Time to Brag.....

Okay, so I know I spend too much time talking about Lia on this blog so today I am going to take time to brag about the rest of my family - Sorry Lia, Mommy still loves you!

Josh: What can I say about Josh - he is really growing up and I have come to the realization that my days of him living under our roof are quickly fading away. He has been working very hard trying to earn as much money as he can because he is signing up to do a 6 month mission in Switzerland/Thailand. Yes, he will be leaving us in November for 6 months. I cry every time I think of him leaving but I knew a few years ago that Josh wants to see the world and experience many different cultures, so I am not surprised he is actually going to do this. He is going to delay his college for a year to do this. We are very proud of him but also, as parents, we are worried about his safety and him being so far away from us. HE IS STILL OUR LITTLE BOY!!!

Alyssa: Well, Alyssa is at the point in her life where her friends are more important than anything else. I know it is just a phase, but we hardly ever see her! She has been in Competitive Cheer for about 6 weeks now. They are doing extremely well and have taken 1st place in every competition they have been in. I really enjoy going to the competitions and sometimes I think I get just as nervous as the girls do just before they perform. Her team puts in many hours practicing and it really shows. She is kind of a leader of the group and really tries to get the girls charged up and keep them in line - it is a wonderful side of her to watch.

Aaron: My little boy, Aaron. He has been busy practicing and playing basketball. He is a complete sports fan and player. In the morning the first thing he does is tune into ESPN and find out who won the games the night before and who will be playing that night. His ultimate goal at this point is to play basketball for Notre Dame, and I will be the proudest mom in the stands when that happens. This summer he is going to a basketball camp at Notre Dame for a week. He is really excited about it and I am sure he will learn many new skills and improve his game even more. Did I mention he is almost always the high scorer of his team! I am really proud of him and love it when other parents walk up to me and tell me how great of a player Aaron is. He is also a very good team player - passing the ball around to others who haven't gotten a shot, and always high fiving those who scored.

Charlie: My sweet and caring hubby. He works so hard and is such a dedicated father and husband. My own father has been the President of the company that Charlie and I work for. This January my father has decided to hang up his hat and retire after 21 years. The board of directors has made the decision to appoint Charlie as the new President. I know he is very excited about his new position, but it is also quite demanding at times. He does a great job balancing his work load and spending time with his family and I am so proud of his dedication to both. He has many wonderful employees who have been very supportive of the change in leadership, and I know that has helped him make the transition much smoother.

Thank you for letting me brag a bit about the "rest" of my family. We have all been very busy lately so I haven't had as much time to post. Our family is also working on buying a new home. The home is in foreclosure and we are waiting on the sellers bank to approve us to purchase the home. We have given them 2 weeks to process the sale and accept our offer. If it happens we are looking at making the move in about 2 months. The house is only about 5 minutes away from our current home. We are in the "wait and see" mode right now.

So, that is what has been going on at the Halls lately - lots of excitement!

Lia in her "Gotcha Day" Outfit

Gotcha Day 2008



Home One Year Later 2009


Home One Year Later 2009

Friday night we took a few pictures of Lia in the outfit that she wore when we first met her. She also had on some long underwear tops and bottoms and a sweater the day we met her. The sweater was tight on Gotcha Day so it definitely would not fit her today and the underwear bottoms may have fit her but the top would not. Sooo, she is just wearing the hat and outerwear she had on. When I put it on her and hugged her it brought back memories of how she felt to me the first time I held her in my arms. I have to admit, I cried. We also watched our video of that day and Lia tried to reenact the way she was - crying and flailing her head back, only this time she did it with a little laugh and a twinkle in her eye! We got tons of hugs and kisses from her that night, I think she is very happy and does know that we are here for her no matter what. I will also post a picture of Gotcha Day in the same outfit.

One Year Ago....

One year ago tonight (at about 2:00am our time) we were handed our daughter, Lia Elaine Xingzhi Hall. It still seems amazing that we were in the country of China and that we now have Lia. This has been a wonderful year filled with "Firsts" and it has been wonderful watching her grow from a tiny little 2 year old to an almost average 3 year old who is now actually wearing 3T clothes. When we were in China she was wearing 12 mos. pants and 18 mos. shirts, simply amazing. The physical changes are apparent as are the personality changes. She was so meek and mild when we first brought her home - even a walk by of the cats made her cry in terror. Now, she rules the house and I am constantly telling her to walk and use inside voices. I thank God every day for this "gift" he has given our family and I know this has only been possible because of Him. God has entrusted us to be her parents and we do not take that lightly. Our children are all special to us and we love them all equally. Here is a picture of Lia and I on "Gotcha Day" or as Charlie likes to call it "Family Day". The sadness in her eyes is very real as we had walked out of her room in the orphanage about 10 minutes before that picture was taken. The other picture was taken about 3 weeks ago with Baba (she still calls Charlie the Chinese word for Daddy) in the kitchen.

Skiing Video

Going up on the Chairlift



First trip down the bunny hill

Skiing at Crystal Mountain

We took a few days of our Christmas vacation and went skiing up north to Crystal Mountain. Our family loves skiing there and we thought Lia was big enough to enjoy it as well. We arrived on Sunday evening and did the night skiing and we are so happy we did. The weather was great (not too windy or cold) and the bunny hill wasn't very busy at all. We started out on the bunny hill and went down that about 5 times. Lia was doing so well and she loved it so much that we moved on to the chairlift. The first chairlift was only for 2 people so Charlie took Lia with him. She looked so small sitting next to him and I was a little nervous about her falling off, but Charlie held her tight and she sat nice and still. We did about 6 runs with her that night. Every couple runs we would go in the lodge and rest a bit. Since we had Lia between us and squatting down to teach her to ski - we would get tired very quickly with her (not to mention it has been 2 years since we skied ourselves). It was a perfect night and a great experience for Lia's first time on the slopes.

Our plan was to ski again all day Monday with Lia, but realizing how tired we got Sunday night we decided to let her ski in the morning with us and then we scheduled her for the nursery for the afternoon. We were so glad we did that because the wind picked up on Monday and the slopes were very busy. After 2 runs down the hills, Lia was done. We took her in the lodge and took turns staying with her until her afternoon nursery time. She kept saying she wanted to ski more, but we discouraged it and she seemed fine with it. We didn't want her to get to cold or tired so she wouldn't like it anymore. At this point she has great memories of skiing. She went to the nursery just fine. There were about 10 kids in there and lots of toys and play houses and slides. The rest of us then went back out skiing despite the wind and cold. After we were done skiing for the day, we returned to our hotel and went swimming the rest of the night. It was a nice little break from all the hustle and bustle of Holidays.

Hope your holiday break was just as fun!
Colleen