How about a little Sugar......

Sugarland that is! I had completely forgot that the Patriotic Festival was going on at the Virginia Beach oceanfront until I received a phone call from my friend Laura. I know I said in my last post that I don't really enjoy going down to the oceanfront in Virginia Beach but I had to make an exception! Sugarland was performing for FREE!!! Yaaaaah Baby.....I'm there! The night was a little chilly along the water but it was an awesome concert and Kaiden sang along with all of his favorite Sugarland songs.

Thank You Msgt. King for 26 years! Semper Fi

What a wonderful weekend we had in Jacksonville, North Carolina! A dear friend of ours, Joe King, retired from the United States Marine Corps after serving our great country for over 26 years! There was no way we were going to miss his retirement! We met Joe back in 1993 when we moved into base housing on Camp Lejeune. Our day started Friday with Joe's retirement ceremony and then a barbeque at Onslow Beach.

Military retirement ceremonies always touch me. Between the reading of "Old Glory" and "The Watch" it will definetly bring a tear to one's eye. Joe's retirement was touching since his son Jared, who is also a United States Marine, took over the watch. How can you ever thank a person for serving our great nation for over 26 years? A simple "Thanks" doesn't really seem enough!

I absolutely love the beach down in North Carolina. There is limited traffic since this particular beach is for military personnel and their guests, and it is natural sand and landscaping. They have cabanas to rent right along the beach. Years ago we had rented one and left the windows open at night and it was so relaxing listening the the sound of the waves crashing onto the shore as you fell asleep. The beach is an absolute beautiful creation from God! We live near Virginia Beach but it is very commercialized and extremely crowded in the summer months so I don't find it too enjoyable. Oh my goodness you should have seen the look on Kaiden's face when he got his first glimpse of the beach. He was so overwhelmed with excitement and there was a smile on his face from ear to ear. Now those are the special moments that we as parents cherish forever! I love seeing all of his firsts!

At first Kaiden was a little nervous about the waves coming in and it frightened him a little but after an hour he was running around in the water and letting the waves chase him on the beach. The girls and I got sunburnt to a crisp but Kaiden is sporting a nice little tan! It was hard to leave the beach that evening. Since I have gotten a little older enjoying the beauty of nature really captures my heart! We headed back to Joe's house for awhile but we were exhausted from the day so we headed back to our hotel room early. What is it about the beach and water that exhausts a person? Maybe it's the relaxing sound of the waves. Ahhhhhhhhhh

We spent Saturday in Jacksonville and we had brunch at Joe's house. We chatted with everybody for part of the afternoon and decided to head back home. Kaiden constantly wears his John Deere hat my parents sent to him last year. We receive so many comments on that hat all of the time and Joe decided he wanted to give Kaiden a ride on his John Deere tractor (well more like lawn mower ha ha ha!) Don't tell Kaiden its a lawn mower because he will tell you it's a tractor. The both of them hopped on the uhhhhmmmm tractor and took a spin around the court several times. Again Kaiden was grinning from ear to ear!

We had such a wonderful, fun and relaxing time this weekend. I wish every weekend could be like that! Okay time to snap back into reality! Well maybe we can take a long weekend once a year and head on down to Onslow Beach and rent a cabana just to get away from it all. We all need that sometimes!

Thank you (Retired)Msgt. King for over 26 years of dedication to our country!

Kirstie's Prom....

This evening was Kirstie's senior prom and she looked more beautiful than ever! Here I am snapping away taking photos and after so many photos she gave me "the look". You know the look that says that enough is enough mom! Whenever these special milestones happen in my children's lives it makes me reflect back to when I was younger.....oh how time flies! It's hard to believe my baby will graduate in a few short weeks. I hope this is a exciting and memorable evening for her so one day when she is taking photos of her children she will remember back to this very special day in her life.

To all the mom's.............

Mother Prayer

Dear Lord,
today we pray for mothers--
our own mothers, and mothers everywhere,
who have made such a major contribution
to the good qualities we have,
sometimes through genetics,
more often through great effort and patient instruction,
and who have done their best
to gently polish away our rough edges.
Lord, please bless our mothers
for the endless hours of time they spent
and the boundless energy they invested in us.
Bless our mothers for their sacrifices on our behalf
as they often gave up or deferred their own dreams
so that we could have ours.
Bless our mothers for always being there for us,
for being the person we know we can turn to
when we need comfort, encouragement, or just a hug.
Bless our mothers for making a home for us
where we could feel safe, where we felt we belonged.
Most of all, Lord,
bless our mothers for their unconditional love,
for loving us no matter what,
and for frequently showing love
in ways that make us feel valued and cherished.
Lord, please bless our mothers mightily.
Strengthen them, soothe them,
wrap them in Your infinite love
and shower them with blessings
too numerous to count, too magnificent to describe.
We love them, admire them, respect them,
and we wish that You would give them back
many times the good they gave to us.
In Jesus' name we pray; Amen.


By Joanna Fuchs

Happy Gotcha Day!

Referral Photo of Kaiden......we fell head over heals in love!

Kaiden and his foster mother in Liuzhou



It's so hard to put into words how wonderful the past year has been with the addition of Kaiden to our family. When I look into his little brown eyes I absolutely know that God put Kaiden on this earth to be our child! He is bright, caring, joyful, sweet, playful, energetic, loving and the list goes on and on. Kaiden and I went to the store today after speech therapy and I picked out a cake and Kaiden enthusiastically said "Party?". I said "Yes, today is a very special day and we are going to celebrate." Kaiden then said "I like party and cake." I tried to explain to him at a 3 year old level that it was his Gotcha day and all he could say is "Big Bird in China." Ahhhhhh, the sweet innocence of a child is so beautiful! Today is a special day, but the past 365 days have been just as special as May 8, 2007. We love you Kaiden!