Caylie is 7!

Caylie's birthday was the 14th of February on a Sunday.  She was very excited to open her presents before church!

Of course, she always reads the cards first, ha! 

 (This one was a Frozen card, so it had to be read!)

When we first came to us, she had no idea what a present was, or how to open it.   She's very good at it now!

This book was a favorite when I was learning to read. 

Grinning from ear to ear over her new Elsa dress!

Cozy new blanket.  :)

Fun with monkeys!

And a new booster seat.  

On our way to church!

Posing for a picture during worship team rehearsal.

Yummy Chinese birthday dinner at East Cafe.  The servers there always love Caylie, and she speaks Chinese to them.  (Sam doesn't.  LOL)

Back home for more pictures in her new dress.

Another present from Brittany and Brad.

Ice cream cake from Dairy Queen, made by Brittany.

Happy Birthday, beautiful girl.  We love you!

Happy Birthday to Taylor!

For Taylor's birthday, we went to Shinjuku Japanese Steakhouse.  It was great fun watching the hibachi chef cook our meal and tossing eggs up into his hat.  Samuel and Caylie thought it was great, but Tessa did not like the fire, ha!  It was a fun and yummy dinner.

Justin, Taylor, Jim, and Samuel

Brad, Tessa, Brittany, and Keelan

 Me and Caylie in an awkward selfie.

Then home for presents!

Now that Taylor has his own apartment, his presents are more of the "housewarming" genre.  ;)

Well, except for this one.  :D

Happy 23rd Birthday, Taylor!  We are proud of you!

Chinese New Year

Our first Chinese New Year celebration was at the kids' school, Global Village Academy.  All of the Chinese classes performed and there was a dragon dance.  I wish there had been better lighting, because the dragon dancers did a great job.  One of the dragons tried to eat Justin, haha.

Caylie's kindergarten class.

Samuel's 5th grade class.

 Our second celebration was at AAC, our adoption agency.  Lots of yummy food and fun with old friends and new.

Caylie and some friends making monkeys . 

2016 is the Year of the Monkey.

The finished product.

Of course there was fact painting.  And of course Sam had a spider painted on his face.  This has nothing to do with Chinese New Year.  Just fun.  ;)

Caylie chose a butterfly.

My friend April and her daughter Mei Li, newly home from China!

All the kids got the traditional red envelopes.  These had 50-cent pieces inside.  Sam and Caylie were excited.  

 Samuel played football with his new friend Anthony.  :)

And Caylie got three new outfits from China.

 恭喜发财  Gōngxǐ fācái!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Winter Time Adventures

Phew . . . I am woefully behind on blog posts!  This one will be filled with pictures from the last several weeks.

Everybody got new school shirts.  I don't know why Caylie is looking up like that.

Justin was using a rented trombone for school band, but now he has his own.  He is doing great, and has his first concert coming up in a couple of months.

Caylie got a new outfit at the Gymboree Outlet. 
 My pretty girl!

Tessa and I still hang out on Mondays and Fridays. 

 She is starting to say words and can follow directions - when she wants to!  She runs and climbs, and is into everything.  It's very cute.  

 Tessa in the dress that Grandma Altman got for Brittany, back in 1990.  

 Our 6-month post-placement report for Samuel was due in January, and we needed a family picture.  This is as good as it gets, haha.
Jim, Sam, Keelan, Justin, Caylie and me.

The boys got haircuts a few weeks ago.  

Samuel was very happy with his.

 Justin, not so much, though the rest of us liked it.  

But hair grows back.

Samuel had a school field trip to Young AmeriTowne.  He spent the day being a banker.  Jim got to go, too, and said it was a good day and Samuel did a good job.  (If only he hadn't forgotten his lunch at school!)

Tessa and Caylie driving around the house.

Silly hat.

Selfie by Caylie.

Keelan bought himself a guitar and is teaching himself the chords.

Caylie loves school.  Gao Laoshi is one of her teachers.  

 (Oh, and Caylie speaks Chinese ALL the time now! 

 I think she gets frustrated sometimes that she knows more than mama.  Ha!)

One Saturday we had a special yummy lunch at Maggiano's.  We hadn't been there in several years.

Samuel and Jim

Caylie and me.

Justin and his chicken.

Keelan and his friend Ian.

It's Chinese New Year, and we're celebrating in several ways.  (That will be a separate post!) But meanwhile, Samuel is learning about yet another American holiday - Valentine's Day!  He and Caylie were very busy getting their Valentine cards ready for school. 

And our Denver Broncos won the Super Bowl!!  That was a very exciting day!  Here's Sam in his Demaryius Thomas jersey, and Caylie in her Tim Tebow jersey.  

And Tessa in her Peyton Manning #18!  Go Broncos!!