Ethan

Ethan was one of the babies that caught my eye when I was at Starfish. He was around a year old and had a more serious cleft lip. He was an early riser and was always awake by 5 a.m. He and Elise had a lot of games of pass the ball with me. While we were there we helped take pictures for his adoption dossier. Even though I don't have one picture from my trip of him smiling he does smile and laugh a lot. If you started to tickle him he would start giggling and then every time you would go past him that day he would look at you and start giggling again. It was super cute.

He just had a surgery after I left. Here is a picture of him from Halloween. 

It's amazing how they can fix something like that. 

I can't wait to see him and the other babies that have changed in so many ways since I last saw them.

China

I just mailed off my visa application today. After realizing that I leave in 47 days, I'm really hoping that they get it back to me in time. The fate of my trip relies on them. This little boy is Tristan and he just got adopted about a week or two ago. His new name is Peter and he will live somewhere in the middle of America (Colorado?). Today we made 12 changing pad covers at mutual and we're now up to 22. More than halfway done! My Starfish stuff is starting to pile up on Oreo's kennel since we don't have any more empty bins. :) I'm so excited to leave!

Another thing I'm excited for is that I'll be spending my birthday in China! I'll get there on the 14th so 2 days later I get to spend my birthday holding cute babies. After seeing this super awesome cake to celebrate 3 of the babies' birthday I decided that I really wanted one. They're super cute and yummy. So many things to look forward too...

Christmas package

We got a awesome christmas package from my amazing Aunt Lia, all the way in Maryland. 

 We got 2 super cute blankets for the Starfish babies

And some books to add to my little board book library that is now up to 147 books. :)

Thanks, Aunt Lia! You rock!

Good news...

My passport came in the mail just two weeks after I applied for it! It was supposed to come by the 2nd week of January so I'm pretty happy. Now I'm working on getting my visa application ready to mail off when my Grandma comes. It's amazing to think that in 2 months I'll be in China! One super awesome thing: I just counted all of the burp clothes that we've been making and we're up to 106! Now onto the sheets and changing pad covers!

What I do while I count down {60 more days!}

I made this video that goes through the babies from when I was at Starfish. Enjoy!

Adoption #71 for Starfish

Isabel just got adopted yesterday. She was only 13 months old, so the youngest one adopted. She was a brand new Starfish when I got there. She has a adorable smile and I didn't get to have Isabel time a lot because everyone else was hogging her. :) She is going to be in Quebec and speak french which will be super cute, of course. Just bummed out that I'll miss seeing her again. Not that I would anyways because one of the volunteers, Sophia, is sort of her "mom". Isabel got treated like a daughter in their family. 

 Isabel and Sophia: Sophia bought these goggles for Isabel (style?).

Isabel in her Beatles onesie: notice the red bracelet on her. We think that her mom might have put those on her, since red is a sign of good luck, so Amanda wouldn't let anyone cut them off until she grew out of them. Seems like every baby that is abandoned has some red scarf or something on them...

Santa's a little early this year...

Instead of having Santa come on Christmas this year we decided to have him come on St. Nicolas Day which meant early presents. Last night we got our tree (9 1/2 feet: we had to settle for something smaller this year) and then I rushed off to basketball and after that we had mutual. Santa didn't get cookies this year as a result. In fact, he got no treats. But we still got some so it's all good. :) Elise, Lilly, and Hannah got these cute Disney Animation dolls. So now Belle, Rapunzel, and Jasmine have joined their doll collection. They all have pretty long hair which is great for them since they really like messing with hair. I would have to say Elise's favorite present was a little make-up kit that she is only allowed to use at home. Autumn got Parcheesi. Chloe got the slippers she's been asking for ever since Autumn got hers. I got Paul Cardall sheet music. It's all primary music and it's really fun to play even thought most of the songs have 4 or 5 flats. I also got a CTR ring to replace the one that hasn't fit me for the last 3 years. It's been an awesome St. Nicolas Day.

69 more days!!!

As you might have guessed we bought my tickets to China!! Now we're praying that my passport and visa get back to me in time. Feb. 13 we leave and we'll arrive at Starfish the night of the 14th. Then a whole month and a week of baby-holding and I come back in the middle of March. I'm so excited to go with my Grandma. And I have some very special people that I can't wait to see again. :)

 Charlotte: I've been talking to the family that's adopting Charlotte and they live in WA so not so far away. She'll get adopted in late Spring, so I'm hoping that she'll come out of her shell and I get tons of time with her.

Elise: Elise and I paid for this sweetie's surgery so I can't wait to see how great she looks in person. I was there when she started standing and on her first birthday so this girl is important to my family.
Elise (my sister) is already planning all this stuff that I have to bring for Baby Elise and Lilly fights with her saying that it is all for Baby Anna. :) They've come to an agreement that they'll share.

Family Pictures 2011: introducing our new family clown :)

So... we went and took some family pictures for our christmas card yesterday. Pretty interesting experience. Between Hannah, Elise and Lilly we had a few entertaining photos. 

Some turned out better like this one...

 This became Lilly's new favorite face during our photos, 

when she wasn't rolling her eyes or sticking out her tongue.

Chloe

 Lilly

 Elise

 Hannah

Autumn

Yep... I decided that my pictures need a bit more editing before I put them on my blog. Since I'm the oldest my pictures come last. By then I'm freezing-my nose is red and I look cold. I might forget to put them up. :)

 Here's one of Autumn and I. We haven't had a picture of just us two for a while so we had a little fun. :)

Change of subject: I just got my passport papers in, so I'll have my passport by January and then it's visa time! Can't wait to get some baby-holding time. Especially Miss Robyn. :)

What's really fun...

It's really fun when you have people over for the night and you start Just Dancing. Jessica, Hannah, Rebecca, and Helen were awesome at dancing. We got some amazing videos that I have to figure out how to upload on my computer (too long). Then I go to check the clock...oops. It was already one. Stayed up for a few more hours after that. And played Curses when we remembered between conversations. :)Then I went baby-sitting today. I'll be suffering from lack of sleep soon... :)

Two of the new Starfishes

{Mae: she has a cleft lip and I really like her name. Partly because Mae is a family name}

Amanda went and got 7 new babies from the "Big O" a couple of weeks ago. 

They are so cute! Counting down the days until I get to see them. 

I did just get my passport picture, so we can get my application in soon. 

{Robyn: she has a cleft lip too and is so cute! I saw her in this outfit 

and thought "hmm... that looks familiar." Wonder why?}

Figured out. Mia wore that outfit tons while I was there because I put it on her tons. :)

Yum...

I'm going to eat a gazillion of these when I go back. It'll be my birthday treat. :) 

The custard ones are the best.

Funniest video ever...

revenge on the telemarketer

Things I'm already missing about summer...

1. blue skies (we seem to lack those in Oregon)

2. random trips to the beach with friends

3. no school

4. girls' camp

5. hanging out with friends all of the time since they don't have school

6. flip flops (i feel like i can never find a pair of socks!)

7. being able to wear short sleeves without having to find a sweater to match my outfit

8. just sitting around doing almost nothing

Cookie Time!!

Today Makayla came over and we made ginger snap cookies for personal progress. We learned something cool: the reason why you chill cookie dough is so your cookies are fluffier. The house smells good now and we have some yummy cookies. The best thing about ginger snaps: when you burn them they still taste good because all the spices drown out the burntness.

Promised picture from Disneyland...

Here's me with Rapunzel and Flynn Rider. My one regret in life: not getting a better picture of me with him. Rapunzel had to ruin it all. :)

Unified Sports

{the girls on my basketball team: Jo, Me, Sayla, Jasmine, Beth, Jensen, & Emilee}

 I have the opportunity of doing this awesome thing called Unified Sports. I started at the beginning of this year doing basketball, which I have no talent at. All the kids on the teams are so sweet and are so nice to each other. I had so much fun and made new friends. The best part: no one judges you for how you play. I decided to do soccer this fall because that is something I'm a lot better at and I felt like I could contribute more. Emilee and Sophia did it with me and it was a blast. My team (your worst nightmare) was amazing. I hope I'll be able to do it next year. I love watching them all play and they play really well. Some of them have an amazing foot. 

{this is Jasmine. she was on my basketball team and is the sweetest cheerleader ever even when they won't let her play because of her wheelchair}

Do you know what's gross...

When you are cleaning out your room and going through your old toys that you still keep and find that a gross bug has been making one of them it's home. Ugly fat larva in my stuff= not cool. On a side note: I'm super proud of myself for not screaming my head off. What's extra sad is that is one expensive belonging of mine. :(

Love this video...

Love this...

Halloween 2011

 My "starfish" pumpkin

Halloween this year was super dooper fun. I started off the day by going to piano early (not so fun). Then I got to go get my hair cut (fun:pictures to come). Then there was crazy stuff that I don't remember...and the awesome Halloween dinner at Hannah's house. After that we came up to my house to go trick-or-treating. Emma, Hannah, the Knaupps, and the Woodwards joined us this year. Lilly lasted for about one street before she admitted that she wanted to go home and was done. Elise lasted a little longer after that. I was a cowgirl this year. Just used the outfit I wore to the trek kick-off and added a hat. Simple costumes rock. 

 Hannah: Kaya (an american girl doll that's an indian)

 Elise (sailor sweetie)

 Autumn (Mary Poppins)

Lilly (little bo peep)

this was my personal favorite cuz it included spray painting my dad's cane

Chloe (poodle skirt girl)

Pumpkin Patch 2011

This year, instead of going to Lakeview, we went to the pumpkin patch that our tulip fields turn into in the fall. It was super fun with pumpkin and potato shooters (we almost got hit by a pumpkin), paintball gallery, and archery and BB guns. By the way I have awesome aim. :) We didn't get a pumpkin, which I think defeats the purpose of going (besides hanging out with friends). We did have to ride the "cow train". It's kind of super uncomfortable, but it's a family tradition so Mom wasn't going to let me get out of it. At least Emma and Emilee got to do it too, so I wasn't a loner. :)

Halloween is in 2 days! Pictures of costumes to come. 

Today I carved my adorable pumpkin. Guess what it is? 

Miss Mia: my little starfish-part 2

Sad news. Mia had her 2nd surgery in September and she passed away the day after. Sigh. That leaves Chris, Grace and Luke as the only ones left out of the 6 that started.

One a happier note: look at how good Mr. Isaac looks now! He got his surgery in April.

 April

Now

Best of EFY

I got to go to Best of EFY with all of my friends on Saturday. It was really fun. The speakers were really good. The only problem was that I had to wait 40 minutes extra for my pizza because they ran out. The first guy that spoke was Brother Jacobs. He talked about being "steadfast and immovable". Then was Sister Terry. She challenged us to read the Book of Mormon in a month (more about this to come). Last was Hank Smith. He was hilarious. He talked about friends and the difference between loving friends and loving having friends. I don't think I just made sense, oh well. :)
So back to Sister Terry... I took her challenge and started reading that night. By Sunday night I was in 2nd Nephi. By Monday night I was in Alma. And guess what I just did. I just finished the Book of Mormon in 66 hours. I'm feeling pretty awesome about it. On top of the fact that I just finished my Personal Progress. What am I going to do now? :)

Amazing Video

Operation Smile made this amazing video about a little girl in Brazil who is around 4 that got her cleft lip surgery. The delight in her eyes when she first sees herself after the surgery is priceless. 

 www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4nUkE1moT-g

General Conference

This last weekend we got to listen to General Conference, which is when we get to listen to our Prophet and church leaders counsel us. It is always very uplifting and there always seems to be this one talk that just sticks out. I really enjoyed General Conference this October because I didn't get to watch it in April because I was in China. I'm so proud that I only had to miss 1 session this time for soccer. Sometimes my games are at inconvenient times. The talk that popped out at me was the one by Carl B. Cook with the story about his elevator experience. So many times we are looking down, but we need to remember that it is always better to look up.

So...my soccer game went kind of well. Our defense was asleep, but what do you expect when you wake up 15 teens at 6:30 to go play soccer in St. Helens. Not that good of a result, apparently. :) We were tied in the first half 1-1. The second half we got 2 more goals and they only got 1. We had a British ref, which totally made my day. You can't get angry at a ref with an accent. :) There were some calls that should have been called, but we won anyways. I'm so glad that was the last game that I'm going to that was far away. I'm skipping the next one in Molalla for Best of EFY. The rest of our games are at Thatcher expect for the last one in Hillsboro, which isn't far at all. A team has to come all the way from The Dalles to play us though. That stinks for them. It will super stink for them if they lose by a lot. I had my first practice in the rain yesterday. By the end of 2 hours in the rain I was soaked with grass covering my legs and my ankle hurt so bad from slipping on it. Rain and soccer just don't go together. :)

The benefits of having your dad work at Nike

Since my dad works with Nike we always get Nike stuff. That's pretty cool, but the coolest thing for me is the people we get to see. About 2 months ago we got to see Manchester United practice at Nike. That was cool. Cooler: Last week I got to see the US Women's Soccer Team practice at Nike. My soccer heros are on that team, so I freaked out and took a gazillion pictures. If it weren't for the fact that we don't have room on our computer there would be a lot of pictures with this post. They did autograph signing afterwards. I only got 5 due to the crowd, but I got most of the people I wanted: Alex Morgan, Shannon Box, Ali Krieger, Becky Sauerbrunn, and one of the goalies. I feel like a lamo because I cannot remember her name. So the balls they had were black, but so were their sharpies. I had my silver one. Guess what happened because of that. Every single person that signed mine made eye contact with me and asked me for my sharpie and said thank you. Made me feel super special. That sharpie is sacred now. :) Definitely the highlight of my year. They beat Canada in the game on Thursday too. But I knew they would, so no surprise. Yep. I will be talking about this for awhile. Poor Autumn. :) Everyone was there except Hope Solo, who is doing Dancing with the Stars. She did pretty good. 21 out of 30. Abby Wambach, Megan Rapinoe, Rachel Buehler, Lauren Cheney and all of them were so close I could have touched them. Yep. I totally freaked out.

Guess where I was...

Disneyland! It was so much fun to be there with my Uncle and Aunt, Grandparents, the Woodwards, and Dianna. We got to see Flynn Rider do his smolder (i asked). It was so awesome!! I got some more cute pictures coming up, but I won't do as many as I did for girls' camp. :)
So... here's a list of my fav rides:
Tower of Terror
Grizzly River Run
Splash Mountain
Shopping (i know, not a ride :)
Oh. And we also got to see Russell from UP. He still couldn't write his name. Lame. :)

One of the many things I've been working on...

This is a slideshow I made of my cabin from Girls' Camp. It was really fun going through all of the pictures again and putting it to an awesome song. :) Enjoy!

You anchor me back down: Mindy Gledhill concert

The day before I left for China I went to a Mindy Gledhill concert with my mom, Chloe, Autumn and the Woodwards. My family really likes her music and Elise already has a few songs memorized. Jacob and Adam were convinced that they were they only guys there. They were probably right. :)

Baby Anna

The other day I was looking at pictures of the Starfish babies with Lilly-lu and Elise. Lilly-lu said, "I want to help babies in China like you." She wanted to help one that was 3 like her. So Anna became Lilly's starfish baby. :) She made a jar that she's putting money in to help "baby Anna". She goes around all day long talking about how "baby Anna" doesn't have a mom and dad and how they left her in China. It's so sweet to see how someone so young can understand a little. Lilly-lu loves "baby Anna" into pieces. She tells everyone she sees. So cute.
Anna is 3 and still can't walk. When I was there she spent a lot of time in a bouncer unless someone was holding her. She loved to play peek-a-boo and she has the cutest smile.

It's Been 3 Years!

 As of today it's been 3 years since we moved to Forest Grove. 

3 years since I met Emilee, Hannah and Emma (we're the 4 on the right). Love you guys. :)

Forest Grove is such an awesome place. It's hard to believe it has only been 3 years. 

A Trip to the Coast

Since Grandma and Grandpa are here while Aunt Rachel and Chet are on their honeymoon we took a trip to the Oregon Coast. Our first stop was the Footbridge Trail. We finally found the bridge. This was one of the first places we went to after Dad had his stroke. Next was the Tillamook Cheese Factory. We sampled cheese and then after buying squeaky cheese we got ice cream. It was really fun.

 Chloe, Grandma, Brandon, Autumn, Lance, Elise, Grandpa, Lilly, Hannah, Luna, Me