Happy Thanksgiving!!

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! We did!! We went to Wichita, Kansas to visit Scott's parents, grandma, brother and my aunt, uncle and cousins, lots of family in Wichita!! We also gave Scott's mom her birthday presents. Her birthday is the middle of December and they are coming out for Christmas so we decided to save her from bringing even more home after Christmas and give birthday presents now. She got a waffle maker from us and Kate's family and Scott and I got her the pretty fall cross with a bible verse on it. I think she liked her gifts.




We had Thanksgiving dinner at Scott's parents house and it was YUMMY!!! It was so nice to all be together and to know that it's our last Thanksgiving without Laila was exciting.

Gabs enjoying her roll.

Nick making his plate of yummy goodness. Here's grandma, it's always nice to see her. She doesn't make it to Colorado anymore so we enjoy spending time with her when we're back in Wichita. This is Darren, Scott's brother. He travels alot for work so we're really glad he was home for the holiday and he will be here for Christmas also!! We love Darren!!Here's my dad, I just thought this was such a nice picture of him!

Here's my dad, Darren and Scott's dad after Thanksgiving dinner watching football. We also saw my Aunt Lisa, Uncle Rich and Mike and Melissa, my cousins. I took a picture of Rich but it didn't turn out good and I didn't think he'd appreciate it on my blog. I never got a picture of Melissa, she was working when I had the camera but I did get pictures of Lisa and Mike and here they are...

The first picture is Lisa and Mike, Lisa is my mom's youngest sister, the other sister is my Aunt Jo who lives in KC. When I was 21 I moved to Wichita to go to school and spent ALOT of time with Lisa and her family. It was fun, I really got to watch Mike and Melissa grow up and I met Scott. The 2nd picture is Scott, me and Mike. For those of you who know Mike, yes he's a big guy, yes that's facial hair, yes he's taller than me and yes he's almost 20!!!! I can't believe it!! I wish I had pictures of Melissa, she's beautiful!!! It just isn't right that they grow up so fast, that means I'm getting old!! Nothing new on the baby front. We did request a file off our agency's website. Basically it's a little girl who didn't match anyone's medical conditions checklist, including ours. We saw her on the website and though she was a little girl that we could parent. Unfortunately alot of others thought the same thing and we have been added to the list of interested families. We would love the opportunity to look at her file, I've already talked to our pediatrician, but if we don't get the chance that's also good news because that means she has a family which is the ultimate goal. We know our Laila is out there somewhere, we're just waiting for her to find us. We will let you know, we pray it will be soon!! What a great Christmas gift that would be.

What's been happenin'

Hello!! We're all doing great!! We are officially within the normal wait time for a referral!! The average wait is 10-12 months and we passed the 10 month mark on October 17th. My cell phone is never far away, the call could come at any time. I don't expect it for at least another month but you never know!! Other than that, Kate and Guy had a halloween party the weekend before halloween.
This is my pumpkin, the puking pumpkin. I thought it was fun.
Here's Scott in his costume, it was one of the inflatable costumes and he was a bull rider!! Gabrielle thought it was great and liked to take Uncle Scott's cow for walks.
Nick was a Storm Trooper.


One of the games we played was the mummy wrap. Here's Gabrielle getting wrapped up by a friend. Gabrielle was dressed up as a ladybug.
Another game was the Monster Mash where we played halloween songs and the kids had to dance around. They all had a great time!! This past weekend we went to Boulder so Scott could do his glider ride, it was his anniversary present. Here's Scott getting the scoop from his pilot.

Scott did have a pilot behind him for the entire ride. They got towed up about 12,000 feet and then released. They went over the mountains and flew all over Boulder for about an hour. He had a great time. Here's Kate, my dad and Nick watching and waiting for Scott. They were very busy, lots of planes and gliders to watch. This was just a cute picture, Nick is such a sweetie!! And then here's Gabs. She's potty training and wanted to take her book with her, too funny!!Will try to post again soon!! Hope you all are well.

Laila's letters

Welcome to Laila's room!! A few weeks ago Kate and I picked out ribbon to go on the letters, which I already had. We found 5 different ribbons that look really cute with the purple background and the stripes below. (See previous post "can you handle the cuteness" to see the stripes and rest of Laila's room) Now we're working on the 2 shelves that will have her "special" books and pictures and I'm still looking for a white wicker something that I can use as her toy chest. Come on phone and ring!!! We're ready, more than ready!!

Sorry it's been awhile!!

Wow!!! It's been quite awhile since I last blogged!! It's been busy around here!! The end of September was Nick's birthday, he turned 10!!! I can't believe it!! His grandma and grandpa (Scott's parents) came out from Kansas to celebrate with him. Here are the proud grandparents. His birthday party was at Dave & Buster's where we all had lunch and played games. Here's Nick (in the middle) with his friends Taylor, Ravshon and Angel. After Dave & Buster's we went back to Nick's house where we had a pinata in the backyard. It was a fun day. While grandma and grandpa were here they all went up in the mountains to see the leaves change. I had to work so wasn't able to join them. They also went thru Estes Park where there were alot of elk. Today at school Nick had a Veteran's Day Parade. It was very nice, they had some retired veterans as well as some current service men and women. The kids sang songs, had chants/cheers, made signs and wore hats. Here's Nick in his Veteran's Day hat. When Nick got out of school we went to Anderson Farms to get our pumpkins for halloween. We had a great time!! We went in the corn maze, fed the longhorn cows (I think they are cows??), went thru a hay maze, rode in little cars pulled by the big tractor, ate funnel cakes, pet llamas, sheep and bunnies. It was alot of fun!! Here are some pictures. Nick had just made it thru the hay maze, obviously proud of himself. Gabs and her daddy in the buggy. Doesn't Guy look comfy!! Those things are little!!Here' Nick wondering if I'm gonna continue to throw corn at him... and the answer was yep and you'd better run!!Cute shot of the 2 of them in the corn maze. Here's Nick feeding the longhorn cow thing... :)

Nick and Gabs with the pumpkins. We're looking forward to next year with Laila!! It's really exciting to know that she WILL be with us this time next year!!

Goin' to Grandma's house!!

Last weekend Kate, Gabrielle and I went to Iowa to see some of my dad's family. We were able to spend 4 days with Grandma, Aunt Pam, Uncle Otto and my cousin Brenda. We also visited my brother and dad's graves, they are buried right next to each other in a Iowa. It's a long drive but oh so worth it!! Gabrielle and Grandma became great friends!! As soon as we walked into Grandma's house Gabrielle went right to her and crawled up on her lap... Grandma had the biggest smile!! It was so sweet!!

Here are the new BFF's!! Grandma loves dogs and has alot of little stuffed dogs and Gabrielle was in heaven!! We had to go buy her a little stuffed puppy so she would leave Grandma's alone.

Here's Gabrielle with her hostages, I mean Grandma's puppies.

This beauty is Grandma!! She's so fun and sweet and I wish we lived closer!! I sure do miss her!!

This is Aunt Pam and my cousin Brenda. Brenda lives a few hours away but came up for the weekend so we could see each other. I have lots of great memories of going to Aunt Pam and Uncle Otto's house when we were little and playing with all my cousins!! Brenda and I are close in age so she's extra special to me!!

Here's Aunt Pam, Brenda, Grandma and Gabrielle after dinner one night. Gabs decided it was a great time to stick out her tongue... kids!! :)
Here's Kate and Gabs on our way to Iowa in a cute little town we found in Nebraska. Sorry, we had to do it!! :) It was a good time in Iowa and Kate and I are already planning our trip there next summer with Laila!!

This and That...

It's been awhile since I blogged, life sure gets busy! A few weeks ago was the "Rocky Mountain Showdown", the big in-state rival football game. It's the University of Colorado in Boulder (CU) against Colorado State (CSU) from Fort Collin. Scott didn't have a preference in the game but I grew up in Boulder so Go Buffs!!! We went with our good friends Matt and Brie, Brie is a CU fan and Matt is a CSU fan (we still like him though). Matt and Brie also having a baby in February and we're really excited for them!!
This is Brie and Matt before the game, which CU won!!

GO BUFFS!!!

The following weekend one of the local pools opened for the last day of the season to the dogs... literally!! No people swimming allowed, only dogs!! Mia is our swimmer so we left Zoey at home and took Mia. She had a great time and there were alot of dogs!! The place was packed!!! We had fun and Mia was a swimming fool!!

Our Favorite Photographer!!!

In an earlier post I mentioned that my best friend Jami is a photographer and she took some pictures of us when she was here a few weeks ago. She sent me some pictures and I love them all!! Here I've picked a few of my favorites to share with you. If you're in the Houston area and would like some great pictures taken, contact Jami at photosbyjami@gmail.com She's great!! Enjoy the pictures!!! Here's Scott and I and yes, I have had my hair done since this picture!! :)

Here's me, Scott and Jami's little girl Gabbi, I love this picture!!Here's my very handsome nephew Nick.Here's Kate and Guy, they look so good!!Here's Gabrielle and Nick, she kept trying to make Nick look at her!!And I love love love this picture of the whole family... So these are some of the pictures Jami took... feel free to contact her to take some pictures of you and your family!!!

You Know You're An Adoptive Parent When...

1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.
2. You know DNA has nothing to do with love and family.
3. You spend free time surfing blogs about families who have experienced the miracle of adoption.
4. If drives you crazy when people ask you about your child's 'real' parents.
5. You've been 'pregnant' with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth (2 years!).
6. You have taken an airplane ride half-way around the world to meet your child whom you've only seen in photos.
7. You believe God's heart is for adoption.
8. You know what the word 'Dossier' means and can actually pronounce it!!!
9. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart and family is one of the most important legacies you could ever leave.
10. You have welcomed a social worker into the most intimate, personal and private parts of your lift.
11. You shutter when people say your child is so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you are the blessed one to have him or her in your life.
-Author Unknown-

Jami's Photography!!

Jami is a photographer, did I forget to mention that?? I have a few of the pictures she took of us but she will be sending me more. I will post them and the one's of Kate's family. They turned out really good. If you need some good pictures taken and you're in the Houston area, let me know and I will give you her contact information!! She's fabulous and I love the candid pictures and getting them outside instead of sitting in some studio with a staged smile!! She's coming back to see us when we get Laila and taking all of her pictures, I can't wait!!
Here's one she took of us with Gabbi, I love the smiles, not staged, just genuine happiness!! Can't wait to show you the rest of them...