Weekend in the Country

There's nothing like spending a few days in the mountain air to kick in the chilling and relaxing - or as we like to say, "Chillaxing." We rented a great cabin in Green Valley Lake with our friends, Clara and Shannon and their 5 yr old daughter, Franny. Jemma and Franny got along famously - better than we all expected. Franny enjoyed having a Mei Mei (little sister) to show all of her tricks to, and Jemma kept up with her like a real trooper. Jumping off the steps was the big discovery, but guitar playing and bike riding were equally delicious. And speaking of delicious, we began each morning with a delectable bowl of mush!

Hammock Hams

Jemma and Daddy relaxed on the hammock before chowing down our delicious Thanksgiving dinner.

Giving Thanks Part Two

This Thanksgiving we spend it locally with our old friends from New York, Uncle Dan and Uncle Chris. Carrie was there with her adorable 5 yr old daughter, Anna, and Craig and Jennifer rounded out the fun and food with fantastic hors d'oeuvres. Jemma particularly enjoyed the crab dip, and managed to get most of it in her mouth. Anna and Jemma played very well together despite their age difference and, like typical American grownups, we all ate like pigs!

Proud Mama!

Well, we're happy to report that even though Jemma still likes her skeleton called, "Baby" she has really taken to mothering her baby doll, also called, "Baby!" We kept asking if her doll baby had a name and she would say no and pull out her horse, Eagle and point to and stroke his mane. So there you have it. Now we quote Romeo and Juliet by saying, "What's in a mane?"

Cute As A Button!

For Halloween 2006 we hot glued and sewed over a hundred buttons on Jemma's clothes to create "Cute as a Button!" (look closely at the tee shirt.) She loves buttons so she inspired us to concoct this costume. On Halloween eve, Daddy took Jemma to Shasha's neighborhood - the posh part of Pasadena, and the girls scored big with yummy candy (which we didn't let her eat - oh, bad Mommy and Daddy!) Jemma ran up to the porches and foraged through bowls of candy and by the end, she was even saying, "Tick or Teat!"

Happy Traveler

Daddy snapped a picture of Jemma in the car on our way home from the Halloween party. Jemma loves to wave to us in the rear view mirror. Eyes on the road, Daddy!

The Ghouls Get Together

Grace Li Qi hosted a Halloween party at her house and the ghouls had a wonderful time. They ran around, ate cupcakes and played with stickers. Grace was a ballerina, Shasha a pumpkin, Michayla was Wonder Toddler and Jemma was Cute as a Button. It was a great day and we were all exhausted by the end.

Preparing for Halloween

Jemma tried out part of her costume the morning before our Halloween party with buttons in her hair and wearing her button jewelry. Here she's eating raisins - she loves eating raisins out of the box but when it's half empty she says, "Help me, help me!" Jemma's using more sentences now like, "I want read book," and "You sit here," and "Poopy diaper, change now," but our favorite is when she takes this little plastic skeleton and puts the blanket on it and says, "Night, night, baby" and sings Rock-a-bye-baby...! Too cute, but a little weird that she calls the skeleton "baby." She's just starting to connect to dolls but prefers to rock the skeleton to sleep.

Wagon on the Wild Side

We made a trip out to Underwood Farms with our friends Doug and Andrea and their adorable twin daughters, Emma and Sydney. The goats, the rabbits, the ducks and the roasted corn didn't hold a candle to riding in the wagon with the girls. They were packed in like sardines but that didn't seem to deter them. We were asked several times that day if the girls were triplets and once when we said no, one mom actually breathed a sigh of relief followed by a, "Thank goodness, I don't know how you could do it!" Then she pushed off with her two kids in tow. Jemma and the girls wanted to get their faces painted and Jemma chose the balloons - which were fun to smudge immediately after...

Neigh to the Pony Ride

The pony ride at Underwood Farms seemed like a grand idea, that is, until it was actually time to get saddled in. Jemma waved her right hand frantically while moaning, "No, no, no, no!" so we didn't push it. Emma and Sydney seemed to enjoy the ride without their triplet buddy along.

Pumpkin Pushing

Jemma was appropriately dressed in her coveralls and shades for the IvanHOEdown held at the Ivanhoe Elementary School in our neighborhood. We pushed pumpkins, ate tamales and tostadas and ran around with our favorite pals.

Mug Shots

Grace Li Qi, Shasha and Jemma take the best pictures.

USAA Reunion

At the USAA picnic, we gathered with numerous families who have worked with the great Norman to adopt their children from China. USAA supplied the balloons and face paint, we supplied the kids and food. It was a wonderful day at the park - perfect weather and perfect playmates.

Have Playground, Will Play!

Jemma loves to play on the swings, the slide, anything that climbs and with anyone who will climb with her! Who are those adorable girls anyway?

Hungry Girls!

MMMM, chicken leg. Burp.

What's up Pussycat?

Jemma wanted to get her face painted at the picnic - little did she know that she'd become a kitty cat for the rest of the day. She was feline groovy for the rest of the day!

One- Year Reunion

We celebrated with many of the people we traveled to China with by gathering down at Redondo and Manhattan Beaches for a fun-filled weekend. It was Jemma's first time on the beach and at first, the cold crashing waves really scared her but then she dove right in, well, not exactly dove, more like tip-toed... That night, we all gathered in a church hall where one of the dad's serves as an assistant minister, and we had a big feast of, you guessed it, Chinese Food! The next morning we regrouped at Polywog Park near the duckpond and playground and had hours of fun in the sun. It was a blast reconnecting with our old travel buddies and astonishing how much all of these girls (and one boy) have grown.

Smile!

Whenever we tell Jemma to smile for a photo, she makes this funny face. She's so much fun to hang out with now because she understands and responds to everything. Her grandparents, MeeMa and PopPop were here for a week and she had the best time with them. They were smitten with her, of course, and after they left, Jemma kept asking for them. We forgot to take photos of MeeMa and PopPop this time (bad mommy!) but thankfully, Jemma has several pictures of them and everytime she sees them, she exclaims, "MeeMa! PopPop!"

Chinese Fiesta

We invitied five families to gather at our house on Mexican Independence Day for a Chinese Fiesta and a toast to our girls. It was a really fun time with good food and good friends. It's amazing how much they've all changed in a year - we parents have changed, too, but the results on us are not as obvious as they are on our girls. There's Rosie, sister Daisy, Jemma, Sha Sha and Michayla. Missing from the photo are Mitzi and Grace Li Qi (pictured separately.) My folks said it best - it's unbelievable, they are ALL so beautiful!