Some pics from 2014-2015.

Just wanted to upload some pics of the girls from the past year.

Holly with Big Sis Katie on Holly's 10th Birthday.

Myleigh at Christmas 2014 with her new Olaf stuffed doll. 

Holly at Valentines 2015

Myleigh in the photo shoot Katie did up at BYU in the Spring 2015.

Myleigh and Holly playing with the wagon

Holly with her baby chick, Nia

Myleigh holding Desi

Myleigh with Katie on the plane headed to Mexico

Myleigh in rare form, who knows what she's doing.  Just being herself. 

Myleigh at the BYU Museum of Art at the rainbow exhibit

Holly as Supergirl , Halloween 2014

Halloween 2014 carving jack o lanterns

Katie and Myleigh on the plane headed home from vacation

Holly with Big Brother James on the plane headed home from vacation

Holly with Baemax and Hero at the Asian festival in June 2015

Myleigh grabbing ice cubes with the metal chopsticks at a Korean restaurant

Myleigh selfie

Myleigh at the Payson Temple Cultural Celebration 2015

Myleigh and Holly worn out and asleep after a busy drive

Holly putting lucky money in the Lion's mouth

Some new pictures

Fourth of July 2014

This week is the Fourth of July. The girls really look forward to all the fireworks, especially the ones we let them have, basically just snaps, but, they get to help the adults set up the smoke bombs, tanks, parachutes, etc. We don't do the aerial type, just a bit too scary for me to trust.  We will be having a bon-fire and decorations.  Smores and the like.  Should be fun.

Holly and Myleigh are missing their big sister Katie, she has been in Taiwan for the past two months doing an internship for her TESOL (teaching English as a second language) certification.  She isn't due to be back until the end of July.  We get to skype and facebook chat with her, so, that helps to stave off some of the sadness the girls feel that Katie is so far away. When she gets back we'll have a few weeks and then we're off the Mexico for vacation.

Summer is not Holly's favorite season, because it means no school. Friends in our neighborhood are a few blocks away, so, Holly has a tendency to just want to hang around the house and watch movies.  We have introduced her to the classics- Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, The Jungle Book, Pete's Dragon, Stuart Little, just a whole stack of movies, and that has helped pass some of the time.  We also bought a bigger pool for the girls, as they did so well at swimming in the pools in Mexico last summer.  Holly and Myleigh both have snorkel sets that they practice with, and it's so funny to sit and listen to them in the pool, faces in the water, just the sounds of their laughter coming up through the snorkel tubes.

Holly learned to ride a bike without training wheels this spring.  She really likes the small two wheel bike that she has actually grown out of, so, it's going to be a challenge getting her to try the size that actually fits her. At least she obeys the rule to always wear a helmet,unlike Myleigh who keeps "losing" her helmet.

The school year ended on a positive note, with both girls moving onto the next grade, meaning Myleigh starts Junior High in the fall, leaving Holly as the only Asian child in her elementary school.

We have all of the kids living at home for the time being. James moved back in last summer so he could quit his full time job and just focus on finishing his degree.  He will graduate college in December. Katie and Mindy moved back from their apartment because Katie graduated this spring and will need time to find a job between now and when she starts graduate school in 2015. Mindy doesn't want to pay for rent, it's a huge struggle on her paycheck, so, she's going to just live at home until she graduates. Matthew started college this spring, so, he will be at home for a few years unless something changes in his plans. That means that Myleigh and Holly will continue to share their room for at least another year, and neither one likes the idea that much. They both want their own room. It's funny though, because for the few months that we had a spare room available, and Myleigh moved into it, they spent time hanging in each others rooms together as much as when they shared a room. I guess its more about decorating it their own style and being able to have privacy if they want it.

Ballroom dance lessons

Holly and Myleigh started ballroom dance lessons this week.  This should be interesting as Holly is not all that into dancing, but, she very much wants to be like her older sisters Katie and Mindy.  They both danced competitively and she loved cheering for them, but, never expressed interest in doing what they were doing.  Myleigh, on the other hand, had competed in beginner cha cha back before we brought Holly home, so, she knew what she was getting into.

While Myleigh took easily to re-learning the basics, Holly struggled to really get the patterns and the feel for counting it out.  I'm hopeful that by continuing to take lessons she will develop that side of herself.  She's so flexible, which is pretty handy when you're a dancer.  Her legs can extend unlike most of us, and her toe point is amazing.  Still, coordination may be a challenge until she really starts to understand it all, puts it together into a pattern in her mind and transfers that onto the dance floor.  Holly very much appreciates rules and patterns, and likes knowing the beginning all the way to the end of any story or activity, so, once she knows each step from beginning to end she will not forget.  that's just the way she is.

The school year is winding down, and Holly has been put into resource classes for math and reading and has flourished with the extra help.  Right now, at the end of third grade, and four years after leaving China, she is between and first and second grade reading level and about second grade in math. At this rate she should catch up before too long,  Holly absolutely loves school and can't bear to miss a single day.  Even on the days when Myleigh just doesn't want to go and convinces me that she is just too sick to leave the house, Holly still gets herself ready and goes.  Next year she will be in fourth grade, and the challenges will be so much greater, I hope we can get her to a point where she is close to being caught up.  Myleigh will be going to Junior High school and that means Holly will be the only Chinese child in her school, but she doesn't seem to care that much about it.  To her people are just people, she doesn't see race or color. Just other people.  I pray the other children will have the same attitude but already we have seen racism rear its ugly head in our girls lives.

Before school starts we will be taking the girls on another trip to Mexico.  It'll be a graduation gift to our two oldest kids who are graduating college and moving on with their lives.  A chance to spend time with them before their lives become too busy and times like that just won't happen much if at all.  Holly and Myleigh are going to miss them so much, its going to be good to give them time to make some lasting memories.  Life is about to change for us all as Katie moves to Korea, James moves probably to Portland, and in a year Mindy moves to Korea.  That just leaves Holly, Myleigh and Matthew.  Ever since each girl came home from China they have had Katie and Mindy as almost second and third mothers, hovering, teaching, loving, and playing with them.  A year of changes.  Myleigh turns 12 in May, and leaves Primary at church for the Young Women's group.  She'll go to Young Women's camp for three days in June.  Not sure I'm at all ready for that.

As the nest becomes more and more empty I feel guilty for the children left behind in China.  I know we could bring at least a couple more kids into our family, we have the space, we have the love, we have the desire,but, we do not have the money, so, we just have to accept it.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if the governments of both countries put the needs of the children ahead of their own greed and instead of charging families huge amounts of money to adopt a child that has no family, they actually help unite the children with loving families, not charging the new families for anything, but, instead, put the money that ordinarily lines the bureaucrats pockets into adoption grants to cover the expenses for homestudies and background checks, all the things needed to insure the child is going to a loving and safe home.  A family that wants to provide a loving home for an orphan child should never be prevented from doing due to money.  It's just wrong.

The new school year 2013

Holly and Myleigh started school this week.  Holly was thrilled, she just loves school, and grimaced all summer long waiting to go back.  Myleigh is not thrilled, school goes to slowly for her, and she gets bored easily, so, hopefully sixth grade will be a bit more up pace.

 

They still get confused for being twins, and that makes Myleigh frustrated because she already deals with being small compared to other kids her age.  Holly is almost Myleigh's height.  

Next week the girls have a week of school, and then we leave for a vacation in Mexico.  We have never taken the girls on a vacation, just so many other things always seemed to get in the way, but, this is going to be the trip to beat all trips, so, hopefully it will compensate for not having gone before.  

Getting the girls passports was no small effort.  Seems our government is not able to communicate within their own departmental red tape.  We struggled to get Myleigh's citizenship and had to jump through so many hoops, not the least of which was to go through the time and expense of re-adopting her in Utah.  By the time we were done we felt fairly confident we had everything we needed to apply for their passports, but, no.  The Department of Homeland security was not a sufficient reference for the State Department.  They did not accept the citizenship documents, and apparently the Utah Health Department was not much of a reliable reference either, as the birth certificates they issued were also not acceptable.  In the end we had to send every paper we had from both China and the US before the State Dept would issue passports.  

Finally, just shy of two weeks before our trip, we received the passports in the mail.  So, onto Mexico!  Pictures to follow.

End of summer 2013

Holly has grown so tall, and just never seems to stop growing.  At eight years old she is now as tall as her eleven year old sister, Myleigh, with both of them being Chinese it makes a fair comparison.  although, Myleigh does not like to be compared to anyone, especially not her younger sister.

Language is still progressing, and Holly is completely fluent in English, with not a speck of Chinese left.  That makes me so sad, but, she flat refuses to practice any other language.  It's to be expected, as most kids adopted internationally will end up losing their native language in order to be able to immerse themselves in their new culture.  She does want to learn Chinese in the future, just not now, and I'm okay with that.  After all, she has to be able to get through public school in the U.S., and without strong English speaking, reading, and writing skills, that will be a challenge.