Happy birthday, Jou. :)

Happy birthday, Dean.

[Filtered to Hakkai and Sanzo]

I told my family about my plans to adopt Ran. I know that it's not for sure until the Chinese government gives their approval, but I felt that the process is far enough along that I could share it with them. Everyone was really excited about it. My mother yelled at me for not telling her the good news sooner.

The family left today to go back to Kansas today. I had a great time while they were here. I hosted everyone for the Christmas holiday: Mom, Dad, Nate, Lauren, and my nephew Ryan. It was fun having them all here. I made dinner for everyone. I wish I could say I did it all myself, but Mom and Lauren insisted on helping, and to be honest, I was kinda grateful for the help. I've never made a big dinner like that before.

Ryan was adorable on Christmas morning opening his presents. The kid's face was filled with pure joy as he ripped the paper off of his gifts. He's young enough that the gifts themselves aren't all that important; he just likes tearing the paper off. I let him rip the paper off of some of mine, too.

To be delivered on Christmas morning:

( To Sanzo and Hakkai: )

Great, snow. Just what I wanted to come home to. The forecast is calling for 4-8 inches. Hope it doesn't cause any major problems at the airports. My family's supposed to be flying in tomorrow.

I'm back from my mission, in case you hadn't guessed. It went as well as could be expected, and I didn't end up in the infirmary this time. Mission accomplished. :)



[Private Entry]

God, these Ba'al clones are fucking annoying to capture and round up. The Ba'al jokes never get old though. I'm glad that Sam came up with a way to track their transmitters so that we can finally do something about them and not just sit on our asses while he and his many look-alikes try to take over our galaxy.

I'm in Chang'an right now visiting Sanzo and Hakkai, and I'm having a great time. I've been hanging out with the guys and spending time with the chibis. I even dressed up as Santa for them one day this week, but shh, don't tell them it was me. They loved spending the day with Santa, and I loved doing it for them.

Unfortunately, it's back to the real world later this week. I'll get back to Colorado on Friday, and General Landry's shipping me out on a mission on Saturday at 0800 hours. This mission should only take a couple of days, if all goes well. Here's hoping.

I'm off to Chang'an to visit Hakkai and Sanzo later this week. I'll be there for about a week, and then I'm being sent off on a mission when I get back. At least I didn't have to re-schedule my leave. I'm looking forward to getting away for a few days. And I should be back from the mission in time for Christmas too, which is a good thing since my family's planning to come and visit me in Colorado this year.

Happy Birthday, Sanzo. Hope it's a good one.

Birthday gift for Sanzo, due to arrive today:
( See what's inside! )

Sent to Hakkai and Sanzo, to be distributed to the children at the orphanage:

( See what's in the box! )

Happy birthday, Hakkai!

Due to arrive tomorrow:

-one cookbook
-a puzzle
-a birthday card with a message inside:
Happy birthday, Hakkai!
-Cam

I'm all moved into my house now. I still have a bunch of boxes to unpack, and I have new furniture coming tomorrow, and I have to go shopping today and buy sheets and curtains and stuff like that. I'm pretty excited to be in my house, though. I'm excited to grill out on the deck. I'm excited to use my hot tub, too. Definitely didn't have one of those in the apartment. :)

I'm in Kansas right now spending time with the family. I can't believe Ryan is a year old already! Maybe I'm a little biased, but I think my nephew's pretty damn cute.

( You can decide for yourself. )

Things with the new house are going well. I installed the hardwood flooring in the living room with some help from Vala, and next week we'll be painting the bedrooms and the family room. I'm planning to move in next weekend. I want to throw a housewarming party on September 26th. If you think you'll be able to make it, let me know. I'll be barbecuing! :)

I have officially owned my house for five days now. I haven't moved into it yet- I want to lay a hardwood floor in the living room and I want to paint, and it'll be a lot easier to do those things before I move in than after. I'll be in my new house by the end of the month at the very latest, but I'm hoping to get all the work done within the next two weeks so that I can move in sooner.

Sanzo and Hakkai came to visit earlier this week, on Wednesday. It was great seeing them again and hanging out with them. I'm glad they got a chance to come out this way.

My nephew Ryan's first birthday is on September 14th, so I took a couple of days of leave to go out to Kansas and help the little guy celebrate. Nate and Lauren are throwing a party for him and they invited the family and some of their friends. Should be a good time.

Vala and I are catching a flight to San Francisco in the morning for Piper's reception. I'm sure I'll see some of you there. :)