Happy Superbowl!

Halloween 2009

We had such a fun time tonight at our local Family Festival. The girls looked awful cute (below) as a Rock Star, Genie, Ballerina Pig (being a Plain Pig just wasn't cute enough for her), Jedi Knight and Jewel Thief!

With Sparky the Fire Dog at the Festival.

They love anyone dressed as a giant animal. Weird.

Diego was a bit insulted by the pink leopard cami and pink tutu, but he knows he looks cute.

Little Beau, the Ladybug


OK this is not from Halloween. Padme took this picture of Mema and Poppie with the new camera they bought her for her birthday. :)

Pumpkin Decorating

This is Daddy's AWESOME American Flag / Bald Eagle pumpkin! I told you he could do anything! :)

Happy Birthday Padme!

Padme is ELEVEN today!!! Happy birthday to my precious eldest daughter! You are so beautiful, inside and out. I love to watch the Lord grow you and mold you into the beautiful woman He created you to be. Thank you for working hard in all that you do. I love you!

Birthday Party

Date with Daddy - Chili's and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs!

Gymnastics Meet - Sulphur Springs - Birthday Weekeend! :)

Dallas Zoo Pictures

Wendy's 10th Birthday

You have come so far since you have joined our family! We are so thankful you are here with us, you are such a wonderful part of our lives! Thank you for always caring about others, don't lose that sweet spirit! Happy birthday, Wendy!

Baloo's 16th Birthday

Thank you for all that you do. Happy Birthday, Baloo. May the Lord continue to grow you and guide you into the man of God you are quickly becoming. I love you.

Lil Yoda's 9th Birthday

Happy Birthday to my Special Girl! You are such a ray of sunshine in our home, and I am so thankful the Lord gave you to me!

Easter Pageant

Gingerbread Party!

We recently attended one of our favorite Christmas traditions, our dear friends' annual Gingerbread Party! We are so grateful to our sweet friends for hosting about 100 people every year for a big Gingerbread House competition.

The kids each make their own Gingerbread houses from graham crackers and icing. Each family brings a bag or two of candy, and helps clean up the ensuing mess. We have so much fun watching the kids (teenagers included) use their creativity.

Below are pictures of our houses. The pictures were taken on my cell phone, thus the poor quality.

Erin really loves candy. She took this home with her, she didn't actually eat it.

Angel ate hers, though:

Those of you who know her aren't at all surprised.

Nastia and Carly!

This is a picture of my girls, along with our sweet friends Hannah and Erin, in Beijing this summer. We had such a great time at the Olympics!

Okay, that's not true. But we did get autographs from Nastia Liukin and Carly Patterson yesterday afternoon. Nastia and Carly train at a gym near us, and they were signing autographs in exchange for unwrapped toys. We got to support a toy drive for local kids, and get some cool autographs! Now I just have to figure out what to do with 10 autographed pictures of gymnasts...

Adoption: Kids' Perspectives

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words!

Man, I love these kids!

Adoption Shower Pics

These are some of my dear friends, who hosted an Adoption Shower for our family recently. The kids all had so much fun, we had an inflatable obstacle course and an inflatable bounce house for them, so the parents could enjoy their time together! This was a very special day for our family. Thank you, sweet friends!

Deflating the bounce house

Foosball & Air Hockey Champions

Thanks again, friends, for a wonderful memory!!!

It's Official!!!

Today, we went to court and finalized our adoption of Wendy, Angel and Dora!!! Yay!!! By Texas law, we had to wait six months from the date the girls came home. It seems like we've waited forever!!! We had a great time, and the judge was very nice and commented about how lucky we all were and how beautiful & sweet the kids all are. I pray the kids will all be able to cement this day into their memories.

Mema and Poppie met us for the special day, and they brought roses for everyone! Then, after the hearing was finished (which was about 20 minutes after we entered the courtroom, even though we were fourth on the list), they treated us to breakfast at a local restaurant! Thanks, Mema and Poppie, for making our special day even better!

A special "Thank you" to my sweet friend Janet, who brought cupcakes to the gymnastics gym today, so all of our friends could celebrate with us! Thank you, Sweet Friend!

The pictures below were taken before the hearing - you can tell they are excited but a bit nervous and sleepy! I had to wake them up at 6 to get to court on time. If you know us, then you know this is absolutely unheard of. But, we got to watch a beautiful sunrise as we drove to the courthouse!

Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you are good, and your love endures forever! (1 Chronicles 16:34)

Thank you that you set the lonely in families. (Psalm 68:6)

Thank you that you bind up, and heal, the broken-hearted. (Isaiah 61:1, Psalm 147:3)

Thank you for giving us children as a heritage and a reward. (Psalm 127:3)

Thank you that you are able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine. (Ephesians 3:20)

I leave you with our family Bible passage. This is our continuous prayer for our children. And today it is also my prayer for you.

"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (Ephesians 3:14-21)

Padme is Ten!

I can't believe my eldest daughter is already ten!!! How quickly the time has flown by! For years, we longed for a daughter, and the Lord blessed us with our sweet Padme, an answer to our prayers!

Padme decided to hold off her birthday party for the opening of High School Musical 3: Senior Year. We took several of her friends to a park next to the movie theater for cake and ice cream, then we watched the movie together. It was a beautiful day and the kids loved the movie! We had such a great time with all of her sweet friends - they helped to make her celebration special!

Padme is really growing up. She is a confident, strong young lady who loves the Lord and works hard at all she does. Naturally outgoing and vivacious, she is one of those people that everyone loves, which is why her birthday parties always have so many guests! She is very social and usually invites everyone she's seen in the last year. We have had such fun watching Padme grow up, she is intelligent, joyful and so fun to be with! She is truly beautiful, gorgeous inside and out. Sorry for the late posting, but we wish you a very Happy (late) birthday, sweet Padme. We love you!