Welcome Home

After a LONG torturous WAIT!! We finally got to see our SWEET friend Mindy! Mindy went to Africa Jan. 16th on a medical mission trip. AND, man was she missed! I'm so proud of her though - she is so wonderful with children (and I know that first hand) - she offered them medical care and unfortunately she didn't bring ANY home! I can't wait to see her and hear all about it and see pictures. Welcome Home Mindy! We love you!!

All is well in the world again!

James 1:7
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Hey Andrew!

Hey Andrew...Check out my new ride! What do ya think?

That's right folks!! Momma is too weak to carry me around in my seat! So I just grew up a little! I LOVE my new seat! I'm riding with STYLE!! I'm big now...JUST SO YA KNOW!

Holla,
Isaac

100th Day of School

This is always so fun!! I also always dread it but to see the finished product ALWAYS cracks me up! Here is Anna as a 100 year old lady. I'll say she has really taken care of her skin and she is so beautiful. FUN TIMES!! Happy 100th day of school!!

Noah was the funniest 4 years ago...she was a grumpy old man!!

Adoption QUEEN Cheerleader!

Laine has given me that title and I'm especially proud of it...doesn't it have a beautiful ring to it!?! I'm 100% behind all those who adopt and think they are absolutely amazing people with an AMAZING calling! SO...as a Captain of this cheer squad - I want to make you ALL aware of an amazing opportunity! Laine's mom owns a condo in Gulf Shores - right on the beach! As a way to raise money for their trip to China to get Kevin they are RAFFLING off a weekend!! See details below...Even if you just give $10 you have a chance to win a FREE weekend at the BEACH!!! The Dollar family will definitely be participating!! If you don't win - wow it went to a GREAT cause - bringing Kevin home to his forever family!

"May I have some sand with that wedgie, please?"

What? A three night stay at a beach-side condo!

Place? Ocean House Condominiums (check them out here)
Gulf Shores, Alabama

How big is the condo? Two bedrooms, three full baths, living room w/ 2 sofa beds

Pool? It is the BEST on the beach, in my opinion. It is a "walk-in" hourglass shaped pool & two baby pools & two gazebos.

How do I win? For each $10.00 you contribute to our adoption fund, you will gain one entry into a drawing for this mini-vacation!

What if I win? If you win, pick your dates that you would like to go, and as long as my mother doesn't have any conflicts with the dates, it's yours!

When is the drawing? Sunday, February 14th (someone will have a SWEET Valentine's Day!)

How do I enter the drawing? Leave me a comment and I will send you the payment information. All money and entries must be received by February 14th!

Who can enter? If you are reading this blog, you can enter!

Thank you for helping us bring little Kevin home! Maybe one day soon HE will be going to the very same condo! ;)

Milestones

6 months


So, I'm just in shock that Isaac is already 6 months - actually he's well into his sixth month. He has been a joy and a blessing. I've said this before but it's true. When I think of him I think, "My cup overflows!" I rejoice that we have him - that he wasn't planned but that the Lord gave him to us - a bonus you might say! He's beautiful and chunky, happy, and loving. He gibbers with such passion - Jason is convinced he will be a preacher! He can roll over both ways - hold his head up and look around. He loves his Elephant that has teethers and raddles on it. He can hold on to it and of course put it in his mouth. He loves his sisters and brother. He loves attention - if you show him attention he kicks his feet and smiles so big! He can brighten any day! He's HUGE - I'm not gonna lie! He weighs 21 on my scales! He's got a broad back and his fat rolls are delicious - especially the ones on his legs! He also loves to eat his feet. Bottles are still his favorites but he'll eat anything - obviously! Time just keeps flying!

First days...

1 Month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

Whose Birthday Is It?

Hey, Uncle Clinte - whose birthday is it?

ohh...a Birthday? I don't know...Whose Birthday is it?

Close but NO!

Fooled again - YOU ALREADY HAD A BIRTHDAY - NOT YOU!

Not Francie's and she's not happy about it!

NOPE!

Definitely NO - not yet - 6 more months!

It's Will's Birthday!! Happy Birthday Will! You are our miracle baby if ever there was one! We love you so much! You are Noah's favorite friend and I can't believe you are 8!


In other news...today Noah and Will were on FIRE today at their game - a BLAZE...ha ha ha (that's there team name)! They did GREAT! A lot of team work and Noah got another basket! WHOO HOO!! He took a lot of chances - I mean A LOT - I was SO proud. We also played against our coach from last year. Noah said, "I sorta had tears of joy after it was over! I was so happy to see him!" Coach Whatley is a GREAT we miss him terribly!! But we love our team this year - it's been 100 times funner!!

Upward

Well, it's started! Upward Basketball is here - we had our first game Saturday. It was a lot of fun! This year is somewhat better than last year. Noah understands the game a lot better this time around. He actually got a basket! I was so proud. But he's so funny on the court. He's a thinker, you know. He doesn't just run the ball down the court and shoot. He gets down there looks around sees if someone is open and you can just see the wheels turning. I was really proud of him though when he took his shot and got it. I was overwhelmingly excited he actually properly participated in the game!

I distract him though! I'm yelling "RUN NOAH!" "SHOOT NOAH!" "FIND YOUR MAN NOAH" "GOOD JOB NOAH!!" A couple of times he actually looked at me like "REALLY?" I could so tell I was getting on his nerves. The pressure was on and he needed to focus! Oops!

My nephew Will is also on the team - which makes Noah enjoy it 100% more this year! it's neat to see how different they are - Will can carry the ball down the court with such confidence and style but will find someone who he knows can shoots and passes it to him. He's got his own strategy going - and it works! He looked so athletic out there! They both had a REALLY good time! I'm so excited they get to play together this year! And I enjoy it 100% more because my family is actually there to enjoy it with me this year! It was fun!!

GO BLAZE!

Will takin' down the court!

Noah takin' down the court

DEFENSE!

OFFENSE!

GOOD GAME!

ALL STARS! GO BLAZE!

Snow?!? Really!

Ok...so we were all excited about the Alabama snow predicted - so it HAS to happen if they hold to their predictions! Right? WRONG! That was so sad! I wanted SNOW! And this is all we got!

Our 1 inch 0r is that 1/2 an inch?!? Anyway...there it is!

There's one flake on Anna's eyelash...

We really did enjoy watching the snow fall so peacefully all day! We did get out there "in it" one time - good thing! We almost missed it! HA!

Monkey See...Monkey Do...

If anything...We had fun staying home from school!! Happy "Snow" Day!

Gatlinburg!

Four Years Ago - 2006

2009

For Christmas my Mom and Dad gave us a family trip to Gatlinburg! It was GREAT! A beautiful cabin (and b/c Jason and I have a GINORMOUS family - we got the Master bedroom - YAY - king size bed - it was N-I-C-E). So, we ventured up there the day after Christmas and stayed until Wednesday. We had a blast with my sister (& her family) and my brother (and his family) and of course my parents. We had a lot of relaxing, shooting pool, the kids enjoyed the hot tub, walking the Gatlinburg strip...and we even got to visit with friends! We took some of the kids to see Rush of Fools and they LOVED it. They loved Jamie and we got them drum sticks and of course - he signed them and acted like a true ROCK STAR! Thanks Jamie!! Thanks Kevin for hooking ALL of us up - I felt like there were a lot of us! Thanks Band for playing our song! and...Malerie...thanks for opening up "merch" for us! It was a lot of fun! We also tried taking the kids to Ober Gatlinburg to Ice Skate or Snow Tube but all that was sold out by the time we got there! But we got a GREAT family picture there so the adults (and mom) are happy! One day kids...One day! I'll spare the details of the stomach virus that swept through JUST the Dollar family - but we overcame and still had a GREAT trip!! Enjoy the pictures - these are my favorites from the trip! It was GREAT fun! Thanks MOM!! These are my favorite Christmas' -

Our Cozy Fire - You turned it on with a switch - That's what I'm talking about!

The Hot Tub

Jason LOVES to play Pool

Anna roasted after the hot tub! She's beautiful!

Isaac being entertained

Silena read a book before presents!

PRESENTS!

MORE MINNIE!

Isaac - "A present? A real present? Really? It's still in the original box! I've never seen that before!" Poor Baby!

A mind control game - F.U.N.N.Y!

ROF!!

We're Fans!

All of us...

Look how CUTE Malerie is...I've got to get updated!! FAST! I think I'm on my way though! Work with me here!

OBER GATLINBURG

We want to do that!!

This is what they gave us...
This is how they felt when we couldn't do ANYTHING up there!

The kids...

All of us being silly! I love my family!
My sister Silena and her husband Clint
This is my FAVORITE picture - I just love it!
Walking the strip...no complaining from Anna either - we were SHOCKED! Not once did she say "Carry Me!"
This is as far as we got on the ski lift too! We are pretty awesome parents by now!
ELF...ELF...ELF!! "I'm in love, I'm in love, and I don't care who knows it!" Look who we saw!!


Calling it a day...
a trip!
That was fun!