Wednesday, December 31, 2008

New Years Eve

It is the end of 2008...What a great year this has been. Although business has been slow and the Real Estate market is not the best our Daughter is home. So for me it was an awesome year. I am looking very forward to seeing what the new year has to offer. It is 8PM and we are hanging out waiting for some friends to come over and we are staying in this year. No need to get out there and get into any trouble... Not that we would but it is nice being here with the kids and just having a low key night. As I said though it is only 8...We still have 4 hours till the new year.....

Oh Ayden....

LOL.. I have to laugh at our Son. He sure listens to what id going on around. We like to call everyone by their first name and then Marie as a joke. Such as Jared Marie...Etc...Just for fun...Well Ayden came up to me and said Daddy Marie.....I had to laugh. It was so funny.....

YEEEEAAAAHHHH!!!!! I passed the State Exam

I have been studying and focusing in on school and everything to get my Brokers license. I Have been at it since November 19th. I know that is not the longest time but I have to go to school from 2-10 for three weeks then I had to pass two school exams and then two State exams. Well last night I took my last two State exams. I passed....I am ready to get my Brokers license. We are looking froward to opening our own Brokerage and Property Management Company. We are not far away now. I would say about 4-6 weeks before we go live..... AZ Real Estate and Property Management.... 2009 is going to be a great year......John

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Christmas with Grandpa Joe

We went over to see Joe and Tari and they had some gifts for us. Jared and I got cologne that we had wanted for awhile and Ayden and Taylar Rae also got a few gifts as well.. More Transformers for Ayden and Taylar Rae fell asleeep before she got to open hers. It is so nice to see how loved these kids are. They are special and very special to everyone around.

John And the Kids


Thursday, December 25, 2008

Christmas Day 2008

Oh what a great Christmas. We were only missing a few things this year and that is the rest of our family that we were not with us. We really miss our family when they are not here for the holidays.

This year we had Ayden, Taylar Rae, Jared, Myself, Reba, Terri, Larry, Beth, and Char that hung out with us while we opened gifts. Then Debbie, Meschelle, and Vincent came over and we had an Italian Christmas feast. It was great. It was great company and good food. The Christmas was great for the kids. They got everything that they wanted and more. It was really sweet to see the two of them this year. This is the first Christmas that Taylar Rae was home and it sure was awesome. It is really hard to believe that this year we have our family complete. It sure feels complete too. What a great year this was and what a blessing we have been given.

After eating we visited for awhile and then we got into the hot tub. It was really nice it was raining and we put the canopy over the hot tub and we had a few drinks. The kids were napping and the company was awesome. What a nice Christmas.




























Oh look what Ayden got for Christmas. Megatron..... HE sure was a good boy this year.

Ayden getting cookies ready for Santa


Taylar Rae Christmas Eve








I have to laugh at this first picture of Taylar Rae. She learned to say Ho Ho Ho like santa. It is so funny to see her do this as she get's into it. She is such a little ham. She loves the Santa that we have but when we saw Santa this year she got scared and cried when we were at the Rainbow Fences party. This year she is not real sure what is going on and I think that next year she will be a little more into it.


Christmas Eve
















Last night was Christmas Eve. What a fun great night it was. Joe, Jared, Mark Taylar, Reba, Ayden, Taylar Rae and myself were all here. We all visited and relaxed and enjoyed the night. We had a few drinks and enjoyed the kids and the holiday. Joe bought us all Chinese and it was good. Me and Ayden made a gingerbred house. It was the first time I have ever made one. Take a look at these pictures. Ayden also left Santa some cookies and milk. He ate all of them and drank all of the milk. Santa was hungry......

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Christmas Card Photo


We tried several times to get a good photo for our Christmas Cards this year but Taylar Rae was not cooperating. We finally got one and here it is. This year we also got our cards out a little late so hopefully they will be delivered by year end...LOL

Not a very good eater and he is showing us!!!!!!

Ayden is not the best eater. He can be stuborn at the table too. He sure was this time. He was not eating and I told him he would sit there till he took a bit. As you can see he did not take a bite and he decided that he would just go to sleep. He is such a little Man. He does not like us saying that he is our baby. He let's us know that he is a big boy....I just adore him....

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Ayden's Special Day at School











It was so cute. Grandma Heather came over to make a dish for Ayden's special day. It looks like a pizza but is actually a brownie . The pepperoni looking things are fruit roll ups. I will have to get the rest of the items that are in here but it sure went well at school. They all loved it and i think the kids really enjoyed helping as you can see.

Here is the finished result....Pizza ala Brownie




Monday, December 22, 2008

What a great Surprise

I was sitting on the couch yesterday and the kids were playing while Jared was sleeping and in walkes Jared's Mom with Pancakes shaped like Christmas trees and candy canes. It was so cute. She really is special. We are very lucky to have all of Jared's family so close. I wish that Justin and my family were closer because I just love having family around. We love you TC. John

I can not believe Christmas is almost here

oh boy how time flies. Christmas is three days away. I woke up this morning having my cup of coffee and our little Man Ayden comes in rubbing his eyes. He just woke up and came out of his room and the first thing out of his mouth was three more days till Santa comes....LOL he is so cute. He is ready for Santa. He is still in this Transformers craze and he keeps saying that Santa is going to bring him a MEGATRON... He is crazy about these transformers. He carries them around. Sleeps with them and takes them to school to play with for his 3 o'clock toy. He gets to bring a toy to school and then at three gets to play with it. He does really good with sharing too. I know I have said it before but we are truly blessed with our children. Who would have known that they could have made such an impact on our lives. I never imagined the love that i would have for them while we were in the process of bringing them home.
I remember talking to my Mom and Sister about being worried if we could love a second child as much as we love our first. I was scared that we could not. Boy was i wrong ....Oh yes you can...I just adore this little princess of ours. She is growing up and being more lovable everyday. She is so good to. She will just lay in your arms. She is saying lots of words and just precious.....

I was asked yesterday about why we did not go with a serrogate. You know it did not happen that way and i can not imagine our lives any different and without these two little blessings. I feel so fortunate to have such a beautiful family....I thank God for bringing us all together....John

Gift Wrapping....


We were wrapping gifts and Taylar Rae thought she was a gift that needed to be wrapped. We left out the wrapping paper.... This is her first Christmas home and she is going to love unwrapping these gifts.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Posting

I have not posted a whole lot in the last month as I have been in Real Estate School to get my Brokers License 2-10 for three weeks. We moved our office.We also had our 6th Annual Christmas Party. So needless to say it has been a crazy. I sure missed Jared and the kids while I was gone. That made for some long days. So now I have to take the School exam and once I pass the school exam I can take the State Exam. I am Scheduled to take the state Exam on the 30th. It will be a great way to bring in the New Year. John

Sunday, December 7, 2008

6th Annual Christmas Party

Oh what a great party this year. We ended up having probably 80- 100 people. It was a lot of fun. We had 64 in the gift exchange . There were quite a few people that did not participate in the gift exchange though. we thought it was too long, it took two hours....We are going to change the gift exchange next year to maybe everyone bring a toy under 15.00 and then we could donate the toys. We will see. That is a long time away.....We had a babysitter for all of the parents with kids. One of Ayden's teachers has a teenage daughter that babysat at the school. Ayden's school is right down the street so it made it convenient for everyone. Plus it was really nice not having to worry about them here.

I wish we had more time to visit with everyone. With that many people we really do not get to visit too much. Guess that is just part of it though. ......John

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Taylar Rae




Our little princess. Thank God for the bumbo. It sure keeps her in. She is such a great eater. She eats her veggies first. It is so cute. She makes all kinds of noises and you really know that she is enjoying her food. She is getting so big. Walking everywhere and throwing her little attitude. She throws herself on the ground and throws a fit if Ayden makes her mad. I think that she is going to be fiesty....I just love her so much and can not imagine her not being here. Little girls sure are a little different.

Several video clips of Ayden and Taylar Rae. 10/2008

Taylar in Sink getting a bath

Taylar in Sink getting a bath
She will hate us for putting this in her School year book!!!!

Taylar Rae in Dadd'y office

Taylar Rae in Dadd'y office
How cute is she

7-08Taylar Rae

7-08Taylar Rae
Taylar Rae at home finally

7-08Ayden on Toilet

7-08Ayden on Toilet
7-21-2008

7-2008

7-2008
Ayden and Daddy in Antigua

7-08 Taylar and Ayden Together

7-08 Taylar and Ayden Together
7-08 Taylar looking away

7-2008

7-2008
Taylar Rae on our pickup trip in Apartment in Antugua.

5-08Ayden in Bath

5-08Ayden in Bath
May 2008

5-08Ayden Laughing catching bubbles

5-08Ayden Laughing catching bubbles
May 2008

5-19-2008

5-19-2008
6th Pictures of Taylar Rae

4-08Ayden First Day Of School

4-08Ayden First Day Of School
This day came so fast.

4-24-2008

4-24-2008
5th picture of Taylar Rae

3-08-Bahamas

3-08-Bahamas
All of Us in the Bahamas

3-08 Ayden IN Orlando Florida

3-08 Ayden IN Orlando Florida
He's Cool

3-08 Taylar

3-08 Taylar
Taylar at Dr.

2-29-08

2-29-08
Taylar's Foster Family on our first visit to see her. This was a sad day

2-08 1st Photo of Ayden and Taylar

2-08 1st Photo of Ayden and Taylar
2-08 How Cute

2-08 Ayden and Taylar IN Guatemala on our first trip to see Taylar

1-8-08

1-8-08
3rd Photos of Taylar

1-8-2008

1-8-2008
3rd photos of Taylar Rae

12/6/2007

12/6/2007
1st Photo of Taylar Rae

10/24/2007

10/24/2007
2nd photos of Taylar Rae as a baby

10/24/2007

10/24/2007
2nd Photos of Taylar Rae-Baby pictures

7-07Ayden Michael

7-07Ayden Michael
July 15, 2006 at the Guatemala City Marriott on our 2nd Visit

7-06Ayden in bath

7-06Ayden in bath
At the Marriott 7-18-2006

7-5-2006

7-5-2006
7th Photos of Ayden

7-27-2006

7-27-2006
Pictures with Ayden's Foster Family and Cara from the Agency.

7-06 Grandma And Ayden

7-06 Grandma And Ayden
July 16, 2006 at the Marriott on our 2nd Visit

7-06 Ayden and Da Da

7-06 Ayden and Da Da
7-06 2nd Visit to see Ayden

6-2-2006

6-2-2006
6th photos of Ayden

5-8-2006

5-8-2006
5th pictures of Ayden

5-2006

5-2006
Pictures from Disposable camera left with Alma

4-7-2006

4-7-2006
4th Photos of Ayden

4-7-2006

4-7-2006
3rd Pictures of Ayden

3-13-06 3rd photos of Ayden we Received

3-13-06 3rd photos of Ayden we Received
Oh boy, He is getting so big. We could not wait to get him home.

2-28-06 2nd Photos of Ayden Michael

2-28-06 2nd Photos of Ayden Michael
Here is another photo we received and we were not sure at that time that this was Ayden. We are retarded and yes it was Ayden.

2-14-2006 1st Photo Of Ayden Michael

2-14-2006 1st Photo Of Ayden Michael
This is the first picture that came across our computer February 14th 2006 Two weeks after he was born. What a great day that was