Pull up bar and my monkeys/snow

The kids had a lot of fun playing on the pull up bar that Boyd installed today. This is a video of some of the fun they had this evening.

Then overnight we had snow

The Saturday after

O.k. The night went very smooth. No arguing no "mom make them go away and leave us alone...." etc etc.
The girls had a great time and invited Kaci to join them. We rented scary movies and they ate fruit pizza and chex mix. The girls did great.
One had to go home due to her bronchitis. One went home with a bit of a fever coming on.
The rest left this morning. Poor Bubba, her dad arrived at 8 am to take her home..
The last two left around 9:15.
The house was all picked up and soon after the last girl left our new rebuilt clothes dryer was delivered and hooked up. No more high squealing noise.

Then off to go shopping for swimsuits for the girls. O.k. We did not buy any. We ended up getting a few things and some clothes for me. ha ha I got something this time!

Rain rain rain everywhere. We got soaked! It would be great if it was a nice warm summer shower, but, NOOOO it had to be a cold drenching rain...

So we came home to veg out and do laundry. I think I am ready for some hot tea.

Sorry no pictures of the night. I was busy keeping Kole entertained.

I think we might be crazy

Tonight we are having 5 girls ages 12 and 13 over for a sleep over with Kali. I think we might be crazy! Of course we are not really ready for it, but oh well. We will see how it goes. Kaci wants to do the same thing... Yikes! I really can't imagine 5 of her friends over! They are all too much like her! Ha ha ha ha But I think will let her when she turns 10. We will see.
Move tomorrow on how the crazy night goes!

We had a visitor (Tivemos um visitante)

Max came to visit and have some ice cream and cake for Kole's birthday.
Max chegou a visitar e tem um sorvete e bolo para o aniversário de Kole.

He appears to be very happy. We enjoyed talking and catching up on how things are.
Ele parece ser muito feliz. Desfrutamos falando sobre como recuperar o atraso e as coisas são.

He has enjoyed many activities and having fun with friends.
Ele teve muitas actividades e se divertindo com os amigos.

Kole and Max teased each other and talked all about Kole's new toy gun.
Kole e Max esmiuçadas mutuamente e falei tudo sobre o novo brinquedo Kole arma.

I have tried translating this for Max's family to know he is well.
Tenho tentado traduzir isto para a família do Max de saber que ele está bem.

Max e Kole

Happy Birthday Kole and We're taking a Summer vacation!

Today Kole turned 7 years old! That's right 7! It is so hard to believe it is here already. We had a very quiet at home cake, ice cream and presents. He is very happy with his gifts this year.
The first picture is the first birthday we had with Kole in China in 2006 then following that is this year's pictures.















Kole playing a video game














We all bombarded him with birthday balloons!















Birthday Cake this year















Kole with cake















Blowing out the candles














Opening Presents

Kole received a Nerf gun and extra ammo, a nerf basketball hoop for his door in his bedroom, a troll doll, and a football.

Vacation plans were started last night. We spoke with Boyd's cousin Wanda for nearly two hours. His aunt (Boyd's mom's sister) will be turning 85 this year and they are having a huge get together on July 18. So in July we will be heading on Vacation. Watch the video to see where we will be going....

In case you couldn't understand these two try this one.

She is worn out or her excitement would really show through! ha ha ha

And if you still couldn't understand her

WE'RE GOING TO MAINE IN JULY!!!!!!

We have daffodils!!!

O.k. It is now spring I know it is because we have these pretty flowers that just peeped out this week!

Fun outside with the camera

I thought I would see just how small this memory stick is.. ha ha

Here is the result!

Solo competition

Kali tried singing this year at competition instead of instrument. I think she could have done both. I was going to be real cute and record her with the camera, well the memory stick filled up too fast. Should have used the phone.


Here is what we got of it. It is not much, but maybe when she goes to state I will go and try again! She did get a 1st division!

This what happens when you have to wake up
at 5:45, drive out of town and sing.
Out like a light

Three years ago March 12, 2006

Three years ago we were on a plane from Hong Kong to Kunming, Yunan province with our wonderful guide Mary Wong. We had our breifing and headed to Kunming where we would meet Kole that day! We thought we would have at least one more night. But no... He would be ours.


Below is an excerpt from our Gotcha day followed by a picture of our Kole three years ago.


Well, we have him here with us. Kole laughs a lot, but it is a mean kind of laugh. He likes to hit and throw toys. Then he laughs about it. If corrected he calms down and gets this oops look and I don't think I like it here look about him. He really loves animal crackers! The first night getting him to sleep was a bit rough. He did not want to take off clothes or shoes. I finally wrestled his shoes off of him and got him tucked in, He was crying and gave me a left hook to the eye. I continued holding him in bed and rubbing his head lightly while trying to calm him. 5 minutes later, out like a light. He does not like to go to bed. He has managed to create a gun out of legos... I told Boyd that this can not happen back home. It might make a few people upset. He loves his cars and just chatters all the time in a local dialect. He was acting up in the cab today and the cab driver told him to quit or he would go to jail LOL Well, Kole stopped and began behaving himself. The cab driver said he is a very naughty boy. This is a whole new experience. He is busier than either of the girls at this age. It appears that most of his palate has been repaired. He is missing a tooth so therefore his gumline was affected. It doesn't appear like there is a lot to fix or finish up. We are not sure when the palate was done. We have felt cut off from the girls and friends back home. Half the time the internet works and the other half it doesn't. The phone card our guide purchased for us is all in mandarin and we can not understand it. We are going to have her try it again when she returns. So maybe she will have it all figured out for us. When we get to Guangzhou it will be easier because more people speak English there. In Kunming it appears there are several dialects. Kole speaks one of them. The cab drivers can understand him and some of the hotel personnel. Mary can not. She tries. We just love her! Today was the adoption finalization. We had our picture taken. I have a lot of pictures, I just can't seem to get them downloaded. As soon as I can I will. I know everyone is disappointed.Guess that was something I did not get tested out thoroughly before we left. Worked on my PC just fine...Update: Finally got the calling card to work. Yeah! Heard about the tornado warnings in the area.... How awful!O.k.. Kole is a handful. We spend a lot of effort trying to get our point across and chooses not to listen. HE is happy most of the time.I will get pictures up as soon as I can!

Today, Kole is a happy kid that likes to test the boundries. He loves Star Wars and Ben 10. He loves to watch Spongebob squarepants and can still make a really elaborate gun out of legos! LOL He gets warned alot at school to not talk when the teacher is talking. He is a kindergartener this year and he can read! He is beginning to be proud of this skill and hopefully we can help him really enjoy reading. His math skills are amazing! He loves to figure things out. HE loves to be on the move and playing physically for hours. He sleeps much better now with some incidents of sleep walking and night mares. He loves playing the play station II and will do that all day if left to his own devices. He fits now. Even after all our worries from 3 years ago, I think we have done really well in adjusting to him and him to us. As for Chinese, he does not speak it and will act as if he knows none of it. His English is amazing! He is beyond some of those in his class already. His favorite food is still chocolate. Kole has gone from a 3T to a 5/6 and some 7's.

Kole this past week

Boyd's surgery is over

Boyd went in today for his sinus surgery to remove a bone spur and to snooter rooter him out, in other words, clean out the sinuses and make the holes for draining better.
He was very stressed by all this and when he came out of anesthesia he had a very high blood pressure and was given several medication to bring it down. His nose is feeling sore tonight, but he also wears glasses which sit on his nose and that hurts.
His throat is very sore from the breathing tube and that is more bothersome than the stints in his nose.

No discoloration yet. He can be a bit cranky, but that is to be expected. Tomorrow we will see the doctor about his blood pressure medication. Then Friday he can get the stints out.

Otherwise everything here is the same as always. Work, school, activities, work, school, and on and on...

Nice day to be outside!

It was a great day to be outside on the trampoline. Yes, it's back! Boyd and his brother reinforced the bent areas with steel and welded it up to hold stronger.

Below are some pictures of some fun we were having on the trampoline this afternoon. after we were done, it POURED rain! So now we are inside again.

Kole lost a front tooth today! Can you tell!

It's back!

Mia had a bath today and so did Tasha.

TAsha would not hold still for a picture

This is the life

a couple posing pics

Weather warmed up

Today you could tell that Spring is trying to get here. We are in the 60's but with a lot of wind. All in all though it is very nice out compared to the cold winter temps we had this year.

Volleyball season is wrapping up. The 7th grade won their first game, but lost the second in the regionals. So, their games are done. They can still practice if they care to. Kali wanted to, I think, more for the social aspect of it. She is burned out and tired.

Kole and Kaci continue with piano lessons. They are doing really well. Kaci is doing well with her hip hop dance. Kole waits for football season to start again.

We visited with Max over the weekend when he stopped by to pick up some mail. He looked better than the last time I had seen him. He is very happy and working hard on getting his papers together for college.

Me, I am doing well. Working hard at keeping up with the three kids and their school work and the dogs and trying to help Boyd find things to keep him busy during the layoff.

Kali and Kaci will be attending an all day swim camp in a couple weeks to kick off training for swim team this summer.

Next weekend Kali will be competing at the band ensemble, solo and choir contest. She is singing a solo and duet and playing a solo and duet on clarinet. This will be an all day event. I am planning on attending this year since I missed last year.

Boyd has sinus surgery next week, but all is well otherwise.

I think that is it! More updates as we have them.