Mai McCoy invited us down to her business (State Farm Insurance) that is located in the Asian District of OKC to see the Vietnamese dragon dancers that come to celebrate the new year and bring her business "luck" for the coming year! We learned so much and had such a great time! Zakary is STILL talking about it IN DETAIL! Thanks Mai!! Happy New Year!

Chuc Mung Nam Moi 2009 Everyone!!

Or in other words, Happy Lunar New Year!

This year, instead of having all the adults over for a TET-"Vietnamese potluck" party, we had a kid party for all of Zakary's friends to teach them a little about the Vietnamese culture and his heritage. We had 12 kiddos, a lot of chaos, a lot of food, and a lot of fun!!

We started off decorating the house with all kinds of lanterns, dragons, and balloons. Zakary couldn't wait for the party day to get here and the kids to arrive!! We dressed him up in his au dois (which he kept calling his pjs...I guess they are pretty comfy!) and we prepared all the food for our guests.

At 11am, all the kids arrived. We had ox coloring pages waiting for them to color since this is the Year of the Ox. Then, I read Ten Mice for TET to explain a little about the culture, the food, the celebrations and the traditions of TET. At the end of the book we shot off indoor party poppers to represent their fireworks and they all thought that was pretty fun!

Then, while the kids watched a short little song I found on Playhouse Disney about the Chinese New Year (very similar to the Vietnamese New Year), the adults fixed the kids their plates of food. We had chicken, noodles, rice and fruit for them to eat! We also shared some coconut candy and some roasted watermelon seeds which some of the kids tried!

After the food was all gone, we got set to make our crafts! First, all the kids painted paper lanterns with watercolors. The older kids got pretty intricate, while the younger ones had fun playing IN the paint! :) After they finished their lanterns, they each had a "street scene" that they could fill with stickers and make their very own dragon parades with fireworks! (I got those from Oriental Trading Company) The kids LOVED doing that!

Then, one by one while they were working on those, we took them into the kitchen to make handprint oxes so they could commemorate "The Year of the Ox".

Finally, we served cake and ice cream and handed out their goodie bags filled with chopsticks, their red envelopes filled with chocolate money, treats from the Vietnamese market, a little notepad that looked like an au dois and candy that looked like little fireworks!

All of this took a little over an hour and a half and I think the adults learned as much as the kids!

What a great way to celebrate TET and share a little of Zak's heritage with those that love him!

Chuc Mung Nam Moi Everyone! Until next year....and the year of the Tiger! :)

Kerrie

Christmas Time.....and BEYOND!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello Waiting Friends and Family!

I have not been on here in quite a while and I will apologize!! You all just really need to get a facebook page if you want to keep up with me! :) (So much easier and quicker to update!)

Christmas time was wonderful for the Sala family! We did so much and saw so many people...if I did a slide show it would take you an hour to watch...so I will hit the highlights!

Early December, the Hogue girls all came to visit and Zakary loved having Ashton and Noelle around for a day! They played and their mommy and me got to do some catching up! We also got together with our travel buddies for our annual Christmas together. All nine of us went to BJ's restaurant, then back to Kim and Mark's house for dessert and presents for the boys! Cole, Dylan and Zak once again hammed it up for the photos and showed us just how "TWO" they really are!
One of the highlights of Zak's December was our annual Gingerbread House party that we have the pleasure of attending over at the McAnally's house. Zakary was a pro this year, after Daddy helped him ice his house, he took off cramming that thing with candy...well, that AND his mouth... ;) I'm surprised he wasn't up with a tummy ache later that evening!

Then, we headed to Tulsa for an early Christmas with my family. Millie took all of her girls to get our toes done and Abby J. got her little fingernails painted...Merry Christmas to us all! Then, we headed back to the house for a big family picture, presents for the kids, and a scrumptious dinner that Millie cooked. We were able to spend a lot of time with our Aunt Caley, Uncle Tim, Aunt Katie, Uncle Shannon and Cousin Abby. And, we got to see our Aunt Mel, Uncle Brant, Cousin Ginny, Aunt Carissa, and Uncle Jordan! Zakary also got his favorite gift of the season, a REAL Buzz Lightyear that is played with DAILY, Aunt Caley...just thought you should know!!

We also stopped by and "performed" for Joey's grandparents, Papa Pete and Grandma Fern (Daddy played the "guitar" while Zakary played the drums, guitar AND sang!).

We then had Christmas with our friends, the McAnallys, and their girls where Zakary received ANOTHER Buzz Lightyear, which he regularly refers to as the FAKE Buzz (like the one in the 2nd Toy Story movie). We also went to see the lights in Yukon that evening.

Finally, Santa showed up in a BIG way at our house, bringing Zakary a 50's Diner that is the coolest thing you ever saw! Zakary loves to turn the jukebox on and serve us all ice cream from his diner! Later on Christmas day, Nana and Grandpa came to visit us. They brought MORE gifts and then we had a nice Christmas dinner together with all the Sala's!

Wheeew...you can see now why I'm just now posting this...We had a BUSY Christmas season with family and friends and were truly blessed! Thanks for checking in with us again and I hope to post sooner rather than later this next time! :)

Good night and God Bless,

Kerrie

Happy Birthday Jesus!!

I love how enthusiastic my child is about...well...just about everything! :) He continually keeps us in stitches and wondering what is going to come out of his mouth next! We haven't had many "big" events to report about lately and I apologize for the lack of updates, but I thought I would share a funny story with you to help you through this Christmas season!
We have been decorating for Christmas around our house and seeing the Christmas decor everywhere that we go. So, this has given us many opportunities to talk about how we are getting ready to celebrate Jesus' birth and how exciting that is going to be! Well, we visited my brother's church in downtown Tulsa last week for his daughter's dedication. It was a beautiful service with even more decorations and an advent candle display. A family came down the aisle to light the first candle and talk about Jesus' birth and all this was fairly fascinating for our Zakary...so much so, that when they were done and the auditorium was TOTALLY silent, he screamed out "HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!!" much to the delights and giggles of those sitting around us. So, I hope that his words cause you to smile and remember why we celebrate this great season!
Merry Christmas Friends and Family!
The Sala Three
"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord!" Luke 2:11

3rd Annual Pumpkin Carving Party with the Newchurch Youth!!

Happy Halloween Blogger Friends!! :)

So, surprise, surprise, but our Zakary wanted to be the Fed-Ex man for Halloween!! Here he is with his hat, shirt, holster for his scanner (given to him by OUR Fed-Ex guy), his phone, and his Fed-Ex box which we made into his candy-collector container!! :) He was the hit of our Trunk-or-Treat at church this Sunday and an even bigger hit at the Fed-Ex store that we stopped by to show him off! :)

Finally, every year, for the past three years, we have had our youth from our youth group over to carve pumpkins. This is the pumpkin Joey carved of Zakary this year...Isn't it cool?!? Fun times!! God bless you all and your Fall!!

Where have the months gone...where have the posts been?!?!

Hello Dear Family and Blogger Buddies!!!

Well, August and September really got away from me and I apologize for the lack of posts! So much has happened, I don't know where to even start...

First off, my brother and sister-in-law had their first baby, a little girl, named Ginny the first part of August. Zakary LOVES his ltitle cousin and is extremely good and gentle with her.

Secondly, Zakary has been making BIG 2 year old strides...He is trying to dress himself all the time now, however funny it may be...AND, are you ready for this?!?!...he is POTTY TRAINED!!!! Woooohooooo says Mom!!

We have experienced several Sooner football games and watched our Sooners rise to #1!!!! Zakary LOVES watching football and playing football with his daddy, he even owns his own OU football helmet (one of the rewards he got for going to the potty!!)

He has also seen Cole and Dylan a few times these past few months which is always a pleasure and a lot of fun. Cole and Zak even made it to the Splash Pad in Norman at the beginning of Sept. before it got too cool! Fun times!

Then, we got the great news that our friends, the Hogues were moving back to OK from Ohio!!! We know that God has great plans for them here and we are SO excited to have them back!!! And Zak was SO glad to have "His" Ashton back!!

Then, toward the end of September we had two wedding weekends back to back. First our good friend Amber was married, and then Joey's lil' sis, Katie was married and Zakary was the ring bearer in her wedding! He actually walked down the aisle with the little flower girl and then ran over to me in the front saying, "Mommy! Mommy! Good Job!!!!" so the whole audience could hear...it was GREAT! :) Enjoy the pics and hopefully I'll be writing again soon! If you REALLY want to keep up with us, get a FACEBOOK page and add me as your friend...I'm on there all the time!!! :) God Bless You All!!!