Alex's 3rd Christmas!

I love his smile, eyes and cheeks!!

At church the theme for the Children's Church service was Christmas around the world... so everyone dressed up in outfits from all over the world. This little girl wore one of the dresses that i bought for Kimi when we went to Kaz for Alex
They all had flags from their countries. Alex can say "Kazakhstan" perfectly!!

When we got home from church, he insisted that he wanted to try on the dresses... silly boy!

he does NOT look one bit like a girl!!!!!

Alex Turns 3!!!!

This is the "Baja 1000" cake that we made... Jerry couldn't resist getting involved... haha! We made a hill, mountain, a bay, and it wouldn't be complete without a silt bed!!! We even made cactus looking things! The trophy truck was on the mountain, the quad (Jerry) was coming up out of the silt bed, the VW beetle was just going into the silt... and 1x was just coming over the hill... (1x always wins... Team Honda) Oh! and a motorhome! Because every team needs one of those to drive around on those narrow bumpy roads! We think the cake was the most amazing cake ever!!! Now what to do for baby brother's cake next month... humm?

Last year we were in Baja to race for Alex's birthday... and since he is in love with Quads we tried to do something representing last year. Do you know how hard it is to find toy quads!!!? very hard... The ones you can fine at the toy store are very cheap! As in $7 and Alex broke the handle bars off it with in minutes! So annoying! oh well!

Do you like the waves?

Hahaha! When Alex unwrapped this one, he said, "Envelopes!!!" It was hilarious... so cute!It was actually a Larry Boy Veggie-tale toy. He loves it!!!

Alex just had to drive the toys around just a little before we could eat it!!! I think if it was up to him we would have just kept it around to play with!

I still can't believe he is 3... and it has already been 2 weeks!

Alex's Adoption Day - 2 years!!!!!!!

... and we love him more than ever!!!! It's amazing when I look at those old pictures and see that little baby... and i thought he was so big when we got him! He turned a year old 2 weeks after we got him! Now he is about to turn 3!!!! He is so grown up and sooooooo smart! He has determined, from hearing Jerry and I talk, that "Our Government is broken!" We about died when he first said that! Therefore he repeated it as often as possible for the first couple weeks... There are 2 things we most commonly hear from People about Alex... "he is so cute!" and I can't believe his linguistic abilities! (they don't exactly say linguistic, but all different forms) Most people think he is at least 4! Nope!!! He is 2! Our sweet social worker that came for his post placement was asking Jerry if he was sure he was only 2, she seriously thought Jerry was mistaken! Anyways i don't really know how that happened, but he is just good with words, i guess! It is so much fun watching him develop!! He asks "but why?" all the time... even when he knows the answer! He also asks "what is that" all the time... He loves his cars and trucks and construction equipment, quads, and dirt! He can make his new baby brother Anthony laugh faster than anybody else! He and Anthony even play "commando crawling" tag in the house! It is quite hilarious! Anthony is 10 months!

Alex is enjoying knowing so much stuff... he knows it is fall and winter is coming! So far we don't have any big trips planned for this winter... We went to Kazakhstan this summer, so... we might have to skip a trip or two... We'll see...




This is one oof the last pictures at the babyhouse for Alex! That is the inspector, she was very happy to see Alex again this last summer! We really liked her!

Alex at 3!

Alex is soooo Beautiful....

2 Years Ago...

2 Years ago today we set foot in Kazakhstan for the very first time!!!! We arrived about 1am because our plane was late. We slept a few hours, had a meeting where we signed some papers, handed over the program fees and the cost of our apartments and interpreters and we had the rest of the day free. We had Vitali drive us up the mountain to the Ski resort where they were having some mountain biking "thing" for the day! We rode up the mountainside and walked around for a while... all the while having butterflies in our stomachs because TOMORROW we will meet our Alex for the first time!!!!!!! Oh my goodness!!!! It feels like it was yesterday... just thinking about it i remember the feelings!!! We set my camera on a rock and took our picture up there in the mountains on the OTHER side of the world!!! I can't believe we were there... We could only imagine what the rest of our life was going to be like!



Today... this feels like old news! Little did we know we would go back!!! Now having lived in Kazakhstan for not just one, but two months of our lives, we have 2 precious boys to show for it! THAT is amazing!!! Kazakhstan is our second Homeland! I would go back in a heartbeat!

A Special Visit.

A couple weeks ago we had a special visit from "Aunt" Lianro and "Uncle" Anthony! They used to live around here and then they got jobs and moved away!! We always try to do a photo shoot, because Lianro is good at photography too! So these are my favorite ones!

Isn't this just so cute!!!? Alex just loves them!

Play day!

Last week Ryleigh came over for a day again to play. As Heather and I were visiting our favorite blogs together... we looked over into the play area in the living room and saw this!

They were both in this metal tub that we use for his toys in the living room! They were goofing around and laughing! Of course I had to take several shots, and they got out and got back in about 3 times! So silly!