Labor Day @ GanGan's

Let me first say that while September 1 was indeed Labor Day, a day to celebrate, it was, for sooooo many families, the day that the agreement between the U.S. and Vietnam ended, and the hopes and dreams of adopting from VN were at best put on hold indefinitely. If you had already gotten a referral by September 1 you can proceed but if not, the door to Vietnam adoption seems to be closing. The doors were "open" for 2 1/2 years but because of some findings of unlawful and unethical activity there are legitimate orphans who will not get to find their "forever family" and that breaks my heart. I'm so sorry for everyone involved but when one door closes, another must open. My heart goes out to all the families involved... I am incredibly grateful for the privlege of being Mommy to the greatest kids in the world and I hope everyone who wished to adopt can fulfill their dream very, very soon.

Since Kevin and I are both in the restaraunt business we work days and hours that most people do not. Kevin was actually off on Labor Day but I headed out to work. He brought the kids to see me around 5:00 and we headed over to Papa and Gan Gan's for a family dinner.
We had, of course a great time. We have a pretty big family (with lots of cute kiddos) so it would be impossible to NOT have a good time!

"Baby Archer"





Cousin Ethan

Matthew & "Booger"

(Yes, I strip my kids down to eat chocolate cake :)

War Eagle!!!

College football is very important in the South and the rivalry between Auburn & Alabama is huge! I'm a die-hard Auburn fan (as are my kids, they just don't know it yet) so I love this time of year. We celebrated the season kick-off at my friends, Melissa & Patrick's house (and their adorable little boy, Miller who is 2yrs as well). They are Alabama fans but we are now old and mature enough to watch football games together (when we were younger things got a little crazy if we were ALL together. Especially the AU vs AL game.)
Anyway, we had lots of fun and I just had to take a few pic's to share.
The kids had just gotten up from their nap when I started changing their clothes and brushing hair so Isabel was in no mood for me to take her picture but I had to try. They are just so damn cute!

Miller

Anthony-Thomas & Miller

Jackson ate way too many cheese puffs!
Sydney
Winston

Melissa, our wonderful hostess (she takes such good care of us!)

Nicole my sis-in-law
Patrick (Daddy to Miller, husband to Melissa, and the chef du jour)

Jackson trying to climb into one of the benches-

Syd, Izzie & Win

We put p.j.'s on the kids and let them watch Elmo