Saying Goodbye to Another Year!

Jianxin Holiday Brunch
Today we spent the day up at Pat, Dave and Erin's house to get the girls together for the holidays. Not all of the Jianxin girls could attend today's festivities, but Erin, Tanith and Maddie were there and had a great time playing together...yes together. It is so nice seeing them interact more and more each time we get together. The did a really good job taking turns on the trampoline and they all love to jump :)
Pat did such a nice job hosting the party. The food was delish, the girls did a gift exchange and had fun playing with playdoh. It was so nice to see everyone and we look forward to our next get together.

New Years Eve
Later that evening we spent celebrating the New Year with our wonderful neighbors. Amazing food, games, and good company could not have asked for anything more. At midnight we toasted to 2012 and went outside to have fun with some sparklers.  It was a bit chilly and foggy, but the kids did not seem to mind. Tanith had so much fun and even stayed up until 1:30am (still sleeping the next day to around 10am).  She did something that night that simply amazed us. Earlier that day at Pat's house we took a group photo...this time Dave set the camera to self-timer so we got a full group shot.  He did this a few times and we thought nothing of it.  Later that night Tanith was taking pictures with Christina's camera and later sat the camera on the piano bench, pressed a button and then to our surprise walked away from the camera, turned around and smiled...the timer went off and she took a picture of herself. We were speechless.  Not only did she closely observe Dave earlier that day (did not see what he did, but the action), she was able to figure out how to do it herself on a camera she is not familiar with.  All I can say is AMAZING!

I cannot believe another year has past and what a good year at that.  Tanith continues and will always bring joy into our lives and I am looking forward to what 2012 has in store for us.
Happy New Year!

Christmas Time

Merry Christmas

Oh what fun!  Tanith and her cousins had a blast this year with all the holiday activities. The girls all received some lovely gifts from Santa and their Aunts on Christmas Eve. Tanith especially loved her little baby doll and carrier from Aunt Helaine. She had so much energy that night our little party girl stayed up until eleven.  I think she would have kept on going if we did not insist she go to bed.  When she finally went to bed she had to have her new dolls with her.

On Christmas Day, Tanith woke us up around nine and was carrying her baby dolls around the house taking care of them (she has an amazing nurturing characteristic. Not sure if it is because she spent her first year of her life around babies in the orphanage, but she always gravitates to all babies and little kids. She is always hugging them and comforts them when they are sad...its a special gift.)

What did Tanith get from Santa...her gifts consisted of a Hello Kitty Electric Guitar, Microphone and Karaoke machine. It was so exciting to see her open the gifts. After she unwrapped each gift she said "open daddy, open", she wanted to start playing with them immediately. The final gift she opened was her guitar. She already knew what it was, just by the shape and screamed "guitar" and quickly unwrapped it. Later that afternoon we went to Rafa's cousins house and had a nice visit with the family and as always ate some wonderful food. Since there was no nap involved throughout the day, when we got home around six she was out...we went next door and hung out with then neighbors and Tanith slept on the couch. She woke up around eight and was ready to go again :). She got some lovely books from the Dudley's and tasty treats...like she always does when visiting next door.

What an enjoyable holiday and I cherished every minute. On Monday, after all the holiday's behind us, Tanith and mommy had some quality time. The weather was a beautiful 70 degrees and we spent the late morning outside riding a bike, playing with bubbles, a game of mini golf and we ended with some chalk art on the driveway. We also had a nice visit with Auntie Trish and she brought Tanith a very cute hat and matching scarf. Sad that the long weekend is over.

Here are some photos from Christmas Eve and Day.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Day