Gingerbread House Time

Thank you to Monique and John Burns for the gift of the Gingerbread House for Christmas!  Grace and Marta had such a great time working on this cute project together on Dec 22nd, 2011!  We loved the little people and the dog that came with the kit!  Yes, look closely, the dog is located on the point of the A frame!
We'll enjoy eating it on Christmas Day!!  Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!  Blessings to you and your family from the Parkers!  Love, Amy

Christmas in China

    In China, only about 1% of people are Christians, so most people only know a few things about Christmas.  Because of this, Christmas is only often celebrated in major cities such as Shanghai and Beijing.  In these big cities there are Christmas Trees, lights and other decorations on the streets and in department stores.  
    Santa is known as Old Christmas Man.
    Certainly not every home will have a Christmas Tree (or celebrate Christmas at all!)  If people do have a tree it is normally a plastic one and might be decorated with paper chains, paper flowers, and paper lanterns (they might also call it a tree of light).  The Christmas Trees that most people would see would be in shopping malls.
    Most people from the Chinese countryside don't celebrate Christmas (or they might not have even heard of Christmas).
    The strange things is that most of the world's plastic Christmas Trees and Christmas decorations are made in China, but the people making them might not know what they are for!!
    Some people go carol singing, although not many people understand them or know about the Christmas story.  Jingle Bells is a popular carol in China!
    People who are Christians in China go to special services.  Going to Midnight Mass services has become very popular.
    Thank you to Lisa Bruno and Gu Yuhong for their help in giving information on Christmas in China!
    www.whychristmas.com     

Jake's Update!

We got a picture update this week of our new son, Jake!  The adoption agency sent the picture via email!  I was totally blown away because it was out of the blue.  A friend said that they never get pictures of the children smiling. The parents have to specifically ask that a picture be taken with the child smiling.  We also got measurement updates - weight, height, etc.  His left eye looks a bit puffy under the eye & so I'm wondering if he has some type of eye infection going on?

I think it must be cold there now!

NOW THIS IS GRACE'S NEW CREATION FOR FUNDRAISING!!

Would you or your child like to learn how to make your own DJ Spider?

 Just let me know and we'll schedule a class!

And here's our other son, Shane, helping decorate Grammy's Christmas tree!  

Grace and Marta got the ball rolling on this Thanksgiving tradition.