Roses and Papaw

All planted! Now to keep them alive!

Taking a break!

Papaw and Aiden working hard.

Getting started.

When Aiden was dedicated in Nov 09, we were given a

long stemmed red rose. My very talented Dad took it

and rooted the rose. It is now a very healthy and thriving

bush. This weekend he came over to plant the rosebush.

He also brought along another bush to plant for Shaelyn.

He brought all of his "equipment" and worked for a good

hour on the planting project. Aiden got his shovel and

"helped" to! I am anxious to see how pretty these bushes

will become. I did not inherit the green thumb that my

Dad has but hopefully I can keep these bushes alive!

Thanks Dad for doing this! It means so much

to us!

Happy Forever Day Shae!

Eating cake and ice cream with Papaw:)

Shae's Forever Day gift.

Shaelyn with her cake.

This is Daddy's first time holding Shaelyn - 11 years ago!

This picture was taken about 30 seconds after being handed Shaelyn! :)

Words can't express it!!

11 years ago tomorrow, we were blessed with the most

precious gift...our baby girl! She was 7 months old and

BEAUTIFUL! I just knew she had to be the most

beautiful baby in the world! She weighed 12 lbs 12 ozs

and wore size 0-3 months clothes.

We were not prepared for such a tiny little peanut so all

of her clothes were soooo big on her. As soon as we got

home from China we had to make a run to the store for

some clothes that actually fit! The moment that they

handed her to me I remember feeling like I was floating.

I was so overcome with love for this tiny little person I

had just met. She was bundled in 11 layers of clothes

and was huge! I loved her so much from that first

moment! Now 11 years later, I love her even more!

I had one of her teachers tell me, "Shaelyn cares

about everyone and is so considerate of others feelings...

she has the gift of compassion". I am so proud of the

little lady she is becoming!

We decided to celebrate Shaelyn's "Forever Day" today

instead of waiting til tomorrow since tomorrow is a school

day. Papaw came over to have cake and ice cream

(Mimi was not feeling well). We have always celebrated

"Forever Day" with a cake and a gift. It is however, the

most wonderful day to celebrate! The day we met and

became a family FOREVER! We love you so very much

Shaelyn McKenzie (FuXun)!

Happy Valentines Day!

This time 20 years ago, I was frantically planning for our

wedding on March 10th! The month before the wedding

was by far the most hectic. I didn't know if I would pull it

off or not, but what I did know was that I was going to

marry the most wonderful man on the planet! He was,

and is STILL my special Valentine!! This Valentines day

I am blessed with 2 more special valentines. Shaelyn and

Aiden! Of course my love for them differs than my love

for Rob but I love all three of them so very much! I am

a very blessed wife and mommy!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Shae's new look

Shaelyn got new glasses today! We have her eyes checked

every January and every year her eyes change dramatically!

She is extremely near-sighted and it gets worse as she grows.

Thankfully, the Doc said it should taper off by the time she's

gets through her teens. Our insurance pays for frames and

lenses every two years so this was the year she could get new

frames:) I let her pick anything she wanted and this is the pair

she chose. They are sage/lime green on the sides and are dark

bronze frames. She looks adorable in them but most importantly,

she can see so much better!!! Yay!

Fun in the Snow!

Aiden was snug as a bug in all his winter attire but his little cheeks
were soooo cold! They were bright red! He didn't seem to mind at
all though! In fact, He cried when I said it was time to go inside.

Our creative snowman! Shaelyn thought it was
absolutely ridiculous but I thought it was pretty
cute!




Wow! More snow for us here in NC! We don't know what to think!!
The kids are loving it, especially Aiden. Unfortunately the snow is
not a packing type so making a snowman was out the question,
so we had to come up with something different. We piled up some
snow and set a stuffed snowman on top, supported by a branch
against the back of the snowman. Worked just as good:)
Sometimes you just have to be creative.

Our Beautiful Kids!

Shaelyn 11 yrs

Aiden - almost 3

We finally got Shaelyn's school pictures back today!!

They took the pictures in October and here it is Jan. and

I'm just now getting them. We had Aiden's pictures made

in November thinking we would have both kid's pictures

back in time for Christmas. Well, we had Aiden's but not

Shae's so we just held off on giving them out. Well, now

we can show off both of our kid's pictures:) We just think

we have 2 of the most beautiful kiddos!

Happy Birthday Aiden!

All ready for Aiden's party!

Our family:)

Aiden and his Cousin Skyler.

Aiden and Shae with their Cousins (Makalah, Makenna

and Skyler).

Yum! This ice cream and cake is good!

Our precious 3 year old!

Aiden's cake.

Tonight we celebrated Aiden's 3rd Birthday! We had

a small family party with cake and ice cream. Aiden

loves Curious George so we used that theme for his

cake and decorations. He was sooo excited and was

just squealing with delight. It is so hard to believe

that he is already 3! He is growing so

quickly. We simply can't imagine our lives without

this little guy! He has been such a blessing to us in

so many ways! So tonight I say thanks to the lady

who gave life to my little boy. Without knowing it,

she gave us the one of the most wonderful gift of

our lives! Most of all, I thank God for allowing us to

experience the miracle of adoption. We are incredibly

blessed!

Happy New Year

Our New Year's Dinner Table.

Aiden and Aunt Marea.

Jeff, Marea, Sharree and Kerri

We celebrated New Year with Rob's Sister Marea and her

family from Ohio. It was a rare treat and we were so thankful

to be able to see them again. This was their first time of seeing

Aiden in person and he sure was lovin all the attention:) Rob

made a wonderful dinner of his famous lasagna and we had

blueberry cheesecake for desert! Marea and Jeff were only

able to stay for one night but we still had a terrific "short"

visit. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family!

Our Christmas Memories

Shaelyn in front of the tree at Church.

Our "Storybook" children's Christmas program at church.

Rob drew all the characters for me!!

Aiden in front of the Wisemen at the program.

On Christmas Eve Aiden got to meet his cousins Daniel

and Travis for the first time! We enjoyed having them

visit from Ohio.

Shae on Christmas morning.

Things have been a bit hectic around our house but
we have paused long enough during this Christmas

season to make some really nice memories. It started

on Christmas Eve when we make cut out cookies and

let the kiddos decorate them. Boy was that a mess!

We then lit the luminaries outside on our sidewalk and

enjoyed the company of my brother and his family from

Ohio. Christmas morning dawned bright and early with

Shaelyn being the first one up. "Santa" had left new boots

for the kids and a stocking full of goodies. The stockings

were torn into first then the presents from Mommy and

Daddy! After presents were opened, we headed to

my Niece's house for Christmas dinner with everyone.

We ate until we were stuffed then opened more presents.

Saturday morning we had Christmas program practice

at church along with a little party for the kiddos.

Saturday evening my Dad took the whole family out to

eat and we got to enjoy each other all over again:) Then

this morning (Sunday) we had the Children's program.

It was a bit crazy but ended up being okay after all.

Wheeee, I am tired but HAPPY! Thankful for the reason

we celebrate Christmas and for the gift of a Baby in the

Manger. I'm also thankful for my little family and for

the joy, laughter (and yes, sibling fussing and fighting)

that so brightens our lives especially on Christmas

morning! We are BLESSED!

Our Christmas Eve

Stockings are stuffed and "Santa" is bringing new boots to the kiddos:)

Decorating Christmas cookies.

The kids had fun baking and decorating cookies this evening. We

had a few moments of chaos, but for the most part, it was a fun

time. Then we lit luminaries out on the sidewalk and enjoyed

fun and fellowship with my Brother and his family from Ohio.

The kids are now in bed, stockings are stuffed and "Santa" has

arrived. I am feeling incredibly blessed this evening! God is so

good to us! Merry Christmas to all!

Let it Snow!

I can not rememer a time that we have had snow

to compliment our Christmas decorations. Needless

to say, we are thrilled!!!! The kids have enjoyed it

and I love to look at it! Sure makes for some

wonderful Christmas memories!!!

Christmas Card Photo Session

Finally - camera was a bit blurry, but this is the one we finally used!
Wheee! Glad that's done!

(attempt #2) - This one took 2nd place but again Aiden
shut his eyes.

(attempt #3) - Shae and Sophie did well, Aiden got distracted.

Shae thought we should just use this picture,

but of course it was missing someone :)

(attempt #4) - Aiden's eyes completely shut and horrible camera quality!

(attempt #5) - cute kiddos, horrible camera quality!

To say that I had a hard time getting a good Christmas Card

photo for our cards this year, would be an understatement!

My camera was acting up, and the kids would not cooperate!

Here are our attemps.....