Tessa's First Year on Swim Team

Tessa had a great first on the Centennial Sting Ray Swim Team. She showed so much improvement. One of her best strokes was butterfly! 

 Finally at the championship meet she finally won her first 1st place. 

 Look at her form!

During the day, all three kids practiced their skills in swim class. Nate was able to have his favorite teacher from last year, Miss Kat!

Can't wait for next year!

Danny's Teddy Bear Picnic

I know I am way behind on posts, but at least this one is on time!

This past weekend, we finally got to celebrate Danny's third birthday. His original party was set for January, but due to rain and mommy getting strep throat, we had to push it off a few weeks. We were fortunate to get a BEAUTIFUL day in AZ, which is rare most of the year. 

 I am quite proud of my gummy bear topiaries!

 My birthday boy!

 Fun in the sandbox

 Enjoying the picnic blanket!

 Practicing to walk in the grass...ended up looking like a crab walk!

 Wagon rides are fun!

 Singing happy birthday to him

 Fun with the parachute!

Danny has come so far in a year. It is hard to believe he is old enough to start taking the bus to preschool.....sniff sniff. 

Happy 3rd birthday Danny! We love you!

Santa Babies

We recently got to check off Santa pictures from our Christmas bucket list. Both Tessa and Nate were super excited! Although, getting three little ones to all look at the camera simultaneously again proved to be a challenge. So here are all the shots. I'll let you decide which one is the "best". 

 Tessa looks unimpressed in this one. 

 Wondering what she was thinking in this one. 

Hoping everyone is having a wonderful December so far. 

Fa la la la la....

Gotcha For One Whole Year!

One year ago today, in a small village in Northeastern Ukraine, a little orphan boy was getting dressed by his nannies for one last time.

 He wasn't quite sure what was going on. "It's time for bed, why are my nannies dressing me to go outside?", he thought.

 When they were done, one of the nannies said "now you are an AMERICAN BOY!" (said in a very deep Ukrainian accent.)

 Here is your papa!

 Here is your mama!

 And with that....they left his orphanage home of almost two years for the last time!

 

On they drove to Kiev. He got to try his first French fry from McDonalds!

 Got his first bubble bath!

 And slept ever so peacefully next to his mama and papa for the first time!

The End

 

Just kidding....that was only the beginning!

 

Happy Gotcha Day Danny!

 

You are the fifth piece to our Turley puzzle.

 

 We are lucky to have you!

 We "gotcha" forever!

 

Happy Metcha Day Danny!

One year ago, we were introduced to our soon-to-be son.

 

 

We have been so blessed to see how he has blossomed!



HAPPY METCHA DAY DANNY!

Catch Up Post #2-Disneyland

 

 

In June, we were fortunate to take the kids on their first trip to Disneyland. We had an amazing time. We were a little nervous taking such young kids, but everything turned out great! (Plus, it helped that the boys were free!)

We chose to go two days, which I would recommend to any family going. We went in the mornings just as they opened, headed back to the hotel around 10:30 for lunch and naps, then headed back midafternoon. It worked out pretty nicely for us. Plus, having kids that weren't cranky from missing sleep was awesome!

Nate got to meet his favorite character Donald, along with Goofy and CHip and Dale. We learned that it is not that easy to visit characters at Disneyland, you almost have to be in "the know" for where they are going to be. The first day we had absolutely no luck getting pics, so we made it a priority for the second day. Danny was actually taking a short snooze when we came upon Chip and Dale, but they came to him...it was such a cute moment!

We were lucky that our hotel was just a short walk down the street, so we decided not to deal with parking. We hopped on our double stroller, which actually held three as Tessa would sit on the rim.

The only scary moment we had was in Toon Town. Tessa and Nate were star struck with everything Mickey and gang, which meant that they "tuned" mommy and daddy's directions out. Other then that, no real scary moments.

Our final day was spent at the beach, which ended up being the one cloudy day we were there. I had forgotten how hard it was to keep young children clean at the beach!
 

We had a wonderful family trip, and look forward to the next time we can visit the happiest place on earth! 

 







Disneyland 2014 from rebturley on Vimeo.

Tessa is 5!

This past Thursday, my little girl turned 5. It is hard to believe it, but she has grown so much this year. She is becoming quite the big sister! God truly did designed this girl with a special purpose of watching out for her brothers. It is amazing to see. 

Tessa has recently discovered legos....the small size ones. And like her Daddy, she is a natural. She is able to complete sets completely on her own. She has already powered through all the ones she got as gifts for her birthday.  Not sure how she is going to make it till Christmas!

Tessa completed her first year of preschool. We got to visit her class on occasion and was always told what a wonderful job she was doing. We are choosing to continue with one more year of preschool due to her being an August birthday. She is starting back up with her speech therapy sessions this week, and we are hoping to see some improvement in articulation prior to entering Kindergarten in 2015. 

Tessa took some swim and diving lessons over the summer. She has always been a little fish, but now we are seeing her fearlessness through her diving. We can't wait to see where that leads. Also, in a few weeks, Tessa will be beginning her first dance class. Her cousin Krosby will be joining her. The class takes place for ten weeks with a recital at the end. We can't wait!

Happy five years Sweet T! We love you and are blessed to call you ours!

Tessa's 5th Year from rebturley on Vimeo.