Saturday, October 31, 2009

A Skunk & A Tiger

Happy Halloween from the Hunter clan!

The heart on the hind end fittingly says 'Lil Stinker'. And yes, she IS a little stinker!
Emma wanted to wear her skunk outfit from last year, which was fine with me. Everyone she visited had made a big deal out if last year so I think maybe she wanted that again. You know, our kids just do not get enough attention around here! haha. And little Rebecca, for some reason she talks about tigers all the time. Where they sleep, what they eat, do they come in the house - many, many tiger questions. So when I saw the cute little tiger outfit I knew it had her name written all over it. Brian thinks I'm scarring the girls for life by not dressing them as princesses. But, I'm just not a princess kind of mom so hopefully they will turn out fine despite my non-princess ways!
The 'Genie' outfits were a last minute purchase for Howlin' Halloween at Emma's school last night. It was 78 degrees when I got off work yesterday and I knew that Emma especially would burn up in the skunk outfit. I thought they looked adorable, but it took some serious bribery to get Emma to wear hers. I think she may have been swayed when we made such a big deal over how cute Rebecca looked in hers!

Heritage Trail - Madison, IN

These were taken on a little hike we took on a the 'Heritage Trail'. I never did exactly figure out what the trail was, but it was a beautiful walk. We started out going down an old rail road track and then up a fairly steep hill. The trees were absolutely gorgeous and some of the leaves the girls picked up were HUGE! It was so nice and peaceful. There were very few people out and about and it was just a plain ol' relaxing walk with the fam. It just doesn't get any better than that!









Thursday, October 29, 2009

Weekend Getaway to Madison, IN








We had the best time on our little weekend getaway to Madison, IN. Thankfully it was only about an hour away so we were able to get there easily on Friday and then back home on Sunday night. We spent Saturday roaming the main street of Madison, sipping on hot chocolate for the kiddos and some yummy mocha latte for me. The little shops were fun too, there were music shops for Ryan and Brian, antique shops for me and the cutest little toy store for the girls. I was even able to pick out a Christmas present for Rebecca. Lots of fun! The afternoon was spent walking on the ‘Heritage Trail’ that went up a hill and had gorgeous views of the Ohio river. It was a great day for enjoying God’s beautiful creation and spending some much needed family time together.

These were all taken downtown Madison.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Fall


Fall is by far my favorite season, the air feels so good and the colors are so pretty. I caught this shot of Ryan while we were in Madison, IN this past weekend. I have more to share ... and more to talk about, but for now - here's Ryan!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Over The Moon Photography

Want to see some wonderful new pictures of the little dumplings? Head on over to Over The Moon Photography.

Goodness she did a great job!

Madison, IN

So looking forward to this coming weekend when we will be heading to Madison, IN. Looks like a fun place to go! Just reading from this link it sounds nice ... "Charles Kuralt called Madison, “The most beautiful rivertown in America.” "

Come on Friday!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

It's A Funky Frito Kind Of Day

I've been craving these like crazy, just made a batch for a get together tonight. yummy!!

INGREDIENTS
10 1/2 ounces corn chips
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup creamy peanut butter
11 (1.55 ounce) bars milk chocolate

DIRECTIONS
1.In a greased 10 x 15 inch pan, place the corn chips.
2.In a saucepan, bring the sugar and corn syrup to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter until smooth. Pour this over the chip and smooth level.
3.Pour this over the chip and smooth level. Place the chocolate bars in a single layer over the hot mixture and wait a few minutes until the heat melts them and then smooth the chocolate out to form a thin layer. Allow to cool and then break into pieces.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Facebook, Friends and Funny Memories


Okay, I'll have to admit that I held out on the whole Facebook thing for the longest and finally acquiesced when some of my friends pushed me a tad. Now I just love it, not that I update every little thing but I get great enjoyment reading other peoples notes.

The thing that tickles me the most though is how long forgotten friends find you and how you subsequently just pick right up where you left off. It also strikes me as funny how the long forgotten memories just pop into your head when a friend request shows up in your inbox.

Such was the case today when I saw a friend request from a friend back in middle school who also happened to be my 6th grade boyfriend. He was my boyfriend for at least a week or two. The break up happened over a weird incident in math class where he was teasing me about something, I turned around and picked up his cap to bonk him on the head and as I was picking it up he slipped his lock into the cap. Momentum was already happening and the cap landed on his head, lock and all. Some blood was spilled. I was mortified. His mother had to come get him from school and take him to the doctor. He missed our 6th grade basketball game that afternoon. I broke up with him from embarrassment. Now, when in your life do you get your head bloodied just from flirting with your girlfriend and then have said girlfriend break up with you on top of that.

Which then begs the question, how the heck do you forget that memory for so many years only to have it pop up from a facebook friend request.

Memories ...

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

10 Months Ago Today

Thankfully I have friends like Gayly who are much better at remembering these things than I seem to be, but I read on her blog earlier today that it was 10 months ago today that we were at the Civil Affairs building in Xian China to finalize the adoption of our new children. Wow, where has the time gone? It seems like it was just a month or so ago and then other times it feels like little Rebecca has been with us forever.

It's a little bit of a strange connection but I "met" Gayly through an online adoption forum when we had both posted notes about our children living in the Shaanxi province. Then later she mentioned something about the Starfish Home and from there a friendship blossomed. She and her family were planning on staying at the Starfish Home when they traveled and I had asked if she would deliver a present to Rebecca. Little did we know at the time, but there were all kinds of weird things that happened with their paperwork and coincidence would have it that we were in China at the same exact time.

Another little side note to this story, before I get back to the real reason for this post, is that Gayly had gone to China earlier and her husband followed a few days later. He was on one of the same flights we were and so we ended up meeting him on the plane. Oh, I should add that they were using a completely different agency than us. Anyway, we landed in Beijing where she was to meet up with him but something happened with the taxi driver - who didn't happen to speak any English - and somehow she ended up in a different part of the airport. Needless to say, Shawn and Gayly didn't quite catch each other that night. Shawn ended up going with our group and going to our hotel with us where our guide helped him get a room. The funny part to all of this, and of course I wouldn't have seen the humor in it had I not been able to find Brian on the other side of the world, is that we had just gotten checked into our room and the first thing I did was check my email and there was an email from Gayly asking if we had seen her husband. For some reason that just tickled my funny bone because here we are - they're from Kansas, we're from Kentucky, we met on the internet, had not met in person, other than us meeting her husband that same day and somehow he's ended up on a bus with us and heading to a hotel somewhere in a huge city and she has no idea where he is. We met via technology and here she is trying to find him via technology. Funny stuff. How did we make it before email?!

If you were following our story back when we were in Xian, you might remember that someone from the states road back to our hotel in the taxi with me, Emma and Rebecca on the day that I had taken Rebecca back for a visit. The same day she bawled her little eyes out for the entire ride back while also screaming for Amanda. Well, that was Shawn - the guy would could't find his wife in Beijing. Small world. But the thing I wanted to point out is that they are an amazing, God loving, orphan loving, people loving family who truly inspire me and I count myself blessed to be friends with them, even if I did meet them on the internet!

So, back to 10 months ago in Xian. This was the day that our adoptions were finalized. Poor little Rebecca didn't want much to do with me at this point in our relationship but she would go to Brian and she would interact with Emma. I can't remember how many American families were there about the same time as we were but I'm thinking maybe 5 families. There was another family with our agency that was there. Shawn & Gayly's appointment was about the same time as ours and I remember us talking up a storm like we had known each other for years instead of just a few mere months.

Getting ready to board the bus to the Civil Affairs office.



Taking her footprint for the papework and our fingerprints!

Poor little Rebecca was worn out, she was still so scared - and who could blame her. Everything she knew was gone and here was this weird family pushing their way into her space. By this point in the day, she had had enough.

Happy 10 month anniversary of adoption day little Rebecca! We love ya' baby girl!!!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Mid Autumn Moon Festival


This time last week we were celebrating the Mid Autumn Moon Festival with several other adoptive family friends. We had such a great time catching up with everyone, partaking of some very yummy food and watching the kiddos romp and play all evening long. The get together was hosted by our friends Doug and Marla who absolutely set the example of entertaining. They are such comfortable people to be around and have this knack of making you feel like you've known them forever. I had such a good time catching up with everyone that I really didn't take very many pictures at all.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Summer Shots


Since going back to work, it seems I rarely have time to blog much less take pictures. So instead I'll show off another picture taken back this summer by Robin This is my favorite one of Emma.

She looks so sweet, and so feminine. You would never have a clue by looking at this shot of what an ornery little stinker she can be. But she definately makes life fun because there is never a dull moment when she is around!

I sure love the little dumpling!