Adoption Day

Here is the fam on Maddie's adoption day.  Kirby was waiting at home...no small dogs allowed at the rescue. Some of the big ones might mistake him for a snack. ..

Cruise!

Charles recently earned a cruise at work.  It was seven days of heaven! 
My BFF was there too!  Her hubby earned the cruise as well!  Here are the before and after pics from one of our fun nights.  The pics were about 4 hours apart.  It gives you an idea of the way most of the cruise was...Non-stop FUN!

Kennedy

Here is Kennedy right before drill team tryouts.  She made it...btw!

Maddie

Here is Mia with Maddie...our latest family addition!

Tall Mia!

Here's Mia with some friends.  The bigger ones are all finishing second grade.  Look how tall Mia is compared to the rest!  Crazy!

Uncle Ryan was in town!

Here are our beautiful girls with my little bro recently.

Surgery Update

Hello!  For some reason, I can't access my pictures.  We have been on a couple more RV trips since my last post, but I guess those pics will come later!  We have one more planned before school starts, and we already booked our Labor Day trip!  We are giving serious thought to heading to one of the Six Flag theme parks in November and swapping rollercoasters for turkey and stuffing on Thanksgiving!  Seriously!

Just want to update you on my surgery.  I posted recently that I had a mammogram and "they found something".  I had a biopsy that appeared benign, but required surgery.  I had surgery two weeks ago today.  The preliminary pathology reports "appear benign" and my doc said she didn't "see anything that concerned her", but she was sending the samples off to the MD Anderson pathology lab for a second look to be sure.  I am expecting to hear something this week.  Please continue to pray for good news.

While this summer has been the best ever with all of our short RV trips, it has also been a scary and painful summer for me.  The incision seems to be healing well, and I can swim again in two more weeks...when summer is basically over.  I have pretty much been forbidden to swim since the biopsy in June, so it was a bit of a bummer!  Oh well!  My ghostly white legs will still be ghostly white when school starts back up!

So sorry for the lack of pictures!

My baby is growing up!

Mia decided last week that she wanted to get her hair cut short.  It turned out super cute...but she looks so much older!  They really DO grow up too quickly!

Later, alligator!

Well, for now...this is the only picture I have, and I am posting it from my phone!  We are back from our second RV trip! Fun was had, but not without a little drama...and...well...damage to the RV.  Our campsite was on a steep hill. When it was time to close things down and head home, the back 2 jacks could not handle the weight and angle as the front one was lowered.  The girls and I were inside when the entire RV jumped and shook.  Charles let out some loud, choice words and came to check on our safety. We were fine and exited quickly.  The two jacks are bent pretty badly.  We will have to get them repaired before our next trip in a couple weeks.   Expensive lesson learned...but things happen!

I am not sure if Charles took pictures of himself and the girls fishing.  The one above is of one of the ALLIGATORS that swam toward them while they were fishing!  They were safely on a pier, thank goodness! 

Anyway, I had a scare a few weeks ago, resulting in a mammogram and ultrasound.  A growth was found in a milk duct.  I had a painful biopsy...well actually 3 biopsies of the area.  Thank goodness, the results came back as benign.  I will have to have surgery soon to remove the duct.  I am hoping sooner than later so I can heal before school starts back!  Needless to say, I had to spend this trip resting in the RV from the bruising and swelling from the biopsy...so I missed most of the fun.  It was nice to relax while looking out at the peaceful forest and water, though!

If Charles has more pictures, I will post some when I can.  Please say a prayer that the surgery goes well...and happens asap!

First RV Trip

Miss Mia, hogging the couch in the RV!  Lookin' cute doin' it, though!

Kennedy, chillin' with Mia in the little space that was left!

The Alamo

The Manning Girls

Charles, the girls...and a crazy stuffed buzzard he brought with us to take pictures for work.  It is their "mascot" or something.  We got some CRAZY stares from people who thought we were lugging around a REAL bird!

Our portable home-away-from-home that will FINALLY allow us to have some vacations!  We never realized how necessary those were...until we took one! 

We took our first RV trip about 2 weeks ago to San Antonio.  We forgot the camera the day we went to Fiesta Texas...which happened to be Father's Day and the MOST enjoyable day of the trip!  Kennedy was TERRIFIED on most of the rides, but ended up liking them.  Mia's first real roller coaster...and Kennedy's too...was a crazy ride called The Boomerang.  It went forward, backward and UPSIDE DOWN!  It was the first ride we went on after we entered the park.  It may have been a bit of an aggressive start, looking back now!  Poor Kennedy was sitting with Charles in front of me so I could sit with Mia to coach her through the ride.  When we got to the top before the first free-fall, Kennedy was sobbing in fear.  She ended up saying she liked it, but it was questionable!  Mia did AWESOME!  It was a pretty scary ride!

True sisters!

How sweet is this!!??  This little family was swimming down the Riverwalk with us!

Kirby...the RV Dog!  He is one of the main reasons we got an RV.  Now our WHOLE family can travel together!!!  He LOVED being with us!  He is the sweetest beast on the planet!

We did manage to take a few pictures the day we visited The Alamo and The Riverwalk.  It was a fun trip.  A major learning experience with our first time to take the RV out...but now we have done it!  It SHOULD be easier next time!  In fact, we are leaving again tomorrow for a short trip for the weekend!  Hopefully, we will remember the camera!

BTW...Blogger has totally changed since I used to post regularly.  I am having some issues with it...and I have no idea why my pictures are out of order, and why the text is not all together!  Oh well!  ;)

Check this out!

Charles and I recently realized that it is time to start enjoying life more, relaxing, and building memories with Mia and Kennedy!  Since I am totally grossed out by the germ potential in hotel rooms, and they are ridiculously over priced...we just got an RV and we are planning to make frequent short trips.  The girls are super excited!  We are too!  As soon as Charles learns how to back this thing up, it will be awesome!  For now, we will plan only locations with pull-through sites!

We're Back!!!



Mia with her sister Kennedy...the mermaid!

Just plain cute!

Kennedy holding Mia as they attempted to jump this wave!

Beach Bums

Happy kids!

Me and my girls!

My sweet hubby and beautiful daughters!

Mia and I were relaxing in this chair looking out over the bay.  How sad is it that my legs are still so much whiter than Mia's after spending 2 days on the beach??!!

It was time to head home from the beach, but they were not ready!!

Thanks for the prayers...

...please keep them coming!  We are trying really hard to move forward through all the fog here, so we need you to continue to pray.  It is getting better.

Needing prayers and support...

No fun pictures.  No sweet stories.
I have to logically try and understand that dishonesty and maniuplation become survival techniques when you are an "older" child growing up in an orphanage.  That does not make it any easier to accept these behaviors when they are not things we embrace in our family.
As time moves on and we settle in as a family of 4, more behaviors surface and more things get revealed.  A recent trend in manipulation has led to another mountain to climb.  Boundaries are being pushed and limits tested.
If you refer back to the posting on November 20, 2011 entitled "Things are not always as they seem...", Kennedy told us that her birthdate was not accurate and that she was actually 12.  VERY long story short, that was not the truth.  Well...the DOB she was assigned is not accurate, but the chronological age was basically correct.  Though we will never know the exact information...she is indeed 14...or at least much closer to 14 than any other age.  I wish I could explain it, but I can not.

For now, she will remain in the grade we moved her down to as a result of that "information" in November.  It is truly where she needs to be academically at this point to fill in her many gaps in learning.  If she catches up eventually and can place out of a grade or two, great.  If not, she will be a "mature" high school senior when she gets to that point.

I am weary.  I need your prayers and support.  Thanks.

There is a new man in my life...

...and his name is Kirby!  Step aside, Charles...or actually...just roll over a little.  This curly little ball of sweetness sleeps right beside me in our bed.  YUP!  He snores only slightly less than Charles, so it is a little noisy at night.  ;)

Several months ago, my allergies and asthma, which did not even appear until I hit the age of 30, kicked into super high gear.  I have to do lunch duty every day at school because 30 minutes outside at recess pretty much sends me straight to my rescue inhaler.  (Have you ever seen a room full of 5 and 6 year olds eating?  I do NOT recommend it!) I have become highly allergic to cats and shedding breeds of dogs.  That is REALLY unpleasant for me because I ADORE dogs!

As it turns out, I can be around a few, low/non shedding breeds without a problem.  The breeds that work for me include Maltese, Bischon Frise and Poodles.  Since Charles is NOT a fan of poodles, I have been searching high and low for a Maltese or Bischon through rescue organizations.

We finally found our match with Kirby!  He is a Bischon, about 6 or 7 years old.  He is housebroken, past all things puppy, and just a lap dog!  He has brought me SO MUCH happiness!  I can just sit and pet him for hours!  He truly slows me down, and THAT is a GOOD thing!  The girls love him too, and so does Charles.  (Though I am not sure he will admit it!)  We are hoping to add another Bischon to the family soon to keep him company.  The one we are waiting for is a female, about 5 years old, from the same rescue.  She will be heading to the vet next week for shots, standard testing, spaying, etc.  If all goes well, we hope she will join our family as well.  So far, we think her name will be Molly.  She is about 12 pounds.  The Kirb man is 22 pounds!  How cute will it be to see him curled up with a girl half his size!?

Look at his face!  WHAT a CUTIE!!

Get a tissue...

I will try to post this from my phone. Hopefully, you can click on the picture on the blog to enlarge it so you can read my Christmas gift from Kennedy. She wrote a different one for Charles and one for Mia as well.  It was evident that she put alot of thought into each one.  So sweet.

Has It Really Been Five Years??

Where in the world did the last five years go?  It seems like we were just in China yesterday with Gene and Lorie, waiting to meet Mia and Zoe.  I can remember how nervous Annie and I were, waiting to go to the adoption affairs office.  I remember going up the elevator with no idea if Mia was already there.  Would she like us?  Would she trust us?  Would she love us?  I guess it all worked out.  Five blazing fast years have passed and Mia is just as awesome today as she was on the day that we met.

We celebrated our Gotcha anniversary by taking Mia to a local Chinese buffet, where we all proceeded to eat too much.  Mia got to pick the place, since it's her day.  She wanted dim sum, but the place we wanted to go to is closed on Tuesdays.  Oh well...everything else about today was just about perfect.

12/27/06

12/27/11

Thanks to everyone that helped us meet Mia. No matter how small the roles may have seemed at the time, they were incredible as far as we are concerned.

Hey Kennedy...only four more years to go!

Merry Christmas, Y'all!

Three pics of the whole fam!

A first look at what Santa left at our house.

Obviously, she liked these movies.  But look at how darn CUTE she is!!!

Kennedy LOVES books!

This is me, reading to the girls...and our little man, Kirby!

Two beautiful daughters, curled up with mom!

Anticipation at Nana and Papa's house...

Kennedy was VERY excited when she opened up this purse!

"WOW!!  MORE stuff from Santa at Nana and Papa's house!!!

Mia would NOT like me posting this one, but it shows her CRAZED excitement that lasted throughout the entire day!!!

Not much time for words today.  I know you really only check for the pictures anyway!!  Hope you enjoyed a peek at our Christmas.  It was great!  Yesterday, Charles and I celebrated 19 years of marriage!  Today, we are celebrating our 5 year Gotcha Day with Mia!  We are heading out to eat at her favorite Chinese food spot soon!  It has been a full 3 days of happiness and celebration!  We wish you all the same!

The Great Outdoors

I rarely blog, so I thought I would at least post a few pictures of our amazing girls!  Mia looks grumpy in a few, but she had the sun in her eyes.  They actually had a great time!  Promise!

Happy Birthday and Boo to You Too!

Mia is 7!!  HOW did that happen so fast???

Mia and her BFF, Leesie...our girl chose a skate party again this year!

This is what Mia's face looks like right as she is about to crash on to the skate floor...

Kennedy and her good friend Charlotte.  They met in high school a few weeks ago, before we found out Kennedy was really only 12 and needed to be moved to junior high school!  Still recovering from that news!

Trick or treat???

Since she is younger than we thought, Kennedy got to dress up for the first time ever for Halloween.  We tried to talk her out of the witch costume, but it is what she really wanted.  She said, "Witches are bad, but I am pretending...so I am not bad!"  We could not really argue with her logic!

Here are our two beauties at the Halloween festival.

OK, this one posted out of order...but check out the "REALLY DAD????" pose.  Can you even IMAGINE when she is a teenager?????  Can you say ATTITUDE CHECK!!??

Action shot of the ring toss.  (Really, Mia wanted me to post a picture of her "cute cheerleader hair"!)