Merrill and Roberta Simon and Family

Oh My Goodness, Santa has already been here and somehow Merrill and I missed him. But before we go to bed, we did manage to snap a few pictures. The tree is full of presents and it looks as if two bikes made it into his pack. The children will be so very excited. Frankly Merrill and I are hoping against hope to just get to sleep in....LOL. Hugs to all and we hope that you too get everything you wished for.  

Another larger than life surprise for all of us. Our dear friend Francis Rush-Smith got together with some wonderful people in our community and created McClain a one of a kind, larger than life, Grave Digger twin bed. Here it is being deliver to our home while he is away. Ralph Denny and Dave Ragaldo then took the bed totally apart and then put it back together in McClain's upstairs bedroom. The last picture is all set up in McClain's bedroom just waiting for him to come home. It is hard to tell, but he uses a step ladder to crawl up into the back of it. All he kept saying is "I love it, I really love it." If the truth be known, we all love it.  

WOW!!!! It is hard to believe that McClain is now a five year old. What a joyous ride it has been for the entire family. He is funny and full of life. He never stops moving and boy oh boy does that boy love Monster Trucks, mainly Grave Digger. Not sure how he picked that one, but it is his favorite hands down. He began planning his party in August of this year. He picked out everything. We had hoped that he would change his mind, but that was not to be. One the calendar it went and he made sure we all knew when it was. The big day came and it snowed. Still he took Tyler D out for a spin. One look at Joey and you would think that the snow was staged and not the real deal...Funny. Little did McClain know that the best present was not to come to him on the day of his party. He was going to have to wait almost a full week more. Keep reading to find out what McClain found out.  

We started the Christmas season off with such joy in our hearts as we put up our new Nativity. Our old one was well worn and it had to be replaced. We had several neighbors call us to tell us how nice it was. Then we had one call us laughing to let us know she loved our live Nativity. Imagine our surprise when we went outside to see that the Llamas, sheep and goats had taken over. It took us a few times to actually get it right, but once we did, we really enjoyed it and the TRUE MEANING of Christmas.  

We hope that everyone had a most wonderful Thanksgiving. I know that we sure did. It is great to have the older kids home. Michael was here with the girls. Also Marshal was home. Mallory was not able to make it and Maxwell called about a dozen times. Here we had as many as we could find to pile on the couch for that so called family picture. Michael got both of the girls...meaning LisaMarie and Haylee to smell their pie and they both did as he pushed their face into the whipped cream. It was very funny, though I will admit here in writing that if that had been done at my home as a child, well lets just say my mom would have been very upset. Now, do we have any offers to help decorate for Christmas? Love to all, The Simon Family  

Sorry for the delay in blogging. I had some trouble with the computer, but it seems to be working again. So lets catch up. November is National Adoption Month. Division of Child and Family is always pretty good about having a party. We are usually pretty good about going. This time was one of their best. We all got to do crafts, face painting, cookie decorating and just plain visiting with other foster and adoptive familes. It is a joy for us because the bottom line, this entire family is brought together by adoption. Now is a wonderful time to share that Merrill and I have been approved to adopt two more children. We have started the exciting process of looking for the two now. In the past for the most part, the state has come to us about specific children and we have always felt right about the ones they have brought to us. This time we are looking for more specific needs, the ones we have devoted out lives to learning about. It is a fun road we are now traveling and in the end w

It is with a heavy heart that I share with ya'll that we had to put BobbyJack down about two weeks ago. He was a love and he did his job to protect this family. I shall miss him always at my feet, sitting by my chair and keeping me company in the laundry room. Where ever I was, he was there. Funny, we thought that King Solomon would go first, but that was not to be. Thanks BobbyJack for the memories...you will be forever missed.  

We hope that everyone had as much fun as we did for Halloween. It was party time for sure. The children got so much candy that we are seriously thinking about opening a candy store....LOL Merrill and I made a choice many years ago to stop with the trick and treating. It was for many reasons and mostly very personal reasons. But, even with our decision, we wanted the children to always have fun and so we created our own traditions. We do take them to church parties and to DCFS for the annual party. Still, I think the most fun is had went we get home and get to break the Pinata. We buy two of them, one for the older boys and one for the younger childern. The younger ones get to go first and it takes a while, but we cheer them on and sooner or later the pinata is busted and you should seem the scramble to collect all they can. We find this so funny because it has to all be put in a huge bowl to share with all. After they are done, the boys get their turn. Now we blindfold them and swing

On October 29 th King Solomon did the unthinkable, the unbelivable, the unimaginable, He turned 11 years old. Now to many of you, this might not seem like all that great of a feat for a dog......but King Solomon is not just any dog. He is a 242 lb. Great Dane. Our vet told us we would be lucky to get him to 8 or 9. About 2 months before his 9 th birthday we went in to put him down due to some issues he was having. Our vet put him on some high powered medication and here we are, over two years later, counting our blessings. King Solomon has been with us with everyone of our children. We know that our time left with him is precious and we are thankful for each and every day. The first picture is King Solomon in one of his favorite positions, sitting on our couch...LOL The other one was of him at Petco picking out his birthday present. Although we thought that trip would be great fun, he got tired and still everyone wanted to talk about him, pet him and a few even took pictures of him.

Thank you to our dear Internet Friend Kip, for the wonderful halloween outfits. They both love to have a chance to wear something extra special. I hope you enjoy their smiles as much as we do.  

Although the pictures are not that good...can you tell we were having fun?? We to the family to the home town Carnival and we had more fun than we ever though possible. The first picture is Roberta and Mordachi on the Drop Zone. ALl of the older boys kept beggin Roberta to get on it with them. So, she said yes and Merrill bought her ticket. Imagine her surprize when they all chickened out and only Mordachi went on it with her. To quote Jesse, "That ride just freaks me out"...LOL Needless to say. Roberta laughed all the way down and Mordachi got off saying no more for me. The next picture is of Joey on the little Roller Coaster. More road it with him, but only his little face showed up. We stayed for just about 4 hours, which is the longest we have ever stayed before. Like we said, great fun.  

We love this time of year. Each of us look forward to the three hour drive over to Apple Hill in California. We get an over abundance of apples, a lot of goodies that we only buy there and then the best part is the pumpkin patch. Boy it is amazing just how long it takes to find the perfect pumpkin times 9. I see a bunch of pumpkin recipes in the near future. Care to join us next year??  

Yeppers, Merrill celebrated his 51st birthday on October 18. We had a wonderful day with most of our family. The first picture is of 3 of our 4 grand children. Joey 3, lives with us full time, then Emilee3 and Haylee 4. The next picture is all of the family....ahh, the joys of rasing teens, they are all in hiding....LOL. Birthdays...are we done yet???  

WOW!!!! We are in Birthday row here. Miss LisaMarie had her birthday on October 8 and did we all have fun. She invited her entire class to come and party with her. We had a great turn out and they are a wonderful bunch of first graders. You can see all the smiles in the pictures. I think the most fun was the Pinata. Mordachi had a wicked swing, but only I looked a tad afraid....LOL. It is nice having a 7 year old in the home again. On another note, LisaMarie's teacher sent home a wrong spelling word....it was community. You will be shocked to know that she learned how to spell it no time at all. Then the next day, without any prompts, she spelled it totally right. We are so pleased and she is dang proud. Her teacher told her it was a mistake, but that she got a prize out of the prize box for learning it. Oh to be 7 again...wait, I for one use spell check. Just ask my dad....Love ya dad.