Getting Ready for the Holidays

We have been so busy, time is flying by. We have been telling Jena about Thanksgiving and Christmas since she arrived back in August and it is certainly hard to believe we're already here.
Two weeks ago we all saw Phantom of the Opera for the first time. It was absolutely wonderful and we all enjoyed it very much.


There are very few pictures lately that include Host Dad so we thought we'd give him a little blog time this week. The TampaBay Performing Arts is right on the
Hillsborough River and we even saw dolphins while we were waiting to go inside.



Yesterday we got our house ready for Christmas. Normally we do this the weekend AFTER Thanksgiving but this year we will be camping for 3 days immediately after so it will be nice to come home to the house already decorated (assuming the curious cats do not destroy things while we are gone). Maya was very helpful with the decorations as you can see.
















Next stop...Thanksgiving. This will be the 5th year we celebrate the holiday in Tampa with friends we previously lived in Key West with. A bunch of us who do not have immediate family in the area get together for food and fun and this year we are all carrying it over to a camping trip at Fort DeSoto Beach. The weather is predicted to be highs around 75 and lows between 50-55 so perfect weather for the occasion.

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!!

CCAI Florida/Georgia Reunion 2008

This past Saturday, we spent the day in Orlando at our adoption agency's annual Florida reunion. It was held at Turkey Lake Park and the weather was gorgeous! The park is a campground as well, so we may try it sometime as another camping option.
We arrived early since we were helping with the registration of families as they arrived. It was a great opportunity to meet other families and see how their families have grown through adoption.
Our agency founders/directors for the whole US were there, Joshua Zhong and Lily Nie. They were both quite interested in Jena and her experience here as an exchange student so she got to hang out with them a bit and talk in Chinese (which she always likes since she can't do that at home :))

Picture with Lily
















Other friends arrived including Tom, Irene and Maggie; Neil, Michelle and Chloe; and Kip, Treena and Jemma. We got to hang out and play with the kiddos while enjoying food and Chinese performances that included music and dance. Overall, it was a great afternoon, but it's hard to believe that it has been 2 whole years since the last reunion, when we had JUST received word that we had a log-in date. Unfortunately, we will probably see one more reunion, in 2 years, until it's our turn.

All the girls


Chloe & Maggie

Genie vs. Punk Rocker

Jena got to go Trick or Treating and she thought that it was AWESOME! She did not intend to dress up, but our friends insisted she wear a costume and when I picked her up...there she was, Genie costume and all!
She had a great time and was amazed at the amount of candy she received just walking up to peoples doors and asking for it. She said "this is the best holiday ever" as she was sorting through it all, making piles of "good stuff" and "bad stuff" and of course "the unknown". Wait till she sees what I am like around Christmas...maybe that will be her new favorite holiday :)



Jena's big challenge is hiding her candy from Host Mom and Dad!