LARGER THAN LIFE

(Warning: this post lives up to it's title...it's LARGE!!)

This is the only way I know how to describe Las Vegas. We've been there several times, but every time I get there, I am in awe of how everything is larger than life. The buildings, the food, the entertainment, the cigarette smoke (OK, this is one disgusts me, but honestly, it is everywhere!!), the people; just take every aspect of life and multiply it by 1000. And yes, you got me, I'm going to write about our trip. It's not like we did anything in Vegas that we should "leave in Vegas"...Here are a few highlights:

Bellagio Garden: This place never fails to amaze me. There is always something beautiful to look at in here.

I'm not sure why, but my favorite part was the red lanterns from the ceiling.

At night:

Ethel M. Chocolate Factory and Cactus Garden: As to why they decided to combine a chocolate factory and cactus garden...you got me. I'll leave that one to Seinfeld. :-) This factory was opened by Mr. Mars of the candy bar business after he retired in the late 70's. They make fine chocolates here, and yes, they are delicious! It was all I could do to contain myself in the presence of such yummy looking carmel apples! These were going for $12 each in their store! (I love carmel apples, but not THAT much!)

In the "Garden"

These are the treats we 

got for ourselves!

M&M World: Honestly, I'm not sure how we've been to Vegas all these times without ever going in here before. Imagine...4 floors of M&M "stuff". Everything you can think of. We had a very hard time controlling ourselves here, and only got a few things for K. I could have blown a year's salary easily. 

Bellagio Water Fountain: Hands down, the best free entertainment in all of Las Vegas. We could have watched these fountains all day, and we know why they don't put any benches around...because we would have watched them all day if we could have sat down! The experience is only intensified at night.

Paris: This is one casino we haven't ever really spent much time at. We walked around it for a while, and explored the outside a bit. We took a journey to the top of their Eiffel tower (which is half the size of the original)...38 stories in all. These pictures give a pretty good idea as to the scale of things.

From "the Strip"

Yes, we went ALL the way up there!

View from the top

Joe at the base of the tower

New York: Where else can you visit New York just a few "short" blocks from Paris? We went to both in one afternoon! 

Their replica of the Brooklyn Bridge:

I think the scale here is 1/5 the size of the original.

Sorry, these two wouldn't allow pictures:

Mac King Comedy: This guy was hilarious, and did a good job entertaining in this "family show". Every person's worst fear came true; I was picked from the audience to help in his magic show. It wasn't as bad as I would have thought, and I had a few blonde moments up on stage which only made his show funnier.

The Beatles "Love": Each time we visit Vegas, we like to take in a "Cirque du S0leil" show. They are amazing. Definitely worth every cent. This one was no different, set to the familiar music of the Beatles, it was nothing short of fantastic. Of course, they wouldn't allow any pictures, but you can click here for a preview.

We had a fabulous time, and are happy to report the only money we left there was in the form of goods or food purchased.

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH...

Lest you think we had all the fun, K spent the weekend getting doted on and spoiled by my parents. Actually, my parents do a great job of not spoiling too much, but grandparents will be grandparents afterall...

Coloring with Grandma

They took him to gymnastics and he got to jump in the bungees!

He got his birthday present early

By Saturday, we were all ready to be back together at home. K did great while we were away, and Joe and I felt refreshed and ready to tackle life with a 2 year old! (Which we got a good dose of the following day)

weekend get-away

Wish I could tell you all about our first trip away from baby, but sorry....

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!!!

the right words

What do you say to a woman you don't know, but gave you the greatest gift of your life? 

Since we finalized K's adoption, I've been wanting to write a letter to his birthmother. It's taken me months to find the right words (they probably still weren't the perfect words), muster the courage to put them on paper, and have them translated into hangul. Not sure why I found this to be such a daunting project. I am more than happy to brag about my adorable son and can talk about him for hours on end. Part of the reason is the utmost respect I have for her and the decision she made. Perhaps another reason is that I can just gush and gush about how much I love this little guy, what he means to our family, and how grateful we are that she chose an adoption plan for him, but I didn't feel this would be well received with our cultural differences and was sure much of the emotion would be lost in translation. 

With his birthday in the near future, I was feeling an urgency to get this done, in the event that she checks his file on his birthday. We will most likely never have any direct contact with her, but we can send letters to his "file" and she might check it. 

I am happy to say, the task is completed. The letter and photos are in the mail, and we will never have a "first" letter to write to her again. The letter ended up being much more factual than I would have liked; telling her about his personality, what he likes to do, some of his developmental milestones, and of course, assuring her that he is a happy, healthy, well loved little boy. I don't expect to ever hear anything back from her, that's just not the norm in Korea, but I feel good knowing we've done our part, and if she does decide she would like to know more about him, the letter will be there waiting for her.

Happy Lunar New Year!!

Kai practicing his bow

Lunar New Year, otherwise known to us as "Chinese New Year", is one of the most important holidays celebrated in Korea. Similar to Christmas celebrations for us. The tradition is to make lots of food, visit your ancestors and pay respect to the elder of the family by performing a traditional bow. The elder reciprocates by giving away money. :-)

Yesterday we attended a Lunar New Year celebration at a Korean church near our house. We had a great time, learning to play some traditional Korean games and a little more about the Korean culture. The members of the church were so welcoming and couldn't stop doting over Kai. We all got the opportunity to dress in a Hanbok, and I took advantage! Then we learned how to perform the traditional Korean bow, and let me just say, it's WAY harder than it looks! I could barely complete it without stepping all over the lovely Hanbok I was wearing! As you may be able to tell, K's Hanbok from his birthday last year still fits him, it was only a little snug through the belly and the sleeves a little too short. Probably won't be able to squeeze another year out of it, though. Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment. :-)

See, he really did play the games!

Takin' a break

Kai and Emma 

Me and Kai

Foto Finish Friday X 2!

I was a bad, bad blogger last week, and didn't keep my end of the bargain. Here's a pic from last week. Let me just say, our little guy is getting to be quite the ham! (Of course, the stickers were placed strategically by him!)

And here's this weeks:
He wouldn't wear these sunglasses last summer to save his life. But, of course, this week we couldn't keep them off him. Doesn't he look like a super hero??

time for a change

What do you think? I decided it was time to change things up a bit on the ol' blog. The main reason being, our "Seoul baby" is no longer a "baby"! :-(  Where has the time gone? 

I've also decided that I'd like to use the blog to do a bit more journaling, and hopefully in doing such, be able to provide support for those going through the same stuff (good and bad) we've dealt with. Don't worry, I'll still post every single cute thing that our little guy does (like it or not!), and if you don't want to read the other stuff, you don't have to!

Oh, and please notice, the web address has not changed, so you don't have to change your bookmarks!

Gymnastics!

This past Friday was Kai's first gymnastics class! He had such a blast! We had gone on Wednesday to sign up, and he was so sad that we couldn't stay and "play". And by sad, I mean he threw a big-ole 2 year old tantrum when we had to leave. I tried to explain that we would be back in 2 days to play, but he didn't quite seem to get it.

When we arrived on Friday morning, he greeted his teacher with a huge hug. (He's turning into quite the little hugger) True to form, after only a few minutes, he was running around the gym screaming and playing with the other children. As you can imagine for a class of 18-36 month olds there was not a lot of structure, but there was a lot of FUN, and a lot of happy giggles! We had  a short period stretching (in which I only had to run after K and bring him back to the appropriate area once or twice), everyone lined up and made their way through the obstacle course. I was pretty impressed with some of these little kids' skills, and hope after a few times in class K will catch onto what the equipment is used for. 

But mostly, I was happy he enjoyed it, and it helped get A LOT of wiggles out!!

Little chef

I'm not sure, but this may be a sign we've been watching too much Ratatouille in our house. K entertained himself (and me!) for a good 15 minutes this morning playing chef.

First, chop, chop, chop...

Then, put it in the bowl...

Then you mix, mix like crazy!

Time for Bee-Bim-Bop (or a huge banana mess)...

Oh, the stories he tells!

With K's vocabulary growing daily, he is beginning to tell us "stories", and it is so fun! The first story came a few weeks ago. Upon arriving at his daycare to pick him up for the day, he greeted me with saying, "toe...bug...loud" (really, it sounded much cuter in his words "toe...buu...youd"). Our daycare provider filled me in on all the details, and he was telling me the "bug" (their new roomba) got his toe and it is loud. If that wasn't enough, he proceeded to recount the story for days. It is so fun to finally hear all those thoughts in his head, and see things a little more from his prospective! He's also telling us more about things he's done, and things other people have done. We're realizing we better watch out, he's about to start spilling all our deep, dark secrets!

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This was all his idea. 

The cushions on the floor, he got his hat out and put it on,

 then he got the crazies! 

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Inappropriate use of new toys 101 

I'm not sure what is worse: the fact that he did this, or the fact that my husband was standing there with camera in hand, waiting for it to happen. Honestly, the theme of this week has been realizing that our baby is not a baby anymore. Everyday he is having more of his own ideas and lets us know when they don't match ours.  His vocabulary is growing daily, and he copies everything that we do (a good reminder to set a good example...). This week he seemed to acquire an Italian accent somehow. We think it's because he's trying really hard to pronounce his "n" sounds, but they always seem to have an "o" sound following them. Thus, many words end in -o. Here's a little example, with a little example of a toddler tantrum as well. :-)

Christmas in pictures

(In no particular order)

One Year Ago...

One year ago we became a family. One year ago our dreams came true. One year ago we held our sweet boy in our arms for the very first time.

Wow! What a year it's been! It's been probably the most difficult, yet most rewarding year of our lives. One year ago, our son did not like us. He only wanted his foster mom, who he had been abruptly taken from. He slowly began to accept us as care givers, and somewhere along the line he actually began to like us. He's been through such an amazing transition, it is hard to put into words. But today, to feel his hugs, how he melts into our arms makes it all worth it!(His hugs and snuggies still bring tears to my eyes...) We know that attachment is a process which will never end, and just as we think we're doing "pretty good", he takes it to a whole new level which only makes us feel more securely bonded. It's amazing how far we've all come this year!

To celebrate our first year as a family, we took the MAX train to PDX where we watched planes and had lunch. I can assure you that we were the only people there for the thrill of being at the airport (the day after Christmas). K didn't really "get it", but we kept telling him about the day we became a family, and he thought it was cool to ride the "choo-train" and see "pare-planes".

SFO- 12/26/07

PDX- 12/26/08

OK, so in this years photo K looks about as happy as he did in last years. Trust me, he is a happy guy, just not when asked to sit still for a photo! That's life with a toddler, and we love it!

Merry Christmas to All!!

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends!! I hope you all experience the peace and joy of Christ during this blessed holiday! 

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of tomorrow morning, when we will share our first Christmas morning with our sweet little boy! I don't think I've been this excited for Christmas morning since I was a kid! He has no idea what's coming.  He did get to open one gift tonight (his new pj's) and after he opened it he found some other gifts in the back room (for other family members...his have been securely hidden...), brought one to me, and said "MORE"! Oh boy!!

This afternoon we got to attend our church's Christmas Eve service. It was wonderful. We've attended our church for about 6 years, but this is only the second time we've been home on Christmas Eve to attend their service. It's a big to-do at our church, they offer three services and really aim to reach out to the community, even offering treats and coffee/hot cocoa afterwards! I think it works because the service we attended was packed, and I'm sure the other two were as well!

We are still hoping to get together with our families as we've planned, but mother nature is making it difficult with all this crazy weather! I hope anyone who is traveling arrives to their destination safely! 

Christmas Blessings to All!!

Foto Finish Friday

Where did my baby go??

Seriously, I just took this picture this morning, he looks like such a "little boy"! Don't think I'll be able to call him "my baby" for much longer!

footprints

How very softly

You tiptoed into my world.

Almost silently,

Only a moment you stayed.

But what an imprint

Your footsteps have left

Upon my heart.

by Dorothy Ferguson

SNOW!!

We're enjoying a rare treat...snow! OK, it's only a treat if you can stay home and play in it. The first snow fell on Sunday night, but there was still some left yesterday for us to play in. Well, we tried to play, but it is the driest snow I've ever seen so we couldn't even throw snowballs at Willie. About all it was good for was throwing it up in the air and making it "snow" again, which K tried to do (mimicking me of course), but only ended up dumping it all over his head and becoming horribly upset at the situation. Despite the cold temperatures (we topped out around 25, which is cold for here!), I could barely get him to come inside and had to resort to some bribery. Here are some pictures of our snow fun.

Luckily, in the recent weeks we've acquired snow boots and snow pants for K, both of which were put to good use yesterday!

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Last weekend our friend came over to take some family pictures for us. K was fairly uncooperative, and not really in the picture taking mood, or rather, he wanted to be taking the pictures instead of being the subject of the pictures. Here are a few of my favs, some "posed", some "out takes".  Our biggest obstacle was the tripod, which K really wanted to play with. We finally gave in and let it be in our pictures, and we were able to get a few decent family shots. Enjoy!

Our future photographer

He loves looking at the ornaments

It wasn't all smiles...

There's a decent shot...

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Our Snuggle-Bug!

Foto Finish Friday (umm...Saturday)

Sorry for being a day late, we've been having a lovely time with our families and are now safely back home. We had a wonderful holiday weekend and did lots of fun things. On Thanksgiving, we met some friends at the zoo and had a very fun, cold time! We went to the holiday parade on Friday, which K enjoyed only slightly more than his first parade back in July. We also went to a model railroad show, which was very neat, but K only thought so for a few minutes then he was ready to go. We also enjoyed a lot of family time and holiday dinners with both sides. It was a great time! The photo this week is K and his friend H. If you look back in my posts about a year ago, you will see my joyous announcement of H coming home to his forever family. I met his Mom while we were waiting for K to come home, and H traveled just a few weeks before K. They're also only 11 days apart in age. They're so cute together I just had to share!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I was going to write about everything I am thankful for this Thanksgiving. The truth is, I have so much to be thankful for I would probably bore you all to death, not to mention give myself finger cramps. So, I will attempt to highlight the big ones, and I'm sure you'll get the idea. I am thankful to God for all that He has provided for our family this year. I am thankful that we never have to wonder where our next meal is coming from. I am thankful to all my wonderful family and friends, who have all been tremendously supportive to Joe and I over the past year as we've transitioned K into our family (and understanding when we want things that seem absurd). I am thankful that we have been blessed with an amazing child. I am thankful for a wonderful husband, who is my level-head in stressful times. I am thankful that K's birth mother chose an adoption plan for him. I am thankful that I have been able to maintain a connection with K's foster Mom. I am thankful for my parents, now I see just how much they gave and sacrificed while raising us, and am thankful for the example they set for me as a parent. I am thankful that K has two awesome sets of grandparents (and aunts, uncle, cousins), who love him unconditionally and have welcomed him into our family. 

OK, I'm going to force myself to stop here, although I probably could go on all night. As I've been thinking about all the blessings in my life today, I've also been reflecting a lot about how far we've come since last Thanksgiving, how Joe and I have grown as individuals and a couple, and the amazing transformations we've seen in our son. Today is K's 11 month anniversary of joining our family. Due to the timing of his arrival, I feel this time of year will always be very reflective for me...

Happy Thanksgiving to all my loyal viewers! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday that you are able to share with those closest to you. We plan to!

tv research family

Ever wonder where "they" get the info for the "Nie1son Ratings"? Now we know...from people like us! We're not sure how we got "chosen" for this "honor" (I hate to think it's from the amount of time we spend watching TV...), but somehow they got our number. They've been sending us CASH in the mail to complete their surveys and send them back. This week we're supposed to be keeping a TV watching diary, not as easy as it sounds. But, I'm happy to report, our diary is pretty boring and I feel good about the amount of time we spend (or don't spend) watching TV. Of course, they don't ask us to record the DVDs we watch or our "On Demand" viewing, in which case we would have slightly more to record...but only slightly more. Joe is convinced we've seen all the $$ we're going to see from them, but I'm excited to see what comes next. So, the next time the Nie1son ratings come out, you can say you know someone who contributed to them!

Foto Finish Friday

At first glance, this could be a potentially confusing photo, seeming not really worthy of note. Let me explain. Lately, specifically today, K has been very interested in dressing himself (or trying to). This morning, he actually put his shirt on (the right direction might I add), with practically no assistance from me. Tonight after we put his pj's on, he instantly started grabbing the clothes we'd just taken off and started putting them on. He did most of it himself (as you can probably tell by the shirt and pants being on backwards), and even has underwear on under the clothes (but on top of the pj's....let's not be silly now). Notice the feet of his jammies peeking out the bottom. :-)

i'm a maniac...

Please excuse me for all the videos lately, I just can't help myself with this adorable, funny little guy! This one is too cute. He had just been reunited with one of his favorite toys (which we'd had in the garage for a while)...

irritated by my own stupidity

Anyone wonder what I meant by this on FB?  I'm getting over it, and thought it might give you all a Friday laugh. Let me just say: cell phones are not water proof. Short version of the story is; K and I were outside playing on Wednesday, it was a beautiful day here. I grabbed Joe's sweatshirt as we were heading out since it was handy. Got a little dirty outside, so thought I'd be nice and wash said sweatshirt. Upon re-entry into the house, I stuck the phone in the pocket of the sweatshirt. Fast forward several hours, I go to look for my phone, remember it's in the sweatshirt and go to find the sweatshirt...IT'S IN THE WASHER!! URGH! Why can't my brain function? Of course, anything is possible if the price is right, so the friendly folks at my cell company hooked me up with a new phone, for a small fee. :-)

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K and Daddy, reading the Sunday paper together. Joe's probably not gonna be too happy about this one, either. But, what can I say? K loves his Daddy, and they're so darn cute together! I took this last Sunday, they were waiting patiently for me to make French Toast for breakfast. Also highlights another leap we've taken this week- moving K to a big boy chair! 

the parent herder

So, one of K's newest games is to "herd" the entire family into some small, dark hiding spot he's found (usually the laundry room or a dark bedroom). He's sooo funny! He goes around, grabbing J and I by the hands, saying "my...my...my" (which, I think we've translated to mean "c'mon") and herd us into this space. Then, he has to make sure Willie is there, and oh, let's not forget his other (stuffed) doggies Kim-Chee and Rover. Once he has the whole gang corralled, he closes the door, and we just hang out. Of course, he thinks this is a great time to start jumping around or giving Willie loves (which we try to discourage in the dark...). I just think it's so stinkin' cute. I tried to get a video of it today, which (of course) is mostly just us in the dark, but maybe you'll get the idea.

Today must be a day for videos...I took this one even earlier this morning (hence the p.j.'s), but K was just talking up a storm, which, of course, died down once the camera turned on. Please ignore the messy "gift wrap" storage closet. And, the stuff he found that was "Mommy's" is a stash of Christmas presents, guess I better get to wrapping...

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Playing in the leaves at Grandma & Grandpa C's house last weekend. 

He had a blast romping with his cousins!!

Halloween!!

Kai had a blast on his first Halloween! We started out the day a little rocky, but he got himself together and we had a great day! In the morning, we visited Daddy at work (really, I just wanted to show off my handy-work). Then after nap time, we made the rounds to my work, daycare and visiting some friends. Then we met J for dinner, headed to the Harvest party at our church, and trick-or-treated at a friend's house near church. We were all exhausted, but K had a great time! I was a "mean" mommy, and politely declined most of the candy that was offered to him. At the our friend's house that we t-or-t'd at, I did let him choose one treat, and he choose M&M's. When we got home, I let him eat about 5, and that was pretty much the extent of his sugar intake. Of course, I still had to give him his "little" treat in the original packaging, or else we may have gotten tricked! Enjoy the pictures!

Visiting Daddy at work

The back side, so you can tell what he was.

At our church party

Enjoying his treat!

latest developments

So, I haven't bragged about my genius son for a while... here's your fill:

His speech is developing like nobody's business! He is learning multiple new words everyday. Not so many simple, one syllable words either. He's goin' for the big ones! He's learned to say three different types of balls (and can usually identify the correct ball with it's name). He knows football, basketball, and baseball. Amazingly enough, he can pronounce basketball and baseball nearly perfectly, even saying the "s" and "sk" sounds. He has also said two different 3-word sentences: "I love you", and "bad boy Willie" (guess you know what he hears a lot of...). This week he told J "I love you", all on his own (instead of repeating it after us).  He also says his name, "Tai Tai". Oh, yea, and did I mentioned he counted to "2" last week? 

And, here's my photo for the week:...well, I earnestly tried to put up a photo, actually, I've been trying for nearly 24 hours and blogger won't let me, so you'll see photos later. Sorry.

Foto Finish Friday

Is it really almost Halloween?? My roses are still blooming fast and furious! Even with our cold nights and chilly mornings, they're still going strong...

more fall fun

Last weekend we headed north to partake in some fun fall activities with our families. It was a beautiful weekend, sunny and a little fall crispness in the air. We arrived on Saturday, and headed over to the Apple Festival with my parents. I've never seen so many types of apples (and pears)! As you can see from the tasting lines, there were so many and they were all so yummy! We had a great time, and best of all, it was free!! After the festival, my Mom made us a lovely turkey dinner for my Dad's birthday celebration. All the cousins and the great-grandma joined us at our parents house, and Willie got to meet his new puppy-cousin for the first time! They played together fabulously and had a marvelous time! And, the kids had a blast playing together, too. Then we had probably the best night sleep away from home yet. K went down without a peep, and slept all night, even longer than he does at home! On Sunday, we visited J's parents and somehow talked them into going out to (probably) the most "famous" pumpkin patch in the area. (You'll get what I'm talking about when you see the pictures, and if not, just watch TLC on Monday night at 8!) There were so many people out there, and we waited for at least an hour and a half to go on the wagon tour. For us (big fans), it was well worth the wait, unfortunately J's parents don't have the same connection we do, but they enjoyed the time with their grandson (who, by the way, did wonderfully during the LONG wait in line). After that adventure, J's Mom made us a wonderful brunch then we hit the road to come home. It was a busy weekend, but we had such a great time spending some time with our families! Since there were a few too many pics to post one-by-one, I made a short slide-show. Enjoy!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

pumpkin patch time

This past Saturday K's playgroup met at the pumpkin patch, our favorite local farm Lone Pine. He had a great time, and probably thought he was in pumpkin heaven. It was a gorgeous, crisp fall morning, and sharing the experience with other adoptive families was wonderful! Joe and I have never actually made it out to their patch, since you have to ride a wagon out and the line to pay is always so long, we typically haven't gotten pumpkins there. But now, our lives are different... Let me say, it was well worth the effort! The patch is beautiful, and I loved how there were random corn stalks and sunflowers about. Perfect setting for fall pictures, and in fact, there were some people we saw out there, posing with their children, no doubt taking pictures for their Christmas cards (holey moley, is it that time already??).

I think at first, he didn't even know where to start. Once he got into the patch, he just ran (well, tried, but the vines running along the ground caused a little stumbling) from pumpkin to pumpkin. (Keep in mind, this is only one small section of the patch, this place is huge!)

When we were waiting in line to purchase our pumpkins, we spotted these beauties:

You may or may not know, carmel apples are just about my most favorite thing on earth! They were hand dipping these guys, right there, made to order! These apples were huge! The picture above is a little over half of the carmel apple, the apple next to it, is a pretty large size Fuji apple (had to get the scale somehow). And yes, it was as good as it looks, but I had to eat it in waves since my jaw would get sore from chewing the delectable carmel.

Foto Finish Friday

OK, so this isn't the greatest photo, and I'm sure Joe is gonna kill me when he sees it, but honestly...it's the ONLY picture we took this week! It's been a crazy week, I've had to work more than I want to, and we've been going, going, going. K has started this new thing where he leads us to something he wants to play with with us. He takes our hand and says, "My... My... My...My". Just about the cutest thing ever, but we have no clue what he's trying to say. Anyhow, he had just done that to Joe in this photo, and he wanted J to play in his ball pit with him.

Joe really was very happy to be playing with K in the ball pit. He wasn't, however, happy that I was taking pictures...probably for this very reason...

Foto Finish Friday

So, I've decided not to post the pictures from the party on here, for privacy reasons. I will be emailing a link to the pictures; if I don't get you an email and you'd like to see the pictures, please leave me a comment. My picture this week is one of our favorites from the party...

Oh yeah...and "Happy Birthday to Me"!