Progress

Here is our latest video of Makayla and how much & how fast she is learning. If you think about the short amount of time that she has actually been hearing (3 months now) and she understands so much!!! She is babbling like you heard in the video of her with Santa (below) ALL the time now, which is the exact thing she needs to be doing. This is quite a journey for all of us but the rewards are immeasurable!

Meeting Santa Clause

Santa Clause came to visit Makayla's Pre-School class today. We were so worried that it would end up being a really bad situation, especially if the children in front of her started crying. Funny thing...she was so excited for it to be her turn!!! She noticed that every child was getting a gift and she was all for it. She kept scooting closer and closer with every child's name called until it was her turn. It was the CUTEST meeting ever. She was so chatty with Santa. Since she has just started babbling, you can't understand a word she is saying but she is having a great time! I think Santa enojoyed it as much as Makayla did!

We hope you all have a Christmas filled with Peace & Joy!

The Sweeney's

WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE???

Seriously, I cannot even believe we have been home from China for 10 months! I wanted to post our Christmas card and letter to catch you all up as much as I could.

Merry Christmas-圣诞快乐-Fröhliche Weihnachten

I hope this letter finds you all well! We have had a crazy busy year with so many blessings!!! I will do a short recap of our year! WE ARE SO BLESSED…how was that? Well, it’s true but here are a few more details.

In January we flew to China for a three week trip of a life time. We spent a week in Beijing touring the beautiful city and eating the BEST food on the planet! Mike worked for 4 days at the Agilent office while the kids and I toured the cultural and historical sites with a wonderful guide. We have concluded that if given the chance, we would all go back, in a heartbeat! We traveled from Beijing to Hangzhou, China and our new daughter, Makayla, was magically placed in our arms. What an incredible blessing she is! We continued to site see for two more weeks, along with completing all the adoption paperwork along the way. We drove to Wenzhou, China where Makayla was abandoned. We toured her orphanage, met her caregivers and experienced firsthand what her life was like. Once your eyes have seen what we have seen, your heart will be changed forever! We finalized her adoption in Guangzhou, took a train to Hong Kong, flew to Japan and then flew home.

Just about the time we thought we were able to take a breath and relax into our new groove...the news came that the Agilent branch Mike had worked for in Liberty Lake was shutting its doors. That pretty much took our breath away after being quite comfortable for 13 years. He was offered a relocation package and we decided with 4 kids it was a wonderful idea! The downfall was that we had to move and it was not going to be easy. We had always been with family, so the thought of leaving was difficult, but when you are given the choice of a job or no job…well, we chose a job! As it turns out, it has been the best move we could have made for our family…and who couldn’t get used to 335 days of beautiful SUNSHINE!!!! We have been here in Fort Collins now for 4 months and spent many hours touring the area. It is really beautiful here. We have also had lots of visitors. Kassi has been here 3 times now, our niece Elaine twice, Mike’s parents and my friend Angela. Kassi and Elaine will be here for Christmas and then Paty (one of our exchange students from Mexico) will be here in January. We love all the company; it helps it feel more like home. Basically the guest room is available if you are!

Kassi is 20 now and working full time as a Certified Chiropractors Assistant, she just had her two year anniversary with the company. She is living on her own with a roommate and loving her independence. Her biggest highlight this year was her trip to Germany to see her best friend Kristina. They had a great time together, well, except for the mugging in Paris!!! That was horrible and we are thankful that she wasn’t hurt and they let her come home! She also had a major surgery and is finally feeling so much better. It is never a good idea to have a tonsillectomy at 20 unless it is an emergency, and it her case it was. Thankfully it was the best thing she did and she hasn’t been sick since! She is planning to move here in February-March when her lease is up and that would make my heart complete. It was really difficult on both of us to have to move without her. She makes me laugh so hard and her giggle is seriously contagious!

Alex is enjoying his 10th grade year so far. He is making new friends and finding out who his real ones are back home (the old home). He loves his new school and most of his teachers. He is continuing in Boy Scouts and has about a year until he is an Eagle Scout, if he works at it. He also can’t seem to live without his video games and music. He celebrated his 16th birthday this year also! I can’t believe he is already 16 and yes, that means he is driving too. He has his permit, has completed Drivers Ed and will have his license in a few more months (yes, I have used the emergency imaginary brake on the passenger side at least once). He has learned to make his own hamburgers, Alex style. If you ever come and visit he would love to make you one. He is also in his second year of German and I have to say I love it when he speaks Deutsch to us. A Mother-Son bond…there is just nothing like it. He gives the best hugs and is the nicest boy I have ever known!

Missi is in the 5th grade this year and is 10 years old. She has had a bit of a harder time adjusting to all the newness this year. She loves her new teachers and has met some great new friends. However, she has the most moments of sadness and missing what used to be her comfort zone. The move was harder on her than we thought, but she is doing much better now. We are so thankful for phone calls and emails, she is keeping in touch more now than ever with friends and family. She is keeping busy with two dance classes. She is still in traditional ballet and now has added Hip Hop. Hip Hop is her favorite, but she still loves ballet and dreams of being a ballerina. Her new teachers are young and full of energy. Missi says she sweats every day in dance class. She is also in Choir at school and will be in the school play this year as a Sugar Plum Fairy. Her style is all her own now, she is so sassy and funky and her giggle is the BEST. All in all our little Missi, she is blossoming into a beautiful young lady and she has a heart of gold…she makes my heart smile!

Makayla is now in Pre-School four days a week for 3 hours and loves the routine with her friends and teachers. She has had a very busy 10 months with her FOREVER FAMILY. She has learned to walk, run, hop, ride a tri-cycle, feed herself, potty train, dress herself, follow directions, and has undergone two major surgeries, one procedure and now has bi-lateral cochlear implants. She is hearing, speaking and signing. What a HUGE change for her given that she could not communicate at all in January. She now can say Mom, Mama, more, home, meow, move, woof, up, Alex, and almost “I love you”. She has her LING sounds mastered, which are: ahhh, ooo, mmmmm, ssss, and shhh. She can sign about 150-200 signs and she is signing lots of songs like: 3 Little Ducks, The Wheels on the Bus, Old MacDonald, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Seriously the list could go on and on for this little girl. She is so smart, loves ice-cream and noodles, has a smile that will melt your heart, is so determined to learn and has such a need to please. She will go far in life; that I am sure of!

I am sure you must be so tired of reading this letter by now. I know I am tired of typing. So, I will end with this…

We are so blessed with all four of our kiddos, our health, job, friends & family…life is GREAT!
May your year be filled with much love, happiness, health and surrounded by loved ones!

Happy Holidays
The Sweeney Family
Mike, Fonnetta, Kassi, Alex, Missi, and Makayla
Duchess (dog) & Princess (cat)