Trunk or Treat

So how do you explain Halloween and Trunk or Treat to a five year old that has never experienced it? You don't even try and just tell them they get to put on a beautiful dress!! A huge thank you goes out to my gifted seamstress cousin Anne and cousins Kat and Emily for the use of the beautiful Cinderella dress. Jodi felt like a true princess as she strolled around, holding up her dress with both hands like she had seen Cinderella do in the movie. Mama got to hold her crown most of the time as well as the goody bag. We had a ball (no Cinderella pun intended...) at our church's Trunk or Treat. We were so fortunate that Tinkerbell (lovely cousin Emily), Peter Pan ( handsome cousin Andrew), and a pirate (little cousin Alex) were able to join Jodi. We rode down the big slide (a little scared at first), played games, and rode on a cart pulled by a mule. The big finale was Jodi's favorite part! We walked around to the different cars to get candy.

Our Jodi has a big sweet tooth like her parents. She went to the first car, took her one piece of candy, and said "thank you." I then told her she could go on to the next car. She looked up at me with big eyes and said, "MORE CANDY???" It took her no time to get into the swing of things as she ran from car to car. Jodi kept saying,"I got a lots of candy!!" It was so precious and we loved sharing that time with her cousins and her best friends. She thought Baba the pirate was pretty cool too! She was incredibly happy and stayed excited all the way home.

When I was putting her to bed, Jodi started to giggle and said, "Mama.... I got A LOTS of candy.... man...." What a blessing to experience these firsts with her. I'm sure in the orphanage candy was few and far between and I think it was hard for her to grasp so many people wanting to give her such a treasure!! Everyone has been so kind and generous to her and we again say "thank you" and GOD IS GOOD!!!!!!!!

Catching Our Breath

Wow! What an amazing few weeks we have had. As you can tell, there has been no time to write so I'm glad to finally have a few minutes. We had a great first vacation together in the North Georgia mountains with mostly incredible weather. It especially meant alot to me to have Jodi there because I grew up camping there. She loved doing all of the things that I always loved like playing in the creek, going to the waterfalls, and feeding the fish and ducks.

We started our trip with a wonderful weekend with Fred's friends and their families. Jodi got to ride on her first "boat" and was in the back yelling "faster, faster"!! She also got to ride on her first horse which was a 30 year old horse named Patches that Fred and I led around the pen. She kept copying the sounds of the rooster crowing which Fred managed to capture a picture of. Jodi also got to meet her Aunt Mildred, Aunt Shirley, and Uncle Ron which meant so much. We also had some special time with her Nye Nye Huffstetler and YeYe (Fred's dad). She hiked a mile to get to one of the waterfalls much to our surprise with no complaints. She is such a sweetie and still keeps us laughing!

We had a great opportunity this past weekend to go to a 100 year homecoming at the church where Fred first started in youth group. It was such a blessing to meet all of those special people and highlights included seeing a video of little skinny Fred playing Tarzan while flying around on a rope and hearing the reunion concert of the Crystal Critters, a band made up of his old youth group and leaders. What a blast! Jodi was dancing around while her Baba sang with his buddies. We got to stay at Nye Nye Johnson's and Jodi got a chance to meet new friends and family. She was so excited to meet a wonderful new friend Betty who lives in Mom's building, our family friends John and Ann Watson, and her cousins Jack and Will (also 5 years old). She gets especially shy when meeting new kids but eventually warmed up! Mom and I were just shaking our heads because everyone that came was so sweet to bring her gifts. She would run right up to them and grab the bag from their hands before even saying "hi." I think we've created a monster. She's going to think meeting new people means getting new things!! Everyone has been incredibly generous to her and we can't believe how blessed we are. We still can't believe we get the good fortune of being her parents and we pray that God continues to give us wisdom in the best way to raise her. There is no question how loved she is and how loved we are and we thank you for that! God bless.

Meeting More Family

We had another amazing but quick weekend with Aunt Julie and Uncle Mal ( because Malcolm was a little hard to say!). We went out for a great dinner on Friday and then off to the zoo on Saturday. Uncle Mal is a wonderful photographer and we laughed because every time we went to an exhibit, the animals would go into this great pose position. I had just finished telling Malcolm and Julie that lions sleep most of the day and not to expect much. Lo and behold we come up the hill and there is the lion sitting up beautifully with his head held high! It was really funny! The gorilla exhibit was packed full of people up against the glass and all of the sudden one of the gorillas slapped the window and ran away. People were screaming and laughing. That's the great part about the zoo.... it is different every time. We love that Jodi is getting to meet her beautiful and amazing family and just wish we all were closer. We know that she feels loved and very special with the wonderful hugs, gifts, and time given to her.

Our little Jodi has quickly learned how to conquer and divide Mama and Baba to get what she wants. Fred and I are having alot of quick meetings to make sure we are on the same page. Amazing how fast they pick up on this! We are definitely having to teach her boundaries and the meaning of the word "no" which she is starting to question. I guess that makes her officially a 5 year old. Lots more for Mama and Baba to learn!

School, Family, and Lots of Fun

Jodi had her first day of preschool last Tuesday. We were very anxious to see how she would do since it was her first time away from us for any period of time. We are so proud to say that Miss Jodi was once again an trooper, going right to her class with only a little upset. Later that day when she was walking with her class, she passed by a room that Fred was in and just said, "Hi Baba." She LOVES school and also started Kindermusic which she will participate in once a week. She still shys away from the other kids some because her language is not where theirs is but we know that will get better.

Jodi got to meet her Aunt Laura and Uncle Bobo AKA Latham over the weekend. She was shy with them for about one minute before becoming her silly self. She immediately took them to her room to show off her toys and clothes which was so funny. We're having to teach her about boundaries as Saturday morning she decided to give Uncle Bobo a wakeup call by walking right on into his room to get him up! We had a great time at the zoo and saw a chimp up close and personal. It was truly amazing to see him so close behind the glass and to realize how similar he is to us (some of us more than others.....:) ) We then got to meet up with the wonderful Earnhardt family for dinner which was great! These are our cousins on my dad's side of the family. What a special day!! We got to sing Happy Birthday to Aunt Laura on Sunday and celebrated all day which Jodi thought was pretty cool. Now that Jodi understands more about birthdays, she keeps asking when hers is. I hate to tell her she has to wait until May!! She continues to blossom before our very eyes and we cannot express how blessed we feel to be her parents. She keeps us smiling and on our toes! Love to you!!

Jodi's First Show

We got to take Jodi to her first big show which was an amazing performance by Chinese artists. The dancing was so beautiful and the singers were unbelievable. They had a full orchestra and the show overall was incredible. It lasted a full 3 hours and we weren't sure how Jodi would do. Believe it or not, she was great most of the way through (a little squirmy at times since she is 5) but she seemed very interested in the dancing and beautiful costumes. She'd look back from time to time and say "beautiful!" When the curtain first opened, I (Mama) starting tearing up because the dancers and set were so pretty. It made me feel so proud of our daughters culture and Fred and I are so grateful we got to experience it firsthand when we went to get her in March. Jodi of course loved getting all dressed up in her dress that "twirls" and kept asking us if she looked pretty. I think she knew the answer!!!

Fred and I also learned firsthand that when your child gets sick, you very often manage to get it too! Fred battled the cold first and now I'm coughing and sneezing my way through. Oh well!! So much for my Labor Day projects. Love to you and yours and Happy Labor Day!

Trying the Bike

It's been a good week. Jodi lost her second tooth which fell right out when she was eating some pizza! The tooth fairy is cheap at our house but she did get a quarter to put in her piggy bank. She tried her bicycle but after a few attempts told me that it was "too hard." She did really try and we'll just have to encourage her to keep it up. We know it's great exercise for her legs but recognize that it really is alot of work for her.

Jodi caught her first cold this week. Her usually sweet little voice was about 2 octaves lower the other morning which sounded funny coming from her! We may have created a monster because she's walking around saying, "Jodi Lang doesn't feel good. Poor Jodi Lang. Poor Jodi Lang." She's healing up well but it's hard to see her sick.

Earlier this week we had the radio on during dinner. We're dating ourselves here but one of Fred's favorite old songs came on the radio called "Funkytown." We were singing it and dancing around in our chairs basically being silly. Out of the blue, here's Jodi singing "Funkytown" right on pitch. We fell out laughing because it was so unexpected. What a cutie! We're gearing up for her to start preschool the week after next. Hard to believe how far we've come in such a short time. So many blessings!!!

Food from the South

Fred officially introduced Jodi to the Waffle House which is new to Asheboro. They had a date night and we discovered that Jodi loves omelettes! Waffle House was mine and Fred's first official date (I had to invite him after a church function...) where we talked until the late hours. It meant alot to now share that with her. We went back to our physician in Concord for followup this week. He was so pleased that she has done so well and we thanked him for his wonderful guidance in caring for Jodi. God has absolutely led us to the right people!

Little Miss Jodi is getting into everything including Mama's makeup when Mama's not around! I was looking for my compact and noticed this trail of powder all over the bathroom only to find my broken compact mysteriously under the towel rack. How did it get there, you may ask??!! Our little girly girl is fascinated with makeup and when asked, proceeded to cry and tell me over and over, "I'm sorry." She has such a conscience and you eventually have to tell her she doesn't need to apologize anymore! Jodi starts preschool in just a few weeks which we can't believe. We're excited for her on the one hand but on the other hand, she will be out of our sight for several hours a day. It's hard when you can no longer control their environment and what they are exposed to. That's when our prayer life gets really good!!!

Jodi has grown 2 inches and gained 5 pounds since coming to America. Fred keeps telling her to slow down so we can have our little girl for a little longer. It's getting harder to pick her up without grunting and sweating but we're still trying!! Love to you all and God bless.