Tim's journey to China

The weekend after the twins' birthday, Tim left for China for work.  He was gone two weeks!  He had been to the Phillippines in 2007, but he had never been to China.  It was a great trip, but he definitely missed mommy and the babies.  In two weeks, he went to Taipei (Taiwan), Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai.  It was a busy trip, but luckily, he did find some time to see some of the sites.  It is true when they say everything is bigger in China.  You can't get a sense of the size of the cities until you see them.  Between, 20-30 million people live in Beijing and Shanghai alone.  New York has about 7.5 million.

Taipei is the capital of Taiwan with about 7 million people.  Everyone there was very friendly, and many spoke English.  It was amazing how many people drove scooters around the city.  It definitely helped reduce the traffic congestion.

Outside the hotel - notice all the scooters parked and the Starbucks in the background.

A church outside the hotel.

One of the buildings at the palace museum.

The Taipei 101

Taipei 101 at night

Visiting China was great too.  It felt very safe there - safer than many places in America.  Unfortunately, Tim didnt get much of a chance to see Hong Kong.  It was amazing to see all of the construction.  30 story apartment buildings were everywhere.  In Beijing, Tim spent Sunday visiting several places.

Tiananmen Square - Full of central government buildings.  You may know it from the protests in 1989 where the student stood in front of a tank.

The Forbidden City - The center of Beijing contains over 900 buildings built in the 1400s.  It took about 20 years and 1 million people to build.  This is just one part...

A picture of a statue in the Forbidden City.

On the hill overlooking the entire Forbidden City

Tim also got to visit the Olympic Village from 2008.   The Birdcage is huge!

The last few days were spent in Shanghai.  Its definitely the most modern city with much western influences.  Luckily, he had some time to visit the city in the morning before he left for home.

Overlooking the river after dinner Thursday night

The China Pavilian - you can get a sense of the size with the people underneath.

The Yu Garden - a very famous garden built in the early 1800s.

A market in an older part of Shanghai.



Dear Graham and Kennedy... on your Birthday!

Dear Graham,

To our beautiful little boy, we are so proud of you!  You amaze us every day.  It is hard to remember what our life was like before you; it seems like everything before you came was just leading up to the day we met you.  The first time we saw you, you took our breath away.  What a perfect little boy that we were blessed with!  You were so content and happy to come into the world, happy to be with us.  And we were so happy that you were finally here- we wished and prayed for you, and it seemed like we waited forever to finally meet you! 

You are such an exuberant and happy little boy, and we love to hear your laugh.  When you laugh, it makes me giggle because it is so original!  It's such a funny sound, and perfect for you!  You are definitely a Momma's Boy, but you also love your Daddy so much- you're his little buddy.  You are so curious and independent- you always want to be crawling around finding something to do!  You are just as happy playing with the pots and pans and climbing into the cabinets as playing with your toys.  Some of the things you do that we just love:

• the way you laugh and crawl away when we are playing "tag"- or "I'm gonna get you!"
• that you think it's so funny when we catch you trying to climb the stairs- stinker!
• you love your sister so much that you want to always do what she is doing (including drinking out of her sippy cup, even though you are already holding yours!)
• how you get so excited when Mickey Mouse comes on tv.  You just stop what you're doing to dance with Mickey singing his songs
• when you find something soft, like a pillow or the dog, you snuggle in
• the way you cuddle right before bed time, snuggling into my shoulder
• the crazy ways we find you sleeping in your crib.  Our very favorite is when you're on your belly with your arms under you and your butt sticking up in the air.
• when you make a game out of changing your diapers... as soon as we look away for a second, you're off and crawling away, sometimes with nothing on!  And you laugh the whole time :)
• how you love to get your back rubbed when we put you to bed.  I just want to crawl into your crib with you and snuggle!
• you love books and looking at pictures, you are always pulling them off the bookshelf to "read" them
• you get so excited when you see your sister. 
• you can walk when you don't stop to think about it, but you know you can crawl faster- so you do!
• you like to "hide" Kennedy's pacifier in the learning table.  We've learned that is the first place to look
• that you get so proud of yourself when you learn how to do new things
• how you dance when you hear music- you're going to be a music lover like we are!
• you whisper words, like "hi" and "bye-bye".  Your little voice is so sweet
• Mommy and Daddy have lots of nicknames for you, but we love to call you Buggaboo, Squeaker,Gahm-Gahm and Graham Cracker. 

We are so proud of you, and love watching you grow and do new things.  You are such an amazing little man, and we are so lucky that you are ours.  We will love you forever.

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

*********************************************************************
Dear Kennedy,

To our beautiful little girl, we are so proud of you! You amaze us every day. It is hard to remember what our life was like before you; it seems like everything before you came was just leading up to the day we met you. The first time we saw you, you took our breath away. What a perfect little girl that we were blessed with! You were so content and happy to come into the world, happy to be with us. And we were so happy that you were finally here- we wished and prayed for you, and it seemed like we waited forever to finally meet you!


You are such a dainty and happy little girl.  You love to chatter away (you're so much like your Mommy!).  You do things with grace, such a little lady.  You can be independent, but you also love to cuddle and be with people; you are very content to sit on our laps sometimes but you like to play and be with your brother, too.  You are definitely a Daddy's girl, but you hold Mommy's heart too.  Daddy can always make you giggle with his funny faces and tickles with his beard.  We love your giggles, they are so sweet!  Some of the things you do that we just love:

• when we come get you in the morning from your crib, your face lights up and you get so excited to see us, like it's the best part of your day.  It IS one of the best parts of our day!
• when you crawl, you put your head down and crawl FAST!
• you love to splash in the bathtub (and usually end up getting Daddy wet)
• it takes our breath away when you cuddle into us- you push your hands down like you're trying to get as close to us as you can!
• that you tattle on your brother when he's not sharing very nicely.  Tattling isn't a very good thing to do, but it's just so funny!
• we love that you pay so much attention to details.  When you're playing you stop what you're doing to inspect the tiniest of things, like a little spot on the floor ;)
• you be-bop along to whatever music is on
• when you're "in trouble" we just have to say in our loud voice "KENNEDY RAE!" and you stop and your little bottom lip starts to tremble.  It's so hard not to laugh when you do that because you're just so stinkin' cute!
• for whatever reason, you won't go near the tutu I made you for your birthday, it freaks you out!  And the dog pillow, and the st. patricks day bebops... silly girl
• You have the cutest little teeth, and those  are very dainty too :)  All 7 of them
• when the dogs are getting their treat of a piece of ice, you really want one, too!  But you're really nice and share with Copper if he decides he wants your piece, too.
• Oh my gosh, we LOVE those chubby cheeks!  Daddy tucks you in every night and kisses your cheek and whispers "Chubby Cheeks."  They are so sweet and so kissable!
• you love to tag along after your brother.  Whatever he's getting into we know you're not far behind
• all the words you say.  You have such a sweet voice and we love hearing it!
• your first word/phrase was "Hi dat!" (for hi dad).  You can also say "Dada" "hi" and "bye-bye", you say "gog" (dog), "Cocker" (Copper, one of our dogs), "Dam" (Graham), "Uh-oh!" and "bup" (up), "Baba" (Mama), "Bri" (your friend Bryce) and you even told Mommy "I yub ooo" for I love you! 
• you LOVE your giraffe that you sleep with, and cuddle with it whenever you can
• you also LOVE your pacie when you sleep- you have 3 in your crib so you can find one when you wake up!
• you like to feed yourself, and you pick the food up with just your finger and thumb, but you like to keep one piece of food in your left hand, too. 
• that you blow raspberries all the time.  it's like you have such a great sense of humor :)
• when you drink from your sippy cup, you grab it with both hands and throw your head back like you're so thirsty and you can't get enough
• Mommy and Daddy have lots of nicknames for you, but we love to call you Kenndy, Kenndy Cane, McChompers and Sweet Girl

We are so proud of you, and love watching you grow and do new things. You are such an amazing little girl, and we are so lucky that you are ours. We will love you forever.


Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Birthday cake video

Here is a video of the twins eating their birthday cake.  Enjoy!

The Twins First Birthday Party

Believe it or not, we celebrated the babies' first birthday this weekend.  Their actual birthday is Wednesday, but we wanted to celebrate with family and friends.  We made decorations and videos, had lots of food and cake, and a house full of people who love our babies.  Who could ask for anything more than that? 

The kids were in grand form - lots of people to hold them, lots of attention, lots of presents.  In short, they were hams! 

The theme of our party was... 1!  Heather couldn't find anything she liked for party decorations for a boy AND a girl, so she worked hard and made them herself. 

it says: "Happy Birthday K and G"

Tim worked so hard on putting together an amazing video of the kids from when they were born until last week, both of them together and then one separately for each of them.  It's a real tear-jerker!

Little Birthday Boy with Mommy

Sweet Birthday Girl and Daddy

We had to "help" them open their gifts.  aka- we opened them while they sat on our laps.  Close enough, right? :)

THE SMUSH CAKES!

Before...

Haha, Kennedy was so dainty when she ate her cake!

Graham decided to share some of his cake with Daddy- right up his nose!

Graham just dug right in :)

Good stuff!

Lovin' this cake! 

We had such a fantastic time, it's a day we will remember forever.  Happy First Birthday Party Day, Kennedy and Graham!  We love you!