With so much to be thankful for this year. I am so thankful for my sweet children, amazing husband and loving family and friends. Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall is a great season...why must CHILLY winter follow? I must say we had a unusually warm Fall. This warmth has caused extreme shock to me with being indoors all the time with my two sweeties. But we are figuring out a schedule and keeping busy.

A really fun family day.

Daddy and me soccer and Mommy and me gymnastics. What incredible memories with our babies!

Playing at Gamma and Papas

Gavin and Nadia are loving their schools. Gavin attends Geist Christian Church and Fishers United Methodist. They are great schools and less then 2 miles from our house so wonderful!

Praying Mantis...Daddy that is so amazing..

The rest of August was filled with memories of swimming, parks, playing in the yard, and visits from family.

Saying Goodbye to the Oppold family, was not my idea of a good time. I keep saying good bye to many important people in my life. The Oppold's were our lifegroup leaders and did an amazing job of supporting Mike and I through Nadia's entire adoption. Having them move away was a complete shock and super sad. You guys are still missed. I am thankful though that they are happy and enjoying their new life in Minnesota.

The Indianapolis FAIR!

More summer memories!

Castles, landscape, gardens, Hadrian's wall, sheep, waterfalls, baby Jonah, delicious food from Casa S&K. What a great trip!

Dublin, Ireland was a wonderful Mike and I got away for 2 nights on our own. Boy did I start the trip off right. I forgot the PASSPORTS at the house which caused us to miss our train, and cost us a lot of $$ to take a taxi to the airport. WOOPSY. The trip was filled with amazing sites and memories.

Baby Jonah was so sweet and it was amazing to meet him and love on him for the first time in England. Jonah was so cuddly loving and slept a lot while we were there. I hear he has never slept as well again since Auntie Melissa (just kidding)

I have to say that there truly are a couple of similarities between our living experiences with babies in foreign countries (Jonah born in England baby, Gavin and Nadia born in Guate). No car, cobblestone streets, carrying him everywhere, visiting historical ruins, cell phone cards and skyping, converting the dollar but in the complete OPPOSITE of our favor 2 to 1 in England verses in Guate the dollar was 7.5 to 1. But that is about it...we did not have to barter in a different language for food, or scavenger hunt for household items at many stores. (I love SuperTarget by the way sidebar) Jonah we cant wait to hold you again at Thanksgiving I know you are going to be such a big baby boy!

Our baby is so beautiful..Happy 18month Birthday.

Enjoying summer fun with our family in Toledo. Thanks for the awesome memories.

Gavin is quite good at playing frisbee! So much fun being with Papa in Toledo too..We had several trips back last month. One was my cousin's wedding and another was my Grandmother's 60th wedding anniversary!

It is hard to believe that Nadia is already 18 months! She is walking well and talking more and more. She loves to be held and loves to play. One of her favorite phrases is "I want my Daddy" I guess the "Daddy's little girl starts early."
First smores are a fun time in the backyard at Nana's house..
Sam is so sweet and keeps surprising us with her absolute joy for Gavin and Nadia. Gavin says, each time we see them (which is never enough) "Sam is going to SQUEAL!"

Happy Birthday Daddy! We love you! Mommy, Gavin, and Nadia

Welcome Baby Jonah! He is so wonderful and we cannot wait to go and meet him soon..He was born on June 10 in England check out Susanne and Kristian's blog for more photos.

It was nice to all be together for one meal at my cousin April's wedding. I am next to my brother Matt and his wife Claire who are expecting! Check out their site for updates. My sister Michelle and her husband Tony are in black on the end.
It was really special visiting my Grandparents. 60 years is a long time to live let alone spend your life together. My Grandmother has a large collection of porcelain birds, duck, and chickens. Nadia could not believe all of them and kept screaming "quack, quack. Please continue praying for my grandmother she is not doing well..she is back in the hospital with a bladder infection and and fell. She fractured several bones in her face. My Grandfather is doing well although this is difficult for him of course.

People loving our kids everywhere! We are so blessed to have so many people that love our kids. This is my Grandma Mae my mom's mother hugging Nadia and Gavin.

They change so fast! We worked and worked to help Nadia become a walker and it is amazing how subtle yet monumental it is for us to watch her learn little by little. All of us would have preferred her learn a little faster... but she now has it and no one can stop her now!

These moments are so few and I have to take them when I can my angel feel asleep while we were swinging at a memorial day picnic!

Zoo train..fun times at the Toledo Zoo. The Zoo train was a big part of growing up for me we went to the Zoo sometimes weekly and the train was a must.
Gavin was really lucky to get to go and hang out at the firestation in Oregon one of my bridesmaids Sarah Beavers (congrats on your new baby Sarah)! She is married to a volunteer fireman. He showed Gavin all the fire engines and he had such a great time!

First STEPS! HORRAY!

Happy Mother's Day! For Mother's day we took a 10 hour drive to introduce Nadia to Mike's Mema for the first time. She loved Nadia and cried when we left. The most amazing thing happened while we were there. Nadia took her first steps! I should be screaming this from the mountain tops but it has been rather anti-climatic because of how busy we have been. Nadia is so cute as she is taking steps you have to count for her and they are the tiniest. Special things we did while we were there are we went to eat at the Golden Corral (which is Mema's favorite place to eat). We also checked out the train coming into the station.

Hanging out with our neighbors Kevin and Lucy is great fun! Nadia is so cute in her "baby doll" carriage.

It was fun to see Evie for just bit my best friend Natalie (from the 1st grade) we now have girls the same age.

Tractor rides at Papa's Nadia was squealing and signing "More, More"!

Playing video games with Uncle Matt, picnic's at the park with Gamma, Nana, and Chelle. It is so nice that it is SPRING finally!

My crazy messy eater! Nadia love to eat and boy is she messy..
Woops..Gavin did a face plant down our driveway ouchy...

Two peas in a pod running at the Children's museum with Daddy.

Here are some great shots of our family at Aunt Mildred's viewing. Nadia is getting so close to walking but does not want to let go!