Merry Christmas and a Happy 2008!!

This will be the last entry of this blog. Sofia has been home for a year and a half, and this time with her has been extraordinary and priceless. It's been an amazing journey, and she has filled our lives with tremendous joy. We look forward to spending our lives with her, sharing with her the wonderful things life has to offer. We hope to take her to Kazakhstan someday, if she so desires, to show her the country in which she was born, her ancestry and culture. We can't imagine what our lives were like before she was a part of it and we are so very grateful for her.

We feel very blessed to have precious friends and family members who surround us with love, and are grateful for our Lord, for he has laid His hand over our lives and has blessed us countlessly.

May this season bring you and your families joy and health. And may 2008 be filled with happiness and peace. God bless you.

Mike, Diva, Alex, Dominique & Sofia

December 2007

Another Birthday, A Fabulous and Memorable Year!

A week after the 4th of July, we happily celebrated Sofia's 2nd birthday. Wonderful friends Fernanda and Daniel and their children Augusto and Agueda were staying with us, and visiting from Argentina, so we made it a combined celebration given that Augusto's 4th birthday was on the same week. Many friends and family showed up, and Sofia had a fun time with a giant bouncer and lots of pint-sized friends.

The rest of our summer was spent at the beach, or at the club's pool, or visiting the zoo or mini-farm, or just at the park kicking some ball around. The children became very serious entrepreneurs, and put together a lucrative lemonade stand. We also spent quality time with our Argentinean friends showing them Laguna Beach, San Diego and other areas in Southern California, including the historic San Juan Capistrano Mission, which was found by Jesuit Father Junipero Serra around 1776.

Sofia had her first visit to Disneyland with her daddy (besides just the shop at Disneyland which she visited last year), and was intrigued by everything she saw. She seemed to especially enjoy Small World.

School started in September, and the children have been busy with it, sports and musical instruments. Halloween was as fun for all of us this year as last year, but this year Sofia actually went up to the doors, knocked and asked for candy. Very cute! Her vocabulary is enormous, and can say many sentences in a row.In addition to all that, Mike took Alex fishing and then to the USC football game at Washington State, followed by a trip to Nebraska to watch another game with his dad and friends. Go Trojans!!

Dominique was baptized in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in October, and that was a big and exciting day for her and my family.

Many more activities have kept us busy such as 2 concerts: STYX (from the 70s - remember 'Come Sail Away'?? -- great song which I have now mastered in my piano!), and Ali & AJ for Alex and Dominique and friends.

November and December have brought the spirit of Christmas early into our home, and our tree went up along with decorations and lights right before Thanksgiving. Dominique went to the Annual Indian Princesses Ball at Disneyland with her Daddy and her tribe of girls, and had a wonderful time. We have been busy spending time with friends, and look forward to our trip to Beaver Creek, Colorado, for a "white" Christmas.