And finally Times Square

As we wrapped up a fantastic day by strolling through Times Square. The sun went down and the city came to life with lights of every color and form, illuminating and creating a very memorable evening. And the picture with Siderman, Seth would not leave until we took his picture with his new favorite superhero.

Rockefeller Center

What would a trip to NYC be without a stop at the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center. Boy what a nice looking tree and the kid's guessed there must be over a
"million" lights on it.

"FAO Schwarz"

All I can say is WOW do the kid's love this place!! There is everything a three year old could possibly dream of cars,trucks and trains galore.We can't forget to mention the doll nursery,Amanda was in her glory. There were dolls of every shape and color and all the accessories that one could think of.They loved the giant piano and jumping to create music. I think if it were up to Seth we would have spent the whole day in that store!

Nothing Like New York City...

Well it's that time of year again and there is truly nothing like New York City at Christmas time. We made our annual pilgrimage to Radio City Music Hall with the kids and our dear friend Ms M,as you might recall if you followed Seth's blog she flew to Beijing in 2010 to meet with us and take part in Seth's adoption.The kids had a great time, Amanda dressed like a rockette, Seth was clearly awe as we went to the show and walked around the city for the day.I will break this post into several because I am unable to post more then five pictures per post.

'Reminiscing'

Sitting here with not much going on.We spent a nice Thanksgiving with family and had an uneventful weekend, besides getting all of our Christmas decorating done.We are presently waiting for our paperwork to be notarized by the Chinese Consulate,and Secretary Of State,then its off to China for our "LOA" Letter of Acceptance. Then more waiting but another huge step closer! We found this great app that decolor's your photographs, so we took some pictures that we had taken while in Beijing in 2010 and this is the result.I really enjoyed creating these pictures and hope you enjoy them too...

I-800A Approval!!

yesterday we received our I-800A approval,a major milestone!! This form pretty much clears the way for us to finalize all the other paperwork,in order for us to travel to China and bring Brayden home.Although this is the first approval it is a HUGE one.

Snowmen in October?!?!?

OK here in the North East we had a major snowstorm today,at least 12",and it is expected to snow through tomorrow morning. With the power out and not much else to do,we went outside to build a "Halloween" snowman yes I did say SNOWMAN, in October. Well I really hope this is not what we are in for this winter. Having said that I will let the picture's speak for themselves,the kids had LOTS of fun.

Nothing like Autumn

Nothing like those cold Autumn days and colder nights. As the leaves began to fall Seth could not help himself,jumping and rolling in the pile of leaves, he would have stayed in that pile all day and night if we let him
Amanda has wanted to carve her pumpkin for the past three weeks and as Halloween draws closer it was time,so let the carving begin and did we have fun.Of course Amanda made a scary face and it freaked Seth out,but he got over it and we had a great evening carving their pumpkins...

UPDATE!!!

Today we received some wonderful updated news from our agency with an unexpected photo of Brayden. This is the information we were given.
Brayden is living with his foster parents and grandparents
He is a very active one year old who is in good health
Able to stand while holding on to something
He can say Mama and Baba
Is a healthy eater that loves noodles and rice
We also found out that Brayden received the care package we sent him several months ago.
Words can't express the feelings we have for this little guy and we can't wait to bring him. home.

U.S.C.I.S Appointment

Another milestone completed. Today we met with Department of Homeland Security and had our fingerprints taken.We are hoping to receive our I-800a approval next week and move one large step closer to bringing Brayden home.

Go Mighty Mights !!

This is Amanda's first year doing cheerleading and it is something she has wanted to do for a long time. There is a lot of dedication that must go into this, during the summer practice was 3 times week.After school began it decreased to twice a week. She practiced the cheers in all weather conditions and never complained. Amanda is never to busy to cheer,be it in the house or while we are out shopping she is always reciting one of her cheers.She has had a great season and is now getting ready for Cheer Fest which will be in about four weeks. She has already told us she wants to cheer again next year.

Our Little Gymnast

Besides football,baseball and car racing,Seth's newest interest is gymnastics.He is currently enrolled in our local gymnastics school.Seth has shown a huge interest and has made great progress. He sure gets excited when he knows we are on our way for another hour of fun at gymnastics.

"Lacrosse Camp"

Well it looks like Amanda has found a sport she really likes,besides doing cheerleading and gymnastics. We have enrolled her in "Lacrosse camp." She is very social so the comradery of a team sport is something that she will do well with. We took Amanda shopping for her own personnel equipment and of course she chose a pink stick.I think this is going to be a long haul sport.