Party of Seven

Open Heart Surgery for Ava today!

2011-03-28T09:06:00.000-07:00

All is going well in our family and Gemma is still doing awesome!! I need to do an update really bad!

Just wanted to let everyone know Ava went in for Open Heart Surgery this morning at 8:15am Mountain time. She is having her pulmonary valve replaced and her pulmonary artery fixed. They told us it will be a 5-7 hour surgery. We will keep everyone updated, not sure if anyone still even reads this blog anymore. I need to get back to blogging!!

Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts, it means so much to our family!!!

Two months with Gemma!

2011-01-05T15:32:00.000-08:00

Okay to began where we left off! Another month with Gemma home.

About a week before Christmas break Gemma started school part time. She has been placed in the 3rd grade and attends a charter school with Gavin and Keaton. She was beyond excited to start and counted down every day! My husband, Ava and I walked her down to her class. Her teacher and classmates where expecting her. They had made a wonderful welcome poster on the door of the class and had pictures from our china trip on it. Everyone in the class had signed it. Her teacher had taken the time to read our entire travel blog to get to know our family and Gemma better!

We continued to walk her in for 2 more days and showed Keaton where her class was so he could have the privilege to make sure she got to her class okay every morning.

School has been going great and she is still very happy and enjoys going every day. She is kind of a rock star and has made many friends quickly. Some of her classmates now argue over who will walk her to her class when the school doors open in the morning. Keaton is kind of bent out of shape because of this.

We had a beautiful Christmas break and the weather was beautiful for our neck of the woods. The kids got lots of outside play and it was not too cold to enjoy it. Gemma has taken a liking to the Razor scooter, jump roping, and hula hoop. She is very good at all of them!

Ava showing Gemma how it is done!

A week before Christmas some great friends of ours came over from California to visit for two weeks. They have family just 30 minutes north of us so we were still close enough to get together many times in that two weeks. They have three amazing kids; Jacob 18, Emily 15 and Hannah 3 1/2. I have talked about this family before on my blog. We met in a very special way last November of 2009. Their daughter Hannah and our Ava were crib mates in China for almost 15 months before being adopted. Our families hit if off and enjoy that we have this special bond with our girls. Ava was beside herself knowing that Hannah was coming to visit. We had them over for dinner one night after they arrived. The girls have so many of the same mannerisms and facial expressions, it just melts my heart seeing them together here on the other side of the world! We have some very touching stories about them in the orphanage that the nannies had shared with our families.

Yes, this is only two families! ha

We got invited over to their extended family's house for a Christmas party the week before Christmas. We only knew our friends but it was still fun nevertheless. I think Gemma really enjoyed being part of a celebration and feeling part of a bigger family. She and the rest of the kids had a great time.

Gavin and Hannah

Keaton digging in

We stayed home this Christmas and did not have any family come this year so it was such a blessing to be able to spend it with great friends.

I have never seen so much excitement from a 9 year old child about Christmas. The amazement and wonder in her eyes was priceless. Christmas eve we took the three little's to see St. Nick. He was in a cute part of old town in a little cabin. It was beautiful and almost 60 degrees, which was wonderful for waiting in line outside. Gemma was not sure what to think of him but he was very kind and we got some great pictures. Ava even drew Santa a picture!

St. Nick and the little's

We have the tradition of opening one present on Christmas eve. We always do this after dinner. I made a yummy roast in the crock pot with potatoes and carrots and enjoyed a wonderful Christmas eve dinner. We had also baked and decorated sugar cookies earlier in the day. The kids all sat at the table for hours working on cookies. They started off very traditional but with 4 boys they got creative with the icing color and the cookies! Everyone enjoyed the gift they opened and off to bed they went early.

And their set

Gemma's first cookie

Christmas cookies

Then the boys got crazy and creative!

We woke the kids up at 6am Christmas morning to see the presents St. Nick had left and then it was time to get ready for church. We are so blessed Gemma came to us knowing the true meaning of Christmas and that it was Jesus' Birthday! After a beautiful Christmas Mass we headed home to snap a quick family pic, change clothes, have a quick breakfast and sit down to pass out the gifts. Gemma was just grinning ear to ear. We opened our presents by taking turns and going from youngest to oldest, one at a time. Gemma caught on very quickly and knew it was her turn when Keaton was done! ha Ava actually understood and enjoyed Christmas much more this year too. The older kids really did a great job at getting excited for the little ones.

Ava got the diaper bag she had been wanting!

Keaton and his "surprise" look

Explaining Gemma's gift card from Papa and Lori to her

Gavin

Soren

Preston

We broke from tradition this year with no family in town and decided we did not want to spend the whole day cooking and preparing dinner and then have all the clean up. We wanted to enjoy each other and the kids and have a very relaxing day. So at 4pm we headed to our favorite Japanese restaurant for an early dinner. It was a hit and we enjoyed bento boxes, sushi, noodles and much more! We came back home to a clean kitchen and enjoyed yummy cookies, fudge, and pies!

We enjoyed a couple more get togethers with our friends from California and it was sad to say good bye. We will see them this June when we head to California for a mini vacation.

The little's getting crazy

Trying to get them to settle for a picture!

Super Ava to the rescue!

During Christmas break we also took the family to see "Tangled". Everyone loved it!! It was Gemma's first movie and she was very excited to have popcorn and watch the movie. This was only the second movie Ava has ever been to and she sat and watched the entire movie, which is big for her. When the movie was over Ava told me she wanted hair like Rapunzel, so cute.

On January 2nd our church had its annual Christmas pageant. The pageant is for all kids five and up in the parish that are interested. Keaton was a shepherd and Gemma was a star angel. She was not quite sure what was going on so we had our friend Linda explain it to her. I think she really enjoyed dressing up, she did a great job and even try to sing the Christmas carols.

Yes, the older kids enjoy photo bombing the pics!

Gemma seems to be fitting in very well. There has not really been any big issues. She and Ava have their moments but it is nothing major. She is very trusting of us. She is doing better in the car and no longer getting sick but Gemma is very much a home body. When we are out and about she always wants to know when we will be home. Her English is slowly coming along but it is still very hard to communicate without a translator. I think school will help in that department. She goes to bed easily and sleeps well every night. Ava is doing much better in the sleeping department too, thank you God!

Gemma continues to talk to her foster brother via QQ a couple times a week. She has also called her foster mother once. Her foster mother was very excited to hear from her and to know she was okay and safe.

The things we have to work on the most are manners and cultural differences but it is coming along. She is a very quick learner with a goofy sense of humor. We have had some funny translation moments and we all just laugh. She continues to speak to her friend Faith every couple of weeks on skype but the conversations are not as long because Faith has picked up English very quickly and does not speak Chinese much anymore. Since Gemma's English is slow coming this makes their skype sessions a little more difficult but I think they still enjoy seeing each other.

Gemma continues to go to Chinese school on Sundays but has been on break over Christmas. We start up again next week. We still meet with our friend Linda every week or so, she is a wonderful Chinese mentor for Gemma. We use this time to tell each other things and ask questions of one another. Linda also makes Chinese food for Gemma every time she see hers. We are very blessed to have Linda as a friend and to be so generous with her time! Gemma calls her Ayi (Auntie).

I still cant believe we have 6 children now, have to pinch myself. Every chair at our table is now filled and now when we have company we have to break out the card table and extra chairs.

Thanks for following along!

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus!!!

2010-12-25T18:42:00.000-08:00

FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS!!!

(Where are Ava's arms? Behind her holding onto my skirt. ha)

Over 1 month with Gemma!!

2010-12-02T20:03:00.000-08:00

Cant believe Gemma has been with us for over a month now!! That paper chase is a very distant memory. Gemma was so happy to get off those planes and see her forever home. We walked through the front door and she walked right in and plopped down on and couch and said Awwwwwwwww!! After resting for a few minutes she wanted the grand tour of her new home.

All her siblings have been so excited and have welcomed Gemma with open arms. If anyone is having a little bit of a hard time it is Ava. Not so much because of Gemma but just missing us so much when we were gone, it was very hard on her.

Watching Chinese cartoons with Gemma

Two days after coming home we made a trip to the dentist. Normally I would not have done that so soon. But Gemma had been complaining of her teeth hurting in China and asked to see a dentist. I could tell she had some major rot and abscessed teeth. She also had 5 broken adult teeth from a fall at school earlier in the year. She did get a little nervous not sure what was going to happen. We had a dear friend of ours explain it to her in Mandarin. They did an exam and cleaning and she did great!! She did give my hand a big squeeze a few times but she was very brave. Well the verdict was 12 cavities, 2 teeth to be removed, 3 root canals, and 5 broken teeth that need major reconstruction. The day we left China Gemma starting throwing up a couple times a day, then we thought it was nerves but now we know it was from the infections in her mouth. She continued to throw up until we got her on antibiotics for the abscessed teeth.

She has had half the work done already on her teeth and she is very happy. We are taking a month break then in January we will start the reconstruction of the broken teeth. She is such a brave girl and we are very proud of her.

Gemma has been a very obedient little girl. She has said NO a few times but I believe it was just a little testing in the beginning and there have been a few times she was not happy with me and gave me ugly looks. Overall she seems to be very happy in her new family. She loves giving hugs and tells us Thank you and love you often. Language has not been a problem at all, this girl is an expert at charades and the translator on the ipod has helped too. Like I said before we also have a couple of good friends that speak Mandarin that have been a great help too. Not just with translating when needed but with teaching me how to cook some of Gemma's favorite Chinese food.

One week after being home Gemma also started a local Sunday Chinese language school. It is 2 hours every Sunday and she loves it and looks forward to it every week. It is very important to us that she keeps her native language and we hope this helps.

Gemma has also been begging to go to school with her brothers. We have not decided when that will happen but I think she would thrive in it and it is what she is use to. In china she attend a private school and was in 3rd grade. She was a very good student and loves school.

The hardest thing so far for Gemma is driving in a car. She hates it. We live way out in the country and it is 7 miles just to the nearest store. So we spend a lot of time in the car every day.

She has enjoyed Skyping with her friend Faith from China that was adopted at the same time. Gemma also used QQ to talk with her older foster brother in China.

About 2 weeks after being home she begged to get her ears pierced. So she has some pretty flower earrings in her ears and loves them.

We just cant believe how well things have gone. We have not had any meltdowns or any major challenges. Thank God!!! I know it is still early but I would be surprised if serious issues started now.

I will say we had some tears last night. She became sad and got in a funk for a few hours. I ask her why she was sad and she said she missed Chinese food. She was downstairs crying and I did not know because I was cooking dinner. Keaton came up and told me Gemma was crying. I think it did not help because my husband left on his first business trip after coming home and I think it hit Gemma hard to have him gone. Momma gave lots of hugs and told her to talk to me so I can help her. Told her I loved her and wanted her to be happy in her new family. She was good to go after that!

She eats everything we serve and always clears her plate and asks for more. Gemma loved our Thanksgiving feast she was very curious as Sean and I cooked and prepared in the kitchen. She had seconds on mashed potatoes and gravy and many leftovers for days! ha Thanksgiving was just the 8 of us. When we were done eating Gemma ask when the party was starting and when family and friends would be coming! ha I told her not this year it was just us, she was a little disappointed.

Helping with Thanksgiving dinner and enjoying the meal

The cold is also another thing she is not happy about. She hates being cold but loves to watch the snow through the window and gets very excited. She did go out in it once but it lasted less than 5 minutes!

I can honestly say the hardest thing since being back is Ava. She missed us so much when we were gone. All her nighttime issues have come back full force. She will all the sudden start crying and say she is glad we are back and does not want us to ever leave again. Her anxiety is off the charts with us leaving a room or going anywhere. The night waking is back to 2 plus times a night and has been very draining on us. It was very traumatic for her having us gone. There is no way we could have taken her, she cant even handle a 1 hour flight to Phoenix let alone 15 hrs to China. We made the best decision at the time and hopefully we can get her broken heart through this process.

Tonight a got another amazing hairdo that out did the one in China!! Compliments of Gemma, Keaton and Ava, this one truly should win an award!!

Gemma will sit for hours doing her barbies hair. I think a nice big doll with long hair will be on the list for Santa! She loves to draw and watch her Chinese cartoons too.

I will also honestly say it has been a little hard on me. I did not realize how much I would miss not having the cuddly little baby or toddler like with Ava. You have to be much more creative with starting attachment and bonding. Luckily Gemma does let me do everything for her so we are on the right track!

I hope I did not bore you to tears and sorry it was all over the place. This is why it took me so long to do an update, my thoughts are just all over the place and major Mommy brain these days!! We are so blessed with our new daughter/sister.

Ava and the outfit she picked for the day!!

Update coming soon!!

2010-12-02T08:36:00.001-08:00

Sorry for the delay. I have sat down many times to write an update and then stop. Im a horrible writer and I get intimidated. It does not come natural like it does with my hubby. He did such an awesome job on the travel blog!!

Everything is going very well and Gemma is such a sweet brave girl. I will try to sit down tonight and do an update. Thanks.

Gemma is Home!!!!

2010-11-10T20:58:00.001-08:00

All is going very well. Gemma tells us everyday how happy she is and how much she loves her new family!! The kids do not seem to have any jet lag by my hubby and I are dealing with it. She is a true delight and an answer to our prayers!! I know it is still the honeymoon but she has been like this since day one.

Tomorrow we see the dentist and she is very excited and keeps telling me Thank you Mommy. Her teeth are very sore and looks like she has some major cavities. Plus she has 4 broken adult teeth that will need to be fixed.

All the kids are playing and getting along well. Ava loves her big sister and Gemma loves her Mei Mei!! She even told us Ava woke up last night crying and Gemma got out of bed and patted her back to sleep! How sweet is that???

We are so blessed and very happy to start this new journey at home!! More soon.......

Come with us to China!!!!

2010-10-17T13:36:00.000-07:00

Gemma in the orange shirt.

Below is the link to our travel website!! We leave in 4 days!!! Would love for you all to follow along!!

http://www.myadoptionwebsite.com/ourgemma/index.html

Bit off more than I can chew!!!!

2010-10-13T09:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, I went through the closets and got everything taken out. Started taking a few pics and that is as far as I have gotten!!! ha

The up coming travel is consuming me every second of the day!!

So I think I will have to wait and do the sale when I get back! So sorry! We are leaving in

ONE WEEK!!!!!

Just for a teaser, I have lots of Matilda Jane and other fun boutique stuff and a little GAP and Gymboree.

Time to go back to piling stuff by the suitcase!!

Making room in the closet soon!!!

2010-10-05T11:03:00.000-07:00

After 4 boys I went a little nuts before Ava came home filling her closet!! I have slowed down quite a bit knowing she cant possibly wear it all!

I have nothing for Gemma yet and need to make room in the closet that the girls will share.

So look here in the next few day for a clothing sale!!! Most of it is "like new" and "new". I will do bidding style and start the bid at a certain amount, place your bid in the comments. Plus cheapest shipping. (up to 3 outfits $5 shipping) Most sizes will be 18 months to 3T.

The bidding will go for 5 days and as soon as I get payment I will ship it out!! I hope to get it all out before we leave for China so quick payment would be great!!

All $$ will get Gemma some clothes on her side of the closet! ha

Time to go through the closet!!!

Our Travel Timeline!!!

2010-09-29T20:06:00.000-07:00

So here is our travel timeline so far:

Nana and Papa arrive to watch the kids:

Oct. 21st

Leave for China:

Oct. 22nd

Arrive at the White Swan:

Oct. 23rd

Free Day:

Oct. 24th

Gemma Day:

Oct. 25th!!!!!!!!!

CA:

Nov. 2nd

Visa:

Nov 4th

Leave for Hong Kong:

Evening of Nov. 4th

Spend some time in Hong Kong:

Nov. 5th-7th

Fly back to USA:

Nov. 8th

Get hit with major jet lag:

Nov. 8th-16th! :-)

IT IS HERE!!!!

2010-09-23T10:53:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful Autumn Moon Festival it was yesterday!!!! We enjoyed a yummy Chinese dinner and loads of ice cream instead of Moon cakes per the kids request!! ha Next year I will make my own yummy Moon cakes and we can have ice cream on the side!!

Yes, you are reading that right we have TA!!!!! It came about 4:30pm and I was totally not expecting it at all because it has been only 4 business days since our Article 5!!! So it was a double celebration last night.

We are leaving in 30 days, Holy Cow my head is spinning!!! Any tips on travel would be great or anything you could not live without especially for an older child. I have a huge list but it is so overwhelming right now!! I had to have a glass of wine last night just to calm myself down! It has been months and months since I have had wine!!!

We still have to switch rooms around too and paint!!! O MY GOODNESS!!!

Okay BREATHE.............BREATHE................BREATHE................ :)

She got our Bear!!!

2010-09-03T18:46:00.001-07:00

NEW pictures of Gemma and waiting for TA!!

2010-08-25T10:44:00.000-07:00

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY!!

My latest project!

2010-08-09T14:23:00.000-07:00

I had the honor to make a very special bracelet for a friend of mine. She came to me and wanted a charm bracelet for her Grandmother with all the grand kids names and their birthstones. I always love a jewelry challenge!!! I also added some extra charms of pearls and crystals!

Thanks Don and Andrea for having me create this special piece, I hope it will be treasured for years!!

(click on the image to see a larger picture)

A great GIVEAWAY!

2010-08-05T15:54:00.000-07:00

For all you Matilda Jane lovers out there click here for a wonderful GIVEAWAY!!!

It ends tomorrow at 9pm.

GUESS WHAT

2010-07-26T14:36:00.000-07:00

Daddy and Daughter Time!!!

2010-07-12T08:37:00.001-07:00

SUNDAY Snapshot!!

Ava loves to draw, especially if someone will draw with her and she tells you what see wants on the paper! Ha

We picked up some side walk chalk at the beginning of the summer and the kids having been enjoying covering our driveway with masterpieces.

I walked outside the other day and caught Ava and Daddy drawing together and had to grab the camera!!

She still has a closer bond with Sean and adores her Daddy so much!!

She prefers Sean do the night time routine with her. They read a book of Ava's choice then spend a few minutes rocking and looking into each others eyes. Then she is ready to be tucked into bed with her special China blanket!!

When he picks her up she just lays her head on his shoulder, she does not do this with Mama. It's okay because we have other things we do together like; baths, painting nails, getting dress and doing hair!!

A Day at the Water Park!!

2010-07-06T10:07:00.000-07:00

I think our best day so far was the day we spent at the Water Park with all the kids in tow. We opened the park and shut it down!! Everyone had so much fun and they were all so well behaved the whole day!! It was about 90 degrees and just beautiful!!

The whole gang right before we packed up to head back home. It was about an hour drive home which including a stop at Dairy Queen!!

Sophie enjoying the wave pool at the end of the day.

Being goofy!!

Ava and Daddy in the wave pool. The water felt soooo good!!

Ava and Keaton enjoying one of the many splash areas. Ava has no fear and loves the water so much!!

Gavin trying to get Dad wet while taking a pic!!

Everyone heading up the stairs to check it out!!

Sophie and I enjoying the kids lazy river, I think she is falling through the tube! ha

Preston, Gavin and Keaton coming down the end of the rapids ride. This ride was so much fun and we also got video!!

Brianna, Soren, Sophie and Ava heading into the Mummy ride, it was misty and dark and so much fun!!!

Brianna, Ava, Sophie and Soren enjoying the ride!

Ava taking a tube ride down the slide with Daddy!!

Ava chillin and waiting for the next wave!!

Sophie loved the wave pool and was waiting for that next wave to get her!!

Sophie and Ava holding on waiting to jump the next wave!!!

This will definitely be a must for next summer too. Instead of 8 kids in tow we will have 9 with Gemma!! It was such a perfect day together and we wished it could have lasted longer.

The girls stay with us is coming to an end tomorrow as they head back home to Texas in the morning. Every year as they get older we have so much fun with their visit. Ava has been in heaven having the girls here to play with her. I think it will be hard for her when they leave tomorrow.

I will honestly say it has been easier having 8 than having 5 this last couple weeks. I am more tired at the end of the day and Sean and I have not even had 5 minutes together but it has been worth every minute!! Everyone has played so nicely together and we are very thankful of that.

We will miss your Brianna, Chloe and Sophie. Thanks for being such good girls and for great manners and for all your help!! We look forward to next summer and you all meeting your new cousin!! Love you!!

(these pictures were all taken with a water proof camera case for our canon point and shoot)

LID!!!!

2010-06-29T21:04:00.000-07:00

Found out yesterday our LID was June 1st, 2010!!!!!!

The best part is that we are already 30 days into waiting for our LOA!!! And I think the average has been about 55 days lately!! So if that is the case for us we are more than half way there!!!

We sent off another little care package today with someone from our agency that is leaving for China on Friday!! We sent Gemma a T-shirt from our state, some stickers, lip balm, bracelets and kids all drew pictures for her!!! We pray that we start getting some correspondence from her soon!!

Things are crazy busy here. We have 8 kids right now because our nieces are visiting for a few weeks like they do every summer from Texas!! So this Mama is tired and does not have a whole lot of computer time!!

Be back for B&W Wednesday in a couple weeks.

Click on pics below to see bigger!!!!

Soren's artwork for Gemma

Gavin's artwork for Gemma

Ava's artwork

Keaton's artwork

Even the cousins got into it and drew pictures for Gemma!!

Black and White Wednesday

2010-06-15T20:31:00.000-07:00

We had a fun time in Arizona visiting family and friends. The kids swam from breakfast until after dinner everyday.

Having 8 days was still not enough time to see everyone and have time to relax. It was still nice to have a change of daily routine and enjoy some family time together.

We got lucky and was able to have Nana and Papa take all 5 kids for one night. We took that opportunity to go out and have a late night with some great friends and enjoy catching up. I enjoyed sleeping in the next morning but hubby got up before the sun and went out and took some pictures during the sunrise!!

The Mesa and Gilbert Valley and surrounding area is changing so fast. My hubby's favorite area is the Beeline Highway. Many changes are starting to happen out there so he took some pictures before the area is changed forever.

He converted a few to B&W and I think they look perfect that way!! Enjoy and for more wonderful B&W see Lisa's blog.

Saguaro Forest along Beeline Highway

More Saguaros in bloom

Old raceway tower on Beeline Highway

Ling Ling on her way to China!!

2010-06-13T14:41:00.000-07:00

In the last update we got of Gemma she told us she loves stuff animals and she would love to have a Panda some day.

My little brother travels the world with a Disney stage show and is heading to China this week. He will be in China through the end of August. The last week of August his show will be in Guangzhou, China!! So we took the opportunity to to give him a package to deliver to Gemma.

Gemma will have the opportunity to actually see his show while he is there!! He getting tickets for her and her foster family to see it and possibly 10 other Journey of Hope kids!! How cool is that??!!

He will give her our package after the show!! I hope he will be able to take some pictures too.

We also sent a little note explaining we will probably not be there until sometime this fall. I hope she understands and knows we are still coming.

We are totally jealous that my little brother gets to see her in person before we do. We were actually hoping to be there at the same time so we could take her to the show but it is not working out that way.

We are 2 weeks into waiting for our LOA, I pray it comes quickly!!!

My little brother

Black and White Wednesday

2010-06-08T23:08:00.001-07:00

Air Force Academy Chapel Colorado Springs, CO.

A family trip last summer.

(that is us at the bottom walking up to the chapel)

We are away this week visiting family, left last Friday. Spent last Wednesday and Thursday packing.

Enjoying the nice warm AZ heat and sitting pool side every day.

Look forward to catching up with all the photos next week. Thanks for all the comments.

For more B&W see Lisa's Blog.

Black and White Wednesday

2010-06-01T20:33:00.000-07:00

Last November of 2009 we got the opportunity to drive to California to meet Ava's cribmate and family for the first time.

We got lucky because my hubby had free Marriott points so no cost for Hotel and we had a Disney points Visa that had points for free park passes!!

So all we needed was gas and food to get to Disney!!

We had a wonderful time getting to know the other family and spent 3 1/2 days at Disneyland together.

The girls had so much fun with each other and the older kids really hit it off too and had a blast together. We all became fast friends!!

Since then we all keep up with each other on Facebook and the girls have Skyped each other.

They are trying to make it out to where we live this summer, we made a pack that we would try and get the girls together every 6 months or so, that is one trip a year for each of us!! Lucky us that we both have family in each others states!!

Ava loved her first trip to Disneyland. She waned to find all her favorite characters and give them hugs!! It was a success and she hugged everyone she wanted to.

We had one little episode while waiting in line for Pooh. We were two people away from hugging him and they did a character break. You would have thought the world was ending, she screamed and cried, just ear piecing!! Poor baby thought Pooh was going away for ever and she was soooo close!! We had to explain that he would be back in a few minutes! Thank goodness she understood and settled down!!

Ava and Mommy enjoying the night time Holiday Parade

California Adventure

The beautiful Castle all decorated for Christmas

For more B&W see Lisa's blog

DOSSIER TO CHINA!!!!!!!

2010-05-28T10:37:00.001-07:00

Yay!!!! Our dossier is on its way to China. One step closer to sweet Gemma!!

What are we waiting for next?

* LID

* LOA

* i800 approval

* NVC letter

* Article 5

* TA

* Traveling to China

They say these next steps are taking about 4-5 months. So we are looking at travel around September to October if everything goes well.

Black and White Wednesday

2010-05-25T21:26:00.001-07:00

Where do the weeks go?? I tell myself every week I will just not post on Wednesday, I need to do other posts!! Grrrrrr

But here we are again Tuesday night!!

What a week!! Our dossier is finally done and on its way to China!! YAY!! I cant believe how long it took. Poor Gemma, it is probably so hard for her to understand this wait. Cant wait to have that LID!!

Speaking of China, lets do a flash back of our trip to Ava, two years ago this coming July!!

Sorry I did not get around to everyones B&Ws last week. It was the last week of school and things were so crazy!! I will visit you all this week. ;-) Thanks for all the comments!!

For more B&W's visit Lisa's blog!

Ava and the door man at the White Swan

Black and White Wednesday

2010-05-18T21:25:00.001-07:00

A day at Huntington Beach, CA.

We spent a beautiful warm November day at the beach over Thanksgiving break. None of us wanted to leave but we had to get back in the car and continue on the Phoenix, AZ.

Black and White Wednesday

2010-05-11T21:32:00.000-07:00

soren resting

soren and gavin

preston and keaton hiking across a rock field

The pictures above were taken during a week get-a-way last summer to Breckenridge, CO.

We had a wonderful time hiking and swimming and just enjoying relaxing at more than 10,000ft above sea level. Most of our hikes topped out at 13,000 ft above sea level. The kids all did great and loved it!!

The second picture is Gavin and Soren being dorks!! ha

They always have fun spending the afternoon in the pool after a long morning hike.

For more B&W's click here.

Updated pictures of Gemma!!!

2010-05-06T14:52:00.000-07:00

We just got 2 updated pictures yesterday of Gemma and her Foster Mom!! Looks like she knocked out her permanent tooth in front! Wonder how that happened??

Black and White Wednesday

2010-05-04T21:56:00.000-07:00

Camping on a perfectly still night in Moab, UT

To enjoy other B&W see Lisa's Blog

My 6 year olds funny for the day!

2010-05-02T11:51:00.000-07:00

Keaton 6 years old

This morning as we were all getting ready for church my 6 year old son said to me, "Mom, Ava looks like a little chinese girl!"

Me- "Well thats good Keaton because she is a little chinese girl!"

Keaton- "No, Mom I mean a real chinese girl like from China!" Haha

I love this!!

(she had her hair in little buns on each side of her head)

18 years ago I married the love of my life!!

2010-04-27T13:46:00.000-07:00

Black and White Wednesday too!!!

Taken a few months ago

(by Jill) click on her name for her blog!

Wedding day April 25th, 1992

HAPPY 18 YEARS SWEETIE!! And 22 years of knowing each other!!

Black and White Wednesday

2010-04-20T22:00:00.001-07:00

Taken 4 years ago this month on the North side of Maui, Hawaii. My husband earned a family trip with his work and we all headed to Hawaii for 3 weeks!!

It was a vacation of a life time and our boys still talk about it to this day, even my little man that was 2 1/2 at the time!!

This was late afternoon and the clouds were looking pretty crazy.

Our kids ask if we will ever go back again as a family?? Well if we ever win the lottery which would mean we would have to play the lottery! ha

Maybe if the economy picks back up and business is good again sometime in the future??

It was the most amazing time and I can see why the boys still talk about it like it was yesterday.

For more B&W's see Lisa's Blog.

Black and White Wednesday

2010-04-13T19:43:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of a rock climber we came across while hiking last summer. My hubby took the picture and I think it came out great as a B&W photo!!

For more B&W go to Lisa's blog!!

Also see my jewelry post below!! Im making jewelry to raise funds for our travel expenses!! Thanks.

Making jewelry for travel costs!!

2010-04-12T12:23:00.000-07:00

I have been making jewelry for over 20 years!! I have never sold a piece until this year!! I have done it as a hobby to make gifts for friends and family. I have finally decided to use my talents to make some pieces to sell for our travel expenses to China.

I have many designs that Im doing but here a some pictures of a few that I have made recently! I plan on attaching a jewelry blog to this blog soon but it takes time and money! ha So if you are interested just contact me here!

I going to focusing on "sterling silver" stamped custom jewelry and "pure silver" handmade designs! I specializing in adoptions necklaces from China, Africa and just "adoption" in general. Im also doing Any occasion jewelry too!!

Below are a few samples of recent orders. I have had some success on Facebook and have sold about 10 necklaces so far and just had a few more orders come in today!!

My prices start at $25 and go up from there, depending the amount of silver in the piece!

** Please note that these are all made by hand, no machines or cookie cutters so each piece will be totally different and unique!!!

All sterling silver and crystal $52

Africa necklace "pure silver" and hand patina $80

price goes down with different chain or leather cord. Can also add a hand stamped name tag of your child with birthdate or referral date!

Chinese Character for Love. Handmade "pure silver" $75. Can add a hand stamped tag with childs name and/or birthday

Long tag, hammered heart and birthstone $43

"Born in my heart" adoption necklace. $58 with birthstones and ladybug charm, $55 without.

$45-$55 depending what charm is hanging from it. Can be pearl or birthstone or name tag.

"pure silver" and hand patina.

Your kids names! $25 for chain and 1 tag, extra $10 for every additional tag added!!

"Lucky" $40, can add childs name too!

I have some more styles but I cant post them right now because they are gifts and people read the blog! :-)

Looking for something you dont see here?? Send your question my way and I would love to make a beautiful piece just for you or someone special!!

I will add more pictures when I can. Thanks so much for supporting our adoption!!

Gemma answered our questions!!!!!

2010-04-10T18:00:00.000-07:00

Her answers are in blue. It only took a week for her to get back to us. We also finished our video and sent it off last week. It was about 40 minutes long. I wish we could get a video of her watching it. We will probably send more questions in a few weeks. If anyone has any other question ideas please let us know.

She also has a best friend/foster sister that was adopted back in Aug 2009. Her name is in the last question, if anyone has any ideas on how to find her please let us know!!! Thanks.

1. Has she had the same foster family since leaving the orphanage?

Yes, she has been in the same foster family.

2. Does she speak Mandarin or Cantonese?

She can speak Mandarin and Cantonese. She prefers Cantonese.

3. Current Height and Weight and foot size?

Weight: 24kg

Height: 129cm

Length of feet: 20cm

4. Will she be happy to have an English name?

She likes to have an English name.

5. Does she like dolls?

She likes Barbie dolls.

6. Does she have foster brothers or sisters and what age?

She has a foster younger brother who is about 18 months old. In addition, there are two biological elder brothers in this family who are 18 and 24 years old.

7. Does her foster family have email and computer?

The family has a computer but hasn’t emails.

8. Favorite food?

She is fond of chicken legs, hotdog and sausage that’s spicy

9. Does she like animals?

She likes cats and rabbits, and she dislikes dogs.

10. What things upset her and make her sad?

She feels upset if her peers sometimes are not willing to play games.

11. What things make her happy?

Talking to her is a good way to comfort her if she is not happy.

12. Is she scared of anything?

She is scared of darkness and black beetle.

13. Any English?

She is learning the English letters and she only knows few simple English words like “sun”.

14. Favorite color?

She likes red, pink, purple and blue.

15. Favorite Toy?

She likes stuffed toys. And she wants a stuffed panda if possible.

16. Daily schedule?

She usually gets up at 7:00 and sleeps at 21:00. She has breakfast at 7:30, lunch at 12:30 and dinner at 18:30. She attends school from 7:45 to 12:00 in the morning and 13:30 to 16:05 in the afternoon. Back home from the school, she has dinner, does homework. She watches TV for some time before sleeping.

17. Who are her best friends? Are they being adopted too?

There used to be a younger foster sister called Zhang Ke Jie who was adopted by an American family on Aug. 11^th, 2009.

Black and White Wednesday

2010-04-07T07:02:00.001-07:00

In honor of Old Man Winter still being here, I thought I would share this picture

of my son Soren hanging out of a snow cave he made.

Yes, we have a snow day today, which means NO SCHOOL!!! I had a ton on my

plate and now all 6 kiddos are home!!

Tomorrow is suppose to be back up to 70 degrees!!

I really hope this is Old Man Winter on his way out for good!!

For more B&W go too Lisa's blog.

Happy Easter 2010!!!!

2010-04-04T21:22:00.000-07:00

Here is todays family shot!! Not the best because everyone was a hurry to dig into their candy!

I dont know if I have mentioned before that we have had a exchange student this school year? So now you know who the other boy is, Kacha. He is visiting from Thailand and we have enjoyed having him this year. This is the first male exchange student we have had. All the rest have been girls, so my boys are really enjoying having another guy in the house that they can challenge at video games. :-) He will be going back home the beginning of June. Kacha has also been a great help with things around the house. Lets just say I have not done dishes or swept the upstairs floors since he has come to live with us!! He also has done a great job of helping to keep Ava's play room clean every day!

If you have never had an exchange student before I highly recommend it!! Our last two girls were from China and Taiwan and were both amazing!!

Hope everyone had a beautiful Easter!! I think we will only be having salad tomorrow to detox our bodies! hehe

Happy Easter!!!!

2010-04-03T07:14:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken last Easter 2009!! I can not believe how much the kids have grown especially Ava. I will post a new one tomorrow after we get home church!!

Ava's Adoption Video & B&W Wednesday!!

2010-03-30T12:38:00.000-07:00

Seeing Ava for the first time on Gotcha Day!!!

Finally after 18 months home my hubby and I spent a few late nights putting together our Journey to Ava on video!

It ended up being much longer so we shorten it quite a bit to be under 10 minutes for YouTube.

I cant believe we are coming up on two years home this summer. Our original LID was April 10th 2006 and they just matched that day a few weeks ago!! We switched to special needs in Dec. 2007 and saw Ava's face for the first time April 15th, 2008.

I still cant believe we would have just received our referral!?

I pray and think about all those families still waiting to see their child's face for the first time. Believe me every bit of this long wait is so worth it!!

It must be because we are doing it again!! ha

Enjoy the link for our journey to China, July 2008!!

Click here to see Ava's video!!

For more B&W see Lisa's blog!

Black and White Wednesday

2010-03-23T22:12:00.000-07:00

Boy Scout summer camp a few years back. Nothing special just like the way it turned out!

Too see more B&W's go to Lisa's Blog!

WE DID IT!!!

2010-03-19T19:22:00.000-07:00

Major thanks to all the kind and generous people that donated!!

WE DID IT!!!

We raised $10,000 for our adoption. If you look at the side bar and add up the chip in and donations by mail the grand total is $10,214!!!

We are in complete awe of the miracles God preforms and so humbled!!

So as soon as we get our credit this year, each non-profit listed in the sidebar will be receiving a check for $2,500!!!

I can not wait to make a video of signing and mailing those checks!!

Gemma here we come sweetheart!!

Also we just received the most fantastic email from our agency last night. They ask the kids from the Journey of Hope program what would help them not feel so scared when they are adopted. One young boy said he would love a video of his family, home, neighborhood, town, school and daily routine.

So we have an assignment to make a video and have it mailed in the next couple of weeks!!! We are beyond excited and cant believe in a few short weeks Gemma will be seeing our faces and know who we are!!! Im on cloud 9!! This will be such a fun project for our family to do together!!

They will present each child with their video and give it to them to watch as many times as they like until we go get her in about 6 months.

THANKS AGAIN FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS!!

The Color Versions

2010-03-18T05:46:00.001-07:00

Black and White Wednesday

2010-03-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a little photo of what looks like a lonely desert road. Truth is, I had to dodge traffic to get this shot. This road parallels the Colorado River on the way to Moab, UT. The background is Castle Valley. These buttes are actually a couple hundred miles north of Monument Valley, but they are scattered all over Eastern Utah. This area to me is Heaven on Earth. Endless recreation opportunities! In fact, it was due to another motorcycle trip that we were here.

Then there's this one. I thought the layers in the scene were fabulous and had to dismount to shoot it. LaSalle Mountains in the distance, Canyonlands in the foreground.

This one was of some smaller buttes long the White Rim trail in Canyonlands, near Moab.

Standing next to a precipice about 2,000 ft deep. Got my chest pouch on for my SLR - invaluable as long as you don't wreck or drop an expensive lens out the back of your tailbag. (yep, I did that once)

For more B&W's visits Lisa's page, The Long Road to China.

Flashback Fridays

2010-03-12T17:46:00.000-08:00

Gavin, his car, metal and goofy face!

Milk carton

Missing self portrait picture! ha

Well this is only from a couple months ago but I never blog enough about my boys! First of all they never want their picture taken so that makes it harder. If I do take their picture they usually make some goofy face.

This is Gavin and he is my 10 1/2 year old. This was his last Pinewood Derby in Cub Scouts because a few weeks ago he crossed over to Boy Scouts. He joins his two older brothers, which makes 3 Boy Scouts now.

Gavin did a great job on his car and got the "Most Creative" metal for it. Sadly it was not a very fast car! ha He decided on a milk carton and even put a missing picture of himself on it!!

(Mom, I know he needs a haircut. Im so bad at arranging haircuts for my boys!!)

Black and White Wednesday

2010-03-10T01:25:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd continue the tradition for April since she's traveling today. This is a building in an old mining camp called Animas Forks located in southwest Colorado. Animas Forks, Est. 1875, is at an elevation of 11,180 ft, and surrounded by dozens of peaks in the 12-13,000 ft range. It's located along a recreational trail called The Alpine Loop. A buddy and I rode this trail on motorcycles the year before last and managed to get this photo on a brilliant sunny day. The area is called "The Alps of the U.S.", so named for its beautiful scenery, and is generally located near Silverton, CO. This home was owned by Thomas Walsh. Also along this trail is an immaculate log cabin that was owned by the author/poet/naturalist Henry David Thoreau. There's your history lesson for the day. :-)

Hawaii in Real Time

2010-03-05T19:30:00.001-08:00

Here's April in real time enjoying a girls' trip in Maui with some lifelong friends. We've had a ticket booked for a year and a half and they're staying in an incredible house free of charge. The whole trip barely cost a dime and she deserves it so much. I miss my smokin' hot wife!

They've already had tons of adventures - jumping into pools inside caves, getting run off a campground by a crochety old Hawaiian lady, exploring the bamboo forest, swinging from vines, snorkeling, swimming, hot-tubbing, shopping, eating, black sand beaches, you name it.

I miss her so much but I'm glad she's getting some time to chill before the next adoption.

Honey, if you happen to catch this, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Black and White Wednesday

2010-03-02T22:13:00.000-08:00

Sean here, covering for April on this post while she's away. Here's something a little different for B&W Wednesday. I took this shot of an indie band that a friend of mine is in. I managed to capture a severe contrast from the bright lights of the stage to the darkness of the backdrop, while producing some dramatic highlights in the process. In any case, I always enjoyed it for those reasons and hopefully you can too. Cheers!

Flashback Fridays

2010-02-25T20:06:00.000-08:00

(July 29th, 2008)

Thought I would start doing Flashback Friday to share an old photo.

This picture was taken of Ava and I on "Adoption Day" the day after Gotcha Day. We went back to finalize the adoption and she was forever ours!! It was soooo hot in this building, I was so sweaty!

I cant believe how much she has changed in 18 months. She was so little here. Her hair was so short but after 4 boys that bow was going in her hair even if I had to super glue it! ha

She was not too sure about me and really took to her Daddy. It took her about a month to feel some what comfortable with me. After waiting for so long it was so hard that first month. It finally took Daddy going back to work full time for her to look to me for comfort.

Black and White Wednesday

2010-02-23T20:37:00.000-08:00

O how I love the deck that wraps around our home, especially in the summer. We have some of the most wicked thunder storms every summer. We have the second highest lightning strikes in the US with Florida being the highest.

Pretty much every day around 2:00pm the thunder storms roll in over the mountain range. As the summer goes on the thunder storms get later in the the day and usually finish up around 7:00pm.

One of our favorite summer activities is the sit on the deck and watch the God's awesome lightning show. Until it gets too close for comfort and we head inside and watch it from a safer location!!

We have had the lightning hit a little to close and has brought us ducking for cover even in the safety of our home!! It has made our windows shake and we have lost a few TVs since we have lived here. We have learned to go around the house and unplug everything each afternoon.

My hubby loves to set up his tripod on the deck and click away. He has caught some amazing shots!!

Please stop by Lisa's blog and enjoy many more B&W's from some talented photographers!

The difference between Boys and Girls & a Great friend

2010-02-22T18:03:00.000-08:00

(boy #4 Keaton, Ava and my nieces)

I have a dear friend Ann that I have know for 13 years now. She has been my mentor for adding a child to our family via adoption.

Almost 13 years ago I had just had my #2 baby boy and I was nursing exclusively. I had a over production of milk, a major over production of milk. Not only did I nurse my baby boy 24/7 I also pumped over 60 ounces of milk at day!!! Yes, I felt like a dairy cow!!

I hated throwing it down the drain so I froze every last ounce of that liquid gold. By the time my son was 6 months old I had filled my entire freezer!! I did not want it to go bad so I starting calling around to the hospitals and other organizations to find out if I could donate it. In the process of making calls I found out there was this gal on the other side of town that was getting ready to bring her first baby home from Korea. A beautiful 5 month old baby girl with unrepaired cleft lip and palette.

I called her and introduced myself. I told her about all the milk I had in the freezer and I heard she was looking for a possible donor. She came by and brought 2 of her 4 bio children and her beautiful new baby girl. I answered a few questions for her and showed her I was not at high risk for anything and we got to know each other. She brought a cooler and we filled it to the brim!! ha I dont even remember how many times we filled that cooler.

Her sweet baby girl received over 60 ounces of milk from me a day for over 6 months. It was such a blessing. We became friends fast and enjoyed each other families.

Fast forward 2 1/2 years later I had boy #3. And yes I had too much milk again. At the same time Ann had just arrived home with a precious baby boy from Korea. Guess what?? You guessed it I passed the extra milk to her new baby!!

Ann now has 8 precious children and still my mentor for raising a big family and now adopting an older child. She bought home Vu from Vietnam 2 years ago at almost 7 years old.

I also sadly watched her family lose a son to cancer at the age of 21, two years ago. I had already moved out of state but kept in touch via email and phone.

Ann has an amazing blog that I love to read. I learn so much from her blog but mostly she always makes me laugh. She and her hubby have built the most amazing family and the greatest kids. You can follow Ann's blog here.

This is copied from her blog. I laughed so hard I just had to share!! Enjoy

(sorry if you might be offended by the text)

By: crazy for kids

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2010

The Difference Between Boys and Girls

Recently, my daughters and I and a couple of their friends (girls) were driving to the store. Suddenly, we noticed the worst smell! It wasn't a skunk! It wasn't a barnyard! It wasn't the water treatment plant--but it did smell similar.

A couple of the girls started pointing fingers at each other followed by embarrassment and "she who smelt it, dealt it" comments. I looked in the rearview mirror and Kim's friend looked like she might cry.

Suddenly, I was inspired by a new family and friends rule. I threw it out to the girls and we all agreed it was an awesome rule:

When a gas-like odor emits, instead of pointing the finger at someone else, we will ALL say in unison, "IT WAS ME!"

We all agreed it was the ultimate in kindness. We all thought it was a great new rule, laughed and practiced saying, "It was me!"

A couple of days later we were in the car again. This time it was my daughters and my two youngest sons. Sure enough, that familiar gas-like odor appeared. Vu said, "Yuck! Who FARTED?!!" The girls and I proudly announced in unison, "It was me!" We laughed.

Then, Patrick said irritably, "No, it was ME."

The girls and I laughed again and put out a trio of, "It was me!" We tried to explain that it was going to be our new family rule, so nobody would feel embarrassed or unjustly accused.

"But it WAS me!!" Patrick boldly declared, "I FARTED and I want everyone to KNOW it was MY FART!"

I began to say something when Vu interupted with, "Mom, it WAS Patrick's fart and you should let him have his own fart."

Hmmmmm.

Therein lies the difference between boys and girls.

Black and White Wednesday

2010-02-17T05:35:00.000-08:00

Like I said last week I will be sharing some of my hubby's B&W pictures from over the past couple of years.

This photo was taken about 3 years ago at that famous California tourist destination! We had just moved from Oregon and were about 1 1/2 years into waiting for Ava. We had put everything on hold for awhile thinking we would be getting a referral soon. But we all know the answer to that story!

So we decided to surprise the kids and drive to CA and meet some great friends at Disneyland. The kids thought that we were going to visit Grandparents and had no idea their best friends would be there too.

Once they figured out we were going to Disneyland we decided to meet the other family at Joe's Crab shack next to the Hotel. They got there first and then we walked in, the kids were shocked to see their friends from Oregon in the same restaurant!!

We had a great 4 days together and hated to say goodbye again.

This was also a very sad time in our family because when we started our 2 day drive back home we found out the horrible news that my hubby's sister and my best friend had suddenly past away at 29 years old. We were on our way to the Grand Canyon and never made it. We drove straight home and jumped on a plane to Texas to help with the three young girls she left behind, while her hubby arranged the funeral. She suddenly got sick and past away within a couple days and we don't know what caused it.

Well I'm doing this post early in the morning before my kids get to school so I need to go get everyone on track and out the door! Have a wonderful Wednesday!!

HAPPY YEAR OF THE TIGER!!!

2010-02-13T14:13:00.000-08:00

We getting ready to head to Chinese New Year celebration in an hour at a local Chinese Church!! Should be a lot of fun!! Our Chinese Princess is ready to go!

Black and White Wednesday

2010-02-10T12:23:00.000-08:00

I cant believe it is Wednesday already!! It is time for B&W photo sharing. I'm going to take the next few Wednesday's and post some of my hubby's photos. He has a love for the camera and has taken many great pictures over the years.

This is one of my favorites!! It is a picture of Mt. Hood, this beautiful majestic mountain graced us with her beauty every day in Portland, OR; during the more than 10 years I lived there. (that is when it was not raining. ha)

The beauty that surrounded this mountain when the sun was shining was amazing!! You could be anywhere in the city and there it was as big as life!!

I will have to say I don't miss the NW at all. Yes, it is beautiful and green but there is a reason for that, RAIN, RAIN, RAIN and MUD, MUD, MUD!! The mud everywhere and with 4 boys that wanted to play outside I was not a happy Mama when they came back in and to add a 100 pound German Shepard that came in and out too!! Our basement was not a pretty site! ha

I do miss having water everywhere with the ocean and rivers and lakes. It is hard being land locked now but you cant have everything you want and somethings have to give. I'm just glad I have SUNSHINE now!

Too see the rest of the B&W's go to Lisa's Blog!

We are 1/2 way there!!!!

2010-02-08T18:43:00.000-08:00

Just a little post to point out we are 1/2 way to our goal to

"Bring Home Gemma"!!

The total right now is $5,623.00!!! (this is Chipin + snail mail donations) How awesome is that??!!

So as of right now each of the charities listed will get a check for $1,405.00!!!

How cool is that??!!

But what we really want to see is each of those checks being $2,500.00.

Please help us to bring Gemma home!! Every little bit helps! We will probably need to pay the dossier fee and country fee in the next few days.

Thanks so much to all of you that have donated!! It means so much to our family and we are forever grateful!!!

Today is our daughters 9th Birthday! (In China)

2010-02-06T19:21:00.000-08:00

Hubby and I enjoyed a Molton Lava cake in celebration of Gemma's 9th Birthday tonight. The kids will all be making Coke floats!!

I wonder if she knows there is a family in American waiting for her, preparing for her?? We will have missed 9 Birthdays. :-( I was really hoping to be LID by her Birthday so we could send her a care package and be communicating with her. I guess God has other plans right now and things are moving slowly. I need to practice patience and Im not very good at that.

There is also birth mother in China somewhere thinking about her baby girl that she left 9 years ago. O how her heart must ache too!!

I wonder what Gemma did today with her foster family? I pray she had a wonderful fun filled day and she knows in her heart her forever family is coming soon to get her. I pray that her heart will be opened to her new life in American and her new family. That our transition will go better than the fears I sometimes have.

We love you Gemma and Mommy and Daddy will be there soon!!!

Thankful Thursdays

2010-02-04T20:21:00.000-08:00

(Just love this picture with her cheeks full of food!!)

Im Thankful that God puts people in your path to make some things easier!!

My hubby and I try and have lunch together about once a month or so. He works from home when he is not on a plane. We had not been out for lunch together for a long time. So today when we were out and about running dossier paperwork to be certified and turning in our i800a, we decided to eat at a new little Asian Fusion place in our small little town. We had dinner there with some friends on New Years and knew it was awesome food. The couple that owns it is so sweet and they just adore Ava to pieces. They will take Ava back to the kitchen and let her watch the amazing chef from Hong Kong. They also sneak her candy too!!

While we were in there today Linda, the owner, had a friend there having lunch. She introduced us to her and told us she was from Guangzhou. Her name is Jie Liu and she was so sweet. Linda told Jie Liu that we were bringing home an older daughter from Guangzhou this year. Jie Liu gave us her phone number and said she would love to be a translator for us when we bring Gemma home, she speaks Cantonese!! Praise God!! We had met many people that spoke Mandarin but not Cantonese. The best part is they live just a couple miles from us and she has a daughter that is a year younger than Gemma! Her daughter speaks fluent Cantonese too and just learned English last year.

This is such a load off. Having this connection and friendship before bringing Gemma home is just a miracle!! I hope it helps ease the transition for Gemma and also gives her a friend her age that speaks her native language. This will also make it so much easier for Gemma to keep her Cantonese and be able to continue to communicate with her foster family and friends once she is home with us.

Okay time to go back to working on my jewelry to raise more funds to bring Gemma home!!

Black and White Wednesday

2010-02-03T13:33:00.000-08:00

Joining Lisa's B&W Wednesday wagon again!!

My husband took this picture of me about 4 years ago, walking down the shoreline in Oahu, Hawaii. He had a 4 day business trip and I got to sneak away with him and my Mom watched our kiddos. (I was not going to let him go to Hawaii without me! ha)

We did not get to spend a whole lot of time together because he was working but we did sneak away a couple times for some snorkeling and site seeing. It was heavenly to have some down time and R&R. We had also just made the decision to adopt and started looking at agencies.

**And the lucky WINNER for my GIVEAWAY IS #15, Sheila @

"And China Makes four"

CONGRATS!!! I will be contacting you to get your mailing info!!

February GIVEAWAY

2010-01-31T20:20:00.000-08:00

**And the lucky WINNER for my GIVEAWAY IS #15, Sheila @

"And China Makes four"

CONGRATS!!! I will be contacting you to get your mailing info!!

So I have decided to do a GIVEAWAY every month until we bring home Gemma.

This months GIVEAWAY comes from a sweet girl that always has a smile on her face every time I walk into my Chiropractor & Ava's Cranial Sacral Therapy office. She works the front desk and is always a joy to chat with. Last week she told that she makes candles with her sister and they have a little side business. She wanted to donate a set of candles for a our drawing we will be having at the end of February.

(We will be picking random names from everyone that has donated to our adoption fund for Gemma.)

So I thought I would GIVEAWAY one of her candles this week. I have a really sensitive nose and get headaches easily from scents. So I don't keep candles around the house usually. These candles are amazing I could sniff them all day long!!!!

The candle are a soy based candle, they don't have it on their website yet but it will be there soon!

They have the cutest name for their company! "of the SAME MOLD", how fun is that??! You can click here to visit their site!

So a little about Krista's and Cori's candles:

All-natural aromatherapy soy candles

These candles are made using natural eco-friendly ingredients and are specifically blended to help ease common ailments from everyday life.

BE COOL: Lavender and Clary Sage help with anxiety and when feeling run-down both physically and emotionally.

BE UPLIFTED: Bergamot, Clary Sage, and Lavender help with depression and loneliness and bring about cheerful attitude.

BE AWAKE: Rosemary, Bergamot, Cedarwood, and Cypress help restore vitality and are good for mental and emotional resolve.

BE CONFIDENT: Grapefruit, Bergamot, Cedarwood, and Cypress help ease fear and clear the mind.

BE MINDFUL: Rosemary and Lemon help with mental clarity, memory and concentration.

BE STILL: Clary Sage, Lemon and Lavender encourage stillness and tranquility, ease stress and helps with headaches and insomnia.

WE ARE PROUD TO OFFER RECYCLED GLASS JARS, 100% PURE, TOP QUALITY ESSENTIAL OILS, COTTON CORE WICKS AND ECOSOYA TM SOY WAX!!

The GIVEAWAY will be for the BE UPLIFTED candle!! Have I said how incredibly these candles smell?. Seriously I could to sit with them to my nose and smell them all day!! This candle comes in a beautiful pink recycled glass jar.

I will leave the drawing open until Wednesday evening 5:00pm Mountain time!

**please leave a comment and become a Follower of my blog to WIN**

(on the sidebar)

From a Mama of 5 soon to be 6 I need something that will help me BE COOL, UPLIFTED, AWAKE, CONFIDENT, MINDFUL AND STILL!! I think these candles will do the trick!

I cant wait to read all the comments, I think this is the best part about a GIVEAWAY. I love everyone coming out and saying hello and meeting so many beautiful families.

BLESSINGS!!

I got a blogger award!!!

2010-01-30T19:15:00.000-08:00

Sweet Jodi Sue from Heads Up Seven Up gave me a blogger award!! Thank you so much for thinking of me. Jodi has a beautiful family and I love reading her blog please stop by and give her a visit. So with this award I'm suppose to say seven random things about myself. This is the most difficult part.

1) My parents were foster parents growing up and we would have sometimes up to 10 foster kids in the house not including me and my two younger brothers. Many of the kids they took in were the hard to place kids.

2) I'm a night owl and don't look forward to early mornings. I like to have my quiet time at night when all the little ones are sleeping.

3) My favorite drink is a Green Tea Latte with soy and no sweetener

4) I married my high school sweetheart. We will be celebrated 18 years coming up in a couple of months!!

5) The only time I have ever been out of the country was to adopt Ava but I have been to almost all 50 states!! I think I still have 5 more I need to visit.

6) I love where we live now so much more than the Northwest, where we were for over 15 years. The gray was horrible. The downside is there is no family here and I miss them so much!! Not having that support when raising a big family is hard and my children do not get to hang out with their grandparents. I would love to be close to family but it is not an option at this time in our lives. I also miss all my wonderful friends in OR, you ladies are amazing!! :-(

7) I'm a jeans, T-shirt/sweatshirt, converse wearing kind of girl. No high maintenance here!!

8) Im going to add one more- Im the worst speller in the world, so please read my blog at your own risk. ha

Black and White Wednesday

2010-01-27T11:14:00.000-08:00

Someone turned 3 years old the other day and I have not had time to post about it. We have not had an official party yet because Daddy has been traveling a lot!!

Ava did have fun going to preschool in her Tutu and Birthday shirt. She also kept practicing holding three fingers up and showed anyone who would look!!

I still cant believe my baby is 3 years old!

I have decided to do a GIVEAWAY every month until we bring Gemma home. I will post it the first week of every month. So stay tuned in a few days for the next GIVEAWAY!!

Wordless Wednesdays

2010-01-20T16:58:00.001-08:00

Black and White Wednesday

2010-01-14T12:47:00.000-08:00

I decided to join the wagon on this one to help me post more and get the camera out often. I have slowed down on picture taking and I dont want that to happen. Lisa at The Long Road to China has started this to get herself motivated about filling her empty wall in her house. I cant wait to see all her amazing photos, she has so much talent!!

I just love little Miss Ava to pieces and like I have said before she is lucky she is cute! ha Ava does not stop during the day and is still into everything. If it is quiet then you better go searching quickly because she is into something! The amount of energy she has just blows me away.

I know it is really Thursday but I did not finish this last night like I wanted to. I still have so much to learn about photography but I really need a hands on class. I just cant read a book to figure it out. One of the many things on my list for this year!

The Winner is comment 31!!!!

2010-01-06T12:14:00.000-08:00

Tami @ www.tillGodbringsthemhome.blogspot.com

Congrats Tami!!

I can honestly say I was brought to tears from all the comments and suggestions about making necklaces as a fundraiser. Thank you all so much for all your kind words and words of encouragement. When you have a hobby sometimes you wonder if other people would even like it. :-)

I have decided to make 3 necklaces for sale to start. Im not sure on the price yet. I will figure that out tonight when I add up the materials. Please let me know if you are interested. I would also like to make each one a little different. I want them to be an original piece. If you have ideas on how you would like to personalize yours let me know or you can just let me do it and surprise you. I can do leather, just chain, beads and chain or all beads like in this GIVEAWAY piece.

I also have had the wheels turning on other styles that will be more towards adoption in general, so it would reach a wider range of families.

Please keep checking in and keep on eye out for an etsy site or jewelry blog coming soon. I also love to do mothers bracelets and necklaces too and can customize!! I will try and gather pictures to share of past pieces.

Thanks again for all your comments and it was so nice to meet you all. I look forward to reading your blogs and stopping by and saying HELLO.

BLESSINGS!!

GIVEAWAY GIVEAWAY

2010-01-02T18:06:00.001-08:00

** I will be using Random.org at 12:00pm pacific to pick the winner!! Stay tuned!!

Im so excited to have my first GIVEAWAY!

In my spare time, who am I kidding! (Ha) But seriously when I do have time I love to make jewelry. I have been doing it for years. A couple years ago I came across these sterling silver ladybug charms and finally decided to make something with one of them.

This necklace is made of red seed beads, red coral, and all the metal is sterling silver. The charm on the side of the necklace says "HOPE" which represents every orphan and their hope and longing for a forever family, and our hope to finally have them in our arms. The heart charm on the back of the necklace represents an adopted child being born in our heart. The ladybug is a symbol of good luck and love.

Put it all together and you have;

"The Red Thread Ladybug of Hope" necklace made by me.

I don't really know what I would retail it for. I have never sold anything I have made. I usually just give them away.

So I will leave this GIVEAWAY open until 12:00pm Jan. 6th! Please leave a comment with this post and one lucky winner will win this necklace!!

I know not everyone that reads always comments so this is your chance to come out and say HI and let me know you read my blog. Can't wait to meet everyone!!

"I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you." ~John 14:18

BRING ON 2010!!!!!

2010-01-01T23:08:00.000-08:00

Here is too a Happy and Healthy 2010. I cant wait to see what the year will bring, especially adding a new daughter to our family!

**I will put the GIVEAWAY up tomorrow sometime**

The last couple of days have been busy and I did not get a chance to blog.

The ladybug ornament in the background was purchased during the start of our paperchase for Ava, almost 4 years ago

So beautiful, I wish she did not stick that pillow in front of her face at the last second! ha

Photo Booth finds on the kids' Mac!

2009-12-29T20:08:00.000-08:00

Imagine our surprise when we found these great vignettes on the kids' computer! This is apparently what they do downstairs when they're alone. We were wetting our pants. Hopefully it does the same for you.

Video 1, set to a remake of Dead or Alive's classic one hit wonder.

Make it go viral on Youtube! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEHOGS4a4rU

And then there's this low budget remake of Michael Jackson's famous "Thriller"

Make it go viral on Youtube! http://www.youtube.com/user/parttimecarpenter#p/a/u/0/yCLaasnz9Co

Christmas Day 2009

2009-12-29T11:22:00.000-08:00

We had an enjoyable Christmas. My parents drove up from Phoenix this year and my brother was visiting from South American.

The kids are always able to open their stocking first thing Christmas morning and they are able to see their gifts from Santa because he does not wrap them at our house. Keaton was the first one up at 5:00am!!! Yes, you read that right! We go to church Christmas morning, so we got ready for the 9:00am Mass. Once we got home we had our Christmas breakfast then sat down to open gifts.

It was a very light Christmas this year. The kids each got one gift from Santa, little ones got two. Their gift from Mom and Dad was our drive to Disneyland in November! They also had a gift from Papa and Nana (my parents), their Uncle Norm and Uncle Heath and Aunt Julie (my brothers). Papa John and Grandma Lori sent each of the kids a gift too. They had a few gift cards to spend from Great Grandma and a Great Aunt.

I forgot to charge the camera battery so all the pictures are courtesy of my Mom!

Gavin and his DS game from Papa John

Keaton and Ava, with her chair and wooden fruit from Santa

Ava feeding her baby breakfast before church

Keaton and Mommy. He bought this for me from his schools Santa's workshop!

Ava getting a new shirt from Nana and Papa

Ava and Uncle Norm and the Winnie the Pooh book he got her!

Soren and the "Monster Hunter" game Papa John and Grandma Lori got him

Gavin and Power Miner L*gos from Nana and Papa

Keaton and the Wii game he wanted so bad from Papa John and Grandma Lori

Preston and Keaton with a Wii game that Uncle Heath and Aunt Julie bought the whole family to share

**I will be having my first GIVEAWAY on the blog in a couple days!!! Please check back and one lucky comment/person will win. This will be your chance to leave a comment so I can meet all the people that read my blog. I cant wait to share this gift with you! I will give you a hint, I have a hidden talent/hobby that I have never talked about on this blog! :-)

Making Sugar Cookies!! YUM!!

2009-12-21T21:39:00.000-08:00

Well I got brave this year and spent the afternoon making sugar cookies with the kids. We actually had a lot of fun, even though the entire upper floor of our home was covered with sprinkles!!

Ava was so cute, her job was to put sprinkles on every cookie after Mommy put the icing on. Every time she would say "sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle" as she sprinkled the cookies.

The boys got quite creative as usual.

Soren "Mr. Detail"

Keaton enjoying his finished product

Soren

Gavin enjoying the peppermint sprinkles!!

YUMMY FUN!!!

What's a girl to do with so many "Hair Bows"??????

2009-12-13T19:22:00.000-08:00

SUPPLY LIST

1. Any size canvas

2. Some fun funky fabric (to cover the canvas)

3. Some fun and funky ribbon

4. Scissors

5. Staple gun

6. Tape measure

7. Picture Hangers for the back on the canvas

8. A Hot Hubby (to be your tool man)

9. Cute little girl (to help measure)

10. Lots and Lots of Hair bows!!

Okay so after being a Mom to 4 boys, I really had no idea how many hair accessories I would start to collect?? I purchased some, received many as gifts and Ava does some modeling in return for FREE flower clips, headbands and hats.

For the last 15 months they have been collecting on my bathroom counter top and multiplying by the 10's!!

I finally decided to do a search on the internet to help me think of something that would organize all these bows and flowers. I came across the cutest idea ever!!

It took less than an hour to throw together and it is pretty inexpensive, especially if you hit the craft store on a 50% off everything sale like I did!! My canvas is about 22X28 inches. For the canvas, fabric and ribbon, it cost about $17!! I already had the picture hanger and other tools.

Since Ava is 2 1/2 and still gets into things, I knew I wanted to display her hair bows in my room/bathroom, plus that is usually where we do her hair every day. So I purchased fabrics and ribbons that would match my decor.

Enjoy the pictures of our step by step process!!!

My messy bathroom counter top! And this is not even all of them!!

Materials

Getting ready to start!!

"Hot Tool Man" Helper!!

Cutting off extra fabric before pulling taut to staple

That "Hot Tool Man" again, folding the fabric over to staple

Figuring out ribbon spacing

Ribbons spaced, stapled behind canvas and ready to attach hanger to the back

The "Hot Tool Man" and "Cute little girl" to help measure the hangers on the back

Hanger attached!!

Hung on the wall and ready for hair accessories

All done with room to spare!!!!

These would make great Birthday or Holiday gifts for the special little or big girl in your life.

**Next project- What to do with all those cute headbands???? You will love it, check back soon!

Thankful Thursdays

2009-12-10T12:29:00.001-08:00

Dont have a lot of time for a huge post. We are still working with paypal and should have some details tonight.

Im thankful that God has called us to adopt again and cant wait to meet our new daughter!!

CRIB MATES

2009-11-30T13:14:00.000-08:00

17 HOURS IN THE CAR WITH 5 KIDS = LONG, LONG, SOOO LONG

3 NIGHTS IN A MARRIOTT HOTEL = FREE WITH POINTS!

2 1/2 DAYS AT DISNEYLAND = FREE WITH POINTS!

2 GIRLS, CRIB MATES IN CHINA, MEETING AGAIN 15 MONTHS LATER AFTER BEING ADOPTED = PRICELESS!!!!!

FIRST MEETING AFTER 15 MONTHS OF LEAVING THE ORPHANAGE

STILL CHECKING EACH OTHER OUT. DO THEY KNOW???

Riding It's a small world with big brothers, yes it is a small world!!

Ava, Hannah, and Keaton. Big hugs!!

Having fun playing at 12:00am!!

Giggles and more giggles.

Chasing each other and having a blast

Friends Forever!!

They did not want to go back in the stroller!!

Having fun on Winnie the Pooh

Lovin Pluto

Keaton and the girls, lucky guy!

They LOVED Tigger!

This was their favorite part of the day!

Cozy, comfy!

Ava's favorite, Pooh!!!

My little Flower Bug

2009-11-19T08:34:00.000-08:00

Ava had a little modeling job recently for Woobie Wear. She loves us taking pictures of her and my hubby and I had fun taking them!! I just cant believe how much she has changed over the last 15 months!!! We look forward to modeling for Woobie Wear for 2010 and cant wait to see all their flowers, headbands, and hats on little miss Ava!!!

Bai Jie Ya soon to be Gemma Jie Ya

2009-11-12T20:22:00.000-08:00

Where to start??? First of all I have to tell a funny little story from tonight. I was showing the boys the new blog makeover and my 10 year old Gavin read the title. He said, "Mom why are we the Mayhem?" ha No words for that one. {{WINK}}

We have not decided on a middle name for Gemma, we will definitely keep her Chinese name as part of her middle name. I hope she will want to be called Gemma but if not we are totally fine calling her by her Chinese name. As you can see by the name she to is YaYa. They call her little Ya. We will have to let her know that in our family she will have to be "Big Ya" because we already have a little Ya. ha

This all started back in August. We were not really looking at starting another adoption this soon, we had gone back and forth about whether we would even adopt again. It has been quite a change having a baby in the house again and honestly it has been a really hard year home. Ava has attached beautifully and she can be so sweet but she can throw the punches too! She holds her own with her brothers. The most difficult adjustment has been sleep and Ava does not do it!! Night time is so hard for her and it is our biggest struggle. Even 15 months later she wakes multiple times a night and she will not sleep in her bed without my husband or I. I have had sleep issues for almost 8 years now. My wonderful amazing hubby has taken over night duty since we have been home. He puts her down every night, comes back upstairs to go to bed and within a couple hours when she wakes up he goes back downstairs to sleep with her the rest of the night. My sweet boys have all offered to sleep with her but she will not have it and wants us. When my hubby travels for work my oldest Preston steps in and does the night duty, sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. She deals with lots of nightmares and just constant restlessness. Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated!!

Towards the end of August I happened to be on Holt's Waiting Child List just looking like I always do. To my surprise they had just stared a new program called "Journey of Hope". This program was started to help find homes for kids between 7-13 that are mostly healthy but will be aging out of the process. As a scanned the pictures I came across hers!! I read her little bio and just fell in love. I ask my hubby to take a peak and together we decided to call Holt and ask to see her file. We had discussed that if we ever did adopt again that it would be an older child between 4 and 9.

About Bai Jie Ya:

DOB: February 07, 2001
Date of entry into care: February 12, 2001
Diagnosis: Normal
Bai Jinya is currently living in a foster family and is a 1st grade student. She is conscious of her studies and can basically progress along with her class. Her math scores are excellent and her language scores are good. She likes music and dancing and energetically joins her school’s activities. In terms of daily life, she is basically independent and volunteers to help “Mom” with household duties such as sweeping the floors, cleaning the tables, and making the beds. Her favorite food is chocolate, but because it is bad for your teeth, she pays attention to how much she eats. Bai Jie Ya is a young woman who certainly understands what is going on around her. This healthy, pretty little girl has been in care since February 2001 and has been living with a foster family since 2004. She is described as a lively, warm and smart little girl. She enjoys literature and also memorizes and recites classic poems. She has won awards for her jump roping abilities and also enjoys drawing, dancing and paper cutting. Her goals in life are to be a good person and possibly an artist. When asked about adoption she states that she would like a home that will last forever.

We feel she will fit into our family nicely and we were officially matched with her October 1st. We are currently working on our dossier and starting our Homestudy this coming Monday the 16th. We hope to have our dossier done in the next month. I have been reading and talking to many families that have adopted older children. We know there will be many challenges with an older child and we are trying to prepare as much as we can. Im blessed to have a wonderful Adoption Attachment group that I attend once a month and these ladies have been amazing. Once Gemma is ready to start school we also have a public Chinese Immersion school not too far down the street that she will attend. I think it will be a great transition for her. We are so excited to add her to our family and look forward to our return to China. We are happy that both Ava and Gemma are from Guangdong province and will have so much to share as they grow up together. We hope that Gemma will be able to keep her language so she came stay in touch with her foster family and friends from school.

It is so different to start our this adoption with a picture in hand but also with no money!! We know by choosing this plan God has laid out for us that the funds will come. We have decided to do a fundraiser. Please continue to follow our journey to Gemma. Thanks for all the wonderful comments about our new blog and adoption. :-) Blessings.

We love our new blog makeover!!!

2009-11-12T13:10:00.000-08:00

***A HUGE THANK YOU TO DIANA @ CUSTOM BLOG DESIGNS FOR CREATING THIS NEW BEAUTIFUL BLOG!!!! YOU ROCK GIRL!!

We have a new daughter see the sidebar!! We were matched about 4 weeks ago with Bai Jie Ya. I will do another post later today dedicated to her and everything we know about her!!! We are over the moon!!

(fundraising info coming soon!!!)

Exciting news coming soon!!

2009-11-12T08:10:00.000-08:00

We have some news to share very soon. As you can see by the sidebar info. We are getting a blog makeover and the our site might be down briefly later today. Please check back soon and share in our JOY!!!

My kiddos (taken by Jill Candland)

2009-11-07T09:47:00.000-08:00

PARTY OF SEVEN

PRESTON

SOREN

GAVIN

KEATON

AVA

HUBBY AND I + KIDDOS

AVA

AVA- so lady like!!

THE BOYS!

THE GANG

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween!!!

2009-11-01T09:35:00.001-08:00

My little Rapper Kitty!

MEOW

She loved her costume!

The whole Trick or Treating group

My oldest Preston (far right) with his buddies

Wordless Wednesdays

2009-10-21T21:17:00.001-07:00

We went on a little road trip to visit family (just pics)

2009-10-17T17:55:00.000-07:00

Where they belong! ha

Hubby and I

Three generations; My Mom, Me, and Grandma

Ava and Great Grandma

All the kiddos with Great Grandma

Some of the many reasons I did not have time to blog this summer!

2009-09-26T10:15:00.000-07:00

Two years ago April 29th my very good friend and sister in law past away suddenly. This was a very sad day but for us a happy one too because it is my oldest sons Birthday. We talked so many times during the week and shared parenting, laughs and tears. Ever since Marie had her first child Sean and I would fly her to visit us every summer. The day she died she left behind a husband and three young daughters ages 7, 6, 2 years old. Sean I have continued the tradition for the girls of bringing them to our home every summer. We miss last summer because we were preparing for China. They usually stay about a month with us. We have a blast but it makes for a very busy summer with no energy by the end of the day to even think about blogging. ha So we had quite the Brady Bunch family this summer; 4 boys and 4 girls. My little 1 year old nephew visited for a week too!! The day before everyone left we took some quick pictures and Im sharing two of them below. We look forward to it every summer. We had many other visitors this summer too; Bother and sister in law for a week, Mother in law for a week, Father in law and Step Mother in law for a week, my parents for a week, my brother for a week, and we took a family vacation to the mountain for a week when every one left! Whewwww! Then school started the beginning of August. Crazy!! So that gives you a little idea of why we were not in the blogging world this summer. :-)

Wordless Wednesdays

2009-09-23T08:58:00.000-07:00

This is what we are dealing with today!!!! Sep. 21st 2009

2009-09-21T10:48:00.000-07:00

Yes, you are seeing this right!! Old Man Winter has decided to come early this year. I guess he figured we never really had summer this year so we should just skip Fall and start with Winter!! It is a high of 33 degrees the snow is blowing sideways and we have about a 1/2 inch. It is suppose to drop to 20 degrees tonight with a few more inches. Our house does almost sit at 8,000 feet but come on SEPTEMBER????? I wonder if they have ever had a snow day for school in September before?? Nothing like a first time for everything!!

Just in case you are wondering???

2009-09-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

We are still alive and well and I need to get back to blogging!!

One Year Ago Today!!!!!

2009-07-28T10:08:00.001-07:00

Wordless Wednesdays

2009-07-21T20:44:00.001-07:00

I cant believe it has been two months!!

2009-07-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

Enjoy the pics from this morning. You will not believe the month we have had, I will fill you in soon!!

Busy, Busy

2009-05-20T20:32:00.001-07:00

I dont have much time to write. School is coming to an end next week and there are many activities going on right now with 5 kiddos. Also my parents are coming in a few days to visit for a week, cant wait! The weather has been warm and awesome. Enjoy a few pictures from today with the old point and shoot. We let my little brother take our new lens with him to Florida for some photo shoots he is doing down there, hopefully it will come back in one piece! ha We are really missing it and had an awesome thunder and lighting storm last night that would have made some great pictures, next time! I will be back to catch up soon.

See in my mouth!

Kissy lips

Being shy which is not often!

She always wants me to use the camera and take a pic of us together

She says "Yaya and Mama picture, plees!"

Wordless Wednesdays

2009-05-13T08:14:00.001-07:00

Im back home!

2009-05-12T15:45:00.000-07:00

I just got back at 12:00am last night or this morning. :-) I forgot my camera battery for my trip and did not want to spend the money for one. I'm waiting for a few friends to copy me on the pictures they took while I was away. It was nice to be kid free for a few days. It was kind of a crazy trip, the first day I was down with a migraine and it was horrible. I stay with my girlfriend and her family, she has 7 kiddos. I did not get to fit everyone in that I wanted to see, there was just not enough hours in the day. I did have a wonderful Mother's Day at the ocean, it was beautiful and I laid down on the beach and slept for 1 1/2 hours it was heaven!! I'm sorry to all those I did not catch up with and hopefully next time I will have more time.

I want to say Thanks so much to my girlfriend and her family for taking me in for 5 days and being my chauffeur and feeding me! The time went too fast. Hopefully I will get copies of the pictures soon and be able to post them.

Party of Seven

Open Heart Surgery for Ava today!

Two months with Gemma!

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus!!!

Over 1 month with Gemma!!

Update coming soon!!

Gemma is Home!!!!

Come with us to China!!!!

Bit off more than I can chew!!!!

Making room in the closet soon!!!

Our Travel Timeline!!!

IT IS HERE!!!!

She got our Bear!!!

*NEW* pictures of Gemma and waiting for TA!!

My latest project!

A great GIVEAWAY!

GUESS WHAT

Daddy and Daughter Time!!!

A Day at the Water Park!!

LID!!!!

Black and White Wednesday

Ling Ling on her way to China!!

Black and White Wednesday

Black and White Wednesday

DOSSIER TO CHINA!!!!!!!

Black and White Wednesday

Black and White Wednesday

Black and White Wednesday

Updated pictures of Gemma!!!

Black and White Wednesday

My 6 year olds funny for the day!

18 years ago I married the love of my life!!

Black and White Wednesday

Black and White Wednesday

Making jewelry for travel costs!!

Gemma answered our questions!!!!!

Black and White Wednesday

Happy Easter 2010!!!!

Happy Easter!!!!

Ava's Adoption Video & B&W Wednesday!!

Black and White Wednesday

WE DID IT!!!

The Color Versions

Black and White Wednesday

Flashback Fridays

Black and White Wednesday

Hawaii in Real Time

Black and White Wednesday

Flashback Fridays

Black and White Wednesday

The difference between Boys and Girls & a Great friend

By: crazy for kids

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2010

The Difference Between Boys and Girls

Black and White Wednesday

HAPPY YEAR OF THE TIGER!!!

Black and White Wednesday

We are 1/2 way there!!!!

Today is our daughters 9th Birthday! (In China)

Thankful Thursdays

Black and White Wednesday

**February GIVEAWAY**

I got a blogger award!!!

Black and White Wednesday

Wordless Wednesdays

Black and White Wednesday

The Winner is comment 31!!!!

**GIVEAWAY** **GIVEAWAY**

BRING ON 2010!!!!!

Photo Booth finds on the kids' Mac!

Christmas Day 2009

Making Sugar Cookies!! YUM!!

What's a girl to do with so many "Hair Bows"??????

Thankful Thursdays

CRIB MATES

My little Flower Bug

Bai Jie Ya soon to be Gemma Jie Ya

We love our new blog makeover!!!

Exciting news coming soon!!

My kiddos (taken by Jill Candland)

NEW pictures of Gemma and waiting for TA!!

February GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY GIVEAWAY