Friday, January 25, 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Collin had his first birthday on January 23rd. We took him to Flash to get his 1 year pictures taken. They are so cute...of course. Not Tennille King pictures but they will do for now!! We took a little cake and let him tear into it while they took pictures. He really seemed to like the sugar!! Imagine that?!?

Wyatt had to work so we spent the evening at Nana and Pops. Uncle B, Aunt Jessie and the girls were there and we had ice cream cake. Keeping with the Collins tradition of dragging out your birthday as long as possible, we will have some people over on Sunday for cake. I am making a caterpillar cake-hopefully it will turn out!! I will post pictures after Sunday.

It is hard to believe little Collin is one! He has only been with us for 4 months though in some ways it seems like he's been with us forever. Everyday he does something new. He has a new face that I have to get a picture of so I can post it. He looks like he's about to start crying and he closes his eyes and opens his mouth then the next second he is back to a normal face. He probably keeps doing it because we laugh at him every time he does it. He is the happiest baby and we are having so much fun.

We are trying to plan our first big family vacation so if anyone has any good kid friendly ideas let me know. The 3 cousins are so much fun when they are together although the adults may need a vacation from vacation after taking on those 3!!! Hopefully the 3 of them can grow up and have lots of great memories of their times together.

Stay tuned for some great new pictures!!
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Collin's First Haircut




Leann at Kenneth's was nice enough to give Collin a nice trim so he can look extra handsome for his one year picture. He was not really thrilled about the whole thing but it could have been much worse!! Thanks Leann!
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Monday, January 7, 2008

Christmas Pics ... Finally!!


It was a great first Christmas with Collin. Although he could really care less about opening presents it was just so nice having him here. It is amazing how much our lives have changed in a matter of a year. Chritmas time last year we were just in the research phase of our adoption. I was getting ready to graduate and my graduation present was to turn in our application for a little girl from China. Here we are with our boy from Guatemala and there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that he was meant to be with us. He is the perfect fit and a great addition to our family! Here are a few photos from our Christmas.





BEFORE>>>



















AFTER>>>












Christmas Eve Craziness!!






Testing out the new toys.






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Guatoberfest Cruise 2009

My soapbox about the Advent Conspiracy

I came across this video on another blog. I have to admit I only looked at it for entertainment value. I assumed with a title like that, it had to be some wacko conspiracy theory and who doesn't need a good laugh. Suprisingly enough it really touched me and made me think. It didn't grab my interest because of it's religious value, because that's not really my thing. I am not the type of person that flaunts religion or believes in pushing your beliefs onto others. It touched me because of it's human value and because it shows me how quickly I forget.

When we were in Guatemala it was truly a life changing experience for a myriad of reasons, only one of which was bringing home a baby! We saw poverty that we could never imagine in this country. I remember thinking when I was there that despite all of the stress of the situation, I was more at peace than I had ever felt in my life. Among other things, there was no pressure to have more...there was nothing to have. People just lived their lives. Families worked together, lived together in cramped housing-if they had a roof over their heads at all-and they were happy! We were forced to enjoy eachother without our "creature comforts" and I loved it. I now remember hoping that once we got home, I would never lose that idea that we don't really need much at all. I realized our society makes us think we need more but we really don't. And after watching the video it makes me realize that I have failed miserably.


I had made up my mind that in order to honor my new found attitude and our sons heritage, we would sponsor a Guatemalan family every year so that they could have food and heat and their children could go to school-things we take for granted on a daily basis. For some reason I can never seem to find the money to do that- BUT- I can find the money to buy coffee every day, sometimes several times a day, Collin will see a room full of gifts on Christmas morning, I can go out to eat, I can do whatever I want for the most part. My priorities have gone right back to where they were before I experienced Guatemala and it makes me sad. That is the reason that I am posting the video in a permenant spot on the blog, so that I am constantly reminded, not only during Christmas but all year to give PRESENCE to my friends and family not PRESENTS and to give back to something that I feel very strongly about. I don't write this to push Guatemalan charity or any charity but to encourage anyone reading this to slow down and take a look at your life and see what means the most to you and see where it takes you.

Advent Conspiracy