Dog park

We all went to a dog park today. I was not sure what I pictured but it was fun going. We took Shadow and the kids loved running around with him, watching other dogs, and throwing balls at him. There was also a fun kids park nearby that we enjoyed as well.


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What is new with William

For those of you who were wondering, William finally started walking at 21 months!! Crazy. Not much has changed inside the house, he still prefers crawling sometime, but now he tries to open doors and run outside...he has discovered there is a big world out there waiting for him. He continues to be a delightful, busy toddler which I wouldn't change a thing. Bath times are still highlights of his day...if only this tired momma could do that every day. The water was a little cold for his liking outside on Memorial Day, but it will warm up soon I am sure of that and then our little fish can really swim.


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He loves to swim in the bathtub!

William feels very loved by his big brother, Cameron, as he  helps him  run!

Surprise for the kids

We are life-time tourists according to our visas, so that entails we need to leave the country after a certain period of time. We usually don't mind, as it gives us a little break from the culture, but I will admit it is getting a little bit harder with  more kids to look forward to hotel rooms, planes, trains, and automobiles. Unfortunately, Alan has also needed to see a doctor regularly for his migraines and to get prescriptions refilled, so we need to leave anyways.  This trip we were in desperate need of some family fun, so we decided to surprise the kids with a day trip to Hong Kong DisneyLand!!

It was soo much fun. They had never been before and didn't even have a box to put it in...a big park with lots of rides and princesses?!? Nontheless, they loved EVERY single minute. They never complained about waits in line (the longest was only 10 minutes) and every ride was "the best!" It was really fun for us to watch them enjoy it so much. We are really thankful for that time together. We were there from Saturday at 10:30 a.m. 9:30 , including fireworks at the end. It was a delightful day, we only wished it lasted longer. The next day as we traveled back home Alan had a migraine, which was super hard,  so we would kind of like to not remember that day, and just remember DisneyLand.

Easter

We had a really great Easter. Not that everything went perfect, but we were reminded that He died so that we might live...live in the midst of pain and migraines and plans unmet. Finding our hope and joy in Him and not our circumstances.

We had a fun Easter Egg hunt Saturday  morning but Alan woke up with a really bad migraine and had to stay home. So, I gathered the kids, hopped into a friends car...I am so thankful for generous friends to help us when Alan has migraines...and we got to enjoy being outside for a few hours running around with friends.

our kiddos and a friend, John Paul! 

Laura Cate is ready! 

Cameron helping Laura Cate find her basket

lots of kids!!

we hid Easter baskets after dinner and had them wait to go find them

Earthquake Update

For the second time in our life, we experienced an earthquake. It occurred at 8:04 Saturday, April 20. It was a 6.7.   The epicenter was 70 miles from our city.  Cameron and Laura Cate were playing in their room, Alan as getting William up, and I was reading in bed.  I thought the kids had snuck in and were shaking my bed, but when I realized the kids were not in our room I ran into our hallway and met Alan. Thankfully, we have always had an evacuation plan of what to take and who is responsible for what.  I held onto William, Alan took the big kids and we huddled inside a door frame and prayed like crazy. The building was swaying and cabinets were opening and closing.  I wondered if we would be able to get out safely.   It lasted what felt like FOREVER. It felt like two waves. I think it actually lasted 1.5 minutes, which really is a long time for earthquakes. The whole time I kept thinking what if our building collapses?? We live on the 7th floor on the top of a building without an elevator, so after the earthquake stopped we grabbed our evacuation bag (with money, passports, etc), shoes, some water and ran down the stairs in our pajamas.   Everyone in our complex was outside. We eventually all went back home and continued to experience aftershocks.  The last one was recorded at 11:30 a.m.  Nothing in our apartment was damaged, but things were disheveled and pictures were crooked. There are no reports of major damage in our city, but at the epicenter at least ten people died and buildings collapsed. Please pray for them! The aftershocks were a little unnerving so we decided to go to a park and play and then out for lunch to celebrate my birthday (yesterday). I was so thankful to be with my family and be safe and unharmed. Praise the Lord.

Laura Cate was scared and cold

Laura Catte's birthday

Here a a few more pictures of Laura Cate's birthday. Someone sends her flowers every year on her birthday.  It was a special day and we look forward to her being 4!

Cameron drew on this paper to wrap up a gift...it was princess Leia  of course and the death star and an X wing fighter..she loved it :) I wish I had saved the paper, but this is one of my favorite pictures from the day

Tangled, and the color purple, cant get much better for her! 

her breakfast table with purple cinnamon rolls

our birthday girl! 

Thank you for her presents! 

for months she has been asking for a scooter and she finally got one!  She is ready to go! She wanted to ride it right away. Happy Happy birthday Laura Cate! We love you soo much.

Birthday party pictures for the grandparents :)

Here are some pictures from Laura Cate's birthday party. She loves the movie Tangled and she loves soccer because her big brother plays soccer everyday at school......so, when I asked her what kind of cake she said "Rapunzel playing football!!" with lots of exclamations. I asked her several times over several days just to be sure  because I was really puzzled by the whole "football" theme. It wasn't in the movie and we like to watch Auburn football when we can but its not that often. So, when I investigated some more she said "Rapunzel kicking the football, like she Cameron does..." Ah, this is what happens when you grow up in an Asian culture that calls soccer football. She meants and I quote " Rapunzel pretending to kick a [soccer] ball". Now it was clear, but how in the world do I do that?? Grandma had no idea but she sent the perfect candy for Cameron for Easter and it was the perfect size chocolate soccer ball to go on the cake! She saved the day! It was a fun birthday party. We are so blessed to celebrate Laura Cate with sweet little girls. 

sweet girls getting their nails painted. Laura Cate decided she did not want her nails painted or to wear a dress :( 

fun game of Hot Potato with Pascal the frog from Tangled

sweet friends enjoying playing together