It's all about the kids

We got some great pictures of our nieces, nephews, and friends this year! We thought we'd share shots of the next generation...




Little Sisters



The Cooper-Brand Clan



The Goh's



The Whetstone's



Gainesville friends



Out-of-town friends

Christmas

Our trip to Louisiana was great! I went to Mackie's school on Friday to make ornaments with the kids. We had another great Christmas Eve at Mackie's and Christmas Day at Grandma's. Andrea and I all but burned our fingers off making little ornaments, while E played a hundred games of "Guess Who" with anyone he could find. There was lots of shopping and eating and celebrating all week. We checked out Dad's house, which is really coming along. Tammy, Andy and the kids look great, and we got to hang out with Q and H and Mouse this year too.

Pre-Christmas Celebration

Cristina and Ronnie came over tonight for a pre-Christmas celebration. After dinner we opened presents. E opened the ones from Uncle Hsiung and Uncle Lin and families. He absolutely loves the dinosaur "dig it" and the Guess Who game. And he can hardly wait to watch Ratatouille :-) We'll be trying out Operation soon too! He opened one present from Mom and Dad, his laptop, which we hope will keep him busy on the car ride home. He also got new Thomas DVDs from Cristina and Ronnie, and Han and I got a night out (dinner and babysitting, hurray!).

We played a few rounds of Guess Who, where the team of Carole and E blew the others away in the first two rounds. Then all ganged up on me before the girls went against the guys. Unfortunately for E, Han and Ronnie forgot their brains or they washed them away with the beer (perhaps it takes a certain strength to handle a good Belgian ale)....either way, they lost twice and then fortified the last two games due to mental lapses.

E and Ronnie watched an episode of Thomas while Cristina and I set up her new remote controlled dragonfly. It's really cool, though it make take some practice :-)

Happy Birthday Ella!

Today we went to Ella's birthday party. She'll be turning 3 this week! Kris and Bud are doing well, and E had lots of fun at the party.

Look what I found in my phone

E Gets His New Belt!

Today was the December belt test, where E picked up his white/yellow belt, and I tested for my green/white belt. Here's E getting his certificate: (it's pretty hard to see him though)



Here's the little man with his new belt :-)

12/07 Referral Update - 565LIDs to go

We were on vacation when the matches came out last month, so this posting will cover November and December's matches. There were 8 LIDs matched in November, and 6 in December. The latest match date is December 14, 2005. The current backlog (until they get to us) is 565 days.

We've been logged in for 6 months now, and in that time, the line has decreased by 37 days. Based on the latest data, our wait could still be up to 7 years. Our agency (and others) have recently been talking about the increasing wait, and they predict a 4 year wait. It's sad that I'm hoping they are right, but I suppose 4 is much better than 7.

Here are this month's cute babies:
http://chinaadopttalk.com/2007/12/06/babies-6/

E's First Belt Test

Elijah had his first karate belt test today. He did very well and passed. He and his little buddy L.J. will both move up to the next pre-karate class and get their white-with-yellow-stripe belt.

Here's a video of pre-karate kata #1:

The Brands