Spring Break in Henderson

We spent our unofficial Spring Break with grandma, grandpa and the Harbers in Henderson the end of March.

 These two were probably fighting

 Sarah's kids took such good care of Anders.  He never cried for more than 2 minutes before someone ran over to play with/talk to him.

 Maddy met a boy at the BounceU and they were inseparable. When it was time to leave the little boy (Nico) wouldn't leave without a hug.  Maddy was not having that.

 I think Maddy will be very happy when she can keep up with AnnaMaggie.  By that time I'll doubt they will want someone 6 years younger hanging around.

 Thank goodness for grandpa's long weekends.  The tent came up, the breakfasts got better and the jeep was utilized.

Oh these boys.

February Funk break

We get a little stir crazy around these parts about January 30th. So we spent the first week of February in San Diego with cousins and beaches and 75 degree weather.

Donut party with Lily & Noah

These little pools were so warm, Maddy basically laid in them fully clothed.

Being around boy cousins sure helps with this girl's courage.

sup?

These two are inseparable.

Maddy and the ducks at Lake Miramar. Two loaves of bread were not enough, she could have stayed all day. There were a few times some geese got a little close for comfort.

Wish we were there again (there was snow on the ground this morning. not a lot, just enough to be annoying)

And Adam surfed everyday and I watched a lot of Real Housewives.

hair

This was Maddy in August. That HAIR!

This is Maddy now.

It was sad to cut off all her summer blondness. And I was hoping her baby curl would bounce back up and it didn't. But it can't hide as much cereal and yogurt and mac n cheese.

I love a baby in these two piece jammies. So sweet. And why does he have two teeth already?!

Why is The Bachelor so awesome?

I can't seem to help myself, it's gross.

Guess Who's 4

Maddy Moo. Let me just cheese for a minute.

She's very kind, she kept passing her gifts around for her friends to open.

She loves her little brother. If he's crying and I can't get to him right away she rubs his head and talks to him very sweetly, "sweetheart I'm right here"

Jocko is her best friend.

She can boss all of us around for hours (days really).

She could live on cereal, Rice Krispies are her go to but Yucky Charms are a good treat.

She just got her hair chopped off (pics to come).

She loves her ballet class.

She wakes up happy every morning, it's the best part of my day.

She has more energy than I ever imagined a child could have. Literally bouncing around from the minute she wakes up till she crashes at night.

Bear and Cat (who is somehow Bear's dad) go with her everywhere.

She loves to color, paint and do puzzles.

When playing with all her "friends"/toys she lines them up, on the tub, against the wall, on the couch, on my bed.

She is my sunshine and her dad's favorite date.

Forever and Forever

November 18th we went to court to finalize our adoption of Anders. It happened to be National Adoption day so local adoption agencies made it kind of a big deal. I believe 17 families were able to finalize adoptions on that day, infants and older children, pretty incredible. You spend just a few minutes in the courtroom with the judge. Our lawyer asks if we are aware and prepared to care for this child as if he was born to us. We say yes and say that we feel he is bonding well and then that's about it. Our judge was very kind and tried to talk to Maddy. It's all pretty quick. They gave the kids balloons and teddy bears, we got to choose a cake and gift bag and they took a family picture. We went out to breakfast and then just went back to normal life. It's funny because it matters and feels good to have everything legal but it doesn't change how we feel.

Last weekend we got to seal Anders to us in the Twin Falls temple. We feel so lucky that so many of our family and friends made the journey over to Twin. Grandpa performed the sealing so it was to the point. He was a little intimidated by Anders middle name, Kamalei, he told me that he had been practicing all morning to pronounce it right and he did. I can't really describe what it feels like to be in a sealing room with these perfect little kids. Maddy was so excited to see all her Aunties and grandparents and wanted to say hi to everyone. Luckily Mana was able to chill her out long enough for Grandpa to do his work. It was freezing outside so this is the only picture we have at the temple.

Then we partied at Cafe Rio. Three Amigos of the trip. Oh to be a fly on the wall in their car.

We ate lots of treats and sat around. We do that well.

Bundled up for Halloween.

Madeleine as Jessie is the most perfect fit for this girl. It's hard not to brag about how awesome she is, cuz she is.

And this kid, who knew he likes to smile so much. Feel like we are so new at this. Had to play around with formula quite a bit, had some rough weeks. And now this is what we get everyday.