Break A Leg Sophie!

Sophie's last day of school is tomorrow and The Goddard School had a end of year Summer Concert for all of the classes. Our little girl has grown up so much since starting in February and her teachers take so much of the credit! Along with her classmates and with Ms. Leslie and Ms. Dana, her teachers, they kicked off the concert in style singing "All The Little Fishies" We are so proud of her!!! She only tried to dart off stage once!!! Thanks to Uncle Mike for joining us! It was a really special moment for us as parents!!!

Monday starts Summer Camp for the pride of Golden Orchard Drive which includes all kind of nature and water activities along with more learning for her.

VIDEOS!

Table Rock Weekend

A nice family trip to Table Rock Lake this past weekend with Mike and Kayla. Sophie's first adventure on a boat (that we know of) went well.. She loved it. After just 5 minutes of our run she was asleep on the back bench! The swimming in the lake was a different story. Water was a tad cold and she lasted about 2 minutes.
The weather turned to crud on Sunday and Monday so we hit Branson, went to the freaky zoo there and just bummed around town. Sunday night there was a break in the weather and we were able to hit the lake on the boat to watch fireworks. Sophie loved those!
Sophie has also transitioned over to big girl panties. She is doing VERY well with them. We do pull-ups at nap and bed, but all in all the potty training is progressing nicely.
It's a short week and we have a big weekend coming up. It is the 11th annual cancer survivorship walk and Team Sarcoma is ready to go again with 64 team members. We ALWAYS have the biggest team!!! Looking forward to seeing everyone at Creve Couer Park Saturday morning.

Ready for fun in the sun!

We found a toad with Uncle Mike!

Great photo of the girls!

Just the three of us!

I'm on a boat with Mommy. Lovin' my stylish life jacket!

Yayla (Kayla) and Mike. It is so cute to here her say their names.

First dip in the lake. Sophie, not to keen on it. As you can see.

Ok, this had to rank as the second most bizarre zoo we have been to (Ha Noi takes the cake), but Sophie loved feeding the deer.

Sleeping like an ostrich during nap..

All bundled up on the boat after watching fireworks. She wanted to go night-night so she laid on the floor with some life jackets and went to sleep.

Yes...Sophie is only 1 1/2" tall :-)

The giant banjo in Branson..

Memorial Day Weekend

This weekend is not about BBQs and having people over to celebrate. It is day to remember all those brave men and women who paid the ultimate price in defense of this wonderful nation, and fighting for those freedoms that we all so often take for granted. Fly your flag outside your home. So few houses do this anymore. After 9/11 it was hard NOT to see the Stars and Stripes at a house or office. Now it is a challenge! This Memorial Day I honor Lt. William Thomas "Tom" Costen, United States Navy and his partner Lt. Charlie Turner. Tom grew up in the house behind us in St. Louis. I remember playing wiffle ball with him and running behind the "bug man" smog truck on summer evenings after dinner. Not the smartest of ideas since it was a mosquito killing fog, but hey you were a kid and everyone else did it. Tom's father was also a great friend to the family as well as an Orthopedic Surgeon to a few of of us.

Tom and Charlie Turner were assigned to Attack Squadron 155 at Whidby Island, Washington. Their unit shipped out to the Middle East on board the USS RANGER when U.S. military buildup began there in January 1991. Tom and Charlie had been in the region only ten days when hostilities began and they were asked to fly combat missions on Iraqi military targets in the first wave of offensive strikes of the war the opening night of the Gulf War. Tom was the pilot of an FA6 Intruder, and Charlie his BN (bomdadier/navigator). Both failed to return from missions on the morning of Friday, January 18, 1991.

Later reports revealed that two emergency radio beeper signals were picked up indicating that both Tom and Charlie ejected safely from their aircraft. Both were returning to the USS Ranger after a bombing mission over Baghdad.

On January 20, both Tom and Charlie were officially listed as MIA by the Pentagon. It was not until almost two months after the end of Operation Desert Storm that the Iraqis handed over the remains of 14 United States soldiers. One of those was Tom.

Lt. WilliamThomas Costen

Lt. Charlie Turner

Happy Birthday Poppa!

Happy 37th birfhday Poppa. Eye lu you!

A Viet Nam Family Celebration - HORRAY FOR BRIAN AND WENDI!!

We are thrilled to say that Brian and Wendi are FINALLY going to Viet Nam to be united with their daughter An. They have waited almost two years since her referral to travel! They leave on SUNDAY and have their G&R 6/1. CONGRATS Brian and Wendi! We are SUPER thrilled!!!!

Their blog can be found HERE

Happy Birthday Boomer!!!

A big Happy Birthday to our newphew Jack Hogan, (Boomer, Truckie, etc). Jack is the youngest children to Hank's sister Diehnee who lives in New Jersey. WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU IN JULY!!!

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

An oddly cool day on Saturday for mid-May here in St. Louis but that did not stop Cardinal Nation from rootin' on the Birds.....Sophie enjoyed herself for the first 5 innings then decided it was nap time. She slept the remainder of the game. It must have been the hotdog, ice cream and some soda she consumed. All in all another first for her, and the three of us had a blast! Looking forward to many more as a family, and if all is right another World Series pennant!

Busch was decked out in Red, as always..

View from the seats...

Ready for game time in my Cardinal red!

Chowing down on my first ballpark Hunter hotdog

...oh and ice cream too..

Fun with Poppa

Watching.. #5

The "Mang" at the dish...

What a fun day!

With Mommy at the fountains after the game

Tomorrow....Baseball Heaven Adds Another Angel

Yep...she will officially be part of "THE CULT" effective tomorrow. For those who are familiar with the STL, we love our baseball and the boys of summer are out in full force again! Tomorrow will be Sophie's first Cards game, nice and close to the field, just like it should be! So.....for those that do not know, St. Louis is called Baseball Heaven see the above, because the people here live, eat, sleep, breathe and die Redbird baseball. Fans here know their summer ball and are passionate to see the "Mang" #5 and crew win that 11th World Series title. Its that time of year when from April thru October, Sophie's Great Grandmother (Mimi) is plastered to the TV screaming "HOT SPIT" as the Cards battle it out!
Soph' loves her hockey too! We took her for pizza last night, and there are loads of Blues pix around the restaurant. She pointed and says, "BLUES Poppa" and gave us her "Let's Go Blues" fist pump...Now we have to teach her our anti-cubs (lower case 'c') chant! :-).

The "Mang" and Lidge...Houston residents should be WAY to familiar with this shot. :-)

Fondue & Flowers

Just a photo essay from Mother's Day with some shots that just made this one special day!

Sophie made Mommy a photo book called "Mommy & Me - Our First Months Together"

Reading and looking....tears and laughs..30 pages of memories with hundreds more to come!

Kisses.....I love you Mommy..

We had brunch at the Melting Pot. Sophie loved it and was an angel...even for 2 1/2 hours.

In our backyard....I WISH!! No, at the Missouri Botanical Gardens...

Our FIRST Mother's Day!!!!

Sniff Sniff the Peony Garden....

Just a truly beautiful day....

Happy First Mother's Day

Happy first Mother's Day Mommy! I really have enjoyed all the things we do! I could not have asked for a better mother! EYE WUV YOU! --- Sophie

Us exactly 5 months ago...

Us now!

Happy MOOOOOMMMMMIEEE's Day

As I sit her this lovely Sunday morning I hear the sweetest sound in the other room.....Sophie's voice. Today I celebrate my very first Mother's Day. A day, in the past 5 years, I have longed to celebrate.

First I would like to say Happy Mother's Day to my Mom. Mom-31 years of life you have been my best friend. I can only hope I'm half the Mother that you are. Thank you for always being on my side. Thank you for always making me number 1 in your life. Thank you for taking care of me when I was sick. You are the true selfless Mother, and for that I thank you.

Second I would like to say Happy Mother's Day to Sophie's birth Mom. So wherever you are- Happy Mother's Day. It's because of you that I have the most perfect daughter. It's because you were also selfless that I am able to celebrate this day. So thank you- you are my true hero.

Lastly, Happy Mother's Day to all my friends and family. Enjoy your day.

All my love-

Whoa!

Look! Thanks Libby :)
http://news.cnnbcvideo.com/?nid=9TLnVHiQ_bxNxMRPiPMdKDExNTAxNjE2&referred_by=15059185-.vccY8x&p=moveon

sky diving!!!

Ok... so sorry it has taken soooo long to get the sky diving video and pictures up! My brother and I had a great time doing it and I'm sure we will do it again! The thought of falling 15,000 feet from the sky is a little scary, but once your out of the plane you feel AMAZING!! So enjoy the video.. it's a little long! And Happy 30th Uncle Bub!

Spring Is FINALLY Here

Well, its been a while since we posted some new pictures and talk about our little girl. We have had a busy weekend. The weather has finally changed over to a constent flow, no more of this 83 one day 44 the next. Sophie is really enjoying the outdoors! We know she got here to St. Louis in the heart of winter, and said, "What? Hey.....it's cold here!! Its nice to see her in warm weather clothes again! Our girl is growing up so fast! She loves her new slide, thanks to a hand-me-down from YaYa and crew!

My future's so bright...

Helping Poppa plant the flowers!

Cheese!!!

I Love my new slide!

Taking time to stop and smell the flowers!

Spicy and her buddy...well kinda...the have this love/hate relationship

Playing with bubbles. She thinks its mandatory when she goes outside.

Waving bye-bye to the airplanes! She is fascinated with them...she says..airmlane.

We had a nice dinner with Mimi last night.