oh my....am I behind!

So, it seems that I went back to work a few months ago and blogging went by the way-side.  I apologize to everyone who continues to check this out.  We are all fine, life just has gotten away from us.  We have adjusted to work and daycare, both kids are doing very well there!

We have done a lot of celebrating since I last wrote: Brandon and I celebrated our 11th Anniversary, Noah has been an American Citizen for 3 years in August, Chloe turned 2, Halloween, Chloe's one-year home with us, my birthday, Thanksgiving and now we are gearing up for Christmas!  Whew!  I'll have to go back and pick out some pictures very soon.

Here are a couple of recent ones (from October, I guess), just so you know we are all truly doing well!  :)

Until next time,
Stacy

These two are of my Grandma Grunklee and us at Halloween this year.  She passed away three weeks later due to complications from pneumonia.  We will miss her.  :(

Our little pirate and ladybug!

Enjoying a ride

July 4th

Thought I would also post a few pictures of our fourth of July.  We had a leisurely morning at home and then we went to a parade and dinner at my parents.  No fireworks this year...the kids can't stay up that late and I think that they would still be scary.  Maybe next year we can try it with Noah and see how it goes!

Finally trying out Noah's new pool!

Noah rolled our cooler back to the car and gave Pooh a ride

Until next time,

Stacy

May I Introduce....

America's newest citizen?

We went to Court yesterday, July 7, 2011 and finalized Chloe's adoption.  We had an appointment at the Courthouse at 8:45 but didn't have our hearing until almost 9:20.  The kids were restless but did well, overall. We waited in the hallway for awhile and then had to wait inside the courtroom.  When we got inside the courtroom, I checked us in.  Standing in line with the lawyers I noticed a few double-takes as they noticed my toes....

I had painted them this way for the 4th of July weekend and debated about re-doing them but decided not to.  I thought that they went with the day (but not my dress!)  :)

Our hearing was in the judge's chambers with a court clerk, court reporter, the judge and a deputy!  It was crowded in that little office.  The judge read through our paperwork and we answered a few questions about whether or not we thought we were able to care for Chloe (of course!) and then he signed the decree and we were on our way!  Hooray, an official, LEGAL, forever family of four!

We went home and had cake, changed clothes to play at a park and then went out for lunch before the kids crashed for their afternoon naps.  A good day.  Here are a few more pictures from Chloe's adoption day...

Until next time,
Stacy

I'm back!

Well, It's the end of the month...here I am.  Brandon has told me to stop promising things cuz I always seem to get side-tracked.  So, no more promises of when I will be back!  June was a busy month...we had Noah's 4th birthday, Father's day, days at the zoo, days at the cabin and fun days at the parks!  We are all doing well!  Here are some photos of the last few weeks...enjoy!

Until next time,
Stacy

Planting flowers with Grandma Grunklee

Planting flowers with Grammie P

Chloe isn't a big fan of the water, yet!

The Birthday Boy and his new bike!

Diggin' in the sand at the cabin

Fishing with daddy

Trying to use the Noodles to fish... :)

Father's Day

Fun at the zoo

Wow! It's already June!?

So, I seem to be good at updating the blog about once a month.  I am so surprised to see that people still check it.  Thank you!  We've been busy going to Grandpa Urban's cabin a couple of times, getting papers ready to finalize Chloe's adoption, celebrating Grandpa Grunklee's birthday, Mother's Day, a trip to the dentist for Noah and daddy to get their teeth cleaned, picnics, a visit to the zoo and mornings at the park!  Today I headed to work for a few hours to start packing up my office at school.  Not too fun to say good-bye, but it is nice to go through things and toss a lot.  It's amazing what I have accumulated at work in the last 9 years!

Noah's birthday is coming up so we are getting things ready for a party!  Can't believe my little boy is going to be 4!  How can it be??  He wants a "star" birthday cake, so mommy will see what she can come up with!  We are making ice cream cone cupcakes to take along to Bible study on Sunday night.  I'll take some pictures if they turn out...or even if they don't!

Chloe is doing well, although she seems to have a little cold right now.  Her nose is so stuffed and congested that she can't suck her thumb and breathe at the same time.  It makes falling asleep a little difficult!  Poor baby, hopefully it doesn't last long!

As I am typing this, I realized that I have not uploaded and new photos from May...my apologies.  I'll leave you with this written update, find the camera and new pictures will come tomorrow!  Promise!

Again, thanks for sticking with me!

Until next time,
Stacy

Good-bye, April!

Today is May 3 and it was FINALLY a warm day!  Very tired of the cold and snow flurries and really hoping that spring is here to stay!

Today we turned in our 5 month post-placement report to our adoption agency.  Now starts the finalization process and hopefully we will be headed to court to legally adopt Chloe in early June!  Yeah!!

I hope that you had a nice Easter.  We enjoyed having our family of four together for Easter this year!  We colored eggs and attended our church's Easter egg hunt on Saturday.  Then we headed to church with my parents, followed by dinner and an egg hunt at Brandon's aunt's, followed by a return trip to my parents' for another egg hunt and supper!  Whew!  Monday, I headed back to my parents' as my brother, sister-in-law and nephew were up for the day and the kids and I were able to spend part of the day with them.

Tomorrow I think we are headed to the MN Zoo.  I am excited to be able to walk the outside trails and Noah wants to play at the park! Hopefully the weather will cooperate!

Here are some April pictures for your viewing pleasure!

Until next time,
Stacy

Noah and Grandpa Urban after a tough day of play.

Looking at Alpacas

The kids and Grammie P

How sweet  :)

Girl Time!

Celebrating Grandpa Urban's birthday with HUGE strawberries!

Fun at the Easter egg hunt with friends

Coloring eggs

All done!  Chloe has a "thing" for hats...fortunately it has been cold enough for her stocking hats!

Another hat

Checking out the Easter basket

Thanks, Easter Bunny!  Dress up clothes!

In our Easter finest! 

Ring around the rosie with Daddy

All set for the three-legged race!

Using Grandpa's metal detector to dig for "treasure"

Noah's treasure...the General Lee that had been buried in the yard for at least 20 years!

Evan and Noah ready to hunt eggs!

Wrestling with Uncle Jason