Ana Maria!

5 years ago today, Matt and I got to hold our baby girl for the first time!! We can both picture it like it was yesterday.... the elevator doors opened at the Marriott in Guatemala and there was our sweet baby Ana!!


The adventure of loving Ana has continued to be amazing. We love her more and more. She is so hilarious and awesome. Ana's love for the little things in life is contagious.

We are honored that God chose us be her parents! We love you so much Ana. We could never put into words how much you mean to us.

Norton Basketbal - Pep Rally!

Kentucky is serious about their basketball!! We got to see that first hand as Carter had a pep rally put on by the school just for the basketball players!! It was so much fun!!

Here's the team right before they were announced entering the gym!

Here's the entire school excited to see their team!

The cheerleaders even made signs for the guys!!

Carter getting ready to take a shot!



Carter got to lead the team in the cupid shuffle

Here's the team with the cheerleaders

Decorating for Christmas!

We had fun decorating our Christmas tree!! We had the music going and we actually made a turkey and all the Thanksgiving fixing too!!! Can't have too much of that yummy food!!

So yes, it's a big mess of ornaments, many of them all on the same branch (thank you Jackson, Durant, and Ana)!! But we love it so much and I know I will miss having a messy looking tree someday!!!

Christmas Tree!!!

We got to get our very first Christmas tree in Louisville this weekend!! It was a fun experience... especially because we weren't freezing, we didn't have to hurry, or bundle up.... it was so awesome!! It's funny how quickly all 7 of us could embrace this warmer weather! I think we are all ruined for living anywhere more North of where we are right now.

I sorta always knew God was going to call me away from Wisconsin but I'd often wonder how I would do without a snowy December or freezing for 6 months straight.... well judging by the fact we've made it to December now and I haven't busted out a winter coat, people are still golfing on the golf course behind my house, and while we were decorating the tree people were mowing, I think I will stay!

Our standard Christmas Tree picture. So we didn't add new children this year but we did lose the jackets, hats, and gloves!!! Something we all agree that we can live with!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a good 1st Thanksgiving away from home. We missed having Grandma Connie over, but we had some kind friends invite us to their house for Thanksgiving dinner.

I got to do my Black Friday shopping, but I had to do it alone this year (don't feel bad for me, I still had fun). But Matt was kind enough to discuss the ads with me on Thanksgiving day since my Aunt, Cousin, and Mom weren't here to do it!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

Jackson isn't mad. He was in the middle of telling a story.... image that!!!

Happy 10th Birthday Carter!!

On November 6th, Carter celebrated his 10th birthday!! I can't believe that I've been a Mom for 10 years already!!! The time has gone by so quickly it's amazing!! But what is even more amazing is that God has blessed me with being the mom of Carter. He is truly a uniquely wonderfully made child. His heart is amazing. He is constantly entertaining us around the house with impressions, beat-boxing, dance moves, and just being his crazy fun self.

10 is a big age and I know some of these special times with Carter will start to disappear as he grows older, but for now I love ever minute of the times he wants me to tuck him in at night, holds my hand when we are walking around, or comes by me just to snuggle!!

We've always known that God would do great things through Carter. He's already done so many of those things and Matt and I just can't wait to discover which mission field God is going to give to Carter!! Is it Ethiopia like us, is it his school, the basketball team, or is it much more than we can even begin to image?



We started the morning out with a cherry bagel (or red donuts as Carter used to call them when he was little)!!

New street basketball!!

Tech Decks!!!

John Wall jersey from Grandma Connie!

We told Carter to go try out his new basketball..... on his new hoop!!!!

He was so excited.... he took a shot right away and of course he made it!!!

This was the first year since Carter was born that we didn't have a family party. It was a little strange, but he handled it well!! He did have a friend party (cause you know it doesn't take Carter long to make friends)!

All Carter needed for his party was pizza (Papa John's), root beer floats, basketball, and video games!!!

That's Carter's new hoop1! The boys played basketball for over 2 hours!!

We had 2 full fun days of celebrating Carter!! We love you so much Carter! Thanks for being one of my best friends.

Happy Halloween!

We had a lot of fun trick or treating in our new neighborhood!! The weather was so nice. We didn't even need jackets!!

The cute snow tiger and Superman! So loving and kind!!

This is what they couldn't wait to do!!!

A little Kriss Kross!!! Matt and I are showing our age here!! We had to YouTube them to show the boys who they were!!

Ana was a unicorn! She was convinced we were still living in Wisconsin so she grabbed her hat and mittens!!! It was 63 degrees out!

The best part is sorting it all when you get home!!!

My Birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday!!! My first one not in the state of WI. I think I handled it pretty well. Thank goodness I have a lot of family members to hang out with!!


We had a really fun day. It started out by Carter bringing me breakfast in bed. He made me peanut butter toast and a handful of Halloween candy (he knows me so well). On top of the plate was this sweet note....

The P.S. says "I'm moving Halloween to next week" Carter knows it's not my favorite holiday!!

I got to eat out lots this week for my birthday, which is one of my favorite things to do!!! I got lots of fun presents. The best being from Matt. He gave me a Coach purse!!! I LOVE purses so much and have wanted one for a long time now. For those purse lovers out there, no he did not pick it out himself, he gave me a gift card and we went together!!!

We spent the day at the Pumpkin Patch!!! It was such a beautiful day out. One of the perks to living in a more Southern State!! It's still really warm out!!

There was a petting zoo too!! This is one of Ana's favorite things to do!! So being that it was my birthday, I let her do it for a long time cause it brought me joy to watch her!!!

She's a little bit like Snow White with the animals flocking all around her!!

I know most of you will never get the chance to see Ana when a rooster cock-a-doodle-do's but it is hilarious!! It is as if the mother-ship is calling her home!! I think she's pretty sure the roosters are asking her to come over and play.... or move in with them!

We also had fun in a corn maze, rope maze, and bamboo maze! I lost the race every time :(

How funny is Carter's face? I think he's lost!

They had some fun tractors to ride on. This was Durant's highlight!!

It was a super fun birthday!! Thank you to all of you for the birthday wishes throughout the day!!