Time to get caught up....march 2013

Happy Spring and Happy Easter to family and friends,
I cant believe how fast the months are already moving along. February ,NASCAR  Daytona weekend this year ,Stan  travelled back east alone to visit family. The kids didn't want to miss school and their activities and to be honest ,it  was not so easy last year to take all the school work and the homework along with us and get it all done. Nor was it easy for the kids to get back ,especially  laurel after a week off from Gymnastics and get back into the swing of it and all caught up.
I was off from work the week he was gone so it really worked out well ,was  easy and quite enjoyable. I was able to do the job that I don't usually get to do, get the homework done, the kids to activities, the breakfast and school drop off and pick ups ,the  things that I do miss doing.
I even got to go on a field trip with laurels class to a Native American learning area for school aged kids. We really had fun.
March 2013,first day of spring we got a new son in law. Kaitlyn  and Joseph got married ,a  tiny justice of the peace.....they will do the actual wedding in the church and the traditional Ugandan reception(yikes) to follow sometime next year. They are nearly done with the large house being built in Uganda and they wanted to have that paid for before they started paying for a wedding. Katy took Joes last name, Mulindwa  so as to have the same name as the kids ,Katy  and Eli, Isaiah has asked to be a Mulindwa as well ,so  that name change will take place legally as well very soon.
Zakary just passed another belt in Tae Kwon Do,he is now a blue red belt and we are all very proud at how well he is doing.

Mardi Gra tth gym

Mardi Gras! Feb 2013

We celebrated Mardi gra at NBAA gymnastics. We hosted a 2 day gym meet and Laurel again did very well. I assisted with serving the coaches and the judges their meals and snacks for two very long days while the girls competed. It was alot if fun but a very very long and tireing 2 days of physical work.
Laurel medaled in all 4 events and was 4th all around. Again....a very succesful day of competition!!

We Have Heat Feb 2013

We are happy to announce that we are proid owners of central heat and air conditioning.!
We also have a fully insulated house! Things are moving along and looking up..............We have been warm at night and in the morning hours! what a nice feeling!
Laurel who is always cold is now comfortable and warm.

We are awaiting the buck stove and its installation and then it wont be long i understand until the back end of the house goes away!! We will keep you all posted!! For now.....the Warm Raymond family......Good Night

Feb 2013...The house wrk i beginning

So we are actually starting on the house addition. So far the Architect has been here several times and the gal who does all the measuring has been here. The Electrical just got down,all new electric throughout and the central heat and Air Conditioning and insulation will start i believe this next week. Its amazing to us all that finally,after all the hell we have been through with this house that we are truly getting started and things are beginning to move. We will keep you posted as things progress and get picstures to go along with .

Zakary Turns 8 yrsold

Feb 3 2013

Zakary turns 8 today!!! Where has the time gone and how the years have flown by.
Our little tiny,weak and uncoordinated baby is 8 yrs old today!

We had a birthday party at the lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley,this year we did a planatarium theme and had a Constellation workshop in the Planatarium. It was very different and alot of fun. I think that both parents and kids enjoyed themselves and the weather was perfect! A truly beautiful Berkeley day.

January 2013

The Raymonds brought in the New Year in the usual manner. Some take out,a movie and off to bed long before Midnight!! New Years day the same,around the house just doing what needs to be done so as to get back to work the next day and the kids back to school the next week.

The Remodel is coming along,the contractor has been here and the Engineer comes this coming week.They will start getting permits and so on so as to get the actual work started with the "GOAL" of being done,or very close to done by the time the kids go back to school in the fall. Each child will have their own room,we will have a nnice large masgter suite and bathroom and a wrap around deck outside. We will have an open dineing area and an open pass thru from the kitchen to the living room.

Kids are doing very well in school,infact,Zak is VERY good in Math especially and has complained a time ot two that he wanted to learn more,so we got in touch with his teacher,an older well experienced woman and she was thrilled that we had mentioned it to her,she said he is always done first and is very good at what he does. So she has started to give him different work,more difficult and more of it. We think he is going to really be one to keep challenged,he is VERY bright.

Laurel has gone up another level in Gymnastics and is now spending about 17 hrs per week practicing. She will compete in one more meet next month,Febuary 9 and 10 our gym will host the meet with the theme of "Mardi Gras". Its alot of fun and ALOT OF WORK!! That will then be the end of competition until the next season,starting again in i believe September. Then.......it all starts all over again.

Zakary saw the Orthodontist a week or so ago, he has two front teeth coming in and one is coming in all crooked and one comeing in diagnally. so as soon as they are both out of the gum far enough to grab,he will grab thenm and brace them to turn then around straight so that the other teeth can find their way thru. He will need quite a bit of orthodontics,as we knew from the beginning,infact,before we even adopted him so this is no surprise to us,but just becoming the reality now that he is nearly 8yrs old.

I will try very hard to keep a better blog this year,what with the house remodel and all,we will have pictures of that to share as they progress with that,and the kids are staying very busy so i promise to do my best.

Hope 2013 will be the best for everyone,we are hoping that this year for us will truly be all that it looks that it will be.  HAPPY NEW YEAR to our family and friends!!