FOREVER family!

This has been an amazing time in our lives and thank you all for sharing it with us! Ana's story is a very special one and we thank God everyday for her! This is the end of this chapter...see you in Korea!

FINALLY in Ohio!

First stop...SKYLINE! We are here safe and sound. Marc leaves in the morning for Korea and Ana, the cats, and I will be here until Marc can get it set up for us to be there. We are hoping to be together by Easter at the latest!

On the Road Again!

These are all our kids sleeping! Tom and Pooks were just waking up and Ana's hair was too funny! We had a basket of toys for Ana to play with and this day I swear she had EVERY toy out and on her...at one time I turned around and she was buried in her toys...I could barely see her!

Lewisville Visit

This is my sister...Aunt Erin! We were only able to be with her and her family for 2 days...but I will be back in October to be with her when her baby is due! Congratulations again Erin and Shawn!

This is Aunt Erin and Uncle Shawn!

This is Kaitlyn (Shawn's daughter), my Aunt Janet, Banana, Me, and Erin!

Bill and Vicki Haines were gracious enough to let us stay with them. They have a 3 year old granddaughter that Ana got to play with one morning! Ana loved their puppies, Bentley and Sully...however, Ana called them "Lady and Tramp". ANOTHER favorite of Ana's right now.

Watching Movies

This is Pooks and Ana seriously watching "The Fox and the Hound". Pooks really seemed intrested too! SOOOO funny!

Fock n Hound

The Fox and the Hound is Ana's favorite new movie. However, she has a hard time saying the word "Fox." We die laughing everytime...it never gets old.
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Salado Visit

This is Ana's Grandad! My dad lives in Salado now and he and his wife have built a house and love it there. Dad and Lynn had thoughtful gifts for Ana and made my favorite meals! It was a great visit! This is Grandad and Ana bonding over M&Ms...good way to win Ana over quickly! :)

Grandad, Lynn and Ana. They got her that little bee purse...she loves it!


I love this picture! Thanks for everything!



This is Sonia and Glynn Decoteau! They are old Army friends of my parents and live about 15 minutes away from my dad. We have had lots of good times with them and it was so special to introduce them the Ana!

Road Trip Drama!

Pooks and Ana have become much closer this trip! She will go sit on Ana and Ana will pet her for hours. Pooks is bigger than Ana's car seat and hogs up the entire space but Ana is so sweet and didn't seem to care.

It's crazy how it goes from calmness to MASS CHAOS in less than two seconds. Ana and Pooks were enjoying their moment when Tom comes up and is YELLING for no good reason and blocks Ana's DVD player so then Ana starts yelling at Tom to move...THEN Pooks starts to stand up and gets restless all over Ana and Ana yelled more! Yes..I was laughing and taking pictures the entire time. I'm a good mom! Fun times on our road trip through Texas!

Austin Visit

It was so good to see The Edwards again! My Aunt Brenda and Uncle Lloyd are so good to me and my family. My cousins, Tyler and Brian pretty much played with Ana for us the whole time! Miss you all and I wish we could have had a longer visit! BUT, I'll see you in October. My cousin, Kristin and her boyfriend Jason came over to Brenda and Lloyd's for dinner. Jason helped me with a computer issue so I could continue to blog...THANKS AGAIN JASON...such a nice guy! And Kristin is such a beautiful lady inside and out and I ALWAYS enjoy our talks!

Houston Visit

Most of my sorority sisters live in Houston. It had been almost two years since I had seen them! It was so fun to catch up and enjoy our children and husbands together...BOY have things changed since the Kappa Delta house at Sam Houston State University!

We all have GIRLS except for ONE boy! These are all our KD legacies!

Felicia is one of my best friends from college! Ana and I will be back from Korea for her wedding in Oct! Can't wait!

San Antonio Visit

Our first stop in Texas was San Antonio to my Uncle Lester and Aunt Carol's house. After two long days on the road is was WONDERFUL to settle and regroup with good food and good talks.

Ana LOVES the McGilvray's and it was awesome to see them again!

We are in TEXAS!

This is Ana and John Baylor! John Baylor was adopted from Russia 3 years ago. If the Russians could see them now in their cowboy hats! :) ALWAYS a good visit with the Dury family. This one was quick because the Dury's left the following morning for Russia AGAIN to adopt their second son! Dury's are who introduced us to our agency and helped us through our process!

Fini Flight- Luke AFB

Marc's last flight at Luke AFB! Bitter sweet. We are in the mind set to move but we are leaving a good group of friends and memories. It's been a great 3 years in Arizona (except for the heat!).This is Marc after he just landed and was taxing in...there aren't many times I get to see him on the runway like this...ALWAYS a heart pounding, exciting moment!

It's tradition in the fighter pilot community to "hose down" the pilot for his last flight. He was soaked with water and champagne...Ana was a little worried when she saw them "getting him"...but I told her they were "playing in the water" and she calmed down. Little protective of her daddy!

I am so proud to be his wife!

15 Feb. 2007

THIS is the day we met Ana ONE YEAR AGO! We were on the train to Kazan on Valentine's Day and then on the 15th we walked into her orphanage and this dark hair, dark eyed little girl toddled out and went straight to Marc. She won our hearts forever!

Ana 15 Feb. 2006Ana 15 Feb. 2007

Just this week Marc and I were giving her a hug together and she said "my family"!!! We both just melted.

Pack em up and Move em Out!

Well the house is packed up and the packers will load the truck tomorrow! Ana had done SO well with all this craziness. She hasn't acted freaked out or gotten into too much. She is just so laid back. She has been climbing boxes and squeezing into little holes and loving the maze of our house! Tomorrow night we will be celebrating Valentine's Day with the Toberqte's and saying at their house. Thursday morning is Marc's fini flight (last flight here at Luke AFB) and after that we will come home to clean this house and finish up loose ends. Friday morning we leave for TEXAS!

It's funny the stuff she finds fun to play with....that red "candy cane" as she calls it...is the "clanker" part of a dinner bell chime. She has it everywhere she goes right now...the packers even know not to pack it. She will leave it somewhere and they will come across it and leave it because she is so attached to it.

Marc is putting away all the electronics right now and I just cleaned the fridge and can go put it back together...hopefully it's dry now. I've got one more load of laundry and need to find our bed. :) Hope you all have a Happy Valentine's Day! I will try to blog from San Antonio next Tuesday to let you know we are alive and well.

Valentine's Day Playgroup

Ana's last playgroup was this past Monday. I COULDN'T GO and was so bummed. Marc had to go to work for the day to get qualified to fly again after being out of the cock pit for 5 weeks...plus just the craziness of out processing from this base etc. SO I had to stay with the packers. Our good friend Victoria took Ana so she could enjoy the morning with her friends and o.d. on cupcakes! THANKS VICTORIA! All the kids got a bag with their name on it and everyone had valentine's to share. Such an awesome group! We will miss them all terribly!

DADDY'S HOME

Ana comes to get in bed with me Sat. morning for our morning routine of cuddling/watching cartoons. She says, "Morning Mommy, morning Pookers, morning Thomas, morning Daddy...D...A...D...D...Y!!!! Jumps over me and the cats to a HUGE bear hug and FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER cuddles up to him and FALLS ASLEEP AGAIN! We have been working on "cuddling" and trying to get her to fall asleep in our arms and SHE CAN NEVER DO IT!!! She just cuddled up and didn't let go. Almost as if she felt so safe in her daddy's arms to relax enough to fall asleep. HUGE BREAK THROUGH! These two have been two peas in a pod. It is NO BIG DEAL anytime I need to leave to do anything because she is just loving being with Marc again. Even to help her go potty..."Daddy do it"....fine with me! :) We've all just picked up where we left off and it is so good to be together again.

Count Down Begins

Marc gets home FRIDAY...late. Ana will wake up Sat. morning with the biggest surprise...HER DADDY WILL BE HOME FINALLY! We call him every night before bed for him to say goodnight and tonight was brutal. She kept kissing the phone and saying, "More Daddy"...I really think she just wanted to keep hearing his voice.

We will fly into action this weekend...doing final preparations for our move. (I have a list for Marc!) Packers will be here Monday morning. Marc has his last flight a week from today and we drive out next FRIDAY! This week will go quickly I'm sure.

I will be ending this blog the end of Feb. (after Ana has met my dad and sister.) I plan to start a new blog of our Korea experiences starting in March. I will be sure to get you that info. when I start it! Thanks for keeping up with us! :) Til next week...