WOW!!!

Yesterday when I went to pick up Hope from Ms. Keri's, Keri showed me something so amazing!! She pulled out these ABC flashcards and had letters A thru N lined up. She proceeded to ask Hope to sound out the letters while pointing at each letter. Keri did NOT tell Hope the names of each letter, all she did was point and Hope proceeded to sound out each letter as Keri pointed to it. I stood there with my mouth on the floor in total amazement. Hope went thru each letter and sounded each one out (not named the letter, but made the sound each letter makes). She did stumble on a few letters... F, H and K, but she nailed all the others. I still am in awe that my 19 month old daughter knows how to sound out the first half of the alphabet!! She amazes me each day! We are so blessed to have Ms. Keri as a second mommy! I don't know how she does it with all the kids she cares for, but they all get so much love and attention, not to mention all the fun projects, activities and learning they do!! I hope and pray all of our kids will have the opportunity to go there and experience what Hope is experiencing!!

I just received this email from a friend of mine and it made me cry! Even though I know everything happens for a reason and that God has a plan, I still have a hard time letting everything happen in His time, not mine. These are very powerful words we all need to be reminded of every now and then, so I wanted to share them with you and with Hope when she is old enough to read this.

This is God. Today I will be handling All of your problems for you. I do Not need your help. So, have a nice day. I love you.

P.S. And, remember...

If life happens to deliver a situation to you that
you cannot handle, do Not attempt to resolve it
yourself! Kindly put it in the SFGTD (something
for God to do) box. I will get to it in MY TIME. All
situations will be resolved, but in My time, not
yours.

Once the matter is placed
into the box, do not hold onto it by worrying about
it. Instead, focus on all the wonderful things
that are present in your life now.

Dancing Queen - Wedding 9-19-09

Saturday evening we went to Casey and Kayla's wedding at The Oasis and had the most wonderful time! We originally tried to get Granny or Kate to baby sit Hope because the wedding was to start at 7pm and Hope usually goes to bed at 8. Both had other plans, so we decided to take Hope with us and if we had to leave at 8, then so be it. We got there a little early and decided to sit down and have dinner. (I forgot Hope's bib, so I used the shirt she was wearing earlier in the day and put it over her dress). I love this photo of Hope and Wayne at the dinner table:




After dinner, we went upstairs to the wedding. It was beautiful! They got married with the sunset behind them overlooking the lake. Here are a few photos of us with the beautiful scenic background. Hope loved watching the boats on the lake too!














At 8pm, the band started playing. They were great, played mostly 80's music and come to find out... Hope LOVES 80's music. She danced and danced ALL NIGHT LONG! The little girl who goes to bed religiously at 8pm every night, danced to the music until 9:45!!!! We had total strangers come up to us and dance with us. We even had a stranger come up to us and tell us "you have your hands full with her!" Everyone was commenting on how precious she was... and she really was so cute out there dancing all around! She had a ball! Full of smiles and energy. Then when Mommy and Daddy decided it was time to leave, she was smiling and waving "bye bye" to everyone around! I wasn't able to get any good photos of her dancing, but here are two photos of Hope with Fritzie (top) and Hope with Katie (bottom).




I am so glad we weren't able to get a sitter. We would have missed out on such a wonderful night! I know Hope won't remember it, but we sure will! We are so blessed to have such an amazing and fun child!!

County Fair Weekend ~ Sept.3rd ~ 6th

Hope is at such a fun age where she can really enjoy the places we go. A few weekends ago we had our county fair. We went up there all 4 days and checked out the animals, live music and the petting zoo. She liked the petting zoo the best!! On Saturday, we went to the parade and on the last day, she got to play games and ride rides. Here are some of the photos from the weekend.

Petting Zoo:












Parade on Saturday. Photo with Madison and Brodie. Jaley, Brynn and Kynzee where there too!






Playing Games and showing off Prizes!





Riding Rides with Daddy:

Austin's New Golf Cart

A few weekends ago, we went to the golf course with Aunt Janet, Uncle Barney, Austin, Emily and Reed to break in Austin's new golf cart. We had a great morning!
Here is Austin and Reed in Austin's golf cart and Hope and Mommy in the other golf cart!

18 Months Old

It is amazing how a child can grow in a such short amount of time! Hope went from a 5 pounds, 15 ounce helpless little baby to an amazing little girl! She is smart and full of personality and I love the little person she has become! I wouldn't change a thing!
She is talking like crazy... and full sentences too! "Where did daddy go?" and is so polite "Thank you Mommy!" "Sorry Daddy". I love the way she uses your name after she says something. She also knows her name. You ask her what her name is and she says her first and last name. And this is my favorite... I say "I love you Hope" and she says "Love you too!" It actually sounds like "Lalu too!". She is truly an amazing kid and I can't believe how quickly these past 18 months have gone by! It makes me sad a little because you can't get that time back, but I know the best is yet to come! I just don't want to wake up one day and realize she is all grown up. I want to savor each moment! She is still working on her potty training. She goes in the potty a couple times a week and will tell you "Poo Poo" either right before or right after. She is working on her colors too... mainly red, blue and yellow. She can count to three... only because we use counting to three as a dicipline thing.. One... Two... Three (Three is Time Out!!) She can put on her own shoes and of course, take them off. We still use the sign language dvd's and she know a ton of signs and words... these dvd's aren't just for sign language, they also help her to increase her vocabulary and understand what everyday items are. She is like a sponge, you tell her what something is and she will remember it. She loves to color, puzzles, slide and ride her four wheeler. Her absolute favorite thing to do is swim! We have gone to a local waterpark a few times this summer. She likes to ride the slides over and over and over again. She never gets tired of them and has absolutely no fear!! She wears these little floaties on her arms and she doesn't want you to touch her in the lazy river. She wants to float all on her own and let the water push her along. She will blow bubbles and kick her feet or she might just sit there and watch everyone as she floats along. It is so funny to watch her! She is like a little grown up in a little body!

Yesterday we had our church picnic and then afterwards we went to a friend's house to see their pet deer. Miley is the 16 month old doe and Bambi is a 3 month old fawn. They were both rescued as infants and raised by this family. They have free reign of the property and always stay close to home. I don't know who had more fun with them... me or Hope!

Here is Hope doing the sign language sign for "deer".



Bambi still gets bottle fed, so Hope got to feed her!











Here is Hope feeding Miley and Bambi their favorite treats... Vanilla Wafers!