Some photos to share...

View of Mt. Le Conte from the deck of our chalet

Gorgeous view!

It got pretty cold in the Smokies. The morning after we arrived..there were snow capped mountains in the distance.

Out for a walk

Lydia's first cousin--Camron. She is helping him drink his juice.

Camron, who is 3, was showing Lydia how to play with his toy.

Lydia got a kick out of seeing herself in this giant mirror.

Family of 3

My brother, his wife and son. Family of 3...but soon to be family of 4!! :)

My dad with the grandkids! What a site!

Aunt Brookie with Lydia

Camron and Lydia hugging...too cute.

We had a very short trip to Gatlinburg to hang out with my dad, step-mom, brother and his family. Lydia had the worst runny nose before we left. We had to leave our Gatlinburg getaway early because both Lydia and I had fevers. Lydia's fever would not break and finally we got her to the doctor on Monday. Lydia has an ear infection with a really bad cough. I have the flu. John isn't himself either...we are just a mess.

Pray for us. I am going chill for bit to regain some of my strength before Lydia wakes up from her nap.....have a good one...

Sniffles...Runny Nose and all....

Sorry it has been so long since our last post. It's been crazy around here and our poor Lydia has got some sinus stuff going on. This is her second time having it this month. The first time, she actually had an infection and we were not able to go to the Chinese New Year Celebration. We also had a very sick cat! So, needless to say...we are ready for everyone to get well.

We will post more next week....Our 14th Wedding Anniversary is tomorrow!!! Yea!!

Hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day...my sweet husband bought me beautiful pink roses! They were gorgeous!!

Made in China, plus first timers....

First time we have ever painted her nails! We chose the nail color "Adore You!"

Lydia shaking the nail polish bottle...copying after Momma....

"I like this color!"

Made in China

Too cute!

"I love running...I just love running!! Look at me go!!"

Momma painted her fingernails (um..for the first time in a L-O-N-G while!) and it was the first thing she noticed about me when she woke up from her nap yesterday. After she noticed it, she would point to her thumb nail...I guess she wanted her fingernails painted too!

So today, I thought I would "wing it" and try to paint her fingernails. She LOVED it. She was still the whole time! I couldn't believe it! They turned out so nice. I painted her thumb nail--the thumb she typically sucks on...then I thought...I better not..so she has no paint on that thumb nail. She doesn't seem to mind one bit!

This weekend, we are going to a big Chinese New Year Celebration through the FCC (Families with Children from China) and we are dressing her all up in her pink Chinese dress and matching shoes. Her nails will totally match her dress...I know...like she really cares! :) We have also been practicing Chinese language. She knows how to say "thank-you" and "hello"! It's a start!

Right now, I am letting her feed herself some yummy lasagna and as you probably guessed it..it is everywhere! Gotta go..duty calls!

Have a great day!!

Feeling a bit mushy....

Last week was somewhat stressful for our family. With no power, lots of snow and ice, trying to dig ourselves out of our driveway, messed up schedules....etc....

However, Friday night my sweet husband came home with these! I was so surprised! Flowers just make me happy...I know...I even shed a tear when he brought them to me. Big surprise for those who know me...

Anyway, aren't they beautiful?

Thanks Baby...you truly are a wonderful man.

Now..if I can just get my cats not to eat them....hmmmmm......

Winter Wonderland........(you ain't kiddin'!)

Lydia is ready to go night-night

Lydia and Momma camping out on our living room floor because of no power

A tree in our back yard that had way too much ice on it

Ice almost an inch thick covering our trees and wires

Frozen...

It is like a blizzard in this shot..with lots of ice

Snow..snow...snow...

One of bushes out front slumped over from the heavy ice and snow

Our holly bushes were covered!

Well...they talked about a snow storm coming...but this was way more crazier than (I think) anyone expected! First came the snow..then the freezing rain (mixed with sleet)...then it snowed again...then we had some more freezing rain...and more snow..It was a mess. I think we got around 6 inches..then about 1 1/2 inches of ice..then this morning it snowed another 2 inches. I have no idea what it did in Louisville, but we got hammered!

We also lost power for a couple of days...and thank the Lord...we got it back. The temp. was dropping quickly and it was getting into the single digits. They were saying that it could take up to mid February to get all power restored. I was hoping that wasn't true. The first day we lost power, we stuck it out through the night to see what would happen. We were all bundled up and it caused us to snuggle lots! The next morning..the temp. in our home wouldn't even register because it was so cold. So, wonderful friends from church invited us to stay with them. We grabbed the cats and the whole gang, and got out of our frozen home.

A funny story.....I took some meat out to thaw the first day we lost power (we were going to attempt to fire up the grill outside---heeehee--yea..right) and forgot about it..until the next morning (the day when we left our home). When I went to pack the meat to take it to our friends house....it was STILL frozen! You know it's bad when..... :)

John had to work out in this crazy weather the entire week. It has been a really exhausting week. We have a lot to do this weekend and I hoping that somewhere in there we will find time to just REST. Boy do we need it.

So, we are thankful to the Lord for His protection and provision over our lives. We are truly grateful for a warm home.

Fun with Lydia!

Lydia getting ready to give Momma kisses!

"What will happen if I bang this microphone on the camera?"

Lydia singing a tune!

"For some reason, I don't hear anything...?"

'What was that?"

Start your engines!

Lydia checking out her keyes.

Oh, yea...apple juice and water! You can't get better than this!

YEAH!

Pretty snow outside our window. Lydia calls it "Geee".

Tonight we are doing Chinese take-out to bring in the Chinese New Year! Yummy! Also, we heard that there is a winter storm warning tonight through Wednesday morning! Possibly 4-6 inches of snow. If we get that much, Lydia and I are going outside to play. She is currently terrified of the snow, but I am sure we can break her in! Wish me luck!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Today is the beginning of the Chinese New Year. 2009 is the year of the Ox. The picture above was taken in China when we were at the Museum.

We will be cooking up some great Chinese New Year recipes within the next two weeks. I will let you know how it goes! :)

Happy Chinese New Year!