The "Official Skeleton"

Well, here you have it, Jude is now officially part of our family as my newest nephew, the adoption is complete, we celebrate in God's goodness and grace, His mercy and provision! We love this sweet baby, we rejoice that he was chosen to be part of OUR family, and we give "Praise and Thanksgiving"(the meaning of his name!) to God for him!!!! We love you Baby Jude!!!! And thus, this little "skeleton" is officially ours to love, smooch, and cuddle forever!!!!

Beach Vacation...

So this past week we were recovering from our fabulous beach vacation with the Haddon side of the family, it was so fun and relaxing, we are already looking forward to next years!

We had a blast spending time at the beach, here's my favorite pic of the week! Look at the belly and bikini, they were made for each other!

And, Emery found little need for sleep this week [ugg!] so we had a early morning walk on the beach--- two sleepy heads!

Two peas in a pod- Griffin and Emery had so much fun together all week...

they even strolled the beach on their own! (Another one of my favorite pics!)

How cute is "Big Guy"???? We love him so much!

The kids had so much fun playing in the sand with Papa and Grammie... lots of digging, lots of castles, and even some munching on sand and seaweed!

And we had perfect beach weather, what a great end to summer!

Look at our beautiful ocean view- no gate mind you with two small kids= nerve racking at times!!!

Auntie Gelayol's great bedtime stories....

Emmie sneaking a before bed snack in her new Glow-in-the-Dark jammies (thanks Grammie Debs!) and her pink fuzzy boots! Too cute!

1st Fort & The Kern County Fair

So, we were feeling a little restless two weeks ago and tired of the heat, so we decided to make a fort in the family room, and Emery was pretty jazzed about it. We kept it up for two days and she loved it!

Of course, she spent some time reading a few stories to her animal friends!

And then that night we got to take Emery to the Kern County Fair! She was a little leery of the sheep, but she loved to look as long as we held on to her!

Same with the pigs, those boys are BIG, much bigger than the ones in her books!

She liked the baby chicks, more her size, and they were fun to watch as they hatched!

And she played her first carnival game, it was intense, she picked a duck from the pond and depending on the letter underneath, she won a certain prize--- guess the prize... another rubber duck! But she like it, so that's what counts!

And of course, what night at the fair would be complete without her first roller coaster ride??? She chose the Kangaroo's (or really, they chose her because it was one of the only ones for little peanuts to ride on). She was amused, not in love, but definitely amused.

And by the time we made it to the buildings, she was too pooped to party. What a fun family night, we're already looking forward to next year!!!

Welcome Joshua Jude...

My sweetest little nephew was born today, Happy Birthday little Joshua Jude, we love you and can't wait to meet you!! My sister and brother-in-law waited a long time before being introduced to their son. They have been on a long journey with this adoption and they are anxiously waiting the day when they can bring him home- we hope it's soon so we can smother him in smooches!

Our welcome sign for him when he arrives,

made by Big Brother Owen & me

A picture of Jude in the hospital with Noah

Proud Mama Danika and Baby Joshua Jude

Big Brother Owen playing at our house waiting to meet his new little brother!

Thanks to everyone who has prayed and been so supportive of my family during this long journey, praise God for how He has blessed us ALL with Joshua Jude!

Video of Emery Reading....

Here she is, inflections and all, reading just like I taught her too :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llZ8u1_MgXM

Good Times...

A few weeks back, we headed up north to visit my family for many a'reasons. 1. Bubba and I wanted to spend a quality weekend with our nephew Owen so my sister and her hubby could get a weekend away before their adopted baby arrives in a few weeks. (For those of you who have been praying about the situation, thank you, and keep praying, they are waiting to get a phone call as soon as the baby arrives so continue to pray for all hearts involved! Thanks!). Which leads me to reason 2. My sister's friends threw her a baby shower in honor of the adopted baby boy, that Lord willing, will enter their loving family. It was such a great day, a great time of prayer for Danika and Noah and the birth mom as well. And of course 3. I love to spend time with my family, anywhere, anyhow!

Before we left Em chowed on an entire bowl of watermelon in the 100+ weather, her typical afternoon snack!

On Thursday Night we headed down to Hot August Nights to check out all the old and sporty cars, this one was Owen's fav.

Em and Papa, a little past her bedtime :) But, huh hum, she is wearing the capris I made her, ain't they cute???

On Friday, we took Em & O to the pool to do some all day swimming, Owen was a little hard to get a picture of, he was submerged most of the time!!!!

Saturday morning, this was the sweetest moment, the two of these twirps eating breakfast side by side, I wish we lived closer so this could be a more common thing!

A pic of me, my sister, and long time friend Sara at Danika's baby shower.... we can't wait to meet you and love you sweet baby!

Grammie took Emery to feed the ducks with her dress up jewelry on....

And she fed herself while she was at it- in one hand a cracker for her and one hand bread for the ducks!

And once we were home, our friend June came over and Emmie showed her how it's done, lipstick time girls!!!

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Happy Birthday My Sweet Husband!

Thanks so much for your wisdom, support, gentleness, and love towards Emery and I. I love being married to you, I love raising Emmie with you, I love navigating this life with you. Thank you for leading us, praying for us, and being our rock. You're the best honey ever!

So today was my hubby's birthday, and we got to spend the day together, he called in sick- because he is actually sick- the first sick day he's used in 5 years for himself!!!  CRAZY HUH? Anyhow, I got to make him some special birthday meals- breakfast, lunch, and dinner (stick a fork in ME I am done!!!) and we gave him some fun little presents and lots of birthday wishes!

This is what I found Emery doing this morning, opening daddy's birthday gift... 

sneaky, sneaky girl.

Here's the look I got when I caught her and told her "no, that's for daddy".

Bubba's birthday breakfast... yum, yum!

My sleep/sick hubby smiling from the camera at 7 a.m.

Bubba & Emery opening Bubba's presents!

Happy 31st Birthday Bubs!

Me and Em left the house for awhile so Bubs could get some much needed rest, so we went to - TARGET, where else do you go when you need to get out the house? And Emery got to pick out a treat because I've had a gift card that was for her for awhile. Here's what she picked, no kidding, she's in love.... and it's just as girlie as you can get!

It is this sparkly silver and pink purse, 2 lipsticks, makeup compact & powder poof, pink cellphone, a set of car keys with a clicker, and 2 CREDIT CARDS!!!! OH my gosh! I can't believe I bought this, and you know what, she's played with it all afternoon!

Look at this happy girlie girl!

A little of this, little of that...

Not a whole lot new going on around these parts, here's a few snip-it's from what we've been up to...

A visit from Aunite Danika, Owen, and Grammie Debs

(along with story time and popcorn on the couch!)

Grammie & Em at the park... oh how we love when they visit!

Monkey's Jumping on the Bed!!!

Emery Lynn found a tube of lipstick and knew just what to do with it thanks to Grammie Debs and her "lipstick 101 teaching".

Lots of playing outside with chalk, buckets, and bubbles at ALL hours of the day...

An evening downtown with family...

We had fun hanging with cousin Griff, Aunite Gelayol, & Uncle Buddy!

I am going to try to load a video of Emery busting out her dance moves in an Art Gallery downtown to some live Jazz music, she doesn't miss a beat!