What's New???

We've had some crazy weeks- with showers and traveling, spontaneous trips and lots of visitors, here's some pics that capture it better than words... and are probably more enjoyable :)

My sister in law, Lisa, and I gave my sister a shower to introduce everyone to our sweet Baby Jude! It was such an awesome time, she shared in detail about their journey to adopting Jude, it was an awesome account to the graciousness of God- wish I would have video taped it- darn it!

Had to snap a picture of the centerpiece because it turned out so cute- click on the pic to make it bigger, it's his name and some birds in a tree :)

And we had a blast making the favors (and eating them- oops!) and more owls to go along with the bird theme- thanks for the stamps Sarah Jane!!!

And a picture of the best mama ever and her sweet little man, Mr. Jude Stokes- who in typical Jude fashion slept through the whole party!

And back home, me and Emmie practiced smiles when I say "cheese"- pretty good huh?

Then off to SLO for a convention for Bubba, and me and the little miss tagged along- we had a blast with my brother and his wife, they are wonderfully hospitable and just down right fun. We did our normal run to Coldstones and had lots of good laughs, thanks guys!

And then some pics of me and Em at a park down the street from my brother's house ....

And a quick trip to Availa Beach, so much to do on the Central Coast.. miss it already! We had a blast!

the end.

Happy Late Halloween....

Here are some snipp-its of our Halloween this year, we had a blast!! Emery was a Bumblebee, I gave a go at making her costume which was fun since she's little and has no opinion! The first two pictures were taken by Curtis Nemetz- hence that's why they look so awesome, the rest of them are taken by little ol' me :)

Back up the train--- the day before Halloween we carved pumpkins with our cousin- Emery in her totally girlie fashion wouldn't touch it because it was too gushy- instead she hung with Uncle Buddy. So me and Griffin went after it.

Back to Halloween Day---BEE-utiful bee's!

Bubba was the Bee Keeper, I was the "Honey" (check out my ALL NATURAL Bee Hive, that was a dozey to take down!), and Emery and Griffin were bee's.

Bubba's parents stopped by to say hi!

All the little creatures... and the UPS guy :)

"why do we have these things on? and why are you taking our pictures so many times????"

Pizza Party with Jeff and the kiddos!

At the church carnival, Emery loved the baby cows, as you can see she was waving at them while they were trying to sleep!

Me and Em with our fun buddy Annah (and baby Will the pumpkin bump!)

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!!!