No Time For That

You Might Not Get This, Unless You're a Homeschooler.

2012-01-27T12:41:00.000-05:00

My kids showed me this video today, I love it!

Top 7 lies about homeschoolers.

All of these things are true for us, except for the last one. In fact, this is the one that tends to bother my kids the most (when people think we do this)!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T00:09:00.004-05:00

May the peace of Christ dwell in your heart this Christmas and in the New Year.

Mother's Day

2011-04-30T13:56:00.007-04:00

Well, Mother's Day is fast approaching and I have been very blessed by my Mom, Mother in Law and Grandmothers throughout my life. But right now I especially thankful for the woman that I experience life with everyday. One of the many things that I love about Carrie is her passion for our kids EVERYDAY. She NEVER takes a break from being Mom. Here are some great pictures from throughout the year. Obviously, there is a lot to smile about in each of these pictures. Smiling's our Favorite. But that is the reward for the daily work that she pours into our family.

Thanks for all that you do, Carrie.

Chad

Thanks for all that you do, Carrie.

With Love,

Chad

2011 NAIAS

2011-01-19T14:45:00.002-05:00

We had a great time at the Auto Show yesterday. Check out the link to see a cool family pic.

http://social-gen.com/chevy/?u=e2095

JOY!

2010-12-27T12:14:00.000-05:00

check out this video!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2010-12-06T21:02:00.003-05:00

summer days

2010-08-06T13:52:00.003-04:00

It seems like this summer is just slipping away from me, way too quickly. I am now realizing that all of the things that I thought I would Would accomplish this summer must be done in the near future, or I will soon be embarking on another school year with no time for all of these chores. However, our Michigan summer weather has been perfect this year, the sun is out, the water is warm, the waves are big, and the friends are close by. We are reminded that this is why we call West Michigan home!

We stayed at a cottage for a week with my family and found a cherry orchard nearby that was bursting with wonderful, juicy cherries that were crying out to be picked.

Sleeping Bear dunes must be one of the most beautiful places in the world, or at least in Michigan. We spent about 10 minutes to get to the bottom of the dune where this photo was taken. It took us about 45 minutes to get back up. Summer just doesn't get much better than this. If you haven't enjoyed the Lake Michigan lakeshore, come and stay with us in the summer, we would love to show you the sights.

Our adventure continues!

2010-02-10T22:19:00.008-05:00

The kids and I are still enjoying ourselves in sunny Florida. We are schooling in the morning, and playing in the afternoon. Last week we were able to spend a lot of time in the pools and lazy rivers here at the resort. This week we are putting in time at the Disney parks. Despite a nasty virus that all of the kids have now had, we have been having a lot of fun. We are all looking forward to Chad joining us in next week.

Lily is quite pleased with her new pink scuba set. She has been working hard on some new water tricks with them.

Max and Lily were pleased to have a Mickey and Minnie made out of balloons. Oh, to be a kid again!

The rain did not keep us out of Hollywood Studios on Tuesday. Unfortunately, it didn't keep anybody else away either. Seriously, what does it take to slow down Disney???? If a bad economy combined with a lousy day in an off month will not do it, I don't know what will!!

Today it was sunny at Magic Kingdom. We were able to ride a bunch of great rides. Grandpa even talked Max into riding the Pirates of the Carribean ride with us. All it took was a promise to buy him a new pin for the lanyard that he his sporting in the picture. When Grandpa made the offer, I'm not sure that he realized that those pins cost a pretty penny!

Fun in Florida

2010-02-03T21:50:00.003-05:00

I finally found my camera, so I thought I would post some pictures of the fun that the kids and I have been having in Florida. We are spending the month of February in sunny Orlando, staying with Chad's parents in a wonderful condo on Disney grounds. Chad will fly down in a few weeks to join us for some fun in the sun. After being away from him for a week already, we can hardly wait to see him.
There is more fun and entertainment around here than we can possibly take in on any day. Actually, we could probably fit it all in if we were on vacation, however, we are still schooling despite daily protests from the kids!

Here, Gabbie, Lily and Max had their faces painted. This was no ordinary face painting! The lady that did this works at Universal Studios painting faces on the characters there. She was amazing (and very fast.)
This seems to be the highlight of the day for Max and Lily. Unlocking the door with the key...the only thing that is as much fun is pushing the buttons on the elevator.

Here, Max and Lily were helping the magician do some magic. They were both so very excited!
Mini golf is right outside the door, so we have been playing a lot of it!
Now that I have my camera, I will keep you updated on our adventures!

Gabbie's Oil Painting

2009-12-22T23:06:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago, Gabbie brought this beautiful oil painting home from her art class. She had been working on it for weeks and it is now on display in our living room.

Nice work, Gabbie.

Thanksgiving Preparation

2009-11-26T18:22:00.000-05:00

As you can see in the photos, we have been getting ready for Thanksgiving and Gabbie, Lily, and our neighbor, Claudia helped by decorating some special cookies.

Will and Jake "helped" with the cookies also.?!

It's always sunny in Michigan?

2009-11-08T21:04:00.002-05:00

This weekend, our friends shared their kiddos with us while they were out of town. We decided to take them on a wild adventure to my parent's playland in their backyard. The kids had a blast and we felt like the day was a success because we all played hard and nobody got hurt! (Well, there we no serious injuries, anyway).

Gabbie and Sophie tear up the pavement on the go-cart.

Sophie takes a wild ride on the zip line.

Contrary to what you may think, your seat cushion will NOT serve as a life preserver on John Deere tractors.

Sara quickly got the hang of the dirt bike.

For more pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/ctiesma/20091110?authkey=Gv1sRgCLb4nOjC5KfSYA&feat=directlink

Trick or Treat

2009-10-31T23:37:00.001-04:00

We had a ton of fun celebrating Halloween. My wonderful wife made a great meal and planned a whole day of fun with her parents and brother's family joining us.

This year, Lily was particularly excited about halloween. She has been asking for about three weeks "Is it Halloween today?" And finally, we could answer in the affirmative. When we went out to Trick or Treat, she would run between houses and yell "TRICK OR TREAT!!!!" Then, of course, all of our neighbors gave her candy.

Could life get any better?? I submit that it cannot!

Gabbie as Lucy Pevensie, Lily as a "Buzz Buzz", Max as Mr. Incredible, Will as Jedi Luke Skywalker. My neice, Sarah, dressed as an adorable HSM Cheerleader and Matthew dressed as Harley, the biker.

Twitter will kill you, DCB rocks!!!

Will's 10th!?!?!?!?!?!?!

2009-09-20T22:53:00.002-04:00

Things have been going very well here. School has started. Summer seems to have finally arrived (I know it's September). And we celebrated Will's 10th Birthday!!!!
Will is such a great guy. He is fun to be with, confident and talented in many ways. We spent a lot of time this week remembering great stories from Will's first 10 years. What excites me more than looking back, is the thought of looking forward. I am confident that the next ten years will be full of even more wonderful stories.

More Wedding Pictures

2009-08-27T15:15:00.000-04:00

Gabbie asked me to put some more pictures from Scott and Kim's wedding on the blog....

So here they are.

A weekend of celebration!!!

2009-08-17T22:31:00.002-04:00

It seems as though summer is rushing by and I am just barely keeping up. This summer has been filled with a lot of traveling, a lot of family time, and many wonderful memories. There are so many things that I have wanted to blog about and haven't. However, I really want to make sure that I post these pictures and take a minute to write a few "mushy" sentiments about this amazing wedding weekend where we celebrated my wonderful bother-in-law marrying an amazing, sweet, fun, and beautiful (inside and out) woman. We are so happy for the two of them!
The wedding was very much a "storybook" event. They were married on top of a mountain overlooking Lake Superior. After the ceremony, a beatiful rainbow appeared in the sky. It was truly a lovely day. God has been very good in bringing these two people together.
It was a very long way for our family to travel, but it was worth every minute of time in order to be there and share in their joy.

Here is Scott with his beautiful bride, Kim.

Max and Lily had a great time celebrating!!

Gabbie (12) and Will (almost 10) are seeming so grown up now days. They had so much fun seeing their uncle get married. Also, they are pretty excited about their new "Ahnt" (in Minnesota, they don't say "aunt", they say "ahnt"....yes, a bit confusing, but we are working on it!)

On Fire!

2009-08-04T14:58:00.000-04:00

Max can Dig It!

2009-08-04T14:52:00.000-04:00

Will gets Board

2009-08-04T14:48:00.000-04:00

Adorable!!!

2009-08-04T14:43:00.000-04:00

Olympic Training

2009-07-04T08:40:00.004-04:00

Watch for Lily in the 2020 Olympics!!

For this next video, you should know that Gabbie and Will were practicing how to dive. After much encouragement and assistance they were both successful, so Lily decided to give it a shot. Here is her first try, completely self motivated and unassisted.

Sprink Smidge for LUNATICS like US!

2009-05-30T17:51:00.009-04:00

We are on another family adventure this weekend to visit my brother in MN. On the way, we discovered the the fabled partially sprinkled doughnut is actually available at Dunkin Donuts in Illinois.

Here's a little secret about our family.... Everyday, something happens that reminds us of a Brian Regan bit. Here's a link to the Donut Lady bit that we have relived each time we enter, pass or even think about a bakery.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1Yzb3WhnQo

Here's a picture of Will's Sprink Smidge. It was delectible!

A Video Update

2009-05-02T18:25:00.025-04:00

Oh my what an incredible adventure this has been. The past few days have been full of so many stories and great experiences for our entire family. We left Antigua on Wednesday afternoon to go to Santiago Atitlan. We drove (well Venicio did the driving) through many small villages, a busy town (Chimaltenango) and up into the mountains. We traveled on the main highway but still, the road was incredibly narrow. The entire trip was on a paved road but there were about 10-12 bridges and turns that only one car could pass at a time. Venecio drove us to Panajechel where we boarded a boat to ride across Lake Atitlan to Santiago - a 25 minute ride.

Here, I had to leave a few bags behind to help Lily and Max negotiate the sand covered rocks.

It was a rough ride with 2-3 foot waves.

I LOVE being married to this woman!!

I find myself staring at her many times on this vacation and wondering things like -

"She is so good to me."

" She is gorgeous."

"What a great Mom."

"Why do these crazy vacations make us so happy?"

We arrived at La Posada de Santiago and with much help, lugged all of our bags from the dock up to La Hacienda - about 100 feet up the mountain. We only had enough time to swim in the pool for a few minutes when it started to rain. Rain like it does not rain back home.

Then the power went out. But they were still able to serve dinner. In fact, everything on the menu was available, except drinks that required the blender. If you listen closely to the audio, you can hear our dinner entertainment. Gabbie and Will treating us and the few other guests to a pop bottle version of "Hot Cross Buns".

The next morning was a cool and misty, but we could see the volcano across the bay very well. It rained again that afternoon, although not as heavy. Then we left on Friday morning to visit with Dora and Ruben in the city. After another 3 hour drive we arrived and they were very gracious hosts. Teh served a great meal and even tought Carrie how to make Tamales. They were delicious.

Things that speak to my heart (part two)

2009-04-30T17:34:00.004-04:00

Need I say more?? I met this adorable little boy at an orphanage (fundaninos), yesterday. It was love at first sight! I'll just say that it is probably a good thing that adoptions are closed here right now or my husband would have one whiny wife on his hands "please, just one more?" Anyway, I was able to spend some time loving on the little honey. What a handsome little guy, don't you think?

This reminded me that although adoptions are closed right now in Guatemala, there are thousands of little kids in orphanages around the world waiting to be loved on, and to have a family of their own. (For those of you wondering, we still think four kids is a good number).

the things that speak to my heart

2009-04-27T21:48:00.008-04:00

Our time here in Guatemala is certainly a time of vacation for our family. However, it is also a time of giving to those in need, a time a listening to the Lord, and a time of continuing to grow some relationships that are so precious to us. So, with our time here, comes a rush of emotions that range from laughter with my husband and children, wonderful memories made with friends, and pain and heartache from the devastation that saturates this beautiful country. Every time we are here (and this time is no different), the Lord shows Himself to our family in new and beautiful ways. I think that is why I long to come back here. Here is a story that I will carry in my heart for the rest of my days:

We arrived in Guatemala on Thursday, exhausted from the trip down here. Our wonderful friends picked us up from the airport to deliver us to the school and children's home where they work with and minister to over 400 children that live in heart of the drug and gang capital of Guatemala. The town that they live in is noisy, crowded, dirty, and full of violence. However, once you enter the gate to the home and school, the children there are happy, playful, and full of hope. How amazing it was to look outside of the walls and see despair, and inside to see life. It was like seeing Heaven and Hell at the same time. What a privilege it was for us to see this amazing family serving the Lord in this place. We stayed there only one night and had much fun playing with the kids and taking in all that this wonderful ministry has to offer.

We were able to tour the dorms where 60 of the (orphan) children live. (The other 340 kids live outside of the walls). On our tour of the dorms, one thing was very clear to me. These kids do not have any toys! I did not see one toy. Clothing, beds, kitchen, yes, but not one toy. Wow, and these kids are so happy. Later that day, we were loading up the van, and one little girl (that had spent some time with my girls), came running up to the van. She was all smiles as she announced "Yo tengo un regalo para Lily"....I have a present for Lily. In her little, sweet hand, she held a small Ariel Princess doll. Earlier that day, my girls had talked with her and she and Lily bonded over their common love of princesses.

I was tormented at the very depths of my heart. How do I allow this child to give my daughter this little doll when it may very well be the only toy that she calls her own? My first thought was to not allow her to give it. Then, I realized that I would be stealing her joy. We thanked her and hugged her and quickly snapped the photo below. She was so very happy to give. I ask myself, do I give that joyfully? That sacrificially? Will I ever learn to give as this little girl did? I was reminded of the widow giving her last penny. I can imagine that our heavenly father was smiling down on His precious child.

The Land of Eternal Spring

2009-04-25T23:50:00.005-04:00

What a great day here in Antigua. It is amazing what can happen when you are together in a foriegn country and just trying to get a few things done.

On the agenda for today was to get some Quetzales (money), eat a late breakfast, and go to the store to get food and a pinata for Lily's party tomorrow. We did all of this but it seemed like every where we went, there was so much more to the story.

A short carriage ride to the Santo Domingo

For breakfast, we decided to eat at one of the fanciest and most expensive hotels in the city, Casa Santo Domingo. We had heard from several friends that the food is world class and the price is reasonable, so Why not go? Our kids all remembered being there last year, and enjoyed the beautiful gardens complete with ancient statues and parrots. The meal was excellent and it cost about $30 for all six of us. That's only a little more than McD's would cost us back home....

Before we left, Lily even led the parrots in a screaming contest (I think she won) and she saw a real live Princess (there was a wedding going on and we ran into the bridal party).

Later in the day, Carrie and the older two kids went to the local market to find a pinata while Lily, Max and I found a place to sit and get a light snack. Well, at one point, Lily dropped the cap for her bottle of juice, there is no 5 second rule here, so the cap will not be used again. I am holding the uncapped juice and some of a pastry in my right hand, and using my left hand to hold Lily on my lap. When I lift the pastry to my mouth, the juice pours all over my leg making it look exactly like I have wet myself. Max sees this and begins to laugh while drinking his 7 up. He spews a good amount of 7Up at me. So here we are on a busy sidewalk, my two little kids laughing and burping, and me looking incontinent. Good times....

Then we meet up with Carrie again and Gabbie is carrying the biggest pinata I have ever seen. They had asked for a princess so the man in the market was digging through his inventory fow quite some time. When he came back with this, she couldn't reject it. And what princess loving 3 year old wouldn't love a 4 foot tall Belle at their party? We became the most popular photo op in Antigua for at least 15 minutes.

We are going to have so much fun beating the Dulce out of her tomorrow. - Belle, not Gabbie.

Can Three Beautiful Princesses fit in One Tuk Tuk?

There are a few other stories to tell, but I will save those for another time.

Thanks for checking on us.

The Adventure Begins!!!

2009-04-23T23:39:00.005-04:00

We arrived safely in Guatemala yesterday morning and have enjoyed the great hospitality of our friends, the Smiths. (http://web.me.com/thesmithfamily5/Site/Welcome.html)

It was an amazing day. We were running a little late (30 min) getting to the airport this morning and we BARELY made it onto our 5:40AM flight. In fact, the agent that helped us check in told Carrie about 5 times "You are not going to make it on that plane" With 4 kids, 9 checked bags, and 6 carry-ons, it did seem like an impossible task, but she helped us anyway and we made it onto the plane just minutes before it left the gate.

One more quick story... Our boys spent a good share of the evening playing soccer with 6 or 7 boys who live here. It was a ton of fun, and the footwork some of these kids can do is amazing. After playing into the darkness, Max informed us that "I have the same soccer skills as the Guatemalan boys. And I didn't even practice." I love that boy's confidence.

Gabbie's Birthday!!!!!

2009-04-04T21:55:00.006-04:00

I cannot believe that our oldest child turned twelve this weekend. As a mom, I could fill this entire blog entry with all sorts of sappy emotional jargon. I could write for the next two hours about how I held her in my arms as a newborn baby what seems like just last week and about how it must have been yesterday that we were teaching her how to ride her bike without training wheels. But now my eyes are starting to fill with tears and this blog entry was supposed to be about what a great celebration we had this weekend, so I will try to stick to the point.

We surprised Gabbie with a room make over. Her mattress has been on the floor for the past nine months. She has been using the comforter to cover up with that I made her when she was 2 years old, and that was two houses ago. Yes, her room needed a little attention. So, we decided to go all out. Chad made (yes, he made) her a platform bed with a gorgeous upholstered headboard. (What an amazing man he is, but again, I will try to stick to the point!) I picked out the rest of the decor, and I tried to really choose the style that my preteen daughter would love. Some great friends helped to get her out of the house for the afternoon, and here is the result:

notice in the picture below that Max is covering his ears because his sister is screaming so loud. Yeah, I think she likes it!

If you can get past Max in his unders, this is the best we could do for a "before picture".

Gabbie had a fun celebration with some friends at the Mall last night.

Anyone for a Mall scavenger hunt? What could be more fun for this great group of girls?

How much is the most expensive pair of men's shoes in the Foot Locker? How many different colors of "CROCS" does the Hallmark store have? Any guesses? These girls had to answer those questions and more as part of the adventure.

Will woke Gabbie up on her birthday with a surprise scavenger hunt at our house which included finding ten different flavors of Jones Soda. I must say, this was a very creative gift that he came up with.

Anyone for a Jones Soda at 8 A.M.?

Happy Birthday to my wonderful daughter!

The Auto Show

2009-02-02T21:12:00.006-05:00

A few weeks ago I took Gabbie, Will and Max to the Auto Show. We had a great time and I really enjoyed experiencing this with the three of them. Each one was able to enjoy the show for unique reasons. Gabbie loves all of the fashion and design on display. Will searches out the most unique or expensive car. Max loves the free stuff and being able to sit in the cars like he's the driver.

Max with Max.. Can you tell which one speaks with a German accent??

The ultimate Fashion accessory.... a Smart4two

The Audi R8... Just like Tony Stark drives in Iron Man

Maybach... Check out the reclining rear seats.

Here is another great story. What can a dad do to get his 5 year old to get dressed when the batman shirt that he ( the 5 year old) wants to wear is dirty??? Well, Max and I were able to get him to be Batman with out wearing said t-shirt. How?

I give you...

Bruce Wayne

and his lethal brief case!

Gotcha!!!

2009-01-19T22:30:00.006-05:00

Today, our family celebrated the two year anniversary of Lily being home with us. What a wonderful day of reflecting on the joyous home coming of our daughter. We waited so long to bring her home. During the time of waiting, our faith was tested in more ways than I ever thought possible. I begged the Lord to hear my prayers in a way that I had never done before. I asked questions that I had never asked of the Lord and His plan for our lives. Here is this little girl, without a family, we love her, and will take care of her....what more do you want from us? Bring her home. Yet, it wasn't our timing, it was His. I will forever look back on that time of waiting and know that we were in His grip in a way that we will cherish forever. We had no control over this situation. We waited on Him. We prayed. We waited. We prayed. We waited. The Lord taught us that there is a mountain top experience after you spend time in the valley. God has been so amazing to our family. We are so very thankful to Him.

So, we spent the day talking about "remember two years ago".....remember saying sad goodbyes to Guatemala, remember waiting in the plane on the runway with a hot, tired, scared little girl in my arms (we had only had her with us for 5 days at that point...she was missing her wonderful foster mother and all of the comforts of the only home she had ever known), remember touching down on U.S. soil, being so thankful that my daughter is now an American, remember sitting in the airport in Texas with delay after delay due to engine problems knowing that our kids were waiting for us to arrive in the airport with their sister. Remember the crowd of family and friends waiting for us in the terminal to welcome us home. Remember eating cake at the airport at midnight to celebrate as all of our loved ones got their first glimpse of our new beautiful daughter. Remember the ride home...thinking wow...four kids....can we do this??

I continue to be overtaken by the joy that adoption brings. What a gift we were given, two years ago. What a gift today to be mommy to this beautiful little girl.

I also cannot help but think about families that started this process when we started and still have not brought their children home. My heart aches for these families. I cannot imagine missing out on the past two years of my daughter's life. My thoughts and prayers are with these families tonight as they wait to bring their little ones home.

We were so thankful to be home.

Here are our wonderful family and friends waiting to welcome us home!

Tonight, the four kids together enjoying our "Gotcha day" celebration that included watching a princess movie that we gave to Lily today. Also, rice crispy treats and peanut butter balls were part of the little party!

Splash!!!!

2009-01-12T23:25:00.007-05:00

I am very excited to share this video with you all.

Lily has been able to swim pretty well for a few weeks now, but we finally brought our camera to the pool to document this achievement.

Thanks to Max for his Mad Film Making Skills.

Icing on the top

2009-01-04T18:39:00.004-05:00

There was a nice coat of Ice on everything this morning.

Christmas Card 2008

2008-12-24T21:20:00.002-05:00

We hope that all of our friends in the Blogosphere have a Picture Perfect Christmas!

Let it Snow! Let is Snow! LET IT SNOW!!!!!!

2008-12-21T18:03:00.003-05:00

It doesn't show signs of stopping, and I've got some corn for popping......

For those of you that are reading our blog and don't live in West Michigan, we thought you should have a look at the Blizzard conditions that we have been enduring for the last 24 hours. Chad and the kids decided that they would bundle up and brave the wintery conditions this afternoon. At the time that they went out, the temperature was 10 degrees. Gabbie, Max, and Lily returned inside for some hot chocolate after these photos were taken. However, Will stayed out and helped Chad finish the shoveling (the snow blower stopped working on him.....great timing!).

We have spent the day finishing up our Christmas wrapping, baking, and cards. This year, if I'm not ready for Christmas, I have no excuse!!!

Check this out

2008-11-28T21:06:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

A Day at the Park

2008-11-08T22:09:00.004-05:00

One of my favorite things about homeschooling my kids is our weekly outings. We call them fieldtrips...some are educational, some are just for fun. We had a beautiful fall day last week, so I decided we would get in one last trip to the skate park before the winter weather sets in. The great thing about homeschooling is that you can go places when everyone else is not there. I don't think we would last two minutes in the skate park when it is full of teenagers. However, we went when everyone was in school and had the park to ourselves. The kids brought a bike, a scooter, rollerblades, and a little ride on toy. What a blast!!

Seven is Enough!!

2008-11-08T21:56:00.008-05:00

This weekend we have had the pleasure of adding three children to our family. What a blessing to enjoy some extended time with our friend's kids who also happen to be our kid's friends. The kids have been a joy to have around and have fit in very nicely to our family. We have made some great memories this weekend.

One thing that Chad and I have learned this weekend, though, is that seven kids are a lot of kids. That translates into a lot of dishes to wash, a lot of voices to quiet, and a lot of shoes to keep track of. Of course, it also means a lot of giggles, a lot of interesting conversations, and a lot of fun!

We will cherish these memories for years to come!

Thanks, Troy and Lisa for sharing your kids with us.

This was what happened at bedtime the first night.....oh my, it may be a long night!!!

On Saturday, we decided that some good physical activity would be fun for everyone, and just might wear everyone out a bit, so we spent the day at the gym for some rock climbing and swimming. That is one full hot tub!

Sophie shows off her underwater tricks!!

Josh and Will enjoy the ride down from their difficult climb!

A big smile from Sophie after she made it to the top of the rock wall!

ALL THE MAVERICKS IN THE HOUSE, PUT YOUR HANDS UP!!! The kids had a great time watching some polital reruns of SNL online today and enjoyed rapping and dancing to them. I just had to snap a pic of this...they were having such a great time. With that being said.....if I hear this line one more time this weekend....I may just loose it. (I cannot believe what my two year old has to put up with.....shouldn't she be watching Barney or something?)

I'm not trying to make a political statment here, just having a little fun after this election week. I'm so glad the election is over...really, SNL was fun, but all of the ads, I could do without!!

Last Days of Summer

2008-09-15T21:49:00.011-04:00

I cannot believe how quickly summer went by. It is so hard to say good-bye to the carefree days of summer. We had such a great summer! Our best memories are of the surf and sand at Lake Michigan. We are so blessed to live so close to the beautiful sandy shore. It is amazing how sand and water can provide hours of entertainment for all ages.

Here we are with my parents, my brother and sister-in-law and my niece and nephew. We just finished a great hike through the woods to the Lake.

What a great picture of my parents. They are celebrating their 40th anniversary this month!!

Lily enjoys our "backyard carnival". We have a small collection of large inflatables that the kids enjoy all summer long. Thanks largely to Chad who so graciously drains them, fills them, and moves them around the yard so the grass doesn't die underneath!!

Gabbie and Tessa show off their cakes after our first cake decorating class! Great work, girls!

Summer wouldn't be complete without a Trolley ride in Grand Haven. Will is enjoying the view from the back of the Trolley.

Gabbie hangs out at the back of the Trolley to take in the summer sites in Grand Haven.

Blueberry picking, yum!!!

There is a great story that goes along with this family photo. Our adoption agency asked us for a family photo for the magazine that they publish. We thought this would be an easy thing to do, and it may be fun to see if we end up in the magazine. So, we tried to clean everyone up a bit (that's not all too common in the summer), and put on some clothes that may look okay together. Chad set up the tri-pod, we gathered the kids on the front porch and told everyone to smile. It was all down hill from there!! Let's just say that getting a 5 year old to look at the camera, a 2 year old to smile, and two older kids to keep "decent looks on their faces", is so much easier said than done. So, about 45 minutes and a whole bunch of tears later, here is the result. Is it a good picture? Yeah, I think so. Was it worth it? It depends on how many years our kids will spend in counseling dealing with the scars!!

Here, Max and I wait it out while Chad heads inside to try to convince Will to come back out and give it another try.

Lily helped to wash (and eat) all of the blueberries.

Gabbie and Will head up front with Josh and Sara at Unity (Christian music concert) to hear Third day. I must be getting old, because it sure was LOUD!!!

Gabbie and Erin take time from enjoying the music to smile for a picture.

Gabbie and Lily dance the night away at the concert.

I included this picture not only because it is a great shot of me with my two darling girls, but because I think it is such a beautiful picture of the water, sand, and dunes. If you are friends that don't live in Michigan, you should come and see us in the summer and enjoy the beach with it. It just doesn't get any better than this!

Beach Bums!!!

Our kids and some friends are getting ready to tube down a little stream that leads into Lake Michigan. What a perfect lazy summer day!!

I know the marshmellow is toasted to perfection, but more importantly, look at that sky and waves. It is so hard to say good-bye to summer.

It was also hard to say good-bye to this wonderful vacation. We stayed at a cottage on Lake Michigan two other families. It was an amazing week of water, waves, sand, and great memories! We feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends.

Will and I enjoyed this great sunset after we all took a late night dip in the water.

Oh Yeah! My boy can ride a Bike!!!

2008-08-05T21:51:00.011-04:00

Max did it!! He is officially able to ride his bike without training wheels.

Check out these videos of his Mad Skills.

You will have to click on the links to play the videos. But I will try to figure out how to embed a video right here.

Max Riding a Bike

Summer up to now

2008-07-06T15:52:00.003-04:00

Wow! It is amazing how quickly summer seems to be going by. It seems as though we just returned from Guatemala, and then finished up our school year. Now, it is the end of the fourth of July weekend. I wish I could slow everything down so we can soak up every bit of summer.

As I watched the slide show that Chad put together for our blog, I could not help but to think about how quickly my kids are growing up. I honestly could not believe that Max mastered jumping off the diving board at Grandma and Grandpa's pool this weekend. Wasn't it just yesterday that we wrapped him up in a blanket and brought him home from the hospital? How does time go by so quickly once you become a parent?
I feel so blessed to be able to be home with our kids. I am so thankful that I am here to cheer them on when they learn something new. I'm thankful that I'm here to kiss a boo-boo, wipe away tears, witness a two year old learning to talk and entertain her siblings, shop with a pre-teen, find missing lego pieces (okay, that is not always my favorite thing), and to hear an eight year old dream of great inventions and cool cars. What an amazing gift it is to be a mom. I am reminded of the wise words of a very wise mom and good friend that told me recently after her oldest son graduated from high school "the joy is the journey". It is so easy to think that we are just working toward some goal (graduating a child, potty training, sleeping through the night, or mastering printing). But the joy is in the everyday moments that God gives us with our children. What a gift to be able to teach them and train them and experience all of God's blessings with our family, right now!

Here is a slide show and a link to the same slides to let you see what has been going on here.

Thanks for checking in.

Early Summer 2008

Happy Birthday to Lily!!!

2008-04-29T14:14:00.003-04:00

Yesterday our little girl turned 2 years old. And we had a fantastic celebration. We could only wish that our family and friends back in Michigan could have enjoyed the day with us. We invited Dora and Ruben (and their family) to our ¨home¨ in Antigua and we had a beautiful day together. Some other friends came to the party too, as you can see in the pictures.

Here is a link to another large album of pictures. I am sorry there are so many pictures, but I don´t have time to edit it now and our internet access is not completely dependable. Enjoy the pictures.

And Yes that is HOT lava only a few feet away from Gabbie, Will and me on Volcan Pacaya.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ctiesma/Guatemala20083

Tuk Tuks and the Hill of the Cross

2008-04-23T17:56:00.003-04:00

Here is a link to another photo album. We walked up about 500 steps to the hill of the cross for a great view of Antigua. There are some pictures of Lily with a very special pink Butterfly. And some pictures of us all stuffed into a Tuk Tuk for a ride around town. We will post more details later.

Thanks for your prayers and for checking up on us.

Chad

http://picasaweb.google.com/ctiesma/Guatemala20082

Lunch at the Castillo´s

2008-04-19T22:11:00.002-04:00

What an amazing day!!! As I sit here to type this, I am still trying to wrap my mind around it all. Lily´s foster parents invited us to have lunch with them at their house. From beginning to end, it was wonderful. They were so warm and welcoming to us. It was wonderful to see Mamma Dora and Papa Ruben again. Their entire family came to visit with us. Dora served us a wonderful meal and treated us like we were kings and queens. She made some authentic Guatemalan dishes that were so yummy! She also made baked three different desserts, each was so good and so unlike anything that we have in the states. The third dessert was cheesecake and she put two candles in and everyone sang happy birthday to Lily!
We were so blessed by this day and we are so thankful that their family has so much love for Lily! As a mom, I have wondered what their home was like...where did my daugher spend the first 8 months of her life? It was just so great to be there. Our kids played all afternoon with their grandkids.....funny how the language barrier doesn´t seem to bother the kids! Jumping rope and sword fighting is the same no matter what language you speak! By the way, for those of you wondering, we did use an interpreter who did an awesome job helping us for the afternoon. Dora was able to share with me some details about Lily coming to her and about Lily´s birthmother...some things that I hadn´t known. These stories are priceless!
There were many tears...at one point our interpreter (neither family even knew her before today) was crying and struggling to make it through the intrepretations......it was just one of those days that I know I will never forget.
We will try to continue to update our blog while we are here. I will just add that this entire trip so far has been wonderful. We are so thankful to God for the opportunity to be here during this time. Our little casita in Antigua is muy bueno!! The weather is fantastico!!! The kids are having a blast!!! We continue to seek the Lord as we are finding reasons that HE laid it on our hearts to be here. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for us during our time here in Guatemala. Please continue to lift us up to HIM during our time here...it means more to us than you could possibly know!
Carrie

Here is a link to most of the pictures from our trip so far.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ctiesma/Guatemala2008

Subscribe to our Blog

2008-04-19T22:09:00.002-04:00

If you look closely way down at the bottom of our blog page you will see a small link to Atom. This is a free service that will email you each time we update our blog so you will know when there is something new to see or read. I have done this with a few blogs that I frequest and it works quite nicely. Just FYI.

Chad

Our Adventure begins!

2008-04-19T13:29:00.003-04:00

We arrived safely in Guatemala on Wednesday morning and we have enjoyed fine weather and beautiful sights since then. We enjoyed our time at the Marriott and we each have some degree of sunburn to show for it. We really shouldn´t have trusted a sunscreen that we have never used before.

We are preparing to leave for lunch at Dora and Ruben´s house now so I well have to go.

I will post some pictures later tonight.

Thanks for checking in.

Chad and Carrie

Easter 2008 - Signs of Spring???

2008-03-31T14:54:00.000-04:00

Well, it has been quite a while since this blog has been updated but I make no apologies. Sometimes I am just not that creative and I have no ideas about what to write or show you all on this blog. So I trust that these few photos will satisfy all of our blog readers.

All dressed up for Easter Brunch

I took the kids on a little field trip to Hoffmaster State Park last Friday.

Soaking it up at the beach.

Gotcha Day, 2008

2008-01-17T21:40:00.000-05:00

On January 15 we celebrated Lily's Gotcha Day. Although Chad is usually the "blogger" in the family, I feel like I should share a bit about this day. I cannot believe that we have had Lily home with us for a year now. Part of me feels like she has always been in our family. On the other hand, the pain of waiting for her is still very fresh in my mind and the frusterations of all that was involved in the process still tear me apart.

I spent the day thinking back to those amazing moments one year ago. I remember so clearly seeing her in her foster mother's arms from way across the hotel lobby. I did everything I could to keep from sprinting toward them. Although I wanted to grab her out of Dora's arms, I waited an eternity for her to hand her over to me (it must have been about 10-15 seconds!) I remember thinking I can't believe that I never have to give her back. I remember the tearful goodbye's to Dora and Ruben. I could go on and on with the memories of that wonderful day and that first special week bonding with her while we were in Guatemala. I spent the day reflecting back, much like I do on the birthdays of my other children. It was such a great day!

As I look back over the past year that Lily has been home, I have spent a great deal of time wrestling with issues such as why do I deserve this beautiful little girl? Why are we so blessed to live such a great life? How much pain is her birthmother feeling? Will her pain ever fade? Is removing these beautiful children from their beautiful country helping to solve the problems in Guatemala? Adopting our daughter has become so much bigger than just adding another child to our family. (If you know me well, you have heard me say this so many times and I'm not sure how else to say this). We have fallen in love with her country. We have a new awareness of poverty (unlike any sort of poverty we had seen in the U.S.). We have a sense of urgency to try to give back to Guatemala because of what we were able to take away from there. We want our daughter to know and love her birth country. We are asking the Lord what all of this means and what His plans are for our family. So, our celebration of Lily's Gotcha Day was a time to look back, and a time to look forward. God has been so amazing to us!
Carrie made this shadow box to show off some of our great memories from our trips to Guatemala.

We had a great meal at San Chez to celebrate the occasion.

Extra! Extra!

2008-01-17T19:42:00.000-05:00

Look who made the news. Sure, it is hidden in a yahoo news slideshow and our names are not mentioned. But we feel like celebrities anyway.
As long as I am doing some "blogging", Chad asked me to tell this story. I like to think of it as Homeschooling at its finest! I decided to take the kids to see John McCain this week. Not because we are great fans of his, but because there was a rally that was less than two miles from our house. I love election years for many reasons, one of them is that it is a really fun time to teach the kids about politics, elections, our freedom, and why America is so great! Chad didn't have to work on Monday afternoon, so we invited him to come along on our little fieldtrip.
We got to the rally about an hour early and when we went into the warehouse, there were already about 350 people there. It started filling up quickly. We stood and "people watched" for awhile. Pretty soon, a lady appeared on stage and she started hand picking people out of the crowd and asking them if they would like to come on stage. I suggested to Chad that he hold Will up just a bit because he has a great face! Who wouldn't want a cute kid up on stage??? So, about 10 seconds later, the lady was pointing to us, and asked us to come up. To make a long story short, we had a lot of fun cheering at the rally from the best seats in the house. My kids thought this was so great. But, here is my favorite part of the story. As soon as the rally was over, a man that was in charge of running this event (I'm sure he has a more official title, but I'm not sure what it was) said to me "hey, you and your family should jump off of this side of the stage quick, head through that curtain and go and meet McCain. I quickly jumped off, the rest of my family followed, and you can see what happened in the picture. What a great day!! Will and Chad both got to shake his hand as I tried to snap some pics. (My pics were not nearly as good as what the big time news guys got). So, if McCain does become president, this will be an even better story someday. But, as we told our kids, John McCain is already a hero because of how he has served our country. Anyway, like I said, this is what I call homeschooling at its finest.

Time to catch up

2008-01-10T21:38:00.000-05:00

Here is a slide show to let you in on some of the great times we had this Christmas holiday. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all. ( and by "all" I mean the two of you who check this blog from time to time)

Fun with Elves

2007-12-05T09:29:00.000-05:00

Our kids have made complete elves of themselves. Click the link below for some great Christmas fun.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1156148627

P.S. The movie "Elf" is not only the finest Christmas Movie ever, but the best movie of all time!!!

October at the Beach!?!?!?

2007-10-06T13:39:00.000-04:00

Believe it or not, this is a photo of Will, Josh, and myself in Lake Michigan on October 5th. It was 85 yesterday evening and today it will be just as hot. The water temperature is even tolerable. I'd say the lake was about 65 degrees which is a pretty common water temperature for most of the summer.
We even saw a few birds flying North at the beach. They must have thought that it was too nice to leave just yet and turned around.

Sunsets in over Lake Michigan are always amazing.

Last week we went to the White Lake Light House. It is open to the public as a museum and there are some great displays and artifacts. The "light keeper" even had some great stories to share with us about the history and function of this house.

Last Days of Summer

2007-09-06T22:24:00.000-04:00

Lily is growing and learning so much lately.
Her face is extremely expressive and every day she seems to show more personality.

Here are some pictures of our last few days of summer.
Lots of fun and sun.

Lily is Walking

2007-08-04T09:50:00.000-04:00

I hope this video link works. Check it out.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ctiesma/Walking

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park

2007-07-23T23:08:00.000-04:00

We took a trip North and stopped by what turns out to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. Just look and these pictures. These were taken at a stop on the scenic drive through the dunes. The first picture is amazing. Click on it to enlarge. The slope of the dune drops off right where Gabbie is standing.

In the last picture if you look closely, you can see Will, Matthew(my nephew) and me at the bottom of the dune. What a great experience. Although, I must warn you all that it is very important to instruct a 7 year old on the proper way to descend a steep dune. I forgot to tell will to go slowly and not take too many large jumps at one time. He fell head over heals tumbling for alost 100 feet of the descent. Once I got to where he stopped falling down the dune, he pulled his head out of the sand and said, "I'm OK, Dad". It was one of the most frightening things I have ever seen, but thankfully no one was hurt.

2007-07-07T14:09:00.000-04:00

Summer Fun

2007-07-07T14:07:00.000-04:00

We are still here. I hope that the three people who check in on this blog have not given up on us.

Here are some pictures from our latest adventures.

Max and Sophie enjoy the surf and the Big Lake.

Gabbie and Will teamed up with Sara and Josh to take 3rd place at a local sand sculpture contest. I think that they got extra points for their name. This sculpture is "Sammy the Super Silly Special Slumbering Sunbathing Sleeping Sand Snowman". Max and Sophie also won prizes for their sculpture, "Sleeping Beauty's Crystal Castle for America's Birthday".

If you have ever been to Baldwin, MI you probable know about Jones' Ice Cream. We had to stop for some of the best ice cream on earth on our way up north.

Carrie, Will and Max at a Mackinac Island Hotel.

Wild Kingdom

2007-05-23T22:41:00.000-04:00

Springtime has been full of new life at our home.

There is a Robin's nest under our deck and the first egg hatched on Sunday. There are now two chicks, but they were both sleeping tonight and not ready for their close ups.

Gabbie got a baby bunny a few weeks ago, so that has kept her pretty busy. Her name is Trixie. She is a sweet animal and very fast. We have learned that it's pretty hard to catch a bunny on the loose in our neighborhood. Thankfully our dog chased Trixie into the pond and bunnies are much slower in the water than on dry ground.

We also have a bucket of 10-12 tadpoles. You can see a few legs growing in this picture. These are amazing to watch develop.

Family Portrait

2007-05-10T20:53:00.000-04:00

My Dad took this great picture last Sunday. We had a great time celebrating Mother's Day a week early with our extended family on my Mom's side. Check out the picture of Grandma and Grandpa with the four grandkids.

Happy Birthday, Lily!!!

2007-04-29T22:33:00.000-04:00

It has been quite a year and what a joy to celebrate Lily's First Birthday.

Vacation Photos

2007-04-29T22:27:00.000-04:00

Thanks for checking in. We had quite an adventure on our vacation a few weeks ago. We drove 13 hours to the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina. We had a beautiful place at a great resort. But we lost power after a big wind storm on the second day of our stay.
So what could we do?
The only thing we could think of was to pack everything up and drive another 4 hours to Charleston, SC. We spent a day and a half there and then returned to NC for a few days of rest and fun in the mountains.

Lily has decided to stop eating baby food. She know prefers to feed herself.

White Water Falls in NC

Happy Easter!

2007-04-08T23:18:00.000-04:00

Hope you all had a blessed Easter.
He is Risen Indeed!!!

Here is a very Brady Easter Collage.

Max has fun at Gabbie's birthday party

2007-04-04T22:21:00.000-04:00

Birthday Bash!!

2007-04-04T22:20:00.000-04:00

Well our little girl turned 10 years old yesterday. Gabbie has given us so much joy and we are extrememly proud of the beautiful person that she is. She choose to celebrate with a few friends at a local roller rink. What a blast! Everyone had a great time.

Happy Birthday, Gabbie!

Lily was a bit overwhelmed by the loud music and lights.

Here is our latest addition to the group pictures. A girl at the home school co-op took this. Carrie said the secret is to set all of them down and walk away.

Weekly Update

2007-03-26T22:52:00.000-04:00

We have a lot to be happy for at our home.
Spring has arrived and we have not had a sick child for over two weeks!!!
We celebrated Lily's baptism yesterday. It was a beatiful thing.

Warning!!!

You are about to see some extremely adorable photos.

Extreme Make Over - Lily Edition

2007-03-20T22:08:00.000-04:00

Before

After

Pictures of the Week

2007-03-13T22:58:00.000-04:00

Lily with Great Grandma

How many kids fit in the hot tub?

Max loves to feed Lily. He sings Rock-a-bye Baby as she gazes at his face. What a treasure.

The Boys and I went on a evening hike last weekend. Lake Michigan still had ice on it about 100 yards out.

Winter Extremes

2007-02-26T21:54:00.000-05:00

We went to a hotel with some friends to escape the winter blues and cabin fever that sets in during February. We had a blast and Lily even enjoyed some time in the pool. When we first got Lily, she hated to take baths. Since then, bathtime has become a highlight of her day. So we thought she might find swimming enjoyable and she did. We played in the pool for almost an hour with Lily. The other kids spent much more time in the pool being thrown around and showing off.

Today was a beautiful day. Fresh snow with temperatures in the mid 30's. This is Lily's first day out in the snow to play. You can tell by her face how much joy she got out of the experience.

Gabbie, Will, Max (and Dad) built this HUGE snowman. This was followed by an equally huge snowball fight.

Check out Will's extra big smile - He lost another tooth today!

Ski Trip

2007-02-19T22:07:00.000-05:00

Grandma and Grandpa took the grandkids (and parents) skiing last Saturday. Here are a few of the pictures from the winter excursion.

Thanks Mom and Dad! Matthew and Sarah did great. It was their first time skiing and they owned the hill after a few runs.

Nice AIR, Will!

Max and Sarah warm up in the lodge.

Say Cheese???

2007-02-09T22:44:00.000-05:00

Here is one of our first attempts at a picture with all four kids in it. It is unbelievable how hard it is to get all of these beautiful kids to look at the same place at the same time and pretend to be happy about it.

Who is going to help me with my hair?

Photos from the past week

2007-02-01T21:59:00.000-05:00

Just a quick picture post. Thanks for checking in.

Family, Friends, Ice and Snow Globes

2007-01-21T22:19:00.000-05:00

We have been seriously blessed with the best family and friends imaginable. This has been a great day. Everyone at church was so excited to see our whole family. Gabbie and Will also were able to introduce Lily to their sunday school classes.

After church Lily napped and Mom unpacked while I took the three other kids ice skating on the pond. The ice is amazing this year. Some neighbors already cleared some snow off and all the kids skated like pros. Even Max only needed me to hold one hand for about a half hour then he was able to skate on his own. Sorry no pictures of that.

Then Carrie's family and my mom and Grandma visited in the evening.

Will likes to do this special event for Lily. He lines up all of our snow globes and gets them going all at the same time. Lily finds it quite amusing.

Lily gets to know Great Grandma

Que Pasa, Cousin?

Grandpa gives Lily some advice on Power Napping.

Lily with Grandma and Great Grandma

Pizza and (Root) Beer for the boys

The girls stick together.

First Day Back Home

2007-01-20T21:24:00.000-05:00

The first day is almost complete. This is what we have worked and waited and prayed for so hard. It is great to be back home. We have never been away from our kids for more than 2 days, so we are all very happy to have our family back together, plus one.

Here we are a few minutes after we got off of the airplane. 45 minutes late.

This is the welcoming committee. What a surprise to see so many family and friends. They even had some cake for a little party in the terminal. Thanks guys!

I took this picture this morning, but we were welcomed to our house last night by these great signs. There were also decorations inside. Celebration is the key word.

Max is really liking being a Big Brother, and Lily thinks he is pretty good at it too.

The first bath at home.
There is so much hair to wash and Lily does not like to take baths... Well at least not how we do it.

HOME AT LAST!!!

2007-01-20T01:23:00.000-05:00

It is 1:24 AM and we are home at last.

What an exciting reception at the airport. Thank you so much to all of the family and friends who welcomed us home. Even sticking it out through a 45 minute delay. Thank you also to the family and friends who have kept us in your thoughts and prayers.

All of the kids fell asleep in the van on the way home. We often comment about how precious it is to have all of our kids asleep at the same time.... Well it is even more precious with 4 of them now.

Pictures will come soon, but it is too late now. I am going to bed.

Chad

Our last day in Guatemala

2007-01-18T22:00:00.000-05:00

We are leaving the hotel at 6:30 tomorrow morning for a long day of traveling. We had a great day today. We visited an orphanage that will be opening soon and then we hired a driver to take us around the city to the national cathedral, presidential palace and the artesian market.

Here are a few pictures from our day.

It will be good to get back home. See you soon.

Chad

No Car seats. This is so strange!!!

Visa

2007-01-17T17:30:00.000-05:00

We just got Lily's visa. We can't wait to travel home!

Waking up from a nap. Look at that BEDHEAD. What do we do with that?

Shopping with Mom. This is Great!!!

Snuggled up in the sling. COZY

Embassy Appointment Today

2007-01-16T20:25:00.000-05:00

We went to the US Embassy this morning. There was a long line and we were there for about 3 hours, but everything was in order and Lily's visa will be issued tomorrow. They wouldn't allow cameras in the embassy, but it was quite a sight. There must have been 40 families there for the same reason as us. Each family has their own story full of amazing things.

We also went to the mall a few blocks from our hotel. What an adventure. Just so Gabbie, Will, and Max know: We were very careful when we crossed the street. Crossing the street here can be more thrilling than any roller coaster ride in the states.

I hope to have more pictures on this blog tomorrow.

Gotcha!!!!

2007-01-15T15:59:00.000-05:00

We happily received Lily just over 4 hours ago. What an emotional time. Lily is doing great so far. She is very laid back and has already eaten well and had a nap.

It was quite amazing to see and talk with her foster parents again. They were such a blessing to us and Lily for the past 8 months.

We are in Antigua!!!

2007-01-13T21:30:00.000-05:00

We are happy to be writing this entry from the internet cafe in La Posade de Don Rodrigo in Antigua Guatemala!!! We had a long day of travel yesterday. It was proven to both of us that a 9 hour layover in Dallas is just too long. Even with two 10 minute sessions in the massage chair at Brookstones.

Here is the view from our room in Antigua. Nice volcano!

Here I am in a tuk tuk. This guy drove us to a friends house where we had a wonderful afternoon. Thanks to my brilliant skill of speaking spainish and negotiating a bargain, we only paid 20 Quetzales. The conversation went like this.

Chad: How much ? (Quantos Quetzales..)

Driver: 15

Chad: How about 20?

Driver: OK?!?!

Once we got in the tuk tuk, Carrie said " Did you just say 20 when he offered 15?"
to which I said " Yes, Yes I did."

We cannot wait until Monday when we get Lily. We will have more to say then.

Chad

Some More Pictures

2007-01-04T23:50:00.000-05:00

Here's the family Christmas card picture.

Max enjoys the sweet life. Frosting on a lolipop. Can it get any better?

On Christmas eve, the kids found an unexpected guest napping in our living room. Guess who was taking a short rest before the big delivery.

These pictures of our little girl were taken on Dec. 26

It should only be a few more weeks until we bring her home.

Lily: The first seven months

2006-12-18T14:24:00.000-05:00

Look at how Lily has grown ever the last few months. We cannot wait to bring her home. Hopefully it will be in the next few weeks.

Lily is HAPPY to be in her Mom's lap. Look at that smile!

We are so excited to see her again. We are praying that we will travel soon.

Some More Pictures

2006-11-12T13:53:00.000-05:00

Gabbie and Tessa make a nest for their stuffed kittens.

Will on Dad's shoulders at the circus.

Max and Grandpa looking for Bello.

What a big tire!!!

Clowning around in Chicago.

Gabbie helped pick over 500 pounds of apples for the family.

Gabbie and Will wait for their food after a hard day of harvesting apples.

Milk Run

2006-09-15T16:37:00.000-04:00

This time there's no stopping us!

Another round of Chocolate Milk for my crew.

More to Come

2006-09-15T10:20:00.000-04:00

Pictures, stories, and other meaningless stuff will soon appear in this blog. Consider yourself warned.