A Special Visit

In September we had a visit from our travel mates Paul, Monica, Claire and Ren. Ren came home from China in February and we were thrilled to finally have a chance to meet him. Ren will be 3 in December and is an absolute sweetheart, just as we knew he would be. Shea and Caia were here too so we had another wonderful mini reunion. The kids had a great time playing together. It's so nice to have a little boy in our extended family -- I can't wait to see them 10 years from now when poor Ren is surrounded by a bunch of giggling teenage girls.

Thanks to Paul and Monica for taking time out of their busy schedule for a visit. It's so wonderful to be able to see the kids playing together and, as always, we love our grownup visit too!

Even with only three kids it's still hard to get them all smiling at the same time, especially since Bryn hates to have her photo taken. This picture cracks me up with Caia's ready-to-bust-out-laughing grin and Claire's "for cryin' out loud can't Bryn just smile already?" look.

Aren't friends great?

The handsome and ever-so-adorable Ren.

Noodles are always a hit.

But ice cream cake is even better!

Catching up.

I think all four kids were in this little tent at one time.

Claire was a good sport and put up with my obsession on tracking how much the kids have grown.

Caia had her turn, too.

Not the greatest quality shot but I love it anyway.

Bye, friend, I love you.

Trick or Treat

We had a great time trick or treating this year. The day started out looking pretty awful with huge snowflakes and then rain but it let up in the late afternoon so we were able to get out. Bryn had fun even though we only went to a few houses. I'm not sure if it was the scary "skellyun" that made her want to go home or the fact she had chips and cheezies and chocolate in her bag (it doesn't get much better than that), but she was happy to stop after just 5 places.

Bryn and her pumpkin art.

We went wandering around the mall in the afternoon so Bryn could wear her Snow White costume. She really wanted to be a witch for Halloween but I'd bought this costume weeks ago so rather than let it go to waste we had a costume change.

OK! I'll smile but only because you said I could have a treat!

This was the official trick or treating costume.

She loved her witch hair.

What Bryn says in this video might explain why I have such a hard time getting a good photo of her.  (Sorry for the length.)




Our good friends and travel mates Kathleen, Pat and Maeve are leaving in a few days for China to meet their beautiful daughter Elspeth. We're so incredibly happy for them and send them all much love. Have a safe journey, K,P&M and give Elspeth a huge hug from all of us. We're thrilled to have another Jiangxi girl in our Xinyu family!