Happy Halloween!!

Katie was an Auburn cheerleader and Sarah was Dora this year. We went "Trick-or-Treating" and had a great time. After we went one way around the neighborhood, we came back home. I thought we were just emptying their pumpkins to go back out again, but surprisingly, they both said they were done. We spent the rest of the evening sitting in our driveway to pass out candy. Our whole cul-de-sac sat outside to do this, which was nice. I just love our neighborhood!!

Happy International Children's Day

Yesterday families who adopted children in China were invited to the Houston Chinese Consulate to celebrate International Children's Day. There was a buffet and performances by children. The children also received gifts. There were a lot of people there and the girls had a good time. It was great seeing so many beautiful children, adopted in China.

Thanks, Chinese Consulate, for inviting us to a wonderful celebration.

I found this information here about the day:

International Children's Day Flag
The green background symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility; We are surrounded by the ability to grow. All we have to do is reach out and embrace it. The red & yellow, black & white figures represent diversity and tolerance. Our children are the key to peace and tolerance of: race, religion, physical, mental, and social diversity. The star, which is made up of the figures' legs, represents light. We can be a light for the world, if we choose. The five points on the star represent the continents. We are all part of one true race, the human race. The earth figure, which is directly in the center, represents our earthly home and all the blessings on it, which God has given us all to share and respect. The large blue circle engulfing the figures symbolizes peace and God's universal love. It also represents the unity that we can achieve if we reach out to one another in love. Blue symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven. The blue figure at the top represents God, who is the author & finisher of all things. God loves all of us equally and we should be striving to imitate that love (which is represented by the figures reaching out to each other) .

International Children's Day
Regarding the International Children's Day, it is widely celebrated on June 1. Children's Day had its origin in the World Conference for the Wellbeing of Children in Geneva in 1925. The June 1 date has a Chinese-USA origin - and nothing to do with Communism. In 1925, the Chinese consul-general in San Francisco gathered a number of Chinese orphans to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. This, of course, coincided with the conference mentioned above. June 1 somehow died out in the USA, only to be revived a couple of years ago. However, each country choses its own day to commemorate it.

The date, June 1st, has been adopted in the US as the official day. More than 30 states actively participate in the June 1st observance. The flag has been adopted by dozens of states and is being manufactured.

Happy Easter!!

Here are some pictures of the girls and their Easter baskets and some from our egg hunt with their cousin, Ben. Sarah was the big winner with the most eggs by far (boy was she fast). I don't know where she learned to be such a champion egg hunter. I definitely think she is the athlete in the family. The girls also enjoyed smashing confetti eggs on their Aunt Wendy and Uncle Jim. We had a great day!!

Sarah's First Christmas

This was Sarah's first Christmas (she joined our family in January). I was worried she'd be overwhelmed, but she did very well. We had a wonderful time opening presents and then the rest of our family came over for breakfast and we opened more presents. It was a great day.

You've Been BOOED!!

We're doing this at school and in our neighborhood. Here are some cute poems and instructions, in case you'd like to start it:

http://skiptomylou.wordpress.com/2007/10/02/boo/

http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/halloween/l/blhalbooed.htm

http://www.goblinville.com/pages/boo.htm