HOLIDAY FESTIVITIES

Aunt Sandy & Uncle Marion cooking Thanksgiving dinner.

Uncle Marion

Dave and Rachel waiting for dinner.

Jake just got his birthday present...a cell phone!

Rachel and PopPop O'Neal

MomMom O'Neal

MomMom & PopPop O'Neal with Jake and Rachel

My niece, Mary & Jake

Rachel hanging her first Christmas ornament...chinese lomein w/chopsticks

Rachel loved decorating the tree!

Jake makes sure he hangs all his special ornaments too!

What a beautiful smile.

Excited!

Mommy and Rachel

Jake always helps put the star on top of the tree. Of course Dad needs to assist.

Sweet.

Happy Birthday to Mommy.

A special moment.

MomMom and PopPop spoils these kids!

Our first snow fall in December, 2009.

Handsome.

Mmm Mmm good!

Our blessings!

This snow wasn't very good for sledding!

Wipe out! I've fallen and I can't get up!

Our sweet snow bunny.

Wipe out!

Rachel is not happy about snowtime ending.

Ready for school. We are having our Christmas party today.

Beauty.

She is so posing!

Finally! It's Christmas morning.

Yep, Santa was here!

Running into the living room to see what Santa left.

They are so excited! Can you tell by the smiles?

This microphone is one of Rachel's favorites.

Just what I asked Santa for!

Brother and Sister share a moment.

We got lots of these performances.

Our stocking picture.

I love this on Christmas morning. Everyone is happy.

Rachel with her new mp3 player and headphones.

MomMom and PopPop Crist celebrated Christmas with us!

I guess someone was a good girl!

Aunt Debbie and Rachel.

Our house New Year's Eve with friends.

Tina, Zack and Peter! Friends forever!

Wow, the cliché “time flies when you’re having fun” rings so true these days. I can’t believe we said good-bye to 2009 and hello to 2010 already. We have so much to thank God for and this time of year it seems to be even more evident as we think of those who don’t have jobs or who are about to lose their homes and those who can barely put food on their table. I tried harder this year to give to those less fortunate, because no matter how you look at it, there is always someone less fortunate than we are. We take so much for granted in this country. I am reminded of the ministry outreach our church participated in this past Christmas season and that is collecting money to provide wells that will dispense fresh clean water to villages in India. Clean water, something we don’t even think about in this country when we turn our faucet on to wash our face or to just quench our thirst. There are more people than not that don’t have fresh clean water. The “Fresh Water” ministry put some perspective in my life because I’m sure someone out there would love to have my job right now! No matter how we look at it, we are truly blessed.

This time of year is always so crazy for us, because we aren’t just celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years, our November and December is bursting with birthday celebrations as well. Between family and friends, I have 15+ birthdays on my calendar and that includes Jake and my birthday too. It’s hard to believe that Jake turned 12 years old this year. He’s officially a tween and I’m not sure what I think about that. I think it’s very bittersweet for Dave and me. Jake is an awesome young man and has been a great son and brother too. It’s amazing to watch him morph into this young man and to see him blossom as a brother, son, friend, grandson and nephew. Jake is funny in so many ways and when you are trying to be serious, you can’t help laugh at his goofiness. As silly and goofy as he may be, he has such a warm heart and is so incredibly compassionate. He made a Christmas storybook for Dave and me as a Christmas gift and for the first time, he touched his father to tears. Dave and I read this book together on Christmas Day and it moved both of us to unspeakable tears. Thank you God for this amazing kid! I pray that he will continue to grow into a God fearing, loving and compassionate man and that he will always remember that we love him more than life itself.

We made our way down south for Thanksgiving to visit my family. We stayed with my sister, Sandy, and her husband, Marion. They are such great hostess’s. For the first time in a long time, we were able to stay at my sister’s home. She is in the process of quitting smoking! How awesome is that? Sandy has smoked since high school and was up to two packs of cigarettes a day. Cigarette smoke is very bothersome to me and truthfully, is unhealthy for my family, so we’ve been unable to stay in her home where we then had to spend money on a hotel. She is down to about 3-5 cigarettes a day and is now only smoking outside her home. I am looking forward to the day when she tells me that she is 100% cigarette free, but until then, I am so proud of her for working towards a very challenging goal. She is hoping that she and Marion will become parents soon through foster care adoption, and so far, she is already proving to be a great parent by giving up smoking for her future child! You go girl!

It was great seeing my family in North Carolina. Rachel did fairly well with the drive back and forth. We visited my parents a couple of times while there. Of course they couldn’t believe how big the kids got. I think my dad is completely smitten by Rachel, even with all her feistiness. I’m amazed how well she does with them since we don’t see them often. My niece, Mary, is turning into such a young lady. Hard to believe she will be 16 in March! Wow, that is crazy to even think about! My brother Paul could use our prayers. He’s been battling a horrible infection in his leg and because of his obesity, the doctors are very limited in how they can treat him. The doctors want to do surgery to remove pins from a prior break in his ankle, but because of his weight, they don’t think he will make it through the anesthesia. I pray that the Lord will give him the will and strength to lose the weight so that he can be a healthier person.

In December, we celebrated my twin nieces’ 8th birthday and horses were the theme this year. My sister and her husband, Mark, adopted them domestically and have been in their lives full-time since they were two years old. Hard to believe they are 8 years old now and in second grade this year. Gabriella and Miranda are beautiful girls with a spunky personality. Rachel adores them to death and they won’t leave Jake alone! They love wrestling with their big cousin. My nephew Johnny, my sister’s oldest, is 20 years old and is serving his country in the Army Reserves. He is hoping to go active sometime this year. Again, “time flies when you’re having fun.” I can’t believe how grown they all are!

We celebrated Christmas differently this year. Normally we spend the morning and early afternoon at home and then head to mom and dad’s for the rest of the day. My sister in-law, Kelley’s father came into town for Christmas this year and she wanted to spend Christmas day at home with him. Sure can’t blame her! With that, we had Christmas with mom and dad and Dave’s brother’s family on Christmas Eve following church service. The kids were so anxious to open their gifts. Mommom and Poppop go completely overboard every single year. Mommom just loves giving the kids what they want and she does a very good job at it too! Seriously, it looked like a toy store exploded in her living room. Rachel absolutely had a ball opening presents. She was such a pro at it too. It was funny to watch. Even my niece, Addison who is a year and half, had a ball. Jake was incredibly spoiled with all the Wii accessories and games he got. Rachel absolutely LOVES her new doll house. The thing is almost as big as her. She didn’t understand what it was in the box, but once it was put together, nothing else matters. It’s not fun pulling her away from it these days. We have major meltdowns. Not only do the little ones get spoiled, but so do the adult kids. Mom really goes out of her way to make Christmas special for all of us.

Christmas day was spent at home where we started the day around 7:00 AM. I couldn’t wait to see the kids’ reaction when they walked into the living room. I knew this year would be more fun for Rachel because she completely understands this year. She even kissed Santa on his cheek when we paid him a visit earlier in the month. Jake was thrilled with his new watch and bike and Rachel loved her guitar and microphone with stand. She put on quite the performances Christmas morning. The kids of course were spoiled, even though we promised we weren’t going to go overboard. Some how it still seems to happen! We spent about 2 ½ hours opening and playing with presents and then I started breakfast where Mom, Dad and my friend, Andrea, joined us. I made eggs, potatoes, pancakes, bacon and biscuits. It was mmm mmm yummy. It was incredibly nice and warming to be home and not have to go anywhere. I mean, I love getting out and about, but it was just so nice to be home with my family. Dave and I did not exchange gifts again this year, although Dave did sneak in a very nice family tree necklace with all of our names inscribed on it, and this year I wasn’t sad about it. I’m just happy and grateful that we can still provide a Christmas for our kids and I was truly reminded how blessed we are while I sat on the couch drinking my coffee and watching Dave help put toys together for our two beautiful kids. It truly brought me to tears. Thank you, God, for giving us a reason to celebrate Christmas…your son, Jesus Christ.

New Year’s Eve was a blast again this year. We always have such a great time with our friends, the Townsend’s and our friend, Andrea. This is our fourth year getting together and the Townsend’s even sleep over which the kids love. We always make surf and turf for dinner…Pete is such a great chef (I think he missed his calling!). When dinner was over, we enjoyed some wine and played games. OMG, we laughed so hard. We played a new game called Polish Uno and I can’t even tell you how much we laughed. We laughed so hard that some even wet their pants! LOL. Believe it or not, all the kids, except Rachel, rang in the New Year with the adults. But we were all in bed shortly after! We always have a nice big breakfast the next morning and then we usually get together again later for dinner. It was so much fun and I really enjoy our New Year’s tradition. I hope it continues for years to come!

I hope this post finds you all happy, healthy and blessed. Happy New Year to you and your family! One of my New Years resolutions is to be better about posting more comments and pictures. Hey, if I posted more, I wouldn’t have to write a book all at once.

Blessings!

FALL HAPPENINGS

As I’m typing this, I am thinking that we are already in November and Christmas will soon be upon us. Man, time flies and it really does get away from you if you aren’t careful. We’ve been in school for two months already and pretty much settled in our routines. School is going well for both Jake and Rachel and fall sports are about to end. December will bring a new season of basketball, which Jake is really looking forward to and Rachel will start her third session of dance class which she absolutely loves. And before we know it, we all will be hustling and bustling preparing and enjoying all the holiday festivities.

Time did get away from me, because I didn’t even write about our family trip to Disney World nor did I post pictures and we’ve been back a month already! The positive side of the trip was that it was great to be together as a family and to spend some time together and we got to experience some great new restaurants and fun themed dinners at O’Hana’s, Mickey’s Back Yard Barbeque, and the 50’s Prime Time Cafe. We traveled with my in-laws, Dave’s brother, wife and two kids and my single friend, Andrea came too. We stayed at the Caribbean Beach which was fabulous and would recommend to anyone. We were perfectly located at the resort where transportation was just a 30 second walk and the food court/restaurant was a 2-3 minute walk. The pool area was also close by and I will have to say that the pool area was magnificent and the pictures will prove it! The kids had so much fun. I just wish we had allowed more time at the pool. There were water slides and sprinkler like things to play with and I really think the kids enjoyed the pool more than they did the parks.

As you all know, Disney is not a relaxing vacation and every day is jammed pack with parks, restaurants, traveling, parades, etc…quite overwhelming for my just 2 year old princess. She absolutely hated the trip! She was NOT a happy child the entire week. The Friday before we left should have been a sign for how the trip was going to go. Jake didn’t feel well and had a 102 degree fever. Needless to say, we had to make a quick trip to the doctor where he was diagnosed with a sinus infection and was put on an antibiotic. He didn’t start feeling well until about the 3rd day into the trip. He suffered from horrible headaches and the sun and heat didn’t help him one bit. It was HOT in Florida. On day 3 of the trip, we had to take Rachel to an emergency care facility because she started with a fever and major crankiness. She was diagnosed with an ear infection and was put on an antibiotic. The next day, Dave had to drive himself to the emergency care facility where he was tested for the swine flu. The test was negative, but he had a sinus and ear infection and felt really bad. The next night, our 5 year old niece was taken to the hospital where she was diagnosed with the flu. It was one illness after another and upon our return home, my mother in-law, sister in-law, niece and I got sick! Rachel wasn’t happy with anything we did in Disney. She hated the characters, until the end, where she warmed up a bit to Mickey and Minnie. I guess it’s because they were the smallest in size compared to the other characters. She was so whiney and clingy and I couldn’t even use the restroom without her freaking out because I left her for a minute or two. The early mornings and late nights caught up to her and the rest of us very quickly. We really made an effort to take the kids back to nap most days, but because their schedules were so thrown off, they had difficulty falling asleep. There were 3 nights in a row where Rachel cried during the night which of course caused restless nights for everyone else. If I had to do it over again, we would have waited another year or two. We got home at midnight on a Saturday night and when Rachel woke Sunday morning, she was the happiest clam alive! She was thrilled to be home in her own environment, sleeping in her own bed, watching her own television shows and playing with her own toys. Our vacation was not a total bust, but it was a very challenging and exhausting one. Hopefully our next trip to Disney (not for a few years!) will be more magical for Rachel and the rest of us!

Gosh, before we knew it, Halloween snuck up on us. Thank God for MomMom, who bought Rachel’s Minnie Mouse costume while we were in Disney. And honestly, she was the cutest Minnie Mouse out there. Rachel even won for the “cutest costume” when we went to a Boo Bash in Center City with our friends Ashley and Sophie. Jake wanted to do something easy, so he dressed in Goth this year. He wore all black with a Pirates of the Caribbean t-shirt (again, thanks to MomMom) and Dave’s black boots. Yes, Jake can wear his Dad’s size 12 boots! He wore black lipstick and had a fake piercing in his lip. Friends of ours gave him an arm sleeve that looked like tattoos up and down his arm. I would never tell Jake this, but he looked pretty cute with black lipstick! LOL! He wore a spiked collar, belt and wrist band. He was definitely rocking the Goth look. We trick-or-treated with our friends, the Cardarelli’s, and unfortunately, the weather was not very cooperative. We were able to get a few houses in before it poured on us. Jake pretty much went off with his friends, within ear shot of course, and we walked Rachel to some doors where she knew exactly what to do. She said trick-or-treat and she used her manners by thanking everyone who put candy in her bag. It was so cute watching her. She wasn’t fond of the houses that were all decked out in their scary décor. The rain definitely put a damper on things, but we had a good time while it lasted.

Some of you may know already from Facebook, but we have a new unexpected addition to our family. Bam-Bam, our 8 week old kitten has come to live with us. It hasn’t even been a week yet and we all are already smitten by him. He is so incredibly cute and is quite the little love bug. He runs to the top of the steps when he hears us coming in the front door. He fits right in because he’s just as feisty as Rachel. He loves to play and chase our feet. We took him to the vet last night and he only weighed one pound! Isn’t he tiny? We really hope he works out for our family. About 2 ½ years ago, we adopted an older male cat from the SPCA and it only lasted five months. He didn’t like men and constantly clawed Dave and Jake. It got to the point where Dave and Jake had to walk around the house carrying a squirt bottle to keep Scottie away. What really forced me to find a new home is when I saw Jake opening the door slowly to his bedroom and running to bathroom before Scottie could see him. Scottie was adopted by another loving family. I was surprised how hard I took it even though he was only with us for five months. Hopefully the kitten will get used to each of us and love us, especially Dave who isn’t the most comfortable around animals. He wasn’t raised with animals, so he tends to be a little on edge around them. It’s cute when I see Bam-Bam sitting on his lap. Anyway, we got Bam-Bam from a family who also adopted from China. The Kaufman’s traveled with us when we got Rachel. While visiting them last Friday night, they brought out the kittens in the hopes that we would fall in love and take one home with us. Well, their scheming plan worked! LOL! Bam-Bam came home that night with us. Rachel adores him and won’t leave him alone. I’m hoping it wasn’t a mistake taking on a kitten with Rachel being so young. She does look forward to seeing him everyday when we come home from MomMom’s house.

We are heading to North Carolina to visit family for Thanksgiving. We visited last April, so they will enjoy seeing how much Rachel has changed in the last 6-7 months. I never look forward to the drive, especially when coming home. It’s just so long and that time of year, we always hit a ton of traffic no matter what time we leave. It will be nice to see everyone and then before you know it, Christmas will be upon us!

I hope you enjoy the photos from our October! Happy fall!