We're going...soon!

This week, we received our travel approval to go to China! I was actually very surprised, as we had been told it might be another couple of weeks.

Surprise #2: We are leaving Thursday. Less than a week. Right before Christmas. Thursday.

Even if I thought that we would receive our approval when we did, I never would have believed that we would travel so soon. I mean, its the holidays, its the end of the year, it takes time to get these things done, etc. Because it normally takes so long to get the paperwork through, it's oddly ironic that we somehow have to pretty much drop everything and go. And yet, we've been planning this for a while....

It always ends up until the last minute. Even if I thought I were ready, I will not be. That's the way it is. Russ and I had a babysitter tonight, so we went shopping for gifts for the boys and to buy some clothes and sippy cups and stuff to take with us. We both were wondering aloud why we were doing this so last minute, especially when there is holiday shopping, Christmas parties, and any other number of things to do right now.

I am so excited to go, but there is a minor twinge of sadness because of it. The boys are staying here. That means I won't get to see them on Christmas, I won't be here to tuck them in on Christmas eve or see them open their presents this year. We had found a fantastic deal on a train set this summer that we bought for them and Russ has been setting it up in the basement for them to see and have on Christmas. But it is going to have to wait. More than that, I get sad thinking about their sweet faces and their silly songs. I know it is only 2 weeks. Asher cried and threw a tantrum at me a couple of days ago and I thought, "ok...I actually won't miss this..." I know we can't take them with us--it would be very hard on them with the traveling, the food, the time zones, etc, etc, etc. I know they will have a wonderful time with my parents and it is only 2 weeks. And we are coming home with someone very special.

I mostly just don't think about it right now. I don't want to miss them before we are even gone! So, I'm anticipating our travel, looking forward to meeting our girl, and hugging my guys a little bit tighter these days.

All Kinds of Thankful

This post is about a week later than I wanted it to be. I was going to say how great of a Thanksgiving we had this year and what a great time we had celebrating with family. And, we did. We had wonderful weather and my family was able to spend some time outside. We visited my parents' house on Thanksgiving day and celebrated with traditional turkey and all the tasty sides that go along with it--potatoes, cranberries,green bean salad, pumpkin pie, etc. There were way too many calories to go around that day.

Afterward, we went outside where my dad actually cut down a tree in the front yard. Despite the traditional food, cutting a tree is not a normal part of our holiday--and this wasn't even a Christmas tree we're talking about. It was actually just this large, out of control tree that was growing in the front yard and had gotten too big. I was a little sad remembering that my parents had planted that tree when they first built their house, 30 years ago.

My brother, taking some of the kids for a ride in the tractor. Check out Caleb's sweet tie that he donned for the day--it's actually left over from when he was two years old. :)

We took a family picture together, sort of an unofficial one to mark our last Thanksgiving as a family of four, before Ellie joins the group. I had some old pictures on my camera when this was taken, and scrolling through, I realized there was one of us from China in early 2010. Look how much we have changed!

China, March 2010

Our family, Thanksgiving 2011

We avoided the Black Friday shopping this year--honestly, I think shopping is hard enough as it is when certain children are along, so there was no way I was going to face the crowds on the biggest shopping day of the year. I think I'll take after my sister and order our gifts online this time, which I should probably get around to doing, seeing that we are now into December. Instead, we decided to put up our Christmas tree on the day after Thanksgiving. Let me say this: I love our tree. It's artificial and extremely easy to set up and decorate. However, there was a time when I was very anti-artificial trees. To me, an artificial tree was the antithesis ofChristmas tradition. It was way more fun to go out, find a real tree and have it cut down, then set it up and bask in the freshly cut tree smell for the next few weeks. The fun of picking it out offset some of the basic tree care, such as regular watering, adjusting it so the bald spots were in the back and vacuuming up the needles.

As time has gone on, though, this practice has become more difficult. For one thing, trees are getting way more expensive, along with everything else around here. I've struggled somewhat with spending so much money on something that was so short-term. Last year, though, did us in. We were set to go on our annual Christmas tree run and we had a place in mind: you went and picked out a live-growing tree and hadthem cut it down and package it for you while the place provided free hot chocolate and cookies. Perfect! So, weheaded there, but got lost, because it was somewhere out in the country. We then found it and realized they were only open on weekends (this was a Friday afternoon). We decided to drive back toward another place that we knew might be open but by this time, everyone (read: my children) in the car was extremely cranky and/or screaming (not me). We found the new place and pulled in, realizing they were only open until 5 pm. I looked at the clock: 4:57 pm.

Russ and I barely spoke at this point to communicate what to do next. We just drove to a store, went inside, and picked out an artificial tree.

So, I'm a convert, what can I say? It has definitely been much better and I do not need to remember to water it. I can see why people hang on to the "real" tree idea for so long, but we had a very easy time putting ours up this year.

Caleb did a great job decorating, although we had to rearrange some ornaments after he was done. Somehow, they all ended up in the same area of the tree...

The finished product

Today, we are having our first snowfall of the season, and it is awesome! I had to step outside and take some pictures, although it was an hour ago and as I write this, the ground is almost covered. It is falling heavily. I do love living in a place with a change of seasons, as we can enjoy weather and see how it transforms the outdoor world around us.

With that, the boys are coming inside from playing, and I'm off to make them some hot chocolate.