Snow

A new, old friend

I would guess that sometime in early 2006 I signed up to participate in a book swap and was paired up with Kathy. We were both waiting to adopt from China and logged in just two days apart in early November. And both from the Midwest. The children's book swap was to last a few months, maybe 5 or 6. I do not remember, but Kathy and I quickly decided to keep our swap going until we got our referrals long after the official swap ended. This gave our friendship a much greater opportunity to grow as well.

We received our referrals about a month apart in the spring of 2007 and traveled a little later - and in all that time have never had the opportunity to meet until today! Kathy and her daughter had a layover in St. Louis and Olivia and I picked them up and we went to the Mills for some playtime. The girls and moms had a great time hanging out and visiting. It was a ton of fun for everyone! :)

Christmas Tree 2009

We headed to Pumpkin and Pines for our Christmas tree again this year. Olivia was initially not so much into the hike we had to make to get to the field of trees we were looking for, the Norway Spruces, but eventually she decided to come along.

Finally, the perfect tree was located.

And removed.

Since she didn't feel like walking back out, I carried her on my shoulders.

And then, it was time to ride the train!!!!!

How cool am I now!!!

Once we got to the train part, it was a really fun day. No go with wanting to visit with Santa other than to see from afar. We stopped at Cliff and Ella's in Hawk Point on the way home for lunch, brought the tree in and started setting it up.