Happy 6 month gotcha day celebration: October 28, 2009

We celebrated our 6 month anniversary with Mika today! It's so amazing to think about all the joy and excitement we have felt over these past six months. We are so blessed to feel like our family is finally complete and we're very happy. Taiwan will forever hold a very special place in our heart and we look forward to returning there some day when Mika is older to show her how beautiful her homeland is. She and Max are both wonderful children and we're very lucky.

Mika's first trick or treat adventure!

Our first Halloween together!


Mika and Mommy made a Halloween bat using her hands!

Waiting for her bat to dry.....

Max and Mika are ready to go.

Mika is an adorable Tinkerbell. That's the very first video we watched with her after coming home from Taiwan. Mika calls the movie "Tinkerbell fly!"

Armed with 2 buckets and ready to go. The more candy the better!

Our first stop was Angie's house. We've been friends for about seven years and they're stationed on Okinawa right now too. Mika loves her! Angie always gives her Pez candy.

At Mike and Angie's house.

It was pouring down rain, but as you can see by the smiles on their faces, they didn't care.

Mika and Daddy.

Mommy and Mika. Our friend Yori joined us.

Mika with our friends Erika and "Maki cry." Mika calls her "Maki cry" because the first time she met Mika she cried the entire time we were at lunch. Now we all call her by her new nickname. Hello Maki Cry.

Mika and Max surveying the loot....

We had such a wonderful time taking Mika trick or treating for the very first time. We watched several Halloween cartoons to help prepare her for the big night out. We also let her practice knocking on the door and giving her candy, so after about a month of all this excitement, she was ready to go! She wasn't shy at all and said trick or treat at almost every house. As we were walking down the sidewalk around 7:30, she said
" Mommy, Mika tired, Mika all done." She's so cute when she makes these little announcements so matter of factly. She and Max had lots of fun...even if it did pour down rain. We went to Camp Lester. That happens to be the first base we took Max trick or treating when we moved to Okinawa back in September of 2000. It feels a little surreal sometimes to take Mika to the same place we took Max so many years ago. We are truly blessed.

Getting ready for Mika's first Halloween

We had fun decorating the house for Mika's very first Halloween!

She wasn't too sure about the Frankenstein on the front door, but she warmed up to him after a few minutes.

Everyday after David comes home from work and takes off his uniform boots, Mika puts her shoes next to his by the front door. It's very cute!

Her Trick or Treat costume is Tinkerbell! That's the first movie we ever watched with her after we brought her home from Taiwan. It has a special place in our hearts.

Max turns 16?!!! Happy Birthday!

We took Max to Okuma to celebrate his 16th birthday. Okuma is located on the northern end of Okinawa is a military resort that's open year round. It's really the only place to go when you need to get away and recharge/relax. The scenery is breathtaking!
It's so hard to believe Max is 16....the years have gone by so fast. We've now got one learning to drive a car and one trying to learn how to drink from a cup!!! It's always interesting at our house these days.

Mika is 3 years old! September 6, 2009

Mika celebrated her 3rd birthday with lots of friends and a huge cake!
She ate noodles for her birthday breakfast and opened one of her presents afterwards. She wasn't sure what to do with the presents and tried to give it back to me. After we told her it was for her, then she slowly opened it. We rented the bowling center on Camp Kinser and 23 friends joined us for her special day.
She had a Hello Kitty party and loved all the decorations. She was very shy when it was time to sing happy birthday and blow out her candles, but other than that, she was very happy and friendly to everybody. She loves bowling and had lots of fun bowling with Max and the other kids. It was a wonderful day! She loved all of her gifts and her favorite is the Disney iron/ironing board set Max gave her, Baby Einstein flashcards that have bright pictures on them, and the Leapfrog game. She loved wearing her "Taiwan dress" to the party!

August Videos galore!