Oh Christmas Tree...

...O Christmas Tree,

How faithful are thy branches!
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree,
How faithful are thy branches!
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree,
Green not alone in summertime,
But in the winter's frost and rime;
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree,
How faithful are they branches.

We put up our Christmas tree on Wednesday night! So much fun! This is the biggest Christmas tree we have ever had! (KG disagrees with me on this but since it's my blog--I'm right!) It's 9' tall! I am loving it. It gracefully sweeps the ceiling. Flower is loving it as well and when we woke up this morning we sat on the floor in front of the tree and ate our breakfast. I am having such a great time including Flower in all our traditions. Have I mentioned how much I love this time of year?!

Redneck Life!

We had a game night on Sunday with our usual crew. This is the funniest damn game I've played in long time and I highly recommend it! With this bunch anything seems to be funny, so the laughs just kept on coming.
Any game that bases it's winner on who has the most teeth left at then end of the game is bound to be a hit! Good times!

Happy Birthday Goober!

Today is my baby brothers 29th birthday! He's the one on the left. I am so proud of the man he has become! He is a wonderful husband, from what I can see anyway, and he became a father earlier this year, for the first time, to the most beautiful little girl! He is an amazing father and she is one lucky little gal! He has had his challenges in life and has come through them a stronger more compassionate person! Happy Birthday Ryan! You're my favorite little brother! ;)

Just a few of my favorite memories in honor of him:

We shared a room from when I was 6 to 16 years old. Some people thought it was strange or would ask if it was awkward to share with a boy but I wouldn't have changed a thing!(although I could have lived without the art work on his side of the dresser! he he) It made us so close and he knew all my secrets. I loved listening to the radio each night while in bed chatting about our day.

He is the first one that new of the pain I felt when my Grandpa Campbell died when I was 12. I always hid my feelings. We cried together. That Whitney Houston song that reminded us of our Grandparents relationship, "Didn't we Almost Have it All" still makes me cry and I think of you, Ryan!

Remember when we lived together off of 29th and we'd stay up watching Will & Grace and piss off the neighbor because we'd laugh so loud? :) The episode that comes to mind is the one wear Grace is wearing the cow looking sweater. :-D

You were with me when you saw the man wearing my dress that had been stolen. You chased him down and we beat down his door and turned over every corner of his apartment to find my things! :)

You were the best 'sneak-out' partner! Wow the memories are never ending with that! Been in the ditch on Cloverdale lately? How 'bout the home foundation in Combes Park 4? Perhaps we need to replay? ;)

Remember the all-out water fight we had INSIDE mom and dad's house, when they were out of town, with all our hoodlum friends?! And even better...Remember Sandee screaming at us for it?! Good times.

You do the best imitation of "I love to Laugh" than anyone I know!

Thanks for all the fun memories bro! I love you!

Advent calendars and lollipop trees

This Christmas tree is one of my favorite memories growing up. I loved it and I was lucky enough to score it when my parents didn't want it anymore. I believe my mom made it. I had so much fun filling it up with Candy Canes with Flower's help! Let the countdown begin!
I also somehow scored this lollipop Christmas tree from my parents. I have had these two items since they moved out of my childhood home about 9 years ago. My sister just found out today and asked why I got them both! I'm pretty sure I was the only one that wanted them at the time but sometimes it takes having kids to realize how special these things are. I have always had an attachment to inanimate objects! I guess that's the way the cookie crumbles! Actually I probably beat them up for it! :) Flower is certainly loving it! Suckers are her favorite candy right now.



I also bought some holiday window clings and let Flower help me hang them. She also chose which windows they'd adorn. Pretty festive! I must say it's a bit creepy going to the bathroom
with Baby Jesus staring you in the face but that's where she wanted the Nativity one.

The Santa's are in the living room, the Nativity scene is in one bathroom, the snowmen are in the other bathroom and the snow flakes are in her bedroom. I am loving the decorating that goes along with this season! :)

National Adoption Month!

What better month to have this amazing recognition of family through the miracle of adoption then November, the month of thanks! We are so grateful for the choice of adoption. It has changed our lives and given us so much joy and awesome experiences. We were completely lead in our decision and it was amazing to watch everything fall into place from the very beginning. Both of us have always loved the idea of adoption and knew we would, with the exception of a couple of years from 2003 to 2005 where it just seemed to overwhelming a process. Now we know why. If we had gone through it then, we wouldn't have the amazing Miss Flower in our lives now! Her entire story and how she came to be apart of our family is so inspiring. We are so grateful for Flower's birth parents and are saddened that they will never see what and amazing little person she is. The pain they must have suffered while abandoning her, thinking they could never give her the medical attention she needed and not knowing whether she'd survive is heart wrenching. They will never know that she is perfect and thriving. Thank you to whoever you are. You have blessed our lives immensely and we love you for that selfless act.

And then there's Amanda! If she had not scooped up our little Flower from the Big O at just 4 months, she likely wouldn't be here today. What an amazing lady filled with love! She made our adoption such a wonderful experience. She made the wait bearable by providing us with photos of Flower almost everyday. She has such a big heart full of love and compassion for these babies! We will forever be in debt to her for the love she showered on Flower some of the most important months of her life! We love you very much!

Here we are with Flower on our Gotcha Day, just 10 short months ago!

Create Your Own

Combing Daddy's hair

I love sweet moments with Flower like these, where she is combing KG's hair. She was taking great care to be soft and she was so proud of the style she gave him. I love it when she combs my hair, rubs my face, whispers things in my ear, rubs my back, and squeezes my shoulders. She has such a sweet nature. I especially love it when I see them in moments like these. It is such a bonding thing. The other day she was scratching KG's back and noticed a box of tissues sitting next to her. She pulled one out of the box and proceeded to 'clean' daddies back with a soft tissue. She was so proud and he had the cutest smile. Ah, the little things!

Free shopping spree...

...in my storage room! I went in search of my apple/corer/peeler/slicer to make my Thanksgiving dessert. I didn't find it, but I did stumble upon a suit case that I filled with clothes when we got home from China. They were all size 2T and 3T and when we got home she was still in 18-24 months. I put them in a suit case to make more room in her dresser for the sizes that fit her and forgot all about them! She is just now in size 2T and 3T so this is perfect! About half the suit case was brand new clothes and about half were hand-me-downs from my sis. Oh and it turns out that the a/p/c/s was upstairs in one of my cupboards all along. Glad I forgot I'd brought it up previously! Doesn't she look cute in her 'new' outfit! :) (she posed herself like that by the way...little poser) Yay for more discoveries of hidden treasures! :)

Hidden Treasures

I'm not sure when or where we acquired this nifty little tool but it rocks. KG gave me an exercise ball for my birthday and it's been sitting half inflated since because we didn't have the means to blow it up(and weren't exactly making a huge effort). Well, we haven't had heat yet this winter and I just got around to putting in a work order since it's now getting a bit cold. We had to clena out the AC closet so the unit could be removed and yada yada. Wow, I had no idea that much stuff would fit in that small space. But among the forgot was this great find! It has three different attachments that are so smartly attached directly to the hose so there no way to loose them! I had the ball blown up in under a minute! Another closet find was a stereo. Flower is so excited to have that in her room. We also discovered all our wrapping paper from last Christmas. The closet is very organized now. Yay for the heater not working!




p.s.-I also found $40 in a brief case I used to use for work in that closet! I haven't used it in over a year. It's fun to have a bad memory sometimes! :)

Our little Thanksgiving

Since November 1st (without even realizing this was Thanksgiving month) I have been keeping a 'glad' list, writing something down each day that I am thankful for. I have been trying to focus on the positive lately. I wrote things down specific to that day or moment:
KG. Flower. living downtown. Sturgill's. Nieces and Nephews. comfy sofas. helping others. treadmill. walks. converse shoes. traveling. alone time. making cookies. sunshine. family. love. creativity. friends. laughter. stability. board games. favorite tv shows.
I have so much to be thankful for and sometimes the little things are easily forgotten. Writing something down each day that brought me the slightest bit of comfort or joy helps me remember how truly blessed I am. I wish everyone a grateful Thanksgiving and hope we can all take time to remember the little things.

Today was a lovely day! Flower slept past noon! Amazing. That gave me a chance to clean up and get organized. She and I then put up all the Christmas decorations! Thanks KG for hauling those bins upstairs for us! :)

I am so thankful to have her here with us this holiday season! She has brought a completely different joy and excitement. I have always been one to get extremely excited for Christmas, it's just that much better.

She is at the perfect age for getting excited about and understanding. We had such a good time playing Christmas music and decorating! KG's stocking is on the left hanging from the 'J', my stocking is in the middle handing from the 'O' and Flower's stocking is on right handing from the 'Y'. Joy is what it's all about! I am looking so forward to getting out tree!

I can hardly wait for Christmas morning. In the after noon, once KG was awake, we walked to the theater and saw Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. Sandee, Spencer and Kas joined us as well. Such a cute movie! I loved everything about it! I loved Maloney's piano fingers constantly in motion. I loved the mutant accountant's transformation. I loved the budding friendship between Eric and the mutant. And the sock monkey? Well, everyone needs a hug once in a while. I can hardly wait to see it again.
We are now going to enjoy our Thanksgiving meal of Red Barron Pizza and Jalapeño Poppers while we watch Are We done Yet?, just the three of us! I love my little family!

Madison Family Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving dinner with my family tonight. My parents hosted it at their home. When we arrived, my younger brother's family was already there and my sister's family showed up shortly after we did. We missed my older brothers family who was in Vegas with their other family. As soon as we got there, Flower went right for the rocking horse! We got some cute photos of Flower and her cousins. I especially love the one of Kas and Lorelai. So sweet!


Here is a photo of my mom's beautiful table and the beginnings of the wonderful feast! Check out the pretty flowers my dad gave her for her Birthday. :)

After we finished our yummy meal we celebrated my mom's and Ryan's birthdays. We then got to the most important part...game playing! We started with Last Word. Ryan stomped us! We then attempted a game of Hubbub but decided to have dessert and then opted to play Bubble Brain instead. I love this photo of princess Lorelai with her little tiara! :)


We had a really fun time and I'm very thankful for my family!

My Cute Mom!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! There is so much to admire about my mom that I decided to say it this way:
HERE ARE THE ABC'S OF MY MOM!
A-always concerned for us B-best Grandma ever C-cute as can be D-deserving E-endearing
F-full of life G-generous H-homemaker I-I love her J-Jeopardy buff
K-kind L-loving M-marvelous cook N-never gossips O-Opal
P-prettiest gem Q-queen of our family R-reader S-silly T-travel buddy
U-unassuming V-valiant W-wealth of knowledge X-xtraordinary friend
Y-Young at heart Z-zest for life

Pullman--Fairwell

This what we woke up to on our last morning. Really beautiful. We enjoyed this view a bit longer by getting in swim suits and enjoying the big jacuzzi tub one last time. It was fun to be in it together.
Once we were all packed and ready to go we met everyone at a cute little European place for brunch.


We had such a great time and look forward to our next visit. Thanks for having us!

Pullman--Last night of fun

Sunday we chilled in our hotel room until late afternoon. We woke up early for the free breakfast but then laid around, watched Ratatouille, played on the computer, and slept. We finally got up and moving and then went to lunch at Madarine House, the food was delicious,

before going back to the Oldroyd's. We spent the rest of the playing games and watching the kids enjoy each other as cousins. Austin loved to play with Flower's hair.

We played Clue DVD. It was an interesting spin on the plain board game but ran a little long. We also paused in the middle of it for a fabulous dinner made by Keri. BBQ'd pork chops, baked potatoes, green beans, rice, bread with homemade jam. Yum!
KG and Brian then went on an ice cream run for the rest of us.
Mackenzie and Flower enjoyed watching Brother Bear together with the rest of us while they were gone.


When they got home, Brian got some good laughs out of Flower and she was loving it!

After our yummy ice cream, we played Hubbub and Last Word.

Some arm and leg wrestling then ensued!




Unfortunately Flower had a melt down that required us to pack things up quickly and head back for the hotel. The poor girl had done so well all weekend but I think we wore her out! It's so hard to keep a schedule when we were having so much fun!