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!!!!

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!!!