"I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace." Acts 20:24

To Tell of His Grace

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Our Little Cheerleader

Kaylee was a Cheerleader for her 1st Halloween :)  Just like Bis Sis was ;)
Kennady in the cheer uniform (almost 2 years old), Rachel in lamb costume (6 months) Keegan in bear costume (5 months...sorry Keeg!)
Just for fun...here are a couple of our favorite Halloween costumes:
Keegan was Peter Pan...hiding behind a chair sneaking a cupcake

Kolson wanted to be a "Cool Rider" which is what he called motorcycle riders ;)

 Kaylee was so excited to get her uniform on tonight!!! The kids taught her to cheer, "Go Dogs Go!", so that's all we've heard since the uniforms been on (go daw goooo!)  So cute!!!
We love being able to share her one of her "1st's" with her!




Go Dogs Go!


Proud Cheerleader :)

Our big kids decided they really wanted to stay at home and pass out candy and not dress up this year...it's always been their favorite! We passed out the usual BIG candy bars that remind our neighbors how much Jesus loves them!

We love our tradition of trick or treating with family...we missed Claire and the twins! Next year :)


Monday, October 28, 2013

Four Day Weekend!!!


Well, the boys had a four day weekend...Kennady got to make hers a four day weekend too!

We had Sea World passes and the big kids begged us to take Kaylee to Disneyland on the way ;). 

We weren't too sure if she was ready for it but she had fun! She also had a yucky cold so I'm sure she would have enjoyed it even more if she felt better! 




She loved seeing all the characters!

Dumbo ride was her all-time favorite!




Aunt Abbie met up with us...her first time meeting Kaylee Grace! We had fun catching up with her...she's always making us laugh :)))




On Elmo ride at Sea World

Dolphins were the whole reason we took her there...she LOVES them!




She really liked watching all the shows

Kaylee and Daddy watching the Sea Turtle


The big kids had a BLAST!!! We could use a 4 day weekend every week ;)



Monday, October 21, 2013

What We've Been Up To.....



Sis had an all day Tennis Tournament and did GREAT!!!!

We went to the Art of Freedom event to support those who are enslaved and trafficked against their will

We each got to create our own art piece and Sis had the idea to paint a picture that our friends have on their daughter's wall (actually, it's one of Kaylee's former orphanage mates that has it on her wall!)

We got a little help from the professional artists there ;). We are SO happy with the way it turned out and Kaylee was SO EXCITED to see it! 

The boys went to the Bulldog game :)

Keegan had another football game


Jog A Thon at school! Here is Keegan with his friend Grant :)


Kaylee always draws a crowd when we go to school! Here she is with some of her friends ;)


Kols and his friend Tobey! 



My little helper as we shop :)

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Kaylee's Big News...

Love this picture Stacy got of Kaylee's dedication :)
 We have a HUGE praise! Kaylee ate a FULL fruit squeeze yesterday! When Claire was over at our house and had a snack, she chose one of the fruit squeezes. We always give Kaylee whatever snack Claire has and she asked me to open hers...I did and she sucked down every last drop :) She had another one today for a snack and half of one out at Sissy's tennis :)  One step closer to eating solid foods :)))))
 This is one of the first times that she has actually put anything other than her bottle IN her mouth...usually everything just touches her lips and that's as fas as she'll go. Yay! 
She has also been eating the broth from soup ... I have soup often for lunch and I've been making a bowl for her ~ she slurps the broth off the spoon and each day has had about half a bowl of broth (leaving the meat and veggies). I'm going to make a new batch of soup tomorrow and grind her meat and veggies up into the broth...just to sneak a few nutrients in ;)  We'll see how that goes...
Learning to pedal :)

Arts and Crafts time with Claire :)  Making Fall Pumpkins!

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Kaylee Grace's Dedication

Today was a special day for our family! Our church celebrated our annual Orphan Sunday event and we figured it'd be a perfect day to dedicate Kaylee's sweet life to Jesus!
Waving to her fans :)
 Kaylee, we lay your precious life in the hands of our Lord Jesus ~ you've been in His Hands all along! We commit to pouring His Love & His Word into you so that you may know Him.
Kaylee felt quite comfortable up on stage :)  She had us all laughing 
 We are so blessed to have such a wonderful church family! They have been so supportive in every way and have been a part of this journey from the very beginning...over 2 years ago when the Lord first spoke to our hearts about adoption!
Pastor Mitch had some very encouraging words for our big kids...he knows how awesomely they have loved on sweet Kaylee from day 1 and he was telling them how proud of them he is...we are too!!!

We love you, Kaylee Grace! And we know the plans He has for you are GREAT!!!

We are SO VERY BLESSED by your sweet and precious life!!! We thank Jesus for entrusting us with you :)  We laugh a whole lot more, we've learned what unconditional love really means, and we've all grown so much closer to Jesus through the blessing of YOU :)

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Time For An Update!

Whew! So much happens in a week or two!!!

Football for the boys:
Keeg's team

Kols' team
 Tennis matches for Sis:
Mommy and Kaylee on our way to Sissy's match

Go Sissy, Go!!!
 Time at the cabin with family and friends:
Kaylee and Cousin Anna playing playdough at the cabin

Keeg blowing up a raft to take out on the lake
The Marini's came up to the cabin and Sis and Kiki made us breakfast...smores pancakes - yes, those are marshmallows, m&ms and crumbled graham crackers ;)
 One last swim for the season:

Playdates with Claire ;)
Having a snack on the slide

Painting ;)  Claire likes purple...Kaylee chose orange
Someone VERY SPECIAL turned 40!!!!!  Happy Birthday to the BEST husband and dad!!! I love you, Babe! And I am SO BLESSED to do life with you ;)  Praying this will be your best year yet :) You are a strong, godly man and the plans that He has for you are beyond what we can imagine...He has placed so many gifts in you for His glory :)
Miss Kaylee, Brodie's mom and I all dropped by with cake and goodies to surprise him and celebrate with his office

 Nana Carol spent a few days with us :)
We had SO MUCH FUN!!!

Cute kids ready for church ;)

 Miss Kaylee tried a fruit pouch on her own!!! Can't wait till she eats REAL fruit...or even these squeeze pouches on a regular basis ;)  She tried it once and hasn't tried it since...one day!!!

You can do it, Kaylee!!!
Digging in the yard:
Kols LOVES playing with Kaylee...always so kind and willing to do whatever she wants.
She LOVES playing with him, too!


We've had a few sick days...
Sissy was sick and as she was feeling better she and Kaylee were playing with my camera...
Sis was having her make funny faces ;)


Keeg got it next....here he is feeling MUCH better and getting some HW done...
Miss Kaylee has her crayons and Dora coloring book ~ doing her HW, too!