Still alive......

Wow it has been awhile.  I've been a bit busy and now that summer is here and all the kids are home, it seems there is no time to slow down. So what have we been up to?!?!?

We had court and our re-adoption.  We now finally have a Wisconsin birth certificate with his name on it!.................

The boys have been working hard at catching us some great meals!  I hear Nathan even set and reeled in his fish completely on his own........

Our street has such a fun time.  Lots of little fun activities they do for the kids.  On cinco de mayo some of the neighbors got a pinata for the kids.....

They LOVED it.  Lots of fun for all of them..

We've been doing tons of painting.......

My little artists

are hard at work!

Caleb was dedicated!  Caleb LOVES glasses and during the prayer he of course caught Pastor Michael off guard and grabbed them off his face....it was very funny.......Oh and yes we are missing 2 kids in the picture.  I wanted to make sure I got a picture so this was all I had available at the time :)

Summer is not summer without water and lots of it!  This was the first time Caleb was in the sprinkler and it took some time but he now loves it........



At the end of May we had a party to celebrate Caleb's homecoming.  Katie started off the day by helping MiMi clean and cut up the fruit.......

We rented out the park and brought along 200 water balloons......

It ended up being a beautiful sunny day and we were blessed beyond words to have family and friends there to celebrate.....

Yep that is the sweet Gibson Family

The day after Ben ran the 1/2 marathon again in Green Bay.  It was so hot that about 10 min after he finished they actually canceled the race and started picking up runners.  I am beyond proud of him!!!

Memorial Day weekend we got the pool up and started filling it.......

Once it was ready we had friends over for a day of swimming and pizza.....what could be better.....

Oh some smores and a camp fire!!!!!!

Here we are waiting patiently after our ice cream for the 5 min parade to start....really it is so short but we couldn't miss showing support for our veterans..........

Miss Katie graduated from preschool....oh was it hard but I didn't cry.  I did though get that good old lump but I made it :)  I can not believe that both her and Nathan will be gone all day next year and Caleb will be gone all morning.  Wow!!!  It is going to be quiet around here with only Ana.  I wish I could just freeze time.....

Nathan and Katie both are in baseball and on the same team.  Ben is helping coach, I LOVE how he is such an amazing and involved dad!  It is so much fun to watch them each week.......

And of course you can't forget how much sleep we need after being outside ALL day!!!!!  Hope you all are enjoying your summer........

Let's help them out!

It's amazing how through the world of adoption you can find friends and love them like you have known them for years.  The support you can give each other is priceless and the desire to help them in any way possible is so great.  I will never forget the first email I received from Kirsten asking about the adoptions process in Ch*na.  They had just brought home 2 little girls from Ukraine and had fallen in love with little "Hailey" from Ch*na.  She began to advocate for "Hailey" but soon realized that the pull was too strong and needed to get her girl home to her.  Long story short her husband soon was on board and not only did they decide to bring home "Hailey" but also another little girl they will name Ruby.  They have completely chosen to step out on faith.  This will be 4 children adopted in 2 yrs.  The financial part is the hard part.  They need help to reach their goal.  They are only 4-6 weeks from traveling and have a ton to still raise.  Please consider donating.  You may win an amazing prize but most importantly you will be part of the wonderful journey home of two beautiful girls!

++++++++++++++++++++from Westbrook blog+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Go to http://www.bringinghomeourgirls.blogspot.com/2012/06/big-huge-grand-finale-fundraiser.html to donate via chip in at the bottom of their post and make sure to leave a comment on HER blog to be entered in.  (if you are not able/don't know how to leave a comment let me know and I will make sure you get entered)

Okay here we go!! It's time for our big and final fundraiser!! This is probably gonna be it for us. We are getting so close to traveling and we are actually running out of time for fundraising. We honestly don't know what else we can do at this point to raise more money to bring Hailey and Ruby home. We believe God will provide what we need. We just don't know how He's gonna do it. We are believing in full faith that God is going to show up big time and help us become fully funded!!! We still need a "God sized" amount, and that is scary. But we know He is gonna provide it somehow!!

Because He loves these girls more than we do!!!

We are praying hard that we will be able to raise the remaining funds we need to travel in July. Please help us out and share this fundraiser with everyone you know. Our girls are counting on us, and we are doing everything we can to get them home!!

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We have 6 great prizes that you can receive chances to win!!!

*Grand Prize - A Kindle Fire - $199 value

*A $100 gift certificate to a Beauty Salon of the winner's choice!!!

Who doesn't want a makeover for the summer?! An awesome prize donated by some amazing friends of ours!!

*A super cute homemade jewelry pouch!!

Isn't this awesome?? The actual color and pattern may vary, but I really just love this!! I know you will too!

*$50 Dollar Chili's Gift Card

This card apparently can also be used at Macaroni Grill, On the Border, or Maggiano's.

*Bath and Body Works Splish Splash Sweet Pea Gift Set plus 3 Bonus lip glosses (& a lip gloss carrying case)! - over $50 value.

This adorable tub is overflowing with Sweet Pea favorites including 10 oz shower gel, 8 oz body lotion, 8 oz fragrance mist, 10 oz triple moisture body cream and a small sponge. Three lip glosses and the lip gloss carrying case make this prize even more enticing.

Lip glosses are Limeade, Raspberry Lemon Sorbet, and Strawberry Mojito.

* A local favorite from right here in Southwest Colorado - Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Chocolate!!! - $30 value

A Rocky Mountain Chocolate assortment (8.5 oz) in a neat pine gift box from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (made right here in Durango, Colorado) and a three piece box of English Toffee. (Oh my gosh, this toffee is soooo good!!!)

Yummm...

Really...this stuff is so good, I am having to hide it from myself...

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Ok, so here's the deal. We are doing this a little different than last time. The more you donate, the more your entries will multiply exponentially. Don't ask me for how this works mathmatically, I don't really know but it sounds good. :)) Lol

$10 = 1 entry

$25 = 5 entries

$50 = 15 entries

$75 = 50 entries

$100 = 100 entries

$150 = 300 entries

You may use our RR FSP or the Chip-In to donate. I will be notified with either one. You can also send a check if you prefer. Just email me or leave a comment and I will give you the information.
You will get a free entry for every time you share this fundraiser on facebook and 2 free entries if you blog about it. (Just tag me in the post on facebook or leave me a link to your blog so I know). This fundraiser will end by July 1st. That is 4 weeks from today. We will use random.org to generate the winners of the prizes. First name drawn will win the Kindle, 2nd name will win the gift certificate to the Beauty Salon, and so on... We will announce all the winners on or before July 4th. Good luck to all!!
And may the odds be ever in your favor.... tee hee hee
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We really do very much appreciate your prayers, first and foremost! If you cannot donate anything, that is okay! If you can share about our fundraiser and help us spread the word that would be awesome!! Thank you all so much!! We have already had so many wonderful people donate and help us out and we will be forever grateful for them!!! You really will never know what this means to our family and for our little girls!!! Thank you!

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Go to http://www.bringinghomeourgirls.blogspot.com/2012/06/big-huge-grand-finale-fundraiser.html to donate via chip in at the bottom of their post and make sure to leave a comment on HER blog to be entered in. (if you are not able/don't know how to leave a comment let me know and I will make sure you get entered)

Look at them go!!!

5 min of showing him how to pedal and he got it!  Let me just warn you turn down the volume or please ignore my annoying voice.  Just one of those mom voices.....sorry!

Katie took 2 times with Ben helping her and the 3rd time she did it!!!!  She never use to like to ride her bike.  Now she is asking every morning to go out for a bike ride.  She gets the biggest smile on her face everytime she gets on the bike.



Love for Minnie....

Ana absolutely adores Minnie Mouse so of course we had to do her birthday theme as that!!!!

So off to search Pinterest for some amazing ideas.  Now some we found were so amazing I just didn't have the time or patience to do it but I did get some done and I love how it turned out!

I did all the lettering with my cricut!  Love that thing!!!!

So these were styrofoam balls spray painted and then toothpicked together :)

We love our Nacho/Taco bar for parties.....

I really wish we could get one good picture with the birthday girl...oh well : (

Katie loves this gift more than Ana I think....she loves pulling Ana around

Caleb and Papa throwing grass up in the air.  He thought it was the funniest thing ever.

Nathan catching some sun!

This says it all!!!  A great exhausting day.  I was cleaning up and walked back into the livingroom to find the birthday girl fast asleep on the chair!  Happy Birthday Ana.