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!!!!

DALEN'S FIRST DAY @ SCHOOL!!!

My little guy is now a BIG 3rd grader & he thinks he knows everything now. They say it gets worse as they grow up, GREAT, look at what I have to look forward to. He was excited about starting school & so far we have had NO troubles getting him out of bed & on to the bus. YES, mommy is still letting him ride the bus & that is only because he is the last picked up & the first dropped off & we only live 2 min. from the school.

The school always has a parade through town once they have been in school a week. They all get matching T-Shirts & make signs to walk with. We really like the small little school & the principle is so good to the kids (that is her on the golf cart). Hope you have a GREAT 3rd grade year, Dalen!!!

MY ASIAN BLESSING!!!

I thank the Lord each day for the glorious gift he has given us. She is so precious & full of life that I can't imagine our lives without her.

Love you, our sweet Annalei!!!!

GAO SHAO SISTER REUNION 08'!!!!

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It has been a couple of weeks since we have been home but have not had time to put together a slide show. Sorry for the delay but here are our Asian beauties!!! We all had a wonderful time & it is always hard to say goodbye. We will always be family & we share a bond that will never be broken. Our reunion this year was in Chicago at a water park. On Saturday we went to Chinatown & then on Sunday went to the zoo. The girls all enjoyed each other just like it was old times except our Miss Annalei. She was on mommy's hip most of the time until late Sat. night after I bribed her with a ring pop for pictures!!!

We have now decided to skip every other year so the girls will not be together again until 2010!!! WOW, sounds so far away & the girls will all be 5 then!!! We our planning our 2010 reunion at Lake Michigan on the beach!!! I am already looking forward to it.

Thanks again for a wonderful weekend & we miss you all!!!

VACATION PHOTOS!!!

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I have finally put together a slide show of our week in Florida. It may seem a little long but I couldn't resist all the cute pictures of the kids!!! Each day was filled with the beach, pool, good eatin & bedtime fun!!! So, there are to many photos not to share & have as memories. This was Annalei's first trip to the beach so I have many pictures of Annalei playing in the sand. And once again Dalen never wanted to pose for the camera very often, I had to bribe him most of the time.

The highlight of the week, especially Dalen & Matti was watching the Blue Angels practice over the beach. They practiced on Thursday & Friday & their show was on Sat. which that was the day we were leaving so we will do things different next year. They were so amazing to watch & Miss Matti now wants to be a pilot when she grows up!!!

Another adventure of the week was going to the dog races. I had never been & it was a lot of fun. I never did any good at picking the right dog but my sisters strategy always seemed to work for her. Which ever dog had the best name she liked she would pick & it always seemed to win!!! The kids really enjoyed it & as soon as the dogs would take off they would be right up to the fence to cheer them on. I have no pictures from dog races because they would not allow cameras.

We already look forward to going back next year (of course the weekend the Blue Angels will be there) & hopefully more of our family will want to join us!!!

WE ARE BACK!!!

But not wanting to be!!! We had a wonderful time & it went to fast. This was Annalei's first time to really play on the beach & she had a ball. Each day we played on the beach & then went back to swim in the pool & then of course get ready to go eat some seafood!!! I will try to put a slide show together of all the FUN pictures of the kids but here are a few that I tried to take on the beach for Christmas cards. Little note to everyone you will not be getting a Christmas card of the kids on the beach!!! I see why you pay a photographer to do them!!! I waited to late in the week when they were exhausted & it was time to go eat so they were hungry & Momma needs lessons on how to take a good picture & it look clear. So, thanks to my bloggy friends & their help with photoshop I was able to make them look decent.

Stay tuned for more updates & pictures from vacation!!!

OFF TO PARADISE!!!!

Even though I am not good about posting each day I wanted to let anyone & everyone that reads this blog that we are off to vacation & stay put because I will have LOTS of FUN post's once we get back. We are heading off to our friends in AL to play with a few monkeys (besides my husband & kids) & then we are meeting my sister, her husband my 2 great niece's my nephew & his fiance in FL!!! For a full week on the beach & complete relaxation!!!! I can say that because we are taking our babysitter with us this trip. Thank you so much Khrista for taking on this task!!!!

I wanted to give a big YELL out to Joe (my niece's boyfriend) to wish him luck this weekend in Omaha, Nebraska for the Olympic trials in swimming. He has been swimming for Ohio State & has taken this year off to train for the Olympics we are praying that all his hard work will pay off & we will be watching him in Beijing!!! This weekend we promise we will be glued in front of a TV watching a cheering for you. It may be at Pooter's (for anyone that is wondering it is really Hooter's but my niece Matti calls it Pooter's) but we will be right there with ya!!! Good Luck!!!!

Hope everyone has a great week & I will post pictures as soon as we get back!!!!

DALEN'S FIRST BASEBALL TOURNAMENT!!!

Annalei & Abigail enjoying their popsicle's before the game!!!



Annalei has decided she had enough baseball for 1 day!!!

Dalen didn't think it was to bad to sit in the dugout every now & then since the coaches daughters where in there!!!

Had to enjoy some ice cream after a LONG day!!!





This is Dalen's first year at playing on All Stars (the traveling team) & WOW, is all I can say!!! Besides still playing for the regular league & then all the extra practices for All Stars we are living at the ball diamonds!!! This past weekend was the first tournament the boys have ever played. The first team they played was the #1 in the state, I felt so bad for the boys coming back in the dugout with their heads down & NO smiles, they were feeling defeated. So after are the big loss we played the next morning & that team was #2 in the state. The boys came out playing better but still lost. We had to come back & play the same team again & our coaches gave them all a pep talk told them to go out & have fun & not to feel defeated. Those boys stepped it up & played so good & we were tied with them the whole game. It was good to see the smiles coming in the dugout & their attitudes of winning instead of defeat. They still lost by 1 point but we were so proud of them & Dalen was so cute after the game he said "That was like Facing the Giants movie"!!!!

MY BABY TURNS 3!!!!

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Our precious angel decided it was time to have a birthday again & turn a year older. How dare she do that to her Mommy. It brought tears to my eyes but she thought she was BIG stuff this year. She understood more of what a birthday was all about. She still thinks it is her birthday since we celebrated it a whole week. Daddy was gone on her actual birthday so bubby & I decided to have a cake & open some of the gifts from us. Then we had the "Mickey/Castle" birthday party with the whole family & friends that weekend on Father's day. We actually combined her party with my niece that graduated from Ohio State, so thank goodness Mickey & Ohio State are the same colors, it blended together very well.

If anyone is wondering why Mickey is on the castle cake instead of a Princess, WELL Annalei believes that Mickey lives in the castle at Disney World not Cinderella!!! Ever since we spent 1 day back in February at Disney she has talked non stop about the Castle & Mickey!!!

We had a wonderful day by the pool lots of food & she received such wonderful gifts. Thanks to you all!!! Daddy especially liked the Purdue cheerleading outfit from Aunt Shanan. He has high hopes for both of his kids to turn out like him & become a Purdue alumni!!!

MID SUMMER RECAP!!!!

Wow, where is the summer going???? I know I have not been in blogger world for some time now but there is just not much time to sit at the computer when there is FUN to be had!!! We are leaving soon (not soon enough) for vacation to Alabama then on to Pensacola Florida then when we get back we head out to Chicago for the "Gao Shao Sister" reunion, so I thought I better get caught up before I have lots more to post about.

As many of you know that Indiana was hit pretty hard with the terrible floods. We are lucky to say that our house was not hit but my heart aches for all the other families that lost their homes & all their belongings. Chad was able to get out to take some pictures before our road got flooded on both sides of us. Needless to say we had a lot of family bonding due to be stranded in since we were suppose to go to 2 weddings, 2 graduation parties, baseball practice & a birthday party.

We have had a break from baseball since our ball diamonds had about 21 feet of water covering them so we have had ALOT of swim days with the kids!!!! Ms. Annalei has learned how to swim on her own with floaties on so she thinks she is big stuff now.

We want to send out a BIG "Congrats" to my sister, she married the most wonderful man in the world. They had a beautiful wedding & fantastic reception at the park with the horses.

So as you will see by the slide show we have had a full summer so far & it has just begun for us. Stay tuned for Ms. Annalei's 3rd birthday that will be the next post!!!!

Hope everyone is having a FANTASTIC summer!!!

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INDY 500 WEEKEND!!!

We always have our first annual swim party on "Indy 500 Race Day". We NEVER know what the weather is going to be here in Indiana but this year there was NO rain & it was a pleasant day & it sure did not stop the kids from swimming. There is a little thing called a "heater" that really helped the water be 85 degrees & the kids did not get out of the pool until dark when the parents were pulling them out one by one!!!!

So, now it is officially summer here at the Dow house. Today is Dalen's last day of school & we can start enjoying the pool every day. Many pool party's are already planned & I am afraid the summer is going to go by to fast with our busy schedules. So, for now we are hoping the weather will warm up & I am looking forward to having Dalen home as is Annalei & we are going to enjoy each & every crazy day here at the Dow's!!!!!

Steven Curtis Chapman ::

URGENT PRAYERS REQUEST

Please pray for the entire Steven Curtis Chapman family as their youngest daughter Maria (their 3rd precious angel from China) was tragically killed in a car accident last night. Here is a link:

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080521/TUNEIN/80521174/1073/ENTERTAINMENT07

BUBBY YOUR THE BEST!!!!!

I have to do a little bragging on my 8 year son. That does not come very often since he has learned at a very early age to push every button on my body & I am not sure if I will have any hair left by the time he graduates but there are times he has a heart of GOLD. Daddy was taking him to get a new bike after baseball tryouts & after he had picked the most expensive one he asked his daddy "If I pick a cheaper bike can I buy a bike for Annalei" WOW what a SHOCKER!!!! Of course Daddy was not going to tell him NO since it is not very often an 8 year old will give up the best of the best for his little sister. Maybe he is not going to turn out to bad after all!!!

Such a proud moment for Mommy!!!

MS. FASHION QUEEN!!!!

It has always amazed me how our little one's can develop a mind of their own without their parents input!!! Annalei has decided to start dressing herself & decided that these cowboy boots from her friend Emma is now her favorite pair of shoes. Not sure how comfortable they are to play in but she does not care as long as she looks good wearing them!!! Sounds like a typical girl huh??????