Our little Grace turned one on Thursday! We took her to Target to have her pictures taken on her birthday. This last year has gone by so fast. It won't be long before she is walking and talking. I can't wait for the warm weather to arrive, so we can go for swing rides and strolls in the wagon.
Happy birthday Little Miss!

I love to take pictures of the kids....

So I set up a little "photo studio" in the kitchen...

The kids dressed up in their Easter outfits.

I was able to get a few good pictures.....

of my angels, before things went downhill.

I only had a window of about 10 seconds....

before Grace had had enough,

and....

had a meltdown!!!

Easter Sunday with Grammy

Grace enjoyed her first ride in her new wagon. I was able to score a nice wagon and matching trailer off of Craigslist. We went for a little walk and at one point, she slipped off the seat and the seat belt was up around her chest, but she did not even complain. We had a couple of nice sunny days this past week, too bad it is rainy and snowy today! I love Spring. It brings warmer weather, flowers, and garage sales. I love garage sales and Craigslist and E-bay.

Now I have to clean out the garage. That was the deal I made with Rod. In order to buy the wagon, I had to clean out the garage. Have you seen our garage? Neither have I, because it is too full of junk! Although, I do not recall saying when I would clean it out. hee hee

Guess what?! We are going to adopt again!!! We have made the decision to adopt Tasha, our 17 yr old foster daughter. Tasha brought the subject up a few months ago, but we did not think she was serious and we were not sure how it would affect the family. When we adopted Amber, we said that she would be our oldest. Well, we never imagined that we would be hit by a Tasha! She fits so well with our family and LOVES her younger siblings too.

A little while ago, she announced that we were going to adopt her and that was that. Rod and I have talked a lot about it and also have talked to the professionals that are involved in her life. We already feel as if she is ours, so why not make it legal and official. Amber and Nathan gave the thumbs up as well. Amber said that she wanted Tasha to be her sister forever, even after she moves out.

Tasha turns 18 in September, so we want to make sure that the adoption happens before that. We are hoping that it will be early summer.

Rod has Sunday and Monday's off and the kid's did not have school on February 19th, because of President's Day. We decided to surprise the kids with an overnight trip to Denver. We spent the night at Drury Inn. We had a suite, so Rod, I and Grace had a room to ourselves. The kids had a lots of fun swimming in the indoor/outdoor pool. This hotel also served snacks in the evening and a huge breakfast in the morning. After we checked in on Sunday, we took the new light rail to the 16th Street Mall and walked around. I took Tasha into the Hard Rock Cafe for a quick look around. We also ate at a fun place where the cooks cook on a huge wok. On Monday we let the kids swim some more, then headed to Hammond's Candy Factory for a tour. We watched someone make lollipops. Before heading back to Colorado Springs, we stopped at my favorite Italian restaurant to eat dinner. We had a great time and hope to do it again!

A few weeks ago, Tasha, our oldest, was complaining that she needed more earrings. So, my mom dug through her old clip ons, and as a joke gave them to Tasha. Nathan picked them up and started to put them all over his face! It wasn't long before Amber and Tasha joined in on the fun. I even had a nose ring for a few minutes! (sorry, no pictu res to share of that one!)

Nathan turned 7 on January 7th, this was his golden year! We had a party at Skate City and many of his friends were there. Nate finally got the snowboard that he has been wanting. Luckily we still had snow on the ground, so he was able to try it out after the party. He caught on really well and in no time he was flying down the hill. Where has my little guy gone? Nathan was 2 when we adopted him.... wow, 5 years have flown by.