Happy Halloween

We want to wish everyone a fun and Happy Evening of Trick-or-Treating, or whatever else you will be doing tonight!  Adrianna is very excited to go trick-or-treating, as she has now realized that she gets to dress up and go around asking people for candy and they will give it to her!  Last night we carved these pumpkins with cousin Bobby and she had a blast pulling out the “Pumpkin Brains”.  Alicia enjoyed watching and trying to help scoop, and eating popcorn.  Bobby did a great job helping Adrianna carve her pumpkin (the one on the right).

Dresses

With cute girls come lots of cute dresses. Adrianna is growing so fast that she has outgrown some of her dresses without wearing them much. So we try our best to take pictures of them in their dresses every chance we get. The negative side effect of this picture taking is that every time you pull out a camera Alicia starts saying “cheese”, and puts on her cheesy grin! Luckily we got one of her natural smile as well.  So here they are in dresses that their Grandmother gave them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you Mom for the dresses!

 

Cute, cute, cute!

 

Is it any wonder why she has me so increadibly wrapped?

Playing with friends

Adrianna and Alicia had a blast playing with their friends during our trip to New Mexico. Thank you to Tyler & Ashlyn for being such wonderful hosts, especially Tyler for taking care of Alicia. Adrianna especially enjoyed dressing up as a soldier. Alicia really enjoyed pushing around Patches in the baby stroller, and being pushed around herself in the baby stroller. We all had a great time watching them play together, we didn't have such a great time getting them to sleep at night. All in all it was a really nice trip.

Sunset

 

The colors didn’t come out quite as nice as they actually were, but I think you get the picture!

Family room with a view

 

This is for all of the folks who have moved away from Colorado Springs, just thought you would enjoy a reminder of the wonderful views that we enjoy. We especially enjoy fall with the crisp cool air, the bright sunny days, the vibrant leaves on the trees, and the brilliant blue skies.

How to eat a S'More

During our vacation in New Mexico we made S'Mores and Alicia showed us the proper way to enjoy them! All over your hands and face!

Return Trip

October 6th, 2008

Rather than come back via I-25 we chose to enjoy the fall scenery in the mountains North of Sante Fe.  We stopped for a quick rest near Taos and enjoyed the scenery on this Bridge over the Rio Grand Gorge.  Sarah refused to come out with us as she is not fond of heights, especially being 600 ft above the river on a pretty narrow (2 lane) bridge.  Even Adrianna freaked out a bit as a semi drove across the bridge and had the whole structure vibrating.

Sarah did get out at a nearby rest area and she took these wonderful pictures of some sunflowers there. It really was a nice fall drive along the Rio Grand. Though we didn't get any pictures the trees along La Veta pass outside of Walsenburg were spectacular.

Halloween Popcorn

One of the Soccer team families brought popcorn as a snack for one of the games. The popcorn was mixed with M&Ms and Sarah and I fell in love with the delicious combinations. So not only does it taste yummy, but with the variety of M&Ms available it can always be made to match the seasonal decor! Can't beat that.

Happy Birthday Bobby!

September 30th, 2008

We recently Celebrated Sarah's cousin Bobby's birthday. Adrianna knew his birthday was coming up because Sarah was making a cake, and she wanted it to be a special party. We needed to have balloons, hats, cake, etc. Instead of buying transformers hats we decided to use her dress up hats. As always the girls had a great time playing with their cousin. Adrianna especially loves tickle time and playing firefighter with him.

Balloon Fiesta Sampling

Just thought I would share with everyone a sampling of some of the ballooons at the fiesta. This is one of the most photographed events in the world. I can see why between Tracey, Sarah & myself; I have over 300 pictures to sort through. The event is going on all week, so if you want to take a 6 hour weekend drive to see the sky filled with hundreds amazing balloons it is worth the drive. I think my favorite is the upside down pyramid, we didn't get a great picture of it but I love the shape. Leave me a comment about which is your favorite.

Gotcha

Three years ago today we got Adrianna in our arms and we knew our life would never be the same again.

For her Got Day this year we made a weekend trip to Albuquerque to spend time with our friends whose children fell in love with Adrianna when we brought her home. She returns the favor every chance she gets. I cannot believe it has been three years already, Adrianna is an amazing girl who always has an will always keep us on our toes and enjoying life as it flies by.

Happy Got Day Adrianna!!

Balloon Fiesta

We made a quick family weekend trip to Albuquerque for Adrianna's Got Day (Oct 5th). We came to visit our close friends who moved here from the Springs last year and to see the Balloon Fiesta. The balloon festival was amazing, we went for the opening day mass ascension. It is increadible to see that many balloons and spectators. The kids were just in awe during the entire launch. They had a lot of fun balloons from cathedrals, to stage coaches, to bumble bees, lady bugs, and even robots. It is a sight I would recommend to anyone to see.

That's not right!!!

I learned the risks of working from home today. While I was going down the stairs, I slipped a bit and I jabbed my foot into the stairs. At first I thought I'd just stubbed my pinky toe like I do all the time. Then I looked down and saw that my toe was jutting out away from the rest of the crew. Sarah having heard the "crack" came running to see if I was ok. I told her I think I broke my toe. She took one look at it and said "That's not right! Ooh can I take a picture?"

Canned Peaches

We finished canning our third box of peaches tonight. I think we did a total of 60 lbs.  I can't wait to reap the benefits of all the work. We decided that since we still have jars of peach jam from last year that we should try canning peach slices. They came out very nice and they are worth the effort to can them: Blanching, Peeling, Pitting, Slicing, Canning, and Processing (Boiling). We are going to try some pears next, woo hoo!

Uncles

What are uncles for if not to throw you around and get hyped up?

At a recent family dinner both girls enjoyed getting thrown around by their uncle David and uncle Zane.  Alicia is a little trick though, she will latch onto you for dear life if you try to throw her too high!

Me Doll

August 27th, 2008

One of Adrianna's first preschool assignments was to make a representative doll of herself. Sarah helped her put this fine doll together, complete with soccer ball and all. Sarah also helped her rehearse a short biography about herself that she could share with her teachers and friends in preschool. It is wonderful to see how excited she gets about Preschool.

Rough Housing

When we began the adoption process we became friends with another couple who had just recently completed the adoption of their son Harrison. When we adopted Adrianna, it just so happened that she was about the same age as Harrison. They have always played very well together, but now that they are on the same soccer team we cannot seperate them. They play like two brothers, Adrianna loves to tackle him, beat on him and everything brothers would do together. Yeah, it is all fun now, but boy are we are going to have fun once Adrianna is older!

Back to School Cake

Sarah made this cute little cake when we had her cousin Bobby over in August. It was to celebrate Adrianna going back to school. The cake was even better than it looks, and I must say she did a really nice job on it!

Little Things

I would have never thought that the act of putting on socks and shoes would ever be so cute. But when it clicked for Alicia to sit down and stick her feet out so someone can put on her socks it just gets you. I am amazed at the little things Alicia learns from each of us, especially from her older sister. Usually it is those little things that touch your heart.