Welcome to the World Louis William Frank!

I'm a very proud auntie this week and happy to announce the birth of our newest nephew...

Louis William Frank!

http://www.babyjellybeans.com/web/do/site/home?ID=100954

Baby Louis weighed in at 6 lb. 14 oz. and 18.5 inches long!

(the exact same size as his Daddy Aaron - God works in mysterious ways)

I just can't wait to meet him and hold him!

So thankful Aaron and Megan were there for the delivery and were able to experience the entire hospital stay!

Megan and Aaron holding Baby Louis on his birthday...at last they get to hold their newborn baby boy!

Don't know if there's anything better than holding a newborn!

Already smiling at such a young age!

When I showed Andray this photo he said - "Look Mom, Baby Louie looks just like me!"

I continue to be grateful for children and their sense of equality.

Children don't see color, race, size or other differences in human beings.

It's true - we were all created equally in God's eyes.

Beautiful Mama with her newborn Baby Boy!

Word just can't express how thankful I am to my big brother Aaron and my sissa Megan for having the courage, strength, faith, perseverance and love to bring Baby Louis into our family.

Adoption is such a heart-wrenching and difficult journey, yet incredibly joyous in the end.

Aaron said it perfectly this week..."at the end of the storm you can almost always find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow."

Baby Louis, you are our pot of gold and truly a GIFT!

Continued prayers for your birth mother - may God grant her PEACE and SERENITY all the days of her life. Truly, besides laying down your own life, there is no greater gift in this world than to entrust your child's life with another family.

Hoping this last stretch of the adoption process goes smoothly and Aaron and Megan have safe travels back to Minnesota with their new bundle of joy.

Cannot wait to meet our "Louie from Louisville!"

Ready or Not Kindergarten...Here Comes Rozzy!

Oh what a morning! Jake and I dropped off our Roslyn Ann at Kindergarten.

To say that she was excited and MORE than ready is an understatement!

Again, I'm so thankful Jake could see Roslyn this morning before he left for work.

Can you guess what our bed-time story was last night? 

:)

Instead of having "curly" hair for her first day of Kindergarten, Roslyn decided she wanted "kinky" hair.

So we put the braids in before bedtime last night.

And this was the result of the braids!  Kinky perfection!

Roslyn was so excited to bring her supplies to school at Open House last week!

And she knew EXACTLY which classroom was hers!

WELCOME TO KINDERGARTEN!

So thankful Mrs. Noss is back for another school year to teach Roslyn.

Andray was so proud to show Roslyn around the Kindergarten room at Open House.

Roz is so fortunate to have an older brother to watch over her!

Mrs. Noss is a God-Sent!

Roslyn is going to love having her as a teacher!

Of course, Carrine wanted to sit in a big chair at the desk...just like her BIG SISTER.

Thank you Angie (former daycare mom) for the Hello Kitty lunch box for Roslyn.

Very thoughtful.

Again...who does every little sister want to be like?

Their BIG SISTER!

As soon as Carrine saw Andray and Roslyn grab their back packs this morning, she grabbed hers!

Thanks Roz for handing down your "beloved" Dora back pack to your lil' sister.

Ready or not Kindergarten...here comes Roslyn!

 Can you guess what her favorite color is? ;)

Thankfully my Mom saved again - Roz is wearing the same purple rain coat that I wore in Kindergarten 28 years ago! The coat is literally as good as new!

*****

This morning at school Roslyn FLEW into her classroom. 

I barely got a hug from her ;(

She had absolutely no tears or fear heading to school this morning (which I was grateful for).

I held it together until the principal gave me a hug in the hallway, then my eyes started to tear up.

After being home without Roslyn for just one hour this morning, the tears started falling.

I'm so happy and excited for Roslyn - she is going to LOVE school.

It's just hard to stomach watching your babies grow up!

Life just goes by way too fast!

It's going to be yet another amazing school year at St. Mary's.

First Grade Rocks!

What a morning - Andray Paul is officially a 1st grader!

Andray got himself up this morning and all ready for school.

So glad Jake got to see Andray before he left for work!

Andray even tied his own shoes before we left.

He's pretty proud that he learned how to tie his shoes this summer!

All smiles this morning!

In a blink of an eye Andray is starting his second year at St. Mary's.

Andray gets his own desk this year!

And his teacher's name is Mrs. Peterson. She seems really nice.

And no tears for either of us this morning on our way to school.

Welcome to 1st Grade Andray Paul!

Think he's just a "tad" excited? ;)

It's going to be a great school year!

Our Girls...Pretty in Pink

Over 9 years ago my mom made these beautiful flower girl dresses for our wedding that our precious flower girls, Ashtin and Skyler, wore.

Now our own beautiful girls had a chance to put these dresses on and twirl around.

Brought back great memories from our wedding day!

Our Girls...Pretty in Pink!!

Little girls are just born to TWIRL!

Carrine loved touching the flowers.

Roslyn checking out the rock garden below the deck.

Mom showing the girls her "Pink Garden" in honor of my Gram who survived breast cancer.

Beautiful.

Heading out to Mom's rock garden.

Love photos like these!

Thank you Mom for making these beautiful dresses!

Hugs and kisses are always the best from grandmas.

Love my Roslyn Ann...

Hard to believe this lil' lady will be starting Kindergarten this week!

Our girls...

Love how "innate" it is for a little girl to lift up her dress while she walks!

Strike a Pose!

And she's off!

Sisters...best friends for life!

Without a doubt one of my most favorite pictures from the day!

Life-long friends.

And of course I needed a picture of our Andray.

The big rock in the ground is the rock that Andray put in mom's garden when he was just 2 years old!

Mom and Dad's yard is absolutely breath-taking!

The girls taking a well-deserved rest after walking around the yard.

Carrine wondering where her big sister went ;)

Cheese!

Can't imagine life without this lil' angel...so thankful for CC!

It's so peaceful at Mom and Dad's...love to look at all the flowers.

Still to this day I just absolutely LOVE our flower girl dresses!

Thank you Mom for all the time you spent making them!

So thankful for this lil' lady.

Hard to believe Skyler was this little when she wore this flower girl dress!

Now Sky is off to 6th grade this fall...time goes way too fast!

Mom and Carrine.

Mom and Roslyn.

Mom and Andray.

And of course we found time to swing in our pretty dresses!

Thank you Ashtin and Skyler for borrowing your dresses to our girls.

Was so fun to see them twirl and walk around in these beautiful gowns this summer!