I had Kylie's pictures taken at Sears a few months ago...thought I would share. She is such a beautiful girl, inside and out. I started taking my kids to Target to have their school pictures taken. The ones at school always turn out bad and they are so expensive. Target doesn't have a protrait studio in Texas so I go to Sears. You can usually get a package with about 40 pictures for $10. And they turn out great! I should get Braeden's back soon and then I still need to take Sam and Lindsey. Once I get their Senior pictures taken then that is the one that will stay on the wall forever....until they go on a mission or get married, then I will replace it.
Lindsey tried to last but she finally gave into sleep!
This was our big NYE party. Sam went to the party down at the church and Charity was with friends. We had goodies and played games.Here's our tree. The kids helped me decorate it this year. I usually have 2 trees up. The big one (this one) with "my" ornaments on and a smaller on in the living room that I let the kids decorate. I didn't want to do two trees this year so we combined all the ornaments.
This is one of the things that I got Steve. It is an indoor remote control mini helicopter. He really wanted to get one for Braeden but I just knew it would be broken the first day...so I said, NO. Then I went to Radio Shack and bought this one for him. He was sooooo excited. I knew he would take care of it.Braeden got this Nerf dart gun game. Like laser tag only with Nerf darts. It is so much fun. We had a game of "dart wars." It was us (Steve and me) against all of them. We won of course.
Lindsey was on our team. Her job was to collect all of the "spent" darts that were on the floor and bring them to us. Truth be told...she was probably the reason we won. She was very good at her job.
Dancing in celebration when they realized what was in the box...a Nintendo Wii... I love group presents. It saves a lot of money. I bought this one off of ebay for a steal. I got it from some guy that had it for 18 months and only played it a few times. It was in perfect condition. Plus it came with lots of games and accessories. I probably got it for 1/2 of what the guy originally paid for all of it.
Courtney was able to come home for a visit for Christmas and her birthday. Steve drove to Houston after work on the 23rd. They arrived home around midnight. Her birthday is on the 22nd. I swear she grows a foot more each time I see her. She towers over me. She is about 3 inches shorter than Steve which makes her about 5'8". She was 18 1/2 inches when she was born and weighed just over 5 lbs. We had a party for her on the 24th...Christmas Eve (day). As I sit here writing this I am reminded of a christmas eve day 14 years ago....the day Courtney came to live with us. The adoption worker called about a week earlier and asked if we would be willing to take in a baby. I said, "Of course!" I didn't even call Steve to ask him what he thought. Kind of an after thought I asked more details...boy or girl, etc. The worker couldn't tell me much because "the baby" hadn't been born yet. The morning of the 23rd I had gone down to the airport in Salt Lake. My brother, Clay, was flying to Arizona for Christmas and had most of the day to wait for his flight. I drove down to spend the day in the airport with him. We would have normally been driving to AZ with my brother. But months earlier, probably around October, I told Steve I didn't want to go to AZ for Christmas. What a shocker! I didn't even have a reason. I just knew I didn't want to go...When I returned home there was a message. "The baby had been born the day before and they needed us to come and get "her." (If we had gone to AZ for Christmas, they would have placed her with another foster family) Because I wasn't home they had found another family for her to go to for the night. That evening and the next morning we spent shopping. I had nothing at home for a baby. Because of the circumstances surrounding her birth she would have nothing when she arrived. It was the best time ever! I don't recall how much we spent but I know it was a lot. The afternoon of the 24th we drove to the house where she had been placed the night before. We were greeted by the other foster parents...funny, Steve worked with the dad! The lady handed her to me and said, "here is your baby girl." Although, the last 14 years have been one of the biggest trials of my life (learning and then dealing with all of her disabilities) I have never doubted that she is our daughter. Heavenly Father sent her to our family where she was sealed to us forever. However, I have often doubted my abilities to care for her...wondering if I was the right mother for her. I am truly grateful for her and all that she has taught and continues to teach us. I know that she is a daughter of God and He has entrusted her precious spirit to our family. We love and miss her.
