Monday, November 9, 2009

NEW ADDITION!!





Big News!!! We have a beautiful new addition to our home. Please help us to welcome McKinley Grace to our big happy non-traditional family. McKinley was born on November 3rd an was &lbs 1oz. and 19 inches long. Michele and Abby have a long foster/adopt road ahead. Let's all send out positive energy and prayers into the universe. Michele and Abby are hoping that eventually McKinley will be adopted and become a part of their family permanently. Although we adore Charlotte's (Annabelle's) family and feel that she is in a warm, wonderful loving place, we miss her terribly and hope that we do not have to go through another loss like that one.

Currently, McKinley is still in the hospital. When she was born she aspirated a little merconium and was put on oxygen for that as well as having a small infection she is on antibiotics for. She should be able to come home on Wednesday when she completes the antibiotics. She was weened from her oxygen over the weekend.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Day Trip

Hey everyone! Well today we decided to take the girls to Tiny Town. For those of you who do not know, Tiny town is a place up near Morrison and Conifer Colorado. It has little tiny houses, some replica's of Denver historical places or business'. Some are donated for a particular person or place, some are decorated inside and some are just cute from the outside. They have a few that the are a little bigger and the kids can play in them. They have a really pretty picnic area and playground and they have a couple little coal fueled trains the kids can ride on. We brought a picnic lunch road the train saw all the little houses and had a great time. When we were done with that, we went to see the changing Aspen leaves up at Kenosha Pass. They were beautiful and of course my favorite part of the day. Kenosha pass looked like a sea of aspens. Mostly gold but speckled with a little red and orange. This had to be the peak weekend, because they were awesome. Now the girls are at Grandmom Judy's having a sleepover. It was the perfect day for this, the weather was nice and we had a phnominal day! I love beautiful Colorado!!!

Saturday, September 12, 2009


This last week we took an extra long weekend and went up to Grand Lake with some of Michele's family. The kids had a blast. Michele and I took Brie and Abby on a peddle boat on the first afternoon. That was sooo scary for me, because I have a bit of a deep water fear! The fear is only there on little boats like that, I am usually okay on bigger boats. But the girls did great and they both kept telling me it was okay. They loved it and were both far braver than I was. The next day we met up with the rest of the family and we took a bigger boat tour. It was great, I loved that one. It was so pretty and it got really cool and breezy. After that we took the kiddo's to the stables for a little horse ride and then went back to the house and had a camp fire. We roasted marshmallows and made smores, but I don't think the girls wee impressed with the smores. They preferred eating the cold marshmallows in the bag. On the next day we went over tail ridge road and I got a little altitude sickness... LOL... Then we headed into Estes Park for lunch and then Michele and I headed home with the girls. We were all very tired and I had a house full of kids the next day, but it was great to get away. We really need to vow to be better about enjoying this beautiful state we live in.



Brianna and Abby riding horses! Brianna loved it!


The kiddo's enjoying the boat tour.


AAaaahhhhh can you feel the love? Just look at 'em!




Mommies baby girl!


Little boaters! How cute are they in the little vests?




It is a beautiful lake! Did you know Tim Allen owns a house on this lake?




Beach babes!!!





As Promised!






Well, as promised here are some pictures of Brianna's first day of preschool. She is so big and she has been so excited every day to go. She has been going a little over two weeks now. She takes the bus to and from, I think that was much harder for me than it was her. Her teacher is Mrs. H (short for Hughet.) I already went to her open house at school. They told us all about the class and had us make little paper dolls that looked like our children...LOL She also got to order books from a book order, just like a big kid and we have our first field trip coming up this next week. She is taking a lot more interest in letters and writing her name even in this short time. She talks about her new friends like Lily and Jaxon and all the things they do at school. She has already decided which child in her class is "a little but naughty", LOL! Grandma Deana came over and stayed with the other kids her first few days so I could take her and get her acclimated, the Bus followed that next Monday. I think she is going to do great, I have never seen a kid so excited about school!!!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

A new season, blogging and school!

Well, we are creeping up on a new season. My favorite season, FALL!!! I cannot wait for lower temps. changing leaves, the smell of fireplaces and all the holidays that are coming!

Brianna is so excited to be starting school tomorrow. She actually just goes in to meet her teacher and see her classroom. She has been anticipating this day for over a year! Ever since Cooper and Abby went off to preschool Brianna has just been dying to go. We bought a whole lot of new school clothes and some new shoes. We even got a pretty new big girl back pack. We have all of our paper work in order and we are all registered, so she is good to go! Mommy might cry. I will take lots of pictures and post them tomorrow!!!

Wish us luck!!!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Summer Fun






"Fun at the Spray Park"



Well, with the cooler days we had for the first part of June, it has taken a bit longer for the fun of summer to kick in. But it is here. BBQ's, water play, vacation days. Schools out and the kids are ready to party. I have had 2 sunburns in a matter of 4 days. Hopefully they will fade to a golden brown...LOL...
"First tries at the slip and slide"


I turned 38 on June 11th. I cannot believe I am almost 40 years old. I never thought I would be 40. I remember when people my age seemed old...LOL Oh well, it happens to the best of us I guess. No avoiding it!

We seem to have lost our cat Zeke. He got out about a week and a half ago and has yet to come home. We have posted flyers all over, so hopefully he will be returned. We really miss him.

The girls started peewee soccer last Saturday. They both did very well and seemed to enjoy it. Brianna needs to pay less attention to her surroundings when she plays but other than that they both did really well.

" Our big grown up soccer players"

Thursday, June 4, 2009

New Addition! My new nephew Tait!


My brother Josh and his wife Ambyr have added a new bundle of joy to their large brood! This is Tait, and hopefully he will be a permanent addition to our family soon! Pray for his adoption to be finalized as soon as possible!

Charbelle is adopted!


Congratulations to the Derichsweiler family. They have officially adopted our little Annabelle. She is now officially Charlotte Rai Derichsweiler. We love you Charlotte, congratulations on your forever family!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Promise to do better!

Okay, so I promise to do better. I have been really bad about updating my blog and keeping up with photo's and posts. I vow to do better and stay on top of it! Here is just a quick bunch of pictures of my little sweetie over the last couple of months!. She starts soccer next week for the first time, and I am sure with summer fun, we will have plenty of fun pics and updates!


Cherry Creek Mall giant breakfast food. They love this place.


Mega bubble bath! It is amazing how many bubbles you can make in a jetted tub!




Brianna playing zoo with the animals in her play room.


Dressed in our best for Easter. I love the way she looks all dolled up!



Our friend Sarah's birthday party. Just hangin' around...LOL

BRIANNA'S & ABBY'S CHUCK E. CHEESE BIRTHDAY!!!

I cannot believe that they are 3 and 4 years old! It is going by so fast. They are both going to be teens before I blink.
Getting ready to blow out the candles!



Pretty posing for the camera. Look at how big she is getting!




This cake looks soooo yummy!




Look at all my cool friends and cousins!



Sittin' in the climbing tubes.




Cousin Mihya 4 wheelin' with the birthday girl!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Happy Birthday to Brianna!!!

I cannot believe I have not updated this blog in almost 3 mos. I am a blogging failure. I do have a good excuse though. The computer I have regular access to has none of our pictures on it and it does not work scrapblog very well. When I blog I like to use Michele's work computer. It is a MAC and it does everything so much better than our home PC.

Anyways back to the topic of the day! Brianna turned 3 on Wednesday. I cannot believe sh is 3. It seems like just yesterday she was crawling around here with a bottle in her hand and a pacifier in her mouth. We had grandparents and our neighbors behind us over to grill and have cake. We had a great time and Brianna loved all the attention. We have a big Chuck E. Cheese party coming up here on the 16th for her and Abby to have all their friends and cousins celebrate with them.

We also found out this last week that she qualified for preschool and hopefully bussing. She got into a fairly close school but I still cannot transport her unless the bussing comes through, so keep your fingers crossed.

Our camera was not charged for her party the other night, but Grandma Deana took pictures and will be sending them soon. I will post some when I get them.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Busy Life









We are keeping busy. We have had many new arrivals in our lives the last month or so. As I blogged before, we welcomed Michele's new niece on Feb. 3rd. Alexandra Briann Dey. Then our best friend Erin and her husband had their little boy on March 10th, Mason Andrew Harsh, both little ones will be joining my household of rugrats soon. Then last night, my brother and his wife called and said they got a call and they may be welcoming a newborn baby boy to there household of already 6 kids here in the next couple weeks. They, like Michele have been waiting for this for the last few months. I am not sure if it is set in stone or the exact pick up date. He is apparently 10 days old now. Hopefully all these babies are a good sign for Michele, it seems to be raining babies. Michele has been waiting 7 months 8 almost since she lost Annabelle. She is desperate to get a call for her new little one. Please pray that she meets her baby soon!!!

Abby is in ballet and loving it and Brianna is just beside herself wanting to join up also, unfortunately she needs to wait a few more weeks, she has to be 3 to join. She also thinks she wants to try pee-wee soccer. All of this is great for her, she needs these kinds of activities even more than the average kiddo. Brianna has been seeing a physical therapist for some large motor issues she has. She trips and falls a lot, has some trouble with climbing, running, jumping. The PT believes she has low muscle tone and her right leg is turned in slightly and she drags the toes. We are looking into some special things to go over her shoes that help her to self correct the way she walks, hopefully this and the physical therapy combined will help.

The cats have been great, Zeke thinks he is a dog. He begs for and steals people food. Tries to escape out the doors every time they are open and lets the kids lay all over him. Some of it would be annoying if he wasn't so damn cute...LOL...

We keep updated regularly on Annabelle (Charlotte) she is almost not a baby anymore. She is walking and has the fullest head of hair. We miss her so much, when we watch her on her blog videos and photos she is just adorable and so funny. Her brother Cooper and her really keep their mom and dad busy! As I have said before, you should jump over to her blog and see how grown up she is getting.

Grandmom Judy has been busy, busy, busy redecorating her house. I have been helping her a lot with furniture and decoration selection. I just love that kind of thing. In June we plan on painting a lot of rooms in her house. We are all taking vacation at the same time to get it done. It will be a VERY tiring week, but hopefully worth it in the end!

Well, I will wrap it up. Please remember Michele in your thoughts and prayers. She is obviously very happy for all the people in our lives who have new additions. Obviously though it brings up some sadness for Michele. It makes her miss Annabelle terribly, and makes the anticipation of her new one even more difficult to take. She feels as though it is never going to happen for her. Hopefully she is very close now and will get her little one soon!