Help us Raise Money for Malcolm!

I know I have lots to update, but I will get to that later, I promise. Right now we are on a time crunch to help a little boy. Won't you consider helping us? Here is the post that I blogged about on our adoption blog. 

We have the privilege of being a special little boy's angel tree family. What does this mean you ask? Well, let me tell you!

 Malcolm is a little boy in China waiting for his forever family. He has Down Syndrome and is listed for adoption. Every year, Reece's Rainbow has an Angel Tree event that allows people to advocate and fundraiser for a waiting child. Because our own adoption was so blessed by the efforts of this program, we decide to "pay-it-forward" and help another family. Our family was matched with Malcolm and our goal is to raise $1000 for his future forever family's adoption costs. 

Right now there are three ways you can help us reach our goal. 

Option 1: Donate directly to his adoption fund. If you go to the Angel Tree link, you can donate whatever amount you feel lead to give. If you give the gift of $35 or more, there is a keepsake ornament they will send you with Malcolm's picture on it. We started doing this last year and are planning on keeping this a family tradition. I can't wait to see the little faces all over my Christmas tree of the children we have sponsored and prayed for.

Option 2: We have started an Usborne fundraiser. If you are unfamiliar with Usborne, it is a wonderful company that sells quality books. We have been graciously offered the full commission of our consultant toward's Malcolm's angel tree fundraising. All you have to do is go to this Usborne link. Click on "shop" and choose the party that says Reagan's Angel Tree Fundraiser for Malcolm! Then shop to your hearts content! These are great books to give for Christmas! They will be shipped directly to your house. 

Option 3: (Unfortunately, this one is only for local friends and family) We are partnering with a local company to sell Butter Braids! Butter Braids are something that I have seen as a fundraiser for my high school that I teach out. We have bought them before and loved them! 

Each hand-braided pastry is 22oz.- icing packet included.

It comes frozen and all you have to do is set it out to thaw, rise (it doubles in size!) and bake!

You'll wonder how you ever lived without them!

For more product details, please visit: http://upliftingpromotions.com/

So I will be taking orders for these sinful treats through till Thanksgiving. They are scheduled to be delivered to me on the 12th of December, just in time for Christmas. 

So there is our plan! Our plan to help a waiting little boy get one step closer to feeling the love of a mom and dad. Please consider helping us. Every little bit helps. 

If you have any questions about any of the fundraisers, feel free to leave me a comment with your email or contact info and I will be glad to respond. Thanks again for helping us reach our goal!

Another Addition!

Yesterday, my sister Kamie and her husband welcomed another blessing into their family, Joseph William! We are so happy he is here! Mommy and baby are doing well and hope to be home today!

Welcome to our family Baby Joe! We can't wait to meet you!

Family Day Trip to Sedona!

Last weekend we decided to take a day trip up north. We had been wanting to get out of the heat all summer. While patiently waiting to become a family of five, we thought it might be a good idea gathering a few more memories as a family of four.

 We had a nice little picnic!

 Tessa and Nate enjoyed some nature. 

 Love these moments!!

 At first I wasn't quite sure what this was, but I am assuming it was a caterpillar. 

 The weather was still in the 90s up there, but it was better then the 100s it was in the valley!

 The river was a little fast for us to get in. Plus the park we were visiting had a strict no swimming or wadding policy. It was a beautiful park for a hike though. 

 Nate the navigator!

We had a wonderful time together. Hoping for more "exploring" trips as the kids get older!

Open House at Preschool!

About a week ago, Tessa's preschool had an open house. Adam and I were both excited to see what our little girl had been up to these past few weeks. 

Here she is telling us about their creation project. (She made sure we knew that on the 7th day, God took a nap because he was tired.) 

 Here she is exploring...

 Here is the picture frame she made for our family photos. 

It was pretty chaotic in the beginning, so we waited for our turn to talk to the teacher after most of the parents had left. While we were talking, her teacher noticed Tessa cleaning up the classroom. All the boys and girls had come in like a whirlwind and not a single one had picked up their mess. But our Tessa did all by herself, without being asked. The teacher was proud of her and gave her a "kindness coin" which I guess is a really big deal!

That's my girl!

Tessa's Fourth Year Video!

I know I am a little late, but here is our sweet T's 4th year video. We are so blessed to call her ours. We can't believe it has been four years already. Enjoy!

Tessa's Fourth Year from rebturley on Vimeo.

Watch Out World, Tessa is Four!

 On Wednesday, my little Tessa turned four. It is hard to believe that she is already so old....sniff sniff. She looks like such a big girl!

We decided Tessa was old enough to start a new tradition....to have her have a special dinner with just mom and dad at a restaurant of her choosing. Originally she had asked for just ice cream, so we declined my mom's offer to watch Nate and headed home to make dinner and then enjoy an ice cream treat following, Nate included.

On the ride home, she changed her mine. She perked up rather abruptly and said "I want to get spaghetti for my dinner". So we packed up the family, Nate and all. (We'll have to stick with our babysitting plans for next year.) We decided to try a Phoenix classic, The Old Spaghetti Factory. It turned out to be a lot of fun!

 Tessa was quite excited about her spaghetti!

Even Nate enjoyed his macaroni...his long time favorite food!

Tessa has her four year old check up with the doctor on Monday, so we will have some new stats soon. 

In other news.....Tessa started preschool on August 8th!

Tessa's first day of Preschool!

She is still smiling when she got home!

So far she LOVES it! Hopefully that will continue for 15+ more years!

Hoping to have her 3 year slideshow completed this weekend!

Next weekend we will be celebrating our little Sweet T with a cupcake party! (We like three day weekends for parties, because it gives working mommy plenty of time to prep!)

Happy birthday sweet girl! We are so blessed to call you ours! The last four years have been a great adventure! 

Nate's First Haircut

Now that our little Naters is two, we thought it might be time to have him have his first haircut. I have been dreading this day for a long time, I love his little curls. But, it was getting really long and he wasn't willing to let us comb it most days, so away it goes!

Here are the before pictures....

 Throughout the cut, he had this very serious look on his face. He gets that face when he goes to doctor appointments as well. 

 He looks so much older!

Happy Boy!