Easter Weekend 2012

Easter weekend was just AMAZING!!  We had Mike's family over on the Friday which was also the day we were going to show them all her picture!  We had told them about her but avoided showing a picture, we just said "we hope to have one for Friday" LOL  Mike really wanted to surprise everyone and show them all at once.

One Table set!

We went out and got little Easter themed Chinese Take out boxes and put her picture in it with some chocolate etc.. for each family.  When everyone came over Mike gave them all their boxes and showed them a large blown up version of her picture!  He was sooo excited and so proud to show it off it was sooo cute!

Aunt Amy, Uncle Chris, Meghan and Mathew brought this cute little pig toy for Mhyia for Easter!!  So cute, we had actually registered for it and they didn't even know!!

 We also had a little easter egg hunt out in the back yard - Mike had hid a bunch of the plastic eggs, and by hid I mean laid them throughout the backyard!  It was sooo cute they wer sooo excited to get out there after dinner!

On the Saturday we did some running around, shopping, baking etc...  Had to make another carrot cake! 

 

mmmm Carrot cake!



Sunday we headed to my brother and sister-in-laws.  They were hosting dinner this year so it was a nice treat!  Mike had brought down a bottle of wine that he has been saving for our referral.  A good friend of mine had donated it as a raffle prize at the fundraiser and another friend of ours had won it and gave it to Mike knowing how much he would LOVE it!!  Mike wanted to share it with Rob to ccelebrate and thank him for all his hard work with the fundraiser etc...  We also brought them take out boxes with Mhyias picture and also did up this little card for my mom and dad (aka Grandma & Grandpa).  We had a great meal and a great visit!    



Granma and Granpas Easter card!

Loves a good bottle of wine!!

Mhyia's First Easter!  Next Easter will be soooo much better when she is actually here with us!

Valentines Day!

We never make too big of a deal about Valentines Day. It is just another day pretty much! We do usually always get each other a card and sometimes we will go out for dinner.

This year Mike had a meeting that night which I wasn't overly happy about but I decided to clean out the pantry and let me tell you it was one of the best Valentine's Days yet LOL - I love getting organized!! I wanted to clear out 1 - 2 shelves for us to put Mhyia's stuff (bottles, plates, snacks etc..) Mission accomplished!!

This is the card (home made I might add) and yes in case you are wondering Mike did the lettering on his own, freehand!! Pretty good! He also had some sour keys (my fav) wrapped up!!

Gung Hei Fat Choy – Year of the Dragon!

Happy Chinese New Year to all our friends and family and to our baby girl who is somewhere in China – it won’t be too much longer and mommy and daddy will be coming to get you!

Year of the Dragon is known for being one of the luckiest years and we are hoping this proves to be true for us!

We have some big changes coming in our lives and we cannot wait!!

I read this article on the some of the history etc.. and found it quite interesting so I decided to re-post it here! Enjoy…

"Gung Hei Fat Choy" That’s the traditional Chinese New Year greeting that means “wishing you prosperity” in Mandarin. The first day of the Chinese New Year – which begins at midnight on January 23, 2012 – is the most important of Chinese holidays, celebrated by billions in China, and by millions of ethnic Chinese around the world. It’s a celebration that lasts for 15 days, culminating with the Lantern Festival. Each year is associated with one of twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac. For 2012, it’s the Year of the Dragon.

There are several variations on the mythology behind Chinese New Year celebrations. Most are based on a ugly bloodthirsty monster named Nian that would emerge on the last night of each year to destroy villages and eat people. A wise elder advised villagers to scare the monster away with loud noises. That night, they set fire to bamboo, lit fireworks, and banged their drums. The monster, afraid of the loud noises and lights, ran away to hide in its cave. In another version of the myth, an old man persuaded Nian to turn its wrath on other monsters, not the villagers. Before he was seen riding away on Nian, the old man, actually a god, advised the people to hang red paper decorations in their homes and set off firecrackers on the last night of the year to keep Nian away. On the first day of the new year, the villagers celebrated, greeting each other with the words “Guo Nian” which means “survive the Nian”, a tradition that has continued to this day to mean “celebrate the new year.”

Chinese New Year celebrations traditionally lasts 15 days, from the first day (during a new moon) to the 15th day (a full moon). Each day holds a special significance that varies according to local traditions. But first, before the arrival of the new year, homes are thoroughly cleaned to sweep away ill fortune, and to welcome good luck. On new year’s eve, there are family gatherings to celebrate and enjoy sumptuous traditional feasts, and to greet the new year with fireworks at midnight.

The celebration culminates on the 15th day with the Lantern festival; on this night of the full moon, families mingle in the streets carrying lighted lanterns, often creating a beautiful light display.
The Chinese New Year for 2012 will be celebrated on 23 January. It’s the most important of Chinese holidays, celebrated by billions of people across the world. Festivities traditionally last for 15 days to culminate with the Lantern Festival. This calendar is based on a complex lunisolar calendar system that uses both lunar and solar cycles to mark time. As a result, Chinese New Year falls on different dates each year, between January 21 and February 21 of the conventional Gregorian calendar. Each Chinese lunar year is associated with one of twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac. For 2012, it’s the Year of the Dragon.

Mike and I didn't have anything planned this year for Chinese New Year but when he came home from the gym he brought this little surprise!! These were the best chicken balls we have ever had - form a little local restaurant - why haven't we tried them sooner!!!!

Happy New Year...and what a year it will be!!!!

Happy New Year everyone!! This year is going to (fingers crossed) be one of the most exciting years of our lives!! I can't believe that we have waited this long but hopefully it will all be worth it in the end when we finally get our little girl. The next couple of months will be a very busy and exciting time - so much to do so much to plan for and yet so much I feel I can't do until we get our referral.

Usually I find the first 4 or 5 months of the year fly by but I have a feeling this year may seem more like they are going by at a snails pace.

The chart below is from our agencies website - it shows where we are in terms of referrals etc.. as you can see there is now only one group ahead of ours - group 272!!! It is so close yet still so far. I really hope the CCAA is feeling generous when sending referrals this month prior to the Chinese New Year!!

Christmas 2011 – should be our last Christmas without Mhyia!!

This Christmas seemed to come and go before it even felt like Christmas. We had no snow at all and until today I have yet to wear a winter coat this season. Christmas was the usual – at my parents for Christmas Eve, off to church, sleep over, get up, open gifts, have an earlier dinner and then off to Mike’s sisters (Lisa’s) for dinner #2!!

Many many times this Christmas we thought or talked about how “next year” Mhyia would be here and the thought is soooo exciting – it has been sooooo many years that I have been saying “hopefully by next Christmas we will have a child” well it looks like this if finally the year!!!! There are some friends at my moms church who adopted a couple of years ago from China and their little girls is so sweet, they were sitting in front of us on Christmas Eve and I couldn’t stop starring at her with her mom and thinking next year that could be me with Mhyia – I can’t wait, I am soooo ready!!

Christmas overall was great, I just love having the week off and visiting with family etc… it is such a great time of year. I had hoped to get a bunch of things done around the house but I didn’t get as many done as I would have liked – I have a huge list on the fridge of things I want to get done before Mhyia comes, so many little things I need to finish or organize – I have committed to doing at least 1 or 2 of these things per week!

Getting Ready for Christmas and our Cruise!!

I have just finished decorating the house (two trees, two floors) I am so late this year - I usually try to start right after Halloween but things have been a bit crazy around here so I finally get things done today!!

I feel like I am constantly rushing around - I have a "to do" list on the fridge and I need to get to it - I need to start crossing things off. I am so looking forward to our Christmas holidays I think it will give us time to get a good handle on some much needed organization.

I now need to start packing for our Cruise - we leave this Friday morning and I/we haven't even started to pack or gather things up - I am hoping we can get most of it done tomorrow night - Mike has a meeting Thursday night and I have an app't this Wednesday night (not great planning) - I feel like this vacation has just snuck up on us. For so long it was so far a way and now it is here and neither one of us have prepared very well. Oh well I am sure everything will be fine - off to pack!!

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians!!!

Soooooo much to be Thankful for this last year, we have had family members come through some scary health issues, we have had good health with the rest of our families and friends, I am back working full time at the place I have always wanted to work (and loving it), we have been able to start getting excited about China as it inches closer to us everyday, all in all it has been a great year and we are so Thankful to be here happy and healthy.

This year we wet to Amy's for dinner on Saturday (also celebrated Meghan's 3rd birthday) and we went to my Mom and Dads on Sunday. As we were in the kitchen at my Moms I actually stopped and thought (and said out loud) next year there will be a highchair at the table!!!! OMG can you believe it?? It is so unreal LOL - can't wait!!

We also rec'd a call on Sunday telling us our crib was in!! My parents bought our crib for Mhyia and it is sooooo beautiful!!!! Mike and John headed over to pick it up and returned with it - we realized it may be easier to get it up the stairs if we take it out of the large box - well as luck would have it it was damaged :( Back to the store it went and another one has been special ordered. That was not so great but either way we have another one on order and hopefully the next one will be fine!!

July Referrals - 2011

Well referrals arrived right at the end of the month again - which is good because at least there seems to be something you can count on! The CCAA only referred "20" RQ families which is the WORST batch we have ever rec'd. It was 6 days which is a half decent number of days but like I said a brutal batch of referrals. They did up to and including July 12th.

Happy Canada Day!!!

Today is Canada's 144th Birthday!!! It is an absolutely beautiful day!!

The last couple of years Mike and I have had a Canada Day BBQ at our house - it has become somewhat of a tradition now!! This year was beautiful weather - we set up the little kiddie pool and the kids were occupied for hours! All in all it was a Happy Canada Day with family and friends - hopefully next Canada Day we will have a new little Canadian citizen here with our family!!!!

Easter 2011

For Easter this year we had my side of the family over for dinner on Good Friday - I made a carrot cake and had little easter baskets (take out box's) for everyone. I made tags for the boxs and had a matching placecard for their place at the table. I really liked the way the table turned out this year. The two cream bunnies on the table with the raffia bows were gifts - one for my parents and one for my brother & Tiffany. We had ham and scalloped potatoes (from Dennigers, mmmm). My mom and Dad made me/us up a little plate of treats, rice krispie eggs, some hard boiled decorated eggs and a chocolate pig (i love pigs) - it was so cute and a really cute ceramic plate to keep. It was a great Easter - I love getting together with everyone, it was especially nice to see my brother and Tiffany since we don't get to see them as often!






On the Sunday Mikes Mom and Dad had us all over - it was somewhat nice out so we hung out in the back yard for a bit and the kids ran around and played with some of their easter goodies! Not everyone could stay for dinner but it was great to see everyone. The kids are all getting so big.

I made some carrot cupcakes the night before and had some leftover batter so I made a little cake for Shayla since we never had cake for her birthday this year!