Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's {Sunday Snapshot}

We spent Christmas Eve at my parent's house with all of the cousins.  We went to 5 o'clock mass and then went to their house for a huge German dinner.  Afterward, we opened gifts.  A cannot stand the chaos of all of the little kids screaming and opening gifts at once.  She would much rather sit back and enjoy watching everyone open their gifts rather than everyone ripping and tearing and not being able to see anything.  So she decided to play "Santa" this year.  She gave gifts to the littlest 4 kids first, then once they were finished, she went on to hand gifts out to the next 2 "middle sized" kids.  It kind of worked...for a little while. ;)

 

Cara got a pink guitar.  Funny story about the guitar.  Christmas night she was laying in her toddler bed and I was laying with A in her bed talking.  Cara kept strumming the guitar and I would tell her to stop.  After telling her to stop 4 or 5 times, I said, "Cara, stop or I'm tossing the guitar out in the snow!"  She was silent for about 20 seconds and said, "MAN...someone's...PISSY!"  It was pretty funny!

 

B got mostly clothes for Christmas and he was happy with that.

A got a helmet for skiing.  Now she's on the lookout for new ski pants and a jacket.

It was a great Christmas for everyone.  The tree is down and we are now spending our time watching the final weekend of the regular NFL season.  Hope you had a wonderful holiday, too.

For more Sunday Snapshots, click here:

A's 18th Birthday

A's 18th birthday was on December 15th.  She asked for cupcakes (chocolate with cream cheese icing) because she prefers them to cake.

 

She got a crown necklace from Uncle D and Aunt D.

We got her a WSU bikini.  Her present from us is a trip to Hawaii in February.  She is so excited to go!

She got a new ski jacket and a diamond bangle from grandma and grandpa.

She had a pretty great 18th birthday!

Christmas 2012

It has been a wonderful Christmas this year at our house.  I took this picture before we left for church last night:

Cara couldn't sleep.  She was too busy listening for Santa.  She wrote her first letter to Santa Claus this year and asked for a writing bear.  She saw it in a toy catalog and decided that was what she wanted...a bear you can draw on, throw in the wash, and draw on again. :)

A and B wanted new cell phones and they were so excited that Santa brought them!

Cara loves Hello Kitty and the WSU Cougars.  So when A got her a Hello Kitty in a WSU t-shirt, she was beyond excited! ;)

A got a crown Pandora charm from her brother and sister.

Cara had a huge hug for B after she unwrapped her Hello Kitty microphone.  Now she will really be able to sing like Taylor Swift!

I love that this boy finally enjoys unwrapping his clothes box. ;)

I got a new lens for my camera and I can't wait to try it out.  Its an EFS 18-135 mm and should be a nice, all-purpose lens to replace my kit lens that I use for all-purpose shots.

Merry Christmas from the Funks!

Terrible blogger!

I have been a horrible blogger lately.  Really, I haven't done that well all year.  My goal was to post more than the year before and that didn't happen.  We have been up to quite a bit this month with A participating in 2 lighted parades, B's wrestling season, family winter birthdays, and getting ready for Christmas.  I will try to post later tonight or tomorrow some pictures of the day.

Watching Day

Both Cara and her sister have dance on Tuesdays, and the first Tuesday of the month is watching day.  Dance starts for the year in October, so this was the first watching day of the year.  Cara looks so serious when she dances.

 

She did take some time to pose for me for a minute! ;)

Again, all business when she dances...

Cara did a really nice job.  I can definately see improvement from last year in just one month.

She Sleeps



"Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names.  They are easier to ignore before you see their faces.  It's easier to pretend they're not real before you hold them in your arms.  But once you do, everything changes."  David Platt

 

November is Orphan Awareness month, and yesterday was Orphan Sunday.  I'm not a very political person, but I do feel strongly about promoting adoption.  I'm not a poster child for adoption and I won't bring it up until someone else does first, but I'm happy to talk about it.  I look at this beautiful, sleeping child and I still can't believe she's mine.  Two years later, I marvel daily at the fact that I get to be her mom. 

But I'm a realist.  I didn't "save" her.  She was a beautiful little girl with VSD on the shared list.  She would've been snapped up 10 seconds later off that list if we weren't lucky enough to have gotten her file locked first.  She would have gotten her family no matter what.  So when people say, "Oh, she's so lucky,"  I always smile and say thank you, but really I'm thinking that we are the lucky ones.  She's changed our lives.  She's made us better parents.  She's taught patience and the ability to love fiercly to my other two children.

Life dealt her a crappy hand in the beginning, and we're still working through the ramifications of that.  We probably always will.  But I didn't look to adoption to "save" anyone.  I wanted to adopt.  Period.  End of story.  I've wanted to do it my whole life.

But what about the kids still waiting?  What about the ones that linger for months on the shared list?  What about the ones dangerously close to aging out? They need families, too.  Am I done?  Is my family complete?  Cara says, "I'm the baby.  No more babies!"  Some days I think we're done, and sometimes I think we're not.  My question is, is YOUR family complete?  Have YOU considered adoption?  Is there a little (or not-so-little) one waiting for YOU?

Think about it.  Adoption is the best thing our family ever did.  Is it right for you?

Halloween 2012

Cara wanted to be a pirate for Halloween.  She loves pirates!  She had a pink pirate birthday party back in June.

 

She went to her cousin's house for the first trick-or-treat stop and then the 3 of them went trick-or-treating together in the neighborhood.

 

Last stop, Grandma an Grandpa's house.  Cousin Jake dressed up like the WSU mascot, Butch.

And as we were leaving, another group of cousins showed up to trick-or-treat, so I got a picture of all of them in their costumes.

Hope you had a wonderful Halloween!