Life At The Moment

2008 in Pictures

The last day of 2008. This year has really flown by. Here is our year in review:

 

1. Declin at the end of the year neighborhood water balloon party. This is a private party that you have to be invited too. It was a lot of fun and it gave us a chance to meet new neighbors.

2. Winter 2008. The record breaking snowstorm- Portland has not had this much snow at one time since December 1968. It shut our whole city down for two weeks and brought a white Christmas to the great Northwest.

3. The Great Wolf Lodge. This was our family vacation for the year. We spent two nights at the water park. Tony and kids played in the water and I went to the spa for a massage and a pedicure. It did not get any better than that.  So much fun and worth the cost.

4. More Winter 2008. The snow was so beautiful coming down. We went outside while it was snowing and it was so peaceful. you could hear the silence. Unfortunatly it lost it's beauty after awhile when the ice came and it was treacherous outside. It did give us a chance to have a lot of family time inside.

5. Here I am in my "Little Black Dress".  This picture was taken at my '40th" birthday party. I joined Weight Watchers with a goal to be in a little black dress by the time I turned 40. I did it!!

6.Halloween. Chloee was a cute little witch. She wore her costume to school.

7.Tony and his fish. I think this was the only fish he caught all season. The fish was too dark and so he let it go. I think the avid fisherman is turning into a fair weather fisherman. No more early morning- windy, dark, cold fishing trips.

8.Maggie- joined our family this year. We were not looking for a dog, but when I saw her at Petco- we had a connection and I knew that she had to come home with us. She was very sick and looked like she was going to die when we got her. Today is she healthy, happy and very much a part of this family.

9. Declin and Tony rode the race cars at Bullwinkles. I think Tony had more fun on the cars than Declin. He is such a kid at heart.

10. Declin, Chloee and I had our annual Christmas Photo Op. I  love this one of these two. Chloee does not like to smile for the camera or look at it for that matter. I got both in this picture.

11.Tony and My Dad at Thanksgiving. These two are like two peas in a pod. I am so lucky to have both of them in my life.

12. Tony, Declin and Chloee at the Clark County Fair. This has become an annual summer event for us. Tony always has to work the fair and he is able to get us in for free one day. My parents come with us and we make a day of it. The kids ride rides, we eat fair food and have a great time.

13.This was taken on a beautiful fall day at my parents. We did not plan to take pictures, but the colors and the weather were perfect for a photo.

14. My mom and I on Thanksgiving. One of my favorite pictures that was taken that day.

15.Declin on the water boats at Bullwinkles. I think this is Declin's favorite ride here at Bullwinkles.

16. Declin at the property.

17. This picture was taken at my 55 lb loss mark. You can really see the change in my face here.

18.Tony and I at my parent's on a pretty fall day.

19.The kids and I at my parent's on my birthday.

20. The kids and I on the first day of school. Declin's first day of 2nd Grade.

21. Declin and Chloee with their carved pumpkins. Papa gave them the pumpkins.

22.Chloee at the neighborhood water-balloon party. Chloee was not afraid of the balloons or all the water that was being thrown around. She found her place and fit right in.

23. This snowman was built with the first round of snow. It has taken a long time to melt, because part of it was still frozen from the freezing rain.

24.This was our holiday picture that went in our Christmas Cards. Tony was not feeling well and I know that taking pictures was the last thing he felt like doing. Such a good sport for me.

25.Declin and I messing around with the camera.

26.The kids with one of the large pumpkins papa grew in his garden.

27.Samm. We lost Samm in October. She went outside and never came home. I miss her and everytime I look at this picture it makes me smile. This is her irritated look. She would show me this look everytime she saw Chloee coming after her or Maggie getting in her way.

This is just a quick glimpse into our year. I look forward to putting it in our memory bank and moving on to the new year. I welcome the changes that come with the new and remind me of the old.

Happy New Year- may it be a year of love, peace and happiness.

See you in 2009~

2005 Defined

The last day of 2005- what an incredible year it has been for Tony and I. It is still overwhelming to me when I think of everything that has happened this year. I knew that I wanted to reflect on it- with the collage of photos, but I had more to say. I knew that the pictures didn’t tell what this year has taught me.   

Change: If I had to describe 2005 in one word this is it.. It has been just Tony and I for the past 8 years and then overnight we had two little children residing in our home. Our whole world changed. Change affected everything that we did. It made us realize that we have to go with the flow because it was happening and there was no turning back. Change is never easy, but sometimes good things come out of it. In my case it has taught me about simplicity.

Simplicity: The past six months have been all about simplicity. We went from a double income household down to a single income household. This was huge for us!  It has forced us to live simpler we are using what we already have instead of running out and getting the latest and greatest, we have gotten rid of things in our house that take up space and really are not needed.  We stay home and spend more time together as a family.

Family: This year brought Tony and I an instant family and showed us how important family is in our lives. We have two wonderful sets of parents that have stepped in and helped out where they have been needed. 

I have watched my family and extended family grow to love Declin and Chloee and I have listened and felt the depths they would go to make sure that no one took Chloee from us. This is incredibly overwhelming and humbling at the same time.

Priorities: My priorities changed when Declin and Chloee entered my life. It was no longer about me and all about them. I became a stay at home mom so that I could be there for them all day. I did everything that is expected of a mother, but in the mixture of all that I lost myself. I became a mom, yet I wasn’t finding motherhood rewarding. I was not feeling the fulfillment that I thought I was supposed to be feeling. I started resenting the kids- they were zapping all of my energy so that I didn’t feel like doing anything that I used to enjoy. I started resenting Tony also because he was able to go to work, be among adults and then come home and enjoy being there. I began to only want him to come home so that he could watch the kids and I could get a break. I knew this was not fair to any of us and it was up to me to make the change.  I was the problem not my kids and Tony.

I re-evaluated my priorities and decided that I needed to find something to do outside of the home. This re-evaluation finds me back in the classroom teaching-- the one place I said I would not ever go back to, yet here I am.  My priorities are in order motherhood and family are first and by far the most important, but I have also put myself on the list. I am a much better wife, mother, daughter, friend, person for doing that.

This is my 2005 defined.

2005-Year In Review

2005 has been an incredible year for Tony and I.  It has been a year of growth and change. 

January: We were officially entered into the pool of potential applicants for adopting children.

February: We were selected out of 100 applicants to go to committee for Declin.

March / April- We spent these two months just waiting for the committee date to be set.  These two months were the most frustrating for us. They  told us not to get our hopes us because no-one is ever chosen on the first commitee to adopt the child.

May- We were selected to adopt Declin. We spent a week in Klamath Falls getting to know the little boy that would change our life forever. We also found out that Declin had a five month old biological sister that would be coming through the system also and if we were interested we could have her. We brought Declin home on May 20th. It was Tony's birthday- he could not have asked for a better birthday present.

June: They told us that it would be at least 3-4 months or even possibly the end of the year before we would see or bring Chloee home.  We were ok with this, it would give us time to get things adjusted with Declin. Things changed quickly- On June 8th- we welcomed Chloee into our family. I also resigned from PlyNet this month and became a stay at home mom. This was a huge adjustment for me-not just becoming a mom, but also giving up something that I had been doing everyday for the past four years.   

July/August- These two months were spent trying to get adjusted to having two little people in our lives. We had to learn to adjust our priorities- it was no longer just the two of us.

September- Tony, Chloee and I went to Klamath Falls to meet the birthmom. We chose not to include Declin in this as we did not want to confuse  him or make him think that we were going to give him back. This was an emotional day- as we did not know what to expect, but it turned out to be a wonderful day.  Declin started Preschool this month with no attachment issues. The teachers love him and he has made several friends.

October / November- We have lived under a black cloud these two months- the birthfather has been wanting Chloee back.  DHS-has not been very positive in assuring us this could not happen. This month also found me heading back into the teaching field. I thought I was done with teaching, but I could not pass up the opportunity that was presented to me.

December:  We received the best Christmas Present ever- Chloee is 100% ours.  Molly called and told us that the birth father is out of the picture for good so there is nothing in our way. The paper work is being processed and we are on our way to finalization.

This is our year at a glance. Tony and I went from 0 to 100 in a  matter of a few days. It has been a roller coaster ride on a journey that we never dreamed in a million years would happen to us when we started it. We are so blessed.