Happier days!

Life is brightening around here...and I think it has something to do with the warmer weather that has been teasing us as of late. Recently, Drew received a package in the mail. It was from her friend Lin-Ley who lives in Maryland. Lin-Ley is one of the girls from our first travel group to China when we adopted Drew. Drew and Lin-Ley have seen one another at least once a year since we brought them home in 2003. Anyway, in this package among other things, was a beautiful Chinese jacket that Lin-Ley loved, but had outgrown. Since Drew is the smallest girl in our group, Lin-Ley's mom thought Drew would be just the person to give it to! And she was right! Here Drew models the jacket (which she wears ALL the time) to show us just how perfectly it fits! (To find out more about Lin-Ley and her wonderful family, please click on the link in my sidebar "The Herpins"!) Drew wants to say a big THANK YOU to Lin-Ley for thinking of her! As soon as we can get it together, we plan on sending something to you, too!!! Keep an eye on your mailbox!



It's only early March, and in the North Country, that still means winter, but Mother Nature has been giving us a sneak-peek of what is to come by letting it warm up ever so slightly during the day! After our last snowfall, Dean took Drew outside and made this snowman. It was more rotund than this when they built it, but the warmer temps during the day have turned it into a Gibson Girl! Note the corsetted shaped figure, the slender neck and larger head!

Speaking of large head...how on Earth does it stay up on such a teeny little neck????? I snapped this pic because I knew it wouldn't last long. After the girls got home from school, I looked out the window and saw that it had finally fallen. I told my mom the story and she told me that she had noticed it, too, but when she lifted Luci up to get a closer look at it, she reached out and knocked it to the ground! Luci put the biggest pout on her face and said, "I'm sorry, Mommy!!" I couldn't help but laugh! She thought she was in trouble! Little stinker!

Dean celebrated his 41st birthday on the 5th! Happy birthday to the best Daddy and husband anyone could ever ask for! (And aren't I the lucky one who gets to keep him!) Anyway, he's been begging me for a picture for his office at work, and I refused to let him take any of my beloved canvases! So I finally decided to give him something...here's a shot of the finished product below. I ended up taking it back out of the frame and letting both girls write a personal message in the spaces next to the lower picture, but I took this shot before that happened, so you'll just have to use your imaginations!

And here are the pictures I used for his gift. If you look closely, you'll see a hint of pink in their cheeks and lips.

Needless to say, he loved it! On the other hand, I didn't have to wait until my upcoming birthday to get my present! I got a 32GB iPod Touch! It's pretty awesome! Happy early birthday to me!

Today's quotes:

"One joy scatters a hundred griefs." ~Chinese proverb

"In order to have great happiness you have to have great pain and unhappiness - otherwise how would you know when you're happy?" ~Leslie Caron