Chinese New Year Parade

Isabell and Sam having fun in the tub

Throwing beads at the parade

Ready for the parade to start

Playing in the suitcase

Rub a dub dub

We had so much fun this weekend visiting "Aunt Marcy", Isabell, Gran Mary, and seeing all our friends at the Children of the World Chinese New Year parade. We spent the night with Martha and Isabell (our travel mates from China). Isabell and Sam are from the same orphange. They got along very well especially while taking a very bubbly bubble bath! The next morning we drove to Fairhope where Sam and Isabell participated in the Chinese New Year parade. The people of Fairhope are so nice and supportive. Sam and Isabell had a great time throwing beads and candy from their wagons! We also ran into the Meeks, the Ungers, and our other travel mates from China.. the Schmitt family. The parade ended at a very nice park and Sam discovered the slide!! It was a tunnel slide and I lost count how many times he went down the slide!! Needless to say he loved it and we will be going soon to get him some fun backyard play equipment. I also must bragg a bit... Sam learned how to blow his nose this weekend!! It makes things so much easier! One more thing... it seems that he is a Johnny Cash fan. I got one of those musical cards that plays "Ring of Fire" for Nick for Valentine's Day. Sam loves it and plays it all the time. You should see how he dances to it. Tomorrow we go to see an Pediatric Orthopedic surgeon at Children's Hospital to see what is involved with removing his extra thumb.

Introducing the next Tiger Woods

This is how the pro's do it!

Choosing the right club is a tough decision

Daddy is a GREAT Caddy

Look out Tiger.. it seems you will have a new competitor in about 20 years! We have had great weather recently and it was the perfect opportunity for Nick to begin teaching Sam the sport of golf. As many of you know, Nick is an avid golfer. We purchased this little golf set a couple of years ago and it was so fun to finally put them to use. Sam seemed to enjoy the lesson although he had a hard time choosing which club to use! This is the first of many father and son golf outings!

20 Month Birthday

I love spaghetti!!!!

See all my teeth???


Pucker up!!



Boy, it's hard keeping this house clean!

Tomorrow (Feb. 9) is Sam's 20 month birthday and I thought it would be a good time to update everyone on his progress! Sam is very bright and has a vocabulary of about 10 words. They are Daddy, Mama, Kit-Kit (for our cat Barney), Nite-Nite, Bye-Bye, Hey, Yeah, Pop-Pop, Nai-Nai (his grandmother), Eyes, and Out. He can point to the following when you ask him... nose, mouth, ears, eyes, hair, toes, hands, and bellybutton (he really likes showing that one!). He can also make the following animal sounds or imitations when you say: Monkey (really cute), Duck, Cow, Sheep, Lion, Fish (he puckers his lips), Cat, Dog, and he is learning to do a Frog. He can also hold up 1 finger when you say 1 and he says something that sorta sounds like one!! He is getting a mouth full of teeth. He likes playing outside, going bye-bye (especially to Aunt Sherry's and Uncle Pat's or to Mimi's and Paw-Paw's house), and taking a bath. He loves to eat and his favorite food seems to be anything with noddles, especially spagetti with Rotini noodles. He also loves fruit (pears, banana's, madarin oranges, peaches, and applesauce). He seems to have developed an addiction to the game show "Deal or No Deal". He loves to clap and say "yeah" along with the people on the show. He also likes it when the banker calls with a deal (he loves the phone). Nick thinks he likes the show because of the pretty girls!! Enjoy the pictures and we will update again next week.

Chinese New Year Celebration

We attended a Chinese New Year celebration Saturday evening at Frazer. We had so much fun. We really want Sam to be proud of his heritage. We also have great appreciation for the Chinese culture because of Sam. Sam really enjoyed playing with the other children from our Panda Pals group... and you should have seen his expression when the traditional "Lion Dance" was performed! One tradition is for the children to receive a "money" envelope. He got two silver dollars. The actual New Year is this Thursday, Feb. 7th. In two weeks we will go to Fairhope and participate in our adoption agency's Chinese New Year parade. We will decorate Sam's wagon for that event!! Have I mentioned lately how blessed we are???? This evening as I was holding Sam in my arms before he went to bed, I could not help but think of his birth mother and father. They must have both been very handsome because Sam is so darn cute. I said a prayer for both of them, especially his birth mom. She gave us the most precious gift.... one that we truly love and cherish. My prayer for her this New Year is for God to grant her peace and happiness. I wish she could know how happy and content Sam is in his new home and how much he is loved by so many!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Nick is celebrating a wonderful birthday today! We helped him celebrate by cooking cupcakes, giving him some great gifts (including tickets to see Ronnie Milsap in the new Alabama Performing Arts Center). Sam's favorite part was the cupcakes and the party favors!! He would clap everytime we would give his daddy a gift or sing happy birthday. We are getting ready to celebrate Chinese New Year which is February 7th. For those of you keeping score.. this is the year of the Rat! Tomorrow we are going to attend the Chinese American Association's Chinese New Year festivities at our church. Sam is going to wear his traditional Chinese clothing.. I will be sure and post lots of pictures. Now, here is a message to my dear sweet husband on his 47th birthday: To my Honey, I am so thankful to our Heavenly Father for you. He blessed me with such a kind, strong, and tender hearted husband. I love you with all my soul and I am so happy to be sharing my life with you. Sam loves his "Da-Da". I love to see how his eyes light up when you enter a room. We both love you very much and we love celebrating this day that you were born... a day which changed our lives forever. All my love, your Honey!!