"I can't believe I did it! I made a tree . . ."

It's been a while since I've posted! YiLi has really progressed in her talking - let's just say she talks a lot! I know some have mentioned that it's hard for their children to develop their imagination - but I think being an only child in a foster home that cherished her helped out a lot!

For a while we played together - then I slipped over to the piano to play. After a bit Yili exclaimed, over and over . . ."I can't believe I did it, I just can't believe I did it!" I went running over and she showed me that she had made (to the left of her castle) , wait for it . . . A TREE! So here it is:

She was so proud!!!

YiLi has started her voice lessons, and her first recital will be near the end of May. She will sing "Shall We Gather By the River" with the following words:

Shall we gather at the river
where bright angel feet have trod?
With its crstal tide foreever
Flowing by the throne of God . . .

Yes! We'll gather at the river,
the beautiful, the beautiful river!
Gather with the saints at the river,
that flows by the throne of God.

Some day we will gather at the river! We'll see all our loved ones who have gone before us, and most of all Jesus face to face! I thought it was rather an odd first song for her teacher to choose, but I can see now how her grandmothers and many others will appreciate the meaning of the song, and will be so proud of her being able to say and sing all those words!

Here's a cute little story: Last weekend YiLi and I drove up to Edinboro to see Brittany at college. We went out to dinner with Brittany and her boyfriend Dominic, and when we came out, right outside was French Creek, flowing pretty briskly. We walked right down to the edge and I asked YiLi if she would sing her song for Britt and Dom, and she did! It was just a little moment!

I'll close with some pics:

Sisters being goofy!

New jammies, new glasses, a "Beauty" day!

What a great day we had!

We went to YiLi's first movie ever! Beauty and the Beast ! She talked and talked and talked (I mean to say this girl talked) right up until the movie started. I wasn't sure she knew she had to be quiet during the film. I didn't want to stifle her laugh, just her words! Anyway, I think people were touched by her innocent and sweet sounding giggle! We shared a giant popcorn and she loved it! She is usually very restrained regarding snacks, but she definitely kept up with us!

Then we shopped for a few things YiLi "needed" - sandals and jammies:

On the way home, we sang songs to each other, and this time YiLi could tell us what the Chinese songs were about! Of course, Daddy sang Beatles songs, YiLi sang what we think was the Chinese National Anthem, so, yeah, Rick and I had to follow with "The Star Spangled Banner". Let's just say that I'm sure glad nobody else was in the car!
Halfway home we saw what appeared to be pink stars in the sky - about 15 of them. Just when I was starting to ask myself if there really are UFO's, we approached the launching site. They looked to be some kind of lanterns that were being set off. YiLi could not see all of them but as we got closer, she saw at least one!