Trunk or Treat

Saturday night we went to my mom's church for a Trunk or Treat. I dressed as Cat in the Hat and the girls were Thing One and Thing Two. My mom dressed as the goldfish in the book who kept telling the cat to go away. Of course, Brad would not dress up! We had a good time and the girls had fun getting candy and I am having fun keeping them from eating it all in one day!

I always dressed as Cat in the Hat when I taught elementary school and I dreamed of the day I'd have 2 little ones to be Thing one and thing two! It was a good day for me. Stay tuned for more trunk or treat fun as we plan to go to our church's event on Halloween night this week.

Bath Time

Our girls love bathtime, especially when they are together! Alea had been throwing a major fit, but when put into the bath, it was an instant playground of fun!

Scenes from the Pumpkin Patch

Who says you need boys to ride tractors?

Daddy's tractor girls. The girls enjoyed seeing the tractors at the pumpkin patch on Saturday.

Our Lil' Pumpkins

Birthday Party with Friends

On Sunday, Bray's actual birthday, we had friends over to celebrate. Braylen had fun playing with Keaton and Kearston and the VanDuyne boys. We all had a good time, including Alea who thought the cake and ice cream were the best!!

Braylen's New Bike

All Bray has talked about for about 6 months is wanting a new bike. She needed a new bike. Her old one was the size for a 3 year old! So, Brad and I got her a bike for her birthday. She got a card that told her to walk to the shed with Daddy. Here it is captured moment by moment. She was very excited!!!

The Girls of the Party

Magic Show

Braylen asked Brad to do a magic show for her birthday party. He did a great job! The kids all loved it and I think a few adults were stumped and left wondering too! He had fun pulling help from the audience :) Thanks for letting him make fun of you, Scott and Wayne!!

Picture Failure

I have tried and tried over the last 3 days to get pictures to upload on Blogger with no success. We do not have high speed internet. I always have to wait for a little while, but after 20-30 minutes this time, I give up. We had a great birthday weekend. If Blogger ever cooperates, I will attempt to put more pictures on, but at this point, what you see is what you get.

Claudia--we'll burn the pictures to a CD for you since I cannot get them on this site!!!

More Coming Soon...

Lots more pictures coming soon! Stay tuned this week for the full birthday party weekend events!!!

Alea at the Party

Alea had as much fun as Braylen. For all those wondering what to get Alea for Christmas, don't worry, she'll take the boxes, bags and paper left over from Bray's gifts! She was such a delight and warmed up to most at the party. Our sweet pea is starting to come out of her shell!!!

Happy Fifth Birthday, Braylen

Can she really be five already? Brad and I are wondering where the time has gone. He promised me that if I didn't blink, he wouldn't either, but at some point we both must have because our sweet 18 pound Kazakh beauty we brought home for the first time 4 years ago, somehow grew up on us into a beautiful 35 pound Kazakh/American beauty! We'll try to do better at not blinking, but somehow I don't think that's the key we're looking for.

We are so very blessed to have Braylen in our lives. I have said from the beginning that doctors and medicine and science couldn't make me a mommy, but a sweet little baby tucked away in a far away land did and this baby gave me a gift no other ever can, she made me a mommy, she handed me the highest calling I could ever have. She is without a doubt, a cherished treasure. We love you punk-a-roo!!! You'll always be our little dreamcatcher!!

The Many Talents of Alea

Future Surfer?

Future Acrobat?