College World Series game

We had the opportunity to go see a College World Series game while we were in Nebraska visiting Chris' sister and her family.  Actually, Chris and I and his sister and her husband were all going to go on Wednesday night.  Literally almost as soon as we got through the gate, it started pouring.  We ran in the rain to the concourse and then spent the next 3 hours pigging out on concession stand food waiting for the game to start.  Finally, at 9 pm, they called the game and said that it was rescheduled for the next day at 11 am. 

The next day, we got a bunch of extra tickets from people who Chris' brother-in-law worked with who couldn't go to the game because it was during the day.  So we ended up taking all the kids.  It was a fun time, even though I don't think the kids really watched much of the game. 

Preston's rally cap

Ashten's favorite part of the game was probably eating the popcorn

To the park with the cousins

Warning:  This post is very picture-heavy.  But, what can I say?  I think my kids are just adorable and I couldn't choose!!

A few times, while we were visiting Chris' sister and family in Nebraska, we visited the park that was by their house.  It was a really cool park, very top-of-the-line.  One day I brought my camera, because despite all the cool playground equipment, I was a little bored!

Ashten was upset because I wasn't holding her

Cousins!

She called this "Monkey Slide"

He's growing up so fast!

Preston thought it was really cool that he was wearing his Spiderman shirts
and there was a web to climb on!

Our story

Today marks 12 years that I have been married to my best friend.  I won't lie and say it's been all sunshine and roses, but everything we have gone through, we have gone through together and we have come out together on the other side of it stronger in our marriage and closer as a couple. 

I realized that I never really told our story on my blog: how we met, when we started dating, etc.  So without further ado....

Chris and I actually met in 7th grade when my family moved to CO and started attending the same church as his family.  But we didn't really ever talk to each other except for "hi", or the occasional razzing about the other person's sports team, till about 4 years later.  Officially we started really talking when we had the same Physics class and he sat in front of me on the first day of school.  I can still remember thinking to myself, "what kind of person wears a holey t-shirt and basketball shorts on the first day of school?".  I mean I seriously spent probably several hours thinking about, shopping for and planning my first-day-of-school outfit.  Haha - I still tease him about it to this day. But I digress.... Throughout the semester, we would talk a little about physics or church, and I couldn't believe a jock (he played 4 sports I think?) and someone so good-looking would be interested in talking to a lowly choir jock (yes we really did call ourselves that - weren't we cool?) like myself.  He was dating some girl (or so I thought) and so we were strictly becoming better friends at that point. 

Our first outing together (it wasn't really a date because Chris didn't ask me with that intent) was to go see my ex-boyfriend in the hospital.  Haha - funny story!  He was a mutual friend from youth group at our church and he had just had surgery and was in the hospital for a few days.  Chris called me up out of the blue and asked if I wanted to go with him to see this guy in the hospital the next afternoon after school.  I wasn't really excited about going to see my ex-boyfriend in the hospital, but I was excited to hang out with Chris, so I agreed.  When we got to the hospital, apparently I made some comment about how this guy and I had broke up about six months ago and Chris says right then he felt horrible.  Like, he's bringing this guy's ex-girlfriend in, as it appears, to show off that he is now dating me.  That wasn't at all his intention, he honestly just thought since I didn't have a car and since he thought we were still dating and since he was this guy's friend too that we could just carpool to go see him.  What a chivalrous, sweet guy!  (My first clue)

I figured that would be the end of it, so I wasn't really getting my hopes up and still hadn't really thought about Chris as any more than a friend.  But then the next day he called me again.  And we talked for a loooong time.  This was back before the time of cell phones or DSL, so anytime I spent on the phone was time that my parents couldn't use the phone OR the internet.  No wonder they were always limiting my phone time!  That phone conversation was when I realized that I liked Chris as more than a friend.

Our first "date" was to go see Chris' sister play a soccer game in Colorado Springs.  Except that we never made it to the game because we ended up just sitting around talking the whole evening at his house.  We had a lot in common and really hit it off.  When we first started dating we would talk for hours and hours and hours.  I wish we had that kind of time now!



Senior Homecoming - 1997

Chris and I started dating the end of our junior year of high school, so I can proudly say I married my high school sweetheart. We became very close very fast, and I think we both knew we had something special. Our senior year of high school was fairly uneventful, but I think most people were very surprised that we were still dating when we graduated.  We spent almost every minute together that we could between school, work and sports.


Senior Prom - 1998



High School Graduation - 1998

When I went up to Ft. Collins my freshman year of college and Chris stayed in Golden at CSM, we spoke on the phone or emailed almost every day.  I missed him a lot, and I can honestly say that that is when I knew he was the man I wanted to marry.  I think that year was good for us though, because it taught us how to better communicate and solidifed our feelings for each other.  I transferred to CU Denver my sophmore year and if anyone asked me, I would tell them it was so that Chris and I could get married sooner.

August, 1998 - the day I moved into my college dorm room

Chris and I got engaged over Christmas break of our sophmore year of college.  We were both 19!!  19!!  At the time we felt mature, grown-up and not at all still kids, but now as I look back, and especially when I think of our own kids getting engaged at that age, it's a little scary.  I wouldn't change a thing if I could go back and do it over though, so I really believe it was a great decision!

1999

We were married in 2000, the summer between our sophomore and junior years of college.  We did a lot of growing up as a married couple, which was maybe a little harder than doing it as a single person, but I think it also made us closer. 

Sorry for the grainy picture - this was pre-digital-camera era.

Over the past 12 years (15 if you include our dating years) I have grown to know and love Chris more and more!  I am so grateful for the man God gave me to be my partner for life.  I am a totally lucky girl!  I can't wait to see what the next 12 years brings to our lives and to our marriage!

Omaha Zoo

A couple of weeks ago, we went to Nebraska to visit Chris' sister and brother-in-law and their 3 kids.  It was a good time of reconnecting for the kids, I think they had a great time!

The first few days we were there, it was so rainy!!  We decided to go to the zoo, since their zoo has a lot of indoor exhibits and the kids had to get out of the house!

The coolest exhibit was probably the gorillas, they were right up next to the glass and pretty playful.  Where the Denver zoo has a lot of "natural habitats", the Omaha Zoo has more visitor-focused habitats.  What that basically means is that the Denver zoo is probably better for the animals, but it's sometimes very hard to see the animals as their enclosures are so big.  The Omaha Zoo probably doesn't have as much room for the animals to roam and explore, but that means that you get a very good, up-close look at all the animals! 

At the end of the gorilla exhibit, we walked outside and the rain had let up a little, so we let the kids climb on the gorilla statues.

Preston saw this cougar structure and really wanted to take a picture on it!  I took 3 pictures and this was the best one.  It is virtually impossible to get a picture with 4 kids who are all looking at the camera and not crying, let alone smiling. 

  

We had a good day at the zoo and I think we exhausted all the kids pretty good with all the walking as they all fell asleep on the way home!

Adoption update - July 2012

We have been very productive this past month in regards to adoption stuff.  I haven't written an update in awhile, but now is a good time since we actually have some progress to write about!

• All our education requirements are completed. For now. We completed a 20-chapter workbook and 7 online classes!!  We have a few adoption books we want to read, but those are totally by choice and on our own time.  We have a 2-day training to attend in October, but we are done with all the training we HAD to complete to move forward at this point.  The education was actually really good.  Chris and I both talked about how we really went into this adoption with some very wrong and naive perceptions and our eyes have definitely been opened to the challenges and issues we might face as adoptive parents.  We are so excited for the challenges, as well as the rewards that come with international adoptive parenting.
• We sent in for our passports since they had both expired and have already them back!  Yay for fast government service!!
• We have chosen a name!!!  We aren't going to share though till we get the referral, so you have about 2 more years to wait!  We have really specific criteria for the name and honestly I didn't think we'd find a name that met all of them.  We wanted a name that ended in "n", like all our other children's names, we wanted a name with African origins and we wanted a name that meant something pertaining to the adoption.  I was just kind of searching around on the internet one night and came across one that fit all 3 of our criteria.  And Chris and I both like it!  It's like a miracle!
• God has provided all the funds we need to get on the wait list!  God is so, so good!  We will have more money due at the time of our referral, but we have time to fundraise and apply for grants between now and then.
• Our homestudy interviews are all complete and we have read through and signed our homestudy.  Two more agencies have to give their approval and then it will be officially finalized!
• When our home study is officially final and approved, that same day, we will send in our application to USCIS.  This is the packet to goes to the US government for immigration purposes.  We have to be approved to bring home a child from another country.

The next, and final, thing to complete before we are on the waiting list for a referral is the dossier.  I have to admit, at first it was totally overwhelming and a little stressful, but as we have worked through the steps, it has not been nearly as bad as I thought.  We have to get a few letters of recommendation, more background checks, more medical clearance and then a few photos and stuff.  We can send in our dossier as soon as we hear back from USCIS that our immigration paperwork has been approved!

We are really hoping to get on the waiting list sometime in September.  From the most recent figures we have seen, the average wait time from getting on the list to receiving a referral is 20 months.  If we were to get on the wait list by September, that would put our referral in Spring 2014 (granted the time line stays the same) and hopefully we will actually have our daughter home by Christmas 2014.

Now that we are getting things done and getting so close to being on the wait list, it is really becoming more real to me.  I know it's still a long way off, but I ache for the day I get to hold our Ethiopian daughter and bring her home.

Stormtrooper/Cowgirl

This outfit totally goes, right?

Happy Birthday Preston

Can't believe our 3rd born is now 5!  Preston brings so much passion and energy to our family.  Life is not dull when Preston is around.  Preston loves life and has a certain unique sweetness. 

Preston is very reflective and thoughtful.  Preston doesn't say a whole lot, but sometimes he'll be quiet and then all the sudden he'll speak up and say "I have a question".  Then he asks a really insightful question that tells us that he has been thinking about it and mulling it over in his head for awhile. 

Preston is 100% passionate about life.  When he loves a toy or book or animal or character, he learns everything he can about it.  He can tell me more about snakes (or Star Wars, or spiders, etc) than I ever knew! 
Preston loves being around other people.  This past year, with his brothers gone at school all day, he learned to play by himself, but his favorite thing is to play with other people.  He is very accomadating too, preferring playing with someone what they want over playing what he wants by himself. 

Happy 5 years of life Preston, I can't wait to see what exciting things the next year holds for you!

Brothers are the best!

Having older kids while having a toddler is totally awesome.  Sometimes Ashten is begging me to play with her or read to her or entertain her when I'm busy with something else and really can't and then I remember "oh ya, her brothers can!".

I'm not saying I put off childcare onto my other children all the time, but it's great having that option when I need it.  Besides, I think Ashten mostly prefers playing with her brothers over me anyway, they are way more fun!

One of Ashten's favorite things to do is wrestle.  Luckily, since Chris was at work this particular time, Brayden stepped up to the job!

AWANA awards

This year, just like every other year, our church does an awards night for the AWANA program and also uses that time to showcase the preschool choirs.  Preston's choir sang 3 songs.  Preston isn't the most animated singer/choreography guy, but it's so cute to watch kids that age sing.

This was Preston's last year in Cubbies, he'll be in Sparks in the fall.  sniff, sniff

Logan got Clubber of the Year in Sparks!  He was the one boy they chose to be boy Clubber of the Year.  So proud of him!  And it was especially good for him because last year both Brayden and Preston received that award for their respective clubs, so it's neat that this year Logan was recognized.  Clubber of the Year is chosen by the Sparks director based on behavior, attitude and verses learned.  Logan got a devotional book and he was so excited to work on it that the next morning he got up at like 5 am so he could do his devotions with me!



Brayden is now in T&T, which is the club for the oldest kids (3rd-6th grade).  He missed being Clubber of the Year by 2 points, but he still had a great year.  He completed his book, which is a big deal for T&Ters because of the amount of work involved in each section. 

1st/Last Days of School

Wow!  Time flies.....

August 2011 - 1st Day of School
Brayden: 3rd grade, Logan: 1st grade

May 2012 - Last Day of School
Brayden: now in 4th grade, Logan: now in 2nd grade