Same Outfit Different Kid!

This was one of my favorite outfits that I bought for Destina when she came home 2 years ago. This picture was taken the last week of school her kindergarten year, Destina was 6 years old.
 

Avrie wore the same outfit today leggings and all, it is a little bit longer on Avrie than it was on Destina but it fit her pretty good today,  Avrie is in pre-school and turning 5 in 3 weeks.  She is not growing as fast as Destina did so I hope this will fit her for a while.

On a Brighter Note

This the place that McKenzie and Tim are having their reception, we went for a walk through a couple of weeks ago, yes that is snow, but the building is a historic manor, the cement pad will have a big tent and that is where the dinner will be served.

If the weather is nice the ring ceremony will be in this spot if the weather is not nice it will be inside the manor, both spots are great.

Tonight we continued out invitation production, I feel like we have been working on them FOREVER but really when we do work on them it is only for an hour or two each time usually on a Sunday afternoon, we are coming into the home stretch on these babies and I was actually addressing envelopes tonight while Tim and McKenzie were applying the wax seal to the inner envelope. A couple more sessions and they will be ready for the mail.

This is the back side of the invitations that are not done yet the ink on the stamp is drying on this batch.

The wedding will be here before I know it and we are all getting really excited, can't you just see the excitement oozing from them!

When it Rains...

I posted last Thursday about Kenzie wrecking Tim's truck, it really was a tough week for her. It started out with her new phone not working, not too big a deal they sent a new replacement the next day, then she had a huge car repair bill to pay on a cheap old car.  On Thursday Night she wrecked the truck and on Friday afternoon she was "let go" from her new job just before the 90 day probation was up. They told her that she did not have enough "life experience" to work with the Native American's she would have been working with.
She was devastated, this was a job she was excited about. In hind site it is pretty clear that then never had any intention of keeping her. They needed funding and to get that they needed to hire someone. They never took the time to get to know her and her life experiences, they never gave her a case so that she could prove herself or fail trying. They had her catch up all the paperwork then let her go.  If you are a Survivor fan this was a great blindside, too bad she did not have a torch to snuff out!
She is the real survivor she hit the streets first thing Monday and is out looking for a new job. The really sad part is this was a job she would have loved, if they had given her a chance, that she went to school for, the career path that she choose because she has a passion for working in the social work field.   All of her life experiences have lead her to this spot, they are the ones that will be missing out.

You Know You Have a Keeper When....

You know that you have the right guy when you drive his truck into a light post and he doesn't get mad even though his truck is his baby. It might have been the heavy medication he was on due to the outpatient surgery he had yesterday, but when McKenzie drove his truck into a light post on a friends driveway and he was consoling her you know you have a keeper! And I was worried about how Kelsie was driving! And you know you have a great friend when they see their light post in a pile of rubble and they start to laugh, and reassure McKenzie that it is ok and that they have done stupid things too.
Thank you Tim for being the great guy that you are, because this may be the first stupid thing McKenzie did but I can promise it won't be the last!

Blog? What Blog?

It seems like I can't get to the computer to blog, and then it seems like I have nothing to blog about although, there are a million things going on around here. I have not pulled out my camera or taken a picture with my phone in a long time. So here is the up-date on what has been happening. I will start with the top and work my way down.

• Kenzie is making her way into the real adult world, she is happy with her real job, she was not so happy with her real car repair that she had to use her real money to fix. She was really happy when Tim's mom let her drive her car to work for 2 days, we were real happy too since she works about 30 minutes away from home and that was not fun driving her back and forth the 3 days we had to do it. McKenzie had to come back to reality when her car was fixed and give up the dream car she was driving, but she loved those 2 days! She signed her first real lease on an apartment this week, and gets the keys to her first real house on April 3rd. They claim they need time to get Tim's stuff moved out of his apartment and get their new apartment all set up BEFORE the wedding. It is going to be a real big chunk of her pay check, welcome to the real world!  The wedding is coming along, invitations are almost ready to go out, I am still trying to find something for me to wear, who knew that would be the most challenging thing on this whole wedding. Bridesmaid dresses came in the mail and they were really horrible, thank goodness for a really talented friend that is making them really cute! 
• Katie is on the count down to leaving, she will be gone for quite a while, except the few days she comes back for the wedding. She will be in Hawaii until next Christmas. She is so excited and can't wait. She has her housing contract signed, she is registered for classes and her plane ticket bought, and I think a few new swimsuits as well. She is working 40 hours a week at McDonalds saving every penny, she comes home and eats and sleeps and we see her for a few hours a day.
• Kelsie is observing lent she gave up sugar/candy/sweets for 40 days, she has great will power because she has been making treats for the rest of us and not eating any of it. She is working hard in school. She is 15 approaching 16 and wanting to practice her driving skills, which I was perfectly fine with until she mistakenly uses the gas peddle when she wanted to break and about ran us into a stop light pole, I am talking like a foot away. Scared the crap out of me and I think I will let Scott do the practice driving from now on.
• Ryan our man child, he is always hungry, eating dinner, then going back for a second dinner at about 10:00 pm so that he can sustain himself through the night while he is growing. He is still skiing as much as possible and comes home grinning every time, we have had record snowfall at the ski resort this year. He is actually doing homework, shocking to see him working on a project, using the computer and a glue stick!
• Jayden I think he is liking homeschooling he might not admit it but he really does work hard to do his work, he likes being on the computer all day and working at his pace. He is taking a lot of classes online and his schedule is pretty full. He loves playing games with his buddies online  and hanging out with his best buddy. 
• Destina just finished with swim lessons and had her first soccer practice today in the cold wind and rain, she loved it. She is doing good in school. She is our main salad maker for dinner and is a great helper. I think the growing has slowed a little the pants I bought her for Christmas still fit good, but she is still a head taller than most of her classmates. 
• Avrie is a little smarty pants, that kid is reading and insists that she does her reading everyday. She is cute and funny and she knows how to work the system at our house to get what she wants. She just finished swimming lessons too and loved it and wants to go swimming everyday. She wants to be big like all her sisters and do the things they get to do. 

That is the wrap up nothing too exciting just busy at our house, some days I feel like I am running from 7 in the morning until midnight, but it is all good and the saying "The days are long but the years are short" ring true for me, time is slipping by and I will miss not having all my kids under one roof. But as McKenzie and Tim were reading all the rules on their new lease contract she stated that she is getting too old to live at home.

Wedding Cake

A couple of days ago Tim's mom dropped off a sample wedding cake.  She thinks she needs to practice, and I am ok with that. She is trying out different decorating ideas on the cake.  Tim and McKenzie are not big cake fans and didn't want the traditional cake with fondant icing. They wanted Tim's mom's yummy strawberry shortcake as their wedding cake. So they will have a 3 tiered strawberry shortcake, and there will be one of these at all of the dinner tables for the guests to share. 

They will not be disappointed the cake is delicious, the strawberries used for the "real" cake will be coming right from Tim's mom's garden.

It was yummy!

Where Did This Child Come From?

And this is what Avrie does at pre-school?  I was a little concerned until I remembered that she was wearing brown leggings the exact color of her skin, then I laughed. Apparently, she wanted to show her teacher her gymnastics, while wearing cowboy boots. 

Message From Harry

First I want to say thank you to all that donated money to help Harry I don't know for sure how much money came in but I do know that you responded to the cry for help and every little bit will be used to improve the lives of children.  I received the following short email from Harry he is trying so hard to make a difference for the children that he is watching over.

Hi Michelle,

I'm so sorry to haven't repond you erlier.I like to be in touch with you to help to run the orphanage I forgot if you already give me your address mail.I'm trying to have more people to be in touch to work together to run my orphanage.The problem do I have now is the rent for the orphanage and the daily expensies. Also I have other projects I like to work on like find sponsor to pay school for kids and student.

Thank you for the money you have been sent.

Say hi to your family for me.

Thanks.

I am putting this out there again to see if anyone has any great ideas to help Harry, I can only do so much and ask so many times for people to donate, but maybe there is someone out there reading this that could help in a bigger way, someone willing to sponsor a child to go to school or someone that has a great fundraising idea or deep pockets that would be willing to do more.
I don't want to become a broken record, nor do I want my blog to be a cry for money but I can not ignore the honest pleading for help, I have been to Haiti, the need is real, I feel I need to do all that I can to help.

So I am posting the address again where donations can be sent, I am open for other ideas if you have any leave me a comment. Again thank you to all who responded!

Wasatch International Adoptions

Attn: Chareyl

1140 36th St Suite 204

Ogden UT 84403