A FLURRY OF SMILES

Just look at those grins!!! so excited and having a blast! Well, what do you expect when you finally get everything you've ever wanted!!! A flurry of smiles during the first snow flurry of the season!

So yep...Santa Claus made an early stop this year at our home - we must have some very good kiddos because looky at what he brought them! Andrew's face was simply shining with happiness! We were just so very excited to do this for all of them - they are the best kids in the world! We don't have much money, but lots of love to give them, but somehow God always provides a way and this was certainly a long time coming for Andrew.

What a wonderfully patient son we have, he is the BEST! We are blessed to see him be thankful for the little things, content with what is given, and of course super, duper, over the top excited when the big things happen too!

He just kept saying over and over again... "WOW! I can't believe WE have a swing set! Thank you Mom! Thank you Dad! Wow! I can't believe we finally have one! I've always wanted this!"

Hollyn and Jessa were so excited to have their very own swings and slide! We will still walk down to the park and play, but now we can play at home too! These I took the next afternoon! I think they went to bed with smiles on their little faces! hee hee!

So, now the girls wake-up every morning wanting to go "outsie" and swing! I'm sure we will enjoy years and years of playtime on their swing set! The day the company came to install the set it was freezing cold! In fact, the first snow flurries of the year occurred while the kids were playing on it for the first time that afternoon. The next couple days have been just as cold - winter is finally settling in to stay. And with winter comes winter coats, hats, and mittens. Guizhou doesn't see temps this cold, so this is Jessa's first experience with hats & mittens and overstuffed winter coats! She seems to be frozen in all that fluff!

Snow Bunny! hee hee!

It is so funny watching Jessa try to move in her winter coat. She is like a stuffed snowman, moving around with her arms sticking straight out of her sides! LOL!

She wants so badly to keep up with Hollyn & Andrew, but her little legs can hardly move under that bulk! She is learning to say "help me" when she needs an extra lift! Andrew is very good at trying to help her out!

And this...well....this is the face of 100% PURE JOY!

Hollyn is so adventurous! She has no fear! She was up that ladder and down the slide with no help at all! It is amazing to see how much she is changing and how coordinated she is nearing her 2nd birthday.

And she climbed it again and again and again! What a baby-gymnast!

She even does somersaults inside now! She puts her head down and is in the pike position, looks sideways at me, grins really big, and then flips herself over! and always comes up giggling!

Maybe it's just the last few weeks of economic turmoil here...or maybe its the fact that I'm so thankful we live where we do...but seeing this made me smile.

We just love that we bought something Made in America!

And thrilled that our kids are enjoying it sooo much!