We finally had a fun time sitting on Santa's lap this year! Lily asked to go do it so off to the mall we went and both of the girls sat right on his lap and told him what they wanted for Christmas! I was in shock considering the last 3 years have been so different.

Here is their 1 year old picture with Santa...in shock enough to get a cute picture...

At 2 years of age, Santa had to sneak up from behind to be able to get in the picture at all.

At 3 years of age, they wouldn't go near without Mommy and Daddy.

And finally....4 years old, happy as can be and hamming it up for the camera. Kate asked for a Lightning McQueen bicycle and Lily asked for a bike with "2 Cute" written on it (she saw it in Toys R Us).

Thanksgiving

Phil's surgery was over Thanksgiving. We were most thankful that Grandpa and Grammie came to our rescue. They came over to our house for several days and then we went to theirs. Out of the pictures I took, I noticed there were none of Grammie (Phil's mom). This is because she was always up working...cooking, cleaning, buying or taking care of the kids. Thanks, Grammie!

The kids love Grandpa because he will sit for hours and let them tie him up. He'll play "good guy, bad guy" (poor Grandpa always has to be the bad guy), read to them, and even provide a lap for the cat to get some love.

Here is one of the Chambers' traditions...making candy in an assembly line. The picture doesn't do it justice as there are about 12 people in the line and loads of candy in the making (and the eating.)

Of course, all the cousins (and Uncle Lee) and neighbor kids played Red Rover, Red Rover and other classic games.

While in Georgia, I finally found some Georgia cheerleading outfits for the girls.

Here is Lily in her signature, ballerina pose...

And Kate in her signature, hop-on-one foot-while- throwing a ball pose...

As soon as we got back home, the girls wanted to make their Gingerbread houses.

Thanks, again, Grammie and Grandpa for a great Thanksgiving!

Report from our last trip to China

Phil and I just received this letter from our contact in the orphanage where he went in China to do physical therapy for special needs kids. I finally feel like we have a great project going - big impact on the kids with long term follow-up there in country. I could not be happier!
BTW...I'm so behind on posting pics of the girls since I am caring for Phil's post-op surgery progression.

"Just wanted to write and thank-you all again for your visit with us! We enjoyed so much getting to know you all, and learn from you all! I am so thrilled by everything that you were able to do for the kids at the orphanage. We have been back to the first orphanage twice since you all left, the kids are doing great - making further progress with the physical therapy things that you all put into place! The workers seem to be continuing with it and are excited about it, which is great - from what we can see they are really following through with everything - the kids are all wearing their braces when we come, they put Fu in the stander when she eats, Jin said that they are putting the leg braces on Jun when he sleeps and using the sand bags - he seems to be walking a lot better now! They are still putting Xin in her box, and she is pushing herself up to sitting with her own strength now. Qin has started crawling with coaxing now! We are really seeing changes - it's very exciting! The second orphanage group is doing well too - they have gone twice now as well. Said they are being recieved well, are putting in lots of prayer, bringing flowers and things to encourage the workers, spending time in each of the areas and taking time with the disabled kids each time. They are really excited about the possibilities there!Thank-you, thank-you for all that you all did to bring this stuff about, it has been such a blessing to us and to them!"

The right blog address

Oops! I wrote the blog address for Phil's trip to China wrong.
Try this one...
www.angelsinchina.blogspot.com
Thanks, Jim!

Phil's trip to China and surgery

I haven't been able to post for a while since I've had my hands quite full. Phil went to China for 2 weeks to love on orphans. He dislocated his shoulder on the first day at the orphanage and had to be in pain the rest of the trip. As soon as he got home, we found out there was a fracture and torn cartilage and he had surgery today. He was such a trooper to finish out leading the group in China while in pain. I love that man and his servant heart!

Thought my fellow China orphan lovers would enjoy a look out the blog the team kept while in China.

www.angelsinchina.com

This is a project we have been working on now for three years. This trip really cemented our work there. (Phil's last trip was covered in this blog back in June). We have been given access to all the orphanages in Chongquing. (I'm doing little spelling errors on purpose which you will see throughout the blog for security purposes.) This access is such a priviledge as so many of you know! There is a lot that we could not post that I'd love to share. I'm going to try to find a way to get a more secure route and I'll let you know. Also, I'm thinking that we need to come up with a name for the project since we are hoping to go every 6 months now and begin to raise support and awareness. As you are reading, if you think of any snazzy ideas...let me know!

Supergirl and Spanish Princess out on the town

Happy Adoption Day!

Sept 19 was the 3rd anniversary of our becoming a family. When I look back at our referral pictures of the girls, I remember all the questions I had about them. So many unknowns! I remember how I longed to hold them in my arms. It is still wonderful to me that I can spend hours and hours with them, just doing nothing but being together... feeling their breath on my face at night as they snuggle in to me to go to sleep, laying on the trampoline together "wasting" time just looking up at the trees and sky, hearing their random "I love you, Mommy!", laughing at the surprising things that come out of those little mouths and watching them as they grow together and develop a love for one another that is a joy to be around. It is fun for me to finally know exactly who they really are. I know what makes them laugh and cry and what makes them nervous and feel safe. I know where their tickle spots are and I know the jokes that really get them going. Most importantly, I know how much they love me and Phil and how much they love each other. (Lily is on the right below.)














To celebrate our Adoption Day, we went to the State Fair. I'm a fair junky. I LOVE a funnel cake and a ferris wheel! So the girls are loving them, too! (Lily in the glasses, of course.)

I tried to get a family picture on Adoption Day, but between the waiter's poor English and 2 tired three year olds...this is the best I got.











Our first family picture is much better...

Random summer fun

I really don't want summer to end! We had a great summer filled with friends and family. Here are a few pictures of our fun this summer...

Fourth of July was spent at my parents' farm. Lily and Kate ate watermelon, Mississippi style.













The Nobles' family water slide. That is me going down on the float. I even got one of the girls to go down with me. (But only one and only once :))














Granddaddy took the girls for a ride on his motorcycle.














Back home, we had some "finger painting gone wild"...


















My sister came over with her crew...














Man, did they wear us out with all that playing!













We played dress-up with our girlfriends...













We watched our favorite videos with Zack, the cat...














We got to go bowling for the first time...












































We played dress up with Hadley and Gracie...

















We cooked in the play kitchen...



















Ate Dreamland ribs...














Played with playdoo in our pink power ranger costume...













Cooked in the real kitchen with Sam...

...and Hadley!

These are such fun memories. Can't we have summer for just 3 more months!!

First two days of "school"

Well, we finally started Mother's Day Out three mornings a week at our church (and Phil's office) and the girls LOVE it! Phil and I are in awe of how well they have done. We knew Lily was ready. The last 6 months she has turned into a social butterfly when it comes to other 4 year old girls and she has been bored around the house. Kate has not showed any signs of wanting to be anywhere away from Mommy. With both girls, we have struggled with extreme shyness, generalized anxiety and fears of being away from me. They got the best teachers possible who have worked so hard to make them feel loved and to have fun. The change we have seen in Kate is amazing since she started MDO. Phil and I keep looking at each other in amazement these last two weeks as she takes on, with grace, social situations that before would have really shut her down. Half way through the second morning, the school secretary called Phil and said, "You've got to come see this!" Both girls were talking and laughing in their class. They hardly ever talk in public. What a blessing!
Here they are leaving the house the first morning accompanied by their new school outfits, cool lunch boxes packed with hot and sour soup and Spiderman fruit roll-ups, pink backpacks and Mickey Mouse ("Super Mickey" as Kate calls him) ready to secretly hide in the backpack. Katie was SO excited about her school shirt. She has worn it everytime she has gone to school. It is a Mickey shirt with her name on it. It seems more important to her than Lily that she have her own idenity. When I put the shirt on her, she nearly busted at the seams. She said with the biggest smile, "Now everyone will know my name!"














Below are some pictures that one of their teachers took during the first day...














































The teachers let me come 15 minutes before the end of the morning and read to the class one of Kate and Lily's favorite books. This is the one they chose. They were laughing and so proud of themselves while I was reading it!




















Here they are leaving the house the morning of the second school day. I'm so glad they have each other!