Merry Christmas to my Secret Pal!!

As I was in a baking frenzy this morning, I was hunting for some of my supplies. We spent last weekend at my boss's house for his annual holiday party in which my husband and I help prepare all of the food and goodies that our company's employees feast on. So after that, all of my supplies are buried in two giant rubbermaid totes by the front door (haven't had the energy to move them beyond that!). Anyway, as I was digging through the totes, I noticed a box on the floor under the newspapers. I got really excited and then turned to yell at my husband for not telling me that I had a package!! His response, while engrossed in his stupid video game, was "oh yeah...you got a package." Gee, honey...thanks...lol

So I immediately sat down to open it, even forgoing my Holiday Peppermint Coffee. Now that takes some serious distraction at this time of year...

Thank you sooooooooooooo much for the goodies!! I have searched and searched for ornaments that reflect adoption and have been unable to find them, save for the ornaments at Mandy's Moon. The Hallmark "Forever Family" is perfect! It will be going on my tree immediately! Our Dorissa is going to have quite the collection of Corduroy books when she gets here! I love books and am so excited to have books to begin her library with! The My First Christmas Board Book is a most excellent choice too! I had visions of myself holding Dorissa on my lap and asking her to count red ornaments vs blue bows...And the dress...When I pulled it out of the wrapping paper, tears filled my eyes. It is sooooo sweet and i'm so anxious to see my daughter in it. I'm such a sap...lol...I actually had to leave the room to dry my eyes before my husband noticed! It made me smile to see all of those gingerbread men on it! See...the theme for my boss's party this year was gingerbread and I baked and hand-decorated about 50 gingerbread men! How completely appropriate and you didn't even know!! :)

Thank you so very much again. Your packages always bring a smile to face, and sometimes a tear to my eye! No worries...it's the good kind of tears!

And to answer your question, yes...we got LOTS of snow! We were nearly snowed in at the hotel near my boss's house last weekend! Thank goodness for the 4x4 Dodge Dakota that we have! They had forecasted as much as 17 inches of snow in our area, but thankfully we didn't get that much near our house!

Oh yeah...and GO COLTS!!! Woo hoo!! I'm not sure who your team is, but it made me chuckle when you said they were an embarassment this year! Have we beat them? hehehehe...I guess I can safely assume that you aren't a Patriots fan ;)

Make sure you check out my blog (www.dorissablog.com) as I plan to update it soon with pictures of Dorissa-related ornaments on our tree as well as all of the baking and decorating that I have done so far this Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas has come early to Charity's home!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Happy New Year! (2008, year of the rat - here we come)
It's getting harder to come up with titles that will catch your attention (I'm not very creative.) Last night about 7 pm there was a knock on our door. I couldn't imagine who it was - the poor UPS man works late hours during this season. I was soooo excited, I couldn't wait for Andy to get home. The boys thought the "reindeer food" candy was really for Santa's little helpers. It was funny trying to explain those labels. I CAN NOT wait for Hannah Grace to slip into those unbelievably soft pj's. We always buy new pj's for the boys to wear on Christmas eve, when she gets here I'll be sure to find some that will match those. They are most worthy of our tradition. The Hallmark ornament has made me cry. I have looked for 2 Christmases now for just the perfect ornament to place on the tree. They are PERFECT. I think eventually they will end up on Hannah Grace's own tree. I guess with the wait, I'll have enough time to get her own tree pretty full. I know I've said I'll update my blog, but we've had some interesting events happen at our home that has kept me unusually busy. I pray things will settle down during the holidays & I can practice putting up the photos that everyone is wanting to see. Thank you for your sweet words of encouragement. I pray that you have a very Merry Christmas.

-Charity & the boys

What a great surprise!!!

I know we all have great secret pals but ours always makes us feel extra special. When I picked up the mail yesterday, our little ones knew right away that the big box must have surprises in it! We had a little early Christmas on the living room floor!

The magic rocks (I've been thinking about getting some of those for the kids:) and the game for the little ones is awesome. They wanted to play right away! DH LOVES coffee, always a hit! Thanks for the candy as well. I love Christmas ornaments, the little bears are really cute and I can't wait to put a family picture in family ornament too! Asem really likes the fuzzy socks! Youout did yourself. Thanks for a great early Christmas!

Blessings,
The Conard Crew

Thank You Secret Pal!!

Thank you so much to my Secret Pal for my November/December package! What a collection! The onesies are absolutely adorable, as is the ladybug "banky". They will be added to our little (and growing) collection of things for our daughter. My husband loves the scarf and I'm wearing the comfy booties as we speak. And of course, Emily, she loves her baths and the funny color foam was a hit, as was the little bag of extra goodies for her.

Thanks so much for your generosity and creativity! I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season!

Kristen Thomas

Thank You!

Hi Secret Pal!

First I gotta say I love the card and what you wrote! Very touching! And please don't feel bad either!! I just didn't want you to think I never thanked you if you had sent it and it got lost. I don't mind at all that you wanted to combine Nov & Dec!

I love that Raven has officially received her first Christmas present!!! I promise we will not open it till Christmas!! The body suits and the bowls are great! I'm going to have to start putting things in separate storage containers at this rate (clothes, toys, supplies, etc)! Love the candle holder and candle! I'm a big candle freak! I love candle holders! And what a festive scent for the holidays.

The dog squeaky Chinese take-out box is the cutest thing EVER! Somehow, Yoshi knew it was for him before I finished unwrapping it! I got the camera and put the toy on the floor by the tree (you can see Raven's gift in the background) and let me tell you, right after I snapped the picture he WENT NUTS on it! He loves to take pictures so he knows when the camera is out it's "pose time" , but as soon as the flash went off.. onto the toy! LOL I'll post more picks to my blog later for you!

Love everything! Thank you!!!

Chris and Freddy M.

Thank you from the Maxwell's

I recieved your package last week. Everything is just great. The wooden panda bear is so cute. I look forward to going to the mailbox each month. And it makes the time go by a little faster for me. Thank you so much!!!!!

Thank You Secret Pal!

Thank you so much for the mugs, espresso beans, candy, Beanie baby, Baby Santa CD, peppermint things, Rudolph book, and cat toys. Your musical snowman bag gave us a great laugh! You are right--there was something for everyone in the bag! The espresso beans aren't in the picture because my husband had already swiped them. Martina was thrilled to see the Hershey's kisses. We loved putting Martina to sleep with a Baby Einstein CD when she was a baby, and it is great to have a Christmas version for the new baby-to-be. I'll let Martina check it out this week. She loves preparing for her "baby brother sister." It's too bad the wait is so long!

When I was putting Martina to bed tonight, I kept hearing bells from the other room. The cats had found the cat toys and had somehow gotten the mice out themselves. They sure appreciate their gift too!

Thanks again!
Amy

Thank You

Hi Secret Pal,
Thank you for the latest package. You gave us our first adoption ornament. It is adorable. My 4 year old neice was eyeing up the tinkerbell night light so I let her open it and plug it in. She wanted to take it home for her room. It is cute. The wings change colors. I am sure our baby girl will love it. I cannot wait to decide on a name for her. Baby Girl will do until then, I guess. I LOVE Hartstrings clothing. The sweater is so nice. She will look great in red with her dark hair and dark eyes. It is hard to imagine she will be so little.
Have a GREAT holiday. Do not eat too much, Yeah right! Or drink too much egg nog. We look forward to a new year and hopefully a speed up in the process.

Happy 2008.
Shannon and Doug White

We got your package today!

Hi Secret Pal,

We got your package in the mail today but I think we're going to wait until Christmas morning to open it. We'll have some family and friends over and we'll be able to share your wonderful gift with them as well.

I'll post a photo after we open it!

Happy Christmas!
Lisa and Len Vraniak

Secret You Secret Pal....

Hi Secret Pal,

Thank you so much for my November Gifts. I love them all. I can't believe that you made the bib, The Cloth and the One Piece outfit. They are all adorable. The once piece bib looks similiar to one of my dogs. Steve also likes the Mints with his name on them. I hope your knee gets better soon. Have a wonderful Holiday Season and Thanks again for all of the gifts.

Joanne and Steve Griffin

Thank you from Laura and Jordan Harris

Thank you so much to our secret pal. Over the past several days we have received wonderful packages in the mail! Our furry children, Delta, Skippy and Jif are thoroughly enjoying the Kong treats and kitty teaser! The ladybug wrist rattle and bib are TOO cute! And we absolutely cannot wait to read our books "Over the Moon" and "We Belong Together".  Your kindness is truly appreciated and we hope you and your entire family have a WONDERFUL holiday season! 

Thank you Secret Pal...

Thank you sooo much Secret Pal...

Love the rubber ducky..

All of the gifts are sooo adorable... Isabella will love each and every one of them..

THANK YOU ..

Have a WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS
&

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

THE BISON'S

~Thank You from the Seabolts~

To our Wonderful Secret Pal,
We came home from work yesterday to a large package waiting for us. We had our niece and her friend spending the night. My niece kept asking when we were going to open the package so we did with her help. In it we found the most wonderful gifts. The first thing I saw were the cat toys for each of our cats with their names on them. The first name I saw was "Fluffy" - you do not know this but Thursday morning we had to have him put down. Matt had caught him, took him to the vet to be neutered and we found out that he had Feline Leukemia...so to see his name first meant so much to us and for that we greatly appreciate it. All of the other goodies are so very special but I do have to say that my most favorite of all (they all are but...) is the Chosen Child memories book. I was reading through it and almost cried. My niece thought that book was so neat...I can not wait to be able to write all of her/our memories in it.

Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness and caring. You always bring a smile to our faces each month. I hope you and your family have a very Happy and Special CHRISTMAS this year. We wish you all of the best!! Oh - the letter that you included was so vey special - thank you for that!! :)

With Great Appreciation,
The Seabolts
(and cats)

Thank you for November!

To our Wonderful Secret Pal!

Thank you so much for another great parcel. Great choice of book - we really cannot get enough of adoption stories! The chop sticks are fantastic, my kids are really annoyed they had to learn to use them the hard way. The bib is also very cool - our little girl (ok, so our house) is getting quite the collection of lady bugs, we love them! I hope the weather wherever you are (somewhere rather chilly obviously) hasn't been treating you too badly - today we had quite the scorcher, very hot, very humid - hiding inside in the air conditioning till the sun goes down this afternoon! Thank you, thank you again!

Love Jannett Nelson

WOW!!!! Thank You SP!!!!

I was so excited when I came home today to find TWO very large boxes on my doorstep. I felt a little bad for Mr. Postman, as I live in a third floor walk-up, and he hauled them all the way up there, but that feeling passed all too quickly as I tore into the boxes!!! LOL!

I actually even opened them up in the correct order, I think anyway, because I opened the one with your card first, so that I knew it was Nov & Dec boxes arriving together! So the first box contained the most FUN and ADORABLE and USEFUL gift... here it is:

An adorable storage box to one day hold all of my girl's fun dress up clothes... and then this for inside...

The cutest little dress-up outfit, complete with butterfly wings! I can't wait for the day when she is dancing around the house in this!!

Then, I thought for a second that maybe I should wait to open December's box, but nah.... I was having too much fun!


This box contained everything we will need for many fun days in the kitchen... A Fun With Me Baking Set, complete with mixing bowl, baking tools, cookie cutters and a chef's hat & apron. Also was a package of Mommy & Me matching aprons, pot holders and oven mitts in Mommy size and Mini size!!!

Everything is so cute, I LOVE IT!!!! Thank you so much, SP!!! I wish my terrible photography did better justice to the gifts!!

And one last photo in this very long Thank you post.... My Fred would like to thank you for the hours of fun he will have with his part of the gift....

Thank you for Nov & Dec.... Can't wait for January!!!!!!
~Kristen H. in NJ

Thanks Secret Pal! You are Wonderful

I was recently assigned to another pal who sent me my first gift today and she went above and beyond to make up for the last few months. Secret pal, you are wonderful and really made me feel reconnected to this group!!! I am so grateful. She did more than her share and sent gifts for October, November and December. Lily and I had a ball opening the presents. She sent Halloween socks and cookie cutters for October, scrapbook paper and chopsticks, travel cheat sheet for November, books, advent calendar, chinese take out ornamen and the cutest little Santa bib for December. This was amazing to come home to!!!! I LOVE MY NEW SECRET PAL! for pictures of all of the special prizes, see my other blog at journeytobabybecky.blogspot.com (I have still not renamed the address but the blog is about out baby Miracle as we have turned in our MCC and could get a boy referral). I am thrilled beyond words to be posting a thank you to this group again. Thank you Secret Pal, you made my day!!!

Margaret

Thank you from Karin & Steven Choi

Thank you secret pal. We found your package in the garage! I don't know how long it was there but the door must have been open for a bit and the mail lady went for it! We found it as we were leaving to spend the night at my parents home. We took it with us and ready the stories to our two little sweet nieces. They thoroughly enjoyed them--especially that grouch ladybug! The funny thing is I keep asking to my husband where our Eric Carle collection is. We bought three of the books last Christmastime for our daughter to be, but I have not found them in a year! A week before your package arrived I finally decided that we must have given them to one of our 7 nieces and nephews last year. I probably thought I hadn't gotten enough for one of them. So you hit the nail on the head with that book. Now I just have to get the others. A few hours later I got horribly sick and ended up in the hospital the whole next day. When we finally got home I wanted a nice hot bath and some aromatic olfactory stimulation. We immediately thought of the diffuser you sent with excitement until we realized that in the mayhem trying to get to the hospital the package got left behind. I can't post pictures because I won't be reunited with my prezzies for a while. I love your notes I so appreciate your sentiments written in your own hand. Thank you, again.

Karin and Steven Choi

A Week Later Charity Reponds :(

Once again life has kept me too busy to thank my wonderful SP. You are incredible. The book, "Just Add One Chinese Sister" is so perfect for my boys. I love how you've added to Hannah Grace's hair bow collection with every month. I definitely will have to go get a holder soon ;) I absolutely LOVE the calendar. I can not wait for January to get here. I've been looking at it over & over. How beautiful those precious children are. Your encouraging notes mean more to me than you'll ever know. I can't wait until the end when you reveal your precious self. I've kept it all so one day I can show Hannah Grace how we waited for her.
I'll give you the address, but don't expect much. I am definately not computer savy. My husband actually spent yesterday afternoon trying to make it a little festive. (He's the computer geek.) I am hoping to post this week about my son's football season & your latest gift. The very first post or two explains how we told our parents our news of the adoption. Then you'll have to look back at Disney & our trip to Philadelphia to see pics of us. (I do plan on fixing that this week:) www.amorrisfamily.blogspot.com
Have a great December & I pray that you'll be able to enjoy the true meaning of why we celebrate "Merry Christmas." Thanks for making national adoption month wonderful.
Charity

Love the giggle pal!

So the giggle pal is just too funny! I told Len that he couldn't wear it out before our daughter had the chance to use it! We don't have any of the books you sent so thank you--we love them all. Can't wait to read bedtime stories all snuggled up in a chair...

In answer to your question, we celebrate Christmas (and Easter for that matter). We hope you have a great holiday season!

Cheers,

Lisa and Len Vraniak

Thank you! From Lisa Buckshaw

Thank you, Secret Pal. I am sorry that I have not posted sooner. I received your package during the Thanksgiving holiday. I had a house full of people staying for four days and saved the box to open when everyone left. After four days, with 20 people in my house, the house was silent, except for the sound of my cat playing with a rubber band from the daily newspaper. Opening your box put a smile on my face and reminded me that in two years my house will no longer be silent when company leaves. The build a bear looks so cute and I am looking forward to having Mikayla play with it. I have to admit, your boxes contain postcards from so many different places in this world that I really have no idea who you are.

However, it is nice to know that you are thinking of me. Thank you for your kindness.

Lisa Buckshaw
LID 4/29/07