Bonsai Video

Oh my. I do not know where she learned this. School?
This cracks her up when she sees it.

Video attempt

I'm trying to upload a video or two from my phone. Let's see if this works!
This one is Linda playing with the water table and our neighbor yells over the fence.

It's been too long

Linda is 3 1/2 y.o. She is adorable. She also gives us a few headaches. It's all part of growing up. Here are a couple of shots from my cell phone which are soooo damned cute. Can you say "daddy's girl"?



I just have no other words right now. Too tired to think, but at least you "get the picture"!

Happy New Year!

I would love to jump up and down like Linda, but some of us are not feeling up to it. Our new year has started with the parents being quite ill. Today Melissa actually went into Urgent Care to get checked out. Apparently she has a pretty bad sinus infection causing this real nasty cough. I bet this is why my head is stuffed, yet I do not have the cough any longer.

Where did it come from? LINDA! Our little gem was sick over the holidays. She finally broke her fever on Christmas day. After about two months of coughing, she came down with a bug that lasted about a week. Sure enough a week later I am feeling pretty bad. A couple of days later, Mel.

Even though we are hit with this nasty stuff, it was awesome to see my Dad and Ellen during Thanksgiving, and then to see Bubbe and Zedie (Mel's Mom and Bill), for New Years. We greatly appreciated the visits. Of course, I was stuck working except for the actual holidays themselves.

Anyways, I hope everyone has a great year and we continue to watch our wonderful child grow and become a beautiful young lady that she is.

Merry Christmas

We had a holiday. Nothing special. Linda's fever broke and she was normal today. Coughing is still quite annoying. She cannot sleep. Doctor's are worthless. Hopefully we will learn more when she is tested for allergies.

Pictures of Linda from Reunion

More to come.

Adoption Family Reunion 2008

The weekend is done and we had such a blast! There is so much to talk about that I do not even know where to begin! I'll give a brief run-down and mention now that tons of pictures are on the way!
Friday was a day at the beach and dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory.
Saturday was a day at Legoland and dinner/BBQ at our co-host's house.
Sunday was a day of rest and most families had to leave.
Monday was a day at Seaworld with the last couple of families.

All in all it was a great success. To see all the children growing up and to know that we, as families, share something in common and fee that we should stay in touch is wonderful. Thank you to all that participated and to those who could not, we still think of you.

Pictures to come! I have much processing to do. Stay tuned.

2008 Moon Festival

As you all know we have been a bit sloooooow posting pictures and writing about our fine experiences with Linda. Approaching 3 years of age and we are having the full spectrum of highs, lows, and in-betweens. Well, how about a little bit on the high side today? We attended the FCC (Families with Children from China) 2008 Moon Festival and another one sponsered by the China House in Balboa Park. Both were as fun as fun can be.

Starting with the FCC event, we arrived early and Linda had a ball at the park. No, she did not have a ball, she had FUN! Being a Saturday and the fact she would get to stay up a bit later than normal, she made the most of the time. The playground was fabulous. The group then does a little "march" around the park with their lanterns. I did manage to get one OK shot off as I was too busy being Dad to take pictures. I am the toy, you know.


At the festivities at Balboa Park, we had some great entertainment. I did get a few shots off and even Mel pitched in with camera duties. I will have more Linda exclusives, but enjoy the shots of the dancers that follow.

Wholly C* Batman, We Haven't Posted!!!!

Yes, I know and Mel knows, we have not posted in quite some time. Thanks for the reminders, folks. We have been so busy "parenting" that we forget or are too tired to post. Go figure, everyone else seems to have no problem having a camera about and ready to post. Hmmm? I wonder if they keep their computers/laptops handy for all occasions? Me, I get tired of staring at a computer to really do much more than check emails and some news. I better get with the show!

Pictures are to come, but here is the latest. Our little darling is growing up so fast! We are doing the TT (Toilet Training) or whatever you want to call it. It has been 85% successful. Linda is quite a strong-headed little girl and does very well with a little mishap here and there. Otherwise, we've had people tell us she is doing fine. Mel? Well, we won't get into that.

We made our first cross-country trip a couple of weeks ago to Maryland! We visited for the first time Linda's Aunt Bonnie, Uncle Jon, and nephew Jonathan. Linda had a blast! The flight was a nonstop on Southwest. We had no issues. Linda got her own seat and we bought one of those safety harnesses. The first time we used it she began to do a little crying until we showed her that mommy and daddy had to wear their belts, too. We had toys and games. Books. Linda loved the white board and markers (dry erase). She is such a good traveler I wonder if she instinctively knows she flew half-way around the world at a very young age!

Baltimore was beautiful. I know we took our chances doing an August trip, but the weather cooperated all week. Linda enjoyed the National Aquarium and walk around the Inner Harbor. The house had a swing set that she loved. Uncle Jon bought a pool so we could have a dip which we managed to squeeze in one day. Oh, and the fire flies! Linda was amazed. We caught a couple and put them in a bug box. She looked at them with wonder. Birds. Deer. Wood chucks! One morning we were sitting in the sun room playing as we just got up. I had to take a nature break. I walked back Linda was squeaking with excitement. She spotted a baby deer and a mommy deer! Excited and proud, she stared at them and we watched until they trotted off into another yard. How fun.

Linda really enjoyed her and aunt and uncle and I hope we get a chance to visit again soon. It's a shame it is such a hassle to travel and the expense. It was worth it, though.

More later! And did I mention, pictures, too?

PS- Did I mention how difficult it is to take pictures of Linda? As soon as she sees the camera she runs behind it and yell, "I want to see!" "There's nothing to see, I haven't taken a picture yet!" She's funny. I think she will get a cool present for her birthday this year. Wink wink.

Two New Video Clips!

After a real fun Spring Training trip, as you can tell from previous posts, I'm finally getting around to posting a video. Well, it's the best I could do with our little director hanging around!



This next one is actually from today! A new "toy" came home from Spring Training. Guess who wants to play?! :-)

Play Ball

Wow, what a great vacation!!! I was kind of concerned before we left because Linda is going through a very minor “terrible two’s” stage. There are no temper tantrums just a little whinny and usually “I want to go home”. The other thing was that at home she wanted nothing to do with the “Pack and Play’ so I figured she really doesn’t need it at home so I put it away.

Well, we had a great drive to Phoenix. Linda took a couple of half-hour naps in the car. We sang and played with her “car buddies” Pooh, purple bear, piggy book and elephant. We got to the La Quinta hotel and was very happy to see our nice big room.

Our friends the Sobos were already in town. They went out to lunch so Bill went to get us some food while I unpacked our clothes. Linda has this new little travel train track with Thomas the Train. She was happily playing with the toy on the bed. It’s great that the bed is low enough that Linda can climb up and down by herself.

When our friends got back it was time for the pool. Linda had a blast. By the second day she was swimming by herself with her floaties on… and finally keeping her mouth closed this year!!!! Yeah!!! We are definitely going for swimming lessons this summer.

Well now it was time for our first game and it was an evening game. Again, a little concerned since no real nap and big crowd. Linda had a great time. We were in the first row of the Padres vs. Mariners games on the first base side. When everyone would clap, Linda would clap. When the ball was hit Linda would yell, “I got it”. That was hilarious. I would tell her to yell “Go Padres”. Yes those words came out of my mouth. She would yell “Go Padres”.

We left about 9:15pm because I was getting tired. Linda was delirious but having a great time. When we were in the car I reminded Linda that she was going to sleep in the “Pack and Play”. Linda said, “No, I’m scared of the Pack and Play”. I said that we are going to put sheets under the pad and then her fitted sheet so it would be more comfortable and that she would have Mickey, Arf Arf and Pooh sleeping with her and we are all in the same room. When we got back she was trying to climb in the “Pack and Play”. We put her in, read a couple of books and we all went to sleep. We never heard from her all night. Yeah!!!!!

The next day was more pool time in the morning and then off to the Padres vs. Brewers game. This was a new stadium to us. It’s in Maryvale. It’s not a great area of Phoenix but what a nice park and a lot of grass seating. Our friends the Sobos arrived there first and picked an area to sit in. Mark called me and said, “We are on the lawn by the third base side. It will get shady”. Boy was he right. It was great. We had a great time. Linda was playing with Chloe for most of the game and they had a blast. After a while Bill took Linda and Chloe for a walk and Chloe got hit by a foul ball. Chloe is just fine. Then the man that got the ball gave the ball to Chloe. Now that’s exciting.

What was also great about this game is that we met up with our friends that live here that were in our travel group in China, Becky, Mark and Mai. Wow I tell ya, when you look at Linda and Mai it’s amazing to see how much they have both grown.

After the game we all went to that culinary delight, The Cracker Barrel. Ah yes, nothing better than Chicken ‘N Dumplins and some corn bread. It was a nice treat to have everyone at dinner.

Saturday was the big game for me. It was the Dodgers vs. Angels game. We woke up to me with a sore throat and Linda in a grumpy mood. This vacation was really getting to Linda. Needless to say naps and sleep time was all screwed up. She would be so excited that she wouldn’t even sleep in the car. But you know all this was smoothed over with a little visit from Chloe at breakfast. La Quinta has a free breakfast bar and we would all meet up there at some point. Chloe came and sat with us and Linda had a great time talking and eating with her. My throat, well I guess Phoenix wasn’t as kind to me as it usually is. Bill thinks it’s because they also had a decent amount of rain and so stuff is actually blooming here too.

We headed off to the game and let me tell you Sobo did a great job again at picking seats. It was in the upper 80’s today but we wouldn’t know that since we were in the shade. It was wonderful. We were in the last row of seats behind home plate. You have to remember that these stadiums are very small so it’s pretty close. I was sitting in front of where Fernando Valenzuela was broadcasting for a Spanish station in L.A. For those of you who know who that is… you know I was dying. He wouldn’t give me an autograph though. I guess he was too busy… oh well.

Linda was her delirious self again. She had a great time in the seats with Chloe making “pies and soups” with their hats and pom poms. Towards the end of the game, Linda was screaming, “GO DODGERS” as loud as she could. The people in front had a blast with this. They were hoping for a rally and thought maybe Linda’s screams would help. It didn’t, they lost 4-2.

Chloe’s brother Will got a real cool set of baseball trading cards. He now has an Ichiro card and a new Andruw Jones in a Dodgers jersey card. Great cards Will.

After we said goodbye to the Sobos (since they were leaving today), we decided to go for a drive to see if Linda would sleep… not. We ended up at a Macaroni Grill and as soon as we got there, she fell asleep so we decided to do “to go”. I think we are all going to bed early.

Tomorrow after having breakfast with a friend we will be on our way home. This has been a great trip. I’m already looking forward to next year.

A Rainy Day

It has been a while since we posted a video of Linda. I took the opportunity to capture some of her finest moments. I will upload more. This one is a test as it has been sooooooo long. Enjoy!





And I just finished another clip. Here is one busy little girl!

I've Seen The Future

A little tibbit from this morning.

I'm walking around brushing my teeth (yes a wierd habbit of mine) and wandered into Linda's room. Linda comes by wheeling her shopping cart and this is what she said to me:

Get out my room... my room.

Well there you have it. A look into teenage life.

I Can't Believe How Time Is Flying

I can’t believe how long it’s been since we have posted here. A lot has gone on since our last post. First off there was Thanksgiving in Lake Havasu with Grandma and Grandpa. As usual, we had a blast. It was nice to see everyone feeling well and pretty much back to their routines. We spent a day in Oatman, AZ and met up with one of our friends, J.R.. If you don’t know about Oatman, it’s an old mining town in Arizona on Route 66. The fun thing about Oatman (and the main reason to go to Oatman) is that wild donkeys hang around town and you feed them carrots. We wanted Linda to get a chance to feed them carrots. Well guess what. The donkeys skipped town that day (probably due to wind). There was not one donkey to be seen…. hmmmm. So we had lunch and took off.

When we got home it was time for Bill to do some major work. No not at home ( I wish it was) but at work. Bill is rebuilding three studios by the end of year. Needless to say, we have not seen much of him. While Bill was at work I was busy getting Linda’s birthday party ready, getting Linda ready for preschool and a visit from Bubbie and Zadie.

Linda started preschool the first week of December and is going two days a week. We both had a nasty cry the first day but we got over it. Linda had a great time in school. When I picked her up she had a great big hug for me. That was the best part of my day. When I asked her what she did in school she said, “Pizza, Juice, Mirna”. That’s pretty much her standard answer now when I pick her up.

Bubbie and Zadie arrived later that week for Linda’s birthday party. It was nice to have the family in town. The weather was kind of sucky so that made us all very lazy.

Well next is birthday party. We had it at Playtown. It is a great indoor playground for toddlers. We all had a blast. They do a nice job there. They even take your presents to your car. We forgot our camera but Mary and Bill were there for the rescue. Thanks for the great pictures.

The next week came the nasty head cold from preschool. That didn’t take long. It was frustrating because I felt horrible for Linda, she was just miserable with this one. She was congested, coughing, vomiting, fever and nose bleeds. This was only a head cold and it seemed worse than Bronchiolitis. I think that’s because she was younger then and she didn’t get frustrated just being in the house. I was also suffering from sinus crap (yes that’s a technical term). We really hadn’t seen much of Bill in those couple of weeks and I was really looking forward to him being home for the weekend and I being able to just get rid of the sinus crap or at least taking a little time to myself…. Nope didn’t happen. Bill got sick. Oh brother!!!! I had to try to keep Linda away from Bill so they wouldn’t just past germs to each other. That wasn’t happening. Linda wanted nothing to do with me when Bill was home. So none of us really got any rest.

Well we are finally over that hump. Yeah!!!! We are just draining now. Linda is back to her happy self. We are looking forward to the New Year and what exciting things will be coming our way.

Happy New Year to everyone!!!!!!

Jiangxi 12-06

The title of this blog is the group number for our travel group to China. It is the number we used a little over a year ago to meet our daughter in China.

This past weekend six of the families from that group (including us) reunited in Dallas. Thanks to Patty for arranging our weekend.

When we met up Friday evening at Patty's house, it felt like we just saw each other the day before. The parents continued with their conversations like they never really stop.
The girls of course are all almost two years old with the exception of Jiani. I think she's about four years old. I don't think they remember each other but they had a great time together. I think to them it was just meeting up with some fresh faces. They were all shy at the beginning, but it didn't take long for them to warm up to each other. They are all very tall and they all have the same personalities. None of them really whined much and they were all jumping beans.

Saturday we went to the Dallas Arboretum. It was great. There were lots of pretty plants and a great pumpkin festival. There was also a really cool chocolate festival. It smelled soooo good.









Saturday night we were all at Patty's parents house for a wonderful pasta dinner. They had a jumpy in the back yard and Linda went in for 10 seconds. That's a new record for her. I don't get, she loves to jump, she just doesn't like to be in a jumpy.

We tried to do the "red couch" picture. As you can see the kids had some other ideas.

Sunday morning we had breakfast with two of the families at the hotel. It felt like China with older kids. We had a great time and talked about next year. I'm pulling for San Diego to be the next trip with a stop at Legoland.

It was great to see everyone and I miss them all over again.

Pumpkin Patch!

Now this is a first. It's the second time we've been to the pumpkin patch with Linda! Wow! Now that is out of the way, we visited Bates Nut Farm once again. It looks like this is going to be a family tradition as we all had a ton 'o fun. This year we invited our friends to join us. As the saying goes, "a good time was had by all!"

Linda driving the tractor!

Look at those goofy pumpkins!

Sophia, Jinji, Jarrah, & Linda

Which way, Paul?

So many pumpkins!

On No! They got me!

Linda & Jarrah

It's this big! Whaaaaat?

There are so many more pictures I will have to process them and do a later posting. Thanks to Cory for having fun with my camera when I was busy being Dad!

We had so much fun! Thanks to everyone for coming out and joining us. We are looking forward to next year!

Oktoberfest in La Mesa

Can you believe that we are now REPEATING events! Yes, Linda has been home over one year! Her first major event to attend was the Oktoberfest. Of course, we had to go back this year and as luck would have it I did not have to work making it much more enjoyable. On a last moment call our friend Cory and Lena joined us. Thanks for the pictures!

Our favorite is Linda enjoying the Chicken Dance on daddy's shoulders. Oh the things that I must endure.

And what child does not want to play with daddy's hat. Linda loves to play with my hat. Hers? NOOOOOOO. Mine? Yeeeeees.

Finally, there must always be a goofy shot of daddy. Hey, it's part of the job, right?

Next weekend, the pumpkin patch! See you there!

An Interesting Encounter On The Way To The Mall

Wow! It's been a while since a post! Someone has be slacking.

Mel, Linda, and I visited family this past weekend in L.A. We had a great visit and Linda did not want to leave. It's tough not to have family close by as some of you know. We make the most of it, though.

Saturday afternoon we decided to walk to the Beverly Center to get out and stretch our legs and it gave us an excuse to let Linda loose, too. As we crossed a street the driver from the car waiting for us yelled out, "Is that your daughter?" I did not quite get the question the first time and asked to repeat it while trying to figure out if there was a potential incident. It was L.A.
I responded, "yes, she sure is!".
The man then returns with, "I was adopted by a Caucasian couple. I wish you the best."
We thanked him for his kind comments and continued on our way.
You might have guessed, the man was an African-American.

All we could think at the time, "Only in L.A. would that happen." Very cool.

We proceeded to have a fun time in the mall and let Linda walk, jump, and dance her way around.


P.S. We will get a couple of new pix uploaded soon!

A Great Summer

I know we have been very bad at posting! I’ve got to say that after a full day with Linda, I don’t really feel like looking at a computer for too long.

Linda has grown so much in the last couple of months both physically and mentally. She is climbing on just about anything you can think of and she is talking so much.

We started the summer with a trip to Disneyland. Bill had to work there again so we tagged along. It was a nice birthday trip for me. It was the opening of the “Finding Nemo” submarine ride. Disneyland took the old sub ride and revamped into a “Finding Nemo” theme. It was great!! It’s the second longest ride (after “Pirates of the Caribbean”) at 12 minutes long. Linda had a great time and it was really neat for me to see her getting into a ride I remember going on with my family when I was little.

For the 4th of July holiday we went to see Grandpa and Grandma Ellen in Lake Havasu. It was a very relaxing vacation. We hung out at the pool in the morning (when it was only 90 degrees). And played with some indoor toys in the afternoon (when it was 124 degrees). We were going to go the Aquatic Center one day but we got blocked in by a house fire across the street. There were three fire trucks (and a fire catering truck for the firefighters so they wouldn’t get thirsty) blocking us in so we couldn’t drive out. No one was in the house during the fire. The house in under renovation… hmmm. It was great to see the folks and we hope to see them again soon.

Last weekend Bubbie and Zadie came out to spend time with us and see the Dead Sea Scrolls that are on exhibit here in San Diego. The exhibit was fascinating!!! How can anybody read anything that small? We had a great time with Bubbie and Zadie. We blew up our large kid pool from Costco. It fit all five us very nicely. Linda had a blast even if her teeth were chattering.



In between all of this we had some nice play dates. Linda and I went to a pool party. I found out about this great floating device that Linda loves. She no longer wants to sit in her ducky (who can blame her). This device lets her move around the pool very nicely.

Here are some recent pictures of Linda and her friends. The picture of the two dads is at the Holt Picnic in June. The other little girl named Elianna is one the girls in our travel group. She comes from the same orphanage as Linda. She is a total sweetheart.

Instant Toddler

I was wandering the house settling things down after returning from Disneyland. More on that later, i.e. another post. Mel decided to lay down and rest = sinus pain in a big way. I lost track of our little darling until I hear the call: "Honey, look at what our child is doing?"

A picture, well in this case, video speaks for itself! Enjoy!