Bowling

Tonight we took the kids bowling.  My Aunt gave the kids a gift card for Christmas and so we finally got to use it.  Hope got to roll a couple balls down for the first time.  We all had a great time and I got some good pictures after messing with my settings.

Parker's 8th grade basketball

Parker had a game last night and we were so proud of how hard he played.  The team has some issues early on with kids missing games due to grades and injuries.  Parker also had to miss some practices due to appointments.  So he didn't know the plays as well as the other kids.  The game last night was amazing.  They all played as a team and Parker defense was amazing.  He stopped the lead scorer and closed the gap.

The pictures didn't turn out very good because we were sitting at the top of the bleachers and the lighting was not ideal and of course everyone was in motion.  Here are a few I wanted to share.

Janice's baby shower

I had the pleasure of throwing a coworker a baby shower this weekend.  Me and my coworker Tiffany did the planning.  Janice the mom to be baked away all morning and had all kinds of treats made for the party.  We had fun celebrating with her and just spending time outside of work together.

Hope Update

Hope has been home with us just over three months.  While she has made some huge steps but she has also regressed a bit and started acting out the last week or so.  Her English is amazing, she learns several new words a day and uses them.  She is now putting together three words at a time.  Tonight she said " Mom up please".  As the English grows she is also making her needs known using her new words.  She is learning colors, shapes and letters.  She sings the alphabet and twinkle star.  She can almost count to five.  She has mastered her basic farm animal sounds and it's so cute to hear her make the sounds.  Potty training has been an up and down battle.  She will go every time you place her on the potty but forgets to tell us most times.  Or she does the opposite while we are out, she asks for us to take her several times not going  at all.  We are not putting any pressure on her about it and are hoping that she makes it over the hurdle soon.  Sleep has been far the hardest part so far.  She still is having issues sleeping and still waking up with night terrors almost nightly.  She wakes up and wants to get in bed with us and so we move her to our bed and she moves all over, hitting her head on our headboard. Her bonding/attachment with Steve has improved but we have days we are back to square one.  She is definitely more comfortable with him now.  She loves her siblings and they lover her.  She goes to each of them freely and loves to hug them.  She's probably still is closest to Chase as he's always picking her up.  She started daycare about four weeks ago and has been doing great.  She waves at me as I leave.  She really enjoys playing with the other kids.  Here are a few of the pictures I took of her before church on Sunday.  She doesn't sit still long so I had to be quick.

Asian festival, Get Air and Birthday party

Wow what a crazy busy weekend.  First a full day in Portland with Zoe's dance team and then a full day in Eugene for the Asian Festival and a birthday party.

We left early to get to the Asian Festival when they opened at 10.  We watched the Lion dance first and the kids got to feed them money.  Then we walked around for a little bit, while visiting with another family that lives in Eugene that adopted a little girl from China.  We also got to reserve our tickets for a show at the end of March.  We are so excited to take the girls!

Then it was of to Get Air for a friends birthday.  It's a giant trampoline place.  All the kids got to jump, even little Hope.  Zoe found some other gymnast and hung out with them for the rest of the time doing flips.

Then off to Papa's pizza for the party.  Ryland was turning four!

West Linn Dance competition

The competition today was great.  The girls did amazing for their first time and placed 2nd!