Celebrating Family and the Autumn Moon Festival in Greenleaf!

This past weekend, we traveled to Greenleaf to visit Grandma and Grandpa! Mandy Rose loves to go anywhere and especially enjoys visits to Greenleaf. As we turn the final corner and are just 4 or 5 miles away, she can see the grain elevators of this little town. She always says, "There's Greenleaf! There's Greenleaf!" She knows she is almost to Grandma and Grandpa Klozenbuchie (Her version of Klozenbucher. A mouthful for anyone, much less a 3 year old!)

Our little "Shocker" girl!!

It was beautiful weather this weekend. We took advantage of it and played in Grandma and Grandpa's front yard. Mandy Rose's favorite activity is jumping off of their front porch! She tore around the yard, playing with the freshly fallen leaves.

Peek-a-boo!

A goofy picture I took of the both of us!

While visiting Grandma and Grandpa is fun, we do need to bring a bit of "home" with us. Mandy Rose has developed a voracious passion (and I am not exaggerating) for Dora the Explorer! Grandma and Grandpa do not get all the cable channels we do at home, so we bring along a portable DVD player to let her get her daily dosage. Once she tunes in, the earth could open up and swallow us all and she wouldn't blink an eye! She is incorporating Spanish into her vocabulary which sometimes makes interpreting what she is trying to relate even more of a challenge. What is she saying? Well, first, is it Spanish or English? She came out of the bathroom the other day, underwear in hand, saying, "Ayudame, ayudame, Momma." Translation..."Help me, Momma." Daddy is requiring even more help understanding his little one these days!

Completely engrossed! Notice we are growing her bangs out and are in that very awkward "how to keep them out of the eyes" stage!

Thank God for portable DVD players!

Our visit also coincided with the Autumn Moon Festival. I have recently bought moon cake molds off the internet. I brought all the recipe ingredients with me and was armed to try my hand at making homemade moon cakes. Last year, the festival snuck up too fast after our return from China. I was still adjusting to parenthood. This year, we wanted to make sure and have a family celebration of this Chinese holiday.

Folding up a moon cake

Patting in the mold

Freshly molded moon cake

Really neat wooden moon cake molds I got on the internet!

The end result!

The finished product was definitely not perfect. The tops cracked so you couldn't really see the lotus design anymore. But, they were YUMMY!

We sat out on the front porch and looked at the moon while we enjoyed our fresh baked moon cakes. We talked about how pretty the moon was. We talked about all of our family and how much we love them. We talked about Mandy Rose's birth mother who still lives in China. We talked of the foster mother who cared for her for a year. I'm not sure that we were all that traditional in our celebration, but we had fun with our version of the Autumn Moon Festival!

The moon we gazed at.

As ususal, the weekend passed too quickly. We will return for Thanksgiving. We loved seeing Grandma and Grandpa Klozenbucher. We also enjoyed a visit from our nephew Don and his girlfriend, Kaitie. It is soooo cool how everyone in the family, including the girlfriends, have come to love Mandy Rose as much as we do!

Kaitie and Mandy Rose

Don and Kaitie! Don't they make such a cute couple!