Here we go!

Okay, here is the family. My sister Camille took this for us back in November. We try to get a family picture taken every year. Growing up my parents had a family picture done yearly. It is so fun (and sometimes scary) to look at the wall in my parent's basement with all the pictures hanging together. About a year ago, Beverly was looking at the pictures at my parent's house and noticed my various hair styles over the years. Then a few days later, while I was doing her hair she asked, "Mom, how old are you when you get to have big bangs and big boobs?" Well, explaining physical development was the easy part. Really, there is no good explanation for what some of us did with our hair in the 80's and early 90's. I look forward to having the same wall of pictures--not just so that Bev will get to explain really bad hair styles to her kids, but I want to have a visual history of our family.

Back to the family. Mike is the husband. Andrew is eight, Beverly is seven, Christian is three and Jessica is three. Our first three children are biological, and Jessica is our little sweetheart from Liberia. Mike and I travelled to Africa in July to finally bring her home. She turned 3 in December.

So, I have been intending to start a blog for a while now, but I have this problem with procrastination. I initially wanted to do it to keep everyone informed about our adoption process with Jessica. Then, you know life continued to get more and more busy--four kids is a lot more than three! And, we have really busy, spirited children in our family. I am doing this blog for a few reasons. Although I attempt to keep a journal, I think this will help me be a better reporter of events in our lives. I also hope to keep our loved ones updated on events happening in our lives. Finally, Andrew has been talking about wanting to start a website. I asked him what he wanted to put on it and he said, "all the stuff in my imagination." So, occasionally ya'll will hear from him.

Andrew has been taking Taekwondo for almost 2 years, Beverly started in January 2007, and Christian started last Spring. Christian was allowed to start when he finally got potty trained. The kids had testing a few weeks ago. Christian earned his yellow belt, Beverly earned her Brown belt and Andrew became a Black Belt Recommended. This belt is half red and half black. His next belt is the Black Belt. Mike helps the kids a ton with karate. He learns all of their forms (the routine of moves they must memorize) so that he can help them practice at home.

Mike and I got home from Cancun last Sunday. It was a trip he earned for work. It was relaxing and wonderful. I have a hard time leaving the kids--I just worry about them. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends to help us out. Thanks Ryan and Teena, Sean and Julie, and Mom and Dad. The kids had a great time!

Alrighty then. There is my first blog post. Just to quell any fears that my Dad may have about this blog--No, I won't make a habit of saying the word, "boobs" in this blog. And, although I cannot make any promises, I will try not to discuss politics.