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Christmas with Mickey & Friends

This year we decided to do something a little different for Christmas. We decided that we would give the kids one big gift...a trip to Disneyland. On Christmas morning they awoke to just a few small presents under the tree and then they were given five different boxes to open in order. The boxes were opened in order from the oldest child to the youngest and each contained a small note with a single word. Putting them all together they read, "We are going to Disneyland!" After a quick breakfast and a little while to pack some bags, we all jumped in the car and headed to California.

We stayed in a nice little hotel call the Woodfin, which allowed us to keep our two little dogs, Zorro and Ginger with us. Mary was fighting a lingering case of pneumonia but braved the journey with us. However, the next morning (our first day at Disneyland) she did not feel well enough to go. Dad and five children...on one of the busiest days of the year at Disneyland - this was going to be interesting. My whole life I have always tried to squeeze every last ounce of value out of every experience I have...and Disneyland was no exception. I ran those kids all over that park from early in the morning until about 9 PM at night. We had planned to go all the way to midnight (thanks to Disneyland's holiday hours), but by 9 PM both Jackson and Vanessa were drooping badly. Except for losing Jackson for abot 15 minutes near the Indiana Jones ride in wall-to-wall people, it was a pretty good day. Mary joined us on Saturday for another wonderful day at the "Happiest Place on Earth" and then Sunday we took a break attending church and relaxing.

I needed to get back to work on Monday, so I left at about 1:00 AM driving (we took both cars) and Mary went to the park on Monday without me. She never lost a child. We all had a great time and we took a lot of photos. Hopefully this will be a great memory for the kids.

Active Kids

We had a busy year with Jackson in his first year of flag football. He played a bruising middle linebacker for the mighty Buccaneers. Here he is posing with one of his favorite teammates Andy. The team had a challenging year but won enthusiastic cheers from their fans.

Jenna and Vanessa were in dance with the very popular Miss Tracy. Both of the girls just loved their teacher and they had a great time learning more dance moves. Here is Jenna with Miss Tracy and Vanessa is in the group photo right next to Miss Tracy.

Brett took a swing at playing Little League baseball this year and participated in the tryout and draft process. He was picked to be on the Reds team in the Superstition League and the team and coaches were outstanding. They ended up winning the League Championship after some very exciting games. Brett also decided to try taking down the sport of wrestling this year. Without any previous experience and as a 12 year old 7th grader, Brett earned a spot on the Highland Junior High Varsity Wrestling Team. He worked very hard to make weight for each of the matches and he learned more and more each match. He and the coaches anticipate that his record next year as an 8th grader will be incredible.

Jessica took her second spin around the floor with the Highland Junior High Dance Team. She was on the squad last year and was one of the few experienced dancers this year. We are proud of her dedication to the team and her ever-present smile while she performs. She is an extremely talented young lady in anything she tries.

Let's start at the very beginning...

David and I have been married 20 yrs. this coming March. We wanted to start a blog to connect with birth families (in the US and across the world) and with our friends and family who are here in Arizona and across the world. I (Mary) am excited to do this online journal! I hope any of you reading this will respond and let me know what's up in your world! Be patient with me as I learn the blogging world and update with current pictures and info....for now we thought we would give a little background.

Engagement picture...1989. I love teal....and now it's in style again ! I met David at a church dance and really got to know him while attending Arizona State University.

We were married March 3rd, 1989 in the Arizona Temple. He was and still is my Prince Charming. We spent the first 9 yrs. of marriage in Sacramento, CA....David worked for Granite Construction as a Civil Engineer (project estimator and project manager). We moved back to AZ in 1998 and haven't regretted it.....it has been great being around cousins, Aunts and Uncles and Grandparents. David works for Woodbine Development as a Project Manager....doing high-end retail projects like Kierland Commons in Scottsdale. Mary teaches Music part-time, helps with Children Performing Groups, Substitute teaches a few times a month for 3 school districts, and mainly keeps 7 people's schedules running.

My brother Paul took this picture...he calls it "Looking Into Eternity

My friend Annette took this picture of us...in preparation to adopt. We have adopted 5 beautiful children: Jessica (14) Brett (almost 13), Jenna (11), Jackson (7) and Vanessa (7). Jessica and Jenna were CA adoptions, Brett was a UT adoption, and Jackson and Vanessa were both adopted at 1-1/2 from Ekaterinburg, Russia.














The kids are sooooo cute here! This is in Sacramento, CA right before we moved back to AZ.














This is our family picture that we used to try to adopt Jackson and Vanessa.