china, FriendsDecember 28, 2008 9:02 pm

We were trying to figure out a way to wish you a happy birthday and to show you how much
we love you, we thought we would find the biggest lips possible and send you some
birthday wishes and kisses…so here they are.

Happy Birthday
crooked lips
Crooked lips and crossed arms

blowing kisses with lips
Blowing birthday kisses

3 big lips
Lips only - can’t see us….

Havin a great time
May this birthday make you as happy as the night this picture was taken. Happy birthday chickie

I can't believe it 8:47 pm

strange books

Shopping with a friend for Halloween candies we stumbled across these at a little store in one of the villages near our school.

Now I’m not sure what to make of them, but I thought they were interesting so…I’m sharing them with you..

family, Name of the game?December 22, 2008 8:56 am

You might notice an age gap between Nadia and #3 baby. It took me awhile to convince Bill that our table wasn’t full (D.A. will understand this comment), and we should try to have another baby.

Lucky me, I got my wish and for the 3rd time the list on the fridge appeared. More names, more cross offs. One of our biggest questions was…. do we even put a boy name down??

That answer was quickly put to rest when I went to the Doctor in Beijing and the Doctor told me it was a girl.

I had cutesy little names for Ava and Nadia when I was pregnant with #3. They were Mooshee and Masha.

Mooshee, Masha and Mischa (my hormones must have been doing tricks on me when I think back to it)
Bill liked the name Mischa so that is what we decided on the first name, plus we all know and love Mischa Barton.

mischa-barton-01

As for her middle name - some of you might know a TV reality show called Rock Star INXS. It was on during the summer of 2005 when we were home in Canada, and I was pregnant. There was a contestant on the show who’s name was Jordis Unga, when she sang we all got goosebumps. She was unique and beautiful - just like I knew our baby was going to be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zsNdGf8Bt8


ROCK STAR: INXS

big jordis2

And that’s the explanation for Ava, Nadia and Mischa.

familyDecember 21, 2008 8:15 pm

Along came pregnancy #2, and out came the list for the fridge. Some of the names were repeats and a lot of new names were added. The list was looked at again by Dad, quickly the pen came out and many were crossed off.

We even threw in the original name we had for Ava - tried the pronunciation on a few people - OOPS - still no good.

Bills mom’s name is Elena so we definitely wanted our name to go with it.

Our babies due date was April 7th, and her birthday is April 30th - now I know the Doctor said that he won’t let the pregnancy go past two weeks, and he might have gotten the due date wrong, but I think (late, early or on time) has a factor in the child’s personality. Not all of you will agree with me, but this is what I believe.

Now if you know any history on the following pictures, you will know that she is full of determination, fight, and a strong personality. Exactly what our little Nadia Elena Colorado is all about.

When we saw our baby for the first time - she was a perfect 10

nadia

nadia1


familyDecember 20, 2008 7:20 pm

People often ask “Why did you name your children those names?”

Before we had our first baby, I had numerous names written on a piece of paper hanging on the fridge door, Bill would peruse them daily and every once in awhile would cross out one of the names. When we got closer to the due date we only had a few names left on this piece of paper.

For the first 3 hours of our new baby girls life, she was called a different Spanish name and it turned out to be a bit to hard for some people to pronounce. So back to the list. We knew we wanted a name to go with Maria (my mom’s name is Marie) and Ava was still on the list.

And so on July 17th, 2000 - 3 hours after her birth, we introduce Ava Maria Colorado

The song - Ave Maria was a huge part in our decision, I get chills and wet eyes EVERYTIME I hear it.

Our daughter Ava Maria, is as beautiful as the two songs below…

Now, I wasn’t much of a Kelly Clarkson fan until I heard her sing this song for the Pope.

Here is a very different version of the song - but just as beautiful..


Please lay back, close your eyes and enjoy.

I can't believe it 7:18 pm

A bit chilly - but hey…

snow fairy

familyDecember 18, 2008 7:44 am

Dec. 18th will always be a special day in my heart.

It was the date of our first date, eleven years ago- need I say more.

bill and i
This picture was taken by K.B. at our X-mas party on Dec. 13th, 2008
how ironic, we were at our Keg Christmas party on Dec. 18th, 1997

I can't believe it 7:44 am

Friendship among Women:
A woman didn’t come home one night. The next morning
she told her husband that she had slept over at a
friend’s house.. The man called his wife’s 10 best
friends. None of them knew anything about it.

Friendship among Men:
A man didn’t come home one night. The next morning he
told his wife that he had slept over at a friend’s
house. The woman called her husband’s 10 best friends.
Eight confirmed that he had slept over, and two said he was still there.
infidelity1

Name of the game?December 17, 2008 8:18 am

speak, hear, see no evil

family 8:16 am

bored as well

bored