Our Christmas Trees is Decorated!

Aaron and Donovan had so much fun looking through their ornaments from previous years. They also each received a special ornament from Mommy and Daddy from Santa's Village this year, and several special ornaments for each of them from our trip to Disney. They each chose the perfect spots on the tree for their new ornaments, and then put their ornaments from previous years on the tree also.

Our Christmas Tree

Here are some photos of the boys "helping" to "saw" the tree (after it was down).




While Grandma searched for her perfect tree and Daddy cut it down for her, Donovan and Aaron decided to "decorate" a smaller tree with pieces of ice. They did this for close a half hour and were so thrilled with themselves over this. It was so sweet!

Our lights are now on the tree (8 strands!). We are looking forward to putting all our ornaments on the tree tomorrow, including some special ones I purchased for the boys at Disneyworld in May.
This evening we've watched Elf on the Shelf (he'll be arriving tomorrow), Rudolph, and now Frosty, while enjoying some freshly baked brownies.
This is the best time of the year!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!
All morning the boys were pretending they were on an "expedition" to shoot a turkey for our dinner. They made turkeys out of Legos. I'm happy to report we did not have resort to their hunting skills for our turkey. Aaron and Grandma had purchased a 22 pound turkey earlier in the week (while Donovan and Mommy were at the pediatrician for Donovan's 5 year physical).
Our turkey and all the dishes were delicious.
Both boys were thrilled to have Grandma sleep over at our house.
Daddy started the first fire in the fireplace of the season and we all enjoyed toasting marshmallows.
And, both boys are looking forward to picking out our Christmas tree on Saturday.




We continue to be amazed at Aaron's impressive memory. On Wednesday morning, he looked out the window and saw the snow (first snowfall this fall) and was SO EXCITED. He started telling me how soon our Elf on the Shelf, "Pelf," would appear at our house, and recalling all the different traditions he was introduced to last year. He is very much looking forward to this Christmas season.

5 Years of Donovan!

The Birthday Boy!!!!!

We took this photo before Donovan's birthday party.


Out for a hike on his 4th birthday. Mommy loved that brown fleece jacket of his.


This is also Donovan at age 4 - his preschool photo.


Donovan at age 3 with pumpkins Daddy painted for Halloween.


Our Christmas card photo when Donovan was 2.


Chinese New Year when Donovan was 1.


Photo of Newborn Donovan - He was one week old.

U.S. Citizenship Finally!

After 11 years of living in the United States, FINALLY, Rupert is a U.S. Citizen!
(And officially changed his name to include Rupert, which has been a nickname since he entered primary school in Hong Kong, but never a legal name).

There were 28 people gaining U.S. Citizenship, from 18 different countries. It was quite something!

It was a complicated process, which seemed endless at times, especially when desperately trying to get his permanent resident/green card, in order to file our adoption paperwork with Homeland Security back in 2008. 3 years after that, (March 2011) he applied for Citizenship, and finally received his interview this fall, and passed the test.
He's the last in our family to gain Citizenship, since Aaron gained it when our plane touched down at JFK.
Congratulations Rupert, we are so proud of you!

Fun at Preschool

Here are some photos of Donovan and Aaron on the zipline, slackline, and climbing trees. They love their preschool and so do we!

Halloween