Cuter then Zac Efron

Hi!!  So I just recently got a puppy and I have only 3 words: World's Laziest Dog. Seriously a couple days ago we had a little party and he just Zac Efron:( I am a villain j.k ;). So I know this blog was shorter then the last one, but the pictures are worth a thousand words.
laid on the table with his legs and arms stretched out. But he does like to exercise a little and I mean very little. He just runs around chasing Benjamin. But he is, and I can not believe I'm saying this but he is cuter than

  Stay sassy, Annabelle:)

This is Sir Brady Barkington the First

A Little About Me... Okay a LOT!

Hi!
My name is Annabelle and I am going to taking over Team Sanborn.  Unlike my mom, I am going to be posting once a week.
Now most of you know me, but for those who don't here are a few things about myself:
I am in the 4th grade and I am 9 years old.  I love reading!  My best friend is Tyler, wait was that too much?  I am definitely not insecure...
I am going to be posting about events and pictures of me and the Bo Bo Brothers (aka Andrew and Benjamin).
Please keep checking each week to see my awesome posts!

Stay Sassy-
Annabelle

Change of Plans...

This title seemed like an understatement when I wrote it a year ago.

I could have never known just how much of an understatement it would become.  Our family has gone through quite a few changes this year, and seeing the date on this last post, I haven't about any of it.  Sorry.

I will update you soon.

As for now, sweet Annabelle is taking over the blog.  She does not have a Facebook account (Lord help us when she does), so if you want to know the happenings here you will have to check back every once in a while.

I can't wait to see what she does here- thank you for being a part of this new adventure.

Change of Plans

If you have been following our story (notice I don't say blog because it has been sadly neglected), you know we have relocated twice in one year.  While it seemed crazy and whirlwind, it was nothing compared to the last few months.

We went to Utah for Bill's job.  He loved the job.  He loved the company he worked for and he made some great friends there.  I made some sweet friends at MOPS.  We joined a church we loved and got involved in a small group.  We spent a lot of time as a family.  We loved being outside, the winter was awesome and not too cold.  We made a point to leave the house every Saturday all day so we could get to know our new state and do some things we had never done before.  We loved it.  Our family of five really thrived together.  We started taking care of a little guy Benjamin's age to help his mom out.  We took in a roommate to help him transition through his divorce.  The kids started AWANA.  We had lots of visitors from AZ and all over, and enjoyed showing them a little piece of our lives in Utah.

We had a really hard time fitting in socially.  There were no other families like ours near us.  We only met one other multi-racial family.  School was a huge challenge and I even home schooled the kids from November to March.  That was a blessing as well as it helped me understand that our kids were not taking to the move as well as we first thought.  Andrew was having a particularly hard time expressing how hard this was for him.  In February, we had some friends come and visit.  The kids played great with their kids and we got lots of visiting time.  It clicked that while the 5 of us were really bonding, there was a whole other world out there we could not be a part of outside our home.  Bill and I started praying for an opportunity to move again.  Of course moving home would have been our first choice, but anywhere with a little bit more diversity would be great.  We came to AZ for spring break on March 14.  Bill was offered a job in AZ two weeks later.  We made the decision to stay in AZ for good, and not head back to Utah.  Bill went home to tie up some loose ends and I packed up the house while the kids stayed in AZ. 

Bill started his new job on April 17 and loved it!  The company had a great environment and Bill was starting to thrive.  They paid to move us home, so God had truly provided a wonderful way for us to move home!!  On June 5, he was laid off.  We were shocked!  No severance, no benefits.  We were staying with my mom, as the move happened so quickly.  None of this came as a surprise to God!  He placed us in my moms house so we would have less expenses when Bill was laid off.  Even though we are still a little stunned, Bill jumped into the job search right away and has quite a few irons in the fire.  Thank you to all of you who responded so quickly when you found out Bill was looking for a job.

 We have had a lot of change in the last year but we are so thankful to be home and feel so blessed by the road God is leading us down.

Thank you for joining us on our journey!

Happy Birthday Annabelle!

Well...  Annabelle's Birthday was actually March 10th, the same as our anniversary.  We left right after her birthday for our spring break trip to AZ which turned into a "much longer" vacation.  But details about that will follow!!
Annabelle has done an amazing job throughout the changes we have had this year.  She tried her hardest to make friends at school, even with some awful circumstances.  She tried her hand at acting this year as well.  She has really blossomed while being homeschooled because she can work at her own pace.  We are so proud of her and wanted to make her "Queen for the Day".  Here is how it went!!

This is the last picture of Annabelle as a 7 year old:).  Notice the Christmas jammies, because we lived in Utah, where it is still snowing in March! 

Annabelle's love notes for her birthday

Annabelle reading the card I wrote for her, because of course I was crying and couldn't!

Birthday card made by Andrew

Birthday card made by Benjamin

Birthday card made by Daddy

Birthday breakfast as per her request...  "Celebration Pancakes", bacon and milk in fancy glasses

Celebration pancakes have buttercream icing and sprinkles

Ready for her day as Queen

Starbucks for a drink and a treat.  Her next stop would have been Mani/Pedi but we had the boys with us!

Her pick for dinner was California Pizza Kitchen

Birthday brownie for our sweet girl.

Annabelle- we could not love you more!  We are so proud of how you have handled all if the change in our lives over the past year.  You have become so strong and brave.  You are learning so much about others and the world around you.  You are so quick to try new things, although still very cautious.  You are blossoming into an amazing young lady.  We cannot even put into words what a blessing you are to us.  We are awestruck when we think of the lengths God has gone to make you our daughter.  We love you and cannot wait to see what this year brings.
Love,
Team Sanborn

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Andrew turned 8 today...  I know!  8!!!  I always get a little weepy on all my kiddos birthdays when I think about their birth moms.  Even though we never met Andrew's birth mom, I know she knows when he was born.  You don't forget that, even when you don't get to see that baby every day, or parent him.  She knows.  I feel sad for the loss she has had to endure not seeing this handsome, sweet, funny guy grow up.  We are so blessed to be his parents!
Andrew has had a tough few months.  The move has been really hard on him, harder than we could have imagined.  He had a rough patch at school, which is why we are home schooling now.  We have recently found out that in addition to his processing delay, he is most likely dyslexic as well.  So we have all been adjusting to all of this in our own way.  Andrew adjusts to new things with a lot of frustration and tears.  Knowing this, we wanted his birthday to be special.  He was basically King for a Day:).  Not a lot of presents, but he got to have everything his way.  The. Whole. Day.  He loved it!  Here are some pictures of His Royal Highness on his special day:

This is what he woke up to.  No fancy balloons or confetti (Bill would have killed me), but I wish I could have captured the look on his face when I told him that was where he was sitting.

Waiting for birthday pancakes

Reading the card I made him, because I was crying and couldn't read it myself.

Annabelle reading him the card she made

Benjamin's card

Due to Daddy's lack of handwriting skills, several attempts were made to read what he wrote:)

Ready to "Do Work!"

Goofy grin the whole time we were singing to him

Making his birthday wish

If you now me, you know I LOVE to bake.  My child picked Target cupcakes for his birthday treat.  TARGET. CUPCAKES.  I blame his father.

He got to pick one thing at the Lego Store.  He wanted to go with dad all by himself, so I don't have any pics of the process of choosing said Legos.

At Denny's- Again, his choice

He ate a Jr. Grand Slam (pancakes, eggs, sausage, bacon),  3 pancakes,  an egg over medium, half a ham steak and a piece of  French toast.  So of course he was hungry for an Oreo shake. 

Late Night Lego Sesh

Andrew we are so proud of how hard you have worked this year.  You are learning so much and teaching us so much.  We are thankful everyday for you.  We stand in awe of our God who created you and saw fit to make us your parents.  Can't wait to see what The Lord has in store for you in the next year.  We love you Bubby!

A look back...

So we have been in Utah, waiting for the winter.  And we are still waiting...  Honestly, I think this winter was God's gift to this AZ girl.  The average temp in Utah in January is 27.  This January it was 40...  See what I mean?  Not bad at all!  We kicked off the snow season in November.  Here are a few pics from then.

All Snow Momma's can relate to this one right?  it's not even snowing yet, but we got some new gear!  GET! IT! ON!

Andrew ate snow everyday for the first week, then the novelty wore off.  Not for Benjamin.  He eats snow every time we see any.  Literally every time.

Even Bill was excited about the first snowfall!

Benjamin's first snow angel!

Ready for sledding!

Is there anything more precious than snow on eyelashes?