Vacation Recap!! ****Updated with more pics******

Well, we are home!!!! I decided to try and get fancy on you and compose a slide show instead of the usual list of pictures. What do you think?

Of course you know that we started out the week fighting the occasional rain shower and visiting Schlitterbahn Water Park with Kelley and family, and Erin and family. Sadly Kelley, Chuck, Emily, and Mia had to depart Tuesday morning so it was just Paul & I, and Erin, Bob & Mollianne for the rest of the week. Tuesday was a free day and since we did not have any plans Erin wanted to go to the outlet mall "just to visit a couple of stores". Little did she know that this is the mecca of outlet shopping in Texas so visiting "just a couple of stores" turned into a 4 hour shopping excursion. We were able to pick up several cute outfits for Avery (like she needs MORE clothes)and a couple of things for ourselves. Later that evening we returned to our respective hotels to freshen up and the met up again for some great mexican food (the strawberry margaritas weren't too bad either)!

Wednesday we spent the entire day at Sea World, we arrived just a little bit after opening and left at closing. We saw some great shows, rode some rides, and were lucky enough to be with Mollianne as she experienced her first roller-coaster ride. She was so excited that she was tall enough and she rode it 3 times, screaming and smiling every time!! At the end of the day we were all exhausted but euphoric from a great day.

Thursday we planned to go back to Sea World and just visit the water park but the weather had other plans for us. It was pouring rain!!!! Not very conducive weather for a water park so we had to make a quick change up in our plans. We all enjoyed a movie in the comfort of Bob and Erin's suite and then we ventured out for what else, but more shopping!!!! We visited two of the local malls and by late afternoon the rain had subsided. We made our way down to the Alamo (you can't visit San Antonio and not see the Alamo) and then enjoyed another wonderful mexican food dinner on the banks of the Riverwalk. We had outside dining and the food was awesome.

This morning we packed up and headed home! Nothing wears me out more than 5+ hours in the car.

Backtrack: Let me explain one of the pics on the slideshow. We had 2 casualties this trip. #1 was my glasses, and believe me I am blind without my glasses. Anyway, while at the waterpark Chuck and Paul went on a tube ride called the whitewater adventure, they came back telling us how awesome this ride was and that we just had to try it. Kelley and I decided we were up for the challenge so after trekking down and up 4 flights of stairs carrying our tube we were finally ready to go. The first drop was no big deal however the second was a doozy!! I was so proud of myself for staying upright on the tube that I did not even think to secure my glasses. When Kelley made it to the bottom of the drop the first thing I did was yell "I lost my glasses!!" After frantically telling the lifeguard he tried to find them to no avail so with no other choice we continued on the ride. It wasn't too bad when you couldn't see anything coming at you!! When we were done Kelley led me back to the "scene of the crime" and miraculously my glasses had been found. They were a little beat up and bent, but not scratched and definitely wearable!! #2 happened while we were at Sea World, we were all sitting at table cooling off and I had casually laid my camera on the table I did not realize the strap was hanging off the side and when I went to cross my legs, my foot hit the strap and the camera came crashing to the floor. I was horrified, I have a VERY nice camera and in the past have always been super careful handling it. I am so glad to report that the only thing wrong was the lens filter cracked. Considering the damage that could have been done replacing a $9.99 filter is not bad. Thank you so much Chuck for hounding me to get a filter!!

Overall we had a great time with great friends, we made a ton of memories and can't wait to do it again!!!!

Hittin' the highway for home.....

All good things must come to an end and unfortunately that includes our trip down south. In a couple of hours we will be checking out of our hotel and heading home. We have had a FABULOUS time and expect a huge recap post in the near future.

For now I will leave you with just a sample of the 500+ pictures that Erin and I took on this trip!
Erin, Mollianne, Bob, Paul, and Robyn posing for a group shot on the San Antonio Riverwalk

We had to change our plans to go back to Sea World for a second day because of huge rain showers so instead we went to the mall!! Don't let this picture fool you Bob, Mollianne, and Paul were having fun watching Erin and I shop!!

PHOTO OP!!! Where else but Texas can you pose in front of huge boots?

You can't be in San Antonio and not eat mexican food. We had a great time at this restaurant and our waiter Javier only added to the amusement!

We visited Sea World and stayed from opening to close (11hrs!). The weather was great (that day) but Erin and I did have to take the opportunity to cool off in the heat of the day!

Erin made a huge score we she made reservations for us to "Dine with Shamu" we were up close and personal with the killer whales and it was an awesome opportunity!!

So that's the quick recap will post more when we get home.

Hope everyone had a good week!!

Happenings so far....

We arrived in San Antonio last night after a requisite stop at an outlet mall specifically to visit the Disney Store Outlet. Being the Disney freaks we are you never know what kind of bargains you can acquire. We did not do too much damage this time, just a few little things.
Our loot from the store. An adorable fleece for Avery, a pair of Minnie flip flops for me and these cute little snack holders.

Being the photo chic that I am when we check into any hotel I have to take pictures of the room before we unpack. Paul has never understood this but he goes along anyway.
Paul chillin' out on the loveseat while I snap my pictures.

After getting settled we met up with the rest of the crew for an evening visit to the water park and dinner. Paul and I then went back to their room where we just hung out for awhile.

I love this picture of Mollianne. I think she knows that "Miss Robyn" always has a camera so she is ready for her close-up at anytime.

This morning we started bright and early to tackle the huge water park. We had a couple of rain delays but managed to work a ton of fun in around the showers. In the middle of the day we all ventured back to Erin and Kelley's place to have our own private picnic and get rested up for round 2.

Mia decided that Paul was her "main man" today and spent our break time playing with him. He was definitely loving the attention.
Big Tickles = Big Laughs

We had an afternoon trek to the water park but when the rain did not seem to subside we decided to call it a day after riding a few more things.

We dried off, changed clothes and headed our for some real Texas BBQ.
Bob, Erin, and Mollianne finishing up dinner!

Mia, Kelley, Chuck, and Emily pose for a family picture.

I tell you we have only been her 1 1/2 days but we have already had a fabulous time so there is not telling what the rest of the week holds.

(I did take a disposable water camera to the water park so after we get home I will be able to share some of those photos too)

BTW:If you haven't visited Christie's blog lately, check it out. She has a fabulous slide show of the M3 posse from the last year. It really brought back some memories!! Great job Christie!!!

How cool is this????

Paul and I headed out this morning for vacation. We are headed to San Antonio for the next 5 days.

Anyway, back to the title.......I am updating this blog while we are driving down the highway at 75mph (yes, Paul always drives 5 miles over the speed limit). Technology is amazing that I can be connected to the internet and typing away while moving that fast.

I am not a good "rider" at all. I cannot just ride in the car. If I am not driving then I have to be doing something. So far today it has included reading, sleeping, playing games on my nintendo DS, and now surfing the web. Oh well, it make the time past quickly. We only have a couple of hours to go and we will reach our destination.

The best thing is that we are meeting up with friends when we get there. They all headed down Friday but we only left today. Tomorrow we will be joining Erin & family, and Kelley & family at the Schlitterbahn Water Park and then later in the week Erin, Bob, Mollianne, Paul and I will be going to Sea World. Sounds like a great time with great friends.

Have a great week!!

New Readers????

From the comments I have been receiving I believe I have several new readers to my blog (or just new commenter's). In that spirit I have added a new category to the sidebar. If you want to learn a little background about us or just relive some of our history be sure and check out the links below our picture to the right.

We will be heading out tomorrow morning for a trip to South Texas. I will try to post during the trip but if not will be sure and catch up when we get back.

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!!!

Please give Valerie some love......

After much prodding, pushing, and probably even threatening my dear friend Valerie has FINALLY moved her blog to blogger. She came over from spaces at msn where several of us had problems leaving her comments. She was comfortable there and did not want to move but was envious of the amount of comments you get using blogger. So she finally (under much duress) decided to try out blogger and see if her comments increased.

Please check out her blog and leave a comment!!!! Even a simply "Hi, I'm here" will suffice.

She is a hilarious woman both in person and via her blog so if you have not already seen it you must read her previous post about her bounce house experience.

You can click HERE and I will aslo be updating the sidebar link.

Come on people, come out, come out, wherever you are!!!!

Sweet Sixteen!!!

Today Paul and I will celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary. We've come a long way baby!!

Everything that I could write in a post about us, our marriage, and our life together I have probably written in the past so instead I wanted to give you the lyrics to a song that I love and conveys my feeling for Paul. It is by the christian group NewSong:









It's always been a mystery to me
How two hearts can come together
And love can last forever
But now that I have found you, I believe
That a miracle has come
When God sends the perfect one
Now gone are all my questions about why
And I've never been so sure of anything in my life

I wonder what God was thinking
When He created you
I wonder if He knew everything I would need
Because He made all my dreams come true
When God made you
He must have been thinking about me

I promise that wherever you may go
Wherever life may lead you
With all my heart I'll be there too
From this moment on I want you to know
I'll let nothing come between us
And I will love the ones you love
Now gone are all my questions about why
And I've never been so sure of anything in my life

He made the sun He made the moon
To harmonize in perfect tune
One Can't move without the other
They just have to be together
And that is why I know it's true
You're for me and I'm for you
‘Cause my world just Can't be right
Without you in my life

He must have heard every prayer I've been praying (I've been praying)
Yes He knew everything I would need
When God made you (i thank god he made you)
When dreams come true
When God made you
He must have been thinking about me...

Paul, God was definitely thinking of me when he made you. I love you with all my heart and can't wait to celebrate many, many more anniversaries with you!!

MAJOR PANIC.......

in our house yesterday. For some unknown reason my laptop crashed and was unable to boot up. This is such a catastrophe because I have everything on this laptop!! After a 1 hour phone conversation with the tech team at Dell (for the bargain price of $39.99 since my warranty expired on June 1st) the were unable to walk me through a fix but promised to send me some recovery disks then we would go from there. The tech guy then proceeded to tell me that they would try everything to recover my files but is was possible that it was all gone.

I took a nap (since I had worked all night) but did not sleep well at all thinking of all my info that was gone and after working on the computer for another hour after I got up I finally recovered the programs. I then proceeded to spend the next 4 hours backing up everything on cd's!! That includes over 4000 (yes, that is 4 THOUSAND) pictures that took 17 disks to save and all my digital scrap stuff. So tragedy fixed and lesson learned. BACK UP EVERYTHING IMMEDIATELY!!!!

I am officially on vacation until the 30th and Paul only has 1 more night to work so expect to see some exciting posts from our trip next week.

Yep, that's right 18 months!!!

Today marks 18 months since our dossier has been registered at the CCAA. Are we close? Who knows? But we are hanging on waiting until we can bring Avery home.

Incidently last week we received our updated I171-H. This is the approval from the US governemnt for us to bring Avery home. Our first one expired, but I am happy to report that we are now officially legal again. Let's just all hope and pray that Avery is home before this one expires!!!!

Hope everyone is having a good week!

A tribute to Grandpa.......

The following was written by my aunt and read by my mom at my Grandpa's funeral last Friday. Our family has had so many compliments regarding the service, it was a wonderful service with several humorous stories about his life and I think a true example of the kind of man he was, what he meant to our family & the community...


Our Dad was…

Our dad was devoted…Our mother suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for 20 years before she passed away. Once when making his daily visit to the nursing home to see her, he was asked by an aide why he continued to do this year after year when she no longer knew who he was. He replied that he still KNEW her and he took a vow 50 plus years ago that said until death do us part.

Our dad was frugal…A few years ago when dad was thinking of replacing his false teeth, he asked his doctor how long he would live, because he wanted to make sure he got his monies worth out of them! He never threw anything away. After living through the shortages of the Great Depression, he was sure that those empty boxes he saved could be used for something some day and in the meantime walking around them was no great trial.

Our dad was independent…Dad told me once that he planned to live just long enough to walk out to his grave, and he did. That is one of the reasons I am confident that he would be happy with the way he left. He was still strong and able to do the things he wanted.

Our dad was courageous and compassionate…During WWII dad was scouting for his convoy when he and his buddies were pinned down by a similar size group of German soldiers. One of the Germans had been shot and was trapped between the two groups. Dad stood up and to the dismay of the other American soldiers, who were protesting that he would be killed, he went and got the German soldier and pulled him to safety.

Our dad was passionate about high school sports…Dad took me to my first High School basketball game at the age of two weeks and I don’t believe he ever missed another game until Mom became ill. He was awarded the “REFEREE OF THE YEAR AWARD” at the annual high school basketball banquet for doing the best job of any fan explaining LOUDLY to the referees when they had made a mistake and exactly how they could do a better job.

Our dad was generous...Dad often purchased hamburgers for the nurses aides at our mother’s nursing home, because he was well acquainted with their personal situations and knew who could use a helping hand. He was always the first one at the concession stand buying cokes for the players after the game.

Our dad was realistic…He waited to see how the Dallas Cowboys were playing before he would wear his cap or jacket with their logos each year. If they played poorly then the jacket stayed in the closet.

Rather than saying goodbye, his phone conversations started with “What do you know?” and ended with I guess that’s all I know. He taught us many things, but I don’t believe any of us were ever close to knowing how much he knew.

Kathy - this is such a true reflection of grandpa and I think you did and amazing job writing it.

Mom - you have shown such amazing strength this last week and the fact that you could read this a the service was a wonderful tribute to your dad.

We are still picking up the pieces but we also know that life must go on. Thank you so much for the comments, prayers, cards, etc that our family has received we appreciate each one so much.

The healing has began and we treasure the memories we have!!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!!!

Well, it's Father's Day again. The day we celebrate the men in our lives. I know that my sweet husband is still longing to be a father. I know he will make an awesome daddy and I can't wait for the day that Avery is placed in his arms. Next year honey!!!

I wrote the following paragraph for Avery on Mother's Day and I know that every word applies to Paul also, so I just tweaked it a little for him.

Avery, my sweet baby, where ever you may be tonight please know that there is a man waiting for you across the world that can not wait to be your daddy. And that he promises to love you unconditionally, shower you with hugs and kisses, and support you in whatever you want to be!!!

Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there!!!

To my own dad: thank you so much for all you done for me. You have always been there for me. I know I always give you a hard time about inheriting your "bad" traits, but I hope you know how much I love you and that I know I inherited alot of good traits from you too!

To my father-in-love: Cliff, you raised such an awesome man. He is alot like you even down to the use of hammers on anything not working correctly (ha, ha). I am so lucky to have you and Sandra for in-laws and hope that you know how much we love both of you!

Avery does not know what she is in for having two awesome grandpas!!

To the M3 dads: the ones of you with your kids already home are such wonderful fathers and the love you have for your children shows immensely. To those of you still waiting, I know you will all make great dads!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful day and celebrated their father's both those still with us and those looking down from above!!!

Good-bye Grandpa.....

Our family suffered a huge loss yesterday when Grandpa Horn passed away unexpectedly. I think we are all still in a state of shock at his passing. Thankfully we have a ton of wonderful memories to hold on to. I could write a huge post about grandpa and all his wonderful qualities but to be honest at this time I am just physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted. It has been a very long two days and we still have a couple more ahead. Please remember our family in your prayers and know that even though we are mourning we are also celebrating his entry to heaven and reunion with his beloved wife.

This picture of him mid-laugh is an awesome example of his wonderful personality!!

More to come later.......

I have a tag!!!!!!

Several weeks ago I posted about one of my dear friends, Kelley, opening her own on-line business of creating bag tags. Her business is booming and she in constantly creating new designs. I commissioned her to create a tag for my laptop bag. I left the design totally up to her but mentioned that I like a pink/brown combo and I thought since my laptop bag was brown it would be a nice compliment. This is what she came up with and I think it is fantastic!!!!! So now when you visit her shop Li Tian Designs not only can you purchase and Avery tag but you can also purchase a Robyn tag!!!

Another fun-filled weekend...

So it was just another weekend for me and Paul. It's funny how most of my posts are from the Fri-Sun range and never the Mon-Thurs part. I guess that is because we are working the first part of the week and there is nothing too exciting to post about sleeping, working, sleeping, working. So here we go again:

I just wanted to post this picture because I think it turned out adorable:
This is one SPOILED little dog!!!!

Friday we went to Paul's mom and dads and had dinner with them and the grandparents. We were all able to coordinate our schedules and make plans to camp together in July. It should be a fun-filled few days. Remember the pictures of Grammy and Daddy Sonny riding the tube from last year?

Saturday we got up early (for us that is) and went over to my cousin Terria's house. She and her husband have just purchased their first home and we went to help them paint before they moved in. The house is awesome and we are so excited for them!!

Terria is an avid Coca-Cola collector so she painted one wall of her kitchen bright red. It looks great and will go perfectly with all her paraphernalia.
There is alot of work to be done when painting an entire house!!

Alexis was so excited to have her own room:
She kept bragging to me and Paul that she picked out the purple color herself!

I had the privilege of painting the guest bathroom in a melon green color:
I can't believe I am posting a picture of myself looking like this, but oh well, to know me is to love me!

After painting for several hours Paul and I had to bail on Terria and Joe because we had previously planned on going to Erin's for a night of game playing.

As usual an entertaining time was had by all. We played Wii (I think we have all become Wii addicts now), Guitar Hero and of course I had to belt out a couple of songs on the Pop Star game. It never ceases to amaze me how we can spend so much time with this group and never get bored of each other or run out of things to laugh and talk about.

The Saturday Night girls:
Valerie, me, Erin, Elonda, Lori, and Kelley

The younger girls were having their own "ton of fun" upstairs with the safety gate in place.
Paul thought it was very entertaining to tease the girls about being "locked up".

This is why I love spending time with these gals:
There are always a ton of laughs!! Who knows what Valerie and Erin were laughing at this particular time but you can tell they are having a great time.

Erin and I are never too shy to post for a picture:
Good times with good friends!!!

We wrapped up the weekend on Sunday by attending church with our friends, having lunch, and then Erin, Christie, and Valerie ventured out of the big city to come our house for the afternoon. The temperature was in the 90's so we quickly invaded mom and dad's to make good use of their pool.

Valerie, me, Christie, and Erin

Overall, it was a great weekend!!!

Hope everyone has a fantastic week!!

The stork has landed.....

Referrals arrived today and as you can see the new cut-off is Nov 7. So that is 6 days worth for this month, but hey, that is 6 days closer to our LID. Bring on July!!!!!!

I do have to admit that it is still heart-warming to see all the pics of the new referrals and I know that someday we will have our own to post.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

WOW!! What a busy few days.....

I can say one thing for Paul and I: we are not letting any grass grow under our feet while waiting for Avery to come home. The last 4 days have been a whirlwind of activity with family and friends.

The fun started Wednesday night when my mom came over to help me hang my new curtains. In the last 3 months we have purchased new living room furniture, ripped out the carpet and stained the concrete, and basically redecorated the entire room. Of course that included new drapes for the window. I wanted something kind of funky and fresh but also not too "out there". I found some material I fell in love with but had to special order. After 3 delayed shipments it finally came in and my mom and I got to work. We made the cornice board together (once again using our saw skills) and then I padded and covered it while she sewed the actual drapes. I think the end result is awesome and it compliments the room wonderfully.

Tonight I am hanging the last of the pictures and artwork and the room will be officially done!!

Thursday evening Paul, me, Chris, Danette, and the boys all took my parents out to eat to celebrate mom's birthday and mom and dad's anniversary. We had gone together and purchased a couple of Adirondack chairs for their pool area and since we could not carry them to the restaurant we did the next best thing:
Had Kelby and Kolin (and Rowdy) pose in one of the chairs and put the picture in the card.

Friday while I was attending my weekly bible study (which is awesome by the way)Paul was busy with other fun activities. Frequently he and several guys from work go 4-wheelin', we have had so much rain lately that they have been excited to have a mudfest. This particular time one of the guys had an extra 4-wheeler so Paul invited his dad to tag along. I was a little apprehensive because I would feel so guilty if Cliff got hurt. I am wise enough to know that "boys will be boys" and Paul and his entourage don't always go the slow and steady route. The bigger the hills and the deeper the mud puddle the better as far as they are concerned. Well when Paul got home his first words were "Dad Rocks!" He said that every step of the way his dad kept up with the rest of them and had no fear on any of the climbs. Thankfully no one was hurt and now I think his dad had 4-wheelin' fever.
Paul and Cliff take a brake to wipe the mud from their faces!!

Keith, Crystal, and Michael try to decide which trail to tackle next. I think they will all be cleaning up mud for the next six months!!

Friday evening we enjoyed a quiet evening at home to prepare for our early awakening on Saturday.


Saturday we were honored to take place in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. We walked as team members of Barbara's Bosom Buddies. Barbara is Erin's mom and was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. She fought bravely through her treatments and is now cancer free! We had a great time with friends and everyone on our team walked the entire 3 mile course!!!
Our team photo!!

Christie was not able to join us because she is in California for her sister's high school graduation. She was so bummed that the two events were the same weekend, so to show that she was there with us in spirit we all had little pictures of her on our tags during the walk. Be sure to check out her blog (the adoption of Keira Joy) to read what exciting times she is having in California.
Me, Erin, and Kelley showing off our Christie picture before the walk starts.

After the walk we all regrouped at Erin's for lunch. We were joined by Valerie and Gary and had a great time visiting and hanging out. There was however some excitement as soon as we arrived. When Paul and I walked in Erin was frantically waving me over to the sink where Elonda was standing with water running over her hand. Turns out she was helping prepare lunch and sliced her finger with a knife. I put on my nurse's cap and fixed her up. It was a pretty good cut and took us quite a while to curtail the bleeding but I think she is going to live. Needless to say Elonda is now banned from the kitchen.
The aftermath and the culprit!!

When we returned home Saturday afternoon my mom and dad were at the house to pick up their chairs. Nothing says "country living" better than riding in a chair in the back of a truck. Dad rode like this back to their house while mom drove and all we could hear was dad yelling "SLOW DOWN!!"
Are everyone's parents as goofy as mine???


So that's it in a nutshell. Whew!! Now we need to go back to work so we can get some rest.

Hope everyone has a good week! Thanks for stopping by!!