Let it snow Let it snow Let it snow!!!

Today we woke-up to a wonderful view. SNOW!!! Yea. Ella's official first snow. So far we have about 5 in. and it is still falling. Jacob wanted to stay home from school because they never get a snow day anymore but I made him go :( mean mom I know. Hopefully the snow stays around for the weekend and he can play in it.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. My Aunt Nancy , cousin Brett, and cousin Michael,E.J. and Yuri came to visit. It was really nice to see them all and visit. It was great of them to travel so far.
Well that's about it I just wanted to tell you about the snow! Happy Day!

Adoption Day!

Ella and her Aunt Jessica

Eating out after the big day.

The judge and us.

We had Ella's adoption day in court on Nov. 6th. It is her initial hearing not her finalizing. She has to be with us for 6 months before we can finalize, but we can do her initial and then we don't have to go back down to Denver to finalize. We wanted to go this day because our adoption agency has the day especially marked out for their families to go to court. There were about 27 families there. Some were finalizing their adoptions and others were doing their initial hearing like us. We had a potluck lunch at 12:00 and then the families were called up to go to their court hearing. It was a good day. :) Ella was so good in the court room. She started cooing while the judge talked and asked us questions. David crawled under the table we were sitting at, the judge thought he was so cute and for our picture with her she asked him if she could hold him, he just put up his arms and let her pick him up as if he had known her all the time. So now on January 16 the court will open up our file and sign off on it and send us our papers and Ella will be " official". http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_10924265 this is a article in the Denver Post on the day.

Nov 07 2008 - VID00010

Nov 07 2008 - VID00010

This is a guest blogger for Crystal trying to see if I can add video to her blog. This is a short video of the court date Ella had on Nov. 7th.

Hi ya all! Sorry no pictures for awhile. Our camera broke and we are using my mom's but I cant' get the pictures on my computer. But I guess I can still write. We are all ok. David has a cold possible turning into croup (I think that is how it is spelled) a really bad cough. Ella is getting it I think. She was coughing today and is sleeping alot and has a runny/stuffy nose. Yea fun times! We had a really fun Halloween. Eddie's sisters came over and the kids, also Brian,Jody,Logan and Coy came. We did some trick or treating and then ate chili and pizza,yum. The weather was great. We also toasted marsmellow out side. Later that night we watched STRANGERS. It was a little scary. The part about it being based on a true story is the scary part. Then we went to bed. I know, we live such an exciting life:) Well I have to go Eddie just called and we are heading to the store. I will catch you up more later.

A very uneventful video

Here's Ella doing nothing. I have been trying to remember how to add a video, and I did only it is pretty boring, although it has a very pretty baby in it if I do say so myself!

First trip to the mountains

The Moby wrap and a tired mom:)

Eddie wanted to take David to this rock to, but mom said no.
Look I got all wet!
Just relaxing by the river.
Where's David?
Ladybug on our little sis.

nap time?
The rock that mom would let David go to.
Freeeeezing!
BRRRRRR mommy it's cold!
Where's Jacob?

We all went to the mountains on Wed. Up the Thompson Canyon to a park. It was a really nice day. The only thing that bugged us was the bees during our lunch. We played in the river and on the playground. We decided to leave at 3:00 and stop at the dam store. We had been there for about 15 min. when a huge rain storm came. We were trapped in the store. All these tourist started to come in from the rain, it was like a scene from a movie or the beginning of a good book.

We stayed for a little while longer and then braved the elements and ran to the car. It made for a really fun day! On the way home we stopped at a second hand baby store and I bought Ella a Moby wrap. I have been looking on line at them and had decided that was what I wanted for her to carry her around when we do things. We put her in it this morning and she really liked it. We are planning on going to the museum or the zoo the end of this week so we will get to try it out for real! I think it will be great.

Daddy's hockey fans

Eddie had a championship hockey game last Sat. They lost but he had the cutest fans cheering for him. We made shirts for Jacob, David, and Ella. Ella wore her pink skirt so she could be the cheerleader.

Thank you EJ

Thanks to EJ, Ella now has a baby name tag thing yea! Thank you EJ. That was really easy once you told me how. I knew it should be but I have to make all computer things hard.

KX85 2007

Jacob's new kx85



Jacob bought a new dirt bike last week.It is his "new baby." He is doing lawn mowing and helping me with Ella and David this summer to pay for it. School is starting on Aug. 13. He will be in 6th grade. He is excited about starting middle school. He is going to be in the band and probably play the saxaphone. That's all for now.

Ella Marie Lopez

Jacob and David meeting Ella for the first time. Ella doing what she does best.
Mommy and Daddy, love at first sight!

We brought Ella home on Friday, July 19, after spending the day before with her and her cradle care family. She is so sweet. She weighed 4 lb and 10 oz and was 17 1/2 in. long. Her birthday is July 6, the same as her cousin Yuri:) We still sometimes can't believe she is here. We got a call on Monday of last week saying that there was a baby girl born and they were considering us for her forever family. We then had a formall presentation on Wed. That is where they tell you all the back ground and medical on the birth parents and then ask if you want to proceed, of course we said yes! She was in Berthoud at her cradle care house, and Eddie and I went to meet her on Tuesday in the morning and then brought the boys back that evening and had dinner with them and held and kissed and cooed over our baby girl. We then went home and on Friday went back at 9:00a.m. and had a placement ceremony. Our case worker was there and the cradle care family and us. We read some poems and lit a three wick candle to symbolize the birth parents, cradle care family, and us, her forever family. Then we passed Ella around and everyone said a little blessing or wish for her. It was really nice. We then packed our precious gift up and we all went home, but of course we had to stop and see Great Grandpa and Grandma first and then Grandma at work. Then we got to go home! Ella has been a true joy and blessing. She is a wonderful baby. Eating and sleeping and pooping. She seems to have a very sweet sense about her and is very calm. She actually does not mind being held by David. David is being a great big brother and Jacob is my life saver. This all happened so fast that I have had to work a little bit this week and next, before our vacation, and I can depend on Jacob to help me with Ella and David. I really don't know what I would do without him. We are in aw of our little girl. We thank God everyday for the blessings he has given our family and for the precious gift of a child.

Summer news

Well we are busy with summer things. June is going to be a very busy month. Jacob has decided that he would like to try boxing. There is a program through the rec center. The guy who runs it has been doing so for 12 years, he has 3 son's who participate and his oldest son is in the Olympics. Jacob had his first practice yesterday. They practice 4 times a week for 2 hours! Jacob is very sore today:) I think it will be good for him. They talk allot about respect for others and yourself and discipline to do what you want and stay with it even when it gets hard. Right now he is in the non-competitive. We will see how he does and if he wants to maybe try competitive later.

David is taking swimming lessons 2 days a week at the therapy pool right down the street from us. His friend Matthew is also taking them. Yesterday was also his first class. He has a really good time in the water. He can blow bubbles and lets me dunk him. He is also still doing his music class, with Matthew also. That is on Wed. and then we usually have lunch with Grandma.

We are going to try and take a vacation in July. We are thinking of going to Yellowstone National Park. I hope we can go, it seems like a long time since we have been on a vacation all together.

We are also lucky that the tornado that went through here did not come to close to us. Marc was working in Windsor when the tornado struck. His car got some pretty good hail damage but that was ok, because he was ok. We have not been to Windsor to see the damage but we did drive out of town a little ways and saw 2 farm houses that were pretty much demolished. It's amazing what wind can do. One person died in that storm. We have of course been hearing so many stories about how people survived and what they went through. Incredible!

That's all for now. I will hopefully have some new pictures to post soon. Hope everyone is doing well. Take care.

Beautiful Day

Today is gorgeous! I feel very happy today which is a big thing because lately I have had the blues and can't seem to get out of them. I know probably just a woman thing. It also probably has something to do with not being able to fit in to allot of my summer clothes, well mostly the shorts and capri pants uggg! I have started a weight loss program through a magazine called SELF we shall see what happens. I am also trying to stop drinking pop. Very hard but definitely doable. Eddie's sister quite pop and lost quite a bit of weight.Hope that works for me. I would like to drop about 20 pounds. I want to feel good about myself and try and be healthier. Days like today really help the mood and I feel like getting out and walking or something, maybe this evening with the boys and Eddie. Here's to summer clothes and fitting into them! YEA!

Eddie's uncle Ray passed away last week. He was 66 years old. He had cancer. I don't like that stuff. It takes to many people to soon. He was Eddie's dad's brother. We were not super close with them, but did enjoy going over to their house every once in a while, they lived in Greeley, in the same house for ever. During the viewing the other night they had put together a power point of pictures and music. It was very touching and made me think about family and all the great times we have together that sometimes we just take for granted. We should take as many pictures and video as possible and enjoy every minute of our time with family. Well ,then reality hit and I of course didn't make it through the day without getting upset with Jacob, David and Eddie. I guess that's just life and thank goodness I get to "start over" tomorrow. Our Family has definitely been blessed, Eddie has lost so many Uncles and Cousins. I don't want to have to experience that for a long time. So everyone take care of yourselves:) So that's my week in a nut shell. On a happier note we are number 33 in the adoption pool. We now have to make a video of our family and things we do. We have 45 days to get it done, I think it will be fun to put together. I haven't decided if we will hire someone to do it or try ourselves. Probably try ourselves and then if it turns out to be really lame or something bring in the professional:) So we will see. Hope everyone is doing well. Love all of you lots. Love Crystal

David's Birthday and skateboard crash

David's skateboard scars

David's 2nd Birthday party!
David's hand print in the middle of his cake!
New skates from Jacob WEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the comments! We are doing ok. David had a great birthday. The Sunday before his birthday he was at church playing with a skateboard and fell on it and got scraped up a bit. Just in time for his pictures. I suppose I could have waited to take his 2 year old pictures until he healed up but he was so cute I just had to take him and get them done while he still had the scrapes:) I will be sending his pictures to all of you soon. Here are some that I took before his big day. Ok so the pictures went to the top. I don't know how to get them down here where I want them. Sorry.

Well we probably won't be getting our baby girl. It seem the birth mother has changed her mind. I say seems because we really don't know. Nobody can get a hold of her and she won't return any of the agency's phone calls. We are pretty sad:( It is definitely her choice what she wants to do I just wish she would call and let them know what she decided. I understand wanting to keep your baby. I cant imagine being in a position where I needed to make a choice like that. We are so thankful for are boys and think they are the greatest. We would love to add to our family with a baby girl. God has the right baby for our family and I will just keep trusting him. He knows what's best for us.

Well I don't know if anyone is out there, or if any one reads our blog. I hope so. If you do please leave a little note to let us know. We are still waiting on our baby girl. When I have more time I am going to explain all about our adoption. Until then.........................................................................

Hello! I haven't written in a while. I've just been busy with stuff. David had his 2nd birthday on February 22nd. We went to Chuck E. Cheese with our friends and their baby who will be 1 in March. The adults had fun playing the games. Jacob took a friend so he didn't have to hang with us :) David just ran around mostly. We then had a family birthday party at our house on Sunday. David decided that his cake was not cool enough so he put his hand print in it! We ate around that part! He got lots of fun things. One of his favorite things was a baby stroller with a baby that he can push around. Grandma Joan got that for him. He would not open any more presents after opening that one. He just pushed that baby around the rest of the time,well until Jacob opened his roller skates he got David and put them on him and we went outside. It was a fun day. I will have to post pictures later. I only have like 20 min. to sit and write until my next customer comes. Oh and p.s. There may be a baby girl being added to our family in the very near future! I will write more on that subject soon! Love you all. Crystal

2008 A new year begins! We had a very nice Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas Day, Eddies family came over to our house and spent the day. Very busy that day but very fun. Lots of kids and running around:) David liked his cousins shopping cart the best and we had to run interference between Emry who is 4 and David. Sharing is not in their vocabulary:) Christmas Day just seems to go by to fast and now January is almost over! Jacob got a motorcycle for Christmas and finally got to ride it last weekend YEA! David is happy with just about anything, especially if it makes noise or you can make noise with it, like banging it on something:) Well I have run out of things to say without boring you to much. Have a good day:) P.S. yes Jacob is in the kitchen on his dirt bike. It was to cold outside. No, I did not let him ride it around the living room!