Our Nephews Love Planning Ahead

A couple weeks ago, my brother and sister-in-law explained to our nephews that Uncle Dave and Aunt Michelle are planning to adopt a baby sometime this year. James (5) was so excited, he started telling everybody about a new baby cousin.  He even asked for his teacher's home phone number so he could call her that night. The UPS truck showed up at the neighbor's and he was looking out the window watching and he said, "I wonder if that is how Aunt Michelle's baby is going to get delivered." My sister-in-law tried to explain that UPS doesn't deliver babies. :-)

Andrew (7) calls his future cousin "baby him/her" since we don't know if it will be a boy or girl. And he has already decided that if it's a girl, he will buy it a pink stuffed animal and a blue one if it's a boy. Although my brother tried to tell them the baby is not here yet, the boys decided that they are just planning things out, so they are ready when their new cousin arrives. Too cute! 

Thanks for being so excited boys! We can't wait either!

Aunt Michelle

First Baby Gift

We've been on the never ending quest to de-clutter our home. You know... sell some stuff on Crai.gslist that we never use anymore, throw out the old paperwork that we don't need to keep, etc. Good timing too since we hope to welcome our little one... hopefully this year or next. Great time to "nest" and prepare for baby. 

Yesterday I stopped by the jewelry store to sell some broken and I-never-wear-this jewelry. (BTW the price of gold is really good so I highly recommend this :-)  As I was chatting with the store owner, I told her about our plans to adopt. She was so excited for us. I just love that our closest friends, and even complete strangers, are so happy for us when they hear the news. I keep thinking, "Geez, this child will be welcomed with such joy and will be loved immensely because they are a true miracle!" As I was leaving the jewelry store, the owner gave me this present. It's our first baby gift and it made my day!

May God bless you today with a fun surprise too!

Photo Friday

Not much to blog about so thought I'd share this fun picture of us. Our friend Joyce took it after church one Sunday afternoon before Christmas. You can tell it's from a couple months ago since there is no snow on the ground yet! Hope all is well with you as we all anxiously await Spring. Bring it on!


Enjoy these pix of our two sweet pups...

Superbowl Champs!

Sunday night we went to our friends - Gary & Mary's - house for a Superbowl party. We were, of course, rooting for the Green Bay Packers! Earlier that afternoon Gary & Mary's daughter Molly picked out cupcakes for the festivities. They were Harry Potter cupcakes each with a kid ring on top. As the night went on, we decided those plastic rings must be good luck so soon we all were wearing them! And the Green Bay Packers won the Superbowl! Here's a picture of our fabulous Superbowl rings:

Great job picking out the winning cupcakes Molly! The Packers have those magical rings to thank for their win! Ha! Ha! Here's Miss Molly (v-neck jersey) and her siblings in their Packer gear!

The moment captured in time... Superbowl Champs!!!

And a great night with friends!

Kitchen Remodel

My parents came up to visit the week between Christmas and New Year. I can't believe I was able to sweet talk them into coming to the snowy North before they returned home to sunny Florida -- but I did! Here are some photos from our driveway with our house in the background.

 Still lots of snow after the big blizzard in December!

When my Dad is here I always seem to have a honey-do list for him. He jokes when he walks in the door, "Well where is my list?" This time was no different and so I handed him my list! We needed help with the last finishing details of our kitchen remodel and Dad was our chief handyman and we were the apprentices! Here's how it turned out. Not bad, huh?

Well it's a new year now and I'm looking forward with hope to what 2011 will bring. Maybe this is the year we'll meet our baby?!

Happy New Year to you!

Family Celebrations

Dave and I met up with the rest of my family in Illinois last week. It was an early Christmas get-together and a chance to celebrate my Dad's 70th birthday! Everyone was there - my brother and sister and their families, and my parents, of course. We had a great time!

Here's the birthday boy with me, my brother and my sister . . .

The cake was beautiful! It turned out really great!

We made it back home before Christmas where we celebrated with Dave's side of the family. We even got together with all of his cousins and their families.

This week my parents drove up to stay with us for a few days. I'll have more photos of their visit later. I think they were REALLY good sports to spend time in the snow when they are used to being in Florida all winter!

I hope your Christmas was wonderful also!

Dave's Turn to Blog

dave here,,,, michelle always wants to start decorating in mid november,,, i feel that is WAY too early,,, we were dairy farmers when i was growing up,, so time off was precious and far between,,, i always like decorating later in december and then leaving things up for a while in january,,, that was my mothers idea,, and i kind of got attached to it. I did give in this year and let michelle put it up early,,, it is fun to take a lifetimes worth of family heirloom ornaments and see if you can pack them all on one tree..  but we always do have a lot of fun getting the house all decked out for the holiday!!!

I guess Christmas for me is a time of memories of family members that are no longer with us,,, my dad,.,, my uncles that are no longer here on this earth,, but have the joy of spending Christmas in heaven.

I think of the less fortunate than me that don't have the things that i do,, of the members of the military that are protecting my freedom,, so that i can celebrate.

dave