Back to school and autumn fun!

Back to school and autumn fun!

The kids returned to school in August and from there the fall has flown by. Westin has been playing football and has become pretty good. He has had to devote a lot of time and energy now that he is playing at the high school level. The girls have been fairly good sports about being dragged all over the state to watch his games. Football has kept us all busy and it has been great to see what a great athlete Westin is developing into. We love #74! Lexi is back in full swing on her competitive cheerleading team. She almost has her back tuck and is currently doing a multiple back handspring series in their routine. She also received cheerleader of the week only the second week into the season. Mia has been busy being a typical toddler and is keeping mama BUSY! We visited the children's museum and have been on multiple playdates. She is continuing to grow and learn more everyday. Her vocabulary has improved greatly and you never know what might come out of her mouth. Halloween is just around the corner. This will be Mia's first year trick or treating and we are excited to see her in her ladybug costume. I will post pictures soon. Life has been good! I only wish it would slow down a bit and we could enjoy more time together as a family. With both of us working and balancing 3 kids we haven't seen much of each other lately.

Mia turns 2!

Today was Mia's 2nd birthday! We were originally going to have a big party for her, but due to a variety of reasons we ended up having her celebration with just the 5 of us. Next year we will have the big birthday party for her. She had a great day! She was so happy to have us all home. Westin has been gone a lot at his 2 a day football practices, Lexi has been busy doing everything possible, and of course Nathan and I have been balancing work and family which means we are hardly ever home at the same time anymore. We had lunch at The Journey and then tonight Mia blew out her first candle after we demonstrated proper technique:) Mia might have turned 2, but we believe this was her first of many celebrations! We are so grateful for Mia and that she is part of OUR family! She is my girl in every way!

Niagara Falls, Canada

We had a great time at Niagara Falls last week. It was Mia's first family vacation. We stayed at the Hilton and had a great view. We went on the Maids of Mist boat ride that drives you straight into the falls, the Journey Behind the Falls, and Falls of Fury. It was so nice to just be able to enjoy my kids without having to worry about work, making meals, and cleaning house. We ate at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville and the best chinese buffet ever called the Mandarin House. We wish we had one by us. The kids swam at the hotel and our little Mia is quite a fish! Our family excluding Mia is very tired of the Chipmunks movie and the Mulan movie. We brought 10 DVD's with us, but Mia would only be good during Mulan and the Chipmunks movie, therefore we watched them over and over. Overall, I think she did great on the 9 and half hour car ride. This weekend we tried out The Journey restaurant in Fishers hoping it would be as good as the Mandarin House in Canada....it was a close second. The servers thought Mia looked like Mulan, imagine that.

Now we are back home to reality. I am picking up extra shifts at the hospital to pay for all the back to school expenses. It is amazing how the summer has flown by. Westin has started his long and grueling football practices and should be in great shape in no time. I wonder if he would mine if I joined practice for the conditioning part? I need to be whipped into shape, but doubt he would allow it :)

I am hoping to get many things accomplished this week and need to start planning for Mia's birthday. She turns 2 on 8/8. It is amazing how she has totally become part of our family and I can't imagine life without her. God is so good!

The Wedding

We have had a couple of really busy weeks. My baby sister Kate's wedding was last weekend. It was 90 degrees with maybe 90% humidity and it was outside. Now picture us in dresses and suits....the setting was beautiful, but we all felt like we were melting. The reception was wonderful and so much fun that regretfully I don't really have any pictures to show for it :(. I was too busy visiting, chasing Mia, and eating. What can I say? However, Mia did stop to smell the flowers! Here are a few pictures Nathan was able to get. Notice that Westin is on the far right side in the 5th picture. He looks so grown up. He is the youngest in the group and I am the oldest...yuck!

After having a house full of people, this week has been a little sad since everyone went home. I wish we could all get together more often!

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We may not have it all together, but together we have it all!

This has been an amazing year! Our Mia Isabella joined our family in December of 2009. It has been fun to watch her grow and learn so much. If you want to follow her journey, check out her website at www.myadoptionwebsite.com/ourmia/

It is hard to believe that Westin is now 14 and Lexi will soon be turning 10. Life goes by fast, so I have decided to start a family blog to keep up with our famliy's journey of ups and downs.