We are still here!

Our visit to the zoo was free because it was November rates, they expect it to be cold not 76 degrees!

The lion was so close, she was sleeping most of the time!

My youngest cousin Kortney is a senior this year, we went to her final volleyball game. She is actually quite tall, Dayton was standing on a step.

My cousin Jamie is having a little boy in January and we had her shower last weekend, the girls helped her open her gifts.

Here is our new friend Rose, she is actually visiting Tuanfeng today she met the orphanage directors yesterday. They emailed me today and said that our video camera would be given to the orphanage today. They bought Myah a winter outfit in a Tuanfeng grocery store today, such a precious keepsake! I love this picture of Rose with a real panda! They have been in China for 3 weeks now.

Wow, fast week! This is for my mom who called to make sure I was all right, she hadn't heard from me and no blog posts, she figured something must be wrong. Love her for caring but we were just super busy. The past month we have been super busy with parties, fall activities and lots of day to day business around here. Big news this week was that Mark's Deputy Chief announced on Monday that she was retiring on Friday. So lots of promoting going on to cover the new positions. Mark stays where he is but will now be on days instead of midnights! We are thrilled. We don't see him as much when he is on days but a normal sleep schedule and having him here at night is worth it! Plus I won't have to try and keep Myah quiet during the winter months while we are inside so daddy can sleep. It is the little things like being able to make my bed during the day, being able to put laundry away, showering and getting ready without being in the dark, that make the switch so nice. And for Mark it means he will actually see his city in the daylight, feel like he is on a "normal" schedule for a while, and homecooked dinners waiting for him when he gets home! It really is difficult with him on midnights for our whole family, we don't see friends or family very often because of the crazy schedule. I am very thankful for the switch, happy for his Deputy Chief, I liked her, I wish her lots of luck in her retirement.

That has been the big news this week around here. And that Myah is pretty much potty trained! Yeah! What a long haul with her, she is very stubborn and it was done on her terms and I finally just waited for her to initiate it, she has done very well, very few accidents, she is still in pull ups for nap time and night time but I can live with that! She is sure a big girl now and loves showing off her big girl panties, don't be surprised if she asks you to look at them and touch them( we are trying to discourage that part of it !) and she wants to see yours and touch yours, (again, trying to discourage that too!). She is a character!

The weather has turned cold now, this week was amazing, so warm and beautiful, we took full advantage of the warm temps and went to the zoo, played outside, we always take walks every night in our neighborhood, it was good to get out again and pretend that it was summer! The leaves are falling, starting to look bare again, I wasn't ready for the radio to play Christmas tunes this week but they did.

I also have been busy editing pictures, seems endless right now but I will catch up! We are also in the midst of switching the kids rooms. When Dayton was sick a few weeks ago we let him sleep in Myah's room and she slept in our room, he has a loft and didn't feel like climbing up into it every night. He loved her room. The more I thought about it I decided to switch them, his closet it much better for a little girl, a mini walk in, and it has a light in there that I can use as a nightlight, Myah takes her nightlights out of the outlet and removes the bulbs, can't have that. So we are in the process of painting the rooms right now. We also purchased a queen size bed for Dayton, his loft was getting too small for my growing boy, he slept in the new bed for the first time last night, he loves it! We need to paint Myah's room still. We are also gearing up to tile the kitchen floor, it really needs to be done so that is next on the agenda. We like to use the winter months to do indoor projects. Our neighbors are leaving this week for Florida and we are so sad, we love them like family, Myah is really going to miss Pam. She came to dance class with us this last week to watch Myah, she was so proud to have her there! She really is doing well, I am kind of shocked at how she is picking up the routine, I didn't think she would participate but she loves it!

Dayton got his braces tightened again this week, we are making good progress, he is just so sore after wards, can't eat for a few days, so he is on the pudding and ice cream diet again, that poor little guy has had a rough year! Every time we turn around it is something with him.

I will try to catch up on here so there may be a few more posts to read than normal, we have had so much blog-worthy stuff going on! So make sure you scroll down to see the new posts. I am always amazed at my friends and family who still read this, some of you I know check in every day, so sorry I have been a slacker! Love ya!