A Morrison Thanksgiving

Sean seems to have some sort of beard. I think it is the same head band that June is wearing.

June loved wearing Elise's headband.

Jerry and Donna, just hanging out.

June immediately took to Elise and wanted to sit with her much of the day.

The Pouts Have It

John missed out on Thanksgiving with the family this year. Instead, he spent Thanksgiving in Japan dining on tripe, cow tongue, and blow fish all of which he enjoyed. When asked about John's absence, his family's faces say it all.

Halloween 2008

June (the skunk) and Shyanne (the butterfly) on Halloween night.

I tried to get a good front view and back view of Junie's costume.

OCD And Other Issues

Those of you who know us know that when we go camping that there is about a 95% chance of rain. It used to be 100%, but two years ago we had a sunny weekend. Our luck for choosing pets is about the same. Whoever we bring home has to be slightly irregular. We haven't had a pet yet that hasn't had issues.

Mandy is no exception. The second day we had her, we noticed that she was biting into the air repeatedly at nothing. It seemed that anytime she got excited she would do this.


At her first visit to the vet, we asked about it and were told that it was OCD which is not uncommon for high energy dogs like Jack Russels. Go figure we would pick out a slightly irregular pet. That's okay though, because she fits right in.

When we first brought Mandy home, she couldn't climb the three steps out front. Only a week later, she's up on top of the end table (above).

To the left she's staring down a raisin that never had a chance. She quickly used her tongue to scoop it up.

Bath Time For Daisy

Gabby wanted to give Daisy a bath because

Daisy was a bit stinky. I agreed, but told

Gabby that she'd have to do most of the work.

Poor Daisy doesn't enjoy bathtime.

Gabby kept to her word and patiently dried Daisy.

Here's the final picture. She's still a bit damp,

but good enough for now.

New Addition

We adopted Mandy May from a local SPCA on Saturday. She was found abandoned on the side of the road a couple of months ago, so the SPCA workers aren't sure of her exact age or past life. She is very gentle and loving, but shy. Loud noises or sudden movements scare her, but she quickly recovers when she realizes that it won't hurt her. She has her first vet appointment tomorrow. Hopefully it will go well.

Art Work Part III

I haven't had a chance to post Gabby's final art project from last spring. Unfortunately, the flash makes it a a little hard to see.

This is my favorite project from the year.

Scrunched

Junie found one of Gabby's scrunchies for ponytails and stretched it over her head. Who knew it would stretch that far.

My Hat's Off To You

Gabby then
Junie now

Pasta-bilities

Gabby was trying to be helpful by getting some pasta off of the back shelf for me. She was also trying to make June happy by carrying her at the same time. Apparently she should have only tried to do one at a time. While grabbing the shells, an already opened box of spagetti spilled all over the floor and into the kitty litter. This was only about a third of the spagetti, which looked like a spagetti sculpture to me.

You're Face Will Freeze That Way Part II

What does a hippo say?

Gabby's turn.
Tupperware preserves freshness.

Your Face Will Freeze That Way

John and Junie were practicing their acting skills

by making different faces to show how they

feel. They'd better be careful or their faces might

freeze that way. Surprised is my favorite one.

SAD

SURPRISED

HAPPY

One year, one day, nine hours

THEN


NOW
June has been with us one year and a day. Exactly a year ago, it was eleven at night in China and John and I were taking turns rocking June to sleep. She never ended up using the crib that the hotel provided for us. Instead she slept every night next to me and John, always making sure that at least one part of her body was touching one of us. John and I stayed up late most nights watching American movies with Chinese subtitles while Gabby slept comfortably on a cot covered with two feather in the next room. She had her own large, wall mounted flat screen tv which she watched nightly until she easily fell to sleep.

Gotcha day, September 13, 2007, had been was incredibly busy. Our group, a total of 13 families, was supposed to meet their the babies at 2:30pm, but ended up waiting at the government offices for about and hour after we arrived. When the nannies brought the babies out it was amazing. Every baby had a different reaction to meeting her new family. Some were quiet, others cried, and some ignored their new people. Once all of the babies were united with their families, the nannies came out to tell us about our babies and answer any questions we had. Since June was the only baby from her orphanage, we had her nannies all to ourselves.

When all of the questions were answered, the exchanging of money took place. It felt awkward to watch the nannies count out the $3,000 in cash that we had brought as an orphanage donation. It didn't seem to bother the nannies.

Once that was done, we all gathered to make our way back to the bus which took us directly to the hotel. Looking back, the day was gone in a blink. Now, a year later, it is hard to believe that it's been that long.

Last Homestudy Visit

China requires that you do three follow-up

visits with an adoption caseworker after the

adoption. Each report that goes to China

needs three or four photos of Junie.At least one of the photos has to include all
the members of our family. We, of course

forgot about it until last minute and had

to try to get one on our own. It only took

me about a half an hour to figure out how

to set the timer on the camera and six

or seven tries to get this photo. Not bad.

Gifts From Scrooge

My grandfather was cleaning out some of the stuffed animals that he had saved over the years. Gabby and Junie were excited to have them.








You may ask, why is this post titled, "Gifts From Scrooge"? Well, let me tell you. Before Gabby was born, my grandmother, Gabby's great grandmother, told me that she would like to be called Gigi. I asked her what she thought we should call my grandfather, who as a kid I thought was a grumpy old man. My grandmother thought about it and said, "Bah Humbug. That fits him." I agreed and we laughed about it. To make it easier on Gabby, when she was little, we shortened his name to Bah and it stuck. We've called him Bah ever since.

Ride

Gabby has been giving June rides in this doll stroller for awhile now. June just decided that she wanted to give Gabby a ride this day. After the bottom fell out of the stroller, we decided that the riding was better left for Junie.

On a side note, if you look very closely, you can see pants poking out of the bottom of June's jammies. For those of you who have been following, you'll remember the backwards pjs post. This year probably won't be much different. We put June to bed one night without bottoms on and woke up to a very wet bed and naked butt.

Elmo Time

June has absolutely fallen in love with Elmo. We had a TMX Elmo, but because he was motorized, he wasn't that cuddly and was pretty heavy. Still, June wanted to take him to bed and tried to carry him around.

Gabby is such a good big sister. She noticed how much June loved her Elmo and asked if we could get her a soft one. That was easier said then done. Almost every Elmo we found had some kind mechanics and wasn't totally soft. We were lucky and finally found this one. He kind of looks like someone goosed him, but June doesn't care. She loves him anyways.

Rain Rain Go Away, Come Again Another Day

Hi To You Too!

We drive by this hay bale welcomer at a local fruit stand every time we go to the mall. John and I both thought the same thing when we saw it...

you're number one, of course. What did you think we thought?

The Gabinator

The title says it all.

Oppor-Junities

Mmmm, creamsicle popsicle!

The other day I commented how we were missing so many photo opportunities with
June since I've been sick. John said, "We're not missing photo opportunites.
We're missing photo Oppor-Junities."

Every Rose Has It's Thorn

This is our flower barrel at the beginning of the season.

A couple of weeks ago we noticed an uninvited guest. We call him Spike. This is a picture of the flowering part of the plant. Ouch.

The stems are as thorny as the flowers. With each needle (John calls them weapons of death) being at least 1/2 inch, Spike isn't going anywhere soon.

From The Desk Of Gabby

For those of you who don't know, John has a Prius and loves it. He has our entire household looking for them and counting them when we're on the road.

So, on the way back from the mall the other day, Gabby just blurts out, "What's the least likely place to find a Prius?" After I can't come up with an answer she says, "The dealership."

A couple of days later she says, "What's the second least likely place to find a Prius?" Of course, I don't know. She says, "The gas station."

She's definitely related to John.

Oven Mits

John and I were using the oven to cook dinner tonight. June saw us using the oven mits and found a way to make her own. Gabby's socks are perfect!

Life Is Comedy

I'm relaxing in the livingroom when I hear John say, "June is not afraid of spiders."

Surprised, I say, "How do you know that?"

John replies, "Because she just brought me one."

I say, "Dead or alive?"

John says, "It's dead now!"

Never Eat Anything Bigger Than Your Head

It's official, I'm two!!!

Dad says, "Never eat anything bigger than your head."

Who cares what dad says. I'm gonna try!

Little Sisters Stink

Gabby decided to give painting her room a try. With the exception of a little bit of cutting in and taping, she did it all herself. No matter how hard we tried, we weren't able to keep June from getting into the paint. Now what do we do?