My Buddy!

Corban and I bonded this time--at least I felt like we did! This is one of my absolute favorite pictures!

Sorry, about all the posts so suddenly!  Can you tell I got left alone in a quiet house for several hours?!

Happy Adoption Day, Corban!

We love you and hope that your day has been special. And since you are with your Daddy and Mommy and sister, I am sure it has been! We are so thankful that you are a part of our family.

Happy Birthday, Corban!!

A big 4 year old!! And it looks like you are going to enjoy it :-) We are so thankful to the Lord for giving you to our family 4 years ago. You are one extra special boy! We love you. Have a wonderful birthday.

Happy Adoption Day(s)

Since we missed Corbans, shame, Auntie Donna, we will celebrate it now. We are so thankful for the Lord working in mysterious ways and bringing two special children into our lives in two very unique ways. We love you both!

Corban Turns Three!

And what a big boy he has become!! Happy Birthday, Corban. We wish we could be there to party with you. We love you!

Remember this little guy?

... and all the excitement he brought to the Bixby family a few years ago?

Hard to believe he's 3 years old. Happy birthday, Corban!!! We all love you!

Editor's note: Not trying to steal any grandparents' rights to birthday posts. But since we were the ones occupying the earliest time zone of the family at the moment ...

Corban loves Papi!

Corban thought Papi was tons of fun!
He actually knew how to USE tools--and a shovel to boot.....
Soooooooo fun!!!

This Little Light of Mine...

Thought you all would enjoy peeking in on part of our nightly routine....

Visit to Rockford

This is a bit late, but we wanted to share some of the joys we had during our all-too-brief visit to Rockford, IL. It lasted only one night and part of two days. Patience was recovering from sickness, but she was sweet and happy as usual, and it gave her one more excuse to stay home from school and visit with us. We also enjoyed a not-baby-any-more Corban--energetic yet very sweet.

Thank you Rockford Bixbys for letting us crash in on you! We are sad that we won't get to see you again (or our family north of you) before we leave for France in June.

Peek-a-Boo, I See YOU!

On Sunday after church we drove to Beaufort and met with the Jones--church planters in St. Helena. We ate supper at a fish food restuarant which had buckets in the middle for crab bones, etc.... Corban found better uses for the hole! :-) Too Cute!

Valentine's Day in Rockford... 2009

I know that it's almost a week later, but we had so much fun on Patience's day off of school last Friday that we wanted to show you what we did.  We make it our Valentine's Day, since Bob took me out on a double date Valentine's night with free babysitting at church!!  As you can see in the pictures I am going to be out of a job when these great kids grow up and take over the kitchen!!  It was a FUN day!!

Corban celebrates turning TWO!!

Corban enjoyed the cake, balloons, gifts and friends that gathered this evening to help us celebrate his TWO years of life!!  What a joy he has been!  We marvel even this week at the new words that he can say, "unCH" being a favorite since it is about eating and the cool "CH" sound at the end!! And his trucks sounds are the best in the family!! :-) 

And his smiles, kisses and hugs are savored dearly by us all!  

He's Turning Two--

and see how he has grown!! Happy Birthday, Corban. We love you and are so thankful to the Lord for giving you to your Mommy and Daddy!

Our Fun Filled Fall Family Day....

We started by going to get Pictures taken...

Finally visited Edward's Apple Orchard...

 and finished with lots of Trick or Treating....

See more of our pictures on my FB page or visit  Innovations  OR  Orchard.

Mama's Cowboy!

My Sunday morning Dudes!

Corban is feeling pretty smart wearing his first tie!  He made sure that it was the first thing Bob noticed when he came down to breakfast!  Mom loves the big cheery smiles after a very long and rough night of several asthma treatments.

School Projects and New Fall Shoes....

Patience's First School Project.

and Corban fits into his new shoes from G'ma & G'pa Bixby just in time for Fall!!  

Here he models them in his new favorite playing spot... under Daddy's desk!

Bass Lake 2008

We had fun surprising G'ma & G'pa Martin at Bass Lake this last week.

Patience and Corban were giddy with the anticipation of sleeping in a cabin....  Mom & Dad scored lower on the giddy scale!

Patience discovers the "Beauty Shop" of Bass Lake.

Corban enjoys meeting new cousins! This is Brenda's great-niece, Shirley Kate. (Molly's youngest)

G'ma & G'pa were thrilled that we came!  We all had a lovely time and enjoyed all the visiting, singing and great food that is always a part of Bass Lake!!

Our Iowa Vacation....

We stopped in Galena, IL on our way to Iowa.

Dad is enjoying his kids in the pool!!  The kids are loving the water!!! 

These pictures are from our time at the Children's Museum in Cedar Rapids, IA

Our farmer boy!

Our restaurant owner and Chef Patience.

Her Sous Chef and waiter!

We are now home for today and tomorrow and leave again on Monday morning for Northland camp and two vans filled with campers!!

Here is a link to more vacation pictures on FB.

Enjoying our Backyard...

I'm pretty sure the grass is greener next door!

He loves watching Carol mow...