A Christmas Party - December 19th

The kids before we left for a party at our good friends, the Veerman's house. The kids had a blast and a special person made a guest appearance and the kids were quite intrigued.

Been a while

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Happy belated New Year to everyone. We all hope you have had a great holiday season, especially all of you newly adopted children out there (and their parents of course). Although we have not posted in a while we have been busy living through new experiences with our kids. What (mostly) fun we have had! Kristina's first english sentence while shopping at Sams Club "I like Pineapple." to Johns mimicking of everything we (especially his big brother) say, from "Oh My Gosh" a couple of weeks ago to the latest "BEEEEEE Careful!". Their first time Sledding this past Saturday to trying to explain that Santa will NOT be Coming every night! Kristina bringing home paperweights for each of us from Secret Santa at school with a different character from Dora the Explorer. Watching them develop favorite shows on TV...Dora and Penguins of Madagascar along with their moms favorite (JK)...Spongebob Squarepants. Kristina has started Gymnastics at a local gym on Monday nights and is really catching on, she works so hard she left the gym last night and looked at us and when PHEW! PEET? (drink) and chugged down some water. Shes having a lot of fun. It works out good for JT also as there is a play area at the gym for the kids who are not taking class and he is getting exposed to playing with other kids and learning how to share toys (which is a challenge at times due to their past experiences at the orphanage). We have a ton of outings planned for the next few weeks; an FRUA/CHEER Grandfather Frost celebration in January as well as a trip to see the Monster Trucks and the Moscow Circus. Keegan is in the middle of finals right now in school and we are proud to say that it looks like he will make high honors for the 2nd quarter! Hopefully he will do well on his finals and make it for the semester also. So we are all very busy and are just enjoying life. Hope you all have a great new year.

Kenny and Gloria.

The little guy turns 5

Our little man turned five on Sunday. We had a party at the house and had a good crowd there to celebrate with us. He got lots of toys, clothes, puzzles, cars, and trucks. He loved every minute of it. We believe he really likes all this party and present stuff. He is like an old pro now - opening gifts. We are a little worried that after Christmas, it might be a let down for the kids when the presents and parties aren't as often. We were a little concerned how Kristina would react to just John getting gifts, but it wasn't a problem, she just helped him open his. We are very lucky to have such great families and friends to celebrate with us. So until later............

Adoption Shower

All we can say is ...............Thank you Robin! It was a blast!

The cake was not only pretty, but it tasted really really good! There were about 55 people in attendance and it was a really good time! The kids made a haul and had a lot of fun meeting some people that they had not met yet. Thanks everyone! It means the world to us that we have so many people who care about us! So until later................

Kristina's School Christmas Program

Kristina before her school program!

John checking out the Christmas tree!

Kristina in one of her Christmas dresses. This was taken right before we walked out the door to go to her program. When she was trying this dress on she said "Just like Santa Claus". She looked beautiful. She sang with her group as if she had been with them since the beginning of the year. She also played a xylophone during one of the songs. She did a great job and the program was very nice. So until later............

Life as a Duda.......

John by our Christmas Tree!

Kristina by the Christmas tree!

Keegan and Kristina!

John just after dinner!

Kristina just after dinner!

This past weekend we went to the cemetery to put down grave blankets for my mother, my father and my sister. After putting them down, we decorate them. We were not sure if the kids would take part or not. Kristina did but John just stood back and watched. In the end, the grave blankets looked beautiful as always. After having breakfast with family, we headed out to do a little shopping. We got the kids their Christmas outfits (pictures will be posted when they actually wear them). After that, we headed home to decorate for Christmas. On Saturday, we got all the house decorations up other than the tree. On Sunday, Kenny, Keegan and Kristina put up the outside decorations. Kristina had a blast. John stayed in with me and helped me make hot chocolate and dinner. Sunday evening, Kenny and Keegan put up our tree. We did not get to start decorating it because it was too late. The decorating happened on Tuesday night. This year the theme of the tree is Disney. The kids had a blast and the tree looks great. Tonight we put some candy canes on it and the kids thought that was really cool. Kenny and I will finish up the tree by putting on the tinsel. We have a big weekend ahead of us, our friend Robin is hosting an adoption shower for us on Saturday afternoon and our little guy turns five on Sunday. We will be having a "construction equipment" themed party on Sunday with family and friends in attendance. Before the weekend even gets here, Kristina's school is having their annual Christmas Program on Thursday evening. We will be going to hear her and her classmates sing. She will be getting all dressed up and we will take pictures and get them posted. So until later..............

The results are in...............

Blood work and chest x-ray: Doc says the kids are perfect! No need for any shots or medicine!

John & The Dentist: Off to a slow start, a few tears but in the end...........no cavities and his teeth look great!

Thanksgiving: We travelled to Gatlinburg, Tennessee for a youth football tournament (the team Kenny coaches) and the team won the national championship! The kids did very well on the long bus ride. They got to do a lot of swimming and I think it is safe to say, they LOVE to swim.

Football: The kids watched the games and really enjoyed them. Kristina even turned off a cartoon and turned on a college game and looked at the screen and said "Papa". She made her dad really proud.

School: Kristina is liking it very much. She is learning new English words every day. She is even enjoying the homework!

John's English: A little slow but he is learning new words. Every once in a while a word will come out and surprise us all.

This weekend: We are putting up our Christmas decorations. Kristina and Keegan have been putting up decorations for all the previous holidays and she has been very excited. Can't wait to see their faces when we pull out ALL of our Christmas decorations.

So until later..................