Aslynn Lost Her First Tooth!

My last baby has lost her first tooth and is probably going to lose the second one in the next couple days! No more babies at our house!

Miss Aslynn Brooke XinYu Wetzel's 5th Gotcha Day!

February is a hectic month for us with all the birthdays, gotcha days, holidays, etc. Aslynn celebrated her 5th Gotcha Day in our family on February 15. We can hardly believe she is getting so big. We watched a video of when we went to get her in China, and she was such a tiny little peanut. Well, she still is pretty tiny, but her personality has grown so much. She came to us with the bad habit of sticking her tongue out of her mouth out of boredom. She may stick her tongue out once in a while still (although it is not in her best interest), but she surely is anything but bored. She finds fun in everything!!!! What a lovely young lady she is becoming, and we thank God for leading us to her.

Will you be my valentine?

Where did Valentine's Day go? It seems like it vanished so quickly, and they started hauling in Easter eggs and bunnies. Wow! The kids all enjoyed V-day, each in their own way. Aslynn had a Valentine Sock Hop (Boy, does she like to boogie!); Ava had a Pancake Party in her PJ's (We're talking major sugar and toppings on those pancakes....yuck!); Daniel had a regular classroom party just enjoying reading all the cards and picking out all the candy (Why do all the kids like those sugary Fun-Dip things?); Derek went to the middle school Valentine's Day Dance (Ahhh!!!).

Ava's 3rd Gotcha Day!

In 2006 (Feb. 6), Ava Marie XiaoE Wetzel walked into a Civil Affairs Office in Changsha, Hunan to meet her new mama and baba. It is amazing to me how this little girl, who avoided her new mama like the plague, has grown to be so affectionate to her mama and writes her sweet notes and draws her such beautiful pictures. Since she is really learning how to write/spell and read, she is forever drawing us pictures and writing messages on them in her own invented spelling. I cracked up today, as she wrote me a question on a scrap piece of paper while I was on the phone. It asked if she could talk now......as mom had told her that she was not allowed to talk for awhile earlier, since she was not using a quiet voice! It is weird when your little ones can communicate to you in these grown up ways. I can't believe it has been three years. God has blessed our family with this young lady!

Watch out, American Idol!!!!!!

Derek has done it again! He was one of MANY middle school kids from North Texas to audition for a spot in the North Texas All Regional Middle School Honor Choir. We are talking a bunch of kids. His school alone is huge, but only 21 from his middle school auditioned for this. TWO from his middle school received the honor of performing in this choir on Feb. 28. He had to audition two songs (one was in Latin), and he had to sightread a few lines of a tune. Not only do they have to get the right pitches on the sight reading, but they have to sing the right word "do, re, me, fa......" without it being written for them. Very tough! That part was the nerve-wracking part for him. For the concert, he will be singing 6 songs, the two he learned for the audition and 4 more. We are so very proud of his accomplishment. I was just proud of him for trying what I thought was the impossible. I don't think he got his nerve from me! Congrats, Derek!

Gung Hay Fat Choy!!!

I sure am glad that Chinese New Year is celebrated for a couple weeks. My intentions to get these pics on here to document our family time of celebrating Ava and Aslynn's heritage almost missed the boat. Thankfully and technically, Chinese New Year is celebrated for two weeks, so we are still good! :) We like to spend some time at a not-so-authentic, but delightfully tasty place......P. F. Changs. Yum!!!! The girls enjoy wearing silk Chinese dresses on this special day. They seem very proud of being so special! We know WE are so very proud of our girls, and we hope they always remember how we try to incorporate a small part of their heritage into our celebrations!