Silly baby in the bath...She would take 3 baths a day if we let her.

Below are my little pilgrims at their Thanksgiving play at school. They are both loving school here and have alot of friends already. The other 2 are of miss Layla posing for me.

Heading Home for Christmas!

Four days until we go back to Minnesota for Christmas!! I am so excited because I have a NEW GRANDSON!! My son Tyler and Samantha are the proud parents of a Big....little boy born on Dec. 10th. AVYNN TOWNES was 9 lbs 3oz and is a handsome little guy from what I have seen. It has been killing me this week to be here while they are there... I can't wait to hold him and kiss his sweet little face. I am hoping that the weather clears up before then as there was a wild blizzard this weekend. I have a hard time remembering what that was like when we see sunshine every day here. I do miss seeing the snow at Christmas but can certainly do without it otherwise. We had a very quiet Thanksgiving and I have been so busy with work that I have not had much opportunity to take pics for a while.

In desperate need of a new camera.

As you notice from my pictures I could seriously use a new camera. It is the reason I don't post most of the time but these are from the first couple of weeks in AZ when the we swam everyday and could not believe the beauty we wake up to everyday. Now we are back to work and school and have moved into a house with a community pool. We will be the only ones there since everyone else here thinks it is freezing in the 70's. We just keep enjoying every precious sunny day.

Pool Pics from our first couple of weeks here.

These are pictures from our first Halloween which was at our church. It was a trunk or treat festival and I posted a couple pics so you could see how people decorated the trunks of their vehicles and parked in a circle in the church parking lot. The children just went from car to car to get treats!! The decorating was suberb and it was a blast. On the night of Halloween we went trick or treating in our neighborhood here and was amazed at the way people went all out with carnivals in their driveways along with a few haunted houses. The kids had a great time and Layla caught on quick to what was going into her bag and would stand there smiling at people so they would keep putting more in because they thought she was so cute. My little tigress, dracula and speed racer had so much fun!

Happy Halloween!!(A little late)

Enjoying Halloween in the warmth of Arizona is so very different than what it was like in MN. We had to find costumes that would not be to warm instead of worrying about fitting jackets underneath them. I had to laugh at the pumpkin farm when we took a hay ride and the farm was right in the middle of the city. Hayfield, then industrial shopping mall off to the side. LOL. We also carved pumpkins and instead of worrying about them freezing they cooked out in the sun!!

Pumpkin Farm

Look who has glasses!!

Layla meets her IDOL.....DORA the Explorer

We went to the Arizona state fair and Layla was able to meet her favorite person in the whole world....Dora. Everything she wears and watches has to do with DO as she calls her . You should have seen her face light up when she saw her walking towards us!!

Big Changes!!

Once again our life has had a big change. We are now in Arizona........enjoying the beautiful weather and trying to adjust to another move. Ever since we were here in March we said we would live here someday. I just didn't think it would be so soon. There is more to the story and it has been quite stressful but we are trying to enjoy it just the same. I am homeschooling the boys for now and hope to get them into school in the next couple of weeks. They all love it here and although I miss everyone back home I feel at peace here. Now if we just had jobs, all would be great!!! Please pray for employment for one or both of us soon. Here are some pics from our trip out here and at the pumpkin patch with the MOMS group from our new church.

Eli was very excited and anxious to start school and Noah is nervous and apprehensive and wonders why I can't homeschool them. I told him we could go live next to Miss Betsy and she will homeschool him!

The girl loves hats but despises hairbows!

And Finally......NOW pictures.

I don't know what has happened to me lately but I have once again been a terrible blogger. Nothing like posting pics of then and leaving everyone in suspense for a month and a half for the NOW pics........ Sometimes we must put our priorities in order and I guess spending time with my children comes first. Really that is just a cop out for you loyal bloggers because I know you also spend time with your children but you probably are more time efficient than I am. Here are some pics of Layla now and also her brothers off to school!

THEN

One year ago today, Princess Layla was put in our arms and heart Forever!!

One year ago............... Our lives were forever changed when our sweet little Layla was placed in our arms and hearts Forever. I am so very grateful for this precious child.
She is very sweet but very stubborn, A girl who is wild and crazy around those she knows and feels comfortable with, but very shy and subdued with those she does not know well. She mimicks everything her brothers do(which is not always a good thing but quite funny). She loves to sing and dance with her brothers and follow them everywhere. Is very much a tom boy but is very petite and delicate. Her smile in the morning is what I love most!! She is a mommy's girl but loves to play rough with daddy.
I am in awe of the way she fits so perfectly with our family and know that God knew exactly what he was doing when he chose her for us. We are so very grateful to her first mommy who loved her so much that she wanted a better life for her. We strive everyday to give that to her and couldn't love her more.

PRAISE GOD THAT LAYLA IS O.K

We had the scare of a lifetime on Wednesday evening as we were scrambling to the basement because a tornado was sighted, Layla fell off the side of our stairway onto the concrete...........
I was going to check if we had everything we needed down there and was not even aware that she had followed me and our stairway is narrow and has no railing on it. We thought about waiting until the storm passed to bring her to the hospital but we could tell it was very serious so we rushed out in the bad weather to get her there. She was vomiting blood and we could not keep her awake. They put a tube in her throat in the E.R. to keep her from choking and called Life Flight to fly her to Fargo. They would not let me ride with and I was very upset to say the least to let my baby go in that condition. She also had a seizure while we were waiting for the helicopter. I can't explain the feeling of helplessness as they took her away and we had a 2 1/2 hour drive to get there.
I had a very strange PEACE come over me as we were driving however and truly heard my mom say that she is going to be O.K. (My Mom is one of God's Angels). Sure enough we arrived at the PICU and she was sobbing and saw me and said MAMA.... The sweetest words I have ever heard. All the thoughts of what could have happened had played through my mind and I know God had a big part in the plan for my sweet girl.
She had a severe concussion and they kept her for 2 nights to monitor her and keep her on anti seizure meds but she is home and seems like the same wild little Layla. Now it is imperative that we keep her from falling or having any sort of injury to the head for at least 2 weeks. I am at a stress level I can't explain because she just thinks she is invincible. Climbing backwards up the slide, jumping off steps, pushing chairs up to the counter and just being a MONKEY. I am contemplating a helmet just for sanity purposes. I have not let her out of my sight and will do every thing I can to protect her. We are so grateful that she is smiling and talking and acting like herself. We are praying that she has a full recovery and no learning disablilities associated with a brain injury. Time will tell.

We have moved back HOME....

Well after our 6 month rendevous in our apartment and big city, Steve's employer has moved us back home for a new project. We had not even put our house on the market so we just moved back in. I loved living in a small managable apartment and having a pool and mall so close by but it is also nice to be back home where the kids can be out in the yard and ride their bikes to the park. I have been busy unpacking and just got internet back up and running so I will post pics as soon as possible.

BFF

Daphne is just the sweetest little girl. Always a smile on her face. Hopefully, her and Layla will be Best Friends soon.

Layla found her present from us in the back of our van....Daddy put it together for her suprise the next day but she caught a glimpse of it and climbed in to take a ride. She also got a Princess Castle(tent) from sister Amy that she loves!

Now for the Princess Party!!

We were blessed to have several other Guatemalan Angels at Layla's birthday!! My friend Denise's two girls and also Little Daphne, Lesley's little girl. Layla was tired and very overwhelmed, thus very few smiles.

The pictures below are from the day of Layla's birthday......We went to a splash park and sister Amy bought her a D.Q. cake. I can't believe that it was exactly one year to the date of her referral that we finally found out we were out of PGN!!! What a wonderful way to remember her 1st birthday even if we couldn't be with her. WE are so Blessed to have her home with us and I pray daily for the families still waiting, some for more than 3 years...

Princess Layla turns 2!!