Posing Alea

Yesterday Alea and I were sitting at the computer and the camera was sitting beside the keyboard and she started pointing to it. She wanted me to take her picture! I was a little close to her, but as soon as I turned it on, she started posing!

Walkway of Lights

It was a cold, snowy night, but we drove most of the way through the lights and then got out and walked around the pond and got up close and personal to the castle. For those who don't know, this is where Brad proposed to me 7 years ago!! We were walking across the bridge towards the castle and he proposed to me. It was fun to show the girls this spot that is special to us!

Yoga and Ballet with Kiki

After a delicious Turkey dinner, Kiki and Braylen felt the need to exercise. Kiki taught Bray some yoga and Bray taught Kiki some Ballet stretching exercises. They had a great time and I won't post the bottoms up poses that I took of both, you can thank me later Kiki!!!!!

Snapshots of Alea

Here are some pictures taken on Thanksgiving Day. Alea was playing with Mamaw Weaver and loving on the horsey. We also caught her in front of the Christmas Tree that morning before going to Mamaw and Papaw's house. Yes, we put our tree up BEFORE Thanksgiving, thanks to the little boy who lives in this house who LOVES and can't wait for Christmas! It's fun watching Brad get so excited about Christmas. For those of you who know Brad well, you will agree that there isn't a lot that gets him really excited, but Christmas is an exception!

Pilgrim Bray

Braylen had a Thanksgiving Feast at school today. She got to taste deer meat for the first time. She said she liked it! Her teachers painted her face like an Indian and she wore a pilgrim hat. I guess she was a pilian or Indrim or something like that. I added a picture of her last year after her Thanksgiving Feast when she had her face painted like an Indian for a flashback!! The picture in the middle is a craft she made at school this week.

We are so very thankful for this little miracle in our lives. Braylen has brought sunshine and hope and joy to our lives each and everyday she has been with us. She made us Mommy and Daddy--what better gift could anyone give? We love her and thank God for her everyday. God is good all the time and all the time He is good!

Lil Pilgrim

Braylen came home from school today with a pilgrim hat. Alea didn't like wearing it, but I was able to get one quick picture before it was quickly discarded from her head! Thought everyone would enjoy looking back to our lil' turkey last year compared to this year. We were still waiting to go get Alea this time last year, but we did know that she was OURS!! Her birthmother had relinquished rights at court on the 14th of last November.

We are so thankful for our little Alea. We love her so much. You will often hear us talking about the difficult times we have had with her, but we wouldn't trade them for a second! We love her laugh, how she is starting to carry on conversations with us and her spunk! She is ours and we are hers FOREVER!!! God is good all the time and All the time He is good!

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things...

Not just a few, they are THE FAVORITE THINGS!!! Alea LOVES her pacifier (passy), bottle (ba, ba) and bear (bee). We have yet to break her from her bottle at bedtime. This morning she and Bray were playing upstairs while mommy and daddy were getting ready. This is how Alea came into our room. She was loving them all saying "Ahhhhh, ahhhh...."

Daddy's Home!

Brad left for Argentina last Sunday afternoon and returned yesterday afternoon. He was gone for a very long 8 days!!! We missed him so much and he missed us. He was very busy in Argentina and didn't have a lot of free time, but he did manage to shop for his girls! They were very excited to see him come home and to get his gifts. Daddy got the girls a traditional paper mache doll and a toy doll. He got Alea a sweater and Braylen and necklace. His translator got the girls the ponchos! They love them. When they first opened them, they were switched. Braylen wore hers to school today to show off. I got a necklace and a wooden wind chime type musical instrument. We have started a tradition of getting the girls authentic dolls whenever we travel abroad. So far they have dolls from Kazakhstan, Brazil, Grand Caymen Islands, Amish land, Taiwan and now Argentina.

The girls also bought Daddy a gift with Papaw Bruce's help. Daddy got John Deere Christmas ornaments. It was a fun evening yesterday celebrating Daddy's homecoming! We all slept very well last night all together as a family again. I may post pictures later of Brad's trip...we'll see :)

Halloween Night

Last night we ran a trunk at our church's trunk or treat. Mom came up to help me. We used her van and made a cupcake pumpkin walk. The kids had to walk on the pumpkins to music and whoever landed on the winner pumpkin won a cupcake, all other got candy from the basket. Our trunk was the hit of the night! We gave out 100 cupcakes!!! Braylen and Alea had a lot of fun. Jill took Alea into the bookstore to keep her warm after a while. Braylen hung out with friends and helped run our game. THANK YOU MOM for helping me! I couldn't have done it without you! Before going to trunk or treat, we took the girls to Bray's preschool teacher's houses. After we ate at Pizza Hut and then Mamaw spent the night with us. She and Bray had a "slumber party" in the basement! They slept together on the bed down there. Mom got the girls up for me this morning and let me sleep in! THANK YOU!!!!!