Fifteen Months

Isabella,

Today you are 15 months old. Boy, are you FUN! You are friendly, outgoing, and social. You can pout with the best of 'em and put your head down when you don't get your way. You love to babble, babble, babble all day long. Your favorite word is "more", and your favorite song is Itsy, Bitsy Spider. You demand I sing it over and over to you in the car every morning when we drop your brothers off at school. When I look in the rear view mirror I can see your chubby, little spider fingers waving to me above your head. If I don't see your fingers requesting your favorite song you yell, "More! More!" to me until I start singing. When I can't sing another note, I tell YOU to sing Spiders. You wave your spider fingers up in the air and babble, babble, babble.

Here are a few pictures on your 15 month birthday. I love you, Bella-girl, and thank God for you every day!

Looking for something unique?

Ever want to hear, "Hey! Where'd you get THOSE?"

Got $50 bucks burning a hole in your pocket?

Well, get your creative juices flowing. I've got just the thing for you.

Clickety HERE.

Happy designing!!!

Playin' at the Park

Ok, it is seriously the most gorgeous day here today. Isabella and I went out to the park to play this morning. She is so funny because she loves to wave and say hi to everyone that passes by... just like her mama!

This little one still has very little interest in walking at almost 15 months. She is happy as a clam using her super-sprint crawl. Everyone keeps telling me not to worry, but I am ready for

Miss Chunk-O-Love to get walking...

or am I?!

Black & Whites

On Saturday, we celebrated my dad's birthday with a good ol' fashioned BBQ in our backyard. I'm posting a few highlight pics right now so I can avoid doing the laundry and emptying the dishwasher. Blogging is so much more fun! Agree?

Favorite Foto Friday- HOPE

The FFF theme this week is HOPE. That was an easy one for me, as that's our passion. Kirk and I love to help people and try to give them a little bit of hope in any way that we can... hope in Jesus Christ and hope for a better life. Our non-profit was founded five years ago around giving hope to the people in our community. Our other passion is finding sponsors for orphaned children around the world. Click on the link below the photo album to see a few pictures and a better explanation of what we try to bring... hope.

Clickety HERE to view my photo album.

Here a little message of HOPE that my son posted on our bulletin board this week:

For more FFF's clickety HERE.

Thankful Thursday: Picture Edition

I am thankful for Tuesday night's pizza party with extended family.

I love my family!

As always, you are welcome to blog-nap this Thankful Thursday graphic if you want to play along. Have a happy and thankful day!

Favorite Foto(s) Friday "Terrific Trips: Near or Far"

We pick our own theme this week for FFF, so I chose "Terrific Trips: Near or Far". Below are pictures from our terrific trip to Europe in spring of '07. Little did we know that Isabella was going to make her grand entrance into the world just eight weeks later. At the time we were still holding onto hope of a domestic adoption (four years of waiting at that point). To our surprise, God re-routed our adoption plans when we returned home. I pulled all of the home study and dossier paperwork together, and boom... we were blessed with our daughter, all in God's perfect timing. Here are some highlight pics from our whirlwind, week-long, work trip.

Poor me...I had to tag along ; ) Salsburg, Austria

This is where part of The Sound of Music was filmed.

Austria

Bavaria, Germany

Anne Frank House, Amsterdam

She has been my hero since I was 12 years old.

A canal in Amsterdam

Prague, Czech Republic

The famous Charles Bridge is in the background.

Prague

Dinner for two in Salzburg, Austria

Mozart's home in Salzburg

An open window in Salzburg

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

Bridge above Neuschwanstein Castle

Riding bikes in Amsterdam

In front of the Berlin Wall

The main square in East Berlin, Germany

For more FFF's clickety HERE.

Thankful Thursday

What I'm thankful for this week:


1. My football playing- violin lovin'- 11 year old son

2. Bella took two steps all by herself! This baby girl might decide that walking isn't so bad after all!

3. Watching my boys play with a huge tv box... They cut and drew and taped and transformed it into a "house". It always amazes me how many hours a cardboard box can entertain kids (Thank goodness because that's ALL they're getting from Santa this year)!

Saturday Means Soccer!

Today was Josh's first soccer game of the season. The extremely fierce "Purple Dragons" won 4 to 1. Josh loves scoring goals, but I think he enjoys the after game snacks even more. Luke, Kirk and I cheered the team on, while Bella did what she does best... making friends.

Click on the collage to enlarge.

Have a fun weekend!

Thankful Thursday

Here's what I'm thankful for this week:

1. Costco pre-made dinner entrees

2. Children who mind their mama and do their homework without complaining

3. Isabella gave me the biggest hug around my neck when I was walking out the door.

4. Even though it's still blasting hot outside, there is just the smallest hint in the air that fall is coming. It's so beautiful in the morning!

5. Kirk took me outside late last night for no other reason than to look at the stars and to tell me that he loves me.



As always, feel free to snag this graphic. I'm working on another with a fall theme. I'll post it next week.

What are YOU thankful for?

THE WINNER!!! THE WINNER!!!

There's a little party goin' on in my computer today, and you're all invited! Click the first video to reveal the winner of my first Blog-licious Blog Giveaway. Who will it be?? Who will it be??

I want to thank each one of you for entering. You made this really fun! I can't wait to have another blog giveaway in the future!

You might need to push the pause button on the song above before you play the video.

Click the second video to see some outtakes.

Suzanne, at Our little Faith, you're the winner! Congratulations!!!

Email me your address and I'll mail the Guatemalan doll dress to you. I love mailing things. It feels so old school!

I'll leave you with some recent Suzanne & Faith sightings because they're basically celebs...

P.S. Pray for some of our blogging friends who are in the path of Gustav.