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Christmas Prep

Christmas preparations continue at the Brown house.   Kyra and I made our 2nd gingerbread house together - I guess that makes it a tradition.

Kyra loves to decorate and eat the yummies.

Liam just loves to eat the yummies. 

We took the kids to the mall for Liam's first visit to Santa.  Going to the mall two week-ends before Christmas is just sheer insanity, but my salvation  was a small group of carolers who walked around the mall and sang.  They even sang while they took a ride on the merry-go-round. 

Of course, the highlight was seeing Liam meet Santa. 

He was definitely a little apprehensive about Santa, but got  more comfortable as he sat there.

Of course, Kyra and mommy never left his side and he was happy to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas. 

"Santa hmm Liam Lightening McQueen"

How could Santa possibly resist?

Liam's First Snow and First Christmas Tree

Today was Liam's first real snow.   At first he wasn't real sure what to think of it.  He liked his slow ride when Kyra pulled him.  

When Daddy pulled them both really fast - he had a big smile, but didn't want to do it again. 

Of course, Kyra is our Eskimo.  She likes to lay in snow...

...put her face in snow and  eat snow!

Liam was fairly uninterested in the snow, until... he found out that you could throw snowballs at people and they would act like he'd hurt them!  Then he was loving it!  

Our neighbors and their kids came over to sled ride. We ended our first snow with an impromptu fire pit complete with roasting hot dogs, making s'mores and drinking hot chocolate. What fun!

Our snowy day was complete after decorating the tree.  Kyra was my chief elf!

Elf Liam was pretty uninterested in decorating the tree, but thought that dumping the Christmas balls and throwing the icicles up in the air was pretty fun. 

Liam's sled ride.  All things go back to Lightening McQueen.  Liam is recalling a picture from the Lightening McQueen Christmas book where Mater is pulling a sled with Guido on it.  He's Guido and Kyra is Mater.  What a funny guy. 

 No one loves the snow like Sophie!  With the snow, her whole family outside, and the neighbors and their kids over -- Sophie had the best time ever!

It was a really great snow day.

Our Mother Daughter Christmas Tradition

This year was our second year to go to The Nutcracker at The Palace Theatre - just mommy and Kyra.  This year we went with 3 of Kyra's little girlfriends: Shailin, Annette and Avery.   All of the girls and mommies thoroughly enjoyed the performance.

Kyra loves to go up before the show and look at the musicians in the orchestra pit. 

Liam was very sad he couldn't go.  I'm sure he and daddy will find some traditions of their own soon enough!

Mommy and Kyra are hoping this is a tradition we will enjoy together for a long time. 

Happy Forever Family Day

On November 21,2004, a nanny in China placed a baby girl in my arms.  My baby girl.  Our baby girl.  She was dressed in a beautiful yellow traditional Chinese outfit and clenched a biscuit in her little fist.  As she was placed into my arms, the arms of a blond round eyed stranger with tears of joy streaming down her face,  the little baby began to cry.  What was happening?  Why had she been taken from everything she'd ever known to travel 2 hours in a bus with her beloved nanny only to be handed to this stranger?  My poor little confused baby.  Within a few minutes, there were no more tears.  Only a quizzical look on her beautiful little face.  Within an hour of being in the hotel, this amazing little baby was smiling and then laughing - so very eager to check out every corner and crevice of her new surroundings.   

Fast forward 5 years.  Now this beautiful little baby is a beautiful, wonderful little girl.  Now she is surrounded by family who loves and cherishes her.   On this day every year - we celebrate the day when Luo Ya Xin joined our family forever.  

Uncles, aunts and cousins  who love her. 

Grandmothers and Grandfathers who love her.

A mother who loves her sense of humor, her kind heart, her laugh, her energy, her happy soul,

her hugging arms and kissing lips, her innate ability to "mother" younger children including her brother, her creativity, her sweet voice in song, her imagination, her curiosity, her zest for life, her love of water and snow, her love of cold,  her love of all things magical and glittery, her love of bugs, her flair with color, her cravings for good chocolate, her sensitivity, her urges, that she readily fulfills, to be messy- to be covered with sand or mud or chalk or paint or makeup or flour, her need to climb, swing, spin and move, her enchanting smile

 that spreads all the way to her eyes....

A mother who loves her with all of my heart... a never-ending unconditional love.

A father who loves her with all of his heart... a never-ending unconditional love. 

A brother who has come to love her in 6 short months, so that we frequently hear, "My Kyra, My Kyra"  and he wants to do everything just like his big sister.  

On November 21 of every year we celebrate

Our Forever Family.