The BIG catch-up post

Holy Moly. How did the entire month go by without me having one thing to say?

I've been getting a fair amount of harassment from blog followers wondering where on earth I went to.

My excuse...I just couldn't think of anything profound to say.

But, then again... that's never stopped me before. :)

So, here it is. The big catch up post.

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First, the bad mom I am didn't document one little guy's birthday.

December 29th... yes, that would over a month ago I know.... Devin, our funny guy, turned FIVE.

Man, he counted the days down for this one. Because five. Well, five is a BIG ONE.

We celebrated our Devin with dinner (his choice of course) and chocolate cake.

and he was loving every minute of it.

Poor guy totally gets the bum deal with a birthday four days after Christmas. But, it didn't seem to bother him.

Five... that's not really a baby anymore is it?

Sigh.

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We had a little mini-reunion at the beginning of January with two little Chinese children (and their families) we love so dearly.

We met these two kids on the same day we met Grace. We traveled with their families for those unforgettable two weeks in China.

These children and their families will ALWAYS have a very, very special place in our hearts.

I can't wait until the day we can get our whole travel group together... maybe in July!

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I had BIG plans of having a Chinese New Year celebration at our house this year. Big plans.

But, then the first day of Chinese New Year came and went. And I failed.

Next year. Next year. I keep telling myself.

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Aside from that big snow in October that left us without power for a week!

(this picture from October)

we only have had one small snow storm this winter.

And I have to say, I'm really not complaining. Last year, is still fresh in my mind and I'd be perfectly happy if we just skipped right over winter and went to spring.

Our backyard turned into the sledding hill and the kids were out there a lot... until the snow disappeared a couple days later.

We dressed Grace all up in her snow pants, boots, hats, mittens and coat.

Our little snow bunny.

Too bad she wouldn't even let us put her down. Even being held caused a fair amount of anxiety. Actually standing in the snow... BIG TEARS.

It was a very similar to the reaction she had to the beach last year.

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We had an AWESOME event at our church last week. I mean AWESOME!

Our church, and some 500 community volunteers, packed 252,000 meals to send to the hungry in Kenya. It was an amazing experience.

Big and small participated. We packed rice, lentils for protein, dehydrated vegetables with minerals and Himalayan salt into bags, weighed and sealed the bags and packed them in boxes.

The small... sent love to kids in Kenya by coloring the boxes the meals were packed in.

Check out www.feedingchildreneverywhere.com if you want to work with an awesome organization to host a packing event in your location. They have packing events big and small and they travel around the country.

This is the final product... all 252,000 meals all ready for the container that will ship them to Kenya.

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And last but, certainly not least, on Wednesday... TWO families I love dearly will be leaving for China to adopt two beautiful children. Oh my. I can't wait!!!

I just wish I could go. I keep trying to convince them that they really NEED me there. I mean, I could be a great water boiler, luggage carrier, picture taker, etc. Don't ya think?! But, instead I'll stay here and wake up at 5 am to check their blogs to see the latest update. You can follow them too... I assure you, you won't want to miss this!

Introducing my friends...

Jessemyn and Randall... http://morethanwecanimagine.blogspot.com

and R and M... http://rpelley1.blogspot.com/

Follow along and send them a note of support along the way. I know they'd appreciate it!