Wednesday, February 28, 2007

CHINESE NEW YEAR, PART 2

Stefanie and the Chinese take out box are not intended to offend anyone. We apologize to any one who takes this offensively. Jon received this giant box, and Stefanie went crazy over it. This was the one and only time she was allowed to climb inside the box, and she was never left unattended. As soon as we were done taking these photos this box was thrown out. Stefanie loved taking these photos.































KELLER WILLIAM'S DEATH BY CHOCOLATE PARTY

My girlfriend Tamra and her husband Eric are owners in a Keller Williams Franchise. They had yet another great "Death by Chocolate Party". Stefanie and I did not eat any chocolate but, she had a great time with the balloons. In fact, on our way out Stefanie decided to try and take home a giant balloon arch. The arch was used at the entrance of the party and Stefie decided to aim high. Trying to tell Stefanie she not only could not take the arch home and it would not fit in the car, did not make any sense to her. If Stefanie had it her way she would have gone home with every balloon at the party! Unfortunately, Jon was stuck at work and did not make it to the party. It was really nice to see Tamra, Eric and Sophie (Tamra & Eric's daughter).












GUNG HAY FAT CHOY! HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

This year's Chinese New Year's Celebration was not quite as expected. Unfortunatley, we missed the FCC (Families With Children From China) New Year Celebration. Jon and Stefanie attempted to go to an event, and the event was already over by the time they arrived. I forgot to mention we missed the dancing dragon at the restaurant too. We did make the best of this and we all had a lot fun.

The night before Theresa and I hung decorations in the house. It was pretty funny to hang these decorations with Theresa as we had some difficulties with the decorations, and it turned into a (I Love Lucy Show).


Stefanie awoke to decorations and presents. The night before I made Stefanie two bracelets out of jade. One pink to match her outfit, and one green. We exchanged red envelopes and, went out to dinner. We had an excellent dinner at our newest Chinese restaurant. After dinner we returned home to eat our fortune cookies which are an American tradition, but a tradition to us. The giant fortune cookie take out box deserves a mention all its own. I'll talk about that in the next blog entry.

Chinese Year of the Pig 2007

The Pig represents the 12 th sign of the Chinese Zodiac. The Year of the Pig is also called Hai and less commonly is also known as Year of the Boar . People born under this sign are honest and patient. These people are generally humble and reclusive by their very nature. But as reserved they might be, their confidence and warmth is much praised. People born in 1911, 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995 and 2007 are the ones who belong to year of the Pig.

If Chinese astrology is anything to go by, the year 2007 is the Fire Pig Year. This year brings loads of good luck charm to all the babies taking birth in this year and also for all those who are planning to do some investment.

“Babies born this year will be especially lucky, since it is a Golden Pig year, the first in many years. That's why hospitals in China are planning for a baby boom this year, according to The Economist.” - The Journal Gazette (Feb.- 24 th – 2007)

Year 2007 is the year of the Golden Pig. This year comes only once in 60 years or 600 years (according to some….) and is considered to be extremely promising for the newborn babies. It is a famous conviction among the Chinese that babies born in this year would lead a very successful and happy life. This is a great time for the parents and grandparents to look forward to plan for an extension in the family.

The Boar Year will also prove very promising for those who are planning to invest their money in the productive assets and stocks. Masters of Feng Shui claim that the incompatible elements of water and fire will rouse the markets in the new lunar year. This year is really favorable to complete projects. Besides, it is also the best time to invest in China, as the economy will be growing and that it's currency- Yuan would also rise strongly.

So have the best of times throughout the Boar Year 2007.














Girl Power!!!

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

SNOW DAY!

Everytime Stefanie and I are about to get in the car, Stefanie mentions snow and wanting to play outside. Today she got her wish and it snowed.




"Snow! Snow! Snow!"

Sunday, February 25, 2007

ANOTHER HAT AND JELLO


Eating Jello. "What is this stuff?"


Uh Oh!


"This feels really good"


"I like the feel between my fingers"


Daddy's Hat.

Friday, February 23, 2007

CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION AT DOPP FAMILY HOME

This evening we had a wonderful time celebrating Chinese New Year with the Dopp Family. (Another family who adopted they're daughter from China with us.) The Dopp family had a very nice celebration with other adoptive parents,and friends. It was really nice to have Stefanie and Zanthe get together again, since they have not seen each other after returning home from China. Unfortunately, we live more than an hour away from the Dopp family. The girls had fun and we really enjoyed seeing Scott and Circe again.


Daddys and daughters.
Jon and Stefanie, Scott and Zanthe.




Hanging out with the girls.






Almost time to leave.


Time to go girls..."NO!"


"Let try to sit here a little longer"


Zanthe giving Stefanie a goodbye hug.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

STEFANIE AND HER HAT

Stefanie and I were shopping at Walmart when she found a hat, and refused to take it off. Stefanie absolutely loves hats, although it appears she does not like baseball caps as much. Here she is with her newest hat.