Late Updates

I am always at least a week behind on what goes on. I had to stop and give the whirlwind account of last weekend. We had a long weekend with two days off for Mardi Gras. I am glad we did not have another day because we would not have survived any more being packed into such a few short days. A quick run down includes: photos Friday night for our church directory, Saturday morning ladies prayer retreat at which I got to share a bit about adoption :), Saturday afternoon way overdue run to Walmart, Sunday church with Scott filling in while our pastor had a short break, Sunday night leaving for Texas getting back on Tuedsay evening. We traveled after church to Houston arriving at around 2:00am. We got some pretty good rest and then traveled on almost to San Antonio. Why in the world did we drive that far, to pick up our little teardrop camper. We decided that this was a better option than a tent and much more affordable than even a pop-up camper. We will give updates in the near future regarding. The girls did pretty well for such a rushed trip. After getting the camper we made it back to Houston and took a break with shopping and eating at the Rain Forrest Cafe. They really enjoyed that little adventture. As usual, I left the camera in the car and was too tired to go back and get it. Evelyn had eaten at a Rain Forrest Cafe when she was younger and did not remember it. We spent the night on the east side of Houston and drove home on Tuesday. Whew. I will have to tell this weekend's adventure in the next couple of days.

Five years ago today, we celebrated the miracle of life when cousin Mason was born. He is a very smart and funny boy, all boy by the way. He is Evelyn’s best bud, and Emelia recently decided he is her buddy too. We celebrated here the weekend before last with family down this way. He is having a party at home today which we were not able to attend. Hope you enjoyed every bit of your day. We love you! (Enjoy a few photos from the earlier celebration.)

P.S. - I will try to get in a post at least once a week. I had wanted to share about the Valentine's banquet we had at church. It was a steak dinner youth camp fund raiser and went very well. We had such a good response in all areas.

Chinese New Year

Well, the Chinese New Year was started with the girls getting "Lai See" from their Aunt Jen, Grandma Ruth and mom and dad. There was a hole burning in their pocket because dad promised they could shop with it. Saturday afternoon was spent trying to make a decision on a purchase even though neither girl needed any more toys. Evelyn was fairly wise in only making a tiny purchase and waiting until she found something she really wanted. Emelia could not find the special item she wanted (Dora dress up head) so she had to purchase a little people mega block train she found. We were then running a bit late as usual but made it to a CNY celebration hosted by our local FCC group. It was definitely a success. My good friend, Adele, has a post on her blog that gives a great overview of the event. Take a visit at makingmemorieswithmalloryandmeredith.blogspot.com. A big thank you goes to those few ladies who put so much time in to the event. It was time well spent. I have shared a few of the photos and will try to share more later.

Happy New Year!

Click to play!

Finally. Scott has spent quite a bit of time in the woods and has not even seen one deer. I guess his patience and persistence finally paid off. He came home with a 10 point this morning. It was a very nice deer. Aren't the onlookers cute?

It is hard to believe that yesterday made one year since we first viewed Emelia's file. Time does pass quickly when you are on this end of things. My thoughts are with all of you who are enduring this wait.

Hanging Out, Dreams & Puppy Love

It is great to have an extra day to the weekend. I actually get to join in on some of the fun. Yesterday at church, someone asked Evelyn what we were doing today. She answered, "Well, I think we will just hang out, stay at home." I had kind of thought we might hit the road and find a sale somewhere, however, things changed when there was a knock at the door around 9:30 this morning. Evelyn said, "Mom, our neighbor is at the door." Our neighbor came to see if we had lost any puppies, three to be exact. :) We had not but certainly wanted to take a peak at them. Events afterwards included us calling Scott on his cell asking to keep one but knowing the answer. Our neighbor has a 12 year old dog who did not care for the puppies being around. I agreed to babysit the puppies until a home could be found or they could be taken to the pound. I quickly tried to call Scott again to warn him that the puppies were here and that we knew it was temporary. He came driving up about that time and I had to do some quick explaining. We all enjoyed the day with the puppies, especially Evelyn. She absolutely loves animals. Shortly after the fun began, she asked if this was a dream or if it was real. :) It was a five year old's dream come true. Emelia had to warm up to them and see that they were harmless, but then she enjoyed them as well. The pups are as snug as a bug in a rug right now and will be picked up tomorrow. Aren't they precious? ;(

It is kind of hard to begin this post now that all of the festivities have ended and things are getting back to "normal." :) We did so enjoy our time home during the holidays. Christmas Eve was spent with my family and Christmas day at Scott's mom's. We are blessed to have both sides of the family close and actually spent time with both families on both days. It did not take Emelia long at all to get in the present getting and opening mode. She loved it. She is still coming out with new things daily. I have been so proud of her on a Vtech kid's lap top that Evelyn had. She is more than catching up to where she should be. We were able to have some fun time the few days after Christmas with cousin Mason. Then came the New Year and it was much calmer than Christmas, well for the most part. Scott and I were getting ready for a short trip to New York. He had a conference there and I "tagged" along. Scott's mom and dad kept the girls for three nights. This was the first time we had both left Evelyn or Emelia. Evelyn took it hard the first day but did okay after that and Emelia did great. We enjoyed the trip but certainly did miss the girls. Oh and it was quite cold while we were there. Of course I will share just a few photos from the holidays. Happy New Year!