Jesus is the Reason for the Season!

Let me tell ya, this is a labor of love! My computer is in the shop (second time in a week!) and I am borrowing my daughter;s laptop...which I am grateful for and hate, all at the same time! I cannot seem to type...at least not well...on this thing, and I have to look at my text all the time to make sure I am not merrily typing gibberish, because my fingers are not on the right keys. They are squished together, or something, and it is enough to make me pull out my hair!

Onward! Just got done with all my family visiting....madhouse, as usual. And throw into the mix two 11 mo. old, mobile, curious baby girls...you get the picture! :) My mom's living room is probably 10X14, and there were 19 adults, a 4 yr old, and the babes. YIKES!!! Pandemonium! We ate well, and laughed alot, and it was all good. Crazy, but good.

Miss ShaoXi is busy getting to know her new camera and all it's functions. I have been declared the very best mother in the universe...should you have any quibbles with that, take them up with my girl....and good luck convincing her of anything different! :O) One of her other presents is a trip into NYC on Tuesday with one of her best friends and her mom. Should be fun, albeit exhausting. We will leave about 9AM, go in and look around, eat in Chinatown (where else?!?) gawk at the store windows, maybe have the girls skate in Rockefeller Plaza, see what we can see of Juilliard, where Shao hoy pes to go to college, and who knows what other craziness we will find to do!?!? She is very excited about it, and excited to bring her camera, as well!!!

Got to see my incredibly handsome nephew Andrew, whom I love to death. He is a senior in college this year, and just one of the nicest young men I have ever met...honest...if any of you have 20ish daughters, he is the catch of the century! I cannot believe how hunky he is! :) I love that boy!

My niece Kelly was somewhere in New Zealand, jaunting about. She has become a world traveler, and quite an adventuress! We are never quite sure what she will do NEXT! She has lived in England, France, and now New Zealand. And whilst in those places, has traveled to so many more. Quite the girl, our Kelly!

Hannah, who is a year older than Shao, was here. Poor girl, she got retainers in her mouth on Wednesday. Not only do they hurt, but you can barely understand her. She is glad she is off school for another week...that is how long the dentist said it should take her to get used to them and be able to talk again!

Those are just my brother Bill's kids...okay it has taken me 3 tries to get this sentence right. I'm signing off...here's hoping I will get my own computer back SOOON.

Blessubgs,,,(SEE?!?!?) Blessings!!!!!!!!!!

Nancy

Merry Christmas! God bless us, everyone!

Whoa...long time, no blog! Lots of ground to cover...so here goes!
Most of the last two weeks have been devoted to CLEANING! Gramma and Auntie were flying up from Florida to see ShaoXi dance in The Nutcracker, so house had to be READY for Christmas, and clean to boot! :) It looks wonderful...thanks in no small part to my sister, who came in the day of their arrival and did all the floors for me! I was SO busy with straightening, dusting, putting things away, decorating, that floors would have...well...FLOORED me! :) So our house is clean...and is generally STILL clean, even though, sadly, Gramma and Auntie Milena are gone.

The Nutcracker was WONDERFUL! What a joy it was to watch my girl dance on pointe. However...the weather was LESS than wonderful!

We live in coastal Connecticut. We had a blizzard come in on Saturday. We have well over a foot of snow on the ground. SO...we switched our ballet tickets to the Sat. matinee, and right after the first half, Gramma and Auntie M left for Rhode Island and the airport. I TRIED to talk them into staying and riding out the storm, but no go. Their flight was for 6:30 or something, on Sunday morning. Another NO GO! As we all knew it WOULD be. But they had booked a room in a nearby hotel, and there they stayed until...THIS MORNING...TUESDAY!!!! They are probably in Charlotte NC on a layover as I type. They will be back in FL early enough to have lunch there. What a crazy trip for them! But we are OH SO THANKFUL that they came. It made the experience so priceless! Gramma is ShaoXi's "patron of the arts" but had never seen her girl dance! Blessing!!!

The day they were to arrive...my computer died. The following morning I took it into the shop, and got it back last night. At first I thought it did NOT get fixed. It was doing bizarre things. But I shut it down, came back awhile later and turned it back on, and diddled around a bit with settings, backgrounds, etc., it seemed to be fine. So we are on a watch and wait mode. Thank you Gramma for my Christmas gift of computer repair! PERFECT!!!

My girly went out Christmas shopping last night with my sister Polly. She had a great time, and bought me a whole BUNCH of gifts. Sweet girly. I know she wants so BADLY to buy herself a camera, but she spent her money on me, instead. Little does she know...I could only afford to get her ONE gift this year...and it's a digital camera!! She is gonna be SOOO freakin' happy! :)

We have received many blessings this holiday season. Our church surprised us with some grocery cards, as did the Madison Police Dept. The police dept. also gave me gifts for Shao, as well as some gift cards for her. The Town Soc. Services just dropped off a food basket with a HUGE Butterball turkey in it! We will be able to feed the town with it! It is 18 pounds! Frozen SOLID. It might not thaw til AFTER Christmas! :) Seriously. No, actually, I will probably do the cold water thaw, so I can cook it up on Christmas Eve. We can have fresh turkey sandwiches on Christmas Day! YUM...and soup, too! I make a mean soup! :)

So, as blessings abound here at our house, I hope they are flowing at your house, as well! But I am most grateful for the gift and blessing of my walk with my Lord Jesus, who came as the FIRST Christmas gift, and the very best! Love from our home to yours!

Blessings!

Nancy

Many things!

I hope you had a chance to go to Lynsay's blog and meet Josiah. She also needs volunteers during the month of February, to help out with the babies, as I think her nannies want to go be with their families during that time, plus several of the babies are scheduled for surgery. I sent in an application to do it, but God would need to work mighty miracles to make it happen...like providing all the monies, since I have $8 in my checking account. And that includes money to pay the bills HERE, as well...and someone to step up to the plate and care for ShaoXi. It's a lot, but we have a GREAT, BIG GOD, whose heart is broken for these precious little ones.

ShaoXi is gearing up for next weekend's big production. She was given the role of a Snowflake in the Nutcracker Ballet!!! This is an on pointe part...her first time to dance on pointe!!! Excitement reigns! Her godmother, Gramma Donna, and our dear friend, Auntie Milena, are flying up from Florida to see it! Even MORE excitement!!! We are gonna have a blast! They have never seen our house, so we are on high alert, getting ready for them...not to mention, decorating for Christmas...which in THIS house means a tree of some sort in every room, and stuff GALORE everywhere else! It is really something! :)

Of course, on Sunday Shao casually mentioned that she thought she needed new pointe shoes. WHAT?!?!? NOW?!?!? So I had her show them to her ballet teacher on Monday evening...Yep, she needed 'em...IMMEDIATELY!!! Like, as in, the next day! Cuz it would take time to break new ones in, but there was no way the old ones would last through the performances. YIKES! And to make it all sweeter (tongue in cheek, here!), just before she LEFT for her Monday night class, her ballet slipper broke...the elastic came untied, and one end disappeared into the casing...never to be seen again. I told her to ask the teacher if this was fixable...NOPE. SOOO...I pulled her out of school early on Tuesday, and we headed into New Haven, to the ballet store. $140 later, we left. sigh. But she is all set for awhile. And her precious Gramma Donna is sending us the money to cover it. I charged it. I do have a charge card (silly people gave me one!) but never use it, as I can't pay it back! :) Comes in handy now and again!

My sweet little great-nieces are getting dedicated this Sunday! Should be interesting...they are just in the beginning stages of "stranger anxiety" and I can't imagine what they will do when the pastor tries to hold them! HA!!! Hayleigh will WAIL...I think Cadence will be fine. Can't wait to see them dedicated. So sweet, they are! I love those girlies beyond reason!

That's pretty much the highlights of things here. Yesterday we woke up to snow and blowing wind. While the town we live in had school (90 min. delay), the school I drive for was closed. So I only had a noon time run. Not what I needed...I am still trying to play catch-up from being out of work a week with back spasms in Oct. Can't wait until I can file my income tax...I will get some money and get myself out of the hole!!!

Blessings...Nancy

Josiah

You need to go to my friend Lynsay's blog. You need to click on the paragraph about her new foundling, Josiah. And you need to see why she is doing what she is doing. You need to see why God's heart is broken over these little ones. We all need to step up to the plate. Her blog is www.stinkytofuandotherthings.blogspot.com

Blessings...Nancy

It's the year of Jubilee!!!!!

I have asked for prayer in the past for my friends, the Saunders, who are passionate about adoption and helping orphans. They have been struggling for almost 2 years to adopt a precious little girl in China that they have named Jubilee Hope. It looked pretty bleak about a month ago. Guess what?!?! YIPPEE JESUS!!!! Jubilee will be HOME for Christmas!!!!! IF they can fly home into Colorado...which gets lots of snowstorms...so pray for no big storms there from Dec. 22 to the 24th, okay? Cuz Jubilee NEEDS to be home for Christmas (as does her mama and big sister Emma, who are going over to get her!)

This is some of the best news I have had in a long while! I am so thrilled for them!!!

Blessings...Nancy