HALLOWEEN 2009!!!

We had a wonderful time this year for Halloween. The kids were so sweet this year they decided to wear their same costumes as last year since we missed "Trick or Treating" last year due to our flight being delayed coming home from Hawaii. As mommy was crying the whole way home because she missed her little girl being a "Princess" for the first time.

We started out the evening at our little towns Halloween Costume Contest. Dalen won in his age group & Annalei won the overall Prettiest. See it was worth wearing them again!!!! Then off filling up their trick or treat bags with tons of sugar that we have been eating all week. Yes, mommy to & she has not been on the tread mill once. Guess I know what I am doing next week!!! Then our dear friends had their annual Costume Party & Haunted Trail Ride. Long night but tons of FUN!!!

I actually got Daddy to dress up this year & he was the most handsome "ZORRO"!!! Antonio you have been replaced!!!!

EVERY LITTLE GIRL NEEDS A PLAYHOUSE!!!

Hello to everyone!!! Once again I am sorry for the delay in posting. It seems like I make time to check in on every ones blogs but never make the time to catch up on my own. I do have a lot to share so now that school is back in session I am really getting my life organized & hopefully will be blogging more!!!!


Yes, back to the title of this post!!! As a child I think all of us have imagined, hoped or had a tree house or a playhouse. I know I had always wanted one to spend hours in playing with my dolls. Well I wanted to make sure that Annalei didn't go through life always wishing & let's face it we LOVE to spoil our kids every now & then!!! So after many hours of hard work Daddy made all of our dreams come true!!! Check out what Annalei got for her birthday!!!!

All the little girls are having so much fun pretending & having tea parties, isn't that what being a kid is all about.


I have a feeling there will be many hours of FUN in this playhouse!!!

TYPICAL SIBLINGS!!!!!

All I wanted was some cute pictures of my two precious, sweet, adorable, loving & caring children looking very patriotic. As you can see Dalen only cooperated for ONE. Please, tell me this is normal & there is nothing to worry about????? I am just waiting for the day when she turns around & pops him back!!!!

ADORABLE FLIP FLOPS!!!!

Ok, if anyone read my last post & are still waiting to see the adorable flip flops well here they are!!!! Of course the first picture is Little Ms. sportin her Memorial Day outfit by the pool with her stylin flip flops!!! We have now about 10 pairs of these flip flops & she wears them all the time & so many people will stop us & asked if I made them. I so have to laugh because I have not one crafty talented bone in my body. Thank goodness my sister is the crafty one because my daughter always looks so cute.

Please stay tuned because we have had so much going o this summer & I have so much to post before we leave for Florida for a very much need family vacation!!! We started a project this summer (of course it was for Annalei's birthday gift) & of course like everything else it turned in to a HUGE project & a VERY expensive one. I always have these GREAT ideas & think they are going to be easy but it never turns out that way. My poor loving & devoted husband always says anything to make you happy honey!!! Do you really think he means that at the time?????

MY VERY TALENTED SISTER!!!!

I have to do a little bragging on my sister. She is so very talented & she never gets enough credit & I never do very well promoting her things that are for sale. So, this way I am going to get her name out there & advertise for her!!!! She makes really cool T-Shirt/Jersey quilts & now she puts photos on them as well. She also makes photo purses & she adds character to the purse & photos. She has made MANY, MANY bows for Annalei of all colors & styles & now she is making flip flops w/matching bows for the shoes, they are absolutely adorable!!!!! She just can do it all & if I come up with an idea she is making it while we are on the phone discussing it. Here are some of the photos of the different things she has made. The quilts that are shown are so amazing in person & they will make a wonderful keepsake. One is before my nephew went to Afghanistan & his son was going to be born while he was gone so she made "Baby Leo" a baby blanket of his daddy, another is of Dalen's baseball jersey/t-shirts, football, his Elementary school & Colts. The last is a quilt she made for my parents it is of all my family & old photos of us young & my parents when they were young. It turned out beautiful!!!

I have not had a chance to upload the flip-flops w/matching bows but I will do that soon to show how ADORABLE they are. Every time Annalei wears them people are going nuts over her & the shoes. My sis makes my daughter look so CUTE!!!! If you would to see more photos of her work or would like to contact her let me know & I will send you her email & phone number!!!

PIC's from SPRING BREAK!!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Check it out I am finally getting around to posting our pic's from Spring Break. I am only 2 months behind!!! As you will see it was NEVER a dull moment & there was FUN to be had every second of the day. We went on LOTS of rides through the mountains & the red lands so you can imagine what the kids looked like with red dirt all over them. I think there bodies are still stained. We played with all their exotic animals which you will notice it is not the ordinary animals in someones back yard!!! Also you will notice the black & white crow which his name is "Houdini" & that is the brother to all the "Windex" commercial crows. They had also sold 15 black crows to the producers of "Pirates of the Caribbean" & they were used in the second movie. Their baboon is named "Kenya" & her & I are best buddies, she loves when I bring her special treats. She loves to pick through my hair to make sure I don't have any bugs & luckily she has never found any.

Out of all our vacations we go on this is Dalen favorite place to go & like I have said many times before it is never a dull moment in Alabama!!!!

CELEBRATING IN ALABAMA!!!!

We left for Spring Break on Annalei's 3rd "Forever Family Day/Gotcha Day" & we headed to the mountains of Alabama were our dear friends Brian & Anita live. Once we arrived (which was 10:00 pm their time) she had a beautiful cake & the place was decorated. She made our day so special for our precious Annalei. What a difference 3 years makes. From a tiny little scared girl that had NO idea who these strange people were holding her & taking her away from all she had known for 9 months of her life. To the little girl today that is becoming independent, so caring & LOVES for her mommy & daddy to hold her at all times!!!! As Papaw Chip always says "And to think you were afraid you would not bond with this child, I think you have bonded to well"!!!! Thank you God for the child you have made her today!!!! Thank you Brian & Anita for such a wonderful celebration!!!!

Stay tuned for Spring Break pictures!!!!

3 PRECIOUS YEARS!!!!

Today 3 years ago I held you for the first time & it is a moment I will cherish forever. My precious baby girl you change our lives & we could not thank God enough for the blessings he has given us.

Before I Knew Your Name

Author: Bob Carlisle (Song Lyrics)

Before I saw your chin and your nose,

Before I counted your fingers and toes,

I asked heaven for someone as wonderful as you,

And every prayer and wish came true.

I dreamed of you...Before I knew your name.

We had no idea what was in store when God lead us down the road to adopt & WOW what an amazing path that the Lord has opened our eyes & hearts to a whole new world. This day is a day we will celebrate a new beginning of life for our family. Many families that have adopted celebrate their child's "Gotcha Day" also known as Family Day. For us it is a day to not only express how blessed we are to be mommy and daddy but to also celebrate the union of our family through adoption.

Chinese folklore says there are invisible red threads that connect a newborn child's spirit to all who will be important in her life. The threads may stretch and might even tangle, but they will never break. As the child grows, the threads will shorten, drawing closer to those people who are destined to be together!!!!!

We will be celebrating this memorable day with our dear friends in Alabama. She has a cake ready for when we get there so I will post pictures of our "Forever Family Day" once we return from spring break.

Our thoughts are with all the other families that shared this memorable day with us 3 years ago. We were all patiently waiting in this tiny filled room with so many emotions waiting to see & hold our precious baby girls for the very first time. We love you all, you are our extended family forever!!!!

"DISNEY TRIP 2008"!!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Ok, I know once again I have been slacking in the blogging department but I will try to do better. We do have an exciting life with the kids & so much to post but it seems like I never have time to post because they do keep me so busy!!! So, now that I am still back tracking in posts since 2008 I am posting our trip we took for Dalen's birthday last November. I know his birthday is in October but we had to move our Disney trip to November because Mommy & Daddy HAD to go to Hawaii in October for a business trip!!!! But we did make it up to him & he was fine with that. We had such a wonderful time & did many things in a short period of time. It has taken me almost 6 years to get daddy to do this trip so I thought I would do it all in case we can never get him to go back!!! So, as you will see in the slide show they met most of the characters & Annalei got to go to the castle & eat luch, we went to the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party (since we had to cancel the "Mickey's not so scary Halloween party because mommy & daddy were laying on the beach in Hawaii with NO kids)" & then Dalen's favorite thing the whole week was the "Spirit of Aloha, Luau"!!!

It truly was a magical vacation just to see it through a child's eyes!!! Dreams really do come true at Disney World!!!

A LITTLE BIT OF HAT CUTENESS!!!!

I never seem to be able to get Annalei to wear a hat out of the house (besides Disney but the Mickey ears never stayed on real long either) but she sure seems to wear a lot of them when we are at home!!!!

3 YEARS AGO TODAY!!!!

Our first look at our precious daughter that changed our lives forever!!!

And then here is our Asian Princess 3 years later!!!

WOW, where has the time gone. 3 years ago today we saw your precious face for the very first time. I still am teary eyed thinking about that day. We actually got the call of all your information on Jan. 4th but had to wait to drive up to the agency on Jan. 5th to recieve your picture. How you have changed & how you have touched so many hearts the short time you have been here. We feel so blessed that God chose you for us & you are a perfect fit for our family. We look forward to many more memories & blessed days with you!!!

We love you our Gao Shao Ying!!!!

FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!!!

OK, since I have to rewind back to Oct. I have a lot of catching up to do. Dalen's football team made it to the championships which the kids got to play at IU's football stadium. You can imagine how excited a bunch of 3rd & 4th grade boys were for that except our son because he is the only Purdue fan on the team!!! We did end up losing but we were playing an undefeated team & our boys gave it their all & did a GREAT job!!!! It truly was a memorable night for those young boys that always have a dream of being a college or pro football player!!!

HAPPY NEWS YEAR 2009!!!!!

We want to wish everyone a blessed New Year!!!! We are looking forward to seeing what 2009 has in store for everyone!!!! I have so much catching up to do on the blog since I was out of commission for so long. I need to make my New Year's resolution being a better blogger!!!! So I promise once Dalen is back in school next week I will rewind to Halloween & catch up until now.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Holidays!!!!

NO ACCESS TO MY COMPUTER!!!!!!!

I am so sorry for the delay of photos & updates but I have had NO access to my computer for 2 weeks now!!! Hopefully it will be fixed soon but I can not retrieve any emails nor have I been able to update the blog with pictures. I am using my husbands business computer to post but will not be able to add any pictures yet, so you are on hold again!!! I have so much to update because in this time of NO computer we went to Disney for a week also, so I have those pictures now to show. Let's keep our fingers crossed that soon I will have access to the cyberworld again ( I feel so lost with out my computer, what in the world did we do before Internet & email????) & can update before the holidays start.

Hope all is well that I have not been able to talk to & I miss you all!!!!

HAWAII BOUND!!!

OK, you have to go check out the resort my husband & I are staying at for next 7 days!!!! http://www.grandhyattkauai.com/. For some reason it won't let me copy & paste but once you go to their website click on photos. This place is absolutely heavenly!!! My husband won this trip with his company & we are flying first class & everything is free that sounds even better!!! The only down fall is NO CHILDREN!!!! I have never left Annalei for even a night so you can imagine how this week may go for Grandma. Please pray that things will go smoothly so we can ALL enjoy it!!! I will try to post pictures from Hawaii but if I am having TO much FUN you will have to wait until I return.


Thanks again MOM you are the best to take on this challenge with our 2 kids!!!!

MY SALSA QUEEN!!!!

Annalei helped me make some homemade salsa the other day. She has always been a good helper & always wants to help me in the kitchen. Even though my 1 hour job turned into a 2 hour task it will be a day I cherish & remember forever. She was so cute everything had to be just perfectly straight & placed in the middle of the chopper before she would chop it up. I know just a little OCD!!!! After she worked hard making it she had to sit down & enjoy some of it!!!

Dalen's Pool Party!!!!

OK, I know this is a late post but I have so much to catch up from the summer so bare with me while I work backwards. Since our whole summer consisted of being at the baseball diamonds we decided to have some fun with the boys. No hitting or catching balls or running bases just a lot of POOL TIME!!!! We invited the boys & their families to come relax, sit, eat & let the boys be boys!!! Even the coaches participated in the biggest splash contest. Our boys did have a great year & thanks to their coaches they really learned a lot & had FUN!!!! They ended up placing 2nd in the tournament!! Great job boys!!!!

I went ahead & had the kids pictures taken since my attempt in Florida was not a success!!! Thank goodness for my friend Kindra because she came to my rescue. Her pic's turned out 100 times better than mine. For once the kids cooperated better than normal, so it was quick & easy, at least it was for mom that was behind the scenes but Kindra may have a different outlook on the day!!!!

You will notice there are a few more of Annalei & that is because we went ahead & took her 3 year photos on the same day!!!

Hope you enjoy!!!

DALEN'S FOOTBALL TEAM!!!!

I figured it was about time I finally do a post & I decided I needed to brag about my son for a little bit!!! This is his first year to play football with full gear & tackle!!! Yes, mom is sitting in the stands biting her fingers & worried to death that her little guy is going to get hurt & then mom will have to jump over the railing & run out to the middle of the field to see if he is OK!!! Well, luckily that has not happened & this time I was jumping up & down because he made his first "TOUCHDOWN"!!!! It was a little comical & all mothers will understand where I was coming from but the football coach did not. One of Dalen's coach's could not be there for the last game so his wife was there to tape it & she was sitting one row behind me, well her son threw the ball to Dalen & we still are not sure how he caught this ball but he did & ran it in for a touchdown, WELL what do most mom's do, I started jumping up & down & yelling but let's not forget the camera is behind me & she was yelling at me to sit down so she could tape it. Well during the time I was jumping up & down the camera fell off the tripod & she did not get it all on tape. So, when his coach started watching the tape all he saw was my blue shirt & then the bleachers!!! So much for him getting to see my son make his first touchdown!!! Oh, well it will be a day we will never forget in Dalen's football career!!!

Oh, if you noticed the picture of the cheerleaders, yes I got suckered into coaching the Little League Cheerleaders!!!! I had to lower my expectations ALOT, but it has been actually fun to just work with girls that are there to learn & have fun with the sport. They do try to get Annalei to come out & join them but they have not yet succeeded. I told you all she was not born to be a cheerleader!!!

It's That Time of Year Again!!!!!

Don't ya just LOVE football season!!! Especially when the COLTS are playing!!!! We are hoping for a better year then how they are starting out but we will still support our "Blue & White"!!!! They made a tour to different towns and luckily for us they stopped in our little town of Spencer!!! The kids got their picture taken & got autographs with 2 of the football players & Annalei got her picture taken with one of the cheerleaders!!!! Let's cheer on our Colt's & hope for another Superbowl Championship!!!!