We were lucky for Thanksgiving this year- Popcan and Momcan, Dave and Laura (and future baby Cates), and Emily and Alejandro came out to Colorado!
We've been busy this fall! We enjoyed carving pumpkins. Gauge wanted to keep relighting them all the time!
Scott took Victoria deer hunting near Grand Junction and they got one!
We have had three snow days off of school already. Love that 5:30 am call...
Anastasha won the "Einstein Award" at the Strasburg Elementary science fair! She got her idea from Emily, who almost went to Washington DC with that experiment.
Way to go, Anastasha!We had a great Halloween! Gauge was "a army," Victoria a 50's girl, and Anastasha a girly pirate.
Scott and I were Axl Rose and Slash from Guns n' Roses- Welcome to the jungle, sweet child of mine!
We had our 5th annual Authier Halloween party- about 50-60 guests this year. We had nonstop trick-or-treaters, who all know me! "Oh my gosh, it's Mrs. Authier's house!"
This is a good window into Gauge's personality- he can be such a ham!
We had so much fun, that Sunday morning Nov 1st Gauge asked me, "Can we have another Halloween party tonight?"Here are some highlights from our summer:
Anastashas broke her arm on her new rollerblades- elbow and wrist!
We spent a lot of time with friends at Aurora Reservoir- Anastasha had to wrap up her arm with towels, saran wrap, & plastic bags; but it never got wet!
This is pretty much what Gauge looks like every time he eats!
We went to Jackson Hole with the Melvilles.
The girls with the Aunts.
Gauge fishing with Daddy.
After Jackson Hole, we drove to Utah. We celebrated Anastasha's 10th birthday early.
The kids giving Bronco a bath.
We made two trips up to South Dakota this summer. The first was for the Fourth of July, the second was for Aunt Christa's wedding.
Aunt Christa and the kids were in the Vivian Fourth of July parade- and they won third place!!
The kids loved playing with the barn kittens. Anastasha had a broken arm this summer from rollerblading!
Beautiful Christa on her wedding day.
The girls felt pretty special helping serve the punch, and Max and Gauge passed out programs.
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The cousins went golfing, swimming, and hot tubbing together.
Gauge and Tommy played together really well.
Last August, a little kindergarten boy walked into my music room, and I decided that he was my new favorite student. I found his teacher after school to tell her that Gauge was my favorite, and she told me he was in foster care waiting for a family. After adoption classes, a homestudy, fasting and lots of prayers, we decided to have Gauge and his sister, Anastasha as part of our family. Gauge is 6 and in kindergarten, and Anastasha is 10 and in 5th grade. They joined us in February, and they were officially adopted this August 31st. Because of foster care rules, we haven't been able to post their picture until now.
On adoption day, we were lucky to have my parents, Scott's parents, Marty, Uncle Phil and Laurie there. There were also other special people that worked with these kids for the past few years.
Judge Delgado and our family after the adoption. She kept this case even though she moved court rooms. She has a special bond with Gauge and Anastasha.
The kids got a trampoline for their adoption present, since foster rules are strict with trampolines.
What a special day! Victoria has been a great big sister, and we are so excited for the kids to finally be "ours!"