Out of the mouths of babes...

How many times can you tell the Twincesses "It's night night. No more playing!" ? Apparently a hundred. Their all-time favorite activity is throwing all of their blankets out of their beds. Tonight after the third, or was it tenth, time of settling them down, Tony and I were sitting and listening. We first heard whispers, then we heard them each say, as clear as day, "Baba told you NO!" Then it morphed into, "Abby, Baba told you NO!" (Insert adult giggle here) Serioulsy, if they won't listen to us, I wish they'd at least listen to each other!!!

On another note, Chris and Sarah are en route to Jaxson!!!! Their flight from NJ left about three this afternoon, so the way I see it, they should be going pretty crazy about now. It's ok though, their son is waiting on them in China! Keep those prayers coming for them...they're working!

YAY GOD!

Ok, off to tell the girls "NO MORE" one more time. Any other sugguestions???

6 MONTHS!!!!!!!!!

Can you believe it has been 6 months? Yes, 6 months since we met our girls for the first time in that wood paneled room on an upper level floor in a big building in the small city (6 million people, give or take a few) of Nanchang. Wow, we cannot believe it either.


It is truly amazing to see the transformation (and I am not talking about just the girls) over the past months. These little sweeties have learned so much, picked up so much and have transfomed our lives, for the better of course. You can read our previous posts for stories of their love, laughter and learning. Even when we are at our wits end, we leave each situation thankful for the opportunity the Lord has given us.


Ok, enough mushy stuff. Take a look at the photos. There is at least one photo from each month we have been a family. As you will see, the more things change, the more they seem to stay the same....see below...

The night we met...Abby not wearing any pants after we returned to the hotel room and they were fascinated with everything! (Look at her tiny little legs! Not so much any more!)




Here the girls are enjoying their first cruise in their new double stroller, a cultural experience, the Indy Auto Show. Ohh, remember Abby's first major boo-boo? Hopefully, her last!

The Huggies box photo. It makes us sad that they cannot fit into Huggies boxes like they used to...they are growing too fast!

Look at those cute piggy tails! Abby is cracking up over something... :)

The girls enjoying a "warm" March afternoon by taking a cruise in their big red wagon...
The girls enjoying a warm April afternoon in their playhouse!



The girls today (literally, we took this photo today). Note the similarities...Abby with no pants (and Laney has none since Abby took hers off). But note the difference...look at those big smiles and happy faces! They are happy little girls and we are happy little (big?) parents!


We are so blessed. God is good...all the time!

Thanks for stopping by. Please check out our My Adoption Website site soon. Rett will be adding a post there! (Hopefully by the weekend!) www.myadoptionwebsite.com/laneyandabby

More earthquake updates...

I hate to post more depressing news, but it's important that our family and friends understand the devastation so that you can pray wholeheartedly for our daughters' homeland. Please read the updated letter (edited for length) from Jenny at Half the Sky.

Dear Friends,

I dearly wish I had more good news to report. The very best thing I cantell you is that we have not had a single report of injuries from thewelfare institutions.

As of this morning (Friday) there were 19,509 people confirmed dead. TheState Council today said there will likely be more than 50,000. Today’s government report describes one terrible scene after another: thousandshomeless, thousands missing, thousands injured, thousands trapped orburied alive. Hope for survivors is dimming. There is an urgent call forbody bags to prevent the spread of disease. There have been over 4,400aftershocks.

HTS Director, Child Development, Ma Lang has arrived in Chengdu and sendsthis note:I am deeply touched by your moral and emotional support. I only slept two of the past thirty hours. The first thing I did after landing was todonate some medicine to the Chengdu Red Cross. It was very muchappreciated – exactly what was needed. They gave me a wish list forfurther donations: antibiotics for children and adults, medicine fordiarrhea, cold capsules (not instant medicines that must be mixed inwater), bandages, gauze, tape, iodine, cotton swabs, herbal medicine tostop bleeding and some for pain relief. Other much-needed donationsinclude tents, tarpaulins, warm clothes and shoes. People in Chengdu aredoing everything they can to help with the earthquake rescue. I saw allsorts of vehicles carrying things to the donation centers. I registeredfor blood donation and was put on the waiting list – the blood center wasoverloaded with donated blood and it’s difficult to transport the blood to the hardest-hit areas. More to come…

If you prefer to donate directly to Half the Sky, of course that’s fine.
Here are the various ways:
You can donate by calling Half the Sky (+1 510525 3377) or on our website:http://give.halfthesky.org/prostores/servlet/Categories?category=Children's+Earthquake+Fund

Thank you for your tremendous support. Although it is heartbreaking towrite these reports, we are so honored to be in a position to help duringthis terrible time.

With love,JennyJenny Bowen
Executive DirectorHalf the Sky Foundation
www.halfthesky.org

Half the Sky was created in order to enrich the lives and enhance the prospects for orphaned children in China. We establish and operate infant nurture and preschool programs, provide personalized learning for older children and establish loving permanent family care and guidance for children with disabilities. It is our goal to ensure that every orphaned child has a caring adult in her life and a chance at a bright future.

Earthquakes

I am sure many of you have heard/read about the earthquakes that happened in China. They are still suffering from many aftershocks and it has been quite devastating. Although the epicenter was not near the girls' hometown, it is still affecting thousands of children and families. Below is part of a letter that Jenny Bowen, Executive Director for Half the Sky wrote. This organization works in China for the welfare of children and orphans on massive levels. They have the respect of China's government and families in the US. If you feel so moved, you will see a link to donate to these efforts.

Please blanket China in prayers right now. Our daughters' homeland is suffering.

Dear friends,

I know you have been waiting eagerly for more news of how the children are
faring during the aftermath of the disastrous earthquake in Sichuan.

When something terrible like this happens, confusion is everywhere and
rumors spread.  All of us are so worried about the children.  We are
trying to be scrupulously careful to pass along only information that
we’ve been able to verify.

We have now set up a procedure whereby we can get an update from the
Ministry of Civil affairs each day.  They are supervising all relief
efforts so have the most complete and accurate information available.  We
also now have contact information for all affected welfare institutions
and have begun the process of reaching out to them directly to see if they
need help.

I will write daily with any new information that has been given to us.
Again, please do not contact us to inquire about individual institutions.
We will give you all of the information we have.  If you do not hear from
us about a particular place, it likely is not affected.  At any rate, we
don’t have any information beyond what I am passing along to you.

As of now, Wednesday afternoon in China, there are 12,012 people dead and
7,841 missing in Sichuan alone, and the numbers continue to rise.  26,206
people are living in temporary shelters.  Only 30 children of 900 have
been rescued from the collapsed high school in Dujiangyan, Sichuan.  At
least 20 children were buried in the collapse of a primary school in
Liangping, Chongqing.

What follows are the welfare institutions closest to the epicenter:
Mianyang, Zitong County, Dujiangyan, Deyang and Guanguan.

The following is a preliminary, and not necessarily complete, list of
institutions which are also potentially affected: Wenjiang County,
Neijiang, Rongxian, Zigong, Ganzizhou, Panzhihua, Luzhou, Santai County,
Leshan, Suining, Nanchong, Guang’an.

We will have a full list later today or early tomorrow.  While we’ve heard
rumors about some of the above, we won’t pass on that information until
we’ve made direct contact and verified.  I want to stress that we’ve heard
no reports of children in the welfare institutions being injured, only
that some have been relocated for their safety.

An update on the Chengdu CWI: There has been some foundation damage to the
rehab building and some cracked walls in other buildings, which are being
carefully inspected.  The children’s building is in the best shape and all
children have been moved to the first floor but spend most of the day
outside, weather permitting – or in the institution buses if there is
rain.  All institution staff and HTS staff are working around the clock to
care for the children and keep them safe.

In cooperation with China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs, Half the Sky has
set up the Children’s Earthquake Fund.  The Fund will provide direct aid
to the thousands of children who are suffering in the wake of the
earthquake and aftershocks.  Donations will be used to provide emergency
and long-term relief to children affected by the disaster, including
emergency shelter, food, and medical care for children orphaned or
separated from their families, as well as temporary or long-term foster
care or, if necessary, temporary institutional care.  The ministry has
guaranteed that the funds will be used only to help the children.

You can donate to the fund by calling Half the Sky (+1 510 525 3377) or at
one of two dedicated sites online:

Global Giving: http://www.globalgiving.com/pr/2100/proj2086a.html

or

Half the Sky website:
http://give.halfthesky.org/prostores/servlet/Categories?category=Children's+Earthquake+Fund

Happy Mother's Day!

Well...this was it...my very first Mother's Day. Was it all it was cracked up to be? In one word. YES! (Warning--it's a looongg post! And pictures won't load...I tried! Maybe tomorrow?)

We have had one busy, emotional week and so I was looking forward to a day just celebrating parenthood. My mom and mother-in-law were even nice enough to allow me to spend the day with just Tony and the girls. They said this would be the last time I could say that it was my first Mother's Day, so I could be selfish. Aren't they the best?

Let me give you a run-down of how my glorious day went. I knew today would be special because I had a hint of what was to come, last week. Tony and the girls showed up last Saturday with Boyd's bears for me to commemorate the day...a week early! Isn't that sweet? But on to today-Tony let me sleep in! (He's SO good to do this on a regular basis. He gets turns too!) So when I finally started stirring, it was to two giggly girls coming in and saying, "Happy Day, Mama!"

I opened my eyes and stretched. The house smelled simply YUMMY! So I wandered down the hall to a table set with eggs, potatoes, juice, AND a present! I sat down to read a beautiful letter that Tony wrote from he and the girls. It was very touching and I was already about to lose it. Then, I opened my present...a beautiful silver Pandora bracelet with two charms. One was a silver ladybug and one a little girl. It was so touching. This first Mother's Day was turning out to be pretty special.

After breakfast, we did the unthinkable...we left the dishes in the sink! We then just hung out and played--and we were still in our jammies! After reading, and playing, and wrestling, and snuggling, it was already time for naps-remember, I slept in. So the girls settled in and, amazingly, fell asleep immediately! I had an hour and a half of blissful silence where I actually sat and painted my fingernails! FUN!

After naps, we got down to some serious playing in the play room. Tony and I were served pretend meals, played with little people, and just snuggled some more with the girls. We ended the night with a dinner picnic on the floor! (Great suggestion, Mom. It was fun!) The girls didn't want the day to end (and neither do I) so it took some convincing to get them to sleep, but they are.

I know I don't have other Mother's Days to compare this to, but I have to say it was simply the best. I couldn't wrap my mind around what parenthood would be like. I could never have envisioned it as good as it is. We are blessed to have two wonderfully smart, funny, and beautiful girls. And although she will never read this, I have to thank our girls' birthmother. She chose life for our girls. She chose to bring them into this world and do the best thing for them she could. And for this, I will forever be grateful. She'll never get to feel their kisses, or reassure them they're loved. I pray wholeheartedly that she finds peace and knows her girls are loved. I still pray that she finds Jesus as well, so one day our girls and she will be reunited.

I have to admit, there was a bit of sadness this Mother's Day weekend. We went to church last night (where our girls went to children's church for the first time!) and I was torn during the service. I sat there in awe that a year ago at this time, I had NO idea God had our daughters waiting on us on the other side of the world. And this year, they were happily playing in the nursery while I got to celebrate motherhood.

However, every time our pastor made reference to Mother's Day, I almost cringed. I thought about how lucky I was to be a part of that sacred club of mothers. I also had a pang of sadness for those who are longing to be mothers, but for one reason or another, are not. And what about those mothers who have lost their children. What a painful time for them as well. I remember last year when I left the sanctuary in tears in the middle of the service because of how unfair it felt. This year I felt guilty that I had crossed that bridge and got to sit on the "other side" as a mother. Trust me, friends, I still felt that it was unfair that some could bask in motherhood, while others wouldn't even come to the service because it hurts to bad. I prayed fiercly for the not-yet-mothers. All I can say is that God's plan is perfect. Having the daughters I do makes me thankful God didn't answer my prayers any sooner than He did.

I have to end this post with something happy...afterall, you DO say HAPPY Mother's Day, right? I guess while I was peacefully snoozing the morning away, Tony was battling two very wild little girlies. At one point he said he saw them get into my fingernail polish. They love to have their toes painted, so he thought, "Oh, it's fine. They can't open those." WRONG! Laney worked one open and was skillfully painting her toes before long! Tony smelled the polish and dashed for her. She did paint some toenails and only got a little on the carpet. That's my girl!

Also, when we were getting the girls ready for bed tonight, we saw Abby had a diaper in her hands. Tony reached for it and realized it was wet and used. Hmmm, where'd that come from? Well, little Miss Houdini some how worked it off of her own body while she was wearing a pantsuit jumper. You know the kind that snaps between the legs and all the way down the inside of the pants. Yeah, she got it off and out the pant leg I guess. She did this WHILE standing in front of us and we had no clue! Look out David Copperfield!

A very Happy Mother's Day to all of our friends and family. Without you, I would have never survived to see my first Mother's Day. I love you.

For all the moms-to-be...hang on, God hasn't forgotten you!

To my sisters...you're like second moms to me. Thanks for setting good examples and loving your kids through it all. I hope I can do the same. I love you!

And to Kyna...you're the best. Thanks for caring so much. And thanks for giving me Tony. I'd be lost without him. I love you!

Mom, what can I say? Ok, what can I say without crying? Nothing. I love you more than this world. Thanks for being the best mom a girl can ask for. And thanks for being my bestest friend. I hope I can be at least half the mom you are. I hope I can make you proud. I love you.

MAN, I love those girls...

The girls have been KILLING us with cuteness lately.

The girls are just getting too smart for their own good. Abby has now leaped to a whole new level of manipulation. Every night when we put them down to sleep, we anticipate a good amount of giggling, jumping, and peek-a-boos coming from their room. We try and let them jabber for a while before we go in and play Night-night Nazis... Well, the past couple of days have been a riot. After giving them a sufficient amount of time to wind down, I have gone in to "settle" them down. Lately when I've walked in the door, Abby does her belly-flop into the bed (she knows I'm going to lay her down) and then starts saying "No more...no more!" See, that's what I say when I go in. "That's enough, no more girls! It's time for night-night!" It's this vicious game and Abby KNOWS my next move before I even make it. That's just funny.

Well, it has reached a whole new level now because when I'm trying to use my "serious Mama" voice, Abby has started interrupting me and saying, "Night-night Mama...I wub you!" How in the world am I supposed to fight that one? It's worse if I'm getting on Laney, because Abby will continue to say "I wub you" a hundred times to deflect my annoyance from Laney! Man, they look out for each other.

Laney, on the other hand, will show how irritated she is with me for ending their fun and refuse to tell me I love you. I normally just say, "Well, Mama loves you anyway," and start to walk out. I'm not three steps away before she's belting out, "I love you!!!!!" It's like she has proven her point, and now wants to ensure I'm loved too. (My heart swells at this point)

Other than the night time hilarity, the girls have also started this "good girl" gig. Randomly this weekend, Abby looked at me and said, "Mama, LaLa a good girl?" (Yes, they still talk in third person although Laney DID say "MINE" this weekend!) I of course responded with, "YES! Abby, you ARE a good girl! You're a very good girl!" It's too cute too, because it sounds more like, "Good gurl".

However, once again, these girls take it to a whole new level. We lovingly refer to them as our Chinese hillbillies (no comments please) because they LOVE to be shoeless. So yesterday, when we were in the car and they kicked off their shoes, Abby immediately piped in with, "Mama, Lala good girl?" Laney giggled, squeezed her piggies out of her shoes with reckless abandon, and simply announced, "MeiMei a good girl!" They think they're cute....lucky for them, they ARE!!!

Abby also wanted to ensure that everyone in our family was a good girl. She did this little banter with me...It looked like this:

Abby: LaLa a good girl?

Me: Yes, LaLa, you're a good girl!

Abby: MeiMei a good girl?

Me: Yes, MeiMei is a good girl too!

Abby: Mama a good girl?

Me: Yes, I'm a good girl.

Abby: Baba a good girl?

Me: No, Baba is a good BOY!

Abby: Baba a good boy!!!

And she bounded off to her next adventure! I guess she just wanted to be sure we were all on our best behavior!

Once again, a post with no pics....just shoot me! (Tony has a good picture to post on his next entry!)

New and Improved

Well, here it is...our extreme blog makeover!

You'll still get the same adorable girls...
The same emotional posts...
The same plethera of pictures...
The same wit...

It will just all be in a prettier package!

A HUGE thank you goes to Tina at www.thestoryofyou.com ! Check out her creative designs and follow family journeys!

Off to another busy week! Stay tuned!

P.S. Want to reconnect with your spouse? Skip date night, forget the movies...just wash dishes together. We did that tonight! I forgot how much some uninterrupted time doing something rather mundane can really get us to focus on each other. It was nice! (Still thankful we have a dishwasher though!!)

The smell of fresh cut grass....

So wrap your mind around this one...

Tony and I took the girls for a walk around the 'hood tonight in their wagon. We were super pumped because it was warm enough for them to wear their new flip flops! (Their toes are cute enough to EAT, I swear!) Anyway, after huffing and puffing pulling all 75 pounds of Radio Flyer and twins, we decided to take the top off the Jeep and take a short drive.

While Tony was taking the Jeep apart, I took the girls out of the wagon. Because our girls are Chinese hillbillies, they had taken off their adorable little flops within two minutes of being in the wagon. So when I picked them up, I just plopped them in the grass until I could load them in the Jeep.

Well, one day last week Laney got to touch the grass with her bare feet and it lasted like a nanosecond before she howled. I wondered what this experience would bring. After I set them down, they both stood stock still like statues. They weren't whining yet, but they weren't lovin' it either.

I immediately took off my flops and tried to make it a game. I talked about how it felt on their toes and between their toes. I talked about how cold it was, etc. Then I pretended like they were trying to get me and I was trying to get away. (Yeah, right, they were frozen solid) Well, it finally worked...Abby stretched her toes out and grinned. Took a step and giggled. Her smile was priceless. Laney followed suit once she knew the grass didn't eat Abby's feet after a step or two. I'm proud to say they took three whole steps before they freaked and wanted, "Up beease"!

So imagine that...two years and 3 months old and experiencing the feel of grass on your bare feet for the very first time. The girls have had many, many firsts and many emotions associated with each one (swinging, um, yeah, wow). But this one really struck me. I'm so sad that they haven't had that experience. I'm so sad that they're scared to feel it. However, I am elated that we got to share that with them though. My goal is to have them chasing lightning bugs barefooted by July.

Just thought I'd share another first with you...I had to choke back tears and laughter all at once.

God is good...all the time...

P.S. Still no word on Grissom :(

P.S.S. Don't forget to look at our cuties on Tony's post below!

The UPDATE

Hello. First, Grissom is still missing. We received a few calls, but they turned out to be a different cat. Please keep praying we find the fat furry little guy.

Well, I am going to provide an update that covers several weeks of updates. We have had many firsts, a ton of fun and cannot wait for more! The girls are growing and learning more and more every day. They have put on some weight, grown an inch or two and are speaking unbelievably well.

Below you will find their first day in the snow (yes, I am going a ways back). Neither were too excited about the snow, but seemed to have a good time towards the end.

Just a week or two after the snow, we began to experience warm weather. Here are photos from the first trip to the park near our house.

Another fun day was spent at the Children's Museum. Here the girls check out the underside of an old car...pretty cool.

Another fun trip was to the Indianapolis Zoo! Our friends Brian and Nancy were nice enough to ask us to join them for a day a the zoo (THANKS BRIAN AND NANCY). We had a great time! We look forward to many more trips to the zoo.

The girls and their friend Morgan watch creatures that lurk in the sea.Abby and her new found buddy, a penguin.

The next new adventure is the backyard. Aunt Robin gave the girls Jarrett's playset. THEY LOVE IT!!!! THANKS AUNT ROBIN!!!

And we swapped Jeeps. The girls call it the "NEEWWW JEEP".
Thanks for checking in on us. More updates will come later.

Still no word....

We haven't heard anything on Grissom. We put posters up, put and ad in the newspaper, called all of the shelters, and walked and driven miles. We have yet to hear one single word about our poor, missing Grissom. We are SO blessed though, because we have friends and family just as concerned as us! Every day someone emails or asks if we have found him. We have also had friends and family peruse town looking for him. If he only knew the many miles that have been trekked and minutes that have been spent searching for him. He definitely wins the prize for best hider in the game of hide and seek.

Thank you so much for your prayers, thoughts and concerns. If you forget what he looks like, scroll down and check out his cute picture. Some people think it is silly to be this concerned over our kitty, but they don't understand how important he was to us before the girls came home. Not-to-mention how important he is to the girls now. They ask about him often.

Thanks again...hopefully our next post will be with some good news!

Grissom is Missing....

Our little kitty (ok, he's huge and 3 years old) is missing.
I noticed Thursday night (about 10:30 pm) that he must have gotten in a
fight b/c he had a horrible gash in his lower cheek/upper neck. A
huge chunk of fur was missing and he looked really raw underneath.
Well, yesterday Tony got a good look at it today, he said we
definitely should take him to the vet.

We got an appointment for 3:45 yesterday. On the way, we dropped off the girls
at my mom's and then stopped by my sister's to get a crate. In the
process of putting him in the crate, he escaped. He shot out and
took off like a rocket. This all happened in Fountain City...so unfamiliar territory for him. :( We looked for over two hours and then off
and on all night. Upon arriving back home, Laney kept
asking where Grissom was. She looked under the seats in the car
(where he was on the way to the vet) and in our garage. It's just
heartbreaking.

So I'm asking for prayers for our little kitty. He's lost, alone,
and very hurt. We have already put up flyers and asked all around
the area where he was last spotted. Tony even went again last night to look. He thought in the dark he might spot his eyes. Poor
Grissom.

I know there are more pressing matters. But this little guy helped
us during our wait for our girls. He's one of our first kids!! (Fur
babies)

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers....

HOLY COW, WE WON!

So I got an email this morning that I won a free blog make-over!!! No, this isn't a phony website hoax. A fellow FTIA adoptive family runs a website www.thestoryofyou.com
and she hosts adoption journeys. She was running a contest in April for a free blog make-over and WE WON!!!!!

When I entered, I never thought we'd win! But, entering the contest gave me the idea to at least try and figure out a new blog name. (I like our current one too, but wanted something that could grow with us...IF we choose to grow!)

I was just wanting to change the blog name to jazz up our, otherwise, boring blog but NOW....YAY! The whole thing is going to get jazzed up! YAY, YAY, YAY! Can you tell I'm pumped?

Nothing will change (blog address, losing content, etc.) but it will look WAY better! We haven't figured out what design we want to go with yet, and I'm not sure how long it takes Tina to get it up and running. So in the mean time, you'll still see green polka-dots, and my lame attempt at color by using the tickers. But oh, baby, changes are a comin'!

Love the name ideas so far too...keep them rollin' in!

The Contest

And for you Seinfeld fans....it's NOT the same KIND of contest....:)

I want to change our blog name...I think...that IS if I can come up with something funny/catchy/witty/cute. Tony doesn't have an opinion, at least I don't think he does.

I like the idea of a play on twins, two, etc. An example would be Twindom instead of Kingdom...but Twindom what? Twindom Tired, where Abby and Laney reign supreme? Does anyone have a good idea? If we can't drum one up, no worries...our cute little title will stay, but everyone likes a good change! (Especially if we ever add to our family, the current title won't work!)

So, got any good ideas? Put them in the comments section! Thanks!!!

P.S. We're still working on a for-real post :)

P.P.S. Mom, you're right....happy kids, tired parents!!!! I was so happy as a kid, surely you were worn out!!!!

Still Alive...sort of....

Yep, we're still alive....no, the twins didn't hog tie us and put us in the closet. We are just swamped....sorting through pictures now....will post SOON, I promise...so BACK off Lauren! HA!

Man, we've had lots of fun lately. Can't wait to share!

Stay tuned!!!!

Our Easter Chickadees!

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

Happy 4 Months...um, yesterday

I didn't want anyone to think we missed our family's four month anniversary together! I know, I know, it happened yesterday. It has just been a nutso week with Jeeps, and city council, and homegroup, and parent/teacher conferences. We were just flat exhausted last night and didn't get it posted. BUT we DID remember it!!!

Happy 4 month anniversary baby girls! We thank God every day that He chose us to be your parents! We LOVE YOU!!!!!

Ok, now I'm off again...spring break starts in less than an hour! I'll be off to pick up the girls early, YAY! We can't wait to spend some time with them...and do some extra special things with them.

Stay tuned for our Easter/Spring Break updates!

HAPPY 9 YEAR ANNIVERSARY TONY!

Yes, it's true...on this very day nine years ago, I married the love of my life. It was a very cold March day, but fun nonetheless.

Tony and I have fun and frightful memories of our wedding day. We were blessed to have two pastors marry us, Pastor Dave (long-time pastor and friend) and Pastor Rob (long time youth pastor, friend, and counselor). After crying all the way through the rehearsal ceremony (Pastor Rob said that was OK!) I made it through without crying during the real one. (If you don't count when I walked down the aisle with my dad!)

Other than the tears during rehearsal, everything else the night before was wonderful! The yummy food (thanks Belinda!) and the fun Newlywed game (thanks Kyna)! I couldn't have asked for more!

As for our wedding day, our family and friends were there to help us celebrate and we appreciated that so much! The ceremony was fun! Little Dallas (who isn't so little any more) kind of hop/skipped down the aisle as the flower girl. She'd drop a petal and then delicately hop over it. Too cute!

It was also a riot to speed off after the ceremony in mom and dad's Monte Carlo and run through McDonald's drive-thru. (Thanks Mom and Dad--oh, and Robby for driving!)

I do have to thank my bridesmaids too. You girls were so brave to wear those flower-child headbands, and empire style dresses! You rock!!!

Thanks to our parents who endured all the planning and stress. Vegas was a much better idea!

There WERE two frightful parts to that wedding day. Wait, frightful might not be the most accurate adjective. Maybe irritating. The first was that our photographer was really more of a portrait photog, so it took her a blue MILLION years to take our pictures. Note to self, research photogs before getting married again (hehe, kidding honey!) Seriously, we were so late to the reception, my dad was hot, and our guests were leaving!!!

The second was when that, man of God, Pastor Rob, pulled a practical joke on me! He came to me just minutes before the ceremony and said that he was looking at the marriage certificate and found a mistake. He said they had misspelled my middle name (for those of you who know it, you know WHY this would be common). Between my nerves and personality, I immediately became panicked! I said, "Well, what do we do? Does it matter? Can we get it changed?" He calmly replied that no, we couldn't change it because the courthouse was closed on Saturdays. He said we could go through with the ceremony, but we wouldn't legally be married until it was corrected.

I think at this point, he saw the color drain from my freshly made-up face and the tears start to well-up in my eyes. It was at this point he said, "GOTCHA!" and I nearly fainted! Oh, Rob, you won't know when or where, but I WILL get you back!

All of the memories aside, this day, as hectic and dramatic as it was, was the best day of my life. It was the day I truly married my best friend. I am more in love with Tony today than I ever was.

----------------------------------

Tony,

You endured my moods and craziness all through high school. You worked hard throughout college to help establish our lives. You had a plan: college, house, marriage, family. Your plan worked. We grew, and grew-up together. I cannot imagine life without you.

I admire you for your integrity, your love of God, family, and friends. I respect you for your hard work and determination to be the best husband, father/Baba, son, friend, and employee you can be, and for just being you. You challenge me to do and be my best. I want to make you proud. Thank you for sharing the last nine years with me. I am so blessed to be your wife. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

I love you.

Rett

Keeping Busy....

Mama, Enough Pictures Already!!!!!

Thanks for stopping in to check up on us.

We have been busy. The girls keep us very BUSY, but we love every minute of it. They continue to develop their language skills and keep us laughing. For example, Abby was mad at Laney one day and told her to go to "time out, time out". Laney listened and climbed into the time out chair. It was great. A few days later, they broke a plastic bowl (I still cannot figure out how). I asked what happened and Laney immediately said "Abby did it". It was great. We have noticed that Laney does things and frequently blames Abby. They are sneaky little stinkers.

A couple of weeks ago the girls were dedicated at church. Since we pray for our meals and before bed, the girls are used to closing their eyes and putting their hands together for prayer. The dedication prayer was no different and the congregation was full of "aws" when they opened their eyes after the prayer and saw the girls with their heads bowed and eyes closed tight. (there is a cute picture below...and Laney did peek to see if Pastor Dave was finished). After the dedication Robin and Duane were kind enough to open up their home and we all went to their house for desserts and etc... We appreciate all of our family and friends that attended church that night for the the girls, another sign of caring and love for them. We appreciate it.

Last weekend was pretty nice out, unlike this weekend (there will be a separate post about the bad weather). We were able to get the girls bundled up and take a walk around the neighborhood. They loved riding in their big wagon. In fact, they did not want to get out when we returned home. We were worn out. We are used to walking the block around the subdivision, but pulling two little girls in a big wagon is a different story. We know, we are out of shape!!!!

Other exciting news is that there is a new restaurant in our area. It is a Chinese restaurant. We have been there three times in the week and a half they have been open. It is pretty bad that when we went tonight with our friend Rachel, Jason and their son Grant, the lady said to us "three times". Yup, this was our third visit. Regardless, it is nice to have choices on this end of town besides the usual fast food. The ladies that work there like the girls (which is good because the girls are MESSY!!!).

Other than that, life is good (not a plug for my favorite clothing, but if you are interested, their website is www.lifeisgood.com). We cannot wait for warm weather to arrive so that we can play outside with the girls. Robin and Duane have graciously given us Jarrett's outdoor play set (wood with tower, swings and etc...). It will be fun to get that relocated to the backyard for the girls.

Stay tuned for photos of our snowy adventure. Have a great week.

First Dairy Queen Ice Cream, YUMMY!!!!

Our girls....(and check out the pictures on the last post too!)

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

Photos from the New Camera...

We purchased a new camera in order to keep up with the girls. Here are a few pictures. Enjoy.