Happy Holidays!!

Happy post-Christmas and Happy pre-New Years!

We've had a crazy couple weeks here, with family parties, lots of gifts, outings and have been super busy with the kids. I was hoping to get some time to post here before the new year. So, I guess this will be my last post of 2008.
I could write for hours about all the fun we had this past week with Christmas, but sadly, I do not have the time right now. Elliot will be waking up from his nap anytime now, so right now I just want to download some photos....enjoy!








Guess who got a tooth for Christmas?! Mr. Elliot did! So that is what all that drooling and complaining was about. We are looking forward to Tooth #2, which should be popping in soon.

Adoption Day for Luanna- 2 years!

Yesterday, December 20th was our Anniversary of Luanna's Adoption or "Gotcha" Day from China. Here are some of my favorite photos of Luanna the day...pretty much the moment we got her in Guangxi, China on December 20, 2006!




We had some fun this weekend remembering her first days with us and celebrating with family for Christmas gatherings too. Friday, we went caroling at an old folks home near us with our Daisy troop, and afterwards Grandma B. had a very nice Chinese dinner for all of us at her house. On Saturday, Luanna and I spent the morning with her Chinese language class. We had a little Xmas party there, the kids sang songs and we talked about her adoption with the families there.



On Sat afternoon we went to Ken's side of the family and decorated Xmas cookies. Luanna had a fun weekend with her cousins, aunts, uncles and Grandparents too.


Tonight, Ken is taking Luanna, Kateri and Oliver to Disney on Ice. The kids are very excited!

Daisy Fun!

Here are some photos from some of our recent Daisy Girl Scout meetings. We are meeting twice a month at our local library meeting room. Some things we have done with the girls so far:
* Planted an indoor garden (which has since not survived:(
* Made wooden Daisy necklaces
* Painted Christmas ornaments
* Read stories each week from our Daisy Garden book
* Filled in interesting facts about ourselves and colored in our books
* Created our own Troop Daisy petals with our names on a poster.



We are also planning on going Christmas Caroling next friday to an old folks home, and the girls will be passing out the Christmas ornaments that they painted to the residents there.




We have a great group of girls. All of them are very kind and helpful, and well behaved too. My co-leader, Lori is a huge help, as well as my 2 sisters, Mandy and Megan, who are helping out too. We are enjoying our Daisy troop.

Haircuts, Santa and Baby Thomas!

Last Thursday, Uncle Jeff volunteered to come over and give the 3 boys haircuts. I was so excited because they really needed a good haircut and Jeff is great at it. Plus, the boys do not fuss or complain with Uncle Jeff.
Here are their before shots...what long haired freaks they were, esp Isaiah.




Here are Isaiah's before and after shots too, as his was the most extreme change.



Here are the boys with their new haircuts with Uncle Jeff too. Thanks Jeff!


On Saturday morning, we had our Annual Breakfast with Santa! It is always such a fun event and it gets the kids even more excited for Christmas! Not only do they get to talk with Santa, but Winnie the Pooh and Eyeore were there too, as well as lots of crafts and cookie decorating tables.




Then, on Saturday evening we finally got to go see baby Thomas (our newest nephew!). He was born last Sunday, Nov 30th. Chris and Sarah are adjusting to 2 little boys now and the fun has only just begun! Henry seemed excited to have a baby brother, although he himself is still a baby (17 mos old). Everyone got a turn to hold Thomas and cuddle him up. Baby Thomas was adorable and very fun to hold, as all newborns are.

Happy December!!

My kids love the holidays and so December is a favorite month around here! We got out the Xmas calendar countdown, where each child (they take turns) puts on a felt piece on the calendar each day. The pieces are stars, angels, and the whole manger scene. On Dec 24th, the lucky kid (whoever that may be) gets to put on the last piece, which is baby Jesus. Each morning, the children run to the calendar and we go from youngest to oldest and take turns each day. So far, we have 3 stars.


Dec 1st also marked Elliot's 7 month birthday! He is such a joy! Each day he seems to do more new things, and is growing so big and happy. He is almost crawling. He gets on all fours and then seems to get stuck, not knowing what to do next. It seems frustrating for him. He has perfected calling for "mama" and now he seems to have caught on to "dada" too! The other day, I swear he said "Oliver", as he reached for Oliver. He is an amazing little guy.

I just love this photo of Luanna and Elliot. Look how happy Elliot is with her!


We put up our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving, as we usually do. Like I said, we are very into the holidays at the Traben household. The kids make it fun!


Also, we have another new cousin! Ken's brother, Chris and his wife Sarah welcomed their 2nd son into the world on Sunday, Nov 30!! Thomas Benjamin weighed in at 9 lbs 1 oz, and 21 1/2 inches long....another big boy! We are soooo happy for Thomas and his 17 month old big brother, Henry, too! We can not wait to meet baby Thomas. We were forwarded some photos of him...enjoy!
Chris and Sarah, with their new baby Thomas!

I bet those legs are gonna' be chunky, just like Elliot's!! Yummy!

Happy Post-Thanksgiving!!

Happy belated Thanksgiving!!
We had a wonderful vegan Thanksgiving with lots of family. Did I mention...vegan? Yes, it has been great to have sooo many vegetarians and vegans in my family. I am the oldest of 8 kids and pretty much all of us now are either vegetarian or vegan, except for my brother Vince (the priest/monk), who basically just eats whatever he is served in the monastary. However during Lent he also is vegan. Our parents are also vegetarian, although my dad is only that way because there is no meat in the house anymore :)

Even though many people can not imagine a Thanksgiving without turkey...it has been wonderful and there are plenty of delicious recipes. We had mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet potato souffle, beans and other greens, tofurkey (a wheat gluten/soy dish), gravy, baked brussel sprouts and lots of pies and desserts!! Yum!

Anyways, we had a great day, and drove to Columbus, which is where we have been having Thanksgivings for the past few years. My sister, Christy and husband Luke are the Thanksgiving hosts, and with their new house, the settings were just lovely.


The cousins had a wonderful time playing together.


The BIG news of the day was that my brother, John, and his wife, Stacy, announced some WONDERFUL news!! Yes...my kids are getting another cousin!
John and Stacy are ADOPTING a baby from Haiti! This is the program they are going through for their Haiti Adoption.
They are hoping to have the baby home by next Christmas. They are requesting a baby girl, because Haiti, like China, tends to devalue its girls. Haiti is the 2nd poorest country in the world, and an orphan girl would have no future there at all. So, we say, "Get her outta there and bring her to the USA!!"
John and Stacy...we are soooooo excited for you!!


Isaiah got to sit at the "Adult Table" this year...what a big boy!!


The other kids all sat together at the "kids table" with lovely "hand"-made name-cards made my cousins, Emma and Eliza. Very cute!


Elliot, with his Nurse/Nanny, Fatsy. We brought 2 of our dogs, Fatsy and Morgan, with us to Columbus. The other 4 dogs stayed with a dog-sitter and at the Barkley Hotel.


The girls were all so cute, playing dress-up.