Glimpses for the Grandparents

Sorry, this is just a quick show to quickly share with the grandparents who couldn't be with us this Christmas, but also for you to see. It was the fastest but also dirty way to get a slideshow together for them(i don't like the horoscope thing and then some of my pictures weren't rotated correctly, let alone the labeling of the photos*sigh*you can see the pictures larger by clicking on view all images...I'll be better in the future, I promise:)

Mele Kalikimaka

Which means Merry Christmas in Hawaiian. Our family wishes you much love, joy, and peace during this holiday season. Apparently, many have not yet received our Christmas greetings in snail mail, something to do with the weather I hear. We hope you all have wonderful celebrations spending time with those you love!

a tale of Christmas

This year we decided for Christmas to go from this...

To THIS:)

After waiting in the minneapolis/st paul airport from 945 am to 415 pm, we were finally able to take off...we always seem to pick snowy days for travel, and that day started a storm that left 8 inches on the ground. Thank God that msp interntational airport is geared for this kind of weather. All the flights that originated in the airport were on time, all the flights that were coming in from the stormy parts of the country, well, that is why we were in the airport for 6 1/2 hours. The kids did great for the most part, only a little bit of fussing, and they slept for the most part on the plane. It was great to get away from the snow and cold to go and meet John's family in Oahu for Christmas. Except for one thing, his parents, didn't have such a great story. Their flight which was coming from Minneapolis, and then continuing on to Honolulu. Well, since all the flights seemed to be delayed, they thought they would try to help us out by seeing if we could switch to get on their flight so they could help us take care of the babies. Again, thanks for God's providence, it didn't work out. They spent 4 hours on the tarmac in Seattle only to be cancelled and told they couldn't take off because the runway was too slippery-there was a blizzard in Seattle that day. Northworst airlines didn't try to rebook them, didn't give them any recompense to stay in a hotel, and told them they were on their own...so we went on line here in Hawaii to try to rebook them, and got them a flight on Hawaiian airlines the next day. In the meantime, it was extremely difficult for them to retrieve their luggage, and they were only to get one, it seems, the luggage made it to Hawaii but they didn't. Well, the day came to leave and all the airlines in the Seattle airport ran out of deicing fluid...nice. Thousands of people left without a lot of options. So they cancelled them again at the last minute, and there were no flights left to get them here before or on Christmas. They had to drive home over a snowy pass. So now, instead of a nice Christmas with John's family, we are here with his brother and his wife in a nice place...just not the way it is supposed to be. Nice to be with his brother, but our babies will have to wait to see Nana and Papa...I guess we'll have to do our best to enjoy Hawaii...we'll miss you Nana and Papa!!!

First True Snow experience and getting ready...

So we finally all recovered, except that John got a different version of the bug, he got a fever and the barfing but no D...oh well...
And it finally snowed a decent amount, some of the pictures you really can't tell as we live in a windy spot and we get a lot of drifts but we had a good time trying to shovel ourselves out. We are finally starting to get in the Christmas spirit, it's been tough as things are so bad for a lot of people, the families that are still waiting for the adoptions to go through, and the people that have lost jobs, the stores are a ghost town, so much different than what I am used to. Although that is not the reason for the season, it haunts me to what the future may bring. My greatest comfort is not in earthly riches but in spiritual blessings and what God has planned for us and our children. And that is why my outlook is starting to look up as we start to prepare for the celebration of our greatest gift, the birth of Jesus Christ. So we are starting the advent season slowly, finally making some cookies, celebrating at our friends house for a get together, basking in our pastors advent poems, putting up the decorations, ...hopefully I can post some pics of those before it gets too crazy and my children decide to use them as new toys:)
Enjoy the snow pics, we had a blast!! What was really fun was to watch our 1 year old Michael take to shoveling snow, he is a strong little guy, who LOVES to push things, including his sister...
What is this white stuff on my hands?
I'm not sure I like this...
First attempt at snow angels from angels themselves:)
Are you kidding me?
Everyone participated
Michael really got the hang of it
Phoebe learned to walk in boots!
Can I go in yet?

Thanksgiving, Tokmok Tots, Tummy Troubles, and terrifically TIRED!!

A trio of...
Trouble!!!
Okay, I'm late in the posting. Rachel beat us all to the punch. She even got our group disney photo in, so check it out by clicking on Rachel. She has her version of the story:)
Rachel's Scarlett & Phoebe
We were privileged to have spent Thanksgiving in sunny, "warm", Florida. Of course we couldn't miss the opportunity to meet up with other Tokmok tot families. It started out with girl's nite out, like Rachel said, no Mom duties, WOW!! It was so nice to kick back with such charming ladies. I really enjoyed it. John got to babysit 4 kids, our two kyrgyz kiddos, Jackie's Nola, and my niece. He did a fine job of it, and I'm so lucky to have him for a hubby.
Tokmok Tot Mom's Nite Out!
We had to continue our fun with a trip to Disney's Animal Kingdom and then Magic Kingdom. If you want to really enjoy the parks, Rachel and Jamie are the way to go. They know what they are doing as far as when to go see things, take a fast pass or wait in line. If it weren't for them, our kids surely wouldn't have made it through the day. They have expertise in young children at big crowded parks!! Thanks so much for sharing it with us and making our time special. We are so blessed to have the common bond of adopting 4 girls from Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan. It was so fitting to end our tine with the last ride on "It's a small world..." Rachel's right, we need a big Kyrg reunion down there! Preferably in winter mind you:)
Cousins!
A Tokmok Trio...
Tokmok Tots in action:) L to R Nola 18 mo MacKenzie 16 mo Scarlett 15 mo Phoebe 13 mo
Thanksgiving was extra special as we got to celebrate Nola's Gotcha Day!! Jackie and Nola joined us for the week at our timeshare and we had the joy of getting to know them better! It's hard to believe that Nola and Jackie have been family for a year now, but none the less one of the best things ever!
Happy Gotcha Nola!
Thanksgiving feasting!
It was a great week, and we are all recovering at home. Unfortunately, almost all of us got the stomach flu. Started with Phoebe on Thanksgiving, went to Jackie, then Michael, my niece Rebecca, then Nola at home, and me at home. With lots of prayers we were able to get home on the plane without any tummy trouble disasters!! We are hoping John will miss this one.
There were days I felt like this guy!
All I can say is I'm tremendously thankful to God for my family, my friends, the Kyrgyz connections, and that I'm also terrifically TIRED!!!
Disney, a place where dreams that come true meet!
This says it all!