HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Hola to all,
We know it has been awhile and I am sorry for not posting, but we have been extremely busy, and this one will be a quick one too because it is very late, but I had to stay up to watch the NY Yankees play....going on to game 6. We just want to make sure we are keeping everyone in the loop with updates and new pics. Hopefully everyone had a very safe and Happy Halloween. We have enough candy now between our four girls that could make all our teeth fall out. I'd like to think you can never have too many Reese's Peanut Butter cups....they are probably the best candy ever made, along with a few others.
The weekend was very busy since the girls had two birthday parties, along with the Halloween "trick-or-treating" festivities. We had a "Greek Goddess", a "Gypsy", a "Cowgirl", and "Daphne from Scooby-Doo".

The girls had a great time since they got to see both of their grandmothers this weekend. Jason's mom (Mimi) joined us for the weekend and got to go "trick-or-treating" with the girls, Jason, & I which was a lot of fun, and my mom, who was supposed to come visit today and stay the week, surprised us a day early. I can't believe she pulled it off since we talk every single day and she didn't even slip up. She even got my dad in on it! :):):)...She's too funny. We went out today and had a nice lunch and spent that quality time that every daughter cherishes with her mother.....especially when they live miles apart. Thank you mom for sharing so many of your encouraging words that every daughter needs to hear now and then....I LOVE YOU! We then went to pick the girls up from school where my mom got to experience the "parent pick-up" line in which I wait in patiently everyday. We kept to the routine when we got home...snack, homework, and then a trip to the pool with Abuelita.

So, that's it for now....I'm very tired and don't think I can type anymore! We hope all is well with everyone and their families. Enjoy pics of our girls on Halloween night. Take Care!
Love,
Jenn, Jason, & the girls!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

Hola to all! Well, today is the first day of school for our girls! We cannot believe how quickly the summer has flown by. On to another year of seeing old friends from last year, making new friends, new teachers, learning many new things, and homework. For the past week, we have been getting ready for the new school year by buying supplies, clothes, sneakers, along with their favorite lunch items and snacks. They were excited to use their new backpacks and supplies and help Mami pick out what they wanted to wear on the first day. They all looked so cute, and so grown up compared to pictures from last year. I will definitely miss them and cannot wait to pick them up and hear all about their day! And of course, I became a little teary-eyed when they walked into the school. I have plenty to do to keep me busy and have signed up to be a volunteer at the school, so we will get to see each other at various times in the week.

Jason and I are in the middle of getting their Adoption Decrees domesticated, so I am in the middle of getting the paperwork that is needed together, so that we can start the process. It has been a while since we have wanted to have this done, and now we are finally going to do it. Hope all is well with everyone and we wish everyone a great week!!!:)

Be sure to check back for their first day of school picture. I will post it later.
Love to all!
Jenn
PS...Here is their first day of school pic!!!:)

ONE MORE PIC OF LAURA...ROCKIN' OUT WITHOUT THE WIG!!!

HAPPY "7TH" BIRTHDAY LAURA!!! HOPE YOU HAD A ROCKIN' BIRTHDAY!

Hola to all! We hope everyone is doing well! Yesterday was our youngest daughter, Laura's "7th" birthday and she wasn't shy to let everyone know it! :) She woke us all up at around 6:30 a.m. by saying "Good morning, it's my birthday today!" Her sisters wished her a Happy Birthday and went back to sleep. She crawled in bed with us and we both snuggled with her for awhile. She was very excited and couldn't stop talking. It was very hard to go back to sleep...our day had begun, and we were all excited for her as well. Oh, something else we have to share....I always call her my "little munchkin", so when she crawled in bed with us this morning, she whispered in my ear, "Mami, your little munchkin is 7 yrs old today." We thought it was the cutest thing ever! All of our daughters have that special little something that just fill our hearts with so much joy! We love them so much and the bonds that we are creating are becoming stronger and stronger as the days, weeks, & months go by.

Laura couldn't decide what she wanted to do for her birthday (ice skating, fishing, etc.), but she kept talking about Hannah Montana, and that she would love a party that has everything Hannah Montana....so that is just what she received. Papi kept her busy with the help of Erika in the morning, while the rest of us picked up the cake (which we were unable to get from our favorite cake place since they were extremely busy, but her cake still was adorable), balloons, etc. Then Sandra took her to the pool with Papi, while Erika & Deisy helped me decorate. We even bought a mirrored disco ball and turning multi-colored light to add to the theme. Her chair read VIP and we dressed her up like a rock star!!! When she came home from the pool, Erika, Deisy, & I all had "Barbie" walkie-talkies, and brought her through the laundry room like we were her security and she was "Hannah Montana", and then we surprised her with the decorations and helped her get dressed. We all had a great time with a lot of laughs!!! She opened all of her gifts...."thank you" to all for the beautiful gifts...she loved them all. Papi & I bought her a new Disney Wii game called "Sing It" that has over 35 songs that include songs from Hannah Montana, Jonas Bros., High School Musical, etc.. Its like karaoke and our girls LOVED it!!! They had so much fun and played for about 3 hours straight!

We had chinese food, which the girls love, and is a favorite food of Hannah Montana, ate candy that were our childhood favorites such as Pop Rocks & Pixie sticks, and finished it off with some cake!!! We got through a year of all of our daughters' birthdays and we cannot wait to celebrate so many more in the years to come.

Enjoy some pics of Laura's "7th" Rockin' Birthday...dressed up as Hannah Montana, with her sisters as she opened gifts, Laura with her VIP sign, and during cake time!

PS....We also were excited to celebrate "1 Year" of our "Sentencia"!!!

Love to all!
Love,
La Familia Baumgardner

SUMMER VACATION COMING TO AN END!

Hola to all! Hope everyone has been doing well. We had a pretty busy week last week since we had family in town last week. The girls' Abuelita, Abuelito Coquito, Tia Jackie and Tio Jimmy, along with their significant others, Joe & Tamara came to visit us all. They rented a vacation home in our neighborhood and the girls had a great time swimming every single day, doing their hair & nails with Tia Jackie, joking a lot with Tio Jimmy, playing checkers with Abuelito, dancing with Abuelita, and getting to eat lots of chorizos and many Colombian treats that their Abuelita & Abuelito bought for them at a Colombian food store close to where they live. Papi was very excited to eat the chorizos too...he really, really loves them!!! This was the first time in about 20 years that our immediate family (mom, dad, sister, & brother) had been on a summer vacation away from home all together. I know it seems hard to believe its been that long, but being far apart in age from your siblings puts you at different phases in your life, so planning things all together in the past was a bit difficult. We got to make some new memories this past week and to have our girls a part of it all, made it very special. We look forward to many more.

We had a great time and even the adults got to play some competitive volleyball games in the pool. Papi, Tio Jimmy, & I made a great team!!! We all have blisters on the bottoms of our toes now from being in the pool so long. It was a lot of fun to watch Tia Jackie on a noodle in the deeper end...she was very funny....she tried to psych us out many times by talking & yelling a lot, but it didn't work....we still won! Thanks for everything! We love you & miss you all!

I have been trying to get the girls ready for school the past couple of weeks now with sorting through clothes, organizing their closets, etc. They have their Open House at school next week to meet their teachers, so we are all excited to see who they will be. Time is flying by, and everyday we look at our girls, we think how great it is to be their Mami & Papi. We just love them so much!

Here are some pics of the girls in their hula skirts that Abuelita & Abuelito had bought them when they went on a trip to my cousin's wedding in Hawaii in June, all of the girls, all of the guys, and the girls with their Abuelita & Abuelito (with "Biggy" too...their Boston Terrier!..Jackson misses him!)

We wish everyone a great week! God Bless!
Love,
Jenn, Jason, & the girls

MORE PICS FROM LA FAMILIA BAUMGARDNER "DAY"!!!...ICESKATING!

LA FAMILIA BAUMGARDNER "DAY"!!!...ONE YEAR LATER!

Hola to all! We hope everyone is doing well! Well, where do I begin? At this time last year, La Familia Baumgardner had just eaten their first dinner together and were about to spend the first night as a forever family. It seems so surreal that we are in our home one year later and are able to watch our beautiful daughters thriving and enjoying life as children should. We started the day with waking the girls up with the many balloons that I had blown up last night, and we threw them all around their rooms. There were plenty to make it a big surprise...we had also decorated with streamers in the Colombian colors of yellow, red, & blue, and then threw some white in to represent America. We followed it with a big breakfast, and then off to our first surprise of the day. We took the girls to somewhere they've been wanting to go for a while....ICESKATING at the Ice Rink close to home. This was another "first" for them and another moment of emotions for us to see them experience something they never have before. The girls could not wait to leave the house and get going. They got dressed as fast as they could, and of course, I got them to dress in leggings to go along with the ice skating theme!:):):):) I just couldn't help it!

As soon as we arrived, they all looked excited, but all seemed a little more nervous at that point. Once their skates hit the ice and they got used to letting go of the wall, it was just a matter of time before they all got going and started to really love it. They had a blast!!! There are no words to express the pure joy they had in their faces, and their rosy cheeks from the cold arena were too cute. It was then time to head home, where we all had lunch, and then rested up. The iceskating actually took a lot out of them, so it was a nice break in the middle of the day. Our next adventure was supposed to be miniature golfing which would have been another first, but unfortunately, the weather didn't seem to cooperate. It had been raining for a while and was supposed to continue on due to the forecast. So, we headed to the next best place, Chuck-E-Cheese....a big favorite of our girls!!!

We don't think the change of plans put any damper on things. We finished the night off with sundaes & ice cream cones from McDonald's (another favorite!), and then we gave them a small gift each that we had purchased last year in Colombia. Oh, and there is a special moment we would like to share...Sandra said our mealtime prayer at dinner yesterday and lunch today, and the first thing she thanked God for was, "the best Mami & Papi she ever had because she never had parents like us", and "that she is happy she will have a great life and she thanks God for her family!"...It was the most touching moment for us to hear those thoughts...and of course, I cried and Jason had some tears in his eyes too!

It was a wonderful day for La Familia Baumgardner! We would love to share some pics of our day for all to enjoy!
Love to all! God Bless!

PS....Thank you to Abuelita Olguita/Coquito for the ice cream & Mimi for the fresh fruit! It was delicious!!! We love you!
Love,
La Familia Baumgardner