Christmas Fun

We had such a wonderful Christmas with our family this year. It was full of laughter, fun and food. We started Christmas Eve with Hal's family at our house. We enjoyed lunch and some gift swapping. My family came over later in the evening to celebrate my brother Johnny's birthday. It was so wonderful to have him home this Christmas. The kids had a ball and we gave them their gift from us(Guitar Hero Bundle). It was quite hilarious to see the adults play guitar and sing. I think we may have enjoyed it more than the kids. Uncle Johnny seemed to really enjoy helping the kids decorate cookies for Santa. Hayne ate every one that he decorated-poor Santa :) We are so very blessed. We were able to spend a very special day with all of our brothers, sisters and parents. There is not much more in life that you can ask for.
Christmas morning, everyone was at our house again to see what Santa had brought. We had a huge flashback moment as we watched Anna Grace cleaning in her high heel shoes(Many years ago, Ashton did the exact same thing-I am going to have to dig out our old photos and show you) Mema and Hal cooked a yummy breakfast and everyone had a great time. Next we headed to Nana's to see what Santa Bop-Bop and Nana had left for the kids. We spent the day there and it was so much fun. No rushing around - we actually relaxed and enjoyed our time together. It has been a wonderful Christmas. It is so nice to celebrate with those we love most.

Merry Christmas!!

Wishing you and yours a VERY Merry Christmas and a VERY Happy Birthday to my little brother Johnny!!! Happy Birthday!!

Christmas Joy

Hayne is such a joy! He is so excited about Christmas. He loves his jammies and his Christmas animals. What a precious boy! We are blessed.

Prayers for Pappy

Jodi's daddy, AKA Pappy, has been re-admitted to the hospital. His chest has opened up and the wires have come loose. He will have surgery on Friday to repair the damage, graph muscles and clear away possible infection. Please pray that there is no infection and that he recovers quickly. There is a possibility that he will have to go back to the ICU and be on a ventilator so please join us in praying that it doesn't happen. Our prayer is that the surgery is quick, no infection is found and he is able to return to a regular room so that he can be home for Christmas. Please also pray for peace and comfort for Jodi and her mom. This is such a hard time of the year to be sick, especially when Jodi has 3 kids at home, school parties and Christmas preparations. She loves her daddy so much and wants to be with him but her kids need her also. We are enjoying our time with her kids as she is with her daddy. My kids love having them over-Hopefully I will have great news to post soon.

Don't forget to scroll down and see all of the new pics I have added!

Unexpected Surprise

Today we received an very unexpected surprise-kind of an early Christmas gift. Our dear friends, The Kibbees, are on their way to Disney World(Wish we were going :( At 3:30 we decided that they were going to be just too close to SC not to stop in for the night. They arrived right before 7 and you should have seen the excitement in my home. The kids were so glad to see each other. Ashton & Kara headed upstairs to check out the computer and cell phones. The little girls acted like they had never been apart. Walking around with their arms around each other-so sweet. Just a few hours together but it sure was fun. We are so blessed with these special friends.

Visit with Santa

This year we made our visit to see Santa a little early. The kids were so excited for an evening out. We got to the mall and there was no wait to see Santa. Anna Grace would not sit on his lap. She sat with Sissy. Santa tried his best to hold her. He even stood beside her for a photo-I love the one of him kissing her shoulder. We were all shocked when he told Anna Grace that he remembered her visit last year after she had gotten home from China-he even knew her name! WOW! Hayne was thrilled to see Santa. He was so excited. It was precious as he hugged Santa. His joy is so amazing. We got a really sweet picture that the mall took of them together. I need to get it scanned in. We had such a good evening together as a family.

Build A Bear Fun

After we went to see Santa, we made a special trip to Build A Bear. Ashton & Anna Grace enjoyed making Hal & Holly Moose-Anna Grace would have no part of holiday clothes, she had to have a Princess Aurora. Hayne made himself a penguin with Christmas jammies and Adam got a Clemson Tiger! They had so much fun. We had such a special evening. The best part was ALL of the coupons I had saved during the year-it hardly cost us anything :) Go mommy!

Thanksgiving Blessings

What a special day we had for Thanksgiving. Hal prepared a special treat for us. He made a special breakfast of French Toast and read a story about Thanksgiving. He goes to so much trouble to help us create special memories. We all enjoyed watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade. The kids made ornaments while Anna Grace ate suckers. Hayne and Adam especially enjoyed helping me make desserts to take to Nana's. I hope noone minded that the beaters got licked several times during the process :) We had so much fun with our family at Nana and Bop Bop's. Ashton and I spent the night with Nana so we could leave at 3:30 am to start our Black Friday Shopping.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for this year. I am thankful that I have all 4 of my children here with me-happy, healthy and together. I am so grateful for a husband who loves me and takes such good care of our family. I am grateful for parents who we love so much and enjoying being with. I am thankful for wonderful friends-those who we have known for years and those who we met through the wonderful world of adoption. I am so very thankful that my brother is home safely from Afghanistan. I am grateful that little Miss Lillie is home with her family this year-last year was spent rushing paperwork and waiting-now she is home with her sister and they share a bond that will never be broken. I am thankful that Pappy(Jodi's dad) is doing so much better and recovering with physical therapy. I am thankful that God is blessing our business and I have the chance to help Hal at work. I am very grateful to live in a country where we can worship freely and give thanks to God who has blessed us with so much more than I could ever deserve.

What about you? What are you thankful for?

Thank you!

My brother, Johnny proudly served our country in the National Guard during Operation Enduring Freedom. There are no words to express how proud I am of him and all that he has done for our country. So today, I say Thank you-to him and to all of the soldiers who proudly serve our country at home and abroad. To those who have sacrificed, we thank you. Praise God for the wonderful country we live in and to the men and women who give of themselves so that we can live freely each day. Mere words are not enough. May God bless and protect our soldiers and their families.

Prayers 4 Pappy

Please take a moment in the next couple of days and say a prayer for Jodi's daddy. Joe is such a special man and those who love him most(his grandchildren especially) call him Pappy. He is having open heart surgery on Wednesday morning. Please pray for God to guide the hands of the surgeon and for Pappy to recover quickly. This has all been quite sudden and no one is prepared. He is in great health but in need of a heart healing. Pappy is the most precious, happy man and he would do anything for anyone. He loves his daughter, wife and grandchildren so much. Please remember them all as they journey this road-pray for peace and comfort as they wait through the 7 hour surgery. I can already see Pappy walking himself from CCU telling jokes and making everyone laugh. Thanks for your prayers. We love you Pappy(and MeeMee)

"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord"
Joshua 24:15

Happy Halloween

We had a week full of Halloween fun. Last night we went downtown and met our friends. The kids had fun and enjoyed LOTS of free cotton candy, popcorn and snow cones. Nana loved the cake walk but we all walked away empty handed-boo hoo! Anna Grace was a precious little pumpkin-the boys went as Star Wars characters-Ashton and her friend, Gracie went as Volleyball players. Nana and Anna Grace matched in their pumpkin costumes.
JODI-You owe me big time for not posting the beautiful picture I took of you :)
Bobbi-You are going to have to set up a new blog so we can see those precious girls-we miss you already!

Wednesday night we participated in the Trunk or Treat at our church. The kids had a ball and we enjoyed passing out candy. Hayne was more excited about handing out candy than collecting it. Nana helped us and we were so grateful. Jodi loaned us her big spider and everyone loved it. it was our 1st year to actually give out candy. Anna Grace loved getting candy from everyone and cried when we stopped letting her have it. I think she could live off of sweets :)

My First Blogger Award!!! and I've been tagged!

Amy has given me my very 1st blogger award!!! I also LOVE her blog- Thank you Amy!!! Go over to Amy's blog and take a look! :)


If you get this award you must then choose 7 other people who's blog you love! Then you must leave them all a comment and tell them you got the award SO here's who I choose:

1. Ashton (My daughter)
2. Deb
   
3. Jodi
4. Kecia
5. Ohilda
6. Shelley
   
7. Jenn

Now Ashton tagged me for 7 weird/random things about myself! Then I must tag 7 people- To make this easier the 7 people that I love to read there blogs are the ones I've tagged!!!! Here are 7 weird things about myself-

1. I have an obsession with sale items-If an item is on clearance, I can't buy just one. I have to buy several in case someone else needs this totally unnecessary item. I am working on this and I must admit that I think I am winning.
2. Hal and I have been together since I was in 9th grade-22 years-way over 1/2 of my life! I am so blessed and I don't know what I ever did to deserve such a wonderful, caring, loving husband. He is the greatest!
3. My 13 year old is much more computer literate than I am-she blows me away with her talent.
4. I love to scrapbook. I must admit that I have not done anything since we brought Anna Grace home in July of 2007 but when I get a chance, I am prepared(see fact #1)
5. I love to sell things-I have been a part of "home based" business for years. Home Interiors, Creative Memories, Tupperware, Silver jewelry and purses and more. I am always a sucker to try something new where I can "earn" free products. My new T-shirt business is the 1st time I have actually helped Hal at the shop. My family has always made fun of me but it has supported "said habit" from fact #1. :)
6. I love Disney World-I could go several times a year and not get tired of it. My new obsession is getting to go on a Disney Cruise. Hal cringed this week when I got a "sale" flyer from Disney offering a huge discount. I continue to practice -"Hi, I am Angel and I am a compulsive discount shopper"
   
7. I love my family. I feel like the most blessed woman on this planet. I get to spend each day with 4 wonderful children and my husband. My mother is awesome and I am blessed to have her at work helping me with the kids daily. I could not ask for more in this life. Although I will continue to pray for God's direction concerning orphans in our lives.
   

Thanks for reading. I hope you all have a great week!

Volleyball Team

Ashton has really enjoyed playing on the middle school volleyball team this year. It has been alot of work-practice everyday and games twice a week. She has done great. It has been hard for her to be away from home so much(especially for her and Anna Grace) but she has loved playing. Last night was their last game of the season. They do have a tournament this weekend but then it is over. Can I get an Amen:) Somehow dragging 3 kids who have alot of energy to games several times a week is very draining. They are bored and I am trying hard to concentrate on the game-not a good combination.
Ashton played tonight and made several great plays. She has gotten great at getting her serve over the net each time. We are so proud of how well she has done.

Happy 13th Birthday

We gave Ashton a "surprise" birthday party at Frankie's Fun Park. She was so shocked-it was a priceless moment. We had so much fun. Jodi as usual stayed busy with the camera and got lots of great pics. The adults had as much fun as the kids did. Don't you just love the pics of the adults with all of their winnings. We rode go carts, played laser tag and especially enjoyed Deal or No Deal. It is so hard to believe that our baby is now a teenager. She is so precious to us and we love her dearly. She is such a great daughter and a wonderful big sister(can't you see the love in her eyes in the pic of her and Anna Grace)
We are blessed and so grateful to be the parents to this beautiful, smart, talented young woman. I can't wait to see what wonderful things God has in store for her as she continues to grow.

PumpkinTown Festival

Woo Hoo! We had a free day this weekend. What a blessing. We have been so busy for so long and it was so wonderful to have time to spend with our kids. We picked Nana up and headed to BoJangles for some yummy bo-berry biscuits. Then we headed to the PumpkinTown Festival. It was so packed. Lots of crafts and vendors everywhere. Mommy and Nana enjoyed shopping around. We went to the kid area and they had a ball sliding down the big slides and bouncing. I am reminded constantly that I am getting old. Trying to be all hip and cool, I followed my kids up the HUGE wave runner. Halfway up, I realized that I do not like heights and especially not heights that involve tons of crazy kids rocking the blow up wave. I clung to the top and tried to build up the courage to slide. Kids were breezing by me and my kids were trying to push me down. I finally decided to descend the wave-sure wish someone had told me not to let my feet rub the slide. By the time I reached the bottom I had burned the skin off of my heel. No kidding-actually burned-within 2 hours I had HUGE blisters and could hardly bear to walk on my left foot-within a couple more hours-they were bursting-What a loser-Who slides down a slide and injures themselves-me-that's who-a mom who is trying so hard to appear young and hip for her kids-they know the truth and now so do I :)
We did have fun picking out huge pumpkins. We all especially enjoyed the hot caramel apples and cotton candy. It was such a fun day. We are so blessed and we enjoyed being together all day. So glad that Nana could join us. The kids love being with her and so do we.

My Prince and Princess

Last Saturday we had a party for Prince Peter and Princess Aurora at our house. We celebrated Hayne's 6th birthday and Anna Grace's 2nd birthday. It was so much fun. We decorated one side of the garage for the princesses and one side for the knights. Special thanks to Jodi-we stayed up most of the night making a castle for Hayne. She painted a Narnia shield and a dragon for games. Hayne was thrilled. It was a beautiful day and the kids were so excited. The funniest part of the day was the knight relay race. We made each team dress in knight gear and race on their "horse" Hal and Adam both took big dives and we enjoyed laughing at(I mean with) them. The girls all enjoyed getting hair and make-up done and loved the jewelry. I must admit that Kamden wanted to be a knight but she dressed up just for Anna Grace. What a sweet girl. I could not have pulled this party off without Nana, Jodi and Mema. Thank you guys for making my little ones dreams come true.

Anna Grace loved dressing up and we got some sweet pictures of her with Maddie, Lillie and Sarah. Thanks Joyce and Bobbi for driving so far to share in our special day.

Hayne has wanted a Narnia party forever. He was so excited to sword fight with all

Carolina Girl

These are our shirts that are available right now. Christmas design coming soon!

Happy 13th Birthday!

How is it that time flies by so quickly. I can't believe that my precious firstborn is turning 13 tomorrow(actually in just 2 1/2 hours). It seems like only yesterday we were in the hospital experiencing the miracle of her birth. I could not quit looking at the perfect, precious gift from God. She was so much more than I ever expected-How could I deserve such an amazing gift? I learned each day with her. I never put her down. I could not take a shower without calling Nana to come sit with her to make sure she was okay. She was the 1st grandchild on both sides of our family. It was so much fun to spend each day with her. We shopped and painted pottery. She did not go to school or daycare until she started K5. Ashton has always been so mature for her age. She is such a helper. She has a heart for others. She so wants to go to China and adopt another child. She has such a heart for orphans. I am so proud of how she wants to help others. Ashton is such a blessing to our family. She takes care of her brothers and sister and always helps me. She has the most beautiful singing voice. This past February I was so proud of her when she sang in her school talent show. It was the most beautiful sound I have heard. I am so proud to be her mom. We still love to shop, get our nails done and just hang out. She tries to teach me to be savy on the computer and I try to get her to scrapbook. I am so grateful to have her in my life. Happy Birthday to the best daughter in the world!

Happy Birthday Princess!

Happy Birthday to my sweet Anna Grace. She is officially 2! I can't believe it! She is growing so fast. It is 2 am and I am sitting at the computer thinking about how much fun it will be when she wakes in the morning. The table is decorated and the gifts are wrapped. The kids will have to wake her before they go to school. I can see that big smile as we sing "Happy Birthday" She has always loved to sing it. We are BLESSED. We are so in love. She is our dream come true! Our precious little princess. I am not sure how I deserve to be the mommy of 4 such AWESOME kids but I am so grateful. This is a picture of Anna Grace last year at her party. My how the year has flown!

Crazy Days are here again!

Well it is official-we are crazy busy! Ashton had her 1st Volleyball game last night. She did great and we are so proud. She got her serve over the net and I am not sure if it was me or Adam yelling the loudest. We left her game for a 15 minute meal at Chick-fil-A and then headed to Adam's 1st baseball game. He did great and I love how he cheers his team on. Hayne is starting swimming team at the Y so we will be juggling 3 activities a day for awhile. I will be selling my tshirts this week at the big Weecycled Sale and Hal will have his hands full of kids. I am hoping that we do really well(who knows-maybe this is the start of another trip to China-one can pray:) Hope you all have a wonderful week. Thanks for checking in!

Happy Birthday Bop Bop (& Bobbi)

Happy Birthday to my daddy otherwise known as Bop Bop. He is the best daddy ever. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful daddy who loves me as much as I love him. We love doing things with him and my mom(Nana). We go on vacations together and no year is complete without a trip to the beach. My kids think that Bop Bop is the smartest and coolest papa around(& he is:) Anna Grace crawls up in his lap and ask for "sugar" all of the time. When we ask for a kiss, she answers "No thats Bop Bops sugar" We love you so much and look forward to celebrating at least 40 more years with you!

Happy Birthday to our sweet friend, Bobbi. Our adoption opened so many new doors in our lives but none as special as the friends we made during the journey. We met Jake and Bobbi in May of 2006 while we were all waiting on our referral. God knew what he was doing when we picked our adoption agency and each step of the journey. He gave us encouragement to endure the process and wait for our sweet girls. We are so blessed to call Bobbi and her family our friends. Hope your day was great. Can't wait until we can get together and celebrate!

Carolina Girl Tshirt

Okay Guys! Carolina Girl Tshirts are hot off the press. Call me at 918-4700 if you want to place an order. We have them in stock and ready to deliver. We have short sleeve, long sleeve and hoodies. Thank you for your support. We started selling these shirts while we were waiting to bring Miss Anna Grace home and we never imagined they would be so popular. God truly blessed us in providing our way. Part of the proceeds from these shirts will help another family bring home their baby.

Almost 2!

I can't believe in just 6 days, my sweet baby girl will be 2 years old. Time has flown by so quickly since the day we met our princess. She has changed so much in such a short time. She is quite the talker. She amazes us everyday with her ability to communicate with us. She is such a precious little girl. We are so blessed to be her parents. As I look forward to celebrating her 2nd birthday, I can't help but think of someone else who is also thinking of this day. Somewhere across the ocean is the woman to who I will forever be indebted. I wish that there were a way I could let her know what a beautiful, smart, sweet and loved little girl Anna Grace is. I want her to know how much we treasure the gift that we have been given. She is our heart. We will always love and protect her. I wish that we could somehow give her peace that Anna Grace is well and taken care of. I know many others never mention these things but my heart is burdened and heavy for the sorrow that has to over take you at times. I always want Anna Grace to be able to talk to us and discuss her past. We have been blessed and my prayer is that God will send peace that passeth all my understanding to all those in China who were a part of my little one's life while she was there.

Our Story

Several people have asked-Our original blog was www.journeytoannagrace.net -You can read the story of our journey there-I am still blown away by how blessed our family is-we are so grateful for the journey that led us to our precious Anna Grace. I am grateful for the opportunity to be the mother to 4 such wonderful children. They are all unique and precious and I am one lucky mommy!

Woo Hoo!

My girl just sent me a text message saying SHE MADE THE VOLLEYBALL TEAM!!! Woo Hoo! Can you tell I am a proud mommy! She starts practicing tomorrow and games start on Sept. 8th. I can't wait to watch her play! GO ASHTON!

Weekend Fun

Last weekend we had special guests. Miss Ella brought her mommy and daddy to see us. They spent the weekend at our house. We had so much fun. Ella was all smiles and giggles and she and Anna Grace had fun together. Nikki and I got to scrapbook for a little while and we had so much fun catching up . We went downtown to Falls Park and Nikki got lots of good pictures of everyone. We are so blessed to have met such wonderful families during our trip to China. We treasure the friendships that we made. It is so neat to see the girls together and watching them grow.

Dollywood

What a weekend we had. We got to meet up with Bobbi, Jake, Lillie and Maddie (we missed Dillon but he had to work) We spent the weekend in Tennessee and had so much fun. The kids all had so much fun together. I felt really special because Miss Lillie let me hold her and shared lots of hugs and kisses. She sure makes us want to go to China again. She and Maddie are just precious together. Such sweet sisters. Hayne could not get enough of them as you can see in the pictures. The 1st collage is us at Dollywood. The boys took turns riding with the girls and Adam even rode in a duck alone because they wanted him to ride.
The next collage is in our room having snacks. Anna Grace and Maddie were enjoying fruit snacks while Lillie grinned like crazy next to Hal. Hayne loved the game table and Ashton and Adam were deep in thought on the DS games.
The next collage is when we were leaving to come home. I love the one of the boys getting big hugs from the girls.
Finally, we took a detour and headed back to Dollywood. The kids had so much fun and Ashton won a big Scooby Doo.
It was a great weekend. We are blessed to have such good friends.

Birthday Boy

I can't believe that 6 years ago today, our baby boy was born. John Hayne Rice was a surprise that we never expected and a blessing that we are sure we never deserved. He is my boy. The apple of our eye and the joy and laughter of our home. He is so funny and makes us laugh out loud daily. He loves life. I can't believe he is in school now. I miss him so much during the day. This morning we had a birthday celebration. He requested m&m waffles. He was so excited to see the decorations and open his presents. He was thrilled with his Power Ranger socks. I love his genuine happiness with everything. After school, we went to Build A Bear and he made "Rocky" the TRex. He had so much fun picking out an outfit. Then we met Nana, Papa, Shag, Johnny, BJ, Jesse, Mary and Walter at Outback. Hayne was thrilled when Nana and Mema gave him a Nintendo DS Lite and BJ gave him a Power Rangers game. He has not put it down.
I am so grateful for the gift of my precious son and he reminds me everyday that sometimes the best things in life are not planned(our perfect plan was 2 kids-my how times have changed)

Ashton

Ashton headed off to her 7th grade year at Middle School today. She was up at 6am getting ready. She looked so pretty with her new haircut. I can't believe that she went to school without us today. It is the 1st time we have not taken her to her 1st day. Ashton loves volleyball and is trying out for the team at school. She has tryouts tomorrow so say a prayer for her. She loves blogging and her blog puts mine to shame. She is so talented. She has a list of people waiting for her to give them a free blog makeover. She writes like an adult and I sometimes forget that she is still a child. Anna Grace was so sad without her today. She kept saying she was sad and needed sissy. Ashton is like a second mom to Anna Grace and I could not do it without her. She bathes her, dresses her for bed and feeds her. I am so proud to call her my daughter. Check out her blog so you can see what I mean.

Hayne

My how time has flown. It was only yesterday that Ashton was starting K5. Part way through her 1st year, we found out about our precious surprise, Hayne. It was like starting all over. I had no idea how much we would enjoy having a new baby in the house. From the beginning, Hayne has been my buddy. We have sent the other 2 off each year with tears in our eyes, but knowing how much fun we would have together. Trips to the shop and out to lunch were plenty. The others were so jealous when they would get in the car and hear about the neat things we did that day. I have enjoyed every day that I was able to spend with my baby boy. I can't believe I had to take him to K5 today. He was so brave. He had a wonderful day and is looking forward to picking out a prize for being so brave. He will be 6 years old tomorrow. He is joining the swimming team and the YMCA and cannot wait. He loves Power Rangers and anything Narnia. He loves his family and especially the little sister who calls him Haynie Grace. He is growing up so quickly. I am so proud of how well he did today.

Adam

Adam is starting 4th grade this year. He will be changing classes for the 1st time. He is very happy with his teacher, Mr. Fowler(who happens to be a big Tiger fan). I can't believe he is almost 10 years old. It seems like only yesterday, we were taking him to his 1st day of K3. I believe I only worked up the nerve to take him to about 8 of his classes the whole year. Every day we had a new reason why he needed to stay at home with mommy. He will be playing baseball this fall. He loves to play. Everyday he wants dad to throw ball with him in the yard. He has also fallen in love with swimming. He has become quite the swimmer. He can swim laps around me. Although I am so proud of him and what a wonderful young man he is becoming, I wish I could freeze time and keep him this age forever.

1st Day of School

Where does the time go? I can't believe it is the 1st day of school. 3 of my babies have headed out to school. I think this was the hardest year yet. Anyone who knows me knows how much I don't want my kids to grow up. I love this stage. Being their mommy is the greatest thing ever. Last night was so hard. The boys had to go to bed in their room by 9 and they were so sad. They kept telling me how much they did not want to go to school. I had to be positive and not cry with them. They all did great this morning and we got to school WAY to early. We left Ashton at home to car pool with our neighbors and it was a sad moment realizing it was the 1st time she had ever went to her 1st day without us-bad mommy moment. We were finally able to drop Adam off at his class and then we headed to the kindergarten hall. Hayne was so brave. He bit his lip to keep from crying. Bless his heart, he was so strong. There was a child sitting next to him who just sobbed out loud. It made it much harder for Hayne to be strong. His teachers are wonderful(Ashton and Adam both had them for K5). We are blessed to have such loving teachers to take care of him. I held it together until we were leaving and then all of the PTA moms got a good laugh that I was at the Boo Hoo breakfast instead of the Give a Cheer one. I am so sad that they are all gone today. We have had so much fun this summer and I am going to miss them so much. I love being a mommy and I can't wait to hear how their day has gone. I will upload pictures later.

Favorite Foto Friday

WOW we have been SO busy! Next week school starts back and Hayne is starting Kindergarten! :( Here is a picture of my sweet babysitter Kayla and the kids'! Today was her last day with us before school starts back! She will be missed! I will post about our fun week sometime soon! Have a great weekend!

~Angel~

More Fun

Anna Grace finally calmed down when Nana walked her out of the eye office. Nana and Mema went with us to Chuck E Cheese. Nana got lots of tokens and bought Anna her own special Chuck E cup. We had so much fun. The kids won 1260 tickets-a big win for us and they had a ball picking out prizes. Thanks Nana!

Our Adventure in Glasses

Princess has glasses

Today, Anna Grace received her glasses. They called this morning and told us they were ready. Nana and Mema met me and the kids at the office. Anna Grace was so sad and cried her little heart out. It broke my heart. I think she was mostly afraid of the doctor. When we finally left the office she was fine. It was so amazing to watch her look at things as if it were the 1st time she ever saw them. I am sure it was amazing to see things clearly. She loves the TV-I think she can finally see what is happening on the screen. Thank God we were able to get her an appointment with such a great doctor. I am thanking God for the little signs that led us to have her checked. I can't imagine if we had continued to let her go without glasses. She is proud of herself and keeps telling us to take pictures. It is priceless. She has the best attitude. She has gently pulled the glasses off 3 times today. I think we are going to invest in a strap so that we don't lose them. Thank you for your prayers-we are grateful to have so many people who love our precious daughter.

Princess Tea Party

This weekend we helped Miss Gracie celebrate her 5th birthday. Her mom, Kellie, and I have been friends Forever. We met in high school when we worked at Bilo. We have seen each other through good times and bad. We have been in each other's weddings and witnessed the birth and adoption of our children together. It is hard to believe that we have known each other so long.

Gracie had a Princess Tea Party and it was so much fun. We transformed a hair salon into a beautiful castle and the girls loved it. Ashton did a fabulous job on all of the girl's hair and they loved the make up and jewelry. Anna Grace had a ball. She refused to wear her costume but she thought she was as big as the other girls. She LOVED Cinderella. It is not often that you get to dance with a real princess at a party.

We had so much fun. Jodi did an awesome job with the almost 300 pictures she took. It is like being at the party all over when you get to flip through the photos and see the party from her perspective. Thanks friend-I know it isn't as much fun when you spend the party behind a camera. You capture moments that last a lifetime and it makes me love you that much more.

We had a wonderful time-Enjoy the photos.