Ahn-Bao Update

Ahn-Bao experienced his first Christmas program at his preschool last week. He followed directions and took his place on the stage very dutifully, but it had to be very confusing for him to be experiencing such an odd phenomenon for the first time for such a fresh little mind! Ahn-Bao is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday, December 16 to have his tonsils and possibly adenoids removed. This has become necessary to prepare for his next palate re-repair and expansion which will likely be in January. The palate repair this time will be a pharyngeal-flap procedure (wikipedia has an explanation of the procedure at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharyngeal_flap_surgery) to expand what his plastic surgeon says is a too-short palate. While he is under anesthesia for the tonsils they will also clean out his ears and check to make sure that the tubes that were surgically placed in April are still in place. The ENT surgeon expects to schedule his surgery for early in the morning and keep him overnight in the hospital just one night.

If all goes well for both procedures, this should help him be ready to learn to make more of the consonant sounds that he is now lacking. He is getting speech therapy through the school district every couple of weeks and we're working on homework in-between. He's very motivated and talks up a storm, but requires a family translater (often one of the other kids) to be understood. We are very hopeful that once the anatomy is repaired, that he can really have a chance to be more understood. It would be such a joy to hear the independent thoughts, feelings and observations that he trys so hard to express.

Ahn-Bao will also have an ultrasound of his kidneys on December 12. This is a precautionary measure to make sure his kidneys are not compromised by the melamine contamination of milk in China over the past few years. It has just been coming to light recently and it's likely that Ahn-Bao would have had some exposure. He's already had clear laboratory tests so the ultrasound is just to put his parents minds at ease.

Get Out the Vote!

The Hubert Family all joined in the "Get Out the Vote" campaign on election night tonight. Our polling place, Autumn Ridge Church had special ballots to allow the kids to vote too. Everyone got an, "I Voted" sticker (you can see Yasmin wearing hers on her cheek). You'll have to ask them how they voted and what they think of the results as they roll in.

The Cousin's Halloween Costumes!

Cousins Bailey, Caden, Connor and Olivia shared photos from a distance of their Halloween attire which we have taken the liberty of sharing with all of you!

Olivia is a Ducky!

Bailey is a vampire, Connor is Spiderman, Caden is a knight in “shining” armor, and Lisa is tired.

Halloween Traditions!

Our 10 year tradition for Halloween is to trick-or-treat in our good friend, Zejna's neighborhood. Since the very first holiday, when our Bosnian friends were experiencing it for the first time, this neighborhood is just the best for friendly, welcoming Halloween families. I can still remember Samir flabbergasted by the concept . . . "Let me get this straight, you walk up to the door, you ring the bell, say, 'Trick-or-Treat' and they give you candy?!" It really is a wonderful, uniquely American tradition and one which we will be doing for lots more years.

We always park at the Elementary School at the bottom of the street, hit all the houses with lights on the North side of the street on the way up the block-and-a-half to Zejna's house. We must always get early instructions from Bob: "Stay on the sidewalk and don't cut through the yard." "Only go to houses where the lights are on." And, "Don't forget to say, 'Thank You' loud enough for Dad to hear you at the sidewalk" Kia added a, "Happy Halloween" to her, "Thank You," which was a nice touch.

When we get to Zejna's, she always genuinely admires each and every costume and gives the kids too much candy and lots of hugs and kisses. We then make our way back to the school via the South side of the Street. Most years, when Halloween falls on school night, its hurried back home to put kids to bed. This year, with Halloween on Friday, we were able to visit a few special neighbors in our own neighborhood.

A fun time was had by all!

The Burning Bush Keeps Growing!

There is a burning bush in our backyard that turns a beautiful red in the Fall each year. It has now become a family tradition to take a photo of the family as it has grown in front of the bush when it hits its peak of color, usually in September or October of each year. We have attempted this year's photo a number of times to try to get all four kids, in the camera frame, looking at the camera and not crying or pouting and you can see our attempts from this year below.

You can look back over the years at how this special bush has really grown.

Elias is 7!

One of our family traditions is to have a photo taken on your birthday wearing something that you'll eventually grow into and marking your birthday height on the garage wall. Elias has been having his photo in Dad's Husker sweatshirt.

The same sweatshirt seems to have shrunk since 2003 by way of comparison.











Elias was persuaded to choose China Star for dinner on his birthday. He probably would have preferred dinner at home, but wouldn't have had a preference for what it was, but it was a weeknight and none of the adults, or the kids, was willing to cook that night. We enjoyed our usual, General Tso's Chicken-not spicy, Hot and Sour Soup and Plain Lo Mein. Elias got "Alvin" the Webkin, a new helmet and knee and elbow pads, and opened a scooter that he will be the first rider on, but will share with his siblings -- we'll let you know how that works!

Ice Skating Birthday for Elias

Elias turned 7 on October 16 and enjoyed ice skating with his friends Brock and Matthew. Our friend, Mirza came along and of course, Yasmin, Kia and Ahn-Bao joined them on the ice (albeit, the little ones without skates). Here are a few photos from the birthday party on Saturday, October 11.