A family Easter!

What a wonderful Easter Day we had.It was Sierra's first big holiday with us. Sierra and I went to church in our Sunday best!!! I was honored to be asked to read the Scripture for the Easter Sunday! What a blessing!!! It was so cute when Sierra waved to Pastor Paul during the service! ( and he waved back!!!)At 3:00 we had 23 family members over for dinner. I love having that much company and Scott is an awesome help. Actually, I am the help as he does most of the cooking and cleaning. I do the "talking to guests" part!! After dinner we have an Easter egg hunt for all the kids. We had 8 kids participate. The worst part was, they had to have winter coats, as it was cool and VERY windy...Ugh......!

I had warned my kids that we would be taking some group pictures!! Now the first picture is a group shot of Scott, me, all 3 of my sons and theirgirlfriends and Sierra. Looks good right? Well that is after I had to Photoshop the ears and horns coming out of Paul's head!!! You can't see it but there is a deer on the wall behind Paul I was worried about the glare from the window and never paid attention to the deerhead. We all got a good laugh out of it!!! Here are some more Easter photos including one of Sierra on her new (used) 4 wheeler that Paul and Jenn got her.

A very special bunny!!!

David's grandmother ( my former husband's mother ) made this very special bunny for Sierra. She will be 92 years old this year. In November she fell in her basement and broke her hip. She had to have surgery and rehab. 5 months later she is walking, driving and working outside in her garden!! She is an amazing woman, full of faith and love for her family. She even sent along an extra dress so we can change bunny's clothes. How sweet is this bunny. Sierra is so loved!!!!

One of my favorite's: Sierra helping DADDY do the dishes!

I call this Sierra's Elton John look. I love the one with her working on her computer!!!

A few Sundays ago, Daddy made Sierra a special happy face pancake. How adorable and what a special Daddy!!

Thanks Dadddy!!!!

Where oh where has spring gone???

Here it is the week before Easter and what did I see outside today???? Snow!!! Not accumulating snow but snow just the same. And it felt like snow, cold, damp and windy. I am a winter lover but Oh how I long for spring, especially this year. I dream of all the fun things Sierra and I can do in nicer weather: Planting, walking, bike riding, dog walking, laying in the grass looking at clouds(we've already done that on once),eating breakfast on the porch, eating lunch on her picnic table on the deck,smelling flowers and on and on!

Today I attended the funeral of a dear friend's father. I've known Debbie for over 25 years. Many years ago I spent time at her house with her parents. Her Dad was a great guy. Although Debbie and I have remained close I have not seen her parents much even though they only live with in 10 miles of my house. Its always hard to lose a parent no matter how old they are. I will be remembering Deb and her family in my prayers, I am so sad that my parent's never got to meet Sierra. Actually my Mom never got to meet David either. I often think of how much they would have enjoyed this whole adoption journey. But I am thankful to God for the family and friends that we do have in our lives. I never take it for granted how fortunate we are.

We went to Mimi's (Sierra's "grandmother", both Scott's mom and mine are deceased)

today and Piper and Sierra were flying a kite. Here they are running down the hill! Sierra has the string and Piper has the kite. Here they are after they both fell.

Mimi is wiping the dirt off Sierra's face!!

Sierra had a wonderful time!!!!

We also went to a local park that has a great playground. A rare picture of Mom and SIerra!!

After the park it was time for the first ice cream cone of the season!!

Daddy and Sierra moved into the sun where it was a little warmer.

Just a cute picture from the other day!!

Much Better!

Sierra is much better. I took her to the doctor for a strep test but it was negative. Within 24 hours she had no fever and was back to normal!! The doctor said there was lots of viral stuff going around. Hopefully no one else gets it!!

First fever (here)

Despite the beautiful weather today, my precious little Sierra is sick. She seemed fine this morning. We went to the bagel place and hung out with friends, stopped by where Daddy was working to say hi and then went to the elementary school and played with the kids at recess. She went up and down the slide a dozen times!! When I picked her up to put her in the car she felt hot to me. Sure enough when I took her temp it was over 100. She's been a trooper though and wants to keep going. Don't know exactly what it is, she's eating and drinking. But its just too sad to see them not quite right. Of course I felt the same way in China when 17 year old David was sick, but at least he could tell me what hurts!!! The best part about not working is I don't have to worry about tomorrow, we can just sit and chill the day away. Unless we take a trip to the doctors. I will pray she feels better tomorrow!

Spring Is In the Air

I will be the first to admit that I like winter. I love the feeling of being all cozy and warm in my house. I love to look out my window and see the snow falling. I love waking up after a big snowfall and seeing the winterwonderland that surrounds us. That being said, I love when springtime arrives!! And it is arriving!!! Here are some signs that spring is here:

David is playing baseball, a sure sign!!!

You need rubber boots to get around outside.

When I wake up in the morning I can hear the birds singing.

My crocuses are in bloom.

Tim and Paul are back to work.(They work for a landscape business and are layed off during the winter)

The other night we came home and I could hear the peepers in the pond across the road!!

Sierra gets to wear a raincoat at least 3 times a week!

Geese are flying over head almost everyday.

Today it's supposed to be 65 dgrees!!!

So I quess I'm one of those people that really love the changing of the seasons. I will be glad in 8 months or so to see the snow arrive again, but in the meantime I will certainly enjoy SPRING!!!