The Thanksgiving Where We Killed Grandma's Stove

Every holiday is one to remember- and this year did not disappoint!  It took us over 8 hrs to make it to NY thanks to crummy weather- but Al preserved and we made it!  The kids had a blast playing with MarMar and PopPop, Poppy and Nonnie, Aunty Jen, Uncle Frank and Nate.  

As Thanksgiving dinner was finished cooking- and I was taking the potatoes off the stove to mash, I heard a "pop", smelled smoke....  At first we thought it was the turkey baster that was placed on a still warm burner- but that wasn't it.  In the middle of dinner, we noticed that the time was not working on the stove- and then discovered that we had killed the stove!  We were thankful that 1)the stove did NOT burn-up the house, and 2)the stove finished cooking our dinner!

We had a great time visiting with family- eating, watching Frozen (an excellent movie), playing on the local playground, and created tons of happy memories!!  It's hard to believe but the next Thanksgiving will be with 5 kids- FIVE!!

First picture with Santa!

These 2 had a blast playing Legos together

Yum!

Beautiful!!  Let's dig in!

Proof that we killed the stove...

We celebrated Adeline's birthday!

Triplets!

Burning off energy!

Ready to see Frozen!

Uncle Frank took Alden to a hockey game!

Addie and I have some quality girl time!

It was a great holiday- we look forward to Christmas!

8yr old Adeline Questionaire

Each year, I ask the birthday child these questions- it's neat to see how their answers vary (or stay the same) every year!  As you can see from this one, Adeline loves life and is not to be limited by one answer....

1.    What is your favorite color? Purple, blue, pink and green

2.  What is your favorite toy? My American Girl Dolls and Wii

3.  What is your favorite tv show or movie? Dog with a Blog & Sohpia the First

4. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Pizza and cheese and crackers

5.  What is your favorite outfit? Jeans and t-shirts

6. Who are your favorite friends? Aubrey, Jayda, Lainey, Kierke, Sunshine and Charlie (our elf from the North Pole)

7. What is your favorite creative activity? Read, hang out with friends, play sports

8. What are your favorite animals? Horses, dogs, hermit crabs

9.  What is your favorite sport? Tennis and swimming

10. What is your favorite part of school? Science and social studies, writing and reading

11.  What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play with neighbors

12. What is your favorite drink? Sprit and milk

13.  What is your favorite holiday?  Christmas

14. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Doll

15. What do you want to be when you grow up? Teacher or swim coach

16.  What is your favorite thing to do with your brother? Play

17.  What do you love about yourself? I can do cool stuff

18.   What do you pray about?  Annalise and Asher

19. What’s your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Play sports together!

20. What’s your favorite thing to do with Mommy?  Mommy-Daughter dates

8 years old!

Somehow Adeline is EIGHT years old!  It seems like only yesterday my heart was breaking because I so desperately wanted a child- and boom- now I am a mother to an eight-year-old!  It has been an amazing 8 years and I look forward to the next 8 (with slight trepidation since I have taught middle school for over 14 years, and I know what's coming....).

Here is our sweet Adeline through the years- you can tell when we lived near a Portrait Innovations!

1 day old- rockin the bows already!

1 year old- I loved those water-fountain pig-tails!

2 years old- such a sweet big sister!

3 years old- she got her glasses shortly after her birthday!

4 years old- SO grown-up!

5 years old- rocking preschool

6 years old- a young lady here!

7 years old- so sophisticated!

8 years old- my toothless beauty!

Adoption Update

We are SO excited to announce that a LOT has been happening in our adoption!

First, we had an incredibly fun and productive fundraiser- sponsored by Adeline's teacher!  She sells Premier Jewelry and not only did we raise almost $200 for the twins, but also a ton of free jewelry- meaning that lots of the expected gifts to various people in Lithuania were purchased for free!  It was fun seeing friends pick out pretty jewels AND support us!  Thank you, Lisa B!

Lithuanian colored food!  Sorry, forgot to take pics of people picking out jewelry!

Next, we had an Open House to show off the twins rooms and allow friends to help us prepare for their upcoming arrival.  The Open House was actually on their half-birthday- how fitting!  We ate Lithuanian foods made by my amazing friends, showed the twins rooms to friends, and were spoiled with many needed items- sheets, car seats, underwear, and gift cards!  Friends also signed a photo mat letting the twins know how loved they are!  It was so exciting to be THIS much closer to them being home!

Yummy Christmas Bread made by Karen- for times of celebration! 

Poppy Seed Cookie- a lot like cardboard but authentic according to a friend who has been to Lithuania!

Cucumbers and Honey- yummy!

Friends signing the photo mats!

Adeline and Alden excited to help open the twins gifts!

The BEST news?  We finally heard of our Court Date- January 7th!!  We actually leave America January 1st, arrive in Lithuania January 2nd, and meet the twins January 3rd!  Pray that the judge waives the waiting period so that we can bring the twins home on THIS trip!  

Airline tickets are booked and hotels are being investigated and so is a rental van.  

Since our court date is after Christmas, we will be sending them a package full of gifts for them to open Christmas.  While we are disappointed that we will not have our family together for this Christmas, we trust in His timing.  We will embrace all that Christmas is and focus on spending time with just Adeline and Alden.  God is good and we are excited for this next step!

Fun with MarMar and PopPop

It was so much fun having MarMar and PopPop around for not only the Marathon, but for the rest of the weekend, too!  The day of the Marathon was crazy- we drove over 76miles going from stop to stop- well worth it!  Once the Marathon was over, we headed home, the kids quickly got changed, and we headed to the YMCA for the kids swim meet!  

MarMar and PopPop enjoyed seeing both kids swim in relays, and then butterfly and freestyle.  Since we were hosting a post-Marathon party, the kids only swam those events so we would have time to come home for the party.

Sunday our family was part of a Cardboard Testimony- were we shared about our growing family.  That was neat for MarMar and PopPop to see!  The rest of the day was spent relaxing, playing games and lounging around.  It was fantastic!

Cookie Cake to celebrate the Marathon!

2nd place in butterfly!

Thumbs-up for relay- she won 3rd place!

Just a friendly game of Headbands!

Our cardboard testimony

It was a great weekend- we are so blessed in so many areas!

A Marathon Man

Al and Mike have been training diligently to run the Richmond Marathon.  I am SO proud of them!  The forecast kept changing and ultimately it was a rather damp day.  I guess that is better than hot and  dry.  MarMar and PopPop came down to cheer Al and Mike on, too- what an added bonus!

Friday night we met at Mike and Karen's house to have a pre-race celebration.  Saturday morning, PopPop took Al and Mike to the start line, booked it back to our house, and piled in the van with us and we followed Karen, her girls and Grandma Diane, to Race Point #1.  The guys had thoughtfully planned 5 places for us to cheer for them.  This way they would know where to look for us along the 26.2mile long route, and we could provide them with the necessary snacks.  Since most of the city was blocked, they even gave us turn-by-turn directions- which were perfect!

It was amazing to see them run at the various stages- I can't run 1mile, let along 26.2!  They both ended with amazing times- Al finished in 4.33.02!  I am so proud!

The start of the race at Stop #1 for us which was mile #4

Awesome rain coats and sign!

Looking good!  Ready to high-five the kids!

Cheering for their Daddies!

Next stop was a bit further so we were able to use a double jogger that was graciously given to us!

This was the first Food Stop- they wanted a banana!

Mile #8- looking strong!  Alden wanted to join them!

Grabbing their snack on the run

Still time for smiles and high-fives at Stop #3- mile 12.5

Stop #4 was right by Grandma Diane's school- so we stopped, used the restrooms, and the kids had a blast checking out her classroom!  Addie was especially interested to see what another 2nd grade classroom looked like.

Stop #4- Mile 22- here we gave him a Cliff Bar.  Alden was supposed to hand it to him, but he was really tempted to eat it, so he passed it off to someone with more self-control.

Stop #5- the Finish Line!!  It has finally stopped raining at this point! Yay!

Way to go!  Still smiling- amazing!

DONE!  Good job, men, well done!

Halloween 2013- The Year of Costumes

This Halloween was fantastic- the kids really got into dressing up and giving away their candy (yes, that last part is true!).

The kids' school had Career Day on Halloween- they were to dress-up as a career they were interested in.  What fun!

Addie went as a teacher- wearing one my teacher shirts that says "I teach 7th grade.  What's your super power?"  She even made a grade book complete with her classmates names and different categories for their grades!

Alden went as a Coach.  It was between this and a Master Lego Builder.  He went with Coach since he didn't know what a Master Lego Builder would wear....  His shirt said Coach on the back.

When we came home, they changed into their "real" costumes for Trick or Treating.

Addie is Glinda the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz.  One of our neighbors was Dorothy and we almost had Alden convinced to be the Tin Man....  Next year, she wants all 4 kids to go as Wizard of Oz- we will see....

Alden is a swimmer- speedo, swim-team shirt, swimcap, goggle and he wore a towel around his neck.    Creative and yes, I took plenty of pics that may need to come out if he ever has a girlfriend I don't approve of....

Our pretty porch- good friends joined us to celebrate and brought their amazing pumpkins!  Ours are the top 2- bats for Alden and Adeline designed and cut out her own!

Cute kiddos dressed up and ready to go!

One more picture....

Friday was Goddard's Trunk a Treat!  Adeline decided to go as a cheerleader and Alden kept his swimmer's one.

Our trunk was a Pumpkin Patch- kids made cute pumpkins using paint chip cards!

Showing some muscles!

The kids got a TON of candy- a TON!  Saturday morning, they had fun sorting through it, and they each decided to "sell" most of it to a local dentist since he would send it to soldiers overseas.  They didn't just put the cheep candy in these donation bags, but good stuff (aka chocolate).  They want the soldiers to have good candy, too.  I love it when they show compassion!

It was lots of fun this year- and it was neat to think of how different next year's will be.  There will be 4 pumpkins- but they will all by ours!  There will be 4 kiddos- and they will all be ours!  2 will be Halloween experts and 2 will totally be new to this!  Bring it on- we can't wait!