What a wonderful two weeks...

These last two weeks have been filled with so much fun and excitement, I'm not sure how to describe or explain just how much fun it has been.  To start off we've had family in town and have been trying to spend as much time as possible with them.  My parents, Grandfather, Godmother (all from Iowa), an Aunt and Uncle (from Texas), and Jarrett's brother Nolan (from New York) came in for the adoption celebration and Thanksgiving.  Even my brother from Iowa flew in and surprised us on Thanksgiving morning. With our family that lives here and our family from out of state, it was a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I knew this Thanksgiving was going to be special but I had no idea just how special it turned out to be.

With so many stories to share, I had better just jump right in and share...

What are you thankful for?...

The boys have been learning about Thanksgiving at school and to them it was Turkey Day rather thank Thanksgiving.  On Thanksgiving morning we went to church and on our way home we each took turns asking each other what we were thankful for.  Michael was the first to answer and he said he was thankful for his Batman toy.  Next was Gabriel and just as I was expecting him to say that he was thankful for his Superman costume, he instead said, "I'm thankful to get to stay with you Mom and Dad." 

Gabriel and Michael, this Thanksgiving Daddy and I want you to know we are so thankful for you!

First time bowlers...

ks Last weekend we decided to take the boys bowling for the first time.  Although when we walked into the bowling alley, the boys were more excited about the video games rather than the actual bowling, we were able to convince them to give it a try.  We had a great time watching as the boys attempted to roll or maybe I should say "throw" the ball down the alley.  We decided that we should have bumpers and given that I was also playing on their lane, I didn't argue.  Michael and Gabriel actually got really into bowling and to our surprise they are actually really good (for their age).  Gabriel scored 65 and Michael scored 64 and as we played more games Gabriel tried to work on the actual approach and putting his fingers in the holes.  Michael on the other hand, decided to try his uncle Adam's approach (even though he's never seen it), which is to throw the ball as hard as he could down the alley.  Surprisingly, it actually worked. 

Rockin' Egg

One of my favorite games as a child was Rotten Egg.  It isn't a game you can buy at the store and just as your probably asking yourself what it is, Rotten Egg really isn't a well known game either.  But, if you've had the privilege of getting to play it, it is a game you will never forget.  It turns out Rotten Egg was made out in my mom's home when she was little.  Being one of 15 kids living on a rural farm, you can imagine they didn't have an abundance of toys and as she puts it, "we had to make games up".  So this is where Rotten Egg comes from.  It goes something like this... A person walks into a store looking to buy some eggs.  Sitting along the floor are several colored eggs (kids) waiting to be purchased.  The buyers asked the store manager what colors eggs he/she has available and then the buyer picks a color to "test out."  Then the buyer and the store manager proceed to pick up the egg and put either salt or pepper on the egg to see if they are good.  It the buyer picks salt the egg gets swung through the air to pure delight of the egg, but if the buyer chooses pepper, the egg better hold on tightly because they are shook up and down to see if they are not spoiled (if the egg breaks apart (or the arms and legs come apart) that means the egg is bad and then they say the egg is stinky.  I know it sounds kind of strange but it really is a lot of fun... I promise, here are some pictures of the boys playing Rotten (or in their words Rockin') Egg.

Great Grandpa Ray...

Grandpa Ray, my grandfather, stayed with us for the last 10 days and I think if we could convince him to move in with us permanently, the boys would be ecstatic.  The boys were fascinated with the stories Grandpa Ray shared, his pictures of him and Grandma Virginia and his rosary.  Grandpa and Gabriel really bonded and here's a picture I just couldn't resist taking... instead of having Jarrett or I read him his bedtime story, Gabriel insisted that Grandpa Ray read it. 

An Olive Farm and a Cotton Field...

While we had visitors in town, I tried to plan a few things that we could do that were unique to Arizona and something they couldn't see back in Iowa.  So we went on a tour of an Olive Oil Farm in Queen Creek.  Although I some how neglected to take a single picture of the olive oil farm tour, it was actually very interesting and learned there are actually many types of olive oil that can be purchased. 

While we were waiting for the Olive Oil tour to start we noticed across the road there was a cotton field and well, that caught our interest and we couldn't resist walking over to take a closer look. 



Aunt Marjory purchased these fine accessories for the boys. Thanks Marjory!





If you've never seen cotton up close, it is actually really white and feels just like a cotton ball with seeds. Okay maybe that is the city-folk in me, but I just never thought it would be like that.

Although there is much more to share, I have to call it a night. 

Part two, coming soon!

Until next time,

Angie

Angie



Introducing Gabriel Joseph and Michael William Haskovec

On Saturday, November 20, Gabriel, Michael, Jarrett and I officially became a family... even in the court of law.  We joined several hundred other families in celebrating their adoption which just happened to fall on National Adoption Day.

It was a day full of emotions and like I shared with Jarrett, I have never felt so blessed. Not only have we been blessed with two amazing and wonderful little boys, but the family and friends that were there to support and celebrate with us, is truly heart-warming. 

It is a day that I will recount in detail in the coming weeks but for now I'd like to officially introduce you to our sons...

Gabriel Joseph Haskovec


and

Michael William Haskovec

Us outside the courtroom waiting to be called in!

Until next time,
Angie

Light the Night...

Ever since Jarrett's battle with Hodgkin's and Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Jarrett and I have been passionate about supporting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  We've each completed our own endurance events with Team in Training, Jarrett's volunteered to help plan a patient services conference and I'm currently volunteering to chair the Volunteer Committee for Team in Training.  When Jarrett was recently asked to share his story for the Light the Night campaign, he didn't hesitate a second in saying yes. 

As he shared his story and learned more about Light the Night, he suggested we participate in the event this year as a family.  So last night, we joined several thousand other people in coming together to raise money, support the cause, celebrate his health and remember all those who have lost their battle. Jarrett's parents joined us and it was a powerful night as we walked along Tempe Town Lake with our lighted red and white and gold balloons to symbolize hope, strength and love.  The red balloons were for all those who supported someone going through Leukemia, Lymphoma or mylomia.  The white balloons were reserved for the survivors and the gold for those who fought but lost their battle.  The night was lit with color as we walked 2 miles to celebrate all that the LLS does.  I was worried the boys wouldn't be able to walk that far but they did a great job walking, we were very proud of them.

Unfortunately I forgot my camera but we still were celebrating this morning at breakfast.  We're all so thankful daddy gets to carry that white balloon and we pray we never have to journey down that scary and terrible road again.  We give thanks daily for these precious little boys but we also give thanks that God has blessed Jarrett with his health.

Until next time,
Angie

He's just like his dad...

One of the stories Jarrett's mom and dad share about him when he was a little boy was that he could sit for hours playing by himself.  I guess his mom would go and check on him after a while just to make sure he was okay and when she'd find him, she'd see him playing quietly and very content with his toys. 

Yesterday, I had the same experience happen to me.  Daddy and Gabriel went on a trip to get the car washed thus leaving Michael and me home.  I was busy trying to move the loads of laundry through the washer and drier as quickly as I could and in between, clean the spare bedroom for our guests that arrive this week.  I had gotten into quite the routine racing here and there, when I realized it had been a little while since I heard Michael yell "Mommy".  Usually when Gabriel, Michael and I are home, and they are playing, Michael will yell about every 5-10 minutes, "Mommy"  just to make sure I"m still there.  I guess I hadn't realized how accustom I have become to hearing it until all I heard was silence. 

As I walked into the living room I saw this...

He was so involved in playing with his toys that he didn't even notice as I walked up to him to take his picture.  Then as the camera clicked he looked up, smiled and said, "Hi Mommy." 

I said, "Are you having fun?", he said "yes" and went right back to playing.  As I walked backed into the guest room I smiled and thought to myself, he's just like his daddy. 

For the next 2 hours he played just like his daddy did several years ago.

Oh he melts my heart.

Until next time,
Angie

A few posts behind... pt 2

BIRTHDAY BIRTHDAY BIRTHDAY...
Gabriel had a wonderful birthday. It seemed to me it was more like Christmas for Gabriel than his birthday. When I was growing up my family always made a bigger deal about Christmas than birthdays but for this first year we wanted to make it something he will remember.  I guess we wanted to make his birthday special and for his first birthday with us, I guess it was okay to go over the top right? Okay enough, trying-to-justify why you went so cray mom, here are the photos to prove it....

Gabriel was trying to assist me in getting a good picture... Michael being the comedian he is, would turn his head away and smile every time I tried to take a picture.

We gave him clothes, you can tell he wasn't as excited about them as all of the toys he received.

When we asked Gabriel what kind of birthday party he wanted he said over and over SUPERMAN!  I had no idea it was so hard to find Superman these days.  Here's the cake Daddy found after I called 4 grocery stores, all of which said they couldn't do Superman.  Good job Daddy, you did great!

He was concentrating pretty hard as he opened up his gifts.



Make a wish!

 Until next time,
Angie

A few posts behind...

I sat down this afternoon to upload the most recent photos from our camera.  As soo as they finished downloading, I realized that the last few weeks have been so busy, I'm slacking on my blogging responsibilities and therefore need to catch up.  So here goes a series of posts about the last few weeks in the fast lane...

HALLOWEEN AFTERMATH...

Ready to head out for their first trick-or-treating experience!

Here's what they brought home... what are we going to do with all of this?

From candy to diabetes...

A few weeks ago was the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation 2010 Walk to cure diabetes.

My aunt Anita asked the boys and me if we'd like to join them for the JDRF walk and I thought it would be a fun experience.  With how fortunate we've been, Jarrett and I really want to teach the boys about how important it is to give back and think of others who are in need of help or less fortunate.  So a few weeks ago, the boys and I went with Anita, Andrea and their friends to walk for the cure.. 

Coca-Cola, the company Anita works for was a sponsor and the boys LOVED the Coke polar bear.  I guess Michael was curious about how the bear kept his pants up (at least I hope he wasn't trying to pull the bear's pants down).

Here's Aunt Anita and Cousin Andrea with the boys and me having some pre-walk snacks.

Gabriel and Anita walking for a cure! 

And here they are running to the finish line.

The walk was a lot of fun and thanks Anita for inviting us!

Until next time,
Angie

Life is defined in a single moment...

Last Friday, November 5, Gabriel's golden birthday, I was at work and received a text message from my youngest sister MaeLyn who lives in Iowa.  It was actually a picture text of her with a message that said "24 feet up in a tree, I can see you from here"  Not understanding exactly what she was doing I texted back "what are you doing?" to which she replied "hunting." "Be safe and have fun" was my response and I went on about my day.

Less than 3 hours later as I was leaving work I realized that I had received another text message and this time from my dad.  Not thinking anything of it I started for my drive to the school to pick up the boys, which happens to be one of the things that I look forward to most, well on work days that is.  As I opened up the text message from my dad, I was thinking he was sending his oldest grandson a happy birthday message.  Instead the message read this..."Here's the situation...Aaron (my sister's boyfriend) fell 25 feet out of his deer stand...were at NH (our hometown) hospital...his T12 and L1 are fractured and we are heading to Rochester (Mayo Clinic) now...airlifting him... more later... please pray"

Immediately thinking the worse I called my dad right away and said "oh my God what happened?"  To which he calmly (or at least pretended to be calm) explained that MaeLyn and Aaron had gone bow hunting and were in a tree stand.  Aaron let MaeLyn use his safety harness given that she was a novice hunter and was there more to keep him company that to do any actual hunting.  Dad didn't seem to know many details but only that Aaron lost his balance up on the tree stand and fell more than 2 1/2 stories off the stand and to the ground below.  After getting him to the New Hampton hospital they took some x-rays and found 2 of his vertebrae had been fractured and due to the seriousness of his injuries they were airlifting him to Mayo Clinic in Rochester.  Dad said they didn't have any other information at this time as they were racing up to Rochester to be with him. I asked how MaeLyn was and he said doing the best she can and then I asked to talk with her.

As she got on the phone I could really only understand about every fifth word between her uncontrollable sobbing and please pray Ang, please pray.  Trying my best to remain composed I said we will MaeLyn we'll all pray very hard.  Please keep us posted and we love you.  Talk to you soon.

Over the next 12 hours, which seemed like 4 days, we received texted updates all which seemed to reinforce the message that we needed to send as many prayers as we could.

MaeLyn would text... I know he's in good hands, I just hope he is ok, Angie I feel so bad...
Me: It isn't your fault...
MaeLyn: He gave his safety harness to me ang
Me:  It still isn't your fault, it was an accident, keep the faith, we are sending lots of prayers..

Dad texted after they got to see him for the first time upon arriving at Mayo in Rochester... We just saw him and he is in lots of pain...he is going into surgery...looks like he is in need of lots of prayers...his back is messed up bad...

Upon arriving at Mayo the doctors assessed him and determined he needed to go into emergency surgery not only to see the damage but to start the repair process right away.  Before going into surgery Dad texted...
Here is update... surgery at 10 p.m. and going in from back...T12 is smashed and L1 is bad...not sure on spine...will take 3 to 5 hours before we know so pray...
 With my lack of medical knowledge I asked what does that mean and dad texted back, above waist paralysis and spinal cord damage is what they are worried about...

At 4 in the morning we received another update... surgery over, lots of metal and it will take months of recovery, spine was out of place, now waiting to see him, will be long road but he has a good chance of recovery...he is young and strong so that is good.

With every new message it gave us hope and reminded us to give thanks to God because he was at least still alive and that surgery went so well. 

For the last 5 days I have to admit my thoughts continuously drift back to Aaron and what his family and MaeLyn must be going through. We know now that this his recovery is not measured in days, weeks or even months. We also know that in just a matter of 5 very short days Aaron has made marathons of improvement.  He went from being in a medically induced coma to being awake, alert and even sitting up.  To think about the degree of injury he has to his back and how well he is doing, is a miracle in itself.  And Aaron seems determined to accept what challenge is in front of him and forge through to get where he wants to be.  We are thankful Aaron has feeling from the waist up and is able to use his arms.  We are thankful he didn't sustain a head injury and still has his outgoing personality and smart wit.  We continue to pray that someday he will regain feeling in his legs and lower half of his body and understand this is where this journey is measured in years, not days.

Although my sister and Aaron have been together for some time, I have only had the privilege of meeting him this past summer when we visited Iowa.  In our short stay, he made quite the impression on us and especially  with two little boys.  Aaron went with us to Toy Story 3 and Michael insisted he sit on Aaron's lap.  Half way through the movie Michael fell asleep and seemed content as could be sitting with his new buddy Aaron.  It is clear to see how happy Aaron makes my sister and how much they care for each other. 

I told MaeLyn that although they are going through hell right now, God will bring them through.  And although their life will never be the way it was prior to 4:30 p.m. on Friday, November 5, their life can be better and someday they'll look back and know that this is a defining moment in their life.  I know the road ahead will have its peaks and definitely its valleys, but as they continue on together with hope, faith and a positive determination to get better, it indeed will.

Please pray for Aaron, his family and MaeLyn as they go through this difficult time. 
Aaron we constantly have you in our thoughts and always in our prayers.

Until next time,
Angie

Aaron is the second from the right with my youngest sister MaeLyn.

His Golden Birthday!

The first picture we took of Gabriel

Gabriel now... I just can't get over those eyes!

Tomorrow will be a big milestone for Gabriel.  He entered this world 5 years ago on November fifth and tomorrow, we get to celebrate his golden birthday with him.  Although it sounds strange to say this, being that we have only known each other for six months, but in a way, I think about tomorrow and the thought, "where did the time go" crosses my mind.

Just six months ago Jarrett and I nervously walked up to the home of Gabriel and Michael's foster family, rang the door bell and were immediately greeted with two adorably handsome and beautiful faces.  Immediately Gabriel took my hand and led me inside, all while looking up at my face and smiling from ear to ear.  I remember my heart melting as I felt, what seemed to me, tiny fingers, leading me from room to room, and when, just 5 minutes after meeting him, he said, "This is my new mom", I knew that he was forever in my heart, forever a part of me, and that my world had just changed.  For one my new purposes in life is to make the lives of these precious little boys better and I vowed, I will always try to do my best to do just that. 

Although we've only been together for six months, I honestly feel like they have been a part of our lives forever.  Jarrett and I talk about how we hardly remember life before them.  Maybe that is God's way of helping one to forget all the painful years of wanting a family and sending prayers that seemed to go unanswered.  I guess, as I look back now on that time, I can't say I'm thankful to have endured it, but I am thankful for leading me to where we are today.  I feel so amazingly blessed and appreciative for their smiling faces, for the way they view the world and how they make me feel love.  Then, I wake up each morning and the love I felt yesterday in no way compares to the love I feel for them today. 

I asked Gabriel today what he thinks of being four for the last time and he said, "Mom, it makes me kind of sad but I'm so excited to be five!"  And I guess that is the way I should look at his milestone tomorrow.  Although the six months have gone by so quickly, we have had a completely wonderful six months full of new experiences, countless firsts for all of us, and more happiness than I have ever felt.  Although I haven't been with the boys their entire lives, I think they feel the same way.  And, if the first six months have been like this, I can hardly wait to see what the future holds! I'm so thankful to say we are a family. 

So Gabriel, on the eve of your fifth birthday, I want you to know that I love you to the moon and back a million times over.  You are a kind spirit that makes the world a better place just by having you here.  I look forward to watching you grow, and I want you to know that we believe in you and will always be your biggest supporters.  You are smart, considerate and completely loving.  I hope you have a wonderful birthday and I can't wait to wake you up tomorrow morning to celebrate with you on your very special day.

I love you always and forever.  Your mom,
Angie