Family Pics 2016

A big thank you to our good friend, Lorna Padley, who endured our craziness to snap a few shots of us for our Christmas card! Thank you, Lorna!!! 

There's a cool little park called "White Pagoda Park" that is a little hidden gem. And it had this really cool wall. It reminds me of  the famous Japanese painting called, "The Great Wave."

It's a miracle these kids can just all look at the camera at the same time and smile. And hold still! They are so playful and are really good friends. 

Dash is so cool. When we asked him about a cute girl in his class that he likes, he just owned it. He's so cool! His poor siblings were trying to embarrass him with no luck. I love that he just knows who is is and is grounded like that. He does his own thing and is totally cool with it. He's read every Diary of a Minecraft book we can find on his Kindle. Playing Minecraft on the weekends is one of his favourite things to do. He's also super into legos and is a great builder!

He had quite a few other poses. Including the two guns shooting at you. He's quite the comedian and is always making us laugh. (Especially his dad!) He is loving the Julius Ceasar play they are doing at school. He memorized his parts in two days and has loved practicing for it at school. He finished all of the Percy Jackson series and thinks they are awesome. He loves playing in soccer tournaments with his friends. Lego creations have taken over his room. 

Chael just started taking Taikwando classes once a week and he loves it. He does a lot of cool kicks that look pretty good to us. We have no idea what good form is but he is a strong boy and loves Taikwando! He does well keeping up with his big brothers and sisters and pretty much enjoys doing whatever everyone else is doing. If he could eat a cheese burger everyday he would. He thinks they are the best food group ever. His mother makes him eat his vegetables though... the poor thing! I think he asks me for a cookie or chocolate or candy almost everyday. Not sure where he came from! He still wins us over and the rest of China with his charm and smile. 

Callie is at least 5'8 now! No one thinks she's only 12! My baby! She loves her teachers and her classmates and fortunately loves learning. I love that about her! Thanks to some wonderful mentors in her life. She's the only American student in her middle school and speaks mostly English at school but quite a bit of Mandarin too. Her Mandarin is really fluent. She's amazing and we are super proud of her. She's really a wonderful tutor to her little brothers and others. So special. She's missing sport opportunities this year but hopefully next year there will be some great options for her. Sports and books. That's her thing.

!!!Merry Christmas, Happy Diwali, Happy Hanukkah and Happy New Year!!!