Introducing the Diamond Skirt

I finally finished making a prototype of my next original design. I call it the Diamond Skirt and I hope to prepare a pattern to sell in the next month or two. I will make another for Pearl soon and then make the model for my instructions after that. This skirt is a very simple design, but it incorporates at least three coordinating fabrics in a geometric pattern. Chloe was happy to play model for me today.

After Work

I came home at 5 today. My home is about 1/2 mile from my work, so there is not much of a commute. I looked at the crazy clouds in the sky and wondered if I might be able to capture a sunset with my new camera. As I pulled in the driveway, Dad was helping the girls get acquainted with their new bicycles. The girls have long outgrown their tricycles and we have been putting off buying them bikes. Now I can see, these bikes are almost too small. Maybe we'll get some nicer ones in a few months.

The daylight is lasting longer these days and I had ample time to watch the girls and then dash off to take a picture of the sunset. It wasn't what I had hoped for, but you can certainly tell we had an amazing sky this evening.

Still Having Fun

I have just finished reading the owner's manual for my new camera and now I am reading it again for the second time. It makes so much more sense upon second reading after I have familiarized myself with the camera in general. There is soooooooooooo much to learn.

Chloe and I went outside to take some pictures. After 3 shots, we were both too cold to take any more so we went inside. We have a lot of glass in our home, but it still feels pretty dark. I was totally amazed at how light these pictures came out, with no flash, in our dark entry and living room.

I'm So Excited

Frost melting

I have been waiting for over a week for my new camera, a Canon 50D to get here. I am a total beginner who knows nothing about shooting manual, so I probably started with more camera than I needed, but I couldn't resist. It came last night and I have been reading the owner's manual ever since and I am 2/3rds through it. I have taken a few automatic and semi-automatic shots and I can already see an amazing difference in the photo images over my old point and shoot. This is more fun than I even imagined it would be. While I still don't know what I am doing, I thought I would post a couple of pictures from this morning anyway.

The girls were also excited to see that Mom had a new camera. They kept asking me when it was time to take their pictures, but I was still reading the owner's manual. Dad broke out some inexpensive kid's cameras that he had been saving for the right occasion and the girls got to play with new cameras of their own too.

Cassie and Miranda's Birthday

Miranda and the cake
Group Photo
Elena works for us and is a friend of our exchange daughter Chris who lived with us last year. She helps us out with the girls sometimes. Here she is with Pearl, enjoying pizza.


February is birthday month in our family. Two of our neices (actually three) celebrated their birthdays this past weekend at Pump It Up, an indoor inflatable bounce and party place. Chloe and Pearl had a great time jumping, bouncing and sliding. It was so good to see long lost friends as well.

More Pictures from the Weekend

Celebrating Chinese New Year

We arrived a half hour early to the Chinese New Year's celebration, so we stopped at a Chinese memorial park a few blocks away to take some pictures before the event.




I can hardly believe this is the fourth year in a row we have celebrated Chinese New Year with the Central Coast FCC (Families with Children from China). The girls are growing up so fast. Each year the celebration gets better and this year was no exception. There were lots of crafts and activities for the kids and plenty of entertainment, including a Tai Chi martial arts demonstration as well as the traditional lion dance.

All the kids are getting older, and now that the China adoption program has slowed down, there are very few babies in the crowd. It rained the whole afternoon, but it was a lovely turnout inside.
Two Chloes who both have mothers named Lori
I don't know who the first lovely lady is, but the other three are my Chloe, Eva (also from Chloe's orphanage) and the other Chloe
.Chloe learns how to twirl the ribbons
Pearl leads the children's dragon processional
Tai Chi demonstration

Visiting the Grandparents

Today is my mother's 83rd birthday. My father will be 90 (hopefully) in November. They live 5 hours away from us (their choice, not ours), so we only get to visit with them a couple times a year. I am so thrilled that they are still around and apparently doing so well. One of my dearest dreams is for my daughters to have memories of their grandparents, all four of them. Even I never had that opportunity.

This past weekend went a long way toward building that foundation. My Mom had told me that she bought the girls jigsaw puzzles (750 pieces). I replied that while my girls both exceptionally smart, a 750 piece puzzle was probably too big of a challenge for even my two 5 year old geniouses. Before we arrived, Mom had returned the larger puzzles and gave the girls 100 piece versions. Chloe insisted on making her puzzle right there on the floor of Grandpa and Grandma's trailer. We all pitched in and it turned into a fun family time for all. I don't know if the girls will remember it, but it will always be a treasured memory in my collection.

My brother and his wife also made the long trek down to visit the folks, so we were fortunate to see them as well. This was even a rarer occurance as he lives in a remote wilderness area of eastern California. Although I do have a brother and a sister, I was raised as an only child because both of my siblings were adults when I was born. I grew up with my sister close by, but spending time with my brother was always limited. Too bad, for I really do think he is an amazing and thoughtful person.