We're off!

Well, we're off early in the morning.  Our flight leaves at 8:00 from Denver so James will drive us up bright and early.

We've been packed for a couple of weeks and I just had to add a few things here and there.



We've had friends staying with us because they were evacuated due to the Waldo Canyon Fire, as far as we know, their home is fine but they are still not able to go home.  It's actually been good for both Syd and Rachel to be hanging out, they've been playing so much that they haven't been thinking much about fire or leaving home for 3 weeks!



We're both a little nervous about the trip.
We've never been away from Alex before so we will definitely miss our boys :-(

  Our schedule is pretty crazy some days but I am planning on blogging daily.

Enjoy following our adventure!

Happy Father's Day...

We asked James what would be the perfect Father's Day and he chose fishing.



He loves fishing, it's not quite as relaxing as it used to be but we had a great time!
Syd got a bite but neither of them caught anything but weed fish :-)



We brought shovels and a bucket for Alex and he was happy digging and throwing rocks in the lake.



It was a great day!
We love you daddy!!

Mystery Ride...

One of Syd's friends goes on Mystery Rides with his grandparents.

They jump in the car and head out on an adventure that only the driver knows.

Today we went on our own Mystery Ride and ended up here



Bishop's Castle

This guy has been building this castle by himself since 1969!



He does have volunteers helping with the outer walls, he doesn't trust them with anything else.

The iron work and stained glass windows are just beautiful!

The stairways are teeny tiny and very nerve wracking, especially with kids!!



But they had a lot of fun exploring and going on an adventure!

Memorial Day weekend at the Sand Dunes

Feet, Feet, Feet...

Alex's new favorite book is The Foot Book.

Appropriate since so much revolves around his little feet.

Which are doing great by the way!

We go to physical therapy once a week, well he does.  He acts up too much when I'm there so I get to sit in the waiting room and read.  

We started a mommy and me gymnastics class which had been really good for him.  It's forcing him to do a lot of toe movement which is tough for him.  And he gets to climb and jump on the trampoline, what can be better than that?

Alex still wears his "bar bar" (Ponseti brace) at bedtime and now he has AFO braces that we call "Car Boots" that he wears several hours a day.  That's to help keep his feet in the proper position while walking around.  He tends to curl his feet when he get tired, so these are helping quite a bit.

 But does that boy have some serious stinky feet!  I wish I could let him be barefoot all the time because his feet are just icky!

  It's been a long and sometimes discouraging road, but I'm hoping we're on the right track to keep his feet straight, healthy and pain free!

Mother's Day

Syd's had something on her mind lately and
she's not quite sure how to bring it up or deal with it.

Is it the upcoming trip to China?

Is it the hockey tournament in California?

Is it because she's going to her first sleep over this weekend?

Ahhh, the light bulb finally goes off.

It's Mother's Day.

And she has a mother on the other side of the world that she will never meet, she will always wonder what that mother looks like,
she will always have a piece of her that is missing.

Every year Syd has a hard time with Mother's Day.
She's wonderful and caring and loving to me,
 but there is a part of her that is so very sad. 

The best I can do is not try to fill that missing piece
but to be here for her, help her work through her feelings

Let her know that it is always-always-always ok to think about
her birth mother/father/siblings and
it is always ok to talk to us about them.

Several of Syd's friends have had birthdays in the past couple of weeks, they were so excited to turn 9 at exactly noon or 8:05 am.
Syd told me she wishes she knew what time of day she was born.

I can't answer that question for her but I can at least tell her what day she was born on by plugging in her birthday here. 

I wish I had answers for her.
She wonders so much what her birth family is like.
She wonders if they would be proud of her hockey achievements and how well she does in school. 

I believe her birth mother would be very proud of all of Syd's accomplishments and for the exciting things that life still has to offer.

Happy Mother's Day to the woman that gave my daughter life and made the heart wrenching decision that brought that
 precious, beautiful life to us.

Happy Mother's Day...

Any long lost (rich) relatives out there?

It's going to be a crazy summer!

Well, really a crazy July.  The rest of summer will probably 

be boring according to Syd.

Syd and I are leaving for China on June 30th and returning July 11.

Syd and James are leaving for sunny California 

on July 12 and returning July 17.

So I guess it's only 17 days in July that will be crazy!

And why are they going to California?

These kids

are going to a national inline hockey tournament in San Jose!  

The day after we get back from China. 

Syd didn't have jet lag after we got back in 2010, so hopefully it will be the same this time.

So if there are any long lost relatives out there that would love to help out the Stallions, give me a call :-)