Bath Night

What a blessed human being I am to see these faces first thing in the morning and just before I tuck them into bed at night. Normally my kids want to take a shower or bath on their own in the evening, but for some reason tonight, they decided to do a shared bath (like they did when they were little). They had such a wonderful time. I hope that one day when they're older, they'll still like each other as much as they do right now.

Playing Legos with Parker

We had a fun afternoon playing with Parker . . . The kids built an entire Lego town in Sam's bedroom while Parker was here. They all had a great time.

Fun Celebrations

Parker turned two in early February, and we had a fun birthday party for him, complete with cake, presents and play time. Then, on Valentine's Day, Parker spent the evening at our house while his parents had a date. We made heart cookies and had a wonderful evening.

And at the very end of February, we put together a box of special things for Matthew in China. How special to be able to finally send some things to him.

Parker had an Elmo party for his 2nd birthday.

Sam and Maya tried out Parker's new wagon during his party.

Just before making cookies on Valentine's Day.

Our box of special things for Matthew--sent all the way to China!

Snowy House

I thought you'd enjoy seeing our cozy new little house covered in snow. We had about a foot dumped on us a couple weeks ago and Maya had four days off of school. It was truly a winter wonderland.

Ice Skating in Idaho

We traveled across the state to Sandpoint, Idaho for Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend to see Aaron's family and enjoy the snow. Of course, there WAS NO SNOW in Idaho, so we had to settle for some fantastic ice skating on the lake. Maya and Sam both got ice skates for Christmas last year, and lo and behold. both pairs fit their owners. So it was a wonderful time to be together and learn some new ice skating skills.

Maya and Sam ready to head down to the lake.

Our first venture onto the ice.

With some practice, Maya nailed it!

A magazine pose. Tee-hee.

Sam spent a reasonable amount of time sitting DOWN.

I love being anywhere with this wonderful human being.

Maya and Mom enjoyed skating together.

A family pose on the ice.

Friends

Maya and Sam love hanging out with their friends. January was a busy month for spending time with our favorite people.

Our favorite Alaskan friend Elise celebrated her 4th birthday in Everett.

Maya was sick, but Sam and Mom got to go to Elise's party.

Lilli and Avery love to play dress up with Sam.

When Kolbi came for the evening, she had a pajama party with Maya and Sam.

Sam loves his buddy Kolbi. They'll start kindergarten together in 18 months!

Getting together with some other Eklunds

In late December, following Christmas, our immediate Eklund family traveled across to the Olympic Peninsula to visit another set of Eklunds, my uncle, aunt, and cousins. Some of our kids got to meet for the first time--it was a bunch of second cousin goodness.

Maya, Sam, and their second cousin Michelle.

My aunt, uncle, cousins Christine and Mark, and Christine's girls.

Annemarie and Christine's babies!

All the second cousins together (except Desi and Dekker, of course).

And the cousins. I still think we all look pretty good.

Cookie Baking

Every year, my side of the family gets together to bake cookies in anticipation of Christmas. It's become quite the tradition--I think we've done it for the past 7 or 8 years now. Last year in addition to the baking, we added an "adults only" holiday concert at the end of the evening. This year it was a choral concert in Seattle. It was such a wonderful day.

Maya and Sam hard at work baking.

Mom and I in our aprons! So Eklund.

Sam and Marmie roll out Swedish almond butter cookies.

The cousins, plus Parker.

The "old foagies" (oh, did I actually type that?)

And the women, who did most of the baking.

Around the Tree with Grandma and Grandpa

The kids LOVE when Grandma and Grandpa Russell come to town. They get spoiled to death, of course, and they just love being with their grandparents. It was WONDERFUL that Grandma and Grandpa could come visit at the start of the Christmas season to help get the tree, decorate the house, and play with Maya and Sam. Here they all are around our newly-decorated tree.

Come again soon, Grandma and Grandpa.

Cutting the Christmas Tree

Aaron's mom and dad (Paula and Dave) came for a visit the first weekend in December, and while they were here, we went and cut our Christmas tree. It was a wonderful morning outdoors followed by some hours of decorating later that afternoon.

Our family just before picking a tree.

Maya got to help cut the tree trunk.

Sam brought his own dose of silliness to our morning.

Aaron's parents joined us for this special morning.

My sweet boy is almost 3 1/2! Hard to believe.

And my big girl is 6 1/2.

Grandpa helped Maya finish cutting the tree's trunk, then together they hauled it to the car.

Wrapping Up November

November came and went really quickly at our house. We started with a visit from Uncle Nathan (my brother) and ended with Thanksgiving followed up with our match with a baby in China.

We were matched on November 28, 2011 with a little boy in Guangdong Provence, which is in southern China. It was his first birthday the day we received the match. After some consultation with a pediatrician at the UW Center for Adoption Medicine, we decided to say YES to this little boy.

His name is Matthew and he has a cleft lip and palate, which we will have corrected when we get him home to Everett, which will likely be sometime this next spring.


Hooray for a third child for our family. Welcome, Matthew.

Me with my sister Amy and brother Nathan in early November.

Uncle "Noodle" (Nathan) with his nephews and niece.

The cousins on Thanksgiving.

Crazy Mr. Sam.

Our family--although Sam doesn't look very happy.

My 6 1/2 year old girl!

The night we were matched with Matthew, his 1st birthday. We lit a candle and sang to him.