Thanksgiving in Steamboat~2012

Helping Nana cook

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving week in Colorado!  I flew to Denver the Saturday before Thanksgiving with Isaac and Emma.  My sister-in-law, Kristy, also flew into Denver on Saturday with her two boys, Griffin and Sawyer.  Nana and Papa picked us all up at the airport in Denver, and we headed up to Steamboat for a great week.  The Rinn "boys" (Dave, Jon, & Michael) joined us all on Wednesday evening.  Needless to say, this made for a lot of fun cousin time, especially for Griffin and Isaac...Emma and Sawyer just mostly looked at each other.  ;)

Here are a few favorite pictures! 

Waiting at the airport early on Saturday morning..."Emma, look at all the airplanes!"

Emma and Sawyer hanging out  :)

Griffin and Isaac playing...

...and making projects...

...and reading books...

...and more books...

...and even more books!!

One morning, we took Griffin & Isaac to "House of Bounce" in Steamboat.  They had a blast (and burned off a lot of energy.)

    

There wasn't much snow at all.  Isaac found this mound that hadn't yet melted near Papa & Nana's deck, and he played in it for a looooong time.  (He's definitely a Texan to be that excited about a small pile of snow!)

Playing outside with Nana

Roasting s'mores with Papa at the firepit

Playing with Uncle Mike!

My mother-in-law is a fantastic cook--Thanksgiving dinner was amazing!!

Papa getting ready to carve the turkey!

Thanksgiving dinner!  (I think everyone was more interested in the delicious food than smiling for the camera!)  ;)

Yum!  Isaac said the pie was "tasty!"

The "adult kids" gave Tim & Susie a family photo shoot as an early Christmas gift.  Here's a sneak peek at our pictures...apparently, it's a little difficult doing a photo shoot with two babies & two 3 year old boys.  :)  Even so, we still got some cute shots!

  

Thank you, Papa and Nana, for such a fun week!  
We can't wait to all get together again!

We hope you had a great Thanksgiving, too!

Pumpkin Patch~2012

One of my favorite traditions of the whole year is going to the pumpkin patch! 

This morning, we visited one of the pumpkin patches in Flower Mound.

my favorite pumpkins of all
(Can you tell that Isaac was very anxious for picture-taking to be over so he could start jumping in the bounce houses?)

Going on a hayride--I love the (rare) moments when Isaac snuggles right next to me!

Emma's first visit to the pumpkin patch~I think it's a tradition to take a picture of your baby in this pumpkin! 

Here's Isaac in the same pumpkin in October of 2010. 
Of course, he was trying to get out of the pumpkin and keep moving!

Isaac had a blast in the hay maze.  There were a few times when I couldn't see the top of his head that made me a little nervous, but each time he found his way out quickly.  The exit to the hay maze was a slide--as he was sliding down, he'd say, "I want to do it again!"  It's very fun, but also bittersweet, to see how independent he's becoming.

I love seeing pictures of favorite traditions over the years...

2010

2011

2012

Hope you are enjoying some fall fun, too!

Father's Day~2012

It's a week past Father's Day, and I am finallly putting pictures up! 

Here are a few moments from Father's Day 2012.

I am so thankful that God gave these precious children to this father!

I interviewed Isaac for Father's Day.

My favorite answer is to the question, "What does Daddy like to do with Mommy?" :)

Reading "All about Daddy" after church and lunch

Swimming with Daddy and Papa on Father's Day evening!

"Hands down, you're the best papa ever!"

I found this gift idea for Isaac and Emma's Papas here. My first one was done in a rush since I was trying to send it back to "Colorado Papa" with Nana when she came last week. This is a picture of the second one, which turned out better--probably because I wasn't Modge Podging it together at 11pm. :-)

Speaking of Papas, we are also thankful for the amazing Papas who love our children, too.

"Papa Kal" with Isaac and Emma on Father's Day

"Colorado Papa" with Isaac on our last trip to Colorado.  Isaac can't wait to see him again next month!

And, just because it makes me laugh, a picture of these three from a few months ago all in their hooded sweatshirts!  :)

Thank you, Jesus, for the amazing fathers you have put in our lives!

David and I are also thankful for the gift Isaac and Emma's birthfathers both gave us when they willingly signed to allow their children in our family...from the bottom of our hearts, thank you!

A Week with Nana!

 Dave's mom and dad first met Emma on the day she was born....

and then we were so blessed to have my mother-in-law, Nana/Susie, fly to Texas last Monday and stay with us for the first full week that we were home! 

Here are a few pictures from our week together...

Susie did TONS of cooking and baking for us!  My freezer is completely stocked.  :)

Isaac loved being in on the action and "helped" Nana make quiche, cream puffs, Monterey Chicken, mashed potatoes, vegetable sandwiches, green smoothies--and those are just the things I can think of this early in this morning!  ;)

"These are really yummy potatoes, Nana!"

Susie bought this cowboy hat at F.M. Light & Sons in Steamboat and brought it for Isaac.  It goes with his cowboy boots perfectly, and he is so proud to wear them together. 

We also spent a morning at the mall...

with Isaac and Emma in their new stroller!  If you ask Isaac about this, he'll tell you he is "the leader and that's why he sits in the front."  :)

Nana also took Isaac on several bike rides.  Isaac is getting so fast on his Strider bike that Tim & Susie gave him for his birthday.  It's quite a jog sprint to keep up with him!

And, of course, Nana spent lots of time snuggling and singing with Emma...

Nana is going to get lots of snuggling in this year with two babies--Jon & Kristy are expecting a sweet baby boy in July!

We LOVE you, Nana,

and can't wait to see you (and Papa, too!) again soon!

home SWEET home

We had a wonderful time in Missouri while we were waiting to come home to Texas,

but--oh!--how we missed Isaac!

This is a sweet picture Isaac colored for Emma while we were waiting to come home.  Dave brought it back to Missouri when he flew back for work.

Our lawyer called last Thursday morning to say that we had received clearance from ICPC (Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children) to bring Emma home to Texas!  I don't think I've ever seen Dave pack the car so fast!  :)  We left Missouri around noon and only stopped twice on the way home to feed Emma. 

My parents had already brought Isaac back to our house to wait for us that evening.  I hadn't seen Isaac in two weeks and was so excited to see him!  He giggled and giggled when he saw me--it was adorable!  I asked him who was downstairs waiting, and he said "Papa and Baby Sister!"

I love these shots of Isaac seeing Emma for the first time!

And, I love this picture too!  Look how happy my dad is to meet Emma!!

Isaac wanted to sit right by my dad while he fed Emma.  Isaac was enthralled about this balloon that we brought home from Randy and Avis' house in Missouri.  It was after 10:00 at this point, so really Isaac was excited about everything! :)

First picture as a family of four!!

 These are a few pictures of Emma's first visitors!  Jenny with Emma

Jenny's boys, Caden and Carson, both brought Emma little hearts.  Jenny & I were sure we should document this moment of Carson giving Emma his heart and a kiss just in case we would ever need a picture like this for a wedding video someday.  ;)  As soon as Isaac saw that Caden and Carson were giving Emma a heart, he ran and grabbed this "Happy Valentine's Day" heart to give to her, too.  :)

 How cute is this?--Caden, Carson, Lake, Smith, and Thomas all surrounding Emma!

 Kimi and Corrie with Emma!

"helping" Daddy give Emma her bottle

Isaac has been doing great with Emma!  He loves "burping" Emma, bringing us her bottles, and giving her kisses.  "Where's Baby Emma?" is the first thing he asks each morning when he wakes up.  He also loves to talk about "Emma is a baby and drinks bottles, but I am a big boy and drink from big boy cups!"  :)  

I love this family!  This is from right before church yesterday morning...afterwards I realized that Emma's flower is covering half her face!  :)  Oh well, I'm sure it won't be the last time that happens!!