Happy 6th Birthday, Annika!!

My baby girl turned 6 years-old! Annika asked for a "Hawaii birthday," so we bought luau paper products, pineapples for the tables, leis, and of course, we had a volcano cake just as she requested! (She loves Hawaii and wants to go there more than Disney World!)

Annika was thrilled to get the Webkinz mud hippo which was the only thing that she would tell us that she wanted for Christmas or her birthday! Jeremy and Marissa got that for her.

Mom, Patti, Scott, and the kids joined us around noon for pizza, chips, dip, and the volcano cake. We played lots of Wii games together and had a great time hanging out all afternoon!

Happy Birthday, my sweet New Year's Eve surprise!

Merry Christmas 2009!!

We had a nice, quiet Christmas morning at home. LOL! Mom came over to enjoy the chaos. We moved some of our chairs in to the dining/school room so that we could sit beside the Christmas tree. I don't remember if I mentioned on here that we set up our tree in there so that Benaiah didn't try to climb it or knock it over or strip it or eat it or all of the above!

We only had a few packages under the tree since we decided to just do a big family gift this year. Marissa opened the major gift and found a Wii. (You can see Jeremy's reaction in the photo above where he is squeezing the life out of Annika!) We also got Dance, Dance Revolution Disney Grooves. So, guess what we did all day and night for the next 10 days in which William was off of work? You bet! (William and I were so sore!) We all love it! We especially love it because in most of the games we have, we have to get up and move. William and I have started doing the DDR dancing for a workout a few times a week in addition to our trips to the gym.



We had a nice steak dinner and decided that Jesus wanted a birthday cookie instead of cake this year. We sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and blew out a candle.

We had a great Christmas together as a family and hope that yours was blessed too!

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Eve at Mema's House

We spent Christmas Eve at my mom's house with my sister, Patti, her husband, Scott, and their 3 children, Tabitha, Benjamin, and Isaac.

We had a really nice ham dinner, and then we got caught up on birthday gifts. We were unable to get together with my sister's family for Marissa and Scott's birthdays. In the collage above, is a photo of Scott with the Monopoly quilt that I made. The family received the matching pillows for part of their Christmas gift from us. Patti had bought the Monopoly fabric at least 10 years ago and had given it to me when she moved. It was fun using it to surprise them all!

Mom had given me a bunch of OLD aprons that her mother wore in the kitchen and to work at the Westinghouse plant in Columbus, OH. We believe that some of the aprons also belonged to her grandmother. Anyway, I made my mom a wall hanging out of them. I hated to cut them up, but they were of no use to any of us, and now, they can be enjoyed.

Isaac (3) and Benaiah were a hoot to watch together. They are dangerous!

Happy 9th Birthday, Marissa!!

Marissa had a great birthday! Grandma and Grandpa came down to celebrate, and Miriam spent the day with us as we went to the NC Zoo and enjoyed pizza and strawberry cake!

Happy Birthday, Marissa!!!

Christmas with Grandpa & Grandma

While Grandpa and Grandma were here for Marissa's birthday, we celebrated Christmas with them. We enjoyed a dinner of cubed steak, mashed potatoes, and pineapple upside-down cake before exchanging gifts.

The kids all made a miniature painting that we turned into ornaments for Grandpa and Grandma.

A Crazy December Saturday

Each December, there is always at least one weekend in which there are activities out the wazoo! This year, it was December 12. On that day, we enjoyed the IBM children's Christmas party, the town Christmas parade, and our church's Christmas production.

So, early in the cold morning, we headed to RTP to the party. Our first stop was to see Santa.

Annika was most excited and happy to see Santa.

Jeremy knew that it would make Mama happy and obliged.


Marissa didn't want to sit on Santa as you can tell by her expression.


Benaiah clung to me, and I could tell that he was thinking, "Don't you dare think that you're going to put me down on this weird man!"


After our Santa fun, we played games, made crafts, hung our with the Colglaziers, and ate lots of SUGAR!


We went home to re-group and have lunch, and then headed to downtown Cary for the Christmas parade. (They can call it that because it is hosted by the Jaycees.) We again met up with the Colglaziers who we kind enough to save us a spot. It was COLD. The parade was as wonderful with marching bands, Elvis, CANDY, and of course, Santa again. Marissa said that Santa recognized Miriam from the party earlier.



After thawing, we headed to church for the Christmas production, "A Christmas Tale," which was excellent as usual.

My Crazy Adoption

Our friends Kari & Roger adopted a little girl from Ethiopia last year and have now began a website called, "My Crazy Adoption," in hopes of helping many more families to understand and enjoy the many processes of adoption whether they are paperwork, family, or heart issues.

Until December 15, you can enter a contest at My Crazy Adoption to win some GREAT prizes!

They are also raising funds for the next adoption by selling "Simply Love" t-shirts. Please consider helping them bring their newest little one home!