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!!!!