Nobody got spit on at this birthday party!

Here are some shots of YiLi's birthday party. The weather was unseasonably warm! I apologize if I missed anyone in these pictures - I did my best! Look at this alpaca's teeth! Did you know alpacas only have lower teeth, and they have a type of paws rather than hooves, so they really are defenseless animals. They are guarded by Anatolian Shepherd dogs from Turkey.

These are very gentle animals. They are all girls, and the family has named every single one, and they are filled with personality! The sure did like to eat grass!

I don't know which was cuter, the kids or the baby alpacas!

Yes, it's true, when God decided to brighten our world, he brought our daughter YiLi to us. Happy eighth birthday, YiLi Rebecca Smedley! We love ya!

Our budding artist . . .

Happy Birthday, YiLi!

Pictures to follow, but exciting news can't wait! YiLi will turn 8 on Sunday. We have been home a little over 3 months already! Big sister Brittany, home for spring break, surprised YiLi in her classroom yesterday with her bitrhday treat of cookies and milk. She was so excited to see her walk in. The teacher, Mrs. Funk, is one of YiLi's favorite people EVER, and when Brittany had her it was the same way. I know Mrs. Funk had a lot of fun yesterday, too!

YiLi got to choose 8 friends who got to say something nice about her and give her a hug! Someone said that she worked very quietly and was a hard worker. Joanna and Xuelian Dell - this is for you - someone said that she dresses really cute! (All we do is that she picks her own shirt color, we pair it with jeans (matching flowers if possible) and then we add all the hair bows that also match). Joanna gave us all of Xuelian's clothes that she had outgrown, and we remain thankful for that!

More awesome news is that YiLi actually passed the PSSA test! I wish I had details of that but that's about all I know. I promise to post pictures as soon as Brittany gives me her camera!

YiLi's views on church and Christmas . . .

So YiLi told Gramma last week that once upon a time there was a little baby. His name Jesus. Then Christmas came.  Yep, she's starting to get it . . .

Here is her creation of church (with no help from us):

You can see the pews, right? The orange crayon is "Mr. Bubbles".  The three at the front are the musicians. Strawberry Shortcake. that would be me on piano! Just to let you know the two birds near the back (behind the dinosaur) got in trouble for sleeping at church! And thing one and thing two at the front - I didn't understand what their role was, something about raising their one hand and then their two hand.

And I know this is off subject, but here are some pictures of our week:

Happy Birthday Dr. Suess from Mrs. Funk (YiLi's teacher) and YiLi, a lazy Saturday morning at the Smedley's, and YiLi being her usual goofy self trying to put my jacket on while she was sitting in her chair!