Ashley Entertains Herself

As many of you know, it looks like we are being transferred to Indianapolis. We have not gotten official transfer orders, but 95% sure. It was our 4th choice, so hard to swallow at first, but we are getting used to the idea and getting excited about being closer to family and in a place that is a lot cheaper to live. I made a vow after adopting Ashley (and how perfect everything worked out) that I wouldn't ever doubt God again. Although we really wanted to be in St. Louis, I know that there must be a good reason why God has chosen for us to not go there, so I have to trust in His goodness and plan for our lives. Now.......in the meantime, I have been trying to de-clutter our house for some time, going through the basement, closets, etc., knowing this transfer was coming. It is amazing how much junk we have! So, tonight I tackled Ashley's closet and Jake's room. This is what Ashley was doing while I was doing that....besides "undoing" everything I was doing:-) I had her gated upstairs with me. Yes, this is a dirty onsie from dinner, a one-year old birthday hat with candles on top and teddy bear slippers she found in her closet:-) She was just happy as a lark! She LOVED dressing up....such a girl.

Caps Game

Here is Bob and Jake getting ready to leave for the Capitals hockey game. They are two peas in a pod. Jake adores the ground Bob walks on these days. I am so grateful for the times they have together to do special things......although jealous because I love to go to the games too!

More Winter Pictures

Stop holding me....I'm busy!

Sweet little face!



Ha, ha....didn't know her boots were see through until I saw her little piggies:-) She hates socks and they are lined so I didn't put any on her. Cracked me up!



We got about 8 inches of snow this week, so Jake only went to school one day due to that and a teacher workday! It's so hard when Jake wants to be outside in the snow all day and so does Ashley.....but she can't obviously. I am thankful for neighbors taking Jake sledding so I could stay inside with Ashley some of the time. This was her second major time in the snow and she LOVED it! She wanted to do everything Jake did. They did sled together but I didn't get any pics of that. Thanks Cheryl for letting me steal some of your pictures too.

Trip to St. Louis

This bungee jumping thing was inside of the mall. So cool.

At Red Robin with Bob's parents and sister's family.

She was leaning over to give cousin Aidan a kiss and he was a little freaked out by the slobber!

Kissing bubba instead:-)

The Warren grandkids.

Jake feeding little David at Kim's house.

At Kim's house.

The kids and I took a trip to St. Louis over Martin Luther King weekend. I took Jake out of school a couple days...which made it even better for him:-) Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Videos of the kids dancing

These are a couple videos of the kids dancing. One is of Ashley dancing to "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and then the two of them dancing to some Black Eyed Peas. These just crack me up. This is what the kids were doing to get some energy out while I was cooking dinner the other night.

My Second Fondant Cake

I made another cake with fondant icing for a friend's 35th birthday. We went to their house for New Year's Eve (also his b-day) so we took it with us. We are all huge Redskins fans....although wondering why sometimes....so that was the theme of the cake. I really enjoy making cakes occasionally on the side. This one was significantly harder than the one I made Ashley, but each time I use different things and learn a lot. It's a creative outlet and I enjoy the challenge of it.

Visit from Pepa and Mar Mar

Ashley really like sitting on the gifts....and once again she was obsessed with tape on her finger:-)

Watching Elmo do the Hokey Pokey

Ashley got a huge pink bear from Pepa and Mar Mar and she loved it!

The vest was also a gift we were trying on her for size, thus the tags in her face.

Pepa and Mar Mar came to see us in between Christmas and New Years. We had a great visit. They took us out to a really nice dinner minus kids, which we never get to do. Jake said he loves having them here when he wakes up in the morning:-) Here are a few pics from their visit.

Christmas Morning 2010

Ashley LOVES this tent. She crawls in and out all the time.

Jake reading Ashley's new book to her while she is busy trying to get out her My Little Pony.

I love this picture. Jake is trying to help Ashley get her pony out and Ashley is watching so intently!

Ashley thinks the brush for her pony is actually for her hair:-)

Reading the book that was in her stocking.

These are pictures from Christmas morning. The first thing the kids saw when they came downstairs were their big Santa gifts and stuffed stockings. Jake got an electric scooter and Ashley got a princess tent. Then Bob and I watched them open their gifts from relatives. It was a fun morning!!! We LOVE watching the kids get so excited. It's like being young again ourselves.

Christmas Eve 2010



Can you guess who's is who's?



Jake separated out all the gifts while Ashley was eating dinner.

Jake wanted an Ovechkin Jersey just like daddy!



We bought Ashley baby bottles for her babies and she really liked them for herself!




She decided to share with her baby:-)



Sorry it's taken me forever to post pictures of the kids from the holidays. These are a few pictures from Christmas Eve. We went to Christmas Eve service at church, and then we came home and fed Ashley and opened presents. I put Ashly to bed, and then Jake, Bob and I ate dinner. Ashley was really tired, so we were trying to let her open presents as soon as possible so that she would actually enjoy it. And yes.....my kids open presents from Bob and I on Christmas Eve, and then Christmas Day they have Santa gifts and gifts from others. If they weren't so spoiled, we wouldn't have to split it up into two days. Jake's favorite gift from us was his Ovechkin Capitals jersey and Ashley's was her wagon:-) As you can see from the videos, Ashley wanted help opening presents and wasn't fond of tape being stuck to her.