Meeting the great grandparents!

We had wonderful time with my grandma Ruth and Grandpa Del! Celeste met her great grandparents and we were thrilled that they made the trip all the way from Spokane, Washington to Raleigh, NC. Having a not so mini (12 adults and 10 grandkids) family reunion was fantastic and such a blessing to hang out with everyone! Enjoy the pictures of the ever growing Mattix (Spillman, and Roten) clan.

Three month photo's!

Here's just a few recent pictures of Celeste! She changes a little more every day it seems. She is really getting strong now holding her head up and loves to discover new sounds to make (so cute!). Enjoy!

Call us Crazy!!

Well - I guess we are still just a little baby crazy around here because we adopted a little kitten last Wednesday! I know one little one should be enough right now. Her name is Pricilla and she is adorable! Bounding around and playing with anyone and anything she can. There's certainly no lack of activity in the Roten-House! Enjoy the pictures.

She played

And Played...

But finally wore herself out!

Celeste's Room!

We are not completely done with Celeste's room but we have the basics. Just a few pictures on the wall and I think we will be all set! Such a blessing that the only thing we bought in this room was the crib. God is so good, we are still blown away at the love shown to us before and after her arrival. Don't worry birth announcements and thank you notes are coming in the works!

Fun House Stuff!

Just a few little things we did to the house! So nice to be settling in - even though it's been a year, it seems we are getting a few projects done and it feels good! We added a copper ceiling fan up in the living room and added a china cabinet in the dinning room (to accomidate my growing dishes collection - MOM would be so proud!)

My First Mothers Day

Well, this was a very special day for me - I had been thinking about this day for a while and even sometimes wondering if it would ever come! Then God brought a wonderful man into my life whose heart was open to building a family through adoption. Michael made it truly a special day and our little daughter was dedicated. Michael bought me a beautiful necklace and made me a fabulous picture frame with some pictures of me and Celeste with one frame with "Emily's first mothers day - may 11th, 2008". I loved it!! He also gave me a gift certificate for a Mani-Pedi at my fav Nail Salon. Anyway, it was a wonderful day and my Dad did the dedication as well as gave the sermon (I will get taped copies if possible to the syblins - it was fabulous!). What an incredible day -I am truly a blessed woman!

Outdoor Worship Service

Recently, our church had it's first outdoor worship service under our picnic shelter. It was a great time. Here's some fun pictures.

Celeste loved her first outdoor service, too!

Couldn't resist posting these!

GOING....
GOING.....
GONE!!!!!!

Celeste is TWO!!

Ok - well time does not fly by that quickly, but it is hard to believe that Celeste is two months old already. She is smiling, cooing and so much fun to play with and talk too - she loves being talked to and giving her two cents worth (she get's that from both sides!!). Anyway - here is a little comparison between two weeks and two months. She already has grown so fast!! On a side note, "thank you" does not even seem to express how we feel about all the love, support (and fun baby stuff) that we have received from all our friends and family. Enjoy the pictures, I put in some of her smiling and one of her "Cheesy Grin" as we call it!

Easter 2008!

So we had a wonderful Easter! So much to celebrate! We had a sunrise service (inside due to the cold weather) and Michael talked about where would we be without the Resurrection, without Christ in our life. It is often too easy to take for granted the grace and mercy that is poured out on us as fellow heirs with Christ! A few people at the service shared where they might be without Christ and it is humbling to think the kind of life we all might have if it were not for our Lord and Saviour. Anyway, also it was Celeste debut at church and she slept through the whole thing but did manage to wake up for a few photo ops! Enjoy!

Our little girl!

WOW! God is so good and he works amazing ways. A week ago we picked up our prescious daughter Celeste Marie. We recieved a call on Tuesday of last week that we could pick up our daughter on thurseday. Talk about shock!! We were overwhelmed with love and support from our family and friends (near and far). We were even blessed with some baby basics by some friends in town the day after we found out about little Celeste's arrival. So enjoy some of the pictures of our first day with our baby girl!

Our Mr. Titus

Sadly, this is a tribute to our sweet kitty Titus who last Sunday got very sick and was unable to return home with us. He was at the Emergency vet and our regular vet for a few days, but he was just too sick to get better. We are grateful for the joy he brought to our lives We will not quickly forget the way he would "attack" as we came down the stairs, or hiss at strangers and growl (he even ran a grown man out of our den because Titus refused to share the space and growled at our guest until he left!). Despite his tendency to be "Anti-social" he was always there to comfort us and make us laugh.

SNOW DAY!!!!

Well, I'm like a giddy school girl today because we had a few inches of snow, followed by some freezing rain and sleet so work was a "NO GO" for today! Anyway, I fixed Michael and I some pancakes and we are enjoying a little extra time together. Enjoy the pictures!!!

It's looking a lot like Christmas!!!

Well, Christmas is always a big time here at the Roten house! Michael and I both love the "bling, bling" of the holidays, so we throw on the sparkly garland and blinking lights, then call it Christmas. We got even more "in to the spirit" of the season by placing the animated reindeer outside, along with some candy cane lights and a wreath. Way too much fun! Anyway - enjoy the pictures!


My tall dark and handsome husband hanging the lights

Me Supervising (no seriously - I did help!!)
Titus providing his input on the tree
SEE I did help!!! I put the candy canes and ornaments on the tree!
Our front yard! Complete with lighted reindeer and candy canes.

Around the House (finally posted from earlier)

Well - below is a post I started in November and never posted so enjoy!

Life has slowed down just enough that we were able to get a few things done around the house.

The leaves are so beautiful this time of year and when we aren't working around the house I love to sit on the couch and enjoy the view.

We (I mean Michael) planted some mums out front and a few new bushes and trees

We (I did actually help out and plant these - I leave the heavy lifting for my big strong man!) also planted some mums in our planter boxes out back.

Road Trip!

Michael and took a little trip to Hanging rock state park and saw some beautiful waterfalls and some amazing scenery. It was a fabulous day, slightly cool, but sunny and Michael packed us a pic-nic lunch. We went to the first set of waterfalls and then stopped to eat our lunch (you work up quite an appetite hiking a whole 3/10 of a mile - HAHA!) Anyway, then we hoped in the car (the only way to hike) and drove down to another Set of falls where we did hike some more (1/2 mile this time). The falls were unbelievable and we had a great time. A sweet couple even offered to take our picture - I guess we had that look about us (please take our picture!!). So, my suggestion is that if you can make it up to hanging rock around november it is pretty impressive.

Nice Picture

Some friends of ours took this picture at a wedding we went to over the summer and I just wanted to share it - so hard to take a good picture of the two of us when one of us ends up holding the camera. More to pictures to come. Have a great day!

A Beautiful Thing!!!

A girlfriend of mine got married last weekend and it was a beautiful thing! I have known Leslie since high school when we hung out in Church youth group together. We ended up at the same college for a year and kept in touch after college. It's one of those relationships that has stood time and distance. I have to say I have been part of many weddings but this one was especially sweet for me. Leslie, we wish you and Brian a fabulous first year and wonderful life together! Thanks for letting me be a part of it. The first picture is of the bride an hour before the wedding and then one of us ladies watching the sunrise at her bachelorette weekend, and then our luncheon out with the girls the day before the wedding. What a great time we had! I also ended up calling some family members and thanking them for all they did at my wedding that made my day so special! What a sweet reminder that a wedding is not about the bouquet, cake, decorations or food but about the covenant and commitment between a couple made before God, family and friends. Sorry if this seems random - but I took Benadryl and have felt foggy all day ( or at least that's my excuse and I'm sticking too it!)