Ingrid got to choose her new glasses,and she is growing up so fast.  Juan got glasses for the first time.  He looks so much older.  They were both so excited!

Family Pictures

We try and take family pictures once or twice a year.  When we look back, the kids have changed so much and are growing up so fast!  We are so thankful to have taken these professional pictures that we can look back at now

.

Our 4th Gotcha Day!

We were united with our kids in Colombia, South America on April 12, 2011.  This day is called Presentation Day or Gotcha Day.  So every year on April 12th, we celebrate our special day.  On our first Gotcha Days, we would buy Colombian food and make arepas and empanadas.  Although our kids still like those foods, they are completely Americanized now.  This year, we went to a make-your-own yogurt place and then came home to presents, pizza, cake, and a movie night with Annie.

Easter Sunday

One of the biggest things we can be thankful for is that our kids know who God is, understand what God did for us when He sent Jesus to the cross to die for our sins, and believes it with all of their hearts.  It is so heart warming that they love church, like to listen to Christian music, and have a good understanding of what God says is right and wrong.  Although they like the candy and Easter egg hunts, the true meaning of Easter, like Christmas, should all focused on Jesus.

 

We Are Off To CA For Spring Break

Remember the whole idea of traditions in our family during the holidays? It is also a tradition that we head to the beach in CA every spring break.  We have stayed in San Diego with the kids before, but our favorite beach is Carlsbad Beach.  The condo we always stay at is right across from the beach so we have easy access to the beach but we can also come to the condo for lunch and rest time out of the sun. There is a paved boardwalk down the whole beach that gives me a nice place to walk.  The best part is the kids know what to expect.  They have improved over the years but routine and familiarity helps our kids a lot.  They have been through so much change in their short lives!  Along with the beach, we always do one special excursion.  This year we went to Legoland for the first time.  It was a lot of fun, and it is amazing all of the things created there out of legos!

Another Special Christmas Together

It is hard to believe we just celebrated our fourth Christmas together!  This was a very special Christmas for our family because we were able to celebrate it in our new house!  It was a whirl wind of activity though!
From Thanksgiving until the New Year, we were busy remodeling the new house, moving, decorating for Christmas, buying presents, and turning our old house over to the new owners.  We have lots of Christmas traditions so it is fun to look back and see that many of the pictures from Christmas to Christmas are similar, but the kids have just gotten older.  We always decorate the day after Thanksgiving but it was a challenge this year since everything was brand new.  Where to put the Christmas tree?  Every Christmas Eve we go to church, go out for Chinese food, and open one present.  The present is always a new pair of matching pajamas.  After getting ready for bed, it is time to put out milk and cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.  Then it is off to our bedroom for a movie and slumber party.  With everyone in our room, no one can sneak out to look at all of the presents in the middle of the night!