Gemma is Home!!!!

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.......

Daddy and Daughter Time!!!

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!!

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)

Black and White Wednesday

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

California Adventure

The beautiful Castle all decorated for Christmas

For more B&W see Lisa's blog

Black and White Wednesday

Camping on a perfectly still night in Moab, UT

To enjoy other B&W see Lisa's Blog

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

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

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

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.

Black and White Wednesday

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.

Black and White Wednesday

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. :-)

Black and White Wednesday

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!

Black and White Wednesday

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!

Black and White Wednesday

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!

Thankful Thursdays

(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

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!!

Christmas Day 2009

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! :-)