Look at Our New Haircuts.....

Look at our new haircuts.....

Oh, and can you tell we got McDonald's sundaes in the car afterwards for being good?

Even After Two Years....

Even after two years, Grace and Bella are still sleepover "fwiends". (As Grace pronounces it).

If you happen to remember, the first morning Bella was home with us, we opened the bedroom door to find two girls sleeping on the floor right next to each other, pillows touching!

This morning, two years later, I went to get them up and this is what I found....

When we adopted Bella, this is what we hoped and prayed for....that Grace would have a forever little sister and friend--and sleepovers to last a lifetime!

Who Keeps Stealing my iPad?

Nole' especially likes "Plants vs. Zombies" and "Angry Birds".....Silly boy!

Two Years Ago Today.....

Elizabeth and I made the long journey home from Ukraine with our new daughter and sister.

Here they are on the flight home.....
And, here she is--our Ukrainian princess--two years later.........Happy Anniversary, Bella Bogdana Burckhard....We Love You!

All About Nole'...

Can you believe he has been with us for almost SIX months? We love him so much and are so thankful each and every day to God for blessing us with this little treasure!

With all that has gone on this summer, my blogging has take a back seat, to be sure. So because of this, I thought I would give an update of Nole's summer in photos. Here is our handsome little man.....

Grandpa made him a train table for his birthday. He loves to play with his Thomas the Tank engine trains and get right in on the action.....


He and Bella has become the best of buds....

Nole' at his first baseball game at Brewers Stadium.....


Nole' with three of his siblings (Sam was out of town).....

Swimming with Daddy in Milwaukee.....

Nole' opening his birthday present at his party.....

Nole' shared his party with Grandma Lucille who turned 86 on July 11th & Nole' turned 4 on July 14th.....

Nole "swimming" at the lake on the Banzai Sidewinder....

Nole's Dedication at church.....

He and Jake have become friends too....

Nole' and Sam (sorry this is so blurry, Grace likes to take pictures too :)

Lovin' on Daddy....

Nole's first DreamCatchers' baseball game.....

We love him so.....

We Got To Meet the Wiggles!!!!

Last Wednesday, we headed off to Grand Forks, ND, to see the WIGGLES Live in concert.

A few days just before I noticed on their website that they only do "meet and greets" for children with special needs and contest winners. So I sent off an email requesting a "Meet and Greet" with the Wiggles....due to three children who all can agree on one thing--they LOVE the Wiggles!

A Wiggles representative named Sue from Australia emailed the next day and stated that usually it is too late to set up a session, but that she had a slot available for us to meet them! Oh, Happy Day!

Here are the three excited littles waiting for their turn to meet the Wiggles.....!
Here is our family with the Wiggles....Just may be this year's Christmas card! :)

Daddy and Nole'.....
Bella and Sissy....
Grace doing her Captain Feathersword imitation...
Can you tell Bella's favorite is Henry the Octopus?
After the concert, Bella met up with her best bud from preschool, Ella....
The Wiggles were SO nice to the children. In fact, during the concert Captain Feathersword came into the crowd and when he saw Grace, he gave her a high five and said "Hi Grace!" That was so cool that he remembered her!

Everyone had a great time--even Sam had to admit it wasn't as bad as he had expected-- Thanks, Wiggles, you made our summer!

A Touching Anniversary Story.....

Happy 52nd Anniversary,Dad & Mom, and Happy 24th Anniversary to my husband Kevin!

We celebrated the special day yesterday out at the lake with a cake. Now, there is a special story behind the cake that Grandma shared with us while we were enjoying it.

She and Papa stopped by the local DQ to get an ice cream cake. After she picked it out, she asked the counter girl to write "Happy Anniversary" on it. While Grandma was waiting, she watched another customer kidding around with the other employees to find the most chocolatey blizzard they could muster. He then turned to Grandma, apologized, and motioned that it was her turn to order. Grandma said, "Oh no, that is OK, I have already ordered and am waiting for our cake to be inscribed."

The man asked if it was a special event and Grandma replied, "Yes, it's our anniversary, and my daughter's and her husband's too." "We really don't need a cake, but the little ones do." He asked Grandma how many years they have been married and she told him 52 years. He exclaimed, "52 YEARS! That is just wonderful! And I bet he still doesn't learn? Ha Ha" Grandma laughed and said, "Yes, you are right. For 52 years his underwear have been in the same drawer and he still asks me where they are!"

While Grandma was visiting and joking around with the man, she noticed that he was wearing a shirt with "FEMA" embroidered on the front, so she told him how much our community appreciates what they have done to help our flooded little city.

At this time, the cake was ready....and before Grandma could lift her purse up to open it, this gentleman quickly handed the cashier the money to pay for the anniversary cake. Even the DQ workers were crying......

Grandma didn't get his name, but she was so blessed by his little act of generosity. And it helped restore a little of her faith in mankind.

Thank you FEMA man, whoever you are. You made our special day one to remember.

Oh, and Happy Anniversary.... Mom & Dad! We love you and hope to make it to 52 years one day too!