Merry Christmas!

We are having such a wonderful visit home in the ol' US of A. We spent the first week and a half in Virginia. We split our time between Richmond, where we got to meet our newest Godson, Davis (he is an absolute angel), and Nova, where we got some QT with Brian's siblings, parents and our niece and nephews. Kaneu has LOVED spending so much time with his cousins and Godbrothers. He really loves them all so much and it makes me a little sad that these experiences are so few and far between. We love living in London, but these visits home really tug at my heartstrings and make me homesick.

Kaneu and his "Virginia" cousins - Ryan, Mark and Jordan

Christmas was super - we all got spoiled rotten, especially Kaneu. Seems that NONE of the grandparents took into account that we would need to transport the gifts back to London. We shipped one box from VA full of Christmas goodies and I just returned from buying the biggest suitcase I could find to carry home the rest of the booty. Hopefully everything will fit. On top of fitting the gifts into the suitcases there's also all of the normal "stuff" that I like to stock up on while in the US. That would be lots of toiletry items, craft supplies for Kaneu, clothes for me, shoes for me, fabric (just realized I haven't been to the fabric shop yet!) etc. I like to shop, and when I'm in the States I tend to go overboard as though I may never see a Target, Nordstrom or CVS again. I guess you could say I'm a hoarder when it comes to shopping. For instance, tonight I intended on buying one black camisole to go with my New Years Eve outfit, but for some reason I came home with 4. Why? Because everything is so darned cheap here (compared to London) and I loved the jewel tone colors they came in. I just can't let an opportunity pass me by where I can get a nice little tanktop for $8. Call me crazy. Don't even get me started on shoes. I need to buy stock in zappos. Okay, back to Christmas.


Kaneu had so much fun with all of the holiday traditions. He has loved watching Frosty the snowman. He has seen it at least 10 times. He refuses to watch Rudolph though b/c he's a afraid of the Snowmonster. Maybe next year? He has loved reading The Night Before Christmas and singing Christmas carols. His favorite is Jingle Bells and The 12 Days of Christmas. He can sing the "correct" version but we also made up a silly version which makes him giggle and say "no, that's not how it goes". He'll then sing it the right way for us. He has reminded me how much fun Christmas can be and I've loved teaching him the story of Jesus' birth. He asks the most precious questions, like when we are talking about the Wisemen bringing gifts he suggests that they bring Toby choochoos for baby Jesus. Hmmm, interesting b/c that's exactly what he asked Santa for! He has had a lot of fun w/his elf, Tannen. Tannen was especially cheeky and got into all kinds of mischief. Kaneu was so tickled to find him each morning - hiding in the ficus tree, asleep in the cookie cupboard, and even watching Rudolph in the car! Our little elf got everyone excited about Christmas and we enjoyed sharing stories with our nephews about what the elves had been up to the previous night. I can't wait until Tannen visits us next year!


Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season and enjoying the last days of 2007! We are in Florida right now and it's beautiful, sunny and warm - exactly the weather we were hoping for. We finally got to meet our new little nephew, Riley. He is the chunkiest, most cutest baby ever. I love him!! We've had such a great visit here with my mom, brother and sister in-law, nieces and new nephew. I'm going to be so sad to leave. We fly to Dallas on the 30th to ring in the new year. Giddy up!

Scott, Angie,Riley Tiffany & Haeligh

Grammy Sue w/her grandkids at Blue Springs National Park

Jesus' birthday cake - Kaneu's favorite new expression is a scowl, even when singing Happy Birthday to Jesus!

xo.dana

Tis' the season for giving

This time of year is always such a reminder for me how blessed we are with family, friends, good health and all of the opportunties that life has afforded us. When I was in 5th grade our house burnt down a week after Christmas. It was a terrible tragedy but thankfully we made it out of the house safely. We were all sleeping and my brother, Scott, woke up. In the days, weeks and months following the fire we received an outpouring of help from the community. At the time I didn't really get it. I was only ten years old and though I knew that we no longer had "our" home, I didn't realize that we had what we had because of the good women and men in our community. It's only as I have grown up that I am continuously amazed at the generosity of those people, most of whom were total strangers. For us, we were on the receiving end of what is (I believe) the true meaning of Christmas. I am now and will forever be grateful for all that we were given during that time. Now that I am an adult and a parent I truly want to pass on my gratitude to all those who helped my family to Kaneu and our future children. Recently I have been seeking out such opportunities. Earlier this month Kaneu and I collected toys, art supplies and toiletry items for disadvantaged children living in some of the Eastern European countries. It was such a great experience for both of us and it provided a wonderful opportunity for us to discuss how blessed we are and how we can help other children and adults who are much less fortunate. Every year at Christmas Kaneu and his Godbrother(s), Simon and Griffin (and this year, new baby Davis), exchange charitable donations instead of gifts. Our hope is that as the kids grow older than can choose their own charity as well as volunteer together. For Simon's and Kaneu's birthday party this year we asked the guests to bring gifts to be donated to the local Boys & Girls Clubs. The kids have so many toys and "stuff" and this is such a great way to give back to the community and perhaps brighten a young child's day. This year for our Christmas exchange we have decided to donate elves to children with cancer. We also purchased elves for the boys to have. This charity was started by a mom who lost her 4 1/2 yo daughter, Catie, to cancer last year. Her daughter loved this silly elf that came to visit before each Christmas. The elf would get into all kinds of mischief during the night while Catie was sleeping. One morning she woke up to the elf in a pile of flour - it had been up all night baking! To read more about Catie click here. It's a very inspiring (and heartbreaking) story. As I was reading about this courageous little girl I was overwhelmed with emotion. This little girl battled cancer for 3 years of her young life. I am thankful that I learned about Catie and the charity her mom started. I was really hoping to find a charity that I felt a connection to and I did. I know that the kids will love their elves and I am really looking forward to this new tradition that we are beginning. If you are looking for a children's charity you should check out the links above! I'll be posting about our little elf as soon as we get to the States next week. Stay tuned!

xo.dana

4 humming birds, 3 french horns ...

As we were getting Kaneu ready for bed lastnight we started singing (correction: desperately attempting to remember) the Twelve Days of Christmas. I was certain the song included french "horns" and Brian was (and still is) including "humming birds". We tried and tried to come up with the days in the songs entirety but eventually had to research it online to learn the "real" lyrics. I guess if we're going to teach Kaneu the song we should teach him the correct version. It was still a fun game to try to remember all of the parts - but so sad that we didn't get very far. Is this a sign we're getting old?

We had a fun weekend. Kaneu wasn't feeling so great, but we still managed to make it to the two live performances we were planning on seeing - The Snowman and The Gruffalo's Child. They were both great fun and Kaneu really enjoyed the live performances - his first of many I'm sure. Now he is saying he'd like to see The Doodlebops "live on the stage". Hmm, I say "NO WAY".

No adoption updates lately. We are leaving for the U.S. on Sunday and have much to do between now and then - last minute sewing, packing, cleaning, shopping ... the list goes on. I really should get up off the couch and motivate. Ok, now motivating.

Hope you're having a great day.

:) dana