A New Year and catching up

First I am sorry for no follow ups-to say the word busy does not begin to cover it! To get home from China and to not only try to catch up with the time change, to add 2 to the family, get them started in school, the changes they go thru and the changes we go thru, then to realize that Christmas shopping was not even started (and the lists included i-pods, a sing with me doll, a pink violin, electric guitar and a pony,) we hosted a friend from China over the holidays for 10 days, a horrible cold that I had, a 13 year old overwhelmed with the changes and the learning of English, need I say that to update the blog was impossible? This posting I am going to only update with photos...I promise to write in the next week...photos are top left -Penny during a Basketball game, middle top-everyone says that the McGava girls (my sisters and I) have a hands on the hips stance that we do when we are arguing or about to win. Penny does the same! top right: even though we have over 7,000 square feet in our house the girls will always sit right there on that short staircase to play Nintendo, pictured are Penny, Addie, Kate then Morgan. Middle left-Gracie and Addie posing. Middle our sons Eric and Andrew met me at the ice skating rink and they helped all the girls skate. They even got Gracie a few rounds in although the next day she admited that her feet hurt. Middle row right - the boys were very conscience of their safety when skating. Bottom photo I like this picture, to me it shows what I will do for these girls, off and on I carried Gracie thru China when she was tired...although this photo does not begin to show that my rear by then had lost almost 16 pounds :)