the name is now official....lets hope she likes it. June 27, 2009

Mika received her US Certificate of Citizenship today! Her name change is now official.

2 month "gotcha day" anniversary! June 28, 2009

It's so hard to believe, but eight weeks has passed since Mika joined our family. The days are flying by so quickly, and she amazes us with her laughter and affection everyday. We celebrated the day by going to an indoor play park called "Mona Kid Jungle." We actually visited this park with Max when he was 8 years old and we lived on Okinawa then. I'm going to try to find a photo of that visit to add to the website! Max is a wonderful big brother, and it's really great to see him so happy and enjoying having a little sister.
We had a wonderful day and have lots to be thankful for.

Mommy, Max and Mika enjoying the indoor playground.

Getting ready to slide!

Ready, set, aim at Daddy!










































Playing a Taiko drum at the arcade.















Taking a "bottle break" to rest.



















I tried to bake a cake....and watch Mika at the same time. It wasn't pretty, but it tasted good!

Mika's always happy at dinnertime.

She doesn't quite have the fork figured out yet!

Mika wanted to help Daddy cleanup after dinner. She loves to help, and she'll say "Mika do it!"

She ran to her room and got the stool by herself.

Mika is wearing a traditional Japanese summer Yukata.

It was a long day, and we had lots of fun. (Daddy's taking the photo)

Mika sings her ABC's....almost.

We've been teaching Mika her ABC's for about 4 weeks now, and she almost has them memorized. She always stops before she gets all the way thru, and sometimes starts singing another song all together. She's so cute, and is always very proud of herself!

Max and Mika play Star Wars Wii.....well, sort of!

Mika adores her big brother and was copying his movements as he was playing the Wii game. She's VERY smart!!

Max came into the livingroom to show us that he had wrapped Mika up in a blanket and was carrying her around the house. She thought it was so funny and had the giggles!

June 11, 2009- Having tons of fun at "Round 1"

We celebrated Max's last day of school by going to a new indoor
sports/play area that recently opened close to our house. It's called "Round 1" and has lots of games and fun activities!
Afterwards, we stopped at Baskin Robbins and Mika ate (and liked!) her first ice cream cone!! The flavor was "very nutty vanilla."
I was very lucky and won a few toys from the claw game. She was very happy. We all had a great time.
Max was given a certificate at school for having "Highest Honor Grades" in World History for the entire 9th grade class! We're very proud of him. (he blinked when I took the photo, sorry.)














Mika loves carrying my purse now! She's so girlie.






































Mommy won these for me!

Enjoying my first ice cream cone.....yummy.

Mika's Special Day...1 Month Gotcha Day anniversary

Today is the one month anniversary of Mika's "Gotcha Day!" That's the day she was officially part of our family on this day.
We met our friends Dianne and Leanna for donuts and hot cocoa this morning on Kadena and then went to the frame shop to have a painting framed that we bought in Taipei.
We got a cake to celebrate and Mika got her first balloon. We don't think she had played with a mylar balloon before because she wasn't sure what to do with it at first. She didn't like it that it kept floating up in the air, but after a few minutes, she thought it was very funny and carried it around for quite awhile at home.
I grilled bar-b-que chicken and made broccolli and potatoes. These are her favorite foods right now!

Mika sings.....May 27, 2009

Mika was finsihed with her bath and almost ready for bed......she started singing so I grabbed the video camera. We'd been singing this song to her since we brought her home, but this was the first time she did it by herself!! We're also trying to teach her the ABC song. She loves copying everything we say.