Sister time

 I called Lanette on Monday and asked if the girls could sleep over Friday and Saturday. I didn't tell Sean we had arranged for the sleepover. On Tuesday Sean started telling me how he would always love his sisters and how much he missed them and he wanted to see them. He asked "when can I see my sisters?" I said "soon." He said "when?" I told him the day after Thanksgiving and he was excited. He didn't ask about it again and when I told him this morning we had to go meet Kylie and Brie he was thrilled. They moved from Saratoga Springs to Draper so they're about 20 miles closer which is nice.

Those three have so much fun when they are together. The connection is so intense. Such joy and spending time together.

No fear for these three.

I believe I can fly!

I believe I can touch the sky!

Happy Thanksgiving

AJ, Steph, Khoe and Carter all went to St George for Thanksgiving and Alex and Loreal left St George and came to Salt Lake.

Alika came over and gave Sean and Grandma pre-Thanksgiving haircuts.

Phoebe went to San Francisco for Thanksgiving so we took a turkey picture for her. They don't eat turkey in China.

Mom and John and Julie's new baby Sarah. Named for Grandma Dolder.

Loreal telling us funny stories about the "neighbors" of the law office. Speaking of law offices Catherine called her doctors office and asked for a continuance. 

John and Julie's Caleb is the cutest little thing. He doesn't run he hops.

Brad with Andrea's cute little Rory. He is a happy baby.

Sean with Larissa and Hailey.

Getting ready for Thanksgiving

Sean made a little booklet of Thanksgiving words in Chinese. If he ever needs to order a pumpkin pie and turkey in China he will be ready.

This one cracked me up. Sean said "I spelled it all by myself."

We were at Robintino's and Khloe kept pointing at the cup of ranch dressing. She would dip her bread in it and then suck the dressing off the bread. I put a spoonful on her plate and she picked up her spoon. She likes her ranch on the side with a spoon.

Bowling

We went bowling with Phoebe and Lydia one of the other Chinese teachers. Lydia had never bowled before. Phoebe bowled a lot when she lived in Korea.

Sean bowled for the first time without the rack. He threw that ball for four games and didn't complain.

Carter showed off his muscles. He's working out at the gym five times a week.

A little bowling alley snack.

Lego Birthday Party

No big surprise but we had a Lego themed party for Sean's birthday. I made a sheet cake and put cupcakes on top to look like a big Lego. I'm not very crafty but I thought it turned out cute. I bought a 2 pound bag of Lego candies. I put the leftover candy in a baggie and the kids guessed how many candies were in the bag.

Don created a race track and the kids made Lego cars and raced them. They got to take home the cars they made.

The kids all had a good time but it was two hours of chaos. Poor little Andrew had a melt down. I think he is on the autism spectrum and all the noise was a bit much. He made a car but then it disappeared and that put him over the edge. I tried to get him to make a new car but he wouldn't do it. He wanted the car he already made and nothing I said or do could convince him that his car wasn't missing but that it had been taken apart and was gone. Life's tough when your six. His twin did fine. His mom kept apologizing. I told her it was fine. He was like a little Carter.

Khloe stopped by she had a cold and was pretty miserable.

I love how the kids backed Sean up against the wall when it came time to open presents. They were going to shove those presents right into his face. It's fun how much kids enjoy giving presents. One kid gave him a gumball machine. Seriously, a gumball machine! The kids were shoving gum in their mouths. NOT, Don had them all spit it out. I could just see gum on the walls and carpet. 

Birthday boy

Sean is 7. I can't believe that he is so big, so fast. He was so excited when he got a Wii U for his birthday. The night before his birthday I was laying down in his bed and he said "It's OK if I don't get a Wii U for my birthday. I can just imagine playing one in my mind." So cute. He's been asking for the Wii U for almost a year. I was surprised that he was surprised when he opened it. He told me all he needs for Christmas is a stuffed toy and a trip to England.

There are so many kids at DIA (the school where Steph teaches and I work a couple hours a week as a nurse) that live such tough lives. There are three families living at the shelter. I've got a little girl with diabetes who missed more school than she attends. She is always sick at school with blood sugars above 300. There are kids who are missing weeks of school because of lice. A lot of kids are gone more than they are there. There are sixth and seventh graders reading at a first grade level. I can't help but look at Sean and think that would be him and his sisters if they hadn't been adopted. Sean got all 3's on his report card with the exception of one 2.75. When I asked what he missed the teacher said he couldn't say parallelogram and octagon in Chinese. His test scores were almost all perfect. He does so well in school. His Chinese is amazing. Yesterday he woke up and the first thing he said to me was in Chinese. I was laying next to me and he opened his eyes and asked me in Chinese what my favorite color was. I don't know if he was dreaming in Chinese or what.

Khloe thought the singing was all about her. She kept blowing the candles out while I was lighting them. After Sean blew them out we re-lit them for Khloe but she got shy and wouldn't blow them out. Silly kid.

For his birthday dinner Sean wanted his favorite meal of salmon cakes and potatoes.

The Days are getting short

Driving a leaf car.

Sean's first grade school picture.

I had lunch with Georgia, Sue, Charity and Ginger. It was great to see old friends. I don't miss working at the hospital or working full time but I do miss the intimate relationship of working with the same people every day. 

Khloe is old enough to create a ruckus. She unrolled the toilet paper and wrote on the kitchen floor with crayon. Usually when you say no to her she looks at the floor and gets insulted.I think she thinks if she isn't looking at me that I can't see her or maybe she is thinking that if she looks at the floor I will go away and she can keep doing whatever it is I am telling her not to do.
 When I told her not to write on the floor with crayons she looked confused. She took my hand, walked me to the front door and then outside. As soon as we got on the porch she picked up the sidewalk chalk and handed it to me. She can't understand why I will sit on the sidewalk and draw with her but then tell her not to draw on the floor. She brought a piece of blue chalk inside and started chewing on it. She doesn't usually put non-food things in her mouth. She didn't like the chalk and was spitting blue all over the floor.

Khloe loves balls. She was very unhappy that all these balls were being kept in cages and tried her best to free them.

I didn't have a car seat for Khloe so we walked to the school to meet Sean and Phoebe. It was cold! Khloe wanted out of the stroller. She started running and fell on the sidewalk and scraped her hand.

Random Lego picture.