tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27723883050522285042024-02-20T20:42:58.502-08:00Cherry Blossom LifeChristi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.comBlogger91125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772388305052228504.post-33183691841505076752010-12-22T15:18:00.000-08:002010-12-23T11:29:17.204-08:00Merry Christmas!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIyRlOfM2wGWDxQ1UgRLdx90my3gQQkvrQX59CGcFs1JRvY6bXTElNs2qS4Sme4pdEu5nlv1PWcKn00ZA7qtEeQp8unfZTjyZZrDu76rWMp3Cax6ajdYNVw-p935llBFgqdSgZlsr2qEo/s1600/IMG_7069.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIyRlOfM2wGWDxQ1UgRLdx90my3gQQkvrQX59CGcFs1JRvY6bXTElNs2qS4Sme4pdEu5nlv1PWcKn00ZA7qtEeQp8unfZTjyZZrDu76rWMp3Cax6ajdYNVw-p935llBFgqdSgZlsr2qEo/s400/IMG_7069.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553959579402753442" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIWCZNv-yq78sV6iWEKCWX-c_teWeJp90WTH2hdumZSNVPbxEs213Pa3UUJ5gTrFCv7AzaMkJUDf8NKIFT9P4nhb73jvKKX_AI9fnVy2CNYq7vLC4l-roI8gffNuQk3pAhUMWZHK3CA1E/s1600/IMG_7071.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIWCZNv-yq78sV6iWEKCWX-c_teWeJp90WTH2hdumZSNVPbxEs213Pa3UUJ5gTrFCv7AzaMkJUDf8NKIFT9P4nhb73jvKKX_AI9fnVy2CNYq7vLC4l-roI8gffNuQk3pAhUMWZHK3CA1E/s400/IMG_7071.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553959570315410914" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu1hLhwQwbyzy8IqgMQdez9i49SpMwMbSswz79X2nHFVBlCtGB0hefa53HDI4oa0SAYUMXBO-G_bG4WvGryLkVfdQfiPwaxGkvIsJdE1Qot6tHYKaGL044qG45SeABRznUJH_mZJJ9UEI/s1600/IMG_7101.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu1hLhwQwbyzy8IqgMQdez9i49SpMwMbSswz79X2nHFVBlCtGB0hefa53HDI4oa0SAYUMXBO-G_bG4WvGryLkVfdQfiPwaxGkvIsJdE1Qot6tHYKaGL044qG45SeABRznUJH_mZJJ9UEI/s400/IMG_7101.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553959562097564706" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiN7oq0e0R0of_pZH_c4SRO99D5R1T6iMdjVjacEK5yH6Aud1Uh_GAZ0JjSvRVsx1Z0JAavq10CxSJ3TLOxhBFJJtz5MO86iiBGJjvaz2hxAVFPAD7VDaUIJbTreRkoFg9qQLDkPofnvE/s1600/IMG_7126.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiN7oq0e0R0of_pZH_c4SRO99D5R1T6iMdjVjacEK5yH6Aud1Uh_GAZ0JjSvRVsx1Z0JAavq10CxSJ3TLOxhBFJJtz5MO86iiBGJjvaz2hxAVFPAD7VDaUIJbTreRkoFg9qQLDkPofnvE/s400/IMG_7126.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553959552602216322" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfBghLileKROuevT0NMYc_SV7OOt0CM6iprbSAzQGIc_5ud9wYCq8FUNy5x1bvm4DdWRi2Qj55-wFOkYQlDr6sSd0RO4OGGuX_h8La6jW7lHZnNlevKQbK8uyIhSD7mxAK2GbySgr7Djk/s1600/2008+PAW18977.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfBghLileKROuevT0NMYc_SV7OOt0CM6iprbSAzQGIc_5ud9wYCq8FUNy5x1bvm4DdWRi2Qj55-wFOkYQlDr6sSd0RO4OGGuX_h8La6jW7lHZnNlevKQbK8uyIhSD7mxAK2GbySgr7Djk/s400/2008+PAW18977.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553959549333435746" border="0" /></a><br />Hmmm, scince my last post was August 1, I guess it's time to update the blog.<br />We moved the week before school started in August. It was crazy! We began looking for a new home early last spring, but it took months to find what we wanted, and then many more months to negotiate a deal. We literally threw all our things in the house and focused on getting the new school year underway. Around mid October we began really unpacking and getting better settled in, but it was a slow process squeezing in a box here and a box there. We still have much to do and especially need to start shopping for new furniture. We gave away lots of things when we moved to China and have been kind of "camping out" ever since. I've loved being stripped down and in minimalist mode, but it is now time for some new things to finish out our home. It's beautiful, we have so much more space and a lovely little yard. We are blessed in every way.<br />I hope to post more about our past few months soon.<br />In the meantime we want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas!<br /><br /><br /><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh91/customblogdesigns/CBL/christisig.png" />Christi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.com55tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772388305052228504.post-88667102978859248252010-08-01T21:49:00.001-07:002010-11-11T22:19:51.301-08:00P.S.<img alt="Ni Hao Y'all" src="http://i54.tinypic.com/bg22is.png" /><br /><br />Don't miss this amazing blog and the very fun giveaway!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj3Ur4cVEC7j0x_cUTgPYEN9fp4CpyUVZ7tnpi16W6HOmM_HAJ0IK9i3-5jdN0Lza-g5ErIbWY-1Rx3EfqDKOvwu4DFUfoD6_Pc8ye4tl31D62iA9eTrN6UzDga2s89pWYSouf1Td_FKw/s1600/IMG_6606.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 246px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj3Ur4cVEC7j0x_cUTgPYEN9fp4CpyUVZ7tnpi16W6HOmM_HAJ0IK9i3-5jdN0Lza-g5ErIbWY-1Rx3EfqDKOvwu4DFUfoD6_Pc8ye4tl31D62iA9eTrN6UzDga2s89pWYSouf1Td_FKw/s400/IMG_6606.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500670436662879666" border="0" /></a><br />Here's little Miss in her pink glasses.<br /><br />Oh, and she got a new charm on her bracelet to celebrate mastering the monkey bars.<br /><br />Best of all, she's started reading this summer. As she heads into Kindergarten this fall I realized I didn't want someone else to get to have the joy of teaching her that, so we've been spending about 5-10 minutes a day doing "home school". It is so much fun to watch her meet all these developmental milestones. It is wonderful to get to share great books together. The other day she talked me into reading her 4 chapters of Milly Molly Mandy at lunch and several more at dinner.<br /><br /><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh91/customblogdesigns/CBL/christisig.png" />Christi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772388305052228504.post-20379269478181322562010-07-13T09:18:00.000-07:002010-08-02T19:31:06.424-07:00Summer!<a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJHu7kpOQnVMIzgM6vwPlhSnh_7yi2EKwnZDpWvBdHcX3wqrRvJmCeE10dnQY1C5X6xBI8cumOSQ3aUeZypIxKd4BRtHbUp5nTVDu66JFYRtlFYurip4FpFhVO7m8TYh2mqvugojtZ8uw/s1600/IMG_6515.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJHu7kpOQnVMIzgM6vwPlhSnh_7yi2EKwnZDpWvBdHcX3wqrRvJmCeE10dnQY1C5X6xBI8cumOSQ3aUeZypIxKd4BRtHbUp5nTVDu66JFYRtlFYurip4FpFhVO7m8TYh2mqvugojtZ8uw/s400/IMG_6515.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500298697507933186" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Hmmm...it's been months since my last post. I guess it goes without saying how busy life is. Little Miss Wonderful has transformed in so many ways. She's really into rollerskating, hula hooping, swimming, 100 piece puzzles, back bends, and doing the splits. She has a little joke she likes to share whenever possible, "Don't tell anyone about this news, when cows laugh - milk comes out of they (should be their) nose!" She just thinks that is so funny.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxIUwde7Q0T8wY7g0g0p1sJs3y-E4h0ND0ihIulJLAhBcI91mYVagBV220FHPem5bC9ZfILr4McQID1ZS9rXJ6uN23HOipmcP4XHbnuXJZp2zHH13S5V8oCu_LH81VnuHrMWFZI3bI1QA/s1600/IMG_6363.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 336px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxIUwde7Q0T8wY7g0g0p1sJs3y-E4h0ND0ihIulJLAhBcI91mYVagBV220FHPem5bC9ZfILr4McQID1ZS9rXJ6uN23HOipmcP4XHbnuXJZp2zHH13S5V8oCu_LH81VnuHrMWFZI3bI1QA/s400/IMG_6363.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500304064862546530" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >At the end of the school year Abbey made a little treasure chest in her preschool class. Her teachers filled it with sweet treasures like a lei, seashell, gold coins, etc. There was one odd item that didn't seem to fit, a plastic ping-pong ball type eyeball. I didn't like it and so Abbey made a special point of always hiding it in places where it would surprise me or pop out on me. For two weeks she took it everywhere we went. Then she drew a very interesting picture that looked like an eye with rainbow stripes in it and eyelashes all around. She taped it up on the wall in my bedroom so that it would be right in front of me when I was in bed. We had to go to my eye doctor to get contacts and she was fascinated by the whole examination process. Then we had to go to her Dr. for a routine vision and hearing screening. She wasn't seeing well out of one eye and we were referred to a pediatric ophthalmologist. After this visit many people prayed for us as we were referred to a pediatric retinal specialist. We are so thankful that the Dr. told us she had a small congenital abnormality that did not need treatment. We got some sweet little pink Juicy Couture glasses that Abbey now wears.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiutFWdoeXfjytu0vViqfaeOaDbnyqvdOC8MEYGM55U9sZ0ip1wMbeprv4ZE-p_IsMWhJ4aGpE9BC2lHrQGTwCIvlpZqNWWHp2xCDsKrqSc7ws3EbrPWD_-KcWLFfaFZtJgus7CW2Sc2zI/s1600/IMG_6374.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiutFWdoeXfjytu0vViqfaeOaDbnyqvdOC8MEYGM55U9sZ0ip1wMbeprv4ZE-p_IsMWhJ4aGpE9BC2lHrQGTwCIvlpZqNWWHp2xCDsKrqSc7ws3EbrPWD_-KcWLFfaFZtJgus7CW2Sc2zI/s400/IMG_6374.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500304087039865346" border="0" /></a><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgawlW9VDT73zUjMl7yuVGqUWoJMd7CN1a4704fBN2uZLBSVi-NRzvxx_HBDdfAA0qHhZFVn5lXIv19y-Si-qG-RctnmRaPKWbVUsJ_RggNJp31HRGLFXgPlSW0WrhmUE4xKhDfnfcHiQo/s1600/IMG_6422.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgawlW9VDT73zUjMl7yuVGqUWoJMd7CN1a4704fBN2uZLBSVi-NRzvxx_HBDdfAA0qHhZFVn5lXIv19y-Si-qG-RctnmRaPKWbVUsJ_RggNJp31HRGLFXgPlSW0WrhmUE4xKhDfnfcHiQo/s400/IMG_6422.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500304053179328402" border="0" /></a><br /><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHWWde_XE226iIs_t5LFf3Iq6y_g79DlWUl9pZHB8-42hyCucKYxHXipI2eHqXO3hTwul6HKEtSBoMKyRcxelouOlAJhuwl8O6H5GxEtMuu45R9LmnJydwgJGLcrkv3B5bMw4d3tPIz7g/s1600/IMG_6530.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHWWde_XE226iIs_t5LFf3Iq6y_g79DlWUl9pZHB8-42hyCucKYxHXipI2eHqXO3hTwul6HKEtSBoMKyRcxelouOlAJhuwl8O6H5GxEtMuu45R9LmnJydwgJGLcrkv3B5bMw4d3tPIz7g/s400/IMG_6530.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500298693052352770" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >In May Abbey went through Infant Swim Resource. It is a six week program with a ten minute swimming lesson each day. They teach a sequence of swim-float-swim and teach the children how to find a way out of the pool after being disoriented (being flipped over, having a wet piece of clothing dropped over their face, etc.) The last week they have to practice their survival skills with summer clothing and with winter clothing to simulate accidentally falling into water somewhere and having to find a way out. I was so proud of Abbey. It was so wonderful to watch her confidence grow and I could have never taught her all that she learned from her teacher. The program is for 6 month old's to 6 years. You can check it out </span><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;" href="http://www.infantswim.com/">here</a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3AYj-iSV-FZHeapKCftYjBSOwsqGFd5H4E4L_ZMyiO3ye2KJ7jIHw5aN69x6FvbwCaLjM8g5jyKHX5ny_LC3l2dLR2o8WEuaetZ_GjdqxMp3LmRJcg7wkeNgJoX0Vea1AjG_hQKAeRq0/s1600/DSC_0012.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 283px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3AYj-iSV-FZHeapKCftYjBSOwsqGFd5H4E4L_ZMyiO3ye2KJ7jIHw5aN69x6FvbwCaLjM8g5jyKHX5ny_LC3l2dLR2o8WEuaetZ_GjdqxMp3LmRJcg7wkeNgJoX0Vea1AjG_hQKAeRq0/s400/DSC_0012.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500298669103082210" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >In June Abbey had her first ballet and tap recital. It was wonderful and she loved it. She's already asking about when she can get back up on stage. It was such a dream come true to have a sweet little girl up there beaming and dancing.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYRWhD8HBVuM70Pl_7kHVdFWyV0Sclp6GjYpoQLNqO_sw5nvdyllsfUkeMR8nZg1dS1n15sY-fpOtiuH2UPc9dakgCIq0kIhZyLrchaB3Z6TDX1hX0_5_iHdh2-D26wt79sRgy1Yz46Hg/s1600/IMG_6572.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYRWhD8HBVuM70Pl_7kHVdFWyV0Sclp6GjYpoQLNqO_sw5nvdyllsfUkeMR8nZg1dS1n15sY-fpOtiuH2UPc9dakgCIq0kIhZyLrchaB3Z6TDX1hX0_5_iHdh2-D26wt79sRgy1Yz46Hg/s400/IMG_6572.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500298659557474306" border="0" /></a><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0AgA6gJ2CSsKZpJY5voOpI-ydvcP2TFKUduK24QHcK68iNB0I8gSxEYw-wjHJhwbUCspCje9wG6LyKPJeHi2GUZ1L7rtIYxBYPkAuVIzvnwkcZ2T6amI1j-YP76xZE72SsQxQbWF2b74/s1600/DSC_0044.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0AgA6gJ2CSsKZpJY5voOpI-ydvcP2TFKUduK24QHcK68iNB0I8gSxEYw-wjHJhwbUCspCje9wG6LyKPJeHi2GUZ1L7rtIYxBYPkAuVIzvnwkcZ2T6amI1j-YP76xZE72SsQxQbWF2b74/s400/DSC_0044.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500307110126365554" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >We are really enjoying a great book entitled More Milly, Molly, Mandy. These are such sweet stories set back in England in the early 1900's. If you are looking for a great chapter book to read with your little girl we highly recommend it. It's so fun to have extra time in the summer for lots of library trips and stacks of books. Abbey's favorite picture book right now is such a fun one, How To Get Married...by Me, The Bride. She just loves pretending about weddings.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >We are enjoying lots of everyday moments like riding bikes in the park, eating breakfast for dinner, and having play dates with friends. We are expecting a busier month in August as we will be moving to a new home in our area and getting my class ready for a new school year. It's so exciting that Abbey will be starting Kindergarten at my school in the fall and that we will be right near each other each day. We are both so happy about that.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGahOgl2uJNzROIyjcmj9tFbdVtNt-AKB5ZStg4HWRQdNuw9RCYjV88ILmujHJRwGDcRuOS_WAcRBPT17szYFDOki9_gWDXJMvYGDtga9Sqg5TNnye5IymHVUGOC6WxCdz3r4tXdcXe4w/s1600/IMG_6542.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGahOgl2uJNzROIyjcmj9tFbdVtNt-AKB5ZStg4HWRQdNuw9RCYjV88ILmujHJRwGDcRuOS_WAcRBPT17szYFDOki9_gWDXJMvYGDtga9Sqg5TNnye5IymHVUGOC6WxCdz3r4tXdcXe4w/s400/IMG_6542.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500298681939705314" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Tea at the Four Seasons</span><br /><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiutFWdoeXfjytu0vViqfaeOaDbnyqvdOC8MEYGM55U9sZ0ip1wMbeprv4ZE-p_IsMWhJ4aGpE9BC2lHrQGTwCIvlpZqNWWHp2xCDsKrqSc7ws3EbrPWD_-KcWLFfaFZtJgus7CW2Sc2zI/s1600/IMG_6374.JPG"><br /></a><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDgGk4SU-FOocWAvsQrjqscCsWUDuTTZbYwYi86Tp-_ecH0K8zlH-Hq-h17VwJC4qj1U50xHWOz-FqgAV7griInRi7UqU0A6zwxJ6dBvLf-mhCTl8qzZ0JRqsAz97At56z1Ep9rnvUBX8/s1600/867299368_img_6403.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDgGk4SU-FOocWAvsQrjqscCsWUDuTTZbYwYi86Tp-_ecH0K8zlH-Hq-h17VwJC4qj1U50xHWOz-FqgAV7griInRi7UqU0A6zwxJ6dBvLf-mhCTl8qzZ0JRqsAz97At56z1Ep9rnvUBX8/s400/867299368_img_6403.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500304075921454642" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Church with mommy</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxIUwde7Q0T8wY7g0g0p1sJs3y-E4h0ND0ihIulJLAhBcI91mYVagBV220FHPem5bC9ZfILr4McQID1ZS9rXJ6uN23HOipmcP4XHbnuXJZp2zHH13S5V8oCu_LH81VnuHrMWFZI3bI1QA/s1600/IMG_6363.JPG"><br /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgawlW9VDT73zUjMl7yuVGqUWoJMd7CN1a4704fBN2uZLBSVi-NRzvxx_HBDdfAA0qHhZFVn5lXIv19y-Si-qG-RctnmRaPKWbVUsJ_RggNJp31HRGLFXgPlSW0WrhmUE4xKhDfnfcHiQo/s1600/IMG_6422.JPG"><br /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgawlW9VDT73zUjMl7yuVGqUWoJMd7CN1a4704fBN2uZLBSVi-NRzvxx_HBDdfAA0qHhZFVn5lXIv19y-Si-qG-RctnmRaPKWbVUsJ_RggNJp31HRGLFXgPlSW0WrhmUE4xKhDfnfcHiQo/s1600/IMG_6422.JPG"> </a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxIUwde7Q0T8wY7g0g0p1sJs3y-E4h0ND0ihIulJLAhBcI91mYVagBV220FHPem5bC9ZfILr4McQID1ZS9rXJ6uN23HOipmcP4XHbnuXJZp2zHH13S5V8oCu_LH81VnuHrMWFZI3bI1QA/s1600/IMG_6363.JPG"><br /></a><br /><br /><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh91/customblogdesigns/CBL/christisig.png" />Christi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772388305052228504.post-33232589279781575422010-04-05T18:10:00.001-07:002010-04-07T23:53:06.916-07:00Spring!<span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJcrrHZw-u6SUJqiIpBoHuRLDY_d7wqdfP7DNlt5GxNwrzF8sBDFT0nun-r5etm3ET364TyuDSosrWEl2c_Hq-xb-8g8HnvwLu-8PjBpH2GUNFOvsHZYJH0Qk-UskbIQglhhHC38XkbEA/s1600/IMG_6244.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 325px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJcrrHZw-u6SUJqiIpBoHuRLDY_d7wqdfP7DNlt5GxNwrzF8sBDFT0nun-r5etm3ET364TyuDSosrWEl2c_Hq-xb-8g8HnvwLu-8PjBpH2GUNFOvsHZYJH0Qk-UskbIQglhhHC38XkbEA/s400/IMG_6244.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456826743234737586" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB_i-XOk_Q-PHfK_lUkq5rcZtTKgUitKhz6ld_iYIZRxddHAjiArF1YINNhHMl06Lx3XuT59Y4AQaT2I4-3yc_kqpOgrp7x-ihEowq4hB8OQY_S7mcpjyvmoqMsNWnqJLRsxJhLDy-lxo/s1600/IMG_6249.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB_i-XOk_Q-PHfK_lUkq5rcZtTKgUitKhz6ld_iYIZRxddHAjiArF1YINNhHMl06Lx3XuT59Y4AQaT2I4-3yc_kqpOgrp7x-ihEowq4hB8OQY_S7mcpjyvmoqMsNWnqJLRsxJhLDy-lxo/s400/IMG_6249.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456826770012415474" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Where did March go? Can it really be April already?</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnRCpeqhEwL0Xdzbw23hOLPVhYzNVkeZWEtZIm3W8Uw7RRTsl6i8OCopAF1ETkiadZK3Pd4PHtfu6BsBrmuwjdneEdtaGaWbWHpsB0ILIA7Z39ub3xDQBu7k79L5SS3Ob6-EJSTmKuLc8/s1600/IMG_6250.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnRCpeqhEwL0Xdzbw23hOLPVhYzNVkeZWEtZIm3W8Uw7RRTsl6i8OCopAF1ETkiadZK3Pd4PHtfu6BsBrmuwjdneEdtaGaWbWHpsB0ILIA7Z39ub3xDQBu7k79L5SS3Ob6-EJSTmKuLc8/s400/IMG_6250.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456826780205334226" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">We are loving every moment of spring! Ducks are nesting next to our porch, gorgeous buds and blooms are everywhere, and lots of baby bunnies and squirrels are running around.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Abbey has been such a delight. </span><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTUBv-c__yhyphenhyphenrzyCHDrYPsdV1jy_cE8KXI4rNLWWGvFfAn24w_YgHRW4EK8TGKXUl3DwPsd7AqhFenDYg1MVQGqF1p7ucesjB_V-pN0DvWtpr6OTHR6m7twq6bv65X2GhqIOL77qMf5Qk/s1600/IMG_6172.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTUBv-c__yhyphenhyphenrzyCHDrYPsdV1jy_cE8KXI4rNLWWGvFfAn24w_YgHRW4EK8TGKXUl3DwPsd7AqhFenDYg1MVQGqF1p7ucesjB_V-pN0DvWtpr6OTHR6m7twq6bv65X2GhqIOL77qMf5Qk/s400/IMG_6172.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456832261672881586" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ywc_xgR0TpaqqC5D65E3hlRSyOPHbH5NSSGPBdnxqC9eftK6BbICY40dGy7uGhZDqXwH5MqDHPyVS-vt9al43IH165de9WhPq1GV20BCMLaVcU07bj_IFqdeDN2hjsiSsFM17P_EXDU/s1600/IMG_6173.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ywc_xgR0TpaqqC5D65E3hlRSyOPHbH5NSSGPBdnxqC9eftK6BbICY40dGy7uGhZDqXwH5MqDHPyVS-vt9al43IH165de9WhPq1GV20BCMLaVcU07bj_IFqdeDN2hjsiSsFM17P_EXDU/s400/IMG_6173.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456832252488845890" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">She's still quite focused on the Sound of Music, and has made a cross necklace decorated with beads and is saying she's the "Reverend Mother". Her prayers have really gone to a new dimension. This week as we were preparing things for church for Easter she began one of her prayers saying, "Lord, let's get this party started!" and then proceeded to pray for our pastor, the worship team, children's ministries, and "everyone who doesn't know the Lord". The other night around midnight I took her into the bathroom and she was totally asleep, eyes closed, and limp like a rag doll, but she kept repeating, "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control." It's such a joy to have all the seeds that have been planted in her heart blooming.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyx1EoCgBjw0Q9wLjlNdS0sT07uZbmMs9VRVDwzQ-mOwO3yXL9tTnC4ibs8GqfS249W6RbEsbIJiH3sWfDYJ_z-ITwVqlxX1_SEtnObwjmlh2B3Sq44-I6t-7bZSiNYae3Hzb_mxrZWV0/s1600/IMG_6148.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyx1EoCgBjw0Q9wLjlNdS0sT07uZbmMs9VRVDwzQ-mOwO3yXL9tTnC4ibs8GqfS249W6RbEsbIJiH3sWfDYJ_z-ITwVqlxX1_SEtnObwjmlh2B3Sq44-I6t-7bZSiNYae3Hzb_mxrZWV0/s400/IMG_6148.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456832221443342274" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The Reverend Mother</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEde7ktNS8Ep9o1xgH4eb_uKJlpNpHRFQ_QPu8FRAf0Hclxla8vj1cG6UKVU_UbwHK2I_nJ-5ODNA3xanLRtqYPKxSIaL7jSSbLPfnqXN_ayfHbI4RZdgHaZjpOsvL3XuedkpIzyle5bo/s1600/IMG_6163.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEde7ktNS8Ep9o1xgH4eb_uKJlpNpHRFQ_QPu8FRAf0Hclxla8vj1cG6UKVU_UbwHK2I_nJ-5ODNA3xanLRtqYPKxSIaL7jSSbLPfnqXN_ayfHbI4RZdgHaZjpOsvL3XuedkpIzyle5bo/s400/IMG_6163.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456832235154313234" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Abbey with the Baroness</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4LU1xhWl7vLJqDdC_yrevC3AZntlMia4AhUmlBL2XIYFhTb7gM01zd-lXbCS5r1DBPDXqIuGMlRpjmhnUT3Mi0YepeOhSYOn3ZrL35BUaL81VXxotXLlbV2sbgt9STd58_ToIPaiOf4w/s1600/IMG_6164.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 355px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4LU1xhWl7vLJqDdC_yrevC3AZntlMia4AhUmlBL2XIYFhTb7gM01zd-lXbCS5r1DBPDXqIuGMlRpjmhnUT3Mi0YepeOhSYOn3ZrL35BUaL81VXxotXLlbV2sbgt9STd58_ToIPaiOf4w/s400/IMG_6164.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456832240971330882" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Abbey with Brigitte</span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Ia_xSS6VqfwWjtOziWGmMgJETHyPPwp2kJM3Tg3y4X-OcExlluM5r11KMw5-fnjjdbk2dg5RQ1DUWPrbCMWdI4G1900TElDf1_HNCOkVZClUvh9mVKCIF8XCtvbcJIwFcL2NpNkpvVc/s1600/IMG_6235.JPG"><br /></a><br /><br /><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh91/customblogdesigns/CBL/christisig.png" />Christi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772388305052228504.post-30622677856662824102010-02-28T22:49:00.000-08:002010-03-01T06:32:21.549-08:00Savoring the MomentsOkay, I can't let February completely pass by without posting, and since March starts in a few minutes I will make this quick.<br />We are loving life and enjoying every moment together. I know I always say it can't get any better, and then somehow it does. Abbey is starting to ask me questions that really make me think, and I am loving the new level our conversations are going to, yet we still have plenty of silliness thrown in. Best of all is sharing everything spiritually. I love talking with her about the things that really matter, praying together, and hearing her sweet songs about the Lord. I am wondering what people in the grocery store and other places think as she is singing her heart out about the Fruit of the Spirit, a Joyful Heart is Like a Good Medicine, etc. She has truly got the joy down in her heart.<br />Abbey is currently loving a game called Great States Jr. It has a timer and you have to quickly find states on the map. She loves it! She is also excited about collecting quarters for the 50 States.<br />Other things we are enjoying together include lots of good books. She's particularly into Aesop's Fables (and listening to a Jim Weiss CD of them in the car), DK's First Encyclopedia of the Human Body, and lots of books about how things are made or how things work. The librarians have given me some pretty funny looks as we come in with our usual, "We'd like a book on how _______ are made." She loved some we checked out recently that showed how tennis shoes are made and what it's like to be a textile worker. And speaking of factories, she asked me to stay out of hers for several days because she was working on this....<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4CWBSng4p0NOAj17qNYwtCLbmpwecfhnoMjrEpwfRXGhJ0fllW-mD724CAgfzKiH9jimdIc5cOnrfr1mAPL7X3KJRKtqHQfTG84v_ILiU56WYR76yIURrrf7WpwzEiguSZtH1xKpOu40/s1600-h/IMG_6073.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 385px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4CWBSng4p0NOAj17qNYwtCLbmpwecfhnoMjrEpwfRXGhJ0fllW-mD724CAgfzKiH9jimdIc5cOnrfr1mAPL7X3KJRKtqHQfTG84v_ILiU56WYR76yIURrrf7WpwzEiguSZtH1xKpOu40/s400/IMG_6073.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443560122330601538" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoa21D7y0fdgr81PvCYnG7L3Z7ilevOfjfwbJ4JvCSO4iiHMwln2br6J8Ji5RbiegZOiLkteR9kAlYW0ctR0XMof21QFhH8v0ibpmGi2vkuw8nFX1p28OQtAKA1lFfoASaMBGUdYJW3OU/s1600-h/IMG_6145.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoa21D7y0fdgr81PvCYnG7L3Z7ilevOfjfwbJ4JvCSO4iiHMwln2br6J8Ji5RbiegZOiLkteR9kAlYW0ctR0XMof21QFhH8v0ibpmGi2vkuw8nFX1p28OQtAKA1lFfoASaMBGUdYJW3OU/s400/IMG_6145.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443560135932358434" border="0" /></a><br />It was so sweet. She made it and wrapped it all by herself and then gave it to me. With the little resources she has she manages to make and give a lot of cards and gifts.<br />Here's the sign for when her factory is closed...<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvo_OGjdMjL9mUeBXmkjPRf_MdTKcatqipYPS27uCR-0emGm408o9WeKoqhX8Wuk6Gy6fJZxPADKneH4oiuuwM00fgQbDbX5pFEYOliduFFQf06oZswkhWYpYkRMNmJm_8dFU2TSyVRQU/s1600-h/IMG_6070.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvo_OGjdMjL9mUeBXmkjPRf_MdTKcatqipYPS27uCR-0emGm408o9WeKoqhX8Wuk6Gy6fJZxPADKneH4oiuuwM00fgQbDbX5pFEYOliduFFQf06oZswkhWYpYkRMNmJm_8dFU2TSyVRQU/s400/IMG_6070.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443566247790099106" border="0" /></a><br />I told her the other day that maybe she can run a factory when she grows up, but she said no, she just wants to be a mom. She's also told me that she's going to be a teacher at a Christian school<br />and that I can stay at home and take care of her babies, which she wants to adopt from China.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbMyOtSbN6v-edi8AYOdPeXMyiowj6QxczFMI-ZUlgjUBix4vEa-GdW5fqHTdo_9e5dLfpAAVuxF1t1duRg027xbYfJ4kobnVIGCf_z_xZwT1t0G53x6eE-oUjWMkYlXynjK48vh8RStE/s1600-h/IMG_6129.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 270px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbMyOtSbN6v-edi8AYOdPeXMyiowj6QxczFMI-ZUlgjUBix4vEa-GdW5fqHTdo_9e5dLfpAAVuxF1t1duRg027xbYfJ4kobnVIGCf_z_xZwT1t0G53x6eE-oUjWMkYlXynjK48vh8RStE/s400/IMG_6129.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443561878281898658" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8O9yd5DrauG9w9kXrKFQk-Y2jv4sbqvHgC2QBlVu1UVdJ4XUdmiAs-cTfDGCBLnrd0a4AUMFCulxD-lzewlhW22FL0aZzmnXQBstQ9TD_heDe_Xt_T3tQHj8LIOANZ_3BT9PBJvwyGXU/s1600-h/IMG_6143.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8O9yd5DrauG9w9kXrKFQk-Y2jv4sbqvHgC2QBlVu1UVdJ4XUdmiAs-cTfDGCBLnrd0a4AUMFCulxD-lzewlhW22FL0aZzmnXQBstQ9TD_heDe_Xt_T3tQHj8LIOANZ_3BT9PBJvwyGXU/s400/IMG_6143.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443561894767859266" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidsepOD6_xvQbgVKEIWKOK3RZEHZ8aaUEANizlnYx8UAnM1XYd-JscFbtA4kwW1Ag0k8au3-JzBJmteG0ZHplpZN0L2jnf2Af-GQ15jrQdANccH7ShsgwNZE6VySgBqNFeM-D2RI9a9p0/s1600-h/IMG_6131.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 227px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidsepOD6_xvQbgVKEIWKOK3RZEHZ8aaUEANizlnYx8UAnM1XYd-JscFbtA4kwW1Ag0k8au3-JzBJmteG0ZHplpZN0L2jnf2Af-GQ15jrQdANccH7ShsgwNZE6VySgBqNFeM-D2RI9a9p0/s400/IMG_6131.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443561915210771682" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpbMAR4fAXwtN8KJbNyYDLYLliBUN-Isch3bmh-kVVigUXIrXnvSmxaT6WPPkziUThxzVdSotfPP3Z2k0i3c8eRPdOFJkcGK_-6wct0bB3jFMCKMKx9tnBc9y2JKEXTrIP5jJTkH6FO-I/s1600-h/IMG_6134.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpbMAR4fAXwtN8KJbNyYDLYLliBUN-Isch3bmh-kVVigUXIrXnvSmxaT6WPPkziUThxzVdSotfPP3Z2k0i3c8eRPdOFJkcGK_-6wct0bB3jFMCKMKx9tnBc9y2JKEXTrIP5jJTkH6FO-I/s400/IMG_6134.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443561907000740530" border="0" /></a>She loved CNY, especially the Lion Dancers. We were both excited to see girls on the Lion Dance team this time.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMeDNC7VW_bjMfVRJ07blHFbZNea6gYkABeCFR3jwgInEC6b13Gz7DQ2KXvRiRP5S10aTRMCLlWUAw-oIF8G1M_yvtY0hqmng8ySa7F0DgD_nhFYKU_cmpemrMgC5nKAb22LBHLkB4S7w/s1600-h/IMG_6074.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMeDNC7VW_bjMfVRJ07blHFbZNea6gYkABeCFR3jwgInEC6b13Gz7DQ2KXvRiRP5S10aTRMCLlWUAw-oIF8G1M_yvtY0hqmng8ySa7F0DgD_nhFYKU_cmpemrMgC5nKAb22LBHLkB4S7w/s400/IMG_6074.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443571550585506114" border="0" /></a><br />This is Abbey's first real homework assignment, which was an All About Me poster for her preschool. It felt a little surreal to have a school project to work on over the weekend. I am sure it was a taste of countless weekend's to come. I love the way she draws herself with hair sprouting out of her head and shooting to the ground. And now for a slew of other projects...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzms1Pbu_pT79i6_OfXOb_zeW8IAnDcRs758fd5NOPRC8o2H7FEgeCtKkMOEOygcady1x-CxkFaDles0-m2FqQdgTKiZ3nGKMRNWHXkqfENyg4yraZNCWO88i435RLnPtSB-4hWQNfTj4/s1600-h/IMG_6098.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzms1Pbu_pT79i6_OfXOb_zeW8IAnDcRs758fd5NOPRC8o2H7FEgeCtKkMOEOygcady1x-CxkFaDles0-m2FqQdgTKiZ3nGKMRNWHXkqfENyg4yraZNCWO88i435RLnPtSB-4hWQNfTj4/s400/IMG_6098.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443569537113633362" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivH-GybL9daij7QZUV6MgepfDgfpdKyd0rKX6GqwDinpsTvAAY5EpOjJ2gOSbq6Q1DJ9wYjIFyVMd-bAS_TlIIlg8hQ8z04_XJV1n_0sW_bX9t_pqj3e-L3oBlCTo1kYa4ouBiTi0TJ14/s1600-h/IMG_6094.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 310px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivH-GybL9daij7QZUV6MgepfDgfpdKyd0rKX6GqwDinpsTvAAY5EpOjJ2gOSbq6Q1DJ9wYjIFyVMd-bAS_TlIIlg8hQ8z04_XJV1n_0sW_bX9t_pqj3e-L3oBlCTo1kYa4ouBiTi0TJ14/s400/IMG_6094.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443567379758136978" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE1DtcpIGHcaOwDElIJ7CfhxHgoulrR9DbPsZM6P_DbOmT3SUhmfKavWJqUpc9UgXJC1R_6wlEJhUyEz06ReXsTnrtPhl4mvXtzEPwBs-Q4BRj9XfjwnPsfGoQVDKCBdfR8rTpDWwewaw/s1600-h/IMG_6096.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 249px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE1DtcpIGHcaOwDElIJ7CfhxHgoulrR9DbPsZM6P_DbOmT3SUhmfKavWJqUpc9UgXJC1R_6wlEJhUyEz06ReXsTnrtPhl4mvXtzEPwBs-Q4BRj9XfjwnPsfGoQVDKCBdfR8rTpDWwewaw/s400/IMG_6096.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443567388571348658" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQYgy6d05SUlVY4ZbpgyLCh_MBihfeRDUtZv_1RYOA6wcXJadeuykcCDuwC9qcJtEzU-wC8LiM2-jfvspMA0agMpeh2NiJktkzY97QZzmrgo-fZgEywtxbxHbrxCELkMyxAUN8lER9oKI/s1600-h/IMG_6090.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 322px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQYgy6d05SUlVY4ZbpgyLCh_MBihfeRDUtZv_1RYOA6wcXJadeuykcCDuwC9qcJtEzU-wC8LiM2-jfvspMA0agMpeh2NiJktkzY97QZzmrgo-fZgEywtxbxHbrxCELkMyxAUN8lER9oKI/s400/IMG_6090.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443567373947277394" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikiTE4bsRERDx0cOHzyI6cH9KyYbmjqgcz5NICzc0FlB_btA51pLmNswAT-Xe5g0wFTAaePfZNQGyT583gmKPv38DtVjSN89Ri37eYLSoXkIszXBes8zDxmJ8QK5bJp_BCRe-Drxetta0/s1600-h/IMG_6089.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikiTE4bsRERDx0cOHzyI6cH9KyYbmjqgcz5NICzc0FlB_btA51pLmNswAT-Xe5g0wFTAaePfZNQGyT583gmKPv38DtVjSN89Ri37eYLSoXkIszXBes8zDxmJ8QK5bJp_BCRe-Drxetta0/s400/IMG_6089.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443567367124660610" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpvZAN7e3JE6fNZdRVopiP0ygnQe-Doad2LTIBA90t3OpaongIhb1hfpdDPNb7LMO91hIXkS2HE7sKDqP0XC03QjFG3-td5ehC8XFuNUSgtzWwhuje1xHPoCctGPathe03CEGUDDmkJKI/s1600-h/IMG_6088.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 315px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpvZAN7e3JE6fNZdRVopiP0ygnQe-Doad2LTIBA90t3OpaongIhb1hfpdDPNb7LMO91hIXkS2HE7sKDqP0XC03QjFG3-td5ehC8XFuNUSgtzWwhuje1xHPoCctGPathe03CEGUDDmkJKI/s400/IMG_6088.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443567352694299234" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0cxi3qlxA78_UZv9Xy2FUYgfHEciAmVcC2jsW4DfTwO5ZVfMGc8GSoc1lcXlXTRZFReKcul3gQe5Xd6aMLWJRoh9MSbKEv9fonTIQ_TcukoLwNzXxJRJa2-fH07wXLhmQdrzrm7rHfMU/s1600-h/IMG_6104.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0cxi3qlxA78_UZv9Xy2FUYgfHEciAmVcC2jsW4DfTwO5ZVfMGc8GSoc1lcXlXTRZFReKcul3gQe5Xd6aMLWJRoh9MSbKEv9fonTIQ_TcukoLwNzXxJRJa2-fH07wXLhmQdrzrm7rHfMU/s400/IMG_6104.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443568309191613154" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqfYhzjBym2xqymShenvy6k6cmEYWQj-4Jxmd8U1F2_Wbro6Dut_VavWo4h43F7S-hYxKV6XFJ48qAYoPVcORlygJdpPphTADEig3UsqzafVakMnnEr6HBzz2CLsP1AamrW-aqkQZ7cmA/s1600-h/IMG_6102.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqfYhzjBym2xqymShenvy6k6cmEYWQj-4Jxmd8U1F2_Wbro6Dut_VavWo4h43F7S-hYxKV6XFJ48qAYoPVcORlygJdpPphTADEig3UsqzafVakMnnEr6HBzz2CLsP1AamrW-aqkQZ7cmA/s400/IMG_6102.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443568299223370882" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVRR-Q00nLxV-Zr3ieAb0AOycB-VkcGlJpF-jGPWrZYvPyjG-JEw8mIVrq5bwFU0az8tWTpz3lJpJqYA-a8ltM704OREyyUa0GNOygkorRcBYQENljMhzTg20f93n4RYPmYKg1wTncaos/s1600-h/IMG_6101.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVRR-Q00nLxV-Zr3ieAb0AOycB-VkcGlJpF-jGPWrZYvPyjG-JEw8mIVrq5bwFU0az8tWTpz3lJpJqYA-a8ltM704OREyyUa0GNOygkorRcBYQENljMhzTg20f93n4RYPmYKg1wTncaos/s400/IMG_6101.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443568286350383234" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV2yldxndrgRDMYbJH0v-H4QwsOtjan6W9AaTJjCa_G-HdQrtnBtKgeQoIaCsk0Ox72zjNQwl55COUNV0H8YFATkraaS3909yyRvy9YqVi0OKuK-YVt7i-1G7-iRXLUs7Ubh7ENxT5kzU/s1600-h/IMG_6100.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV2yldxndrgRDMYbJH0v-H4QwsOtjan6W9AaTJjCa_G-HdQrtnBtKgeQoIaCsk0Ox72zjNQwl55COUNV0H8YFATkraaS3909yyRvy9YqVi0OKuK-YVt7i-1G7-iRXLUs7Ubh7ENxT5kzU/s400/IMG_6100.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443568271336337250" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgy0jXno5wUou_6NR1hFvVRQRw8C2grA86HBvTfAFB7gqXJ4gDwD9yUUZgr8HL416fPwJmFhHC9hxF8NS6WGZFgdmRSrW3XSApjX3l9nwfJtIBUybYC8WiKdFptJgVZ3aA3jcxEVchln4/s1600-h/IMG_6099.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgy0jXno5wUou_6NR1hFvVRQRw8C2grA86HBvTfAFB7gqXJ4gDwD9yUUZgr8HL416fPwJmFhHC9hxF8NS6WGZFgdmRSrW3XSApjX3l9nwfJtIBUybYC8WiKdFptJgVZ3aA3jcxEVchln4/s400/IMG_6099.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443568260248930434" border="0" /></a><br />A very weet calendar she made me for Christmas at preschool...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBaQ7nyvmcGGsUVFiTdyumTYyINlQ5UrU4_4urJZT0Cgpkkpw4ItHDp2uV4nI-4pAEozjO6IACgPo_R4zd66BLcW8AI0NdaQfEqopnTHOeqIuXJxS_qVQNl25NNU09d60ej7_O6zA_NrA/s1600-h/IMG_6113.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBaQ7nyvmcGGsUVFiTdyumTYyINlQ5UrU4_4urJZT0Cgpkkpw4ItHDp2uV4nI-4pAEozjO6IACgPo_R4zd66BLcW8AI0NdaQfEqopnTHOeqIuXJxS_qVQNl25NNU09d60ej7_O6zA_NrA/s400/IMG_6113.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443571560289353874" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG_3hmul06MHDNJKZAV5KCZGSnrHPfcvBdoVT5AlMyye4L_D7pbjH6hoJnjrV5Ju_h1xKX7unO6cB6_oGppcWmPK6LW_Jb7ruYwaH1MDN-MyvmH1sduSg9lUjWoIR9OWYLHoMJVBWUqzA/s1600-h/IMG_6110.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG_3hmul06MHDNJKZAV5KCZGSnrHPfcvBdoVT5AlMyye4L_D7pbjH6hoJnjrV5Ju_h1xKX7unO6cB6_oGppcWmPK6LW_Jb7ruYwaH1MDN-MyvmH1sduSg9lUjWoIR9OWYLHoMJVBWUqzA/s400/IMG_6110.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443569586007948242" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS5EtG6AcDf88HljMf9Ob_mppnNd0p_tV70eEn1cHIbC3yp9xr1S_hmGEnZtUiUA_oNVLYLYFV9F5MEMdaZ3JVLFkMqRaovzfFC2Ug6cHP0OwyofsYU3P3yPXP9nksHYBDGjeY8XwKZn8/s1600-h/IMG_6109.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS5EtG6AcDf88HljMf9Ob_mppnNd0p_tV70eEn1cHIbC3yp9xr1S_hmGEnZtUiUA_oNVLYLYFV9F5MEMdaZ3JVLFkMqRaovzfFC2Ug6cHP0OwyofsYU3P3yPXP9nksHYBDGjeY8XwKZn8/s400/IMG_6109.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443569572323749794" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixOP5lnZPilUeabKmvv5s7slcOjMkMcpMOS_O1iXK1G2lr8zG-77E3f2nqLXCmP5BsOjfIhZgBEsjnYZ65BCJzf5hwEWohpaV6ZmzjKTXE5IgKRUDZgfW2pjPcj86vNA6x1366gRUS-GE/s1600-h/IMG_6106.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixOP5lnZPilUeabKmvv5s7slcOjMkMcpMOS_O1iXK1G2lr8zG-77E3f2nqLXCmP5BsOjfIhZgBEsjnYZ65BCJzf5hwEWohpaV6ZmzjKTXE5IgKRUDZgfW2pjPcj86vNA6x1366gRUS-GE/s400/IMG_6106.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443569561003113714" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxBxq0Jn3-urycyNhBrFmY4rEobtnNNY53EWJSJsWM9E6XSsCgZJ2jNGmrwM9Niz-q_xNTAzc0oDl9PkJNdbGpdKDnvkml6TtCvvBuSH0BJUyeF4cFmFqxjkzcGcFMKr5kWki5G_xr_6w/s1600-h/IMG_6105.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxBxq0Jn3-urycyNhBrFmY4rEobtnNNY53EWJSJsWM9E6XSsCgZJ2jNGmrwM9Niz-q_xNTAzc0oDl9PkJNdbGpdKDnvkml6TtCvvBuSH0BJUyeF4cFmFqxjkzcGcFMKr5kWki5G_xr_6w/s400/IMG_6105.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443569553527921426" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYdEh5FJ_kwB5JKBpPkx3LRizsl5hMw-gVIcmoqIM7LENz0CBQT28QkYL67AcknM6jgDSW6NO-VHBSUUKbfBI6nDweFob20dKw_-RCN1itClOUNPLNsLE1T3i0VfloTMMiKUjFiufw1WY/s1600-h/IMG_6114.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYdEh5FJ_kwB5JKBpPkx3LRizsl5hMw-gVIcmoqIM7LENz0CBQT28QkYL67AcknM6jgDSW6NO-VHBSUUKbfBI6nDweFob20dKw_-RCN1itClOUNPLNsLE1T3i0VfloTMMiKUjFiufw1WY/s400/IMG_6114.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443571576249212850" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicnazVEMmhatPOHVH1RnJwMmsif-SkYvU1N-6ESI6UdUHxazsV72ZVwHlsaIlNo9uu0ub1oWdc4dVUQb6glxvvs_xT1PYmXdXSiIEV0hvJVIjrjGZj7OhViT7xka5J0mM_KsXHMwZ5XT4/s1600-h/IMG_6125.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicnazVEMmhatPOHVH1RnJwMmsif-SkYvU1N-6ESI6UdUHxazsV72ZVwHlsaIlNo9uu0ub1oWdc4dVUQb6glxvvs_xT1PYmXdXSiIEV0hvJVIjrjGZj7OhViT7xka5J0mM_KsXHMwZ5XT4/s400/IMG_6125.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443573176948780674" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI8TEcvodxKy-Au295FUzcjoHK9WHUbjNdQqRb9sNZ2vIQg5Qapd8a47lioHtBiEiKbyUtmBgTPXFSu3KVLfLiKDaZ6c7g2lhtvxp-wI4xnH0mkUCgMDaYH0PX0pnITl47pT4TqBffW9w/s1600-h/IMG_6123.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 367px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI8TEcvodxKy-Au295FUzcjoHK9WHUbjNdQqRb9sNZ2vIQg5Qapd8a47lioHtBiEiKbyUtmBgTPXFSu3KVLfLiKDaZ6c7g2lhtvxp-wI4xnH0mkUCgMDaYH0PX0pnITl47pT4TqBffW9w/s400/IMG_6123.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443573156547429154" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidv1EItCUNvg51nwTcTQDgFHei4hkYWjdWDVjhM0AFK5F87G3MkEhQdZeVKin_5xxW5xPWbzKOAFp1xs1_yW1mil-dsxq-IBylSMhFbs8L9r9p636RJ4oezoMx2H7uqvEiZZy4AbrYCD4/s1600-h/IMG_6119.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidv1EItCUNvg51nwTcTQDgFHei4hkYWjdWDVjhM0AFK5F87G3MkEhQdZeVKin_5xxW5xPWbzKOAFp1xs1_yW1mil-dsxq-IBylSMhFbs8L9r9p636RJ4oezoMx2H7uqvEiZZy4AbrYCD4/s400/IMG_6119.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443573121296941890" border="0" /></a><br />And finally a map she drew and dictated for me what to write as captions. Click on it for details.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4t5wYIR0bhyphenhyphenrAZYrbJVbQZ4s7nUx0cMT1Gx-6c9RGJ23fUf954TxuGYQ5SfnEuKETzXPWdfSgWPu-iDfR9tVPtVbmFtIzhWac8YryT_Ns8ErLukzyTx1P3KdumpF4RSC7LMz53SZ5UqU/s1600-h/IMG_6115.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4t5wYIR0bhyphenhyphenrAZYrbJVbQZ4s7nUx0cMT1Gx-6c9RGJ23fUf954TxuGYQ5SfnEuKETzXPWdfSgWPu-iDfR9tVPtVbmFtIzhWac8YryT_Ns8ErLukzyTx1P3KdumpF4RSC7LMz53SZ5UqU/s400/IMG_6115.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443571600459708338" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh91/customblogdesigns/CBL/christisig.png" />Christi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.com66tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772388305052228504.post-72540378508950314402010-01-18T21:22:00.000-08:002010-01-18T22:41:44.195-08:00Rainy Day Fun and Looking Back on Christmas<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >We stayed in our jammies today until Abbey's Chinese lesson late in the afternoon. We set up the princess tent and had a cheerio, cheese and Otter Pop party with Abbey's babies. Later I heard her singing Happy Birthday to MLK and having cake in there. She also told me she was writing her own new Bible book today (in a princess journal). It says, "Jesus you are great. You are a blessing."<br />She has had a factory going in her room all weekend and had called me to come buy some toys, but when I came she had hung up a sign on the door that said Sorry, which meant it was closed. She is just so funny. Do other kids play factory all the time? Ever since she was two years old she has been setting up assembly lines and putting people to work.<br />Last week she was over the moon to go to a Barbie birthday party with a bunch of second grade girls. Each girl was given a Barbie (something we had successfully avoided until now) and had to create outfits out of toilet paper. Of course Abbey's was a bride. She kept telling me at Christmas that Santa was going to put a Barbie in her stocking and I kept explaining that he doesn't give those to four year old's. I am hoping I can tuck Barbie away somewhere in a week or two and she'll be forgotten about.<br />Little Miss Muffet also cut a hole today in my Pottery Barn duvet cover. She was mortified after she did it and was literally wailing. I was trying to talk to her about how it happened and whether or not it was an accident. When I suggested that it might have been on purpose she let out a terrible shriek. I started crying because of seeing her so upset and told her that she's more important than any blanket and to forget about it. It was less than an inch long and near a seam, so I quickly stitched it up. I feel bad that she tries so hard to do everything right and is so worried about making a mistake and being forgiven. I always tell her that there is nothing she could ever do that I wouldn't forgive her for. Little sweetheart.<br /><br />So even though it's long past Christmas I just had time to load my photos and want to do a little recap.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbJkD7M_XyGpaHIQ7ji6pIo5zgnYIOkyB_nSjsgqrDvNw9jCksA7bwVLTRZe7bCqM4pUZyCYpLPT9EsUSt5ovg8E6dVsLJnss91teweFS24FN7ukMW6jqXO_CIzNTmpvpNZiurFtY1y5Y/s1600-h/IMG_6043.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbJkD7M_XyGpaHIQ7ji6pIo5zgnYIOkyB_nSjsgqrDvNw9jCksA7bwVLTRZe7bCqM4pUZyCYpLPT9EsUSt5ovg8E6dVsLJnss91teweFS24FN7ukMW6jqXO_CIzNTmpvpNZiurFtY1y5Y/s400/IMG_6043.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428331462092061682" border="0" /></a><br />We had an incredible time at the Nutcracker ballet. Of course she wore her Sugar Plum Fairy outfit. It was just magical to be watching it with her for the first time. She had a little fever from some shots, but we sat in box seats and it felt like it was just her and I. When it started "snowing" on us she was just in awe. I think it was a great connection for her to see the beautiful results that ballet lessons can lead to.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirq5MbRoINgrcr_aM8pK9rlDbpvM13LVn7j2tmQPzxNaCu9bxDZYRf4IY14GurNy6d8KDInVSalm0wGPNmp75SEjUS_8tLnk0JyaKdyZt8zpocvILe5WuiHmyMz_3zz0d3rDJCUzcCXZM/s1600-h/IMG_5996.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirq5MbRoINgrcr_aM8pK9rlDbpvM13LVn7j2tmQPzxNaCu9bxDZYRf4IY14GurNy6d8KDInVSalm0wGPNmp75SEjUS_8tLnk0JyaKdyZt8zpocvILe5WuiHmyMz_3zz0d3rDJCUzcCXZM/s400/IMG_5996.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428329518282698130" border="0" /></a><br />All through the season she was focused on Mary, saying she was Mary, looking for her in every Nativity scene, asking about her in songs we would hear. When I would ask her why she liked Mary so much she would always say it's because of her "bridal", meaning the head covering cloth. Abbey is so into anything relating to weddings or brides. A few weeks ago she told me she wants a bride birthday party. I was about 24 hrs into trying to wrap my brain around how I could pull that off when she changed themes. She is currently saying she wants a Jesus birthday party with angel napkins. We'll see if that sticks until April and if it does maybe I can find some Easter things to make it work.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBvEXBgGWDnG953s-c7WbtAI3fOUHV23LWQo816LDdhzfQpb9ja_PfUZo1dSA7s7VMr4IZvugWOQG5U8H6rlGK0RP5wQE7KK68Cvw_tnVBCqh2Tg7pVTIKuYw3Sh8HxwB76OixPy79fqQ/s1600-h/IMG_4708.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBvEXBgGWDnG953s-c7WbtAI3fOUHV23LWQo816LDdhzfQpb9ja_PfUZo1dSA7s7VMr4IZvugWOQG5U8H6rlGK0RP5wQE7KK68Cvw_tnVBCqh2Tg7pVTIKuYw3Sh8HxwB76OixPy79fqQ/s400/IMG_4708.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428329502383113170" border="0" /></a><br />One of the things I loved about this Christmas was her pronunciation of it. She says Chrit-mas, without the first "s". I still love the last lingering baby-ness to her speech...it's just really sweet. We always play a game called Rumikub, but she calls it Barbeque.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6oVDyveKudtjD-uqCTpPDmZxvBCVlP0dAVvnXC4kuo9Yb9fadZ5ZgMP_8yaKhAbCc-NF4NLfjgXcZ6T1SLDb1Gh6cE66n4obOusA3asbivOalh1kzWRmJ_ICFAkGfdelRK_0_3frXsB4/s1600-h/IMG_5983.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 310px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6oVDyveKudtjD-uqCTpPDmZxvBCVlP0dAVvnXC4kuo9Yb9fadZ5ZgMP_8yaKhAbCc-NF4NLfjgXcZ6T1SLDb1Gh6cE66n4obOusA3asbivOalh1kzWRmJ_ICFAkGfdelRK_0_3frXsB4/s400/IMG_5983.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428329498602085570" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCixD5osLMpKqdnjwQgX1qnbrIRsc1UwEUvWWDK-M0G-c33Z3Zwb9xupBFLoDDiKMV8SaKy1saEb5QyjFp6mPZNfHoK1mRMNdFjLXO3WypIsq5PIbvyYvmeH_UMZYqjsLS_lnE9B2Hmyc/s1600-h/IMG_6024.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCixD5osLMpKqdnjwQgX1qnbrIRsc1UwEUvWWDK-M0G-c33Z3Zwb9xupBFLoDDiKMV8SaKy1saEb5QyjFp6mPZNfHoK1mRMNdFjLXO3WypIsq5PIbvyYvmeH_UMZYqjsLS_lnE9B2Hmyc/s400/IMG_6024.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428329529623591410" border="0" /></a><br />So she did get a little wedding play set at Christmas but what she asked Santa for was race cars. She loves her little racetrack. I got her a Geo Trax train set and a Leapster and she is loving both of those as well.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI-74YFkgS1Jt1bn1n_Wk6pcUkkvbscge5poOE3mPYpWD7pZDBIlB08Pq3qHvKScIjGSOqx0QH5kwQqvsmJJlpGWkR6HhAin9UZivpR2mqk_VYWCI-feDEvqsFmxOtGCCS9GjNexze2Io/s1600-h/IMG_6005.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI-74YFkgS1Jt1bn1n_Wk6pcUkkvbscge5poOE3mPYpWD7pZDBIlB08Pq3qHvKScIjGSOqx0QH5kwQqvsmJJlpGWkR6HhAin9UZivpR2mqk_VYWCI-feDEvqsFmxOtGCCS9GjNexze2Io/s400/IMG_6005.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428331470924405362" border="0" /></a>She loved being at Auntie's house and running around with cousins and friends. It really is as good as the North Pole there. Cookies, candy, and presents everywhere.</span><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh91/customblogdesigns/CBL/christisig.png" />Christi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772388305052228504.post-72887760628353743592009-12-25T17:38:00.000-08:002009-12-25T17:50:31.071-08:00Love Without Boundaries<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEU26Is5oTcVD-qzH-jZ1vXWrhSMIvXgXHA7ZkSz2mgy3Z62a_UD5C01qHG14B6Axc1rLbCoph-FBj715INLkw1fI6_zxryktCImH7kCb-oh6evwjkuz0XfjL6P0CWpHrLqIrPr39uT-g/s1600-h/Loves+Journey+2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEU26Is5oTcVD-qzH-jZ1vXWrhSMIvXgXHA7ZkSz2mgy3Z62a_UD5C01qHG14B6Axc1rLbCoph-FBj715INLkw1fI6_zxryktCImH7kCb-oh6evwjkuz0XfjL6P0CWpHrLqIrPr39uT-g/s400/Loves+Journey+2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419356184578804946" /></a><br /><br />I was thrilled to learn that parents of students in my class made a donation to Love Without Boundaries in my honor as a Christmas gift. I can't tell you how much more meaningful that is than the normal "teacher gifts". <br />I love my copy of the first edition of Love's Journey and can't wait to get a copy of of Love's Journey 2: The Red Thread. Learn more about how you can receive a free copy of these beautiful stories and photos <a href="http://lovewithoutboundaries.com">here</a>.<br /><br /><br><br /><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh91/customblogdesigns/CBL/christisig.png">Christi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772388305052228504.post-18786961008975991622009-12-24T23:10:00.000-08:002009-12-24T23:57:05.831-08:00If You Think Candy's Sweet...<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >there's a gal you ought to meet. Sugar drips from her lips when she smiles...</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEL2cbdz531SUXv3sW7kc1_j34aCiV-jIUivp20jpcSmcYcijbv_kRMZQ2IajBz8QjnIdPcGTngHf6C0ef6Fut_0zaNbffBoq-vWNpW_QYNXrYneUuCVQSUXhFbvCsstheAjfZtIcdbw8/s1600-h/Abbey+31b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEL2cbdz531SUXv3sW7kc1_j34aCiV-jIUivp20jpcSmcYcijbv_kRMZQ2IajBz8QjnIdPcGTngHf6C0ef6Fut_0zaNbffBoq-vWNpW_QYNXrYneUuCVQSUXhFbvCsstheAjfZtIcdbw8/s400/Abbey+31b.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419071394249237554" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9wC-IDza2MHfwb0OCB-8IbLwHS3k3Zj0TD5ZinFBzpghrn_0dKcXUj1ijzUdhuRcTtpZtBVU3S82xNVQRIGNXnk5mcbUdxUH_M0ihLYdWAWxhFqhNWSkG9DiOiFvVWO72EVXBnuI4YO0/s1600-h/Abbey+30a.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9wC-IDza2MHfwb0OCB-8IbLwHS3k3Zj0TD5ZinFBzpghrn_0dKcXUj1ijzUdhuRcTtpZtBVU3S82xNVQRIGNXnk5mcbUdxUH_M0ihLYdWAWxhFqhNWSkG9DiOiFvVWO72EVXBnuI4YO0/s400/Abbey+30a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419071385187418610" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDik1FnCqyzdnMBuTTrDaI7by2frT083rc7vkxr24ifoJGDHRfXUK-I3xVyzquMS-UPIMRqQnMVhA3ayDW-ZcKNMi_iY9gAVPbF27ASinqfj2H2hK8kq1z9xG_RDl-3FOYklvGu0xLlCU/s1600-h/Abbey+23c.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDik1FnCqyzdnMBuTTrDaI7by2frT083rc7vkxr24ifoJGDHRfXUK-I3xVyzquMS-UPIMRqQnMVhA3ayDW-ZcKNMi_iY9gAVPbF27ASinqfj2H2hK8kq1z9xG_RDl-3FOYklvGu0xLlCU/s400/Abbey+23c.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419071377474898050" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXUJGUZGYukmbvCeDFVJMPGNx5TnkyY5KWBPZWALTr-qXbXWdpWHScDX6n3vSExd7yiL8Qzhp0v7bt_uni0F6LIYpoHDLaK3CHrObf3oM7v9Ls5AHsrnq5zITcCwBC5i_5wDoSMIK8fUA/s1600-h/Abbey14a.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXUJGUZGYukmbvCeDFVJMPGNx5TnkyY5KWBPZWALTr-qXbXWdpWHScDX6n3vSExd7yiL8Qzhp0v7bt_uni0F6LIYpoHDLaK3CHrObf3oM7v9Ls5AHsrnq5zITcCwBC5i_5wDoSMIK8fUA/s400/Abbey14a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419071361209849170" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJewmo_SyfPPpsqQMf8acWfcG_PRzXFwIvZcGw1DJ6uBG5C06nAi0ln4AWV95BetPHyYzm77bQuatFO0ssT8V-p9q2pZ3KAcLBqSzz1_YdbPKBDUmWTbww4aIH12OJuRL7F0AFke9Ach0/s1600-h/Abbey12b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJewmo_SyfPPpsqQMf8acWfcG_PRzXFwIvZcGw1DJ6uBG5C06nAi0ln4AWV95BetPHyYzm77bQuatFO0ssT8V-p9q2pZ3KAcLBqSzz1_YdbPKBDUmWTbww4aIH12OJuRL7F0AFke9Ach0/s400/Abbey12b.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419077268967749650" border="0" /></a><br /><br />My sweet little girl has been so much fun to be with in these weeks leading up to Christmas. We've had many magical moments where her face has lit up and been in awe of the sights and sounds of the season. We've been loving the lights, decorations, music, and treats. I can't wait to see her face tomorrow and watch her open gifts. What an incredible experience to have a four year old daughter at Christmas time!<br /><br /><br /><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh91/customblogdesigns/CBL/christisig.png" />Christi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772388305052228504.post-1524007396031457272009-12-19T09:56:00.000-08:002009-12-25T00:18:42.816-08:00Yangdong ReunionWe were so happy to be able to reconnect with two families from our travel group whom we have not seen in the three years since our trip. It is amazing to see the transformations in our girls who were babies the last time we were all together. We were able to let the girls play all day and enjoy pizza, princess dancing, doll house toys, and shopping at The Grove. A few days later we were able to meet Kelly, Eric, Katie, and Ella at Disneyland for a day. It was freezing, but we had a blast. We hope to have more pictures soon. My camera battery died, but Kelly is the photo queen. I got teary eyed a few times thinking of the orphanage where our daughters were together and then seeing them now running around with the princesses at Disneyland. No matter how dark or difficult a season may be, God could have an beautiful plan for the next chapter in your life.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpT9IIEcyIxi8pmUS9rH-_HzNfOOeo-qh_FdJ-MppOykOD77IXHNDSLEz7EOlpLee_JfqkHuBfe2RO6rmMdsdx8oVtJojb_QZHWSmaOCPEyzu1GY-qcOdM1RRdo9ACnopgkLANscJ9imo/s1600-h/IMG_5897.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpT9IIEcyIxi8pmUS9rH-_HzNfOOeo-qh_FdJ-MppOykOD77IXHNDSLEz7EOlpLee_JfqkHuBfe2RO6rmMdsdx8oVtJojb_QZHWSmaOCPEyzu1GY-qcOdM1RRdo9ACnopgkLANscJ9imo/s400/IMG_5897.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417031185263995234" border="0" /></a><br />Loving all the toys at Elizabeth's house and the fun friends to play with.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuidM1thNeOFEs8SO7V4B9JwrLI24dWhls3RLNkrhXFZobf1FLECE74s3wI70tOBqyDH0gqA9C4vtNVTt_K9_szpQNp0koNX9V4PlzsQrFKDIOrxWbY8MViPtQYY7DGzujIsRwk5_A6p0/s1600-h/IMG_5899.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuidM1thNeOFEs8SO7V4B9JwrLI24dWhls3RLNkrhXFZobf1FLECE74s3wI70tOBqyDH0gqA9C4vtNVTt_K9_szpQNp0koNX9V4PlzsQrFKDIOrxWbY8MViPtQYY7DGzujIsRwk5_A6p0/s400/IMG_5899.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419082058076317282" border="0" /></a><br />Darling Ella. Her big sister Katie was from Yangdong with Abbey. Kelly was like our amazing travel team captain. This woman's got it together.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTQ6qxabnGlY7y4E_EntdfKHD9oxY18TnrsVjfQR3SG0F-SXXPoqM06E7irmZahIYT81gEmimc2UevVj385sFi5oWfZJXDEOGX4MDYCB7cgiAJp0h3K2C1A6zvxCparEHbSn2Z1s3Rrws/s1600-h/IMG_5916.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTQ6qxabnGlY7y4E_EntdfKHD9oxY18TnrsVjfQR3SG0F-SXXPoqM06E7irmZahIYT81gEmimc2UevVj385sFi5oWfZJXDEOGX4MDYCB7cgiAJp0h3K2C1A6zvxCparEHbSn2Z1s3Rrws/s400/IMG_5916.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419082066344223458" border="0" /></a>Shopping at The Grove. All the girls made purchases at the sticker store and enjoyed some wild stroller races.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd1o5CGuB6QuH0Mco3ZEvvT36y1YuzobHldwREms6vDO9nYjNdfOcXKKh90SdOG8LJQSk14JbiyugAk4E-gLCb9R36M6d6TOvQrVdmmpytvGSmRilAeSK_YFoXctSUQuq5nVQab9RiOkk/s1600-h/IMG_5928.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd1o5CGuB6QuH0Mco3ZEvvT36y1YuzobHldwREms6vDO9nYjNdfOcXKKh90SdOG8LJQSk14JbiyugAk4E-gLCb9R36M6d6TOvQrVdmmpytvGSmRilAeSK_YFoXctSUQuq5nVQab9RiOkk/s400/IMG_5928.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417031204077587426" border="0" /></a>First stop at Disney, princesses and make-up (face painting). Perhaps due to Katie's influence Abbey branched out from Fantasyland and enjoyed Thunder Mountain and Soaring Over Califoornia. Hope to include more pic's with Katie soon.<br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh91/customblogdesigns/CBL/christisig.png" />Christi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772388305052228504.post-38061338422212495382009-11-08T01:56:00.000-08:002009-11-08T01:57:31.615-08:00The Pledge<img style="visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;" border=0 width=0 height=0 src="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEyNTc2NzQwNjg1MzEmcHQ9MTI1NzY3NDIwMDI*NCZwPTEyNTIxJmQ9Jmc9MSZvPThjN2M4ZjM2ZjExYzQ5ZDk4NjkyZTY4MjE5ZTlmNGMwJm9mPTA=.gif" /><center><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" width="425" height="381"><param name="movie" value="http://www.dropshots.com/dropshots.swf?p=0&u=http://media6.dropshots.com/photos/210104/20091011/071202.flv&l=http://www.dropshots.com/christigrade1#date/2009-10-11/07:12:02&d=1" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" /><embed src="http://www.dropshots.com/dropshots.swf?p=0&u=http://media6.dropshots.com/photos/210104/20091011/071202.flv&l=http://www.dropshots.com/christigrade1#date/2009-10-11/07:12:02&d=1" wmode="transparent" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="381"></embed></object><br /><span style="font-family:arial; font-size:8pt;"><a href="http://www.dropshots.com/">Photo Sharing</a> - <a href="http://www.dropshots.com/">Video Sharing</a> - <a href="http://www.qualityphotoprints.com/">Photo Printing</a></span></center><br /><br /><br><br /><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh91/customblogdesigns/CBL/christisig.png">Christi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772388305052228504.post-10226925631186396132009-11-08T00:12:00.000-08:002009-11-08T01:49:28.482-08:00Brightest Little Sunshine<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggrzRObHcpCcL9madKPg02mn0YpBiI-82C_Ids7ZSHqq8CXT5miL9dLthPAVmV3qiMaPcQJyGdL0F7dqhilNDU-X0kY2FRysknA5Smzl3zLKTbeEV8XKHqZcC2spQhMMb2JWxZl5npRUA/s1600-h/IMG_5775.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggrzRObHcpCcL9madKPg02mn0YpBiI-82C_Ids7ZSHqq8CXT5miL9dLthPAVmV3qiMaPcQJyGdL0F7dqhilNDU-X0kY2FRysknA5Smzl3zLKTbeEV8XKHqZcC2spQhMMb2JWxZl5npRUA/s400/IMG_5775.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401649113537378002" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXd-YD50dewUOEmfjcQ6kQJsEdiPSL1PiT6GtIKdfsvhJpe0Gq5OSz-p_ULsA_aMWq5nrpCIdcj3Tm5p0IjdcaYrldpvNmwN1k8NfgGyaAfuSlg2IxjmJ_nEFwQNaQUd2l-KNEWF9ejG4/s1600-h/IMG_5788.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXd-YD50dewUOEmfjcQ6kQJsEdiPSL1PiT6GtIKdfsvhJpe0Gq5OSz-p_ULsA_aMWq5nrpCIdcj3Tm5p0IjdcaYrldpvNmwN1k8NfgGyaAfuSlg2IxjmJ_nEFwQNaQUd2l-KNEWF9ejG4/s400/IMG_5788.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401649104024878482" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwoPEuXwqmPaWfxkew1_xWwscjITl1DvLs5QwB-4BMCM1N6Z4_9OmhTcxmprw_yNC5Ache1posZRZ_6l3YR-l3oRPayYbgOD9RjJhzrLQZLCx5u9MNb0Nni9hlzssPK0EScS5JqItEqlc/s1600-h/IMG_5826.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwoPEuXwqmPaWfxkew1_xWwscjITl1DvLs5QwB-4BMCM1N6Z4_9OmhTcxmprw_yNC5Ache1posZRZ_6l3YR-l3oRPayYbgOD9RjJhzrLQZLCx5u9MNb0Nni9hlzssPK0EScS5JqItEqlc/s400/IMG_5826.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401649097957656082" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiElyFCCvji4Ur-mGPsNBMj14wQPNCuM8cjwES0l7NleztcAFxCZXdMIFd7ZqkRz1uX50tA1t78JeKerXpiOYmorp6oWA6jLcvBwOqxGdItuODfTs5d-OkSUJ2hswOy8fGoLeydZoxlwc0/s1600-h/IMG_5842.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiElyFCCvji4Ur-mGPsNBMj14wQPNCuM8cjwES0l7NleztcAFxCZXdMIFd7ZqkRz1uX50tA1t78JeKerXpiOYmorp6oWA6jLcvBwOqxGdItuODfTs5d-OkSUJ2hswOy8fGoLeydZoxlwc0/s400/IMG_5842.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401649085462264162" border="0" /></a><br />Three years ago today the most brilliant little light came into my life. She is as warm as sunshine, a cheerful little bundle of giggles, the softest little bunny to hug and hold, and in all ways a joy unspeakable and full of glory. I am always tearing up and thinking how did I ever become so incredibly blessed?<br /><br />Abbey is in that incredible stage of soaking in the world around her. I am not sure who is doing the learning around here. She is constantly asking me to explain things about everything inside our bodies, how electricity works and gets to houses, how car engines work, how fruits and vegetables grow, etc. We go to the library and stack up on books and I now know all sorts of things about valves and pistons, crankshafts, and cooling systems. Now when I see a cherry picker I know about the boom, bucket, and outrigger. She is just a constant sponge for information.<br /><br />She's also very into writing and wants me to spell things out for her all the time. She'll go through lists of words that she wants to write on the magnadoodle and they are so funny because it will be things like princess, cupcake, parking lot - just random, but in her mind it all works.<br /><br />She loves making little books for me every day. She colors, cuts, tapes, and writes, many times adding in lift the flap areas and often putting little paper chocolate chip cookies to make it extra special.<br /><br /><br />Things she does that just melt my heart...<br /><br />She got an blow up globe that she loves. She calls it her, "Great Big Ball of Love."<br /><br />She always tells me, "I want to keep you forever and ever, Amen."<br /><br />When she sees something beautiful she touches the item and then lays her hand on her forehead and then her heart saying that she will keep it with her and remember it forever. She asks me get sparkly fairy cards and other beautiful things she can't reach in stores and hold them down for her to lay hands on and then apply to her heart and mind. How she came up with this I have no idea, but it's fascinating to watch.<br /><br />Her prayers are the sweetest words and I know they go straight to God's throne.<br /><br />I could not be more thankful for all that we've been given.<br /><br /><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh91/customblogdesigns/CBL/christisig.png" />Christi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772388305052228504.post-25727283364586964852009-09-07T22:36:00.000-07:002009-09-21T22:40:05.234-07:00First Day's of School - We're Lovin It!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZG8R_aEyS6l7qls2dMmV4S4hrSpVcefEII2ACpxx12Wl3O0ewuLSwOMS3bypw4cgbFo329_rb1upQ2-NHs5DwQCNYh7R4nVELli2w27CsuBp1vf51s054zBLsKcMrSFBS5V6i4dDgdy0/s1600-h/IMG_5596.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZG8R_aEyS6l7qls2dMmV4S4hrSpVcefEII2ACpxx12Wl3O0ewuLSwOMS3bypw4cgbFo329_rb1upQ2-NHs5DwQCNYh7R4nVELli2w27CsuBp1vf51s054zBLsKcMrSFBS5V6i4dDgdy0/s400/IMG_5596.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378967444525123106" border="0" /></a><br />For months Abbey has been telling me, "I don't want to go to *** *** School, I want to stay with you!" The night before her first day I was feeling frustrated that nothing I had said was helping and that she was dreading her new school. After her first day she came home happy as a lark and loving it all, as I knew she would. When I asked her what had changed her mind she said, "I thought they were going to make me concentrate very hard, but all we do is play!" I should have clued in on her concerns several days before when she asked me if she would have homework. Somehow she had gotten it in her mind that it was going to be quite academic, and we are both so happy that it's just FUN.<br />I have been working my tail off at my new job which I love. I am at a wonderful school teaching Jr. Kindergarten. It's a new program and really just a perfect fit for me. The school is wonderful - staff, parents, children - all of it. Here are some glimpses into my first day...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0EYsXSolWYo5oZajYY8vznQLDyXXy0nEMnzi8Civ3No8NLia_LebcSEAsO4V2MruCYa7rjCe0eV3HcaX5F30oj8TwIGI-8Tgn69LPBpCm6nvUUwUOaUtaVIhkoia_TUjBcH8URoEHNkA/s1600-h/IMG_5585.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 140px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0EYsXSolWYo5oZajYY8vznQLDyXXy0nEMnzi8Civ3No8NLia_LebcSEAsO4V2MruCYa7rjCe0eV3HcaX5F30oj8TwIGI-8Tgn69LPBpCm6nvUUwUOaUtaVIhkoia_TUjBcH8URoEHNkA/s400/IMG_5585.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378971429441361362" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwX-bGqI_hJjyONjjHMX91f8d_ko7XdO5G27IRLz6WEqFf1ODv2EzqRYvI4W4GtwRM5X74D-WAB9txMMPLXs58y0mtZ0YIFczo8ZKRv8roan1rR62qrZJuwjBQTl_q2QTg1-IfCuURDqo/s1600-h/IMG_5586.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwX-bGqI_hJjyONjjHMX91f8d_ko7XdO5G27IRLz6WEqFf1ODv2EzqRYvI4W4GtwRM5X74D-WAB9txMMPLXs58y0mtZ0YIFczo8ZKRv8roan1rR62qrZJuwjBQTl_q2QTg1-IfCuURDqo/s400/IMG_5586.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378970696530988226" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUCvdJ-9QErc7-YB5nZjKN-5i3GOupi-N6nttkGWk0LnPlsaslYqdE2U7M4brgxXD1JC8EgxtafwxzwMX73z6C5OGR_zO-7ZpPS3ZfgkEmVwTpwcoionNpmsuV4wO4b0PTxMHmQBZpwAc/s1600-h/IMG_5587.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUCvdJ-9QErc7-YB5nZjKN-5i3GOupi-N6nttkGWk0LnPlsaslYqdE2U7M4brgxXD1JC8EgxtafwxzwMX73z6C5OGR_zO-7ZpPS3ZfgkEmVwTpwcoionNpmsuV4wO4b0PTxMHmQBZpwAc/s400/IMG_5587.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378970686299169314" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJU9mXVTEgm0LP9zzKpBXl0rehyphenhyphenSdDuv2YnnVelF-4sBC84EQdZ600S6IpAlc5SSZTHgtJejyqLd1TG4PmQTsaFvzogVFo6Hk1ns7tLAjUsG0kZGGX0K2ZEb2HIi9fYHNDB0hSYb7mBSc/s1600-h/IMG_5588.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJU9mXVTEgm0LP9zzKpBXl0rehyphenhyphenSdDuv2YnnVelF-4sBC84EQdZ600S6IpAlc5SSZTHgtJejyqLd1TG4PmQTsaFvzogVFo6Hk1ns7tLAjUsG0kZGGX0K2ZEb2HIi9fYHNDB0hSYb7mBSc/s400/IMG_5588.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378970676589801874" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik9BDK_KSRgRZAoW7fD6NwEsHsKeOMXLAEZY6hmSHxF3t6Xx22nf5GbAXxwiZ7wK6YeIRgIUw_FzEkMwUm3jqtVBzKvyXR04J-K4Edb9wQB3c-99oBfPiOCRWOhLdD0QA5JkNMuBBf_mg/s1600-h/IMG_5589.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik9BDK_KSRgRZAoW7fD6NwEsHsKeOMXLAEZY6hmSHxF3t6Xx22nf5GbAXxwiZ7wK6YeIRgIUw_FzEkMwUm3jqtVBzKvyXR04J-K4Edb9wQB3c-99oBfPiOCRWOhLdD0QA5JkNMuBBf_mg/s400/IMG_5589.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378970668172998498" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2cFSHFuVuQgpfnAuKNmSORBJrNHnw6kWHOFSMqJyOWD163bZB6rch1xpL4O9FVXS_ASWJY7v3eBrWpklv_xrgRFqxCMVTU2YAk53iWlXpUa7GfmRbyID63bb7AokhPSWRVZtzOS-tUDE/s1600-h/IMG_5590.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2cFSHFuVuQgpfnAuKNmSORBJrNHnw6kWHOFSMqJyOWD163bZB6rch1xpL4O9FVXS_ASWJY7v3eBrWpklv_xrgRFqxCMVTU2YAk53iWlXpUa7GfmRbyID63bb7AokhPSWRVZtzOS-tUDE/s400/IMG_5590.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378970658175099058" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLjNVIv9F6oYPcnn5TXrO_SY7Nz49BiF-5RMwI_arxjZUmt0EvQPVSQ0Y4EDoqSq_aVoTOvVkPXk65KZtZRaL4Yf-c16qF9jcXhcUgXcQhH8_Xh1KsxwE4s-icAhUnT7TC2DK4InQql0Y/s1600-h/IMG_5591.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLjNVIv9F6oYPcnn5TXrO_SY7Nz49BiF-5RMwI_arxjZUmt0EvQPVSQ0Y4EDoqSq_aVoTOvVkPXk65KZtZRaL4Yf-c16qF9jcXhcUgXcQhH8_Xh1KsxwE4s-icAhUnT7TC2DK4InQql0Y/s400/IMG_5591.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378969546067744338" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ0jtqymRogox3x9dOPptCQL5y3N_94wSa9uXdtMCn8t2QZq0DnKMlXnKqOWhdjMHmiXbWUSBxaO3UXi3EQKH57FFxuEcYy5pLDDE-sFwsJqeL6kEk0sWgJ7482rLmmggtFqOmRSYWDPA/s1600-h/IMG_5592.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 208px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ0jtqymRogox3x9dOPptCQL5y3N_94wSa9uXdtMCn8t2QZq0DnKMlXnKqOWhdjMHmiXbWUSBxaO3UXi3EQKH57FFxuEcYy5pLDDE-sFwsJqeL6kEk0sWgJ7482rLmmggtFqOmRSYWDPA/s400/IMG_5592.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378969534054593362" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX48QmE9u5J1NOEF-7tnfQv694Bk6XaWSQX2yKUMTI5vyCDhI2u66Cl2u4kSMX7xlOmcCFyno21-iRAXZov9-oUgzMXQAzt7PkI_9IW5froPsiLmvPKbyqoTkt9h51uVNBrEQR-RPG6zw/s1600-h/IMG_5593.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX48QmE9u5J1NOEF-7tnfQv694Bk6XaWSQX2yKUMTI5vyCDhI2u66Cl2u4kSMX7xlOmcCFyno21-iRAXZov9-oUgzMXQAzt7PkI_9IW5froPsiLmvPKbyqoTkt9h51uVNBrEQR-RPG6zw/s400/IMG_5593.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378969522035666994" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihw3JF11fhAucuGOBghg6h2QTRClcGaYBVaxCXHDH7Hfk-IdXA9GQvf7IbGXlJhTDST3hR6K9G-Btw70FHlsSOnzjGPoIgmqEVz4m52JzbngOaQOXf-yM4H7BOUvJsa66UhJ0z_gkoT28/s1600-h/IMG_5594.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihw3JF11fhAucuGOBghg6h2QTRClcGaYBVaxCXHDH7Hfk-IdXA9GQvf7IbGXlJhTDST3hR6K9G-Btw70FHlsSOnzjGPoIgmqEVz4m52JzbngOaQOXf-yM4H7BOUvJsa66UhJ0z_gkoT28/s400/IMG_5594.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378969517659965602" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoNR4FaOomrqLvxfIR4FZj74d6Hq78KWp6yNsdBEtnkJVfoEh60fdYLa5YFTObPkZcjEaVx8enZOHuKcOJGJL_0_7mARv5hIp8YU-Ac53OtLYV0rDpYvYUMNzqtx3WBwLpJoVYo6Y5BRk/s1600-h/IMG_5584.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoNR4FaOomrqLvxfIR4FZj74d6Hq78KWp6yNsdBEtnkJVfoEh60fdYLa5YFTObPkZcjEaVx8enZOHuKcOJGJL_0_7mARv5hIp8YU-Ac53OtLYV0rDpYvYUMNzqtx3WBwLpJoVYo6Y5BRk/s400/IMG_5584.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378967462371776034" border="0" /></a>And as if both of our new schools don't have us busy enough, there is also Abbey's new dance school. She is thrilled to be taking ballet and tap and has the greatest little class and teachers.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQyIDG31SSie0YxtgXG0IaH3bvg_0aQbGunNkVQy_ixatcCsNADVwXyf0aLotC1tuuIUTFNJOa01NlxZ1ReOzjesPLtaL5O22P5SLzNS-NEpKBjeLnlS4ZtjI47z9bOcmCSoALkEYhAs/s1600-h/IMG_5647.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQyIDG31SSie0YxtgXG0IaH3bvg_0aQbGunNkVQy_ixatcCsNADVwXyf0aLotC1tuuIUTFNJOa01NlxZ1ReOzjesPLtaL5O22P5SLzNS-NEpKBjeLnlS4ZtjI47z9bOcmCSoALkEYhAs/s400/IMG_5647.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378969505778514450" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-YCQYmOq7WcPBwYRvCxtYmrwbOXT2AF8UvebOs6Bu1f1NerswvUhj0CSxYlQ0FIrLYyhQivpUX8MKBnyDIt0eOVs8AYDzh0dWgtce7bvhw6QU8-mM1dP7Z6FR5E8bd59hhCrt3oKeLG0/s1600-h/IMG_5650.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-YCQYmOq7WcPBwYRvCxtYmrwbOXT2AF8UvebOs6Bu1f1NerswvUhj0CSxYlQ0FIrLYyhQivpUX8MKBnyDIt0eOVs8AYDzh0dWgtce7bvhw6QU8-mM1dP7Z6FR5E8bd59hhCrt3oKeLG0/s400/IMG_5650.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378967455372557938" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwSIqS1UWYai0tQreWaklMB4dY8NCUogSzZCGNInV2A_Vb0ioJyllJnyWHpTsR8afJ4OjfcMWMNeSkMebOO6HZBnNPV0l_V1jjXJ21U7tfTf6GlKdGL2tW2xfUGRPhHyQDdz0I-xVXG5c/s1600-h/IMG_5670.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwSIqS1UWYai0tQreWaklMB4dY8NCUogSzZCGNInV2A_Vb0ioJyllJnyWHpTsR8afJ4OjfcMWMNeSkMebOO6HZBnNPV0l_V1jjXJ21U7tfTf6GlKdGL2tW2xfUGRPhHyQDdz0I-xVXG5c/s400/IMG_5670.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378967432351936402" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikffGHoen2WG24862hRHSsF2f2DycUavoy-qqkT0xocd489zcpSs4_ENwBB9KE7yEfv_9ChMzFcwMJ-IIElFA_fwnRsioJ_Ak2FtKMfvEjRSr0gA7IkczO78xxW7QcisdASgcSX4KM7Ds/s1600-h/IMG_5672.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikffGHoen2WG24862hRHSsF2f2DycUavoy-qqkT0xocd489zcpSs4_ENwBB9KE7yEfv_9ChMzFcwMJ-IIElFA_fwnRsioJ_Ak2FtKMfvEjRSr0gA7IkczO78xxW7QcisdASgcSX4KM7Ds/s400/IMG_5672.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378967422724612610" border="0" /></a>She is so excited on Saturdays to go to class. She has turned into a little giggle box that just has the funniest, most contagious laughter that you've ever heard. Once she starts it's impossible not to join in. All things "ballet" and "wedding" now have equal ranking with all things "princess".<br />We finished swim lessons before school started and they were great, we really should do more. We've also been trying to work out Chinese school. We couldn't register for our local school online from China and the only option was to show up the first day of classes (you had to pre-register in person in the spring, which of course we couldn't do from China). Abbey was number two on the waiting list but I felt that it probably wasn't going to be a good fit for us. There were 32 4 year olds sitting in high school desks for two hours responding to the teacher one by one. This past week we went to another Chinese school a little farther away and the dynamics were better, but it only meets on Sunday morning, which wouldn't work for us because of church. I spoke with the teacher and she is willing to give Abbey individual lessons during the week so that's what we will do for now. I want to gather up some friends and start an American style Chinese class that's fun, interactive, and hands on. I'd love for it to have dance, music and crafts in addition to language. In the mean time I'm glad we've found someone that can teach Abbey.<br />So much more to say but I have to get some sleep!<br /><br /><br /><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh91/customblogdesigns/CBL/christisig.png" />Christi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772388305052228504.post-25403699190346185262009-08-24T07:19:00.000-07:002009-08-24T08:10:28.444-07:00Short and SweetWhy we worship on the back row...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK9tTcYvymzvtBkpwI6xzX6QBPpn4c0zh_WAK3imBhLodwr-MsO9A1f7f44RFvnBCh22e4wQx3EAUXJoanjNcGL9PWFmKO2g310ZF9guCHDE2S27CToGkU5Zd1iDpUT90H9IFpEq9yM9Q/s1600-h/IMG_5573.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK9tTcYvymzvtBkpwI6xzX6QBPpn4c0zh_WAK3imBhLodwr-MsO9A1f7f44RFvnBCh22e4wQx3EAUXJoanjNcGL9PWFmKO2g310ZF9guCHDE2S27CToGkU5Zd1iDpUT90H9IFpEq9yM9Q/s400/IMG_5573.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373535029025738162" border="0" /></a>Cannot believe that we have not had a moment to post since we've been home! Besides being busy every moment, we still don't have internet access as we thought. Too long to go into but once school gets underway I will have time to get our wireless and computers all coordinated.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhLgevs5OHxT3oWUIXnWTVEnIUcefWSaCf6xw6nxd5G-nbWqngyQ1t2uenx5-9uZk3N_de_BVdhmpldBDab3oplgllomjJQqyF_FW2zuCqRT82plgAtKrWZseM2GiLLjmMINWrmF1IK5Y/s1600-h/IMG_5568.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhLgevs5OHxT3oWUIXnWTVEnIUcefWSaCf6xw6nxd5G-nbWqngyQ1t2uenx5-9uZk3N_de_BVdhmpldBDab3oplgllomjJQqyF_FW2zuCqRT82plgAtKrWZseM2GiLLjmMINWrmF1IK5Y/s400/IMG_5568.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373535417624110178" border="0" /></a>Abbey had her first VBS and it was awesome. She wanted me to sign her up again the next week and I told her we have to wait another year. The CD is all she wants to listen to and she asks me please not to talk during her songs because she needs to listen to the words. Makes me laugh because when she was a baby I was so used to being by myself in the car and just thinking and praying that I had to really work on learning to talk to her. She wasn't talking and everyone told me that the most important thing to do was just tell her about everything, but when you've been driving by yourself for years that takes some effort. Anyway, now she wants me quiet some of the time. Here are a few recent car conversations.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Number Sense: <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></span>Abbey was very excited to have checked out a bunny puppet from the library. I was explaining that the name of our area means bunny in Spanish and that our whole valley is full of bunnies.<br />"Mommy, are there like 60,000 bunnies?" <br />"Well I don't know if there are that many but there are a lot."<br />"Oh, like 7?"<br />"Somewhere in between. More than 7 and probably less than 60,000."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Theology:</span><br />"Mom, why is there a witch in heaven?"<br />"Honey, what are you talking about, there are no witches in heaven."<br />"It (the song) says, 'Our Father, which art in heaven..."<br />Ever tried to explain witch and which to a four year old?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Emotional development:<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></span></span></span>"Good job Mommy. You worked really hard on your classroom. I like the way you did that bulletin board all nice and straight."<br />Tons of sugary kisses all the time. She is loads of praise, encouragement and that kind of liquid love that just oozes out.<br /><br />So much I'd love to say about China, about here, about all the fun we are having...but it will have to wait, off to another prep day.<br /><br /><br /><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh91/customblogdesigns/CBL/christisig.png" />Christi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772388305052228504.post-74673947622314882702009-07-30T07:34:00.001-07:002009-07-30T07:36:35.759-07:00Please Help LWBThis is so easy, just takes a moment, and you can help those that are making an incredible difference to the children in China who remain in orphanages and foster care!
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<br />Christi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772388305052228504.post-91283436303423841992009-07-27T23:58:00.000-07:002009-07-28T09:23:50.077-07:00Happily Home!<span style="font-family: arial;font-size:130%;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2k5RjP9UEolOMmS0TGVUiubTBnxenMu6LUf82MYNtZXCERTo4jUU0ZOo4-0EffwJ2tP2W5_eRX6RqlM3IZjri6jwRzWI7cXxdC0yl6q2FKJ0qMixc-dAaWhHgLCiRMhti_YwtrWMv4MM/s1600-h/IMG_5502.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2k5RjP9UEolOMmS0TGVUiubTBnxenMu6LUf82MYNtZXCERTo4jUU0ZOo4-0EffwJ2tP2W5_eRX6RqlM3IZjri6jwRzWI7cXxdC0yl6q2FKJ0qMixc-dAaWhHgLCiRMhti_YwtrWMv4MM/s400/IMG_5502.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363545338143173250" border="0" /></a>Saying goodbye to friends!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrme9RUZvYt6SKRhApLCTKoMBRQ9vjrB4a8qm82TEJj8kX9lV7JL5MoRelRSJ3PB78eUa9rXgTzCSjukrvxMncdZKQeN7GgSxHmw-KLFHNiLarDh5CGTClsrMjhE8LMwqv6ieGJnvHBTY/s1600-h/IMG_5504.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 264px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrme9RUZvYt6SKRhApLCTKoMBRQ9vjrB4a8qm82TEJj8kX9lV7JL5MoRelRSJ3PB78eUa9rXgTzCSjukrvxMncdZKQeN7GgSxHmw-KLFHNiLarDh5CGTClsrMjhE8LMwqv6ieGJnvHBTY/s400/IMG_5504.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363545328468048338" border="0" /></a>I love "Cafe Pafisic"!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN7iLbpCeXkvV078YsDeeWI2s_9X0Av_38_6DsvUKHlSxmNU39GqZoyvLUB28iqUScmy8MbuawMMxUgodzgKYJS5wivdB9BdDBZeFZsjMaUXgUBMjASFnBH-oR13xG7WlxUSGdDFaPcqY/s1600-h/IMG_5503.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 182px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN7iLbpCeXkvV078YsDeeWI2s_9X0Av_38_6DsvUKHlSxmNU39GqZoyvLUB28iqUScmy8MbuawMMxUgodzgKYJS5wivdB9BdDBZeFZsjMaUXgUBMjASFnBH-oR13xG7WlxUSGdDFaPcqY/s400/IMG_5503.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363545320312537698" border="0" /></a>We had to go check out the prayer room at the HK airport. There are mats and a big floor compass for Muslims, along with an area to shower off before praying<br />We are back and enjoying every moment of freedom, family, and starting tomorrow, friends. It's once again very surreal to be here. It's like we have alternate realities and they are so vastly different that one doesn't seem as real when we are in the other. As you can tell I finally gave up earlier in the month on trying to post. After months of Blogger and Youtube being blocked it was very disheartening when FB and Twitter were gone as well (of course along with Flicker, Typepad, etc.). The proxy situations were difficult and time consuming so we did what they hope you will do and quit trying. I love to research and network on all that is near and dear to us, so being cut off really bothered me. But it's over, and we are diving in : )<br /><br /></span><div style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">The flight home was great. We got bulk head seating on Cathy Pacific again and Abbey is a wonderful little travler. She is so into her passport (which is pretty full now) and loves going here and there on buses, taxi's, trains, boats, you name it. For her CP is all about Playhouse Disney, children's meals, and goodie bags. I had a migraine but also had and Imitrex shot which saved the day. I've gotten one now every time we've flown here to there, so I think it must be about the air pressure, because other than that they only come at a set time each month. I had $350 to spend on the duty free goods with vouchers from our last trip when there was no electrictiy on our ailse. I would have preferred an upgrade to first class, but still it was nice. Abbey got to meet one of the pilots and go upstairs to the cockpit, she wanted to know if girls could fly the plane and they assured her that girls can be pilots too.</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;font-size:130%;" ><br />Our re-entry has felt like heaven, everything familiar and comforting. It does feel extremely luxurious and there is some guilt that goes along with that. My first bit of culture shock was seeing a large group of People to People high schoolers on our flight. I was shocked at the number of obese teenagers. In China I always felt conspicuous for being "large". Our last week there I tried to buy some leggings at Wal Mart that were one size fits all, but they were tossed aside on the first attempt to put them on. It feels very nice to be average again. Looking around at all the overweight people here in the US, I wonder how it all must appear to my friends back in our China home.<br /><br /></span><div style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">And then there was Target, the first destination on my list. Trying not to sleep during the day we headed out and downed a huge SBX (which has replaced the Target snack bar), and spent almost 3 hrs wandering around. Coming home with all our belongings reduced to 2 suitcases each, we need everything. A first pass at the basics (cereal, vitamins, toothpaste) totalled $242. My mind was spinning as I went up and down the shampoo isle. I just wanted some Pantene and there were about 15 different versions. Straight hair, long hair, volume, color treated, silky, etc. I finally got some Suave, they only had about 10 choices to narrow down. My sister later told me that if you turn the bottle over and look at the ingredients they are all the same, which made me feel much better knowing that I could pick anything and it will work fine. We had so much fun there. It was so freeing to be able to read everything and not have to do mental money conversions. Abbey gave up all her things when we first moved to China, and then gave up everything from this year when we left, so she is thrilled that it is now time to get some new clothes and toys and keep them. The last week in China was a little challenging as she gave away her bike, princesses gear, scooter and books. We did keep her little castle and dress up clothes.</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;font-size:130%;" ><br />Two embarassing moments today...<br /><br /></span><div style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">I went to get gas for the first time (it's so exciting to drive!) and couldn't remember about the different grades of fuel. I had to yell and ask a rocker teenage boy if regular gas was unleaded. Everyone was staring at me with their mouths hanging open. I sheepishly mumbled that I had been out of the country for a long time and couldn't remember.</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;font-size:130%;" ><br />At the post office I asked the clerk how much stamps are now. I knew I had some old ones somewhere, but didn't know how much they were for and needed to know what to buy to bridge the gap. When he showed me the display notebook I tried to take out a sheet to purchase and he snapped at me as if I had touched the crown jewels. I forgot that you just point and they retrieve it from elsewhere. It was the same Chinese clerk that posted all my adoption documents. He maybe thinking I'm a little cuckoo. I have so much compassion now for people who are switching cultures, everything is so different. I really want to reach out to foreign students and new immigrants and befriend them.<br /></span><div style="font-family: arial;"> </div><span style="font-family: arial;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><div style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Abbey's big thrills have been seeing our family, taking a bubble bath, listening to our favorite Tommy Walker CD which we forgot to bring to China, and eating Mexican food at Sharkey's. We also spent an hour yesterday at an awesome toy store. The toy situation in China is so sad, but that's another post. She's excited to go to a birthday party today, start swim lessons, and hopefully see Tina, her former daycare provider, soon.</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><div style="font-family: arial;"> </div><span style="font-family: arial;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family: arial;">Our tenants don't move out of our place until Friday and then we want to paint and have the carpets cleaned before we move in. We are taking this week just to stay with with those we love and slowly re-acclimate before the whirl of work and school begins.</span><br /></span><div><br /><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh91/customblogdesigns/CBL/christisig.png" /></div>Christi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772388305052228504.post-15010928493780530122009-07-10T08:49:00.000-07:002009-07-10T08:53:45.659-07:00Blackout<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Rurbue-hh81Z_pG-irq3oySdCwLr5b3EkBvZcbq9lWD73kI2oYkBhbdwy_TIVLcRr7xEVf0Q3ZjpRzuDkG-kC6_QGpCms8lnh03ckgD7b4lngx2HuTGcEpZ969ccDTJ0uLgabJkY4d8/s1600-h/nofb-725661.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Rurbue-hh81Z_pG-irq3oySdCwLr5b3EkBvZcbq9lWD73kI2oYkBhbdwy_TIVLcRr7xEVf0Q3ZjpRzuDkG-kC6_QGpCms8lnh03ckgD7b4lngx2HuTGcEpZ969ccDTJ0uLgabJkY4d8/s400/nofb-725661.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356860274038579842" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfQMO8-mi-2xjl2luwi1wB1A6K1u28msO-Q-rfvEseTfcvCc8TU1zawM2nAl31OwtQGOt2skzKzNprvlLsxHv5nm1o7LrJnjv9GKn_-2Idhh_If7NSHRKEBLvU2w4nOVzJZ0uQ2B2g-Us/s1600-h/twitterblocked-726695.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfQMO8-mi-2xjl2luwi1wB1A6K1u28msO-Q-rfvEseTfcvCc8TU1zawM2nAl31OwtQGOt2skzKzNprvlLsxHv5nm1o7LrJnjv9GKn_-2Idhh_If7NSHRKEBLvU2w4nOVzJZ0uQ2B2g-Us/s400/twitterblocked-726695.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356860279087232018" /></a></p><br>It's all gone. Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, everything...The point is to make it so hard that you quit trying. <br>We fly out July 25th and I'm really looking forward to connecting with all of you and sharing all that we couldn't these past several months.<br><div> <br><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh91/customblogdesigns/CBL/christisig.png"><br><font size="5"><span style="font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-serif;"><font style="font-family: Lucida Handwriting,Cursive;" size="4"><br><a href="http://www.cherryblossomlife.blogspot.com">www.cherryblossomlife.blogspot.com</a><br></font><br></span></font></div><br><br><br /><hr />Windows Live™ Hotmail®: Find, add, and share the best celeb pics, right from Hotmail. <a href='http://www.windowslive.com/Online/Hotmail/Campaign/QuickAdd?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_QA_HM_celebrity_photos2_072009&cat=celebrity' target='_new'>Check it out.</a>Christi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772388305052228504.post-36061316860254424502009-07-07T07:25:00.001-07:002009-07-07T07:25:50.807-07:00The Horn of the Unicorn<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOj8lbMxZMVDy8cL6hsOQnWaYM8gFkk4Iw35fYnV66VE1PIxUJnFjsPIRQNyYKsMFz3h9BMEujjqorBBsdZy61sZHqjQXnOq06EKI5JPrTO1CLIxFAxDvbJGlrTP4dvGSsDzTJp3UngNA/s1600-h/IMG_5363-750810.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOj8lbMxZMVDy8cL6hsOQnWaYM8gFkk4Iw35fYnV66VE1PIxUJnFjsPIRQNyYKsMFz3h9BMEujjqorBBsdZy61sZHqjQXnOq06EKI5JPrTO1CLIxFAxDvbJGlrTP4dvGSsDzTJp3UngNA/s400/IMG_5363-750810.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355724365516834962" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGtapSCYgDnivGMQmdBoaW_CswQjQTAdkW2wBWtym2WYYr3IiYyLwIvlftbmIq6U4d50O7z5peD7usX8C7L07saZcWC73E3Y_gSC4bGcbj9Jo-DqOocAOVc64LPOnlI0ONc77v3Zxvpw/s1600-h/IMG_5364-752067.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGtapSCYgDnivGMQmdBoaW_CswQjQTAdkW2wBWtym2WYYr3IiYyLwIvlftbmIq6U4d50O7z5peD7usX8C7L07saZcWC73E3Y_gSC4bGcbj9Jo-DqOocAOVc64LPOnlI0ONc77v3Zxvpw/s400/IMG_5364-752067.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355724371667735538" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwdAoK7dvTEpxawgwbzSg1FURfdKl69810ozDBgxZjvFpniA1TQfmBQt-2HwYNTIi17eYsHqrGOirWnVEHoOJIimfI2Uqd3QuPWpMv4Lwpa2DOZRqtUqAALINDquuNQ62vBj0RVzHRiow/s1600-h/squirrelnutking-753320.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwdAoK7dvTEpxawgwbzSg1FURfdKl69810ozDBgxZjvFpniA1TQfmBQt-2HwYNTIi17eYsHqrGOirWnVEHoOJIimfI2Uqd3QuPWpMv4Lwpa2DOZRqtUqAALINDquuNQ62vBj0RVzHRiow/s400/squirrelnutking-753320.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355724374434303506" /></a></p>"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I now present to you the Horn of the Unicorn. It's is very important that you remain in your seats. I repeat, remain in your seats. Do not attempt to touch the horn for it is very sharp...."<br>Just another silly part of Abbey's shower routine that we reenact each time. <br>In other silliness, we always say lines to each other from the Beatrix Potter book, Squirrel Nutkin. Our favorite is "Who's been digging up my nuts?" which we chant and say when we are looking for something. I also call her Chippy Hackee, which really ruffles her feathers. She always insists that she is Goody Tiptoes. She likes to hide her vitamins in her cheek like a little squirrel.<br>On a more serious note Abbey has certain things that she loves to go over with me time after time. She asks, "Mama, do you love me?" because she loves for me to tell her "You NEVER have to wonder if I love you. I will always love you no matter what." She loves to go over how much I love her (up to heaven and back again). And she loves to discuss that I will still love her even if she does something very bad and she asks me to tell her, "You can never stop making me love you!" It's very funny to hear her mirror things back to me like "You are my precious Mama. You are my cutie." The other day she said, "Mommy I love everyone in China, and the whole world, but I love you best of all." Everyday I just feel so incredibly grateful to have her in my life.<br><br><div> <br><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh91/customblogdesigns/CBL/christisig.png"><br><font size="5"><span style="font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-serif;"><font style="font-family: Lucida Handwriting,Cursive;" size="4"><br><a href="http://www.cherryblossomlife.blogspot.com">www.cherryblossomlife.blogspot.com</a><br></font><br></span></font></div><br><br><br /><hr />Hotmail® has ever-growing storage! Don't worry about storage limits. <a href='http://windowslive.com/Tutorial/Hotmail/Storage?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_Tutorial_Storage_062009' target='_new'>Check it out.</a>Christi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772388305052228504.post-2350115839407109142009-06-30T08:43:00.001-07:002009-06-30T08:43:51.047-07:00Playdough Pals and Hot Pot<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDz-s9hSYwzaqc4Gupt4sfXFyrDV26UDKua25mOymM0Z-QQdkKZjVQCl0LVClIq-VfmeAM9o5_NtTF3Ard7ZhP2ElrDn1hw3eCsaRSdSMYpJi5H8i3bHYEXWBC3bY4vl3yVUDOVpPm3AQ/s1600-h/IMG_5351-731048.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDz-s9hSYwzaqc4Gupt4sfXFyrDV26UDKua25mOymM0Z-QQdkKZjVQCl0LVClIq-VfmeAM9o5_NtTF3Ard7ZhP2ElrDn1hw3eCsaRSdSMYpJi5H8i3bHYEXWBC3bY4vl3yVUDOVpPm3AQ/s400/IMG_5351-731048.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353146871761021202" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggUv-MiAMNBjR5ObDJNZtLdiusIep3tl03nOqUiqzbAV3wAAY89mnEIlN7TZwMNH570qzQDPSZQ45S5eVhjzK13j-otqiS_UqHyDMbQVgz9rmSgSiUXuDsa9Ax9Q9Cmp7_G-Mp7mtBCig/s1600-h/IMG_5357-732288.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggUv-MiAMNBjR5ObDJNZtLdiusIep3tl03nOqUiqzbAV3wAAY89mnEIlN7TZwMNH570qzQDPSZQ45S5eVhjzK13j-otqiS_UqHyDMbQVgz9rmSgSiUXuDsa9Ax9Q9Cmp7_G-Mp7mtBCig/s400/IMG_5357-732288.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353146875468420114" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb4H41_aoeQW1iWmhHq_vOZShS7g5uoZ5T_zppqX0eEsrYGq18VtqxmxXyqHb6jpGa-7QDpBbXEf9zFpADzpHaoYU2bwU6CfDo4p6p5O2ch2jZYRO0PQLQgI1hMW-lAyn5gt-I723JPVI/s1600-h/IMG_5355-733557.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb4H41_aoeQW1iWmhHq_vOZShS7g5uoZ5T_zppqX0eEsrYGq18VtqxmxXyqHb6jpGa-7QDpBbXEf9zFpADzpHaoYU2bwU6CfDo4p6p5O2ch2jZYRO0PQLQgI1hMW-lAyn5gt-I723JPVI/s400/IMG_5355-733557.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353146884634252194" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrBGSEpFZjLvJG8NN_KvFmFPIX7DHx-Fyr2omX5oGpVEtGsla-KDBgJzEwOlc8v4nswO5t56hFPo8DzYEuqMfVMAFdscWjDlPa-zczExJCeqsxivLNLEr3b3Z8Il_HX_A7_rnnhsVYdrQ/s1600-h/IMG_5361-735741.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrBGSEpFZjLvJG8NN_KvFmFPIX7DHx-Fyr2omX5oGpVEtGsla-KDBgJzEwOlc8v4nswO5t56hFPo8DzYEuqMfVMAFdscWjDlPa-zczExJCeqsxivLNLEr3b3Z8Il_HX_A7_rnnhsVYdrQ/s400/IMG_5361-735741.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353146890248952226" /></a></p>Monday it was back to school. This is Abbey with her dear friends Mabel and Caelen. Two of the sweetest children you could ever meet. They've been kind enough to let Abbey run them up one side and down the other. I teach these little ones in the afternoon and have really fallen in love with my class. It will be hard to say goodbye.<br>Monday eve we had dinner with Gong Ping and Olivia (our former housemates) and Jim. We had hot pot and it was great. Thinly sliced pieces of beef and lamb are brought to you along with all kinds of veggies, noodles, seafood, and you boil them at your table and eat as you go. There is a buffet of sauces and condiments - sesame, garlic, pepper, peanut sauce, cilantro, onions, etc. and you prepare little bowls to dip your food in. There are several versions of hot pot in China, this was Beijing style. We've also had shabu, shabu (Japanese style) at a friends house and it was great too. It was very yummy and fun. Afterward we went into the mall and sat in massage chairs. They are very big here, everyone is into massage, and it's just like part of basic health care. I am really going to miss my $8 hour long massages here. They are so good at it too!<br><br><div> <br><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh91/customblogdesigns/CBL/christisig.png"><br><font size="5"><span style="font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-serif;"><font style="font-family: Lucida Handwriting,Cursive;" size="4"><br><a href="http://www.cherryblossomlife.blogspot.com">www.cherryblossomlife.blogspot.com</a><br></font><br></span></font></div><br><br><br /><hr />Hotmail® has ever-growing storage! Don't worry about storage limits. <a href='http://windowslive.com/Tutorial/Hotmail/Storage?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_Tutorial_Storage_062009' target='_new'>Check it out.</a>Christi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.com42tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772388305052228504.post-47339512025042763232009-06-30T08:34:00.001-07:002009-06-30T09:03:19.830-07:00Weekend Fun<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9fJ6kF6bxXjnrA8jQ7pvmOBtQA4HFNRAqF41nCb7IuuodXVaUnGJ2IxdK4TqDbCdK86d3ZJZdd8cv-bWS77FZYXItvtRDPvS2OV7__I5Jgv6i5dz0VxqTXzqFWj3YszbpOO4bLVbG4tc/s1600-h/redrooster%5B1%5D.png"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353151850302667442" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9fJ6kF6bxXjnrA8jQ7pvmOBtQA4HFNRAqF41nCb7IuuodXVaUnGJ2IxdK4TqDbCdK86d3ZJZdd8cv-bWS77FZYXItvtRDPvS2OV7__I5Jgv6i5dz0VxqTXzqFWj3YszbpOO4bLVbG4tc/s400/redrooster%5B1%5D.png" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg43Mk9E24OFFMHQHVOyj7iN9rZ9mP2aIMINm5NezegjfFaZT0TkLTL-LTx8B41ToqdEgrDNxtxGfEbAJTv1Z3SFvjePJZUXQNQxcw4vQS0Rq0uaQ8taCFXM3MgJB81mSoaX0vGADhr1lk/s1600-h/redrooster%5B1%5D.png"></a><br /><br /><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXxeIfsNQ4ZjKEtSZdLCmrJlqHpd_wlyB1sQPcnHCmo9y_HO3NaxId7wEWpqtFp2FsuUtSBrMhplz6UsP0WmIN2ahHoZjFF2DrNApzeOScvMNrDwKAqBiEFiJbqqJDxjVfyCH0xNbfVMc/s1600-h/redrooster-761025.jpg"></a></p><br /><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLzZ5e_4WxVQu26RsPkjnL9Cy5joNrt9ufnrgh9123g4X1UudcQAxwIyII-_hT-aW8F-QtiktgkN2JxfhD-fVRTYDvipOV-wbNnBnqlYmepHx6kvfbiM0SXHSn9AQK5p0AAm0rnksQxFE/s1600-h/tacosinchina-761659.png"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353144425104862146" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLzZ5e_4WxVQu26RsPkjnL9Cy5joNrt9ufnrgh9123g4X1UudcQAxwIyII-_hT-aW8F-QtiktgkN2JxfhD-fVRTYDvipOV-wbNnBnqlYmepHx6kvfbiM0SXHSn9AQK5p0AAm0rnksQxFE/s400/tacosinchina-761659.png" border="0" /></a></p><br /><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWgbq5q_eWV4Wwj16KYag8f0hdqz1qZLFhhqQy_9daKXW09Gw-SiUYjBxKgg-QTNKchPdeIN-agT1pXB4uqpp0IHjyZbq3NMv3P2LXSQxLz0O6KqdJhZLB4qMXE5ra67E_QJdy0X156L8/s1600-h/katiespie-763360.png"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353144429656640754" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWgbq5q_eWV4Wwj16KYag8f0hdqz1qZLFhhqQy_9daKXW09Gw-SiUYjBxKgg-QTNKchPdeIN-agT1pXB4uqpp0IHjyZbq3NMv3P2LXSQxLz0O6KqdJhZLB4qMXE5ra67E_QJdy0X156L8/s400/katiespie-763360.png" border="0" /></a></p><br /><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiSkBKZOyj3lYcpIADR4dr9JFyINJ5PPuqEvWEZOYM8kkfh3OkRgdOVOF62NrPK1q-a0-ASdkbglL6DXy3T8HJNUMuX1I0ey0bMnWj7RqosQvFVOrW1f6WTHVSdSobbBW0cw3r7GwPqG0/s1600-h/IMG_5350-763862.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353144433587843474" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiSkBKZOyj3lYcpIADR4dr9JFyINJ5PPuqEvWEZOYM8kkfh3OkRgdOVOF62NrPK1q-a0-ASdkbglL6DXy3T8HJNUMuX1I0ey0bMnWj7RqosQvFVOrW1f6WTHVSdSobbBW0cw3r7GwPqG0/s400/IMG_5350-763862.JPG" border="0" /></a></p><br />I now have a way to post via email, even though I can't really get into my blog. I can't edit, as you've probably noticed, and I can't really organize photos and captions. When I finally have a moment to blog it's so overwhelming to know where to even begin, so I will just begin with the present and if I am able I'll slowly begin working back over the last several months. Please know that I am reading your blogs when I can every few weeks via pr*xies, but I can't leave comments : ( Online freedom may be one of the things I am looking forward to most.<br />So you already know we went ice-skating Saturday. Saturday night was a surprise party for my friend Katie. I've only been away from Abbey a couple of times here in China, and this was one of them. She had a blast playing princesses with her friends under the care of a wonderful ayi. The party was a the Red Rooster which is known to have the best hamburger in Shenzhen, but when I found out they had tacos it was all over. My first Mexican food in China. Okay, it was no where near Sharkey's, but still, it was a big treat. Of course there was some weird cartilage and things in the chicken, but lets not get into that. Sweet Chana made two beautiful pies (no small feat to do here) and Katie was totally surprised. She teaches at Shenzhen University and was really my first friend here in China. We are so grateful for our fun friends.<br />On Sunday we had lunch with our friend Lisa, the awesome cook. She made the most wonderful jiaoza and Abbey and Richard drew pictures and played super soakers. Lisa has taken me shopping every week for months and made my life so much easier! She has a car (big deal here) and takes me to Metro which is a French/Chinese version of Costco. Public transportation is great, but when it comes to groceries it's really hard. I cannot wait to drive my car to Vons!<br /><br /><div><br /><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh91/customblogdesigns/CBL/christisig.png" /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-family:Geneva,Arial,Sans-serif;"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Lucida Handwriting,Cursive;font-size:130%;" ><br /><a href="http://www.cherryblossomlife.blogspot.com/">http://www.cherryblossomlife.blogspot.com/</a><br /></span><br /></span></span></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><hr /><br />Insert movie times and more without leaving Hotmail®. <a href="http://windowslive.com/Tutorial/Hotmail/QuickAdd?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_Tutorial_QuickAdd_062009" target="_new">See how.</a></div>Christi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772388305052228504.post-56699944211169794712009-06-30T02:01:00.001-07:002009-06-30T02:01:56.499-07:00Disney Princess on Ice<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGUmPOMf1HFDYsVlhVgY-EY8AA-zmGQ-M6PRR2xpUxdR-iL98TR1jPSryJccAtmEuLKzjQqYm_SdMdT_WCwKRa8HiLhPSQp8zp1q1nZY4t5j2Ja-vfIK6kvwVKiJcL70eiMR3TVAoaOeM/s1600-h/IMG_5334-716501.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGUmPOMf1HFDYsVlhVgY-EY8AA-zmGQ-M6PRR2xpUxdR-iL98TR1jPSryJccAtmEuLKzjQqYm_SdMdT_WCwKRa8HiLhPSQp8zp1q1nZY4t5j2Ja-vfIK6kvwVKiJcL70eiMR3TVAoaOeM/s400/IMG_5334-716501.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353043304028652930" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-M7ALoCGaAF6X1IB0suQcItcOKiKljjQE5mfcrZvmLDsrVbo2kVN7xLgHtQ6dFksqN3p5Ll-xgrFYh2pYOslA_7xfESoCgv9YmaNEQRo-3EBJF1GkVF1XLekciTi21nu5wFf5DxmySGY/s1600-h/IMG_5335-717927.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-M7ALoCGaAF6X1IB0suQcItcOKiKljjQE5mfcrZvmLDsrVbo2kVN7xLgHtQ6dFksqN3p5Ll-xgrFYh2pYOslA_7xfESoCgv9YmaNEQRo-3EBJF1GkVF1XLekciTi21nu5wFf5DxmySGY/s400/IMG_5335-717927.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353043306219672338" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ_kSGSGUUhLmRtL1p-k4-VbV5AJ2fsyp85U41zufCyuT1qYMpFQ6fMBPC-nNu1LaaR_2mrI9kP-JNcpdsXRoPOrL3zta5M0dg1BpIn85O7MKCeO38sV6BHf6PRQWqYekPk8eBtCsrNh0/s1600-h/IMG_5348-719429.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ_kSGSGUUhLmRtL1p-k4-VbV5AJ2fsyp85U41zufCyuT1qYMpFQ6fMBPC-nNu1LaaR_2mrI9kP-JNcpdsXRoPOrL3zta5M0dg1BpIn85O7MKCeO38sV6BHf6PRQWqYekPk8eBtCsrNh0/s400/IMG_5348-719429.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353043315329696146" /></a></p>When we first went to the malls around here I couldn't understand why they all had ice rinks. Oh, I get it now. One sure way to beat the heat is to head to a mall and stay there! We are lovin' it. We take a little orange bus from our apt and it costs 1 kuai for both of us (about 7 kuai to the dollar). Abbey loves riding the bus and I do to, I don't know why, it's just fun. We stop at Starbucks and I get a coffee light frap. Abbey usually gets a little sumpin'sumpin too. At the rink eveyone gwaks and stares at us, as usual, but even a little more so to see us out on the ice. Somehow we always make friends with other little girls and end up all holding hands and skating together. Everyone one seems puzzled about the laowei with all the Chinese girls. I do a lap hugging the wall with Abbey and then she rests while a i do a couple of real skating laps on my own and then we start again. We love hearing the music that reminds us of home and people are always so kind and friendly (in addition to staring). Very fun!<br><br><div> <br><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh91/customblogdesigns/CBL/christisig.png"><br><font size="5"><span style="font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-serif;"><font style="font-family: Lucida Handwriting,Cursive;" size="4"><br><a href="http://www.cherryblossomlife.blogspot.com">www.cherryblossomlife.blogspot.com</a><br></font><br></span></font></div><br><br><br /><hr />Hotmail® has ever-growing storage! Don't worry about storage limits. <a href='http://windowslive.com/Tutorial/Hotmail/Storage?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_Tutorial_Storage_062009' target='_new'>Check it out.</a>Christi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772388305052228504.post-65903424267761713272009-06-24T08:31:00.000-07:002009-06-24T19:54:58.086-07:00KFC<img style="visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;" border=0 width=0 height=0 src="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEyNDU4OTY2ODc*MTAmcHQ9MTI*NTg5NjY5NDU3NSZwPTEyNTIxJmQ9Jmc9MSZ*PSZvPThjN2M4ZjM2ZjExYzQ5ZDk4NjkyZTY4MjE5ZTlmNGMwJm9mPTA=.gif" /><center><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" width="425" height="381"><param name="movie" value="http://www.dropshots.com/dropshots.swf?p=0&u=http://media7.dropshots.com/photos/210104/20090529/164932.flv&l=http://www.dropshots.com/christigrade1#date/2009-05-29/16:49:32&d=1" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" /><embed src="http://www.dropshots.com/dropshots.swf?p=0&u=http://media7.dropshots.com/photos/210104/20090529/164932.flv&l=http://www.dropshots.com/christigrade1#date/2009-05-29/16:49:32&d=1" wmode="transparent" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="381"></embed></object><br /><span style="font-family:arial; font-size:8pt;"><a href="http://www.dropshots.com/">Photo Sharing</a> - <a href="http://www.dropshots.com/">Video Sharing</a> - <a href="http://www.qualityphotoprints.com/">Photo Printing</a></span></center><br /><br /><br />Although a new KFC opens every day here in China, we've only been about 3 times in the year we've been here. WE stopped in recently after one of Abbey's choir performances at a mall. I didn't even know she knew the name of it. I haven't brought myself to eat anything there, but she was really happy about the mashed potatoes and the toy.Christi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772388305052228504.post-87652454299852280002009-06-24T07:21:00.000-07:002009-06-24T07:22:11.405-07:00It's Over!<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY75_PXBa3vBZmFsvmXmq4mPqDmuIKdXTYXTKEchb9azcSR4vksXMNJO3-oBxElGoZtNa1EfmwqsopHUrCmEToIAHAZGXVWIqTOw_huQzEpybHgWqH9ZejrtZjxmt2bX_66K3Mr2A-ec4/s1600-h/IMG_5298-731406.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY75_PXBa3vBZmFsvmXmq4mPqDmuIKdXTYXTKEchb9azcSR4vksXMNJO3-oBxElGoZtNa1EfmwqsopHUrCmEToIAHAZGXVWIqTOw_huQzEpybHgWqH9ZejrtZjxmt2bX_66K3Mr2A-ec4/s400/IMG_5298-731406.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350899316124594098" /></a></p><br>"Chord" that is. Abbey was in a choir for several months which recently ended with performances for the Dragon Boat Festival and Children's Day. I am really proud of her for sticking it out and sorry to say that she dreaded it more than enjoying it. On an almost daily basis she would ask, "Is it chord? Is it chord?" She just couldn't seem to say choir and her Friday's became a mix of being thrilled for art class with teacher Amy and enduring choir practice. It was just 45 minutes, but for her it seemed really long. She did learn a lot of great music that I loved hearing and I will always remember these last few months full of her constantly singing this...<br><br>Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, <br>God of glory, Lord of love; <br>Hearts unfold like flow'rs before Thee, <br>Op'ning to the sun above. <br>Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; <br>Drive the dark of doubt away; <br>Giver of immortal gladness, <br>Fill us with the light of day! <br>All Thy works with joy surround Thee, <br>Earth and heav'n reflect Thy rays, <br>Stars and angels sing around Thee, <br>Center of unbroken praise. <br><div> <br><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh91/customblogdesigns/CBL/christisig.png"><br><font size="5"><span style="font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-serif;"><font style="font-family: Lucida Handwriting,Cursive;" size="4"><br><a href="http://www.cherryblossomlife.blogspot.com">www.cherryblossomlife.blogspot.com</a><br></font><br></span></font></div><br><br><br /><hr />Insert movie times and more without leaving Hotmail®. <a href='http://windowslive.com/Tutorial/Hotmail/QuickAdd?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_Tutorial_QuickAdd_062009' target='_new'>See how.</a>Christi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772388305052228504.post-34832392855550233292009-06-08T21:46:00.001-07:002009-06-09T12:41:41.901-07:00Open, Open, Open<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8mEW5s65ZK6GRxkKsO-9njJFlcr_vJykZHDF_C_PCikKvrYHrebN6Wt3ybV185weeIrhMTorEpZ0ROt2u8Kw76iCXrIlMcTAzWIkVlbTWytcvBxqmICJO_U1yTnMFNYTdxKrFpWp1epU/s1600-h/DSC_0692-705032.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8mEW5s65ZK6GRxkKsO-9njJFlcr_vJykZHDF_C_PCikKvrYHrebN6Wt3ybV185weeIrhMTorEpZ0ROt2u8Kw76iCXrIlMcTAzWIkVlbTWytcvBxqmICJO_U1yTnMFNYTdxKrFpWp1epU/s400/DSC_0692-705032.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345184748333297954" /></a></p>This will be a great solution if it works. Due to the T. Square Ann*versary everything is blocked here. So much I'd love to share with you all. If this goes through I will start blogging again. It takes me about 30 minutes to get to blogger right now (trying pages of fresh pr*xies), and once I do I can't leave comments on your blogs, but know that I am reading when I can and loving seeing your children and hearing about your lives.<br><br><div> <br><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh91/customblogdesigns/CBL/christisig.png"><br><font size="5"><span style="font-family: Geneva,Arial,Sans-serif;"><font style="font-family: Lucida Handwriting,Cursive;" size="4"><br></font><br></span></font></div><br><br><br />Christi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.com39tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772388305052228504.post-87275280627485940412009-06-08T13:44:00.001-07:002009-06-08T13:50:39.508-07:00Princess Zhuozhuo<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhybKkJUk36mjazGP1S80RbkDfbe3ad9Btpa68wVzx0YbWBs7HMUuQORggz3QoPenhUvGaFXeZ82cHGjYgloUdI_TM9SpHvqUA9wDQElVvJ8ZrmBfvMzAwjahD7R0kq3e8UywM6Og0MLx8/s1600-h/aaDSC_0751%5B1%5D.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhybKkJUk36mjazGP1S80RbkDfbe3ad9Btpa68wVzx0YbWBs7HMUuQORggz3QoPenhUvGaFXeZ82cHGjYgloUdI_TM9SpHvqUA9wDQElVvJ8ZrmBfvMzAwjahD7R0kq3e8UywM6Og0MLx8/s400/aaDSC_0751%5B1%5D.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345061694691911586" /></a><br />Trying to see if this new pathway works to a get post and photo through. We miss our blog community!<br /><br /><br><br /><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh91/customblogdesigns/CBL/christisig.png">Christi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2772388305052228504.post-27186892919306817332009-05-29T05:42:00.000-07:002009-06-09T12:39:32.917-07:00Hong Kong Visa AdventureWell, still no way to post photos but at least I managed to get in again. We hit another rough patch this week but have since come through on the other side. On Tuesday we went to Hong Kong to get new visas and found that they could not be processed that day. Our temporary visas had no more enteries, so we were stuck and realized we would have to spend the night, and for this we were totally unprepared. Thank goodness I brought the stroller. I had decided that I was going to be able to manage HK without it for the first time but as we were leaving Abbey said, "I want my stroller!" Oh how thankful I am for that. Somehow we were able to keep our clothes reasonably clean and we picked up those things that seemed absolutely essential at the drug store. My phone doesn't work in HK but fortunately the agency processing the visas allowed me to make a call to Shenzhen and a friend there was able to book a hotel for us. We spent many hours on escalators and the MTR, both of which Abbey loves. It was raining and I had no jacket but did have a little travel umbrella in my backpack.<br /><br /><br><br /><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh91/customblogdesigns/CBL/christisig.png">Christi and Abbeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04091999138906723996noreply@blogger.com15