Christmastime

Ah!!! The holidays are among us and what's the holidays without a trip to your local Apple Store?! So while I and my girls went googly over all things starting with 'i', our budget was a constant reminder that we must remain thankful for what we do have. And so in the spirit of frugal thankfulness, I simply downloaded a new free-app to my old-already-paid-for phone. And what was that app? ~ the free blogger interface ~ I figured with my upcoming China trip, I should figure out how to post blogger updates from this phone. So here's my free-frugal-thankful-post while at the mall and on my iPhone.

Merry Frugal Christmas

7 years of EXTRAVAGANT love

When God gives you a special gift and that gift changes your life for the better and brings you immense joy for 7 years, then that day is quite special. And as we contemplated celebrating Kya's 7th Gotcha Day, we wondered "How can we make each child's Gotcha Day anniversaries just a little more special? A little more memorable?"

Flowers from Dad for his tiny sweetheart are a must every year.


And then we took her to Pandora. Because a girls first fine jewelry really should be from Dad.

It's a little extravagent for us at this time in our life, but so is our love for this child, for all our children.

EXTRAVAGANT LOVE
There is always a reason not to splurge on the ones you love but sometimes you must push those reasons aside and just do it. This was one of those moments. We didn't want to wait another year to start this special tradition.


And so she picked out her first charm. And next year she can pick out another charm. And every year on her special day (and all our girls special days), they can pick out a charm for their Adoption bracelets.


We hope this tiny memento in the form of a bracelet will outlast even their parents. When they look at it, they will remember the moments, the love, the bond we shared as a family formed through the miracle of adoption.

Fall is all around us

Living up here in Maryland has been fabulous to see the seasons change. Fall is one of our most favorite times of year. You begin to eat warm food again instead of summer salads, hot teas instead of iced tea, the leaves are colorful, the air is crisp and the fireplace is cozy and life seems a little more romantic.

We have a family tradition of having a Family Fall Party here at home. This year we actually found a family that is also free on October 31st every year to join our celebration, so we picked them up off the street and invited them over. No, really, these are our dear-dear friends that have become our Maryland family and we are so blessed to have them in our lives.


All dressed up and ready for some fun.

Wrestling with Uncle Kenny.

Working hard on pumpkin carving.



Showing off their hard work.


Givin' some love.

Birthdays are special

Every year in October, our family treks from Florida to spend Autumn's birthday with her. It's always a special time. So special and filled with family moments that I get too busy and then too tired to post her birthday pictures. This year, I remembered!

Autumn had spent a week in Florida, drove 15 hours straight to get home with the grandparents and as she arrived we suprised her with a Mini Birthday Party Celebration.




On her actual birthday Autumn chose to spend it at the Chinese Buffet with friends of the family and then come home to open presents.


The day after her birthday she chose to go shopping and buy her first Skate Board with her birthday money. Sister, Kya, decided that was a great idea and pulled money from her own savings to also buy a skateboard.




Happy 8the birthday baby girl. We love you!