Have a Great 2008!

Happy New Year to all of you!

It's not been a great few weeks on the adoption front, but we feel very lucky to have our family and friends. They (you know who you are) have made our Holiday season quite nice!

The little lady on the left is from our friend Jen, who--as I am writing this--is meeting her daughter Julia in Shanghai. Jen, and many others, have encouraged us to keep our spirits up and hang in there. Thanks everyone!

We decided to put up a tree and test drive a set of really cool ornaments sent to us by Jen. In addition to three other chinese minority dolls, we have a cloisonné rat (as in Year of the Rat), and panda (available from China Sprout; see shopping link at left). Nice!

We spent Christmas Eve with Kristen's mom and brother Anders. It was great to be around family. No shock, but we ate very well, thanks in no small part to food-gifts sent by Kristen's other brother, Erik. We had a great meal of "mojama" (air dried tuna from Spain that we made into a very nice pasta dish) and kobe beef from Japan. For the Christmas meal, grandma Kitty supplied a standing rib roast that we grilled. None of us had really tried that before, but I think we're all hoping to do it again! It was great!

When we got back home, we tried out the gift we got from Uncle Erik and Aunt Charlotte (who supplied the tuna and fancy Japanese beef). As you can see, Jenny's bear is doing his (her?) best to stand in as we wait. Now, this thing is super cool! Neither of us have purchased a backpack in a dozen years and this thing has more ways to adjust it than we can imagine how to use. The hood has not just a sunshade, but a full windscreen and rainshield. It also has "legs" that will allow us to stand her up in the carrier before (and after) we haul her around on our backs. For other interested parents-in-waiting, this is a Sherpani Rumba Super Light, in green tea (available at REI).

Other favorite gifts included:

• Premier status on United Airlines for David for 2008 (a thousand thanks to Gloria); think flights to China...
  
• A heated birdbath (thanks, honey)
• A christmas angel from Hawaii (thanks, Jaydee)
• A very warm welcome from our new yahoo listserv group (thanks to members of DTC Jan 2006)
• Our very first video conference on Skype (Portland rocks!)
• Un poco vino rojo de Argentina (gracias a nuestro hermano, Anders)
• Something/anything from Gardeners Supply (holy cow, how will I choose? thanks, mom)
• Encouragement, empathy, humor and prayers from many of you
• Advocacy (from warrior mom MK)
  
• Understanding better than we do how to weather our most recent loss (we love you, Jack and Maxine)