November 15, 2012

 We started our day at Tusker House, and we got to eat with Donald, Mickey, Daisy, and Goofy. After breakfast, we took a safari ride, and we saw so many animals. A giraffe came right up to our truck-- wow!! Roger and I had to leave as soon as we finished the safari ride to get ready and then attend the conference. Roger had a presentation, and Christie had a business meeting and then the Second Vice President Candidate Forum. Both were much fun, and they went well. Meanwhile, Britti and Chelsea took care of the little girls and made sure that they were safely transported to EPCOT for dinner in Germany with Roger. We all got to re-connect for Illuminations at EPCOT around 9 p.m.

Disney, 2012

 November 13: We checked into our family suite at Art of Animation resort, and it is such a fun resort! We stayed in the Finding Nemo area, but the complex also featured a Cars section, Lion King section, and Little Mermaid section, with themed rooms, pools, and playground-- much fun!

 Wednesday, November 14: We had breakfast reservations at Cinderella's Castle, and Ellie-Kate did so well with the characters. Yes, she still told Cinderella that she didn't want to be touched, but she smiled for all of the pictures, and she was genuinely excited to visit with Ariel and Jasmine. After breakfast, Christie had to leave right away for the conference to speak at Legislative Assembly and participate in the 2013 Planner's meeting and the Nominating Committee meeting. The girls and Roger spent the day at Magic Kingdom, and Chelsea arrived late on Wednesday night.

November 10-11, 2012

 We had a fun time at the OU basketball game on November 10.

Ellie-Kate performed with the children's choir on Sunday, November 11.

November 6-8, 2012

 Emmy made the high honor roll for the first quarter of seventh grade by earning all A's!

 We celebrated Britti's 26th birthday with dinner at Abrio's and then presents at home.

Anniversary reflections... November 1-2, 2012

Hi everyone--

It's hard to believe that it has been four years since we visited the specialist at Nationwide Children's Hospital on November 1, 2008 and learned that all of the seemingly scary sounding issues on Ellie-Kate's medical report were not so scary after all. We finished that conversation, rushed for the phone, and then waited overnight to learn if "our baby" was still available. Anyone in the whole world could have "locked in" on her during that long evening, but, blessedly, she was still available, and, at 7:30 a.m. on November 2, 2008, Ashley called with the great news that "Kristen" or "An Yu Fan" (to be named "Ellie-Kate by us) was going to be our little girl! Praise God!!

More updates soon--

Christie

Reflections...

Hi everyone--

It has been an insanely busy time in the Beck-Aden house... Guess that my posts usually start with that observation, right? We have been blessed with wonderful opportunities; the kids have been healthy, and God has been abundantly generous to all of us.

I celebrate the many gifts and blessings that we can savor in our home. Ellie-Kate is doing amazing at school; she loves her teacher and her best friend, Jack. She had a wonderful time with soccer, and she's enjoying dance and AWANA!

Emmy has been ROCKING middle school!!! She played so well during soccer season, and she's going to be the point guard for the seventh grade basketball team. She's doing so well in school too-- she earned straight A+s, except for one lonely A. She's mad that I didn't post that little statistic on facebook, but I figured that such a post would be off the chart bragging :) Between sports and grades, she's also doing Model UN and Science Fair. It's nice that Emmy loves everything and is doing so well, but, wow, she's exhausted by Thursday. Still figuring out how she can best balance this load...

Britti is excited about the wedding, and it was so much fun to go over to Marietta and walk through the hotel for her reception and the church for her ceremony! We need to carve some more time to go wedding dress shopping, but, blessedly, we have a year and a half before May, 2014!

Chelsea has finally found her footing between the social freedom of college and the responsibility of managing her own schedule. She's trying to find a job, and she's working to get the necessary materials for sorority rush. On the plus side, she earned a perfect score (100) on her first major paper in college, and she is doing very well overall, especially after dropping her pesky bio class :)

I'm very reflective this time of year as I think about the events that led to us bringing Ellie-Kate into our family four years ago as well as the events leading up to Britti's birth, now 26 years ago... Even in the chaos and clutter of our lives, I'm grateful for this space to pause, to celebrate, to reflect, to rejoice in the miracles of our family. Thank you, God, for allowing us to be the family for Ellie-Kate!

Christie

Congrats to Emmy on her first AMS letter for soccer@

 Coach Quinn commends the AMS Girls' Soccer Team during the awards ceremony on October 31, 2012

 The soccer team celebrates with treats in the cafeteria-- October 31, 2012

 Smiles for a great season!!

Emmy and her middle school letter :)