Two Years Today....

2010

2008

"Ella Grace Ana Payne arrived home to El Paso, Texas with her forever family two years ago today! She is an amazing, intelligent, beautiful, and happy little girl who is always giving so much affection and love to us all - we are so blessed!

WE LOVE YOU LA LA!

Send her a wish/message if you like - we will print them and ...hold them for her keepsake!"

US Embassy Kiev

Two years ago today, I cleared the U.S. Embassy in Kiev, Ukraine.

WOW what an emotional day

Honoring those who died on Sept 11 and rejoicing at bring our daughter home.

Almost 2 years...

In a couple of days it will be 2 years since Ella Grace left the child house - any ideas as to what we can do to celebrate the occasion? What have you my fellow bloggers done to mark the milestones? I'd love to hear from you.

Time....

Been awhile since I have visited my own blog - I guess I do more FB'ing than blogging. Time has passed so quickly - hard to believe Ella Grace Ana has been home for almost 2 years. WOW, where does time go?

I have had a few emails from other families asking about our agency and our experience - Adopt Abroad with Dr. Carol Albers was without a doubt the best choice we made to walk our paperwork and us through the adoption journey.

Ella has grown leaps and bounds. She is an amazing little girl with an independent spirit like you would not believe. She is strong willed and determined - much like me! She has had some learning curves and discipline issues (nothing major) in school; but I am convinced it is her strong will that prohibits her and not a disability. We have been truly blessed by this little girl who seems to leave an impression on everyone she meets

Monday

Back to the grind! The day did not get off to a good start, but I WILL make it a good day. I dropped the curtains/drapes off at the cleaners - on with my day. Hope to get the curtains/drapes down in the living room/T.V. room/ and bedroom today - we'll see. Never did get to that cabinet in the dining room I needed to clean out....

Is It Spring Yet?

I did a little "spring cleaning" today in preparation of my move off base and to the west side of town. I tossed out anything from the kitchen I had not used since we moved in, took down the curtains in the kitchen and the drapes in the dining room, set some dishes aside to give to my friend who lives in Juarez, decided to reupholster the dining room chairs and touch up some scratches on the table and chairs. Tomorrow I am going to clean out the cabinets in the dining room, hallway, and TV room. I am done with clutter - I am ready for clean and crisp - sign of spring I hope!

Dental Visits

Dental visits today - Christian no cavities, but does need some sealants - 9 to be exact AND he is ready for braces; Carson no cavities, no sealants, AND he is ready for braces - translation $$ small fortune $$ Ella Grace 2 small cavities - tech asked if she eats a lot of candy - what are they crazy? If they had ever seen EG on candy/sugar they would see why she doesn't eat it! She does however have apple juice 5 days a week for lunch - but we will be switching to milk per the dentist request and apple juice on Friday's.

Sometimes....

I wonder why it HAS to be so difficult!

Colleges....

So far Patrick has had offers from Balor University and Texas A&M - he also received (so far) a $20,000 scholarship. We are proud of him and thankful for the monies to help defray the cost.

Tooth Fairy

Okay, so today Ella and I are in the bathroom getting ready for the day and she says to me, "Mom, I am going to loose 10 more teeth. After I loose them I am going to be a tooth fairy. I am going to fly to all the kids who loose teeth. Yep, when I grow up I want to be a tooth fairy."