The Chosen Hearts

A Gift From Uncle Rick and Aunt Kelly Christmas Day New Bike New Bed Christmas Eve Dexter at top of Arch Dada and Dexter Having FUN Mama and Dexter riding tram to top of Arch Train Ride Merry Christmas to everyone. This was our first Christmas together as a family. Dexter has been with us now for 10 months but really it seems like forever. Dexter had asked Santa for a big boy bike and bed. Santa pulled through on his requests. We have Christmas Eve with The Kirkland's and tonight then with The Mitchell's. It has been a wonderful time seeing him grow the last ten months. He was really into the present opening. Since our last post, we went on a long weekend trip to St. Louis. We rode the train and stayed downtown. Dexter loved riding the train. At the hotel he got to swim. He was a little unsure at first but by Sunday morning he was a little dare devil. We went up in the Arch, went shopping, took a carriage ride and saw a lot of Christmas lights. The past two weeks ...

Fruit Punch Face Ferry taken from HIGH up on Cliff of park Looking at Ohio River from inside Cave in Rock Ohio River Southern Illinois Dexter and Mama Riding the Trails Dada and Dexter Horse at the Circus Spaghetti Face Happy late Thanksgiving to all. We traveled to Southern Illinois to stay at a families cabin. This was our first family vacation since returning from Ukraine back in February. We rode several miles of trails on the four wheelers through the Shawnee National Forrest. We got to see wild turkey but never saw any deer except for on the side of the rode. We drove to Cave in Rock, Illinois where you can take a ferry across the Ohio River to Kentucky. Dexter really liked when we got out of the car while going across the river. We also, went to the state park and went inside the cave. It was an amazing thing to see. The weather was in the 40-50 degree range our whole trip so of course we had to returned home tonight to about three inches of snow on the ground with more to happe...

Hello to all Our Internet service did some updating and changed our emails around. By doing this I have no record of email addresses unless you have sent me one in the last two days. Please email me at cksk99@tswireless.net so I can get them updated again. UGGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!! Thanks Becky Rick and Boys PSB Gals and Guys(maybe who ever see this first could send me all of them from the list) Dawn

TIRED FROM HIKING RELAXING IN ROCKING CHAIR MASK WE ALL MADE FOR SCHOOL BEE COSTUME FOR HALLOWEEN CAROUSEL AT MALL ICE CREAM FACE FUNNY FACE IN NEW CLOTHES Well I am glad October is over. It seemed like such a long and busy month. Now the next two month I think are going to be even busier with the Holidays. Last Sunday we all went to Allerton Park and walked the trails. It was such a beautiful day. We rolled down the hill of the open prairie area. Dada could not believe I did that. Dexter took snacks to school last Monday. We made cheerios treats and decorated them for Halloween. Tuesday we had parent teacher conference. Dexter teacher said he is doing very well. Friday I attended school with Dexter for a fun craft day. We played outside, made ghost and spiders out of paper and most importantly, had SNACK. I think all the parents had a good time. We went Trick-or-Treating to about 8 houses. It was exhausting for all of us. After that we went to a Halloween party but did not last very l...

Dirty Sticker Face Tarp Strap Belt Hot Air Balloons We Saw Mama and Dexter's painted pumpkins It has been busy around here. I have been working the past three days so Dexter has been with everyone of the family members. Today he and Dada spent the day working outside. Dexter was a dirty little boy when I stopped by our house this morning. He had been eating apples off of the tree. So a little juice mixed with a little dirty dirty face. Dexter and I took a walk after I got home while Dada is helping drive a truck for a farmer. We watched the combine unload the corn into the BIG wagon. Dexter thought that was great. I notice he had on some pant that I thought were to big for him. Dada had rigged up a belt using a tarp strap. What will us country people come up with next. Dexter and I went with group from a local daycare to a pumpkin farm. He had fun playing in the hay maze and corn box. Instead of a sand box it was filled with corn. We picked out some pumpkins for our house. Aunt Ja...

Smile Jumping with cousins at our cookout 1-2-3 GO Tree Climber It has been a busy month since our last post. The weather has been great Fall temps. Still not sure if we are ready for it to get colder yet,though. Dexter has been attending Pre-K and is starting to get adjusted to the schedule. He talks more everyday about different kids and what he did that day. Every Friday the kids are allowed to pick out a book from the library and bring it home for the week. Dexter has picked out some good ones. We attended his open house and a family play group. Dexter stayed with his Aunt Jamie and Uncle Mike last weekend overnight. They went to Curtis Orchard and brought home a pumpkin. We cooked a pig and had a get together at our home this past weekend. Dexter had a great time playing with all of his friends and cousins. Mama participated in a walk for diabetes yesterday at a park in Champaign. Dada and Dexter played at the park and walked to McDonalds for breakfast. By last night he was one...

Hurry Mama-My Bag is Heavy Ready for School Playing in Sandbox Today was Dexter's first day of pre-k. He started out the school year with a rotten cold. Other then the cold I think he did really well. Came home in different shorts so we thought he wet himself, but the teach sent a note and said the slide was wet when he went down it. He got a snack schedule and he takes snacks TOMORROW. Not quite prepared for all this yet, must get organized. We were having trouble with our computer so over the weekend finally got a laptop and got connected this morning. I really do not know what I would do with internet. I actually sat with Chris last night and watched a football game. Dexter stayed with the Mitchell Grandparents on Sat. overnight while we attended a wedding.

Hold On Tight Mama and Dexter on Giant Slide Family Photo 6 months Home Helicopter Pilot Cars-His Favorite Word Dexter will be starting Pre-K on Monday the 8th. He is going to be in class with Cousin Rachel. Last weekend we went to Springfield to the fair grounds for a Family Carnival put on by the Shriners. They have maybe ten rides for various ages and food. We all had a great time riding the rides. Dexter rode his first roller coaster and the tilt-a-whirl. Dada did not like the tilt-a-whirl. This long weekend has been a busy one. We went to Aunt Jamie and Uncle Mike's house for a cookout last night. He played so hard with all the kids there. Also, Congrats to them on their new engagement. Today Dada and Dexter worked on more landscaping while Mama had a day of wedding dress shopping with Aunt Jamie and Grandma Patti. It was fun to look at and try on all those dresses. Dexter is now suppose to be picking up his room so we can have some dinner.

Great-Grandma Marie and Dexter Dexter and Cousin Cole hanging out before Parade Face Painted at Adoption Family Picnic Dexter being a Monkey Playing with Toys--OF COURSE The last few weeks have been beautiful weather here in Illinois. Today marks our 6th month since returning from Ukraine as a family. In the last 6 months so much has changed with Dexter, Chris and I. He has grown from this little boy into quite a strong, smart little MAN!! It is had to believe that we spent 30 days in a foreign country and LOVED IT!! Almost everyday one of us will bring up something about our trip. I read about our entire trip a couple of nights ago when I could not sleep at 2 am. It was great to look back and read what we were seeing and experiencing at that time. We went to a family picnic hosted by our adoption agency here in Illinois that did our homestudy for us. We met several others from around our area that have children from China, Russia, Guatemala, etc. We had one lady that knew Dexter...

Bumper Boat at Zoo New Friends Awesome Water Area Fun Bee Costume given to Dexter Well this past month has been very busy and has gone so fast. Since posting last Dexter has gone to a tractor show with his Dada. Dexter and I took a long weekend trip to friends house in Southern Indiana. We went to the zoo and saw lots of animals. The giraffe came right down to him. He liked that. We went to a city park that had a water area in it. Dexter loves to swim or be around any water. He played very well with his four new friends. We have also had local friends over for more play days. He went camping overnight with his Kirkland grandparents. His Mitchell grandparents took him to the Amish Country for a day outing. He is growing so fast and his language is progressing everyday. He does very well at his ABC's and numbers and has about ten colors down. Today is Dada's Birthday so we fixed him an apple crisp and are taken him out for dinner tonight. He gets to see his Uncle Rick this weeken...