Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Christmas Kitty
Pooks was so excited about Christmas this year! She had gotten into her stocking and was playing with her toy before Ana was even awake. I took her toy away and put it back into her stocking and told her she had to wait for Ana. She went and found Ana, jumped up on her and purred and kneeded into her chest as if she was saying "Wake Up Wake Up Santa Came!" Ana woke up and we all went downstairs...Pooks followed us. Then she walked right back over to her stocking and took her toy out again and played ALL morning long! Funny Kitty!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Christmas at BFCS
Ana's school is wonderful and we all love it! It was so refreshing to be able to freely talk about the true meaning of Christmas IN SCHOOL! To have a Christmas party instead of a holiday party, to sing songs about Santa AND Jesus! Ana has blossomed and is doing great. She is getting the love, guidance, and self confidence from her entire school and it makes all the difference. We couldn't be happier for her.
The school had a wreath auction where every classroom made a wreath and people bid on it and the money went to the school. This is the wreath we made! We got first place in "school spirit". :)
We are the BFCS Bobcats and we took all the kiddos thumb prints to make little "Bobcat paw print" ornaments. It turned out precious!
This is Ana's class the evening of the school Christmas program. The Pre-K kids sung a couple of songs that just made ya laugh and melt your heart all at the same time!
This is our HAPPY little girl. She LOVED being up in front and just sang her little heart out. She kept waving at everyone she recognized in the audience and I just thought for sure she would bolt and go give hugs...but she didn't. She did exactly what she was suppose to do, complete with a bow at the end! We were so proud!
This is her teacher Ms. Amy. We LOVE Ms. Amy! I tell you it is the love and patience of this lady that is forming our precious little girl into a well rounded and smart student!
The school had a wreath auction where every classroom made a wreath and people bid on it and the money went to the school. This is the wreath we made! We got first place in "school spirit". :)
We are the BFCS Bobcats and we took all the kiddos thumb prints to make little "Bobcat paw print" ornaments. It turned out precious!
This is Ana's class the evening of the school Christmas program. The Pre-K kids sung a couple of songs that just made ya laugh and melt your heart all at the same time!
This is our HAPPY little girl. She LOVED being up in front and just sang her little heart out. She kept waving at everyone she recognized in the audience and I just thought for sure she would bolt and go give hugs...but she didn't. She did exactly what she was suppose to do, complete with a bow at the end! We were so proud!
This is her teacher Ms. Amy. We LOVE Ms. Amy! I tell you it is the love and patience of this lady that is forming our precious little girl into a well rounded and smart student! Christmas Memories
December just FLEW by for us! We had so many fun events that just makes the Christmas season that much more special! We are so blessed to have so many friends and family to celebrate with!
Our neighborhood is just wonderful! We started a bunco group and we got together and had a cookie exchange! Christmas cookies and happy hearts this is how the holiday starts!
This was at the kid's Christmas party at Marc's squadron. Santa flew in to visit our kids in a T-6 (Marc's plane he is current flying) and passed out gifts! Ana got a Barbie Pilot and she loved her!
Marc's squadron also had an adult Christmas party at a lovely restaurant/tea room. This is Marc's Squadron Commander! He lost the bidding war and had to wear the "elf outfit". SUCH a good sport. Fun times...fun memories!
We found a VERY neat area of cuties stores and tea rooms about 20 mins away from our house. At Christmas time ALL the shops and businesses dress up "Dickens like" and transform into an "Old World Christmas"! Complete with horse carriage rides, hot cider/chocolate, Father Christmas walking around, and Christmas caroling around the "town tree". There was also a Christmas Carol play that was performed at the gazebo. One of my family traditions growing up is going to the Christmas Carol play every year. Marc and I have continued this tradition. Ana loved it and this was the man who starred in the play. He was AMAZING! It was a WONDERFUL night! This will be something we do every year while living here.
Again, our fun neighborhood did a "Christmas Progressive Dinner". This is where you go to everyone's house for 30 mins and eat, drink, and be merry! We had 13 couples who participated and it was a great way to see everyone's Christmas decorations and become more aquanted with each other! WE ALL HAD A BLAST! But one of the best parts was our babysitter lives in our neighborhood and she with one other friend took our kids for the night and they had their own "Christmas party". Ana had a blast and crashed at her house until we were done and we carried her home.
Our neighborhood is just wonderful! We started a bunco group and we got together and had a cookie exchange! Christmas cookies and happy hearts this is how the holiday starts!
This was at the kid's Christmas party at Marc's squadron. Santa flew in to visit our kids in a T-6 (Marc's plane he is current flying) and passed out gifts! Ana got a Barbie Pilot and she loved her!
Marc's squadron also had an adult Christmas party at a lovely restaurant/tea room. This is Marc's Squadron Commander! He lost the bidding war and had to wear the "elf outfit". SUCH a good sport. Fun times...fun memories!
We found a VERY neat area of cuties stores and tea rooms about 20 mins away from our house. At Christmas time ALL the shops and businesses dress up "Dickens like" and transform into an "Old World Christmas"! Complete with horse carriage rides, hot cider/chocolate, Father Christmas walking around, and Christmas caroling around the "town tree". There was also a Christmas Carol play that was performed at the gazebo. One of my family traditions growing up is going to the Christmas Carol play every year. Marc and I have continued this tradition. Ana loved it and this was the man who starred in the play. He was AMAZING! It was a WONDERFUL night! This will be something we do every year while living here.
Again, our fun neighborhood did a "Christmas Progressive Dinner". This is where you go to everyone's house for 30 mins and eat, drink, and be merry! We had 13 couples who participated and it was a great way to see everyone's Christmas decorations and become more aquanted with each other! WE ALL HAD A BLAST! But one of the best parts was our babysitter lives in our neighborhood and she with one other friend took our kids for the night and they had their own "Christmas party". Ana had a blast and crashed at her house until we were done and we carried her home.Vika Grace is HOME!
I hosted a "baby shower" at my house for our good friends, The Bigley's, who just brought their little girl home from Russia! Their story is amazing and just warms my heart. Their story helped me heal from our adoption story. Instead of holding on to those bitter feelings of not being able to bring home our son...I was reminded of all the WONDERFUL memories and the journey of bringing home Ana! Adopting a child is truly an indescribable feeling. To be filled with so much love for a child born that God has chosen for you...that completes you and your family is just more than I could have ever imagined. 
Congratulations Bigley's and thank you for your friendship! We look forward to many more amazing memories with you guys! Vika Grace is just precious!
Congratulations Bigley's and thank you for your friendship! We look forward to many more amazing memories with you guys! Vika Grace is just precious!Sunday, December 28, 2008
Special Visit
The Gordon's are great good friends of ours from AZ days! They now live in Wichita Falls, TX about 5 hours away. They came down to SA for Thanksgiving and we got to see them for a couple of days. 
Our special bond with the Gordon's is that we adopted our daughters at the same time! They got home with Myah from China two weeks before we left to go get Ana from Russia. We got home two weeks later with Ana and they visited us for about an hour before they got in their car and moved to TEXAS. Then we moved to Korea and we hadn't seen them since!!
We met the Gordon's at Sea World and Ana and Myah didn't miss a beat! They were awesome together. It was just amazing watching them and knowing their stories and how both the Gordon's and us were SOOOO blessed by God's grace with these babies!
Quick pose with Christmas Shamu and off to play again....
We invited all our AZ Air Force friends who knew the Gordon's over for a fun visit!
Here are our cute Fighter Pilot boys and their babies...OH how times have changed...FOR THE BEST!!!!
Our special bond with the Gordon's is that we adopted our daughters at the same time! They got home with Myah from China two weeks before we left to go get Ana from Russia. We got home two weeks later with Ana and they visited us for about an hour before they got in their car and moved to TEXAS. Then we moved to Korea and we hadn't seen them since!!
We met the Gordon's at Sea World and Ana and Myah didn't miss a beat! They were awesome together. It was just amazing watching them and knowing their stories and how both the Gordon's and us were SOOOO blessed by God's grace with these babies!
Quick pose with Christmas Shamu and off to play again....
We invited all our AZ Air Force friends who knew the Gordon's over for a fun visit!
Here are our cute Fighter Pilot boys and their babies...OH how times have changed...FOR THE BEST!!!!
NO ISSUES!
Ana's sleep study results were good and bad. Good that they found nothing. Her brain waves are fine, she sleeps a normal sleep pattern, and has no breathing issues that cause her to not get a good sleep. BUT bad, because we still don't know why she is always tired. We changed her ma tress and that has seemed to help a little...but not enough to solve the issue. Doctors want to put her on a sedative, but we aren't completely comfortable with that yet and are getting second and third opinions. Next stage is to take her to Houston to the Children's Hospital to see if their international adoption specialists can help us. We used them when we started our adoption process and they were great...maybe they will have words of advice!! Thank you for all your prayers and concerns!! :)
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
"Pinocchio Hotel"
Last night Ana had a sleep study done! Every since we adopted her, she has had sleeping issues off and on. She has no problem going to sleep (now), but most mornings she wakes up exhausted. Even after a good 11 hours of uninterrupted sleep. She can't make it through the day without a nap and is just overall tired most days. I've paid close attention to her eating habits and changed some things...but that hasn't helped. SO, when we moved here, I decided to push for a sleep study. WELL, we got it and when they explained to me what was going to happen, I was shocked! 25 probes were to be attached to her body, 10 on her head alone and the rest all over her body. SO, I knew I needed to come up with SOME WAY to make this fun for her! SO I have been reading the story Pinocchio to her. Explaining that he is a puppet etc. THEN I found the movie on VHS...so she has been watching it too! SHE LOVES IT!
I waited until yesterday to tell her she was going to a "hotel" (she loves hotels) and they were going to dress her up like Pinocchio! Kinda like a Halloween costume! She was to have strings and everything...just like Pinocchio. So, we walk into the sleep lab and I pull the techs aside as Marc got her in her jammies and I told them the scoop. To REALLY PLAY UP the Pinocchio gig! Well, they did. And it was great.
They attached her "strings" with a Vaseline type of goop...they called it "string glue". She got to pick her "string colors"...lots of pink and purple!
When they put her "stickers" on her face they had to clean it first and they told her they were putting on her Pinocchio makeup! PERFECT! THEN they put that deal up in her nose and I was worried we were going to lose her so I told her that it was going to check to see if her nose grew throughout the night...she just laughed. Then it was lights out. As we were leaving her room she asked me if the Blue Fairy was going to come in and grant her a wish...I told her yes! She asked me who was going to be the Blue Fairy and I told her ME! She just smiled and then said, "Good Night Blue Fairy" and I said, "Good Night Pinocchio" and she was out in about 20 minutes. PERFECT CHILD!
Marc went on home and I stayed the night with her. The techs let me watch her monitor all night with them. These are her brain waves and that bed in the right corner of the screen was her bed. I had brought a project to do so I stayed up doing it and watching her. We couldn't check in until 8:15pm which is already 45 mins past her bedtime. Then it took until 9pm to hook her up to everything, so I was worried this wasn't going to be a really accurate study because she wasn't in her routine...but she did toss and turn all night and the brain waves did change though out the night. I was SLEEPY by 1am so they told me I could go lay down with her so I did. BUT they were in checking on her every 30 mins asking me to help attach a probe she "rocked off" or asking me to help untangle her etc. so I got very little sleep. They woke us up at 5 am to "take her strings off" and we were to be gone by 5:30am! Before we left they gave her this purple "string" to remember her "Pinocchio Hotel" night! She was so happy! We won't find out the results until next Tuesday when we see her doctor. Hopefully we will get some answers to help her get a rested sleep!
We got home around 6am this morning and she needed to take a hot bath to get all the "string glue" out of her hair. So I made it special for her. I made her a bubble bath and lit the candles ...put her in the tub and told her she was a "real girl" now with NO MORE STRINGS! I was exhausted and fell into our bed I told Marc she was all his. Mission complete with NO trauma! Glad it's over and now we wait for some answers...hopefully!! She was SUCH a good little trooper and was happy the entire time...I am so proud of her!
I waited until yesterday to tell her she was going to a "hotel" (she loves hotels) and they were going to dress her up like Pinocchio! Kinda like a Halloween costume! She was to have strings and everything...just like Pinocchio. So, we walk into the sleep lab and I pull the techs aside as Marc got her in her jammies and I told them the scoop. To REALLY PLAY UP the Pinocchio gig! Well, they did. And it was great.
They attached her "strings" with a Vaseline type of goop...they called it "string glue". She got to pick her "string colors"...lots of pink and purple!
When they put her "stickers" on her face they had to clean it first and they told her they were putting on her Pinocchio makeup! PERFECT! THEN they put that deal up in her nose and I was worried we were going to lose her so I told her that it was going to check to see if her nose grew throughout the night...she just laughed. Then it was lights out. As we were leaving her room she asked me if the Blue Fairy was going to come in and grant her a wish...I told her yes! She asked me who was going to be the Blue Fairy and I told her ME! She just smiled and then said, "Good Night Blue Fairy" and I said, "Good Night Pinocchio" and she was out in about 20 minutes. PERFECT CHILD!
Marc went on home and I stayed the night with her. The techs let me watch her monitor all night with them. These are her brain waves and that bed in the right corner of the screen was her bed. I had brought a project to do so I stayed up doing it and watching her. We couldn't check in until 8:15pm which is already 45 mins past her bedtime. Then it took until 9pm to hook her up to everything, so I was worried this wasn't going to be a really accurate study because she wasn't in her routine...but she did toss and turn all night and the brain waves did change though out the night. I was SLEEPY by 1am so they told me I could go lay down with her so I did. BUT they were in checking on her every 30 mins asking me to help attach a probe she "rocked off" or asking me to help untangle her etc. so I got very little sleep. They woke us up at 5 am to "take her strings off" and we were to be gone by 5:30am! Before we left they gave her this purple "string" to remember her "Pinocchio Hotel" night! She was so happy! We won't find out the results until next Tuesday when we see her doctor. Hopefully we will get some answers to help her get a rested sleep!
We got home around 6am this morning and she needed to take a hot bath to get all the "string glue" out of her hair. So I made it special for her. I made her a bubble bath and lit the candles ...put her in the tub and told her she was a "real girl" now with NO MORE STRINGS! I was exhausted and fell into our bed I told Marc she was all his. Mission complete with NO trauma! Glad it's over and now we wait for some answers...hopefully!! She was SUCH a good little trooper and was happy the entire time...I am so proud of her!FOSA Bazaar
Our MOPS group at my church hosted a bazaar this past Sunday. I decided to have a booth to sell my friends jewelry. Laurie Bremer is a good friend of ours from pilot training days. She and her husband were on me and Marc's FIRST DATE! Her husband was in our wedding as well as Marc in their wedding and it had been YEARS since we saw each other. Well, we were able to be together again in Korea this past year! She started a pearl business right before I got there. She gets these pearls from China and they are just beautiful. I told her about this bazaar and she sent me a big ole box full of WONDERFUL pearls and turquoise!
I had never had a booth before so I just played it by ear...but I had found these CUTE jewelry holders and thought they were perfect for her pearls...so dainty and old fashioned...can you see the pearls on the actual doll itself? PERFECT HUH? :)
It was a good day. The only bad thing is I had ALL day to shop around at the other vendors!! :) If you want to see Laurie's beautiful jewelry...go to her website www.esquirepearls.com I think you will be impressed!
I had never had a booth before so I just played it by ear...but I had found these CUTE jewelry holders and thought they were perfect for her pearls...so dainty and old fashioned...can you see the pearls on the actual doll itself? PERFECT HUH? :)
It was a good day. The only bad thing is I had ALL day to shop around at the other vendors!! :) If you want to see Laurie's beautiful jewelry...go to her website www.esquirepearls.com I think you will be impressed!My Sister's 27th Birthday!
My sister, Erin, and her family live in Lewisville which is right outside of Dallas...about 5 hours away from us. Last weekend we went up there to celebrate her birthday! She is seven years younger than me...amazing how all grown up she is. 
This is her husband Shawn! We took them to dinner to celebrate...FUN TIMES!
It was a quick visit but so good to see them! Happy Birthday Erin!
This is her husband Shawn! We took them to dinner to celebrate...FUN TIMES!
It was a quick visit but so good to see them! Happy Birthday Erin!Thursday, November 13, 2008
GO SPURS GO
My uncle called me on Monday afternoon to say he had gotten some Spurs tickets from a friend and would we want to go Tuesday night. So I called up our wonderful babysitter and she was available so we went!
These tickets were FABULOUS! 7th row from the court. We could see the sweat and the faces clear as day! We think Kurt Thomas's wife sat in front of us. NO not Eva, Tony Parker wasn't playing due to a twisted ankle. Marc was bummed not to run into her!
Spurs mascot is the Coyote. Funny little dude...
Spurs beat the Knicks!
Tuesday was also Veteran's Day and I'd just like to say thank you to our friends and family for all you do (and have done!) for our country! Love You All!
These tickets were FABULOUS! 7th row from the court. We could see the sweat and the faces clear as day! We think Kurt Thomas's wife sat in front of us. NO not Eva, Tony Parker wasn't playing due to a twisted ankle. Marc was bummed not to run into her!
Spurs mascot is the Coyote. Funny little dude...
Spurs beat the Knicks!
Tuesday was also Veteran's Day and I'd just like to say thank you to our friends and family for all you do (and have done!) for our country! Love You All! Little Critter Pumpkin
Ana's class had the cutest project! All the kids were to pick their favorite book and make a pumpkin using one of it's characters. Ana (and I) love the "Little Critter" books by Mercer Meyer. We had fun making her Little Critter Pumpkin and the class as a whole had some pretty awesome pumpkins! SO FUN!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
NFL Football...Texans VS Bengals!
This last weekend we went to Houston to watch the Texans beat up on the Bengals. It was the first NFL game for all of us and it was fun! My college friends have season tickets and know how to make game days an event! 
We tailgated for three hours prior to game time! Everyone did...there were tents, grills, music, and dancing EVERYWHERE!
However, Ana was our entertainment! George (behind Ana) was our grill master for the day. He has a special tailgating grill that attaches to the car...(everyone scratch and grunt now)!
Then onto the game!!! Go Texans!
The deal was at half time we changed Ana's jersey out!! This is my roommate from college, Marina! It has been so fun to be back in TX and play with all my friends and again!!
Texans 35 Bengals 6...but the Bengals at least had their two cutest fans there!
We tailgated for three hours prior to game time! Everyone did...there were tents, grills, music, and dancing EVERYWHERE!
However, Ana was our entertainment! George (behind Ana) was our grill master for the day. He has a special tailgating grill that attaches to the car...(everyone scratch and grunt now)!
Then onto the game!!! Go Texans!
The deal was at half time we changed Ana's jersey out!! This is my roommate from college, Marina! It has been so fun to be back in TX and play with all my friends and again!!
Texans 35 Bengals 6...but the Bengals at least had their two cutest fans there!Brad Paisley and Jewel Concert!
Last weekend (20 Oct) we went to this concert! The road manager for Jewel had called Marc's squadron and asked for a ride in the T-6. One of Marc's jobs for the squadron is to coordinate rides for people and he made it happen for this guy. As a thank you, the guy hooked up the squadron with kickin' tickets and back stage passes to meet Jewel!
This is the group of ladies from our squadron that made it out to grope and scream for Brad...
And here are the guys ready to try not to embarass themselves in front of Jewel...
Marc's dad was still in town from Grandparents Day/Ana's birthday and he got to go too!!
They had a "wine and cheese" party for us backstage and this is when we met Jewel!
Yes...they were really that close to us! We were on the floor and could reach up on the stage and touch them if we wanted....to go to jail! :)
But Brad (yes, we are on first name terms now...HA!!)was so excited to sing to me and did an amazing job!!! The concert ended at 11:15ish and I was choppin at the bit to get home to relieve the sitter...so we left right away. WELL...the next day we had a squadron wives meeting and they tell that they got to MEET BRAD AS WELL after the concert!! That's okay, I saw Brad wink at ME during the concert...I didn't need anything more! :) FUN FUN NIGHT!!!
This is the group of ladies from our squadron that made it out to grope and scream for Brad...
And here are the guys ready to try not to embarass themselves in front of Jewel...
Marc's dad was still in town from Grandparents Day/Ana's birthday and he got to go too!!They had a "wine and cheese" party for us backstage and this is when we met Jewel!
Yes...they were really that close to us! We were on the floor and could reach up on the stage and touch them if we wanted....to go to jail! :)
But Brad (yes, we are on first name terms now...HA!!)was so excited to sing to me and did an amazing job!!! The concert ended at 11:15ish and I was choppin at the bit to get home to relieve the sitter...so we left right away. WELL...the next day we had a squadron wives meeting and they tell that they got to MEET BRAD AS WELL after the concert!! That's okay, I saw Brad wink at ME during the concert...I didn't need anything more! :) FUN FUN NIGHT!!!
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