Countdown to the Dells!

Lia and Zoe in September when we went to Minnesota


We are getting excited for our upcoming trip to the Wilderness Resort in the Dells with the Freeby's. Steve and Liz Freeby adopted their daughter Zoe from Shanghai CWI at the same time we adopted Lia. They also have 2 sons who have become friends with our kids and we are all sharing a condo at the Wilderness. We have become very good friends with the Freeby's and feel like we have known them our whole lives. Our families are very similar and we truly enjoy each others company. We are all looking forward to spending 3 days together to catch up. It is amazing how God has connected us with this wonderful family from Minnesota, I just wish we lived closer! Lia says she wants to "Splash in the water with Zoe!", only 10 more days Lia!

It's a Pigtail Day

Lia's hair has finally grown enough that I can put real pigtails in them. I used to put pigtails in but had to hold the hair up in the back with a clip, but now I don't have to, YAY! Her hair seems to grow at an alarmingly slow rate so this is really big news at our house right now. Some other big news is that Josh has been accepted into the YWAM mission in Switzerland. He will have to be there by Nov. 1st and his mission will go through April 18th, 2010. I know he is very excited about this opportunity and we are very proud of him. It will be tough to see him go but we will be in contact with him most days. Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Love, Colleen

Video of Lia "Making Bubbles"

Grand Rapids Childrens Museum

Today I took Lia to the Childrens Museum. We received a year long membership as a gift when we brought Lia home and our year is up on March 1st. I have taken her a few times during this year but decided I would take her today and at least once more before the end of the month. It was just a fun Mommy and Lia day today. On the way there she asked if we were going to see Zoe at the museum :-( I had to tell her "not today, but I will tell Zoe's mommy that they need to move to Michigan so we can see them more often!" HINT HINT, Liz and Steve! Lia had a great time with the bubbles and funny mirrors, they were her favorites. She also had fun just running from station to station and playing with all the hands on toys.

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

Our First Christmas as a family of 6!

Too Much Christmas

Lia by the tree

My New Suitcase

All the Grandkids

Santa Lia

We had a wonderful Christmas with our family. The most memorable part was when Lia started singing "Happy Birthday, dear Jesus....." It was very emotional for me as I kept thinking about what a wonderful blessing we have this year and how far Lia has come since we brought her home.

Lia was so amazed at all the presents and was even a little overwhelmed at times. There was one point where we gave her another gift and she said she was too tired to open it. Imagine that - too tired to open a present! Our kids, as always, got too many presents. We always try to cut back but it never seems to happen. Our big family gift was a Wii. They were all surprised as they didn't even really ask for one. Maybe that was because every time they have asked for one in the past we quickly would say "No way - you already have a PS2" Needless to say they were shocked and thrilled to get it. It has been going nonstop since they opened it.

It is a little sad to see the holidays come and go - it seems to happen so quickly. We hope it was as wonderful for everyone else as it was for us!

Love,
Colleen

More Christmas Pictures

Merry Christmas

Our family would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. This year will be extra special for us as we will be able to spend it with our daughter, Lia. It is her first Christmas and boy is she excited. I really think she "gets it". Last night she was singing "Happy Birthday dear Jesus, Happy Birthday to You". She understands who Santa is and she is actually a little afraid that he is going to come in our house when we are sleeping, but she knows mama and baba will keep her safe. She has certainly come a long way this year and has been such a blessing and joy to our family. I will post a couple pictures of our family putting up our tree and decorating cookies, Grandma Rahe made Lia's cute apron. I'm sure I will have more pictures and maybe video in the next couple days.

Meijer Gardens and Mommy and Me

Lia and I spent Friday morning at the Meijer Gardens with our Mommy and Me group. We had a smaller group this month which was fine since the gardens were quite busy. There were over 100 Christmas trees decorated from various countries. We spent about an hour looking at the trees and then all went in the coffee shop for lunch. It is really inspiring to get together with these families and hear their adoption stories. It is amazing how God works to connect families with their children and to connect families to families. We have met so many wonderful people through Lia's adoption and have made lifelong friendships that we cherish.

Polar Express Train

On Sunday morning Charlie, Aaron, Lia and I got up bright and early and drove 1 1/2 hours to Owosso, Michigan to ride the Polar Express Train. The train is the train that the author of The Polar Express wrote the story about. They also used this train to record all the sounds of the train used in the movie. It was a lot of fun and the kids both really enjoyed it, as did Charlie and I. We rode the train North for a little over an hour and then got off the train and went into this large heated warehouse. The warehouse had Santa, a magician, a carousel, huge slide, dumbo type ride, small train ride, small train set, and food booths. All the activities were included in the train ride price and the kids could do them as many times as they wanted. Lia even went up and told Santa she wants an Elmo for Christmas (I bet she gets one too!) She wouldn't sit on his lap though, daddy had to hold her. We were there almost 2 hours. The train ride is so popular it was sold out for the season by early November, and they even added an extra passenger car to each trip. If you live in Michigan I would recommend this ride for your children. After we arrived back to the station the snow started up. Our drive home took almost twice as long as our ride there, but at least we arrived home safe and sound.

Birthday Weekend

Well this was mine and Aarons birthday weekend. My 40th birthday was Saturday and Aarons 10th birthday was Sunday. When Charlie and I were first married I always told him I wanted to be done having children when I was 30 years old. Well, Aaron was born the day after I turned 30 so I guess I was pretty close on that wish. However, I never said I didn't want any more children after I turned 30! I love you Lia. Anyway, Saturday night we were SUPPOSED to go to my parents house for an early Thanksgiving Dinner (looong story). It ended up being a surprise party for me. I did have a little idea all along that it was going to go that way, but I was still surprised and had a great time. Some friends I haven't seen in a long time showed up and it was great reconnecting to them.

On Sunday, we celebrated Aaron's birthday by taking him and a friend to Chuck E. Cheese's. He always has a good time there and he and his friend really racked up the tickets and both got a nice prize as we were leaving. I can't believe he is already 10 years old. He is such a sweet, and caring son (even though at times he makes me crazy), but I wouldn't trade his personality for the world. He always tells me he was my late 30th birthday present. Yes, Aaron, you are! I hope you had a wonderful birthday Aaron, and I enjoyed sharing the birthday weekend with you. I Love You!!

Sisters Hanging Out

Here is a video of Alyssa, Lia, and Molly (Alyssa's Friend) getting crazy together. Lia loves it when Alyssa plays with her and lately they haven't had time to play much with Alyssa's busy schedule. It was fun to watch them!

Families with Children from China Playgroup

On Friday, Nov. 14th, Janell, Abigail, Lia and I went to the FCC local playgroup called Mommy and Me. We met about 10 families from the area with girls about the same age as Abigail and Lia. We spent a few hours playing, snacking and making turkeys by tracing our hands. The girls had a great time and it was nice meeting families just like ours. Mommy and Me meets about once a month so we are planning to try to go each month.

Happy 20th Anniversary Darling!

Twenty years ago today, I walked down the aisle with the man of my dreams. I can honestly say that I am more in love with him today than I was that day. Who knew what paths our lives together would take and that we would have 3 children and then both feel "a calling" that our fourth child was waiting for us in China. I thank God every day for our family and my wonderful husband. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY SWEETHEART!

I pray that we will have many more anniversaries and a lifetime of sweet memories.

Love you,
Colleen

Happy 18th Birthday Josh and Happy Halloween

Today is my first baby's 18th birthday. I still can't believe it has been 18 years since I first saw his little face. We brought him home on Nov. 2nd, 1990 and it was 70 degrees out that day - not normal Michigan weather for sure! That first night home he was a little fussy so Charlie and I slept on our bedroom floor with him between us (We had a waterbed so that would not have been good in our bed). He was a really great kid and he has grown up into a responsible, polite, loving, hard working, and intelligent young man. We are very proud of him and know he will do great things in this world and never let any grass grow under his feet. Here is a picture of him just a couple days ago wearing his favorite shirt that he has worn since 4th grade (you can see him wearing it years ago in the little apple picture).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH - WE LOVE YOU!!!

IT'S A GIRL!!

PINK...PINK...PINK... We cannot believe it - It's a GIRL! Can you tell I'm excited! My brother just called and he said those words I never thought HE would say It's a Girl! If you don't already know, my brother has 3 wonderful boys: Matthew 5 yrs.old, John 3 yrs. old and Justin 2 yrs. old and now they have a little girl....Carolyn Marie. My parents now have 5 grandsons and 3 granddaughters. Just one year ago it was 5 grandsons and 1 granddaughter - the girls are catching up. I will post a picture when I get there to see her ... hopefully tomorrow evening. Lia now has a little cousin to play with - very fun!