Jasmine and I picked up my mom tonight. Jasmine loves the excitement and adventure of going to the airport. She especially enjoys all the moving contraptions: elevators, escalators, baggage claim conveyor belt, and revolving doors.

Jasmine was initially shy about meeting her grandma for the first time, but once we got to Ikea for dinner she started warming up. And then just about every sentence started with “Grandma…” followed by “look at this”, “sit here”, “I have to go the bathroom”…

For dinner, I had the Swedish meatballs (of course), grandma had the salmon, and Jasmine had the chicken strips. For dessert we shared a chocolate mousse pie. We then did a little shopping and then upon Jasmine’s request, we visited the kids area, where Jasmine tried out all the rooms.

You’ll notice Jasmine insisted on wearing her new christmas dress to meet her grandma. Jasmine was also very busy earlier that day “cleaning” the living room so it would “sparkly” for our family.

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So we went to our monthly chiropractor appointment where Jasmine enjoys playing with the box of toys. But not today. Instead she flipped through a bunch of magazines. It was so cute that I had to take a picture. She laughed heartily at the two kitty litter ads with the cats in funny poses and costumes. And of course she had to show me every Taylor Swift photo she came upon. I’m wondering if this sudden interest in magazines is because of Gram Gram’s holiday present of a subscription to Highlights.

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You might have noticed from our blog that we are a huge Parks & Rec fan. One of their many great programs is their summer and after-school camps.  They have crafts, sports, field trips, homework helpers, education activities and playtime. The benefits to Jasmine from these programs are numerous from developing her social interaction skills to having caring positive adult role models. Here are two photos from their christmas party.

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We went to Destiny’s birthday party today at you guessed it, Chucky Cheese. We had lots of fun. Jasmine got to high five Chucky Cheese three times. Destiny had fun dancing on the blue screen. The kids emitted enough energy to power a small city. What more can I say, it was Chucky Cheeses… games, pizza and controlled chaos.

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Jasmine met her foster sister Jaiden and sister Destiny for a night of fun. Jaiden’s family was visiting Portland and graciously arranged a get together for the girls. We met at a pizza place with in indoor playground. It was surprisingly crowded for a school night.

The girls had a blast playing tag, hide-and-go-seek and just running around. The adults complained about the frigid weather and compared notes on our kids most interesting public displays of affection (a.k.a. tantrums).

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