Christmas with the Gray's

Back row: Denny (Chad's dad), Chad, Kevin (Chad's brother)
Front Row: Colin and me, Anna Li, Bethany, Bethany (Kevin's wife), and Eli (Kevin & Bethany's son) Kevin and Bethany with the kids

Bethany Gray and Bethany Gray: Chad and I named our first child Bethany and soon after Chad's brother met the love of his life, Bethany. So, once they were married we had TWO Bethany Gray's in the family.

Kevin and Bethany gave us the greatest gift this season... they had our blog made into a book!! Anna Li loves looking at it and we will cherish it forever!!

Anna Li showing Mama Carol the book

We had a wonderful evening with Chad's family. We munched on finger foods, talked, laughed, and even played a game of catch phrase before we opened presents.

Christmas at Mamaw and Papaw Harpers

Can you tell that Anna Li was excited?!?! All the kids were anxiously awaiting their presents from Mamaw! The girls had so much fun together! Anna Li, cousin Kailey, and Bethany. Their ages are 10, 11, and 12 (going from right to left)!

The boys were all about spending time with Mamaw Reba!! Colin and cousin Sam

Christmas Morning at the Gray's

Anna Li, Bethany, and Colin... my 3 rotten angels:)
What did Colin get for Christmas?? Just to name a few... Lego castle, some kind of animal jungle toy (boy version of a doll house!), and a skate board

What did Bethany get for Christmas? Just to name a few... bike, sowing machine, and a barbie

What did Anna Li get for Christmas? Just to name a few.... a bike, MP3 player, and barbies.

Oh, and lets don't forget the PlayStation Portable with games:) Next year Anna Li wants 1 present... nah, 2 presents.... nah, can I have 6?!?!

With all these goodies we still remembered the real reason for the season. Anna Li made sure we all sang Happy Birthday to Jesus:) We also read the story "What God Wants for Christmas?" Great book! It is a must for every family at Christmas!!

All I want for Christmas.....

If you are the mother of an adopted child, I am sure you cherish every picture you have of your child... especially the ones of the months and years you missed. This is Anna Li with our dear friend Nicki from Christian Action. She and her colleague Timothy came to visit us during our stay at the White Swan. As you may remember, she brought me tons of pictures of Anna Li during her stay at the orphanage.This was a good 5 years of Anna Li's life. As you can imagine, they are priceless to me. We still keep in contact with Nicki through email and phone calls. She is so good to Anna Li and Anna loves her very much! Well, Nicki has surprised us once again with an email of more pictures of Anna Li and VIDEOS!! I have yet to figure out how to post videos on my blog but once I do you can bet I will share them. I have one of Anna Li and her friends singing and Santa waving in the background. It is too cute!! For now, I will share some of my favorite pictures. Oh, and all I want for Christmas..... is for you to check out Christian Actions website and see the great things they are doing. You can click on the link on the right side of my blog to get to their website. If Anna Li has touched your life in any way, please consider making a donation. Merry Christmas!!!

An Early Christmas Present:)

Notice anything different??? Look a little closer.....

Anna Li got her ears pierced!!!! She told us Saturday on the way home from a Christmas party that she would like to have her ears pierced. I was so excited that we took her that night!

She said it didn't hurt a bit but......

She looks a little worried in this pic:)

She is so happy and showed them off to everyone at church today:) She can't wait for Mrs. Sandy to see them on Tuesday. (Mrs. Sandy tutors Anna Li in English. She also speaks Mandarin and Anna Li always looks forward to seeing her!)

Support Christian Action

I've seen first hand the love and dedication these wonderful people have to the orphaned children of China. When giving gifts this season, please don't forget Christian Action:)

Child Dedication

Anna Li Gray

Born February 13, 1996

Joined her forever family July 28, 2008

Dedicated to the Lord on December 14, 2008 This Sunday we dedicated Anna Li to the Lord. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this, Child dedication is a Sunday-morning ceremony that signifies our commitment to uphold the trust the Lord has given us. It is an event that symbolizes our pledge to raise Anna Li in a Christian home and church where she can come to know, love, and serve Jesus. It also signifies a commitment by the people of our church to provide a loving, biblical community that supports and prays for our family.
The pastor read some beautiful scripture and talked a little bit about Anna Li before he called us to come up. Anna Li knew he was talking about her before he even said her name. She had the biggest smile on her face and she was so very proud. She was given a beautiful pink Children's Study Bible with her name engraved on it, a certificate, and a beautiful red rose. It was a wonderful service and all of her grandparents and one of her aunts got to attend.

After the service we went to Decatur and ate at The Golden Phoenix Restaurant with Papa Denny and Mama Carol. We all had a really good time.

Happy Birthday Bethany!!

Bethany's birthday was December the 3rd. She turned the big 10! She had a late party and we celebrated last night! She invited Charity, Kailey, and Payton to come over and spend the night. As you can see she let her siblings join in the fun too! Girls gone wild!!

You can have a slumber party with out a human pyramid. They tried to talk Colin into being on top, but he wasn't having any of that!

The girls created their own cooking show, "The Slumber Party Cooking Show." They cooked mini pizzas, salad, and then sugar cookies for a late night snack....11:30!! Here is the girls showing off their talents.

The girls also designed their own personal cooking aprons. They made a video of their cooking show but I have been unsuccessful in getting it posted on the blog.

Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy Birthday my dear, sweet, precious Bethany! Happy Birthday to you!!!! I love you so much!!!

Merry Christmas!

The Polar Express

Saturday night we went to the Polar Express and met up with our friends from the Athens's FCC group. It was so much fun!! We got our family picture in front of the train just before boarding. The conductor greeted us and punched our tickets as we boarded the train. The train was decked out for Christmas and had BELIEVE banners hanging above the aisles. All the kids dressed in their Christmas P.J.'s:) They were so adorable! As the train ride began, they played the story of the Polar Express over the speakers.

After the story, the elves came out and handed everyone jingle bells. We had so much fun singing Christmas carols that we didn't even realized how fast we were approaching the North Pole!!! There was lots of lights and decorations at the North Pole. The look on the children's faces were priceless!!

As we waited at the North Pole we were fed cookies and chocolate milk.

It wasn't long until Mr. and Mrs. Claus arrived!! The kids were over the moon with joy! After the kids got their picture with Mr. and Mrs. Claus, Santa shook Anna Li's hand and the tip of his finger lit up red!! It was so neat and Anna Li was amazed!! This was truly the REAL Santa!!

The fun didn't end after the Polar Express, we left and went to the Galleria for a little Christmas shopping. We took the kids to Build a Bear and let each one make their own stuffed animal. The girls made bears and Colin made a puppy dog. As we strolled through the mall enjoying the lights, decorations, and crowds of people; we ran into Santa again. Anna Li wanted to go see him. We waited in line and got the kids picture with Santa again. Twice in one night! As we made our way back through the mall, Anna Li said, "It's time to go home!" We all agreed! Anna Li was asleep before we got out of the parking lot:) As for the other two.... they talked the whole way home!

I will post some pictures from Build-A-Bear and our 2nd Santa visit on the next post:)

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at my mother's house and a crazy amount of food. We could have feed an army!! We got to visit with my father's side of the family that we do not get to see that often. It was their first time to meet Anna Li. Anna Li's favorite food was the mac n' cheese, ham, turkey, and dressing. She was so full she had to turn down all of the wonderful desserts!!!

After all that eating we had no choice but to go for a walk in the woods!!

Anna Li said, "I had a fun day. I love Thanksgiving!"

Looking for Melinda Plamann

Melinda Plamann,
I sent a reply on the comment you made on my post but I am not sure if you received it. I would love to communicate with you through email. I recently met a family that adopted an older child from India. Send me an email: grayadoption@yahoo.com.

Look forward to hearing from you!

Kristy

Anna Li's First Trip to the Movies (in America)

Last night we took the kids to see Madagascar Escape to Africa. It was a really good movie and the look on Anna Li's face was priceless. She enjoyed every minute of it!! This was actually her second trip to the movies. She said her school went once when she lived in China:)

I didn't see the first Madagascar but the second one was really cute!!

More Pictures of our trip to the Atlanta Zoo