The Imagination of a child!

Sometimes she is a princess, sometimes she is a cook, and sometimes she is a musician. Today she was both. Today Ema was very quite playing quietly in her room. I went to check on her and this is what I found. Ema the chef teaching her Tinkerbell how to play the pa nano (piano)! Too Cute!

Tiger or Bulldog?

Well the answer to this question would be Bulldog because we stunk it up during this game! Ema and Maggie had a lot of fun so that's good. Actually I have to say that Mag's was leaning towards the TIGER during this game. She didn't care that they were loosing. Ema yelled "YOU CAN DO It!" The innocent minds of a child. Who cares who is winning it's all about the mascot!

This is Ema before heading to Starkville

Ema's and Maggie BFF's

Ema and Maggie always have a great time when they are together. Wednesday, Maggie brought Ema a cookie that she had made Ema at school. Maggie had to make a cookie for a friend and she picked Ema. I hope these girls grow up and continue to be friends. (Maybe some of Maggie's calmness will rub off on Ema)

Ema's partial dream come true!

Recently we bought tickets to Disney on Ice. Ema is fascinated by Snow Wipe (White). She LOVES this movie and everything about her so we knew Ema would love this show. After Kirk had seriously hurt his ankle and endured me driving him to Memphis and having to pay to park in the garage (all of which he is against) we finally made it. Unfortunately Kirk had to jump down about 50 steps and back up them when it was over but the show was worth it. Ema pretty much sat amazed during the entire show. She kept asking me to have Snow Wipe come shake her hand. This didn't happen but she loved it anyways!

Meet Sully our Jack o Lantern

We have the first Richardson jack o lantern. His name is Sully and he lives on our front porch.





Ema for some strange reason kept saying "Let's eat him" I'm not sure why she thought we would eat the pumpkin but she did. Sully is so cute at night lighting out our porch.

Follow the yellow brick road

This years theme to our Heritage Day Festival was from the Wizard of Oz. Everyone decorated their wagons and got their kiddo's dressed up and paraded around the square. This year Maggie and Ema rode together and I have to say, they were the cutest little Dorothy's around!







I have to give a shout out to mom for making their dresses at the last minute! Thanks mom, what would I do without you!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Yeah this is a little late but well worth the post!

This year for my birthday Kirk had the ultimate surprise planned. I have to give him credit, he is an awesome gift giver. He always puts so much thought into everything he does. The morning of my birthday he had a gift bag with this attached.

Inside was our flight tickets to Myrtle Beach! Yes this was great and I couldn't wait to get away for a while but the best part of the whole trip was waiting at the airport. Kirk surprised me by having some close friends there waiting on us!



Krista is one of my very best friends! We haven't known each other very long (3 years maybe)but it feels like a lifetime. She had moved to Memphis and had started working with Methodist. She was placed with me for and introduction to homecare and for training. I still remember picking her up in Millington at the Dollar Tree, talking about how I was waiting to adopt Ema, and eating at McAllisters everyday. She has since moved back to West Virginia and I miss her so much. This beach trip was awesome. I got to meet her new baby Maddox and he is PRECIOUS!




Even though we don't get to see them very much, it's like we just pick up where we left off. That's what is so great about our relationship! I love ya Krista and can't wait to see you soon!

Happy Birthday Dayton!

Today we are celebrating Dayton's 10th Birthday! For those of you who did not know Dayton, he was the strongest little kid I know. He faced many challenges in his life and overcame them one by one. We have SO many memories of him and we will always cherish them. We miss this little guy so much. It still seems unreal sometimes when we think of him not being HERE but we KNOW that he is safe in the arms of Jesus. Praise God that we can find peace and comfort in that.

Chris and Amy- We are praying for you today. I cannot imagine the highs and lows that you must go through on a daily basis. We cannot Thank You enough for letting us be a part of Daytons life. Thank you for all the memories that we have shared together. We love you guys and hope God gives you both peace and comfort today and in the days to come.

Call me crazy if you want to !

This summer Camille and her little brother came to visit us. That's RIGHT.....I had a 3 year old, a 5 year old and a 10 year old all at the same time. More importantly......I survived and so did the kids! Don't get me wrong, there were times when my patience was tested (by the two younger kids) but at the end of the day everyone was semi happy! Ha Ha Ha! We had a great time really! Golf cart riding , swimming, shopping, dancing, was just a few of the things on our agenda. Camille always looks forward to seeing Abey and Raygen.

It is a must that theses girls get together. They always try to talk me into having a sleep over but lucky for me, softball got in the way of these plans. Anyways, we always enjoy their visit to Tennessee and hope this tradition continues for years to come.

Happy 4th of July!

Having the 4th fall on a Sunday seemed like a great thing however there wasn't enough time to get everything to fit into our schedule. We started out Friday night celebration with the firework show in Munford. I have always loved to watch fireworks. We never buy them because it always seems like a total waste of money so having someone else pop them is defiantly the way to go.






Saturday we turned down a REALLY fun race to have dinner with some great friends and Sunday was church! After church and a much needed nap, we were off to the pool. Ema is not really a fan of the water but today she was very comfortable with Ms' Sheri's float. Usually she only wants to sit on the steps and watch everyone else play. After the pool we went to my grandparents for some good food and family time.

Pat Pat the tiny footed guitar player

Pat Pat came to visit Ema on Sunday after her party and brought Ema her birthday presents. As usual, Ema dressed up and Pat Pat dressed up and Ema's imagination ran wild.



You probably had to be here to see exactly how funny Pat Pat looked with the tiny boots the tiny cow girl hat and the guitar. She looked like something you would see at those shows at the fair. The ones that you pay $1 to see something funny!

Happy Birthday Ema!

Well my baby girl is now 3! I cannot believe how fast she is growing! It seems like yesterday we were in Vietnam and she was just a baby! Now she is a little girl that is full of life and has her own little personality and attitude!

We started our morning off with Birthday wishes from Ms. Sherri! Ms. Sherri is our neighbor and Ema LOVES to yell at her while she is walking.



Then it was off to the ice cream and cake party! This year I tried to do a simple party but seriously, is any party ever simple. The most important thing is that Ema had a great time! She got lots of great gifts and enjoyed dancing and playing.
Ema has always loved BIRTHDAYS! This year she learned "My Birthday come June 5th" and she made sure that everyone knew it! This year was exciting because she actually understood that it was her party and that she was 3!






After the party, we went to the pool because Amy and Molly had to work! Ema let a balloon go for Dayton! (this was something he LOVED to do)







Ema Li,

I cannot believe how much you have changed since the first time I met you! You have grown into a sweet child with a sweet spirit! I thank God everyday that he brought us together as a family. You are living proof that God exist! He placed us together even though we were on opposites ends of the world and what a perfect match! I love you so much and I am so proud of you! I pray that God does wonderful things with your life!

Love, Ma'

Saddle Up!

This was Ema's first year at vacation bible school! Mom took her to Mt. Lebanon and Ema loved it. Each day she had to dress in cowgirl attire! Well you know she had to have PINK cowgirl boots, PINK cowgirl hat, and a PINK guitar! She was the cutest cowgirl around!




Every night she would come home singing "shoooo fly don't bother me" and " I will cast my cares on the Lord". She made a craft and was always so proud to show it to us. Of course the Brown Horsey picture was her favorite because my mom makes up stories and has a Brown Horsey story that Ema LOVES! She can almost recite it herself from beginning to end.




Anyways,if you haven't seen Ema preform you are really missing out. She puts on quite a show!

Memorial Day

We spent Memorial Day at the pool and at my grandparents cooking out. As usual Ema had to have bubbles! She absolutely loves bubbles! Me writing this on my blog will not do it justice but we experienced a first with these bubbles. My mom would blow the bubbles and Ema would say " I want to do do do do it!" It was hilarious! I think she was trying to say "I want to do it" and it came out "I want to do do do do it

Ba' the Builder

Kirk did a beautiful job building our pergola! It feels like a new room added to our house. Ema encouraged Kirk while he worked by singing "Ba' the builder , he can fix it!" Thank you Ba' for working so hard! I am sure we will have lots of memories and great family time spent under our pergola!

Before:




After: