Remebering Frank!

Today we visited my Uncle Frank's grave site and left flowers to honor him.  He served in World War II and died just after we returned home from China with Zoe.   Here is a post from Veterens day in 2008 with pictures of Frank.   He was a great man with such a kind heart, he will always be remebered.

I was just in awe of all the thousands of grave sites all bearing the American flag.  All are honorable men and woman who have served our country over the years.   It brought me to tears, there were hundreds of people visiting their loved ones.  The one that touched me the most was buried right next to my uncle, he was just a young man, five years younger than me, killed in battle in Iraq.   He was a father, son and brother.
Thank YOU, all of you, who have served our country......You are our Heroes!

Beach trip

With the weather still cold and rainy we still decided to take the chance and head over to the coast for the day. My aunt, uncle and grandma were here for the weekend and we wanted to spend some time with them. We headed straight to the beach and all bundled up since the temp was in the low 50s and it was very windy. The kids had fun flying the kites, Conor's got away from him and flew off, we ended up finding it in someones yard a few blocks over. We also found a five year old child that was lost on the beach, his brothers were supposed to be watching him and had left him for awhile and he disappeared on down the beach. A police officer ended up getting involved and hopefully that mom will realize that the older brothers weren't responsible enough to watch him. We ended the trip with lunch at Sizzler and a trip to W@lmart to get Chase a bigger bike. Here's some pictures from the day. Hence Parker's missing from the pictures, he's spending the weekend with my brother and sister-in-law having lot's of fun.

 Our family minus Parker

 Grandma Shirley and Aunt Geneva

Chase flying his kite

Zoe was freezing and cuddled with grandpa

Field trip & Last band concert

It's been a busy day.  I got to go with Chase on a fun field trip to a butterfly exhibit.  Only problem is that I'm terrified of butterflies landing on me.  So it was an intense 30 minutes while in the large room that held hundreds of butterflies.   Some flew overhead, some landed on the children and some were resting on the plants and flowers.  It was fun seeing him with his classmates and just hanging out with the kids.

Conor had his last band concert tonight.  They have improved so much from the beginning of the year.  They played three songs.    I can't believe he's almost done with his sixth grade year and that next year he will be a seventh grader.   Time sure flies.....

The end of soccer season

The kids are now done with soccer.  They both had a good last game.  Chase was an animal out there, he scored once and almost did several other times.  Parker's team won a rivalry team from our same town and were pretty excited.  Here's some pictures from the games.

 Parker in action

Miss Zoe who doesn't like to look at the camera

 pouting because mommy wanted another picture

 Chase's game

 Half time chilling with the coach

very excited about his goody bag

We have a busy summer ahead.  The kids have two weeks left of school and then it's summer break.

We have lots of baseball, all five of us are playing.  Swim lessons for the little ones.  A ballet recital. A trip to Yellowstone, summer camp, town fairs and rodeos.  And a very special birthday is come up soon.   We bought all her birthday party stuff today and she decided on a Princess theme (big surprise)!

Catching up

We've have had a busy last couple of weeks, with baseball starting up and all the activites going on at the schools.
Here's a few pictures from the last week or so.

 Chase's class at their spring musical

I couldn't stop laughing about the socks and shoes he chose to wear that morning

 Zoe and daddy at Parker's baseball game tonight

Figuring out how to eat sunflower seeds

 Parker played third base the whole game

He had some really good swings but wasn't able to get a hit out in the field

I'm happy to say I got one of my many things to do checked off my to do list last weekend.   We finally purchased a bedroom set for us.  After almost 14 years of marriage and mix matched furniture we can finally say we have a set and a king bed!!  We even painted our room, it all looks so nice.  I'll try and post some pictures soon.

My journey as a mom

My journey as a mom started over thirteen years ago.   Steve and I were just newlyweds, married just that last summer in August of 1997.  We had talked of starting a family, but didn't realize that it would happen so quick.  I got pregnant in March of 1998 and our first child due in December that year.  We found out a few months later the he was a boy!  We decided to name him Conor.  And two weeks before his due date he decided to make an entrance into the world.  We were surround by all kinds of family in the delivery room and it was such an amazing experience (hence I had an epidural).  We adapted quickly to our new family, and juggling school and work.   He was with much warmer weather.  Soon after our move we learned we were expecting again.  We were so excited but nervous about how close in age they were going to be.   I was on my extern and Steve was still looking for work after graduating from college.  We found out pretty quick that he was a boy (I was doing an extern in Ultrasound).  We were happy to have two boys so close in age.  Steve landed a job at an Engineering company just a few months before he was born.  That March in 2001 one week after his due date Parker came into the world.  He was such good natured boy and Conor loved him to death, constantly kissing him and hugging him.   That summer we moved into our first home and settled into to our nice family of four.   Over the years we talked about more kids, but were busy with everyday life and our careers.  Four years later just after returning home from one of our trips to Disney World we learned we were expecting.  Steve had just sold almost all of our baby stuff just a month earlier.   We knew this was my last pregnancy so I enjoyed every minute of it.  We learned pretty early on the he was a boy and after changing our minds several times we decided to name him Chase.  A day before his due date Chase was born, very quickly I may add.     And we thought are family was complete...   But me, well I had a dream.   A dream since I was a little girl  that I was going to adopt a baby someday. So just a few months before my 30th birthday in May of 2008 we started paperwork for our little girl.  Just one year later we would see her face for the first time and fall in love.  Six months later we boarded a plane to China and met Zoe.   Now  eighteen months later  we feel so blessed with the family we have, yes at times it can be overwhelming and challenging but for most part fun and exciting.   In those eighteen months not a day goes by that I don't think about the other children that are still in China, and my heart aches for them.   Children that deserve to have a mother, father, a house to call their home, feel loved and feel like they belong.   I'm still working on Steve, but hopefully sometime in the near future we will start that process again and bring home another dear child to our family.   So stay tuned.......  but for now I send love out to all my kids who bless me everyday with their love, laughter and happiness. I love you Conor, Parker, Chase and Zoe!

 Conor

 Parker

 Chase

 Zoe

The gang

Special time for the girls.

We had plans to get our pedicure done tomorrow but apparently everyone else had that plan too and there were no appointments available.  So we got ours done this afternoon.  Zoe was so excited we've been talking about this for days and she was so happy.  She picked out a orange glitter nail polish.  She had all the people in the place laughing when she was blowing her toenails dry!

 Zoe & Grandma with the colors they picked out

Just so excited about getting a pedicure

Waiting for her nails to dry

Helping with the drying

why does moms toes take so long????

My little girl!

More Zoo fun with family

We got to spend time this weekend with our family from California.  My aunt came up with my cousin Danny and his little girl Brianna.  Brianna and Zoe are very close in age and had a great time together.
We took them up to the Portland Zoo on saturday and then Brianna stayed the night with us that night.
Today we just hung out and visited.  Brianna cried when it was time for us to leave, so sad.   We will be visiting them later in the summer.  Here's some pictures from the Zoo and park.

 All the kids in the nest

Danny & his little girl

The kiddos

Zoe & Grandma and Grandpa

Zoe showing us she can make it across the monkey bars

 Chase & Zoe

Anna and baby Booth (14wks5day)

 Parker

 Brianna

Chase

Connie, Grandma and Anna