop-Pop, and Doe were not (since Grandma is not feeling well and needs to keep her immune system healthy right now). This year, we decided to dine out for the first time! Mama has cooked Thanksgiving dinner every year since she and Daddy have been married with the exception of one year, so this was a real treat for her. We went to the fabulous buffet at Chateau Elan, a nearby vineyard and winery in Braselton, Georgia. Here I am standing by the fireplace at their beautiful resort.

Xavier took this picture of Mama, Daddy and me overlooking the Versailles restaurant (where the Thanksgiving dinner buffet was held) at Chateau Elan.

And here is a nice shot of the buffet tables and the festivities below. I really liked looking up at all the glass and seeing the sky and the clouds as they moved past us.

Here I am sitting in my brother's lap. I love spending time with him.

And here I am in Daddy's lap after eating some of everything on the buffet - including caviar, foie gras, smoked salmon, and all kinds of things kids are NOT supposed to like. My parents love that I'm a culinary adventurer!

We hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving. We look forward to the upcoming holiday season and all the festivities and fellowship that it will bring for us. Stay tuned for pictures from the various events we attend and activities we participate in. And we thank everyone for the continued prayers for Grandma. She has tolerated her second round of chemotherapy well and has only one more to go. We look forward to 2010!

We Had A SPOOKtacular October!

The month of October was a busy one for us! It was filled with both fun activities as well as those that were more mundane but necessary - as always with life. We also had some news that our family had to cope with - which we will discuss later in this post. Thankfully, all is well. This first set of pictures shows how I typically look on an average Saturday when I go with Mama and Baba to run errands. Here I am all set to go out to lunch and to the library. I always want to wear a "princess dress" at every opportunity, and I always carry a purse. Sunglasses are a necessity in the Georgia sun - even in Fall.

Here is the BIG canvas bag of books we are returning at the library. Like Mama, I love books and reading.

And here I am outside again, standing like a proper little lady. Mama and Baba do say they are proud of my behavior and that I do act like a nice little lady.


We also went to the Washington Farms Pumpkin Patch this year with the Asian Children's Mentor Program. My mentor Ji In and I had a GREAT time petting the animals and doing lots of things. Here we are trying to entice some animals to come visit with us.

These goats finally decided to come see us.

And now we are vising with a donkey. Mama called him something else, but she won't tell me what she called him. She said it's in the Bible, though. :)

I am petting a bunny rabbit now. He has really big ears.

We are on a hay ride now! The wind is really blowing!

This is a big and interesting slide!

Wheeeeeee!

And now we are playing in a bin full of corn!

This is FUN!

Now Ji In is helping me to ride a tricycle through a hay maze.

Woohoo! I'm doing it!

Grandma, Pop Pop and Doe came up, and we did some pumpkin carving! Daddy just took off the top of the pumpkin.

And now I am taking the icky insides out. Yuck!

I'm in up to my elbows!

Whoa - it's empty in there!

Now Daddy is cutting out the pattern.

And now the finished product!

Look how it glows. Spooky!

I really love my grandma!

This year, Daddy was Rorschach from The Watchmen, I was Cinderella, and Mama was a Vampire.

We outsmarted the rain this year by trick or treating INSIDE the mall!

Grandma and Doe had a great time as well. So did Pop Pop, but he's not in this picture.

Mama wasn't a "scary" vampire. She said she's a vegan vampire. :)

But with spooky red eyes.

And here's a close up of Mr. Rorschach.


This past month has been tough, as we found out that grandma has breast cancer. The good news is that she is only in Stage 2 with no lymph node involvement. The bad news is that a few rounds of chemotherapy is still warranted. We appreciate the prayers and kind thoughts of all our family and friends who are supporting us through this. And we celebrate that Grandma has a fantastic positive attitude and the love of her family to help her get through this - and especially the love of ME - her favorite granddaughter to give her hope and some humor along the way.

Celebrating The Moon Festival

On Saturday, we attended the Asian Children's Mentor Program's Moon Festival celebration. This celebration is always scheduled near the Fall solstice in celebration of the coming season. We always enjoy this event. When I first arrived, my sweet mentor Ji In had a beautiful pair of earrings she made me! I'm showing them off here. They are clip-ons since my ears are not pierced yet. Mama and Baba are allowing me to make the decision when to pierce mine, and I'm not ready yet.

Here I am posing with Daddy.

And now with Mama.

Here I am with my friends Grace and Nichole.

Then, we spent some time with our mentors making crafts. I'm not sure yet what we are making, but these are the sheets of paper we'll use.

Ji In is helping me cut the paper.

I'm doing really well with the scissors!

Now, Ji In is painting flowers and a butterfly on my arm.

I have a pretty blue flower now!

Here is our whole group - the mentors, parents and the kids!


This young man is about to play a Vietnamese string instrument.

The music was just beautiful!

The 2009 Moon Festival was a LOT of fun. Be sure to check back later for pictures from our upcoming Gotcha Day celebration. It will be our 3-year anniversary of the day we became a forever family.

Referral Anniversary & Great Labor Day With Friends

On August 25, 2009, we celebrated the 3-year anniversary of the day Mama and Baba received my referral. What that means is that on that day, they received the call they had been waiting for - that a little baby girl (me!) was waiting for them in an orphanage in China. Later that day, they received pictures of me via e-mail. A week later, they received all kinds of information about me that documented my abandonment at the orphanage and then my development over the months. During the time between the referral and the day they met me (October 9), Mama and Baba were preparing for the trip. Each year, we celebrate these special days. This year, for our referral anniversary, we went out to dinner at the place of my choice. I wanted "rice, noodles and FIRE" which meant that I chose to go have some delicious Japanese food at a hibachi grill where they prepre the food in front of us. We will also be doing something special for "Gotcha Day" but Mama and Baba haven't told me what that will be yet. I think they are planning to surprise me. Another fun thing we did recently was to celebrate Labor Day with our friends Nichole and her mom Stacey. Nichole is also from China and is a couple of years older than me. They visited our house, and we grilled delicious food that day and ended the meal with hot fudge sundae cupcakes! We had a great time. Here I am with my friend Nichole.

I have a doctor's kit at home, and Nichole had fun giving me an exam. Here she is checking my teeth! She said they looked fantastic.

We also had a great time playing in my princess tent. Nichole is hiding in this picture.

We have a very busy few months coming up. Next weekend will be the Asian Children's Mentor Program's (ACMP) Moon Festival. Then, Gotcha Day (October 9), then Mama's Birthday on October 22, then another ACMP event, Halloween, and then we'll move on into the holiday season. I can't wait!

Pop Pop's 77th Birthday & A "Princess" Party

We've had a few busy weekends recently! This weekend, Grandma, Pop Pop and Doe came up to celebrate Pop Pop's 77th birthday with us! We went out for dinner that evening and then spent some time in the gardens near where Baba works at UGA. Here's a nice picture of me with Mama sitting on a bench in the gardens.

Baba loves taking pictures of my Mama.

I love the sound of these wind chimes. Mama explained to me that they have lots of these in China too, and that I probably first heard wind chimes over there.

This is a pretty color and makes a very pretty sound.

It gets louder when you push this harder.

I sat down with Pop Pop and Grandma for some pictures inside the gazebo. It was a little too shady, but we still were able to get a decent shot. At least it was cool inside!

And then it was Doe's turn since the four of us couldn't all fit on the small bench.

And here's a picture of my Mama and Baba.

I love playing with my Pop Pop. He acts like a very young man sometimes and NOT like a 77-year-old.

We are dancing!

We had some delicious food at Siri Thai. It's everyone's favorite place to eat - including Grandma, Pop Pop and Doe.

This is the first time we've been able to get all our Thai friends in one picture. From l-r: Lala's Mom, Lalapat, Jang, Joom, Mama (of course) and Ratana. They were so sweet to ask Mama to be in the picture with them.

And then a couple of weekends ago, I attended the birthday party of a classmate. We had a tea and "dress up" party! Here I am having tea and some finger foods.

And I dressed up in many different costumes. I was so busy and moving around so much, Mama and Baba could hardly get pictures of me.

A ladybug!

Another princess gown with a tiara!

I brought my friend Addison a veterinarian's kit complete with a little white puppy to work on. That gift was the hit of the party!

Well, that's it for now. Happy birthday, Pop Pop! We enjoyed your visit.