For Someone Special.....

For those wondering I hope to be updating soon until then.....

I changed my song and I also posted the lyrics for someone special....Listen and really hear it!!!


What if we moved
What if we wandered
Took a reckless ride to the other side
Of the tracks

What if we knew somebody's story
Would we write them off like a number
On a check

Or could we be the only souls
Who take the time to love and find
The beauty in a nameless face

(CHORUS)
One, it just takes one
To step out from the crowd, and show
What love is all about
One, it just takes one
To change a life forever,
Touch the world and make it better

So what if we moved with no hesitations
And learn to love the least of these without reserve
Let's spark a change in this generation
And let our actions speak louder than our words
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/a/addison_road/it_just_takes_one.html ]
And what if there's a world in need of hope
That only we can bring
Brighter then the midday sun

(CHORUS)
One, it just takes one
To step out from the crowd, and show
What love is all about
One, it just takes one
To change a life forever,
Touch the world and make it better

It just takes one
It just takes one
It just takes one

(CHORUS)
One, it just takes one
To step out from the crowd, and show
What love is all about
One, it just takes one
To change a life forever,
Touch the world and make it better

(CHORUS)
One, it just takes one
To step out from the crowd, and show
What love is all about
One, it just takes one
To change a life forever,
Touch the world and make it better

Addison Road...It Just Takes One

My Little Fishy!!!

I couldn't wait to share. This week is the last week of the Winter Semester, then she will be starting her Spring Semester...I can not believe how far she has come....I can not wait to see her growing in Gymnastics and what she will be like after her second Semester of Swim School she is quit the swimmer already as you can see.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Mikayla and buddy/big sis Samantha having cookies

A shot of the circus performers that were part of the entertainment for the New Year Celebration

A shot of the cool puppets that were part of the puppet show at the CNY Celebration

Just some of our friends who live near by who also traveled with us to China celebrating the CNY

More friends at the party, Maggie loved carrying and being a big sis to Mikayla at the Reunion Picnic earlier in the year.

Our oldest friends posted here...the ones that led us to the agency who helped us find our daughter

This one should be no stranger to all of you as she has been the popular one of the blog with Mikayla...this is Ms Samantha and her mom and dad

Just one night checking in on Mikayla and at first I thought she was MIA until I took the second look....I guess she was cold even in her feety fleese one piece

The group of us that was at the Butterfly house

Ainslee and the bobsy twins...

Samantha having some magnetism with her hairbow...she was not sure she liked it there though

Just one of the beautiful butterflies we came across at the Butterfly House

One of my hitchhikers I was able to get a pic of

Dinner at Lulu's this was the day they also did the Lion Dance for CNY here at Lulu's an unexpected treat for us...there were over 200 guests at Lulu's that night

Hello once again I have so many pics I am not sure where to begin. To start we all survived the rain, the hail, the wind and the tornado warnings. We made it through but I can also say we did not get much sleep. Mikayla and I stayed and tried to sleep in the basement while daddy braved it upstairs after the sirens went off hoping they would stay that way. Mikayla slept fine being as late as it was but mommy did not fair so well so come 3 am mommy trucked upstairs with Mikayla, put her in her room and I went to mine. By the time I got to sleep Daddy was rising and I got minimal sleep before Mikayla woke for the day. Now she is asleep once again and I am going to follow her in just a bit.

We have all been doing great just waiting for this cold nasty weather to leave so we can start playing outside more often. We are ready for the pool here at home we got our toys and things for practicing and we are working on finding some things do practice our gymnastics at home as well. I just wish we had a tree to use for training or swinging, etc. Currently I am thinking hard on what to do for April and Mikayla's 3rd birthday. We are thinking of combining it with Abbey next door who was born same day only a year earlier just like Alexis, along with Abbey's older brother who is I believe going to be 6 April 11th. So girlie stuff is out with Joey joining the pic but I still am not sure what or where to have a party. I am so thinking maybe I will forget the party and just do something big with her....I don't know......I do know Samantha is going to be 5 and going to Disney for her Birthday and we are NOT going to do that much for Mikayla at this time. If anyone cares to comment and give me some suggestions of any kind I would love to hear them.

We did go eat at LuLu's with her bud Samantha and her mom and dad along with Ms Wendy and Sam who we pray get their turn to go to China soon...LID 3/10/2007. We also went to the Butterfly House and Mikayla had fun with Samantha and Ainslee. The butterflies seemed to like me way too much. I had on some cologne but a gentleman there claimed it was salt they wanted...but I was not hot or sweating as I had just come into the house...plus I had an almost permanent Hitchhiker on my pant leg the entire time in there and I use unscented detergent and fabric softener, plus I don't think my pants were sweating. Who knows all I know is that I was pretty much a butterfly magnetic in there. I did not get many pics of me as I had the camera but Samantha's mom will hopefully send some pics to me soon.

We had a blast celebrating the New Year. I guess the New Year holds many surprises for all. This is the year of the Rabbit and that means it is my year, lucky for me. Mikayla and Daddy are Rats. Mikayla and I never did make it back to Gymnastics for the 4th time but I never did try, the day came and went and I thought we would sleep on it and not even try for it. We did go back and check out the gym that I kind of disliked by us giving it the benefit of the doubt. I guess I shouldn't have wasted my time doing that.... to begin with they only have evening classes, not only do I prefer day classes, Mikayla does better in the morning. By the time the classes start there she is already tiring out. Needless to say that was probably our first sign to not go there. When we arrived we were told she will be fine and they would take care of her. That was okay until after only about 5 min. they pretty much dragged her out of the class back to us and in front of a large room full of other Parents waiting for their children of all ages the coach might as well announced "your child is not smart enough and can not be in this class", the coach did not say these words but the way she talked to us she might as well have (we had her try an advanced class). The way the whole thing was handled was done so wrong. She made Mikayla upset by not letting her finish the class (the other place let her do that) plus she pretty much degraded her in front of her which Mikayla might or might not have understood at her age, still wrong. Plus, last but not least, she made it embarrassing for us the parents, even our neighbor who was there felt for us and shrunk in her seat. I did keep my cool even though it was like your boss yelling at you in front of everyone in the office, its very rude and unprofessional. That was the last straw for that place. Back to the other Gym I went, now Mikayla and I attend the Little Gym and we both have fun and are learning and enjoying the class. So Miss Mikayla is now doing Gymnastics and Swimming until June for sure.

She loves the gym classes and in Swim School she is doing so well and now learning to dive. I love the swim schools techniques. It reminds me of Karate Kid...wax on, wax off. The Karate Kid never knew he was learning Karate doing the chores and Mikayla does not even realize she is learning to swim and dive as she plays, stirring the soup and pretending to be a Pancake etc.

Tomorrow or sometime this week, I am taking her Ice Skating to see if she is interested in that.... not rushing into getting her in just looking at what might interest her and trying to have fun doing so. Might look in to taking her roller blading/roller skating as well. Daddy wants to also take her bowling, I am game. Just out having fun and letting her find her interests and talents.

She is growing and learning so fast. She is learning to read simple books and learning words one by one. She knows her colors and ABC's as well as her 123's but due to her age she is still working hard on writing them and still not sure if she wants to be a righty or a lefty. Sometimes I just feel I am holding her back she is so smart. I found early on that she was past learning Red Blue Green and Yellow and ready for Magenta, Periwinkle, Mauve and Violet and once again I found her past learning circle, square and triangle and ready for the Pentagon, Hexagon, Parallelogram etc. I am starting to feel old and pretty slow myself. All in a days work and learning quickly myself. She is currently learning her states and where they are on a map. She knows where all the important people live or work and where she has been....NY, MO, FLA, IA, AZ, IL, HI, etc. (If I forgot anyone I am sure we tell her and I just forgot to put it here) Soon we will be working on our Mandarin. So be prepared for that. I will get back with you all after skating or bowling or whatever our next adventure might be. Love and Kisses to All, AJ

These guys were awesome, not the low ceiling they had to work with

check out the human jumprope
love the little guy
Relaxing moment at the Butterfly House

PS Dont forget to check out the new blog profile pic.....

Where Does The Time Go??

Getting Heart Tattooed at West County Mall

Taking a break at Monkey Joe's...this is the new crazy smile

Her first ceiling to floor bounce slide she cried at the top, Samantha held her hand to start her down and then she was terrified coming down sideways but could not stop smiling and laughing when she got to the bottom and we grab her. She did NOT do this slide again that day.

Climbing to the top seeing she had a big drop on the other side she screamed to be let down....she was so cute trying to keep up with Samantha and the other big kids....this was her first trip to a place like this where it wasn't for Samantha and the others so I say she did awesome for a first time.

Bouncing with some girls she tried to be friends with...they just wanted to play pile on.

Samantha and Mikayla.....awwww!!!

A gift from daddy from Bahrain...see video below

Seeing which balls and animals fit in the tubes and also racing daddy's animals and balls to the bottom at the Science Center

She was hooked on the computer at the Discovery Room....hmmm can't be because she sees me in front of one a lot and if not me daddy using it.

The girls hanging with the Dinosaurs at the Science Center

Her first try out class for older kids doing great

Just being a big girl like the other kids

Mikayla's first swim class see videos below

Can't forget to put one of the boys pics in...I guess he did not know which chair he liked better. Believe it or not he is sound asleep like this was probably after a play in the snow.

Playing the drums at the Imaginary Arts table during the Ice Sculpture Competition

I think she caught the big one....before her second swim class

Doing awesome building the track for the train with a normal awesome smile I might add

At her second swim class see videos below

One of the cool Ice Sculptures you could stand behind and put your face in the holes for pics...great thinking

Indian with spear and eagle called Catch the Spirit done by our ole friend Bill

Mikayla making friends with the police horse at the competition

Art's cool gecko called Lunch on the fly

This one I believe is awesome and self explanatory

Walking on stilts...made for 5+ year olds....hmmm I think her face is thinking the same..lol see video below

It seems time has been escaping me so quickly. Mikayla has been to Monkey Joe's, she has been to her second and third Little Fishes class and loving it. She has been to the Science Center and the Discovery Room and to a try out class at the Gym. I have posted all kinds of pics for you to enjoy. I have done this post in a couple of days just because of the time it took to post it all for you. We have had so much nasty weather these days we even had fun at home doing all sorts of crafts and fun stuff including painting the boys feet and making prints. Since we got to see the Ice Sculpture Competition and did some shopping there we got some stilts that said for 5+ age group and as you can see Mikayla should not be using them....her only problem is getting on them herself but she is working on that. I am starting to think as far as Gymnastics is concerned maybe she should not be in gymnastics. Why? you ask....well she went to the first try out and we decided we wanted to try her in one of the other classes and the first scheduled class to do this we could not make as the place was closed due to snow. The second scheduled class she did not make due to her being sick and throwing up for two days. Now here we are at the 3rd scheduled class and once again closed due to weather. We are schedule for a 4th time but here we are expected more snow on and off until Thursday. If we can not get to it this 4th time I am going to take it as the sign she is not supposed to go this semester...kind of like Bruce Almighty...after 4 tries I will see the sign...thanks. Either way she is still having a blast with Swimming every Friday. Coming up really soon we will be once again celebrating the Chinese New Year with the FCC (the year of the Rabbit-that's my year) and then we also have a dinner date at Lulu's Chinese Restaurant with her friend Samantha and her mom and dad and another couple still waiting on their China Baby. We also will be going to the Powder Valley Conservation Center and doing other fun activities so we are constantly moving and on the go. One of the reasons I am finding it harder and harder to get here. Always being on the go and the day we can official call our house the Barf House has slowed me down. We recently had a really bad day where Mikayla was sick and throwing up and Daddy and both boys joined in also...it was some miracle that mommy was the only one NOT throwing up but after constantly hearing and cleaning up after everyone it was hard not to. I was feeling drained and my stomach not feeling quite right but was it the atmosphere or did I have something too but not so bad...only one person knows the answer to that and he hasn't told me. No worries we are all back to good health and just wishing this cold weather goes away so we can get out more. Although the boys hate the cold Louie more than Jake, they both love going out and running like chickens with their heads cut off back and forth in the snow. Jake thinks if there is a smooth patch of snow he must put foot prints into it. He also thinks he is a plow and plows through the snow mouth open eating it. He is my crazy boy. Totally opposite of Mikayla who refuses to go near snow. Although I have to admit she did jump with plain shoes into a pile of snow near a curb when it was starting to melt before this new stuff came so maybe we are making progress..... well got to get some pics posted for you so I will leave you with that until the next ventures that I will post for you.

Enjoying her gift from Dad

Swim Class #1

Swim Class #2

Walking on her new stilts

Swim #3

It Official!!!

One of her cute dance moves

Mikayla is a Little Fish. She has just been enrolled in Swimming Classes and will be starting next week as we have a play date at Monkey Joe's this week. Next week before swimming she will have a try out day of gymnastics and then a try out class of dance. I plan on getting her in gymnastics at that time just want to see what age class she should be in. Dance is still being debated. I know she will love it as she loves to dance and sing now, she is now even singing on the top of her lungs at church and in the car whenever the radio is on. I am just not sure she is coordinated enough for the class yet but we will see how she does on the try out. I know she is excited and will have a blast being out doing new things as she always is and being with and making new friends. I hope to get some good shots of all of this if the place allows so look forward to that.

I also want to thank all my followers for following and I especially want to thank all of those who come and post comments they are the highlight of my day when I come here. I so look forward to finding comments when I arrive here.

Mary you know that our girls are all that and a bag of chips and more :-) Stop by sometime and I am sure Mikayla can whip you up some yummy eggs, toast and or burgers for you not to mention the awesome tea that always seems to be too hot or too cold. :-)

Its a Season to be Merry and Bright!!!

The Wonderful Thanksgiving with Ellen, Yummy

Mikayla making friends with Aunt Ellen's bird

Barely snow on the ground...before the 2-4 in and she hates it

Just us!

Playing with Aunt Deb and Uncle Steve's toys

Playing with one of her cousins at Deb and Steve's

Telling Grandma J how to open her gift

Can't go without a pic of the boys in their bells

Opening the bag of goodies from friend Kellie

Excited that Santa is Coming To Town

Praying or is it begging for all the toys in town

The growing present stack not to mention the ones we already opened as we got them...from family and neighbors, etc

The loaded Stockings

Sheet covered walk in kitchen

Blowing out candle on Jesus' birthday cake

Having her morning cup of Java

He-Haw....and away she goes

The new dragon getting a work-out

For the most part the holiday's are over ...just have New Year to go and that is not much as we do not do much for the New Year, we do more for the Chinese New Year which does not come until February. Thanksgiving we spent with my dear friend Ellen and friends at her house where Lee made the best Turkey ever as always, Thanks Lee. All the food was great and as usual we all ate too much. Soon after Thanksgiving we were in full Christmas mode with getting all the goodies made to eat and given away so we don't have to eat it all when the neighbors brought their goodies and we still had/have just as much to eat. We headed off to the in-laws for mom's big surprise birthday with the family....I hope to have a group photo soon from that event. The food was awesome and we got to see some of the family we had not seen in years which was really a treat to see how all the kids had grown so much since our last seeing them all. Mikayla got to meet and play with cousins she never met until now. She also got to meet some of the older cousins, aunts and uncles she also had not met until now. She was over whelmed at first but I think she liked the attention by the time the night was over especially since she is the youngest girl in the family right now. She got to eat her first real birthday cake and pies and so many sweets I am surprised she did not have sugar overload. Coming home away from the snow we got there, we received our white Christmas right on schedule. Christmas Eve Mikayla got to see Santa ride down our block in his sleigh for real...I am so sorry I did not get a pic as she was in bed when I saw him and dragged her out of bed and outside to see him just in time, if I was to find the camera she surely would have missed him. She slept well that night with all the fun we had that day and staying up late to see Santa go by and giving out candy canes. In the morning she was super thrilled to have Jesus' birthday cake (a large chocolate chip cookie) for breakfast. She got to blow out the candle and succeeded on the first try. Then it was off to the tree and stocking...she started with the stocking and could not believe all that was in it. Then when she looked under the tree she couldn't believe how many more gifts there were from the night before. It was so cute to see her amazement seeing everything new for the first time, the things we take for granted. She never even noticed the big item covered by sheet in the dining room right where the cake was...she did eye the covered sheet item in the living room only for a sec but stayed where the gifts were under the tree. When they were all gone and opened we asked her to pull the sheet off the living room item and she was not liking the idea (scared at what to expect I guess) so Daddy helped and the smile was so big on her face when she saw her new horse Lucky, I think her eyes shone brighter than the sun. She rode Lucky for a short journey listening to him talk and sing when I asked her to come look at the other sheet. She still was not interested in pulling the sheet off and once again Daddy helped. Once she got a glimpse of what was underneath she was in and in awe, she was speachless. She now has her very own walk in kitchen with grocery cart and more food then a person should be allowed to have in one grocery trip for a month. She has had the kitchen for all of what...a day and a half and I am not sure if she spent more time in it or on Lucky riding all day. Santa did bring the Kitchen and stuff but Grandma and her Aunt get the credit for Lucky. Of course the boys did get some edible goodies and a new dragon and squeek toy that is already getting a work out. Mommy and Daddy also got their toys and things. Christmas and Santa was good this year and we will all be paying for it for a while....literally. :-) Hope you all had a Happy, Merry and Healthy Christmas and Holiday Season. Happy New Year to all and hope to be back here with more soon. Blessings for now and through the new year too. AJ

Surrounded by snow with no where to go...awwwwJake high steppin in his boots when Louie comes to pick on him since he is not wearing his...I could not find Louie's but I found them now... cant wait to have both of them high steppin soon :-)

The unvieling of the Kitchen....