slide show

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Too busy to post. Picture heavy!

Pin It What a blessing it is to be busy just having fun!
We have had a CRAZY 6 weeks here in the desert!
We've had 3 birthdays. The big 18 followed by the big 4, followed by the big 21! Lexi graduated from Pre School, Cassidy graduated from High School. Dance competitions and recitals, a mothers day staycation, and so much more. Oh the beauty of LIVING! So many parties and way too much CAKE! So blessed to wake up each day and call this beautiful family mine!

 Ivy's 4th Birthday party


She is loving the pool this year!



 Our graduating senior in the pink.

Little maybe, but every time the camera comes out she must remind me that she is 4 now!!!


                         3 of the 5 sisters

This is how big your muscles get when you are 4
                                                                 Really!

         Finding her joy not a problem



She spends lots of time swinging on a new swing set one of her buddies got her for her birthday. 


And a little time crying when mommy says its too hot to swing (like today when it was 106 outside!) 

 She loves to play anything that has a dungeon and a big bad wolf or some kind of a villain  I have no idea why... But she begs everyone older than 5 to please play with her and be the bad guy. She loves to run and scream and hide and by golly she is the most amazing little untrained actress I have ever lived with!












                      Moving on to Lexi
 Our sweet Lexi is starting kindergarten in the fall!            Sniff sniff indeed! 




                  She is excited about this new chapter.




             But wishes her Ivy Girl could come too!




And if she could bring her daddy, that would be even better!

 And a big sister would just seal the deal!


She finally has enough hair to wear pigtails with no hair hanging in the back! She's so proud of that!






Getting her praise on during worship at pre-school graduation!


This girl loves to sing! And thank the good Lord she is getting better and better at carrying a tune... slowly but surely! Yes, thank the good Lord...




Swimming remains her favorite activity.

















Happy Summer! Celebrate every second!!!! Pin It

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Happy Birthday Ivy Joy!!

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Today we celebrate our Ivy Girl!
We celebrate 4 years of life and 4 years of this inspirational little bundle of joy being in this world. We shed tears of happiness as we recollect on how miraculous it is that she is here and she is doing so well. We give all the glory to God for His hand has always been on this child! We celebrate the love of a beautiful woman in China that gave birth to this most precious child and though her child was very ill, she chose to have hope! She chose life! Since Ivy was 4 months old when she was abandoned, we don't know that today is her ~actual~ day of birth. Regardless, I hope that on whatever day it is that her birth mom thinks of her birth, I hope she again chooses hope and envisions Ivy as a happy little girl who is very much alive and very very loved!!! 


A little bit about our Birthday Girl, who happens to be very very excited about turning 4 today.



Ivy is active and very busy... ALL the time!! She is happy happy happy and the most friendly child I've ever met. She loves people and she loves talking.. all the time.. to everyone! 



She is pretty bossy, mostly in a good way, and loves order people around. She has no idea that she is only 23 pounds and 33 inches of mighty little creature.


She is obsessed with her high heeled Elsa shoes. They are not really Elsa shoes but she thinks they are. She wears them all waking hours in the house and occasionally sneaks out to the grocery store in them. 





She loves her life books and will tell anyone who will listen where she is from and how she got here. She loves to look at pictures of her family and can tell quite the fabricated story about just about anything. 


She is a die hard drama queen. I mean this girl could get an Emmy for her acting ability. Give her any scenario and ask her to play the character and she nails it every single time. It is amazing. 


She is funny! I mean really really funny. People who are meeting her for the first time ask us if we ever get anything done because she really is that entertaining. 




She is tender. So tender and sweet. Has incredible empathy and compassion for people. She loves bigger than anyone I've ever known and she makes people feel special by the way she genuinely shows her love.


She can draw people in, I don't know how she does it, but the girl draws a crowd with those eyes and that sweet voice. We will have people follow us out to our car just to tell us there was something about her that just made their day.



She is an accident PRO. She could trip over a piece of rice. Especially if there is something nearby to fall on and get a black eye or a bump on her head! She is not clumsy, in fact she is very graceful and has very delicate motions, but when she falls, there always has to be something there to fall on that leaves a bright bruise or scratch. And always before the day we will be taking lots of pictures... like her make a wish trip with the big purple bruise on her head from falling on a wooden piece of play food pizza and like this new shiner, the black eye, from rolling her face on a glass bowl she was filling with money from her piggy bank. 



She has incredibly sweet relationships with her siblings and just glows when they are all home at the same time. 




         And my oh my are they ever in love with this little girl!!!


She is bossy. Oh wait, I already said that one didn't I? 
Well, it should be said twice... 



                   She is currently 23 pounds and 33 inches. 


          Her favorite princesses are Rapunzel, Anna and Elsa. 


Her favorite book is Marcy Mayer, Little Critters book, Shopping with Mom.


Her favorite song is Beautiful Day by 



Her favorite foods are buttered noodles, artichokes, zucchini, Oatmeal and chips.



                       Her favorite game is hide and go seek. 



          She loves to ride her tricycle and swing on the swings. 



She is the sparkle in our lives and our hearts and we are so blessed to celebrate 4 with our sweet girl!!!



Happy Birthday Ivy Joy! We love you all the way to China and back, forever and ever and ever!!!! Pin It
 
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