China....

It's been almost a year and a half since we were in China. In 6 weeks, I will be back there again, to work in an orphanage, and bring some love and relief to the nannies that give so selflessly to these precious children. I'm getting more and more excited about being back in the country that gave life to my 3rd child. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to go back to this place that has left a permanent handprint on my heart.

But as I think about China, and the people of this country, I always think back to Thanksgiving day, 2006. We had had Addison for 2 days, and we were taken to a local village to see what life was like in rural China. I"m still awed and humbled as I remember the people we met that day. They were filled with joy, with pride, with contentment. If you saw the conditions in which they lived, you might be in shock. But they welcomed us into their homes and village, without apology or embarrassment. When I think about all that we have here, and how ungrateful I can be sometimes, I'm embarrassed at myself. I hope the pictures and memories from that day will always be a reminder to me of what is truly important in life. And it's definitely not my "things"!

Who needs an amusement park..........

when you can play with big sister in your own backyard!

And.......congrats to Riley on his Hat Trick Saturday!! (3 goals, with no one else scoring from either team, in between)

10,000 hits and some catching up!

My counter shows our blog has had 10,000 unique visitors! That is amazing. I would love to hear from you if you are checking in, please leave me a comment...... I have been working on another new blog that would be more for our family and my own ramblings, but I love posting on this one too much. So I think I will be getting rid of my other blog and trying to make this one more about our family of five, instead of just Addison. I"m sure my other two kids will appreciate that, too! :) So stay tuned, you may see some changes coming soon. (if I can find the time!) Here are some pictures of what we have been up to lately.... this is celebrating Riley's 10th birthday at home....

And one funny conversation Riley and I had last week.....Riley was telling me about his friend that brought his guitar to school and played a song for the class. He said now all the girls like his friend, because they are "into that". Then he said "Oh, and the girls all like me too, because they are also into the athletic, shaggy-haired guys" !! Oh, if only we could all have that much confidence!

I"m praying now for the "right" girl for my Riley! :)

Ok, so I'm getting ready for the day on Friday morning, and Addie comes into my bathroom, cute as can be, and hands me this newspaper page..........

My response...."Sweet girl, you go tell your daddy he'll have to choose - mommy, or a puppy"!

It's actually a joke in our house that whatever Addison asks for, Addison gets. (just ask our older 2 kids!). So they always say if she wanted a puppy, we'd go right out and buy her one, even though they have been asking for years. Russ doesn't really want a puppy, but he does like to joke about it! Pretty funny, eh? (or at least HE thought so!)

Sweet Melanie of Blossom Memories did a little magic to a few of my pictures of Addie. I just can't believe the cool things you can do to pictures now with your own computer. Now if only I could do this myself! :)

A day in the city...

We finally had a nice spring day, so we loaded up the car and headed downtown. We spent most of the day in Chinatown, and little bit of time at Navy Pier. It was so much fun being in Chinatown. It felt a little bit like being back in China. Same smells, same foods, same shops. Well, sort of! Russ even got scolded for not having Addie covered with enough blankets! (meanwhile, we were all sweating!)

Here are a few pictures from our day...

Addie spent a little time playing outside before we left..

Chinatown... Navy Pier... And a little goofiness at the end of the day...

Addie loves her brother Rah Rah (Riley) ! Although he's not sure he likes being kissed in public! :)