Making Cupcakes

Yesterday was a cold, snowy day and I thought it might be fun to bake some cupcakes and let Meredith help decorate them. She is always interested when I am in the kitchen - she goes to her drawer, or to the pantry and pulls out various cans and tupperware and spoons and basically everything she can and does her own version of culinary arts. So I figure this would be fun! Actually it was a lot of fun and Lexi (Dalmation),had a hayday camped out under Meredith's stool chowing down on sprinkles, sugar and various decorations. (I'm surprised the dog wasn't sick)!

BTW, if you are wondering about the new hairdo......let me just say one thing;
If you are ever considering Cost Cutters and you are in a hurry......DON'T!! No matter how much your child's hair is driving you crazy. This haircut that Meredith has now is the result of a "fix" from a disaster of a cut from a week ago. Thanks, Tiffany!

2008 Highlights and Milestones

January

• My Grandmother "Dee" turned 100 years old!! The family traveled to Hot Springs, AR to help her celebrate. You Go Girl!!

• Margo had lens replacement surgery in both eyes and is now glasses and contacts free!! (After how many years)???

February

• Eric took his annual boys ski trip. This year they went to Banff. (You guys have come a long way since the poor old days of cramming 8 to a condo in "Crusty Butt")!!

• Margo took her annual family Foundation trip to Scottsdale - just Dad and the siblings on this annual trek, and it is all business!! (and shopping, tennis and good food)!

March

• We took our last childless vacation - at least for a while, to Huatulco, Mexico. It was wonderful, but I think we went too early. There was much too much winter left when we returned!

• Lindsay finished school with her MBA in Accounting/Finance Management and Information Systems Management. Yeah - Have we told you lately how proud we are of you?!

April

• We made a weekend trip to our favorite spot in Moab for some spring hiking and biking.

• Come on Spring........

May

• 5-5-08, After nearly 3 years of chasing paperwork and dreams, we are finally matched with our baby girl, Qu Mei. Wow - - what a day this was!!

• The rest of May was pretty much a blur of final paperwork, packing, wrapping up things at work, parties and general chaos....

June

• The trip of a lifetime, the ups and downs, new friendships, bonding, trials, sleep deprivation, culture shock, HEAT, humidity, smog, traffic, pollution, crowds, generosity, curiosity, sadness, lost, overwhelmed, amazed, relieved...HOME....Start all over again...!!

• 6-30-08 Meredith is home 3 days and we celebrate her first birthday (quietly)!

July

• My Aunt Carol passed away on 6-29-08 and we met up with several family members at her memorial service July 3rd in Montrose.

• Summer finally came to Colorado - -I think it went from cold to Hot!

August

• Margo has a "big" birthday. Eric and Lindsay helped her celebrate by throwing a surprise party!! Okay....you got me this time! It was a lot of fun and my mom was here to help celebrate, too! Thanks, Mom!

• Grandma and Grandpa G come out to visit and meet Meredith for the first time.

September

• Mom and Dad are back to work full-time and Meredith starts day-care. The first week was a little rough, but after that everything is terrific and she LOVES it!

• Meredith is a walking bundle of energy. It took her a little longer, but she has it now and she is so happy to be mobile!

October

• Lindsay passes her final exam and receives her CPA - Congratulations, Jie Jie!!!

• We enjoy a warm and beautiful fall here in the Colorado Rocky Mountains!

November

• Our first long trip with Meredith since China - we fly commercially to Miami for management meeting. Trip was a grand success and everyone has a good time!

• We celebrated our traditional Thanksgiving with our good friends, John and Svetlana, and Lindsay and John. We have a good time and feel blessed to have such special friends and family.
  

December

• We have a wonderful, white Christmas - we spent the day with family.

• Eric celebrates his birthday with a trip to Denver and a rival hockey game between the Avalanche and Red Wings. Happily, the Av's win in an overtime shootout! (Sorry, honey, but I'm blogging) Meredith loved the hockey game, btw...

And that takes us to the end of 2008.

It has been a tumultuous year to say the least, and one that many people would surely like to forget. However, I am one that believes that we all need some difficulty in our lives in order to properly embrace the good - sort of like appreciating the light only after darkness. It is a good time to look within and find what we can do for others, even if that means only a smile or a small gesture of goodwill.

Thanks for visiting and following our blog.

Peace and Happiness to all of you for 2009

December Update

Well here it is just past the middle of December and I find that I haven't posted in over three weeks...... again! There just seems to be so much going on in our busy lives these days that we so easily get caught up in it. Lord knows the economy is a mess and now is truly not a great time to be in the business of finance. Couple that times two and sometimes you get a household that is honestly exhausted, (mentally) when they get home at night! Even though we try very hard to keep our business lives separate, sometimes it is hard not to let things spill over when you are dealing with so many variables like we are right now. With all of that aside, the one thing that remains a positive and a constant source of joy and appreciation in our lives is MEREDITH!!

She is doing great! She is a running, laughing, cheerful bundle of energy that starts and ends each day with a hug and a smile. We are so blessed to have her in our lives and can't imagine life without her.

I am working on our Christmas cards, (at the rate I am going they may be "New Year's cards"). So please do not feel slighted if you haven't received one yet. I am yearning for home-baked goods, but doubt anything much will come from my kitchen this year, and my Mom is moving to Oregon, so count her out.....Hmmmm. Amazing where all of the time goes!!

The picture was taken last weekend at a potluck we attended for all of the China adopted children in our valley - -aren't they all beautiful? It was wonderful getting together with all of the great families and their children.

I hope you all are doing well and are taking time to enjoy the season.

Blessings to all of you!

Beach Girl

We spent this past week in the Florida Keys. Every year our Board of Directors has a management meeting/retreat at a wonderful resort in Key Largo. This year Meredith was lucky enough to come along and entertain everyone and enjoy the sunshine and sweet life of a Florida beach girl! She was a wonderful traveler (for the most part), and a real trouper when it came to meeting tons of new people, minding her manners at business dinners and keeping the atmosphere down to earth! I think we need to keep her home for a while now so that she doesn't think that it is her job to walk around looking adorable so that everyone ( and I mean, everyone), can tell her how cute she is!!

Anyway, here are some photos from the trip.

Enjoy!

What Happened to October?

I have some photos from last month's events that I have been wanting to post, so I guess I had better get them out here before I update November stuff!

Meredith had her first haircut - really it was just a bang trim, but none the less traumatic as you can see by the pictures!

We really didn't do much of anything for Halloween. The kids all dressed in their costumes at day-care and trekked down to the bank for some treats. They were all SO adorable, and I especially love the picture of my two girls together.

I am so thankful that we have had such a warm and beautiful fall here. It has been so nice to be able to spend time outdoors - that is definitely Meredith's favorite pastime.