2013 LOTS OF FUN

2013

We were finally able to make our trip to Disney with Alex happen! We were so excited to head to Florida over Spring Break.Little did we know that Universal and Disney were two totally different theme parks. We know now and we loved every moment of both!
We are so excited to be able to take Alex everywhere with us and have it be an enjoyable adventure. It has taken awhile to have him be comfortable to just get in the car and trust that his whole little life wouldn't change again! It has got to be a huge mental adjustment.
Adam has gotten to be almost as tall as Scott. He has his drivers permit  and is enjoying driving. He is doing well. He is a freshman at Rock Canyon and he likes High School! He is involved in a youth group at Castle Rock Bible Church and loves being active.
Alex is doing well in 2nd grade and loves his teacher this year! He has really loved all of his teachers. We are blessed that he loves school. He is doing well and catching up. He still loves recess the most and is a very active young man!
We had a great trip to Minnesota and Jackson Hole. It was nice to get back on track with getting to do some great trips with the family. The economy bounced back a bit and the construction industry bounced back a bit. We feel blessed to be able to spend such memorable times with our boys !

2013

Adam is doing a blog in 8th grade. He asked....and so why haven't you updated since 2012? I said " That's because now I Post everything on Facebook."
But here is a quick update. Everyone is doing fine......Alex continues to adjust at home and school. We had a fabulous time in Florida and Disney was all we hoped it would be. We did not attempt it earlier due to extreme over stimulation. But Alex did great and loved every minute.
Adam is enjoying his new found height and lower voice as well as anticipating driving. He loves Lacrosse and is playing goalie. Driving and parking lessons are taking place and he will be ready for his permit...when that day comes. Alex loves soccer and loves playing goalie as well.
Each year that passes gets easier with Alex and He begins to understand that he is home to stay and that life isn't always throwing him curveballs. We continue to try to help him make sense of his beginning and how that impacts his life and reactions.
It is fun to watch as everyone grows through the process.
Life continues to be a daily growth experience.

2012 Going Fast!

      I can't believe it has abeen a year since I posted. Life does get crazy. We get into a routine, or should I say we run the race. I now know the meaning of Mom's taxi. Adam is in 7th grade and Alex started all day kindergarten. All and all it has been a good year. Alex loves the bus, His teacher and His classmates. The weekends are the challenge for Alex. He likes his daily routine. Recess and lunch are the best...and riding the bus is a big bonus. Adam is taller than I am. He passed me in height at Christmas. Adam also turned 13 at Christmas.He is definately a teenager and is a very thoughtful guy 98% of the time. We will leave the other two percent for you to figure out! We lost Our good buddy Tanner in October. It was a sad time for all of us, He was such a lover of a dog. We now have Huck, and his buddy Rowdie to keep eachother company. Dusty thinks it is grand to have two playmates and runs around like a puppy.It is later in the day when he can hardly move from arthritis. It is tough when you are a dog and almost 14. We are making progress in many areas of Alex's growth,development and his attachment. We will continue to have issues.....They are mostly trust related issues and most of them stem from anxiety and the fear of abandonment. He says things like...."I won't cry when we go to the mountains, because I know we will come back home." also if Adam leaves for a night out...."I miss Adam, but I know he will be back." I can see his progress. He cried for the first time in response to a loss. His hamster Keiki died. He said he missed him,Tanner and Papaw. For the first time last night he said he was sorry for throwing one of his little "I'm fried" tantrums. He had been and angel for dinner out....and we decided to take a drive instead of returning directly home. It is amazing what anxiety that creates! On this Mother's Day, I continue to feel blessed and thankful for the blessings of a happy marriage with a sweet,compassionate husband; and the joys as well as frustrations from raising two very special boys.

Our Spring trip to Wyoming 2011

We had a very nice week. Alex has calmed down when we go on vacation. No more asking 100 times "where are we going. Are we going home? "

We visited all our normal stops. We saw many more buffalo, elk and moose. The streams are running fast and furious. Lots of snow still on the mountains.

We had one day in Yellowstone. The snow there is totally unreal. We had a super trip and a great ride home. Things are getting much easier where travel is concerned with Alex.

Happy New Year 2011

Since our last post, many things have happened. We lost Papaw Clyde in September and it was a crazy fall. I was surprised at how difficult the whole process of losing your Dad can be. We spent some time in Indiana and Mom has spent some time with us in Colorado. We enjoyed her with the whole Gratrix family for Thanksgiving. We also had a special 8oth birthday party for Papa.

We had wonderful holidays here and in Indiana. It is always action packed with Adam's birthday as well as Christmas on the 25th!
We came back from Indiana on the 31st,needless to say we didn't have big New Years Eve plans! We were all in bed by 8:30pm....after leaving Indiana at 6:00am........

We then celebrated Alex's birthday on the 3rd! He understood the whole thing this year. Last year he cried because he had to share his birthday cake. This year he could even sing the song!!!

We had a fun night.

Then on the 7th we celebrated my birthday! We celebrated at The Cheesecake Factory and finished the evening with Red velvet Cheesecake....One piece was enough for all of us!!

We are ready for a wonderful 2011! Ready for all that it has to offer. Adam is already 5-4" and Alex is 41" tall. He was only 35" when he came home. He is catching up and wants to be bigger like his big brother and Daddy!!!!!

Wow!It has been awhile!

We Celebrate Homecoming Day!

We have had Alex home for a year! What a year it has been. To see the growth in this guy has been amazing! He is growing physically as well as emotionally. We are so blessed. He is really a little character.

We can go places and return home without it causing major trauma. We are making progress. Alex loves to swim. Adam and Alex have enjoyed many days in the pool swimming. We started Alex in a support vest at the beginning of summer and have removed all the floating pads....so he is swimming all over the pool by himself. He will swim for hours given the opportunity.

It is fun to see Adam and Alex together. Do we have brother moments? We sure do! those moments when they pester and get on each others nerves.....but we also have the most loving moments you can imagine. That is what it is all about! A year of challenges but most of all of blessings!!!!BIG BLESSINGS!

See our you tube video:Russian adoption Alex's First year

July the 4th!!

We had a fun fourth of July. We started the weekend by going to the Rockies game. It was a beautiful night and the game was quick and the Rockies won! We also got to watch fireworks. We then went to lake on Sunday,Adam and Alex loved going out on the boat. Adam loved tubing and Alex and I liked it until we went into the water and it was freezing!!! There were lots of boats on the water, so tubing was a bit crazy. We sat on the boat in a beautiful part of the lake and enjoyed the day. We left around two thinking Adam had too much sun and it ended up that he was getting a virus. He ended up sick the entire next week and ran a really high fever. Luckily the rest of us did not catch it.