Happy 1st Birthday, Bryson!

Sunday Zoe and I joined the rest of my family at the St. Louis Zoo to celebrate my nephew's 1st Birthday! My step-sister Heather and her husband Marvin adopted Bryson and were there a year ago for his birth. What a blessing he is to our family! You'll never meet a sweeter, happier little guy.

It was a beautiful day - about 80 degrees - and the zoo was packed. In fact, it took us about an hour to find parking. That didn't stop us from having a wonderful time.

Zoe and Cousin Gracie patiently waiting to tour the Zoo!

Birthday Boy Bryson didn't know what to think of the fountains!

California Sea Lion

Zoe enjoying the carousel.

Cousins Bethanie & Blake

Birthday Boy Bryson, his mom Heather, & Cousin Zack

Cousin Courtney & Shelby (Zack's Girlfriend)

Cousins Gracie & Tanner

Zoe as a puppy dog.

Gracie as a scary lion.

Cousin Zack, Zoe, & Zack's Girlfriend Shelby!

 And, best of all................. look at the Birthday Boy playing in his birthday cake:

Is he not the cutest?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday, Bryson. We love you very much!!!!

Mising In Action

I apologize. It's been almost a year since I have updated this blog. No excuse. Busy like everybody else. So much has happened in the last year. It might take me several posts to get caught up, but I will try to do that. Unfortunately, I accidentally washed my camera's reader card with over 1,000 pictures on it. So, I will have to rely on my memory to get caught up.

In May of last year (2012) Zoe was asked to represent the state of Illinois in a Kick Start Gymnastics Competition in Michigan. Zoe, her friends Paris and Taylar, and myself made the trip to a small town outside of Detroit. We found out about 1 month & a half later that Zoe had indeed made the National Kick Start Team. Zoe continued her Kick Start training all summer & then Paul, Zoe, & I made the trip back to Michigan in September for Zoe to particpate in the National Kick Start Training Camp with Olympic Coaches, Marvin Sharp and Kathryn Geddert. It was an awesome camp with Zoe doing new skills such as Giants on the High Bar and Yurchenko vaults. She came home very excited to start a new type of training with her coach. (More on that later!)

Here are the pictures I took of Zoe at Kick Start Camp:

Zoe doing a dance after working with the ballet instructor.

Zoe waiting patiently for her turn.

Zoe & friend Lilly showing their certificates.



Zoe with Olympic Coaches Kathryn Geddert & Marvin Sharp.

All-Around State Champ

All-Around Level 4 State Champ

Zoe's state championship gymnastics meet is this weekend. She competed yesterday, but team awards will not be given out until later today. Zoe's performance yesterday was outstanding. She ended the meet as the All-Around Level 4 State Champion.

Vault - 9.65 - 1st Place

Bars - 9.7 - 1st Place

Beam - 9.65 - 1st Place

Floor - 9.65 - 1st Place

All-Around - 38.65  1st Place

So very proud of you, Zoe! Your hard work & dedication has paid off. Congratulations!What a great season!

8th Grade Night

Last night my nephew Blake had his 8th grade night for basketball. As a former coach & player, I love watching my nieces & nephews play basketball.

My sister Tracy, Blake, & my brother-in-law Brent

Calling the plays as the point guard.

Taking it to the hoop!

After leading the team to victory, Blake takes a seat on the bench.

Great game last night, Blake. Good luck as you start regional play next week!

P.S. ..... My niece Gracie was also at the game watching cousin Blake. She was lucky enough to have someone give her the cheerleading uniform that she has on. Isn't she a cutie???

Gracie & her friend Bailey

P.S.S. We are on our way out the door. Trying to get to a gymnastics meet before the ice storm hits.

Just Another Reason....

One of our favorite Christmas Cards always arrives a week or two after the holidays. This year was no exception. Look what was in our mail just last week:

Yes, a Christmas/ New Year's card from Zoe's orphanage. We feel so blessed to receive this every year, knowing not all orphanages do this. And you know the best part????

It arrived on Zoe's Gotcha Day!!! Couldn't have asked for another reason to celebrate seven years of gotcha!

7 Years Ago...

A scared little girl was placed in our arms at a hotel in China. How our lives have changed! Neither Paul nor I can imagine life without Zoe Gwen. With her radiant smile & caring personality, she is a blessing to so many people. And...growing up so quickly into a beautiful girl with such a tender heart. Happy Seven Year Gotcha Day, Zoe! We love you more & more each day.

Where Have I Been?

Things have just been plain crazy around here. Zoe is competing in gymnastics for the first time. So, between her practice in the gym & traveling to competitions, we seldom find ourselves at home. Zoe is loving it though & wouldn't have it any other way. She competes as a Level 4 USA gymnast.

At her first ever compeition November 13th (held near Chicago), she placed second All Around. (missing 1st by 0.15) & her team captured first place. As you can imagine everyone was thrilled.

At the second meet December 11th, Zoe got first on the bars, vault, & floor; second on the beam; & won the All Around title. Her team once again captured first place.

Even though Paul & I are rookies at this gymnastics thing, we are amazed at the skills that the gymnasts on our team possess compared to some of the other gyms we compete against. We contribute our team's success to their coach. She is awesome, knows her stuff, & gets 110% out of our girls every time they are in the gym.

It's going to be a fun season. We are headed back up north this weekend for a big meet. I'll be sure to update you all when we get back home.

Way to go, Zoe! We are so proud of you!!!

Happy New Year

Wow! Hard to believe that another year has flown by. Where does time go? We've been very busy. (so busy I just can't seem to find the time to update this blog.) However, one of my New Year's Resolution is to post at least three times per week. I use this site as our family scrapbook so I need to get back in the habit of posting. So, I have a post in mind for tomorrow. Hope you'll check back then!

Happy 8th Birthday, Zoe Gwen

This past week we celebrated Zoe's 8th birthday. We woke her up about a half hour before her normal wake-up-for-school time & let her open her gifts. She was so excited.

Later that evening we joined friends for dinner. Zoe's choice. As you can guess, she chose her favorite restaurant - H**ters! She loves the boneless hot wings. In fact, Zoe always gets a kick out of the waitresses because she always orders 911 wings & every time the waitress will say - "You know those are really hot." (to which Zoe always replies - "Yes, I know.") It was a fun night as the St. Louis Cardinals were in the playoffs so we got to watch them win as we were eating.

Paul & I had waited to give her a special gift at dinner. She had no idea that we had held one gift back. But let me tell you, it was so worth it. Can you tell?

Hard to believe our little girl is 8! Happy Birthday, Zoe Gwen! We love you!

Long Overdue

I know, I know....it's been almost two months since I've posted. Time has just gotten away. We had a great summer & then before you knew it, summer was over & school started. I've got so much to blog about. Now just gotta find the time to get back in the groove of updating. (Plus, gotta blog to keep Kelsey off my back !!!!)

Anyway, 2nd grade is going great for Zoe. She loves school & her teacher. We have parent teacher conferences next week.

This past Friday I took the day off from teaching & went on Zoe's field trip to the Butterfly House. It was a beautiful day & for the most part, the kids were excellent. (The night before Zoe's teacher had informed me that she gave me some of the chronic misbehavers. She thought I could handle them since I deal with 7th & 8th graders all day.) I had never been to the Butterfly House. Though it was about an hour and a half drive from the school, I must say it was an excellent field trip.

Second Grade

Can you believe it?

Where has the time gone?

Zoe started 2nd grade this week.

And of course, she is LOVING it!

So. Worth. It.

 Last night we attended the T@ylor Swift concert! Our seats were amazing & so was the concert. Paul & I both agree that it was one of the best concerts we've ever seen.

Hunter H@yes & Need to Bre@the opened for her. Once she took the stage, she performed for about 2 1/2 hours. So, so good!

Here are some of the 106 pictures I took. Enjoy! (we sure did!!!)

And here is how Zoe spent the concert - smiling from ear to ear. She was so excited & Taylor did not disappoint!

Back Home

Even though time flies when we're on vacation, it's always nice to get home. School starts again next week for both Zoe & myself. Not ready to go back to work (summer just went way too fast), but I must admit, it will be nice to get back in a routine. Zoe actually starts school a day before me so I will get to take her to her first day of SECOND grade. This will be the first time I've gotten to take her to her first day of school since she started. I'm excited about it. Gotta make sure the battery is charged in the camera!

Until then, we still have several things going on. Zoe has gymnastics this week before getting a week off. She's having all 18 girls in the second grade over Thursday night for a two hour swimming party. Plus, sometime this week I have to get to my own classroom to get it in order for students' arrival next week.

I'm gonna leave you with a few pictures that were taken the last night we were in Orange Beach. Enjoy!

Always smiling!

Always posing!

Friends Abbie & Benneth with Zoe