A little bit of everything!

Drew and AC at dinner before he left for China

Painting with my new paints from Esther and family!

I love to paint!

Deep concentration

Look at my beautiful painting!

Riding the city bus with Daddy

Sweet gifts from Elizabeth and family!

Beautiful dress waiting for sweet baby Kate to wear!

First of all, Drew left for China yesterday and he arrived safely today. He will be there until December when he comes home for Christmas, doing a semester abroad. Since he is in Beijing and Kate is right outside of Beijing, there is a good chance he will be able to visit her!!!!!! If he does, he is going sometime during the weekend of the 12-14. (His classes don't start until later because of the Olympics, so he will be around touring with his group until then. This is the earliest he can possibly go.) We are very hopeful that this will go through, as we have already talked with some PHF people and they have given the okay!

On another note, just what I needed today... a few thoughtful friends sent gifts. Our chatty friend, Mrs. S sent a sweet package for Kate and AnnaClaire. Inside was a beautiful pink and green flowered dress for sweet Kate to wear next summer. We LOVE it. She also included a little water color set for the big sister, Miss AC! AnnaClaire played with her paints today and she LOVED painting. She made quite a few beautiful pictures and mastered the whole "dipping the brush in the water before putting it back in the paints" thing. Her concentration and joy when she was done brought smiles to my face.

We also had a little package from our other sweet friends who I've mentioned on the blog before. Elizabeth's family sent us a package with a sweet, sweet book about all the children of the world. They also sent some tide packs to bring to China. Last but not least, they sent a priceless video of Kate at 7 months old. You can view the video here. There was a little bit not on this link that was in the video, but for the most part- it's all there for your viewing pleasure. She was so intent of having that Dora toy!! It was good seeing her crawl so well, even at 7 months! I was also so glad to see the nanny pick her up and comfort her when she started crying. At the end, (which is not in the video in the link) they zoom in on the nanny feeding Kate. So sweet. She looks so tiny and just perfect. Can't wait to get her!

Thank you S and other S families for your generosity. It definitely brought me joy on this day!! We love you guys so much!!

We've gotten a few more quilt squares since I last updated the quilt blog, so be on the lookout for that. I'm going to update that blog soon. Speaking of squares, I know I've told a few families we would get those out to you- which we WILL be doing this weekend, I promise! Hang tight because they are coming!!

Other than that, I am just looking forward to a long weekend... and hopefully some news on the LOA front next week!!