Please keep baby boy in your prayers. He had a seizure last night and the doctors are running tests.

Floo Shot

A few days ago, Hillary Ashton's school had the H1N1 flu vaccination. I decided not to get Hillary Ashton the H1N1 shot this year. I didn't really talk to her about not getting the shot before school, but I thought she would be really happy about not having to get one. I was so wrong! I picked her up and she told me all about her friends getting flu shots and how she didn't get one. SERIOUSLY? Since I am such a good mom, I told her that I would take before school the next day to get one at our Doctor's office (the regular flu shot). She was soooo excited. Really? Is this child for real? She was so excited in fact, that she wrote herself an excuse note for school.

She has really been working on sounding out words and I think she did a great job!

It says, "I was late for school. Flu shot." Haha! Do you see how big she is smiling in that picture? I do love the bow and eyelashes :o)

I am sad to report that our doctor's office was out of shots :o( I took her for donuts instead. She was still a little disappointed. You should have seen her face this morning when "Sid The Science Kid" was about how important it is to get your flu shot....that Sid is a trouble maker! She just kept looking in my direction, like "hey mom, are you watching this?"

If you remember, when I took Sophie Le and Julianne they got their flu shots. The doctor only had shots for kids up to 36 months. Because of Hillary Ashton's excitement about the flu shot, Le really wanted one too. She had the BIGGEST smile on her face when she got her shot. She told the nurse that it was a secret that she got her shot because it would make Hillary Ashton sad if she knew. Who are these kids???

Tiger Tunes, Playtime, Well-babies & New baby!

A few weeks ago, Hillary Ashton and I went to Tiger Tunes at Ouachita (OBU). OBU is the school I graduated from and if we win the lottery, I would love for the girls to go there too :o) Haha! Tiger Tunes is a show put on each year at homecoming. Different groups compete with their original song and dance numbers to raise money for scholarships. Tiger Tunes was right up Hillary Ashton's ally! She cheered and danced her little heart out. During intermission, she asked several of the performers to take a picture with her. It was really the sweetest thing!

It was cold and wet when we got there, but we did get to walk around a bit and I showed her my dorm and a few other buildings. She loved everything :o) She told me she is ready for college and wanted me to be her roommate :o)

In front of Berry Chapel

She was soooo proud! Btw, she cannot keep her eyes open when there is a flash on the camera, but she still smiles :o) I think this girl was Tri Chi for all you OBU folks.

This girl was either an EEE or OSF...they both had big red bows :o)

Reading the program...that thing clipped to her dress is a compass. She helped direct me to Arkadelphia :o)

A few years ago, OBU started imprinting graduate names in concrete. I was so pleased to see that they decided to start at the year 2000 - my graduation year! Hillary Ashton was shocked to discover that my last name used to be different :o)


The quality is bad on this pic (I was trying to do it without flash), but I still love it! Hillary Ashton thought it was soooo funny to have Ju Ju on her back!

Looks like Julianne is enjoying herself!

When we were in Ethiopia, we saw kids as young as Hillary Ashton carrying babies like this. Sadly, it was out of necessity, not as a part of playtime.

This morning I took the two little girls to the doctor for their well-baby visits. I am happy to report they are both doing great :o) Both girls are still small for their age. Sophie Le is in the 10% on height, but 50% on weight and Julianne is just the opposite...10% on weight, but 50% on height. Soooooooooooooooo thankful to have healthy babies!


Healthy, but silly!



One more...Daddy and his girls


Please keep our family and our new foster baby in your prayers. We are picking him up from the hospital either tomorrow or Friday.

Is it too late to post pictures of the pumpkin patch?

Hope not :o)

This time last year, I unable to go with Hillary Ashton's class when they visited the pumpkin patch. A week before the field trip, I received a very grim prognosis from my doctor. I prayed to God to heal me.

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,

that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16

I prayed for a miracle and a miracle is what I received :o)

Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
Psalms 106:1

I am so thankful to be alive AND healthy this year. Health - a blessing I will never again take for granted. Needless to say, I was soooooo thankful be able to visit the pumpkin patch this year :o)

My cute little kindergartener

Telling me all about the berries she found

Getting ready to run the obstacle course

Getting some last minute instructions from her teacher

And....their off! Notice the sweet little tongues sticking out :o)

Tongues still out...haha!

She's down...it isn't easy doing such athletic maneuvers in rainboots, ya know.


They made it to the finish line...yep, that was the whole obstacle course! But, they do look cute :o) That's Hill's bff, AC. They are super silly little girls. They have been best buds since they were little babies in the nursery. I love that :o)

Looking for the perfect pumpkin in the "pumpkin patch"

We have a winner!

Me and my girl

All their little pumpkins lined up in a row

My baby will be a first grader next time she visits the pumpkin patch...sigh.

School buddies

Me and the sweet girls

I love this bridge.

It reminds me of the red bridge at the Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi, Vietnam

This picture was taken a few hours before we left Vietnam. I can't wait to go back!!



I also wanted to ask you to join us in praying for a little baby boy born a few days ago into a really bad situation.

Happy Halloween!

Better late than never, right?

The girls had so much fun celebrating Halloween this year. Since Julianne was in Ethiopia last year, It was her first Halloween! Here are a couple pics of my Wonder woman, clown and Raggedy Ann right before heading out to trick-or-treat!


Can you just see the excitement in their little faces?






That's her belly :o) She really enjoys showing it off!

About to take flight!

Cute little clown!




On Halloween morning to went to a SUPER fun party at Ben & Liam's house. Their mama, Tricia, did such a great job with the crafts, snacks and entertainment. Hillary Ashton is still trying to get me to make a cardboard maze :o) Chasing three kiddos around at a party didn't leave me much time to take pics :o)

After the party, the girls and I had to pick up a few last minutes items for Sophie Le's birthday party. On a normal trip to the store, the kiddos draw a bit of extra attention because of the unique make-up of our family. Dressed up in their Halloween costumes...goodness gracious!

While we were at the party, Daddy tried to take control of the leaves in our yard :o) At our old house, we had eight small trees. At our new house, we have a million trees...FALL has a whole new meaning to us this year :o) The girls LOVE jumping in the piles...mommy and daddy do too :o)

What a cutie! Isn't she looking big? I can't believe she is 17 months old today!

Sophie Le Thiet is three years old!

Happy Birthday baby! We are so blessed to have you in our lives.

We celebrated Le's birthday with friends and family. We were soooo excited to have a beautiful sunny day to party, Dora style :o)

Every year on Sophie Le's birthday we burn a candle for her birthmother. It serves as a reminder that there is a very important person on the other side of the word that will always be a part of our family. Sophie Le was so excited about the candle this year. She kept saying, "This is ***'s candle!" I am so thankful at how natural Le talks about her bm. After the party I put the candle on the island in the kitchen and Sophie Le makes some comment about ***'s candle everyday :o)

I found instructions on the Martha Stewart website to make these pom pom balls...so easy!

Hillary Ashton choosing what she wanted painted on her face.

Dora (and Diego) birthday cake

Cute little birthday girl!


Can I just tell you that I LOOOOOVE having land :o)

She chose a butterfly :o)

This jumper is the BEST! We have used it at all of our home birthday parties.

Sophie Le and her sweet little friend from church, G.

Sophie Le finally agreed to have a heart painted on her cheek...if mommy would get one too :o)

Here is little church friend, AB. Isn't she beautiful?

This little girl has her daddy wrapped around her finger!

Cousin Ashley

How cute is he?


Another sweet friend...

Hillary Ashton and cousin, Brennan. We were so excited that they were able to come!! We don't see this much since they moved to Mississippi.

Lots of Sophie Le's friends have sibilings the same age as Hillary Ashton! This is one of Hill's bffs :o)

Some of the Family

Julianne and Mimi

Almost all of Sophie Le's friends are in my MDO class at church. There are several super sweet little boys in that class. It has got me thinkin' :o) Yes, Neil is a little nervous...haha!

Birthday cake time! If anyone has any close up pictures of my birthday girl, please email me :o)

Hillary Ashton and cousin, Ally Grace. I forgot to take pics of the estrella cookies :o) There is an orange one on Ally's plate.

More sweet friends! This is H and her precious daughter, AA.

Cute little G

Here is G's brother L...another one of Hill's friends. Neil made piles of leaves for the kiddos to jump in.

Sophie Le and J. It seems like yesterday we were waiting for these precious girls to come home!

This was the first year I was brave enough to do a pinata. I don't think I was the only nervous one...haha! I am happy to report no one got hurt :o)





Candy everywhere!


I didn't take this picture. I saw Sophie Le a few minutes after this and she was eating the below pictured now-or-later. I was so surprised and said "Sophie Le, are you old enough for that kind of candy?" She quickly responded, "I think so."

Happy with her loot!

A and her adorable son, L

Cousins

Happy Birthday Sophie Le Thiet!!

We love you soooooooo much baby girl!

Happy Veteran's Day!!

We are incredibly blessed to live in a free country. I am so thankful for the men and women (and their families) that have made that possible. Having two daughters that were born into countries that do not share our liberties and freedoms has made me appreciate my freedom so much more. I can't begin to explain the feeling that overcame me that June night in 2007 when our plane landed in Los Angeles. The sweet little baby that was sitting on my lap, born in a communist country, became a citizen of THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! Wow. To remember that special time, we took a few pics of our Vietnamese-American!

Can you believe how excited she was after 20 hours of traveling :o)

We still had two more flights to go :o)

I can't wait to until the day Julianne will be an official American citizen too!

She is in the USA on a green-card right now.

And here is our American made baby :o)

Hillary Ashton was almost the exact same age as Sophie Le is now!

Speaking of Hill Ash...my first baby.

I am so proud of the sweet, caring little girl she is growing up to be.

I just LOVE that she is a dreamer.

I have always wanted to be a dreamer :o)

I admire her artist abilites and her outgoing spirit.

When I was loading the girls up to take Hillary Ashton to school a few days ago,

I noticed that she is really looking older.

I just had to take a few extra minutes to snap a few pics of my kindergartener :o)

In true Hillary Ashton fashion, she turned it on for the camera!

Is it wrong that I LOVE the fact that she still needs help putting her belt on? Ha!

And I am happy to report that Miss Julianne has TWO more teeth poking through! Whoo Hoo. For those of you keeping count...that will be a total of FOUR teeth...at 17 months old. I will continue to pray that their are more in there ;o) Here's that sweet baby that has stolen my heart...

In honor of Veteran's Day, here is a song I heard for the first time last weekend at the Oak Ridge Boys concert...yes, the Oak Ridge Boys :o) It is a really beautiful song. The boys may be getting older, but they still got it :o) Haha!

For some reason, I cannot get the video to embed so...

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO.

Also, just to add to the sweetness of the song, G.I. Joe and Lillie are the singer's parents...awe!