The Park

The weather here has been wonderful!! Not too hot and not too cold. Yesterday we took a walk to the park with cousins Hannah and Henry. Carter was able to join us too since this is spring break for him. I was very impressed how Carly handled herself getting up and down on the equipment. She is becoming more and more independent!!

The Mariners

This is the time of year we see lots and lots of people and traffic in town. It's Spring Training time. We live 5 minutes from where the Mariners and Padres play and you don't have to tell us what month it is...we just know from the traffic each day.

Yesterday we decided to head over to the field and watch the Mariners play. It's cheap entertainment and a great way to enjoy this perfect weather!! And of course, having the team from our home town makes it that much more exciting!

And by the way...Happy 22 months Carly!

Fun Time

Saturday afternoon we spent some time with our friends, the Samuels, at their place. They used to live 5 minutes from our house and we car-pooled to school every day together. That was great! But over a year ago (maybe longer), they moved up North. I give my girlfriend a hard time every time we drive to their place. I feel like it so far to drive (it is after only being 5 min) and tease her by saying "well, we drove thru Colorado and should be there in about 4 more hrs"....ha! OK, it really doesn't take that long but.... Anyway, it has been awhile since the last time we were at their place so we were looking forward to this time. They live on an acre so there is lots of room for the kids to run wild, ride the quads and chase the chickens! Carter couldn't wait to get up there and get on that quad! We were quite surprised how he handled that thing this time around....MUCH more confidence. We had to tell him a few times to take it easy. Yikes!! Then of course Carly got her turn too, but at a much slower pace of course. She was all smiles. Carly loved the chickens. She wasn't ready to have them eat out of her hand though...just loved watching daddy and Connor feed them. She also loved the horses. We fed them carrots and she thought that was pretty funny.

We love spending time with the Samuels and definitely need to make a better effort of visiting their place more often!

Pictures of the Birthday

Happy Birthday Carter!

Here are a few pictures at dinner the evening of Carter's birthday.

Another Birthday

Yesterday we celebrated Carter's 11th birthday. Can it really be that he is 11 already?! Each year I see so much progress in him and am so thankful for all he has accomplished! He has come a long way!

We met up with family in the evening for dinner. Carter wanted to go to the Elephant Bar...same place he picked two years ago. I'm not sure what it is about that place that he likes, but for some reason he finds it fun. We sat outside on the patio (thankful for the heaters) and had a great time visiting with family!

Each year I look forward to hearing what is on Carter's birthday wish list. Two years ago he asked for a foam finger and his cake to be the American flag. Last year it was the electric toothbrush which he was so happy to get. This year....he wanted the eight ball. The one you ask a question and then shake it to see the answer appear in the little window. (He's been watching Toy Story a lot lately and that is where that idea came from.) So, he got an eight ball. I have been cracking up over the questions he asks...such as.....Will I have 5 kids? (not sure what made him think to ask that) Should I scratch my belly? Should I take a bath? (YES) Will I have homework today? And the list goes on!

I've said it before, but I love the fact that Carter thinks outside the box! He truly makes us laugh! We love him dearly and thank the Lord for each year we get to celebrate with him!

What will he ask for next year??

Pictures will be posted soon.

Bath Time

The picture below was taken after Carter got out of the tub. You can see that the water was just about gone when Little Missy decided she couldn't miss the opportunity of taking a bath too....so she climb in on her own! I was standing right there helping Carter but with my back towards the tub. This is why I never have her near the tub when it is full!! She, of course, was in her glory!

January!

Wow...the month is already more than half way over. Didn't we just celebrate New Years?! I can't say that not a lot has happened these last two weeks, but I will say just not a lot of exciting things have happened. Here is what we've been doing...

Driving back and forth to/from Dr. appointments. In the last two weeks we have seen a Dr. of some sort NINE times...and we have more appointments to come before the month is over. That's about a Dr. a day in last ten working days.... AND, that doesn't count Carter's therapies. One appointment I will mention was Carter's orthopedic follow-up for his back. It has been 6 months since his last appt. and after getting his x-ray, we were happy to hear that there had been NO changes to his back!! So happy for that!

Something exciting for me this past week was the chance to see my dear, sweet friend Melinda. She and her husband came into town for a few days and the four of us had a great date night. We were trying to think of the last time just the four of us went out .....without our kids. We figured it was when we were pregnant with our firstborns 13 years ago...Connor and Jacob. Melinda and I try to see each other about 1-2 years (2 years is really pushing it for us) one way or another. The last time we were together was when she flew out to meet Carly when Carly was just weeks old. Now I'm beating myself up for not getting a picture of the four of us...so I guess I'll just have to plan our next visit real soon.

This weekend of course was a big football weekend and we are so sad over the loss of the Cardinals. We were sooo hoping they would make it all the way..but proud that they made it as far as they did.

That covers it for now. Perhaps the next time I write it will be a little bit more exciting.

Christmas

What a wonderful, busy, fun-filled Christmas we had. This last week has certainly been a busy one. Erik's mom and dad arrived on the 20th and his sister and family on the 21st...and ever since, we have been on-the-go! Here is just a brief re-cap of our week:

Monday evening we had a mini piano recital performed by Connor, here at our house. He had his piano recital the week before but because Papa and Gramma were not in town to see him then, we decided to have him perform at home while they were here. His piano teacher joined us and accompanied him on piano as he sang "All is Well" and also played while he read the Christmas story. Connor played Angels Voices, Sonatina in C Major and a rag time version of Jingle Bells. We also had a little sing-along of some of our favorite Christmas songs. We had such a nice evening with family and friends and I'm thinking this could be a new Christmas tradition.

We saw The Blindside again. We normally don't see a movie twice in the theatres but Erik's family hadn't seen it and since it was such a great movie, we didn't mind going again.

We made lots of lefse!! Sooo good. And the boys made cookies with Papa.

Had an awesome Christmas Eve Eve Service at church (our church had service Wed. and Thur. night).

Got lots of shopping done, did some bowling, took many bike rides around the neighborhoods, played many games of Sorry and so much more.

Christmas Day we had the kids do their stockings after they woke up, had a yummy breakfast then opened some fun gifts. Connor got a new camera and already has taken many pictures and videos. Carter too got a camera/video camera (a very simple version) and has taken some very interesting photos...such as a strangers shoe, a handicap sign, garbage can and many more. I love it! For Carly, it was all about her baby. She got a new baby doll, doll bed and a stroller for baby. She also got a grocery cart with lots of food for it. She loves it and pushes it all over the house!! She even puts her baby doll in the seat. Too cute! Later that afternoon we headed over to Tim and Tanya's to spend time with ALL the family. The guys and kids did the annual jumping in the pool. This year the temp was 48!! Our day was full of fun but the best part was being with family! That is what I enjoy the most!!

I think I covered most of it. It's hard to believe that Christmas is over and we are just a few days away from 2010. What a year we have had and so thankful for all the Lord has done!

Will post pictures soon.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Riding in Style

On Monday, Carter got the ride of his life....a limo ride! A few months ago he had a fundraiser at school and every student who sold a certain amount of items won a limo ride to Peter Piper Pizza for lunch. We knew this would be so fun for Carter so we made sure he met that goal. As you see in the picture, his face says it all.

Thanksgiving and More

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Weekend! We spent Thanksgiving day with family at Tim and Tanya's this year. Tim and Tanya did the turkey and for that, I am so thankful. We had a fun time being with family and sharing what we are thankful for! The excitement for the day was when the sweet potatoes caught fire. What a scene that caused and just thinking about it still makes me laugh (we weren't laughing at the time though).

Friday I was able to get some shopping in with Audrey and found some great deals. Gotta love that. However, I am no where close to having my Chirstmas shopping done.

Saturday we went with Phil and Audrey to see the movie The Blind Side.....and LOVED it! What a great movie. Afterwards we walked across the street and got some coffee and a doughnut at Krispy Kremes. Oh yum! Nothing like a fresh hot doughnut with a cup of coffee! Later that evening we all met up and saw the lights at Glendale Glitter. It was fun to see all the Christmas decorations and even more fun to see Carly enjoy all the lights. It was a full day of fun!!

And now for a tid-bit of other info....

My brother and sister-in-law celebrated their wedding anniversary earlier this month and as I was thinking of that date, it reminded me of a date we celebrate...or maybe I should say a date that brought a lot of change to our family. It was ten years ago this month that our family packed up our house, said goodbye to all our family and friends in Washington and moved here to sunny and HOT Arizona. I find it so hard to believe that we've been here that long. Moving here was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I never thought I would raise my family anywhere but in Washington, where I still call my home. It seems strange that our kids will consider Az. as their home. But as hard as it was leaving, I knew that the Lord was clearly leading us here and even though I didn't understand, I had to trust Him! Our ways are not always His ways. I see now, as I look back on the last ten years, there have been many blessings that we have received in our lives had we not moved here to Arizona. One being......Carly.

Also, this month, we once again went through the process to update our home study for our China adoption. It has been 3 years since our paper work arrived in China. Wow! When we started the process (back in Jan of '06) we were told that once we have our LID (log in date) it would take about 8-9 months for a referral. Well, obviously not. But....even though the wait is long, God is good and I know we will travel to get our little girl on His timing...so we wait.

Well, we say good-bye to November and welcome December. My favorite time of year!

Thanksgiving Day






Ready to see the lights at Glendale Glitter

Tim, Tanya and family

Phil, Audrey and family

The crazy guys!

All the cousins .....but Henry