Once upon a …Family

Most beautiful boy

2011-04-25T11:10:00.000-07:00

I can't help but brag, is this not the most beautiful child you have ever seen? For those Zoolander fans, we call this his "blue steel" look.

Easter 2011

2011-04-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

Easter 2011

2011-04-25T11:00:00.000-07:00

What a difference a year makes. Cash really got into the groove with egg hunts, egg dying and finishing out the busy day by playing in the sprinkler in the back yard. His favorite past time these days. Sunday was met with Church followed by hours of egg hunting in the house and eating WAY too much sugar. Good day had by all.

Earth Day

2011-04-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

We got in the groove of Earth Day this year by planting 2 new trees in our front yard. Cash and Daddy did all the work. And now we have something to measure Cash's growth by. Can't wait in years to come to say..."see how little you were when we planted those big trees!".

Hooray, Hooray, Cash is 3 today

2011-02-19T12:50:00.001-08:00

Friday we celebrated Cash's 3rd birthday, and what a success the day was. We had a birthday party for him at his school where he celebrated with his classmates and ate chocolate Spiderman cake. Then off to the toy store to pick out my own gift. We browsed the toy isles for nearly an hour choosing my very favorites. Came home with JoJo the hide & seek friend, a big yellow backhoe truck that really moves and everyone's favorite...the good ole' xylaphone. As you will see from the pics below, it was the clincher for sure! Then we went to Firehouse Subs for his favorite dinner followed by icecream and playing the park. Guess who was exhausted by the time we got home. In was an epic birthday for sure.

Did you catch the look between these two! This is Cash's best friend at school. Her name is Mahum. The look on my face says it all!

Picking out my own gift

2011-02-19T12:46:00.000-08:00

What to get, what to get So many decisions

Jumping for joy I love it Mom!!

I need this one too.

Birthday Dinner & Presents

2011-02-19T12:40:00.000-08:00

Playing after dinner Cash and Dad, awwww

I love it! Opening gift

Birthday party at school

2011-02-19T12:34:00.000-08:00

2011-02-19T12:30:00.000-08:00

Picked out my own gift

2011-02-19T12:23:00.000-08:00

Gifts from Gram & Gramp

2011-02-19T12:10:00.000-08:00

Playing in the park

2011-02-19T11:40:00.000-08:00

October Photos

2010-12-31T09:01:00.000-08:00

Picking out our pumpkin

Cash was "Mr. Saturday Night Fever" for Halloween. He loves to dance!

Cash and some weird guy...ooh, that's Daddy!

Hanbock given by Cash's Foster Mom

November Photos

2010-12-31T08:51:00.000-08:00

Arn't they precious when they sleep

Cash is a real fashionista. Somehow during the night he rearranged his shirt. Woke up laughing at himself

Aah, just a lazy afternoon

November 2010

Our long hair'd pop star

2010-12-31T08:39:00.000-08:00

Thanks Grandma B for the boots!

Cash and Daddy at lights show in Johnson City

Austin Christmas Parade 2010

Just love flowers!

What, you don't like my rocker hair?

So Cash is not a big fan of getting his hair cut. As you can see from these pics. This is just before we finally broke down and got his hair cut for Christmas pictures. Last hair cut before was July!!! I think he could give my favorite Korean pop star - "Rain" a run for his money with this look.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-31T08:21:00.000-08:00

Bromenshenk Christmas 2010
the yellow truck is Cash's favorite toy

Future Artist

Future pro baller

Future hordiculturalist

Whew, what a morning

Hello to all our friends and family both in the States and South Korea. Sorry it has been so long since our last installment of the life and times of the Bromenshenk family. We have been busy with our daily routine as well as getting ready for Christmas, which was a big hit with The Cash Man this year. Although he still is not real excited about opening his gifts, he certainly likes to play with what's inside. He made out like a bandit this year and seemed to enjoy every gift he got. The big highlights....a basketball hoop (he just might be the first Korean American to play pro ball at the rate he's going), a painting/drawing easle, Chuck the truck and bongo drums from Grandma and Grandpa Bromenshenk (thanks Mom for the drum!!!). Actually, it was the biggest hit of the morning. No instruction needed, he started drumming right away. I think he is going to be a man of many talents like his father. He loves to paint, play the drums and play basketball. What else could a proud mamma ask for. Every day he does something that just amazes us. What a kid! Happy New Year to you all, can't wait to see what 2011 has in store.

South Padre Island

2010-09-26T11:25:00.001-07:00

We took our end of the summer mini-vaca to South Padre Island in the Gulf of Mexico last weekend. Other than being on the outskirts or hurricane Karl, we had pretty decent weather and spent most of our time on the beach or in the pool. Cash wasnt' quite sure what to think of the ocean at first, but after some time spent in the surf with Dad, he decided it was pretty cool. But still would rather walk in the sand and find treasure. Great way to end the summer. Now if the weather here in Austin would just realize it is officially fall. Enought of the 90+ heat, geez...

Swim, swim, swim

2010-06-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

Cash drives the boat

2010-06-10T13:48:00.000-07:00

Boat Day

2010-06-10T13:39:00.000-07:00

This was a couple weekends ago on Lake Austin. Doesn't Cash look like a race car driver in those glasses. Good times.

He's a tad pole

2010-06-10T13:28:00.000-07:00

Cash LOVES the water. Put arm floaties on him, and he's off. We will kick himself accross the pool, stand on the steps and dive in with his arms out in front of him, and jump off the side into your arms. What a kid!

Some new video

2010-06-09T06:32:00.000-07:00

This video was taken last month.

It's been awhile

2010-06-09T06:22:00.000-07:00

Where does the time go!!! So we have not posted any new pics/video since Easter. My bad, and I will try to do better since I gently found out there are friends/family that are still watching this blog regulary looking for new posts. We will do better!

Cash is doing awesome. He is growing like a weed, taller not necessarily rounder. He runs around like a little track star, goes up and down stairs STANDING UP all by himself (which scares mommy) and loves to go to school and the park to play with his friends. He has a few new words, the best being "Ya". Everything you ask him the answer is "ya". Much better than the answer being "no", which is what you get from most 2 year olds. He is a bundle of energy and such a joy to watch grow. He has Kevin and I in stiches most of the time.

Easter Egg Hunting

2010-04-05T13:14:00.000-07:00

Playing at Park and Melt down!

2010-04-04T14:09:00.001-07:00

More egg hunt and SUGAR HIGH!

2010-04-04T14:05:00.000-07:00

Egg Hunt

2010-04-03T14:37:00.000-07:00

2010-04-01T07:59:00.000-07:00

Grandpa say Hello

2010-03-31T16:21:00.000-07:00

Cash Daddy misses you and I love you so much. I'll be home soon.

2010-03-31T16:09:00.000-07:00

Sprinklers!!

2010-03-15T15:08:00.000-07:00

Sprinkers 2

2010-03-15T12:39:00.000-07:00

Part 3

2010-03-15T12:26:00.001-07:00

Raking Leaves

2010-03-15T12:10:00.000-07:00

I love balloon!

2010-03-15T11:50:00.000-07:00

Balloon and T.V. - that's all I need.

Sesame Street Live

2010-03-15T11:44:00.001-07:00

Here are some pics of our day at the Sesame Street Live show. I was surprised at just how attentive he was for nearly the whole show. He loved it all!

Cash's 2nd Birthday

2010-03-15T11:26:00.000-07:00

Cash celebrated the big #2 on Feb 18 along with Grandma Bromenshenk who happens to share the same birthday and came to Texas to celebrate. We had a whole week of fun that included a UT baseball game, Sesame Street Live show and of course lots of cake and presents. Cash has grown in so many ways over the last year. Even though he's only gained 4 lbs, he has also grown 5 inches so he's long and lean. Maybe the first Korean basketball player? Who knows. He loves school and is happy to see his teacher and friends. He's a great painter and loves to read books, which the favorite right now is Green Eggs and Ham. His favorite past time by far though still is doing anything outside. Rain or shine. He loves going for walks, exploring and playing at the park which we do nearly everyday. He has even taken to walking Mollie on her leash himself and it has to be the cutest thing ever seen. Although not a big talker yet he has mastered the important words..."Momma" and "Dadda". Really, does anything else matter? Not to me!! We have posted some pics of the week below. The red and yellow outfit was a gift given to him by his foster mom, O Mi-Suk, when we left Korea. It is custom now for us to put it on him on his birthday and send a picture to her. As you can tell, it's big enough that we will be able to do this for years to come I think. Happy birthday Cash and Grandma B.

2010-01-31T18:09:00.000-08:00

CASH AND DAD WITH THE INSIDE LOOK AT HIS BIRTHDAY CARD FOR SPROUT TV.

OUTSIDE COVER OF CASH'S BIRTHDAY CARD FOR SPROUT TV WITH MOMMY.

CASH HIDE FROM HIS MOM.

CASH MODELS GRANDMA'S VEST SHE GAVE HIM FOR CHRISTMAS.

CASH HELP DADDY CLEAN LEAVE FROM THE YARD.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-27T12:32:00.001-08:00

We spent this Christmas home in Austin, just the 3 of us. It was really amazing to watch Cash as he figured out that that Christmas morning was different than any other morning. Although he didn't really open his gifts himself, he realized very quickly that what was inside the wrapping was for him, AND HE WANTED IT! It took us nearly four hours to open gifts because Cash wanted to stop and play with each one as it was opened, and we were happy to oblige. Needless to say, mommy and daddy got their money's worth this year if measured in time spent. I'm sure next year will be a bit different, so we really relished the time together this special, first Christmas home together. And Kevin and I would both agree that this was truely the best Christmas as we got to witness the joy through our own child's eyes.
2009 has been a wirl-win of firsts for us with our new family, and we can't wait to see what 2010 has to bring. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of our family and friends. Below you will see some pics and video of Christmas morning at the Bromenshenk's home.
God Bless you-

Horse part 1

2009-12-27T11:49:00.000-08:00

Horse part 2

2009-12-27T11:06:00.000-08:00

Christmas Morning 2009

2009-12-27T10:50:00.000-08:00

Ready for Church

2009-12-27T10:20:00.000-08:00

Grapes and eggnog before Christmas Eve church service.

Decorating part 2

2009-12-07T14:45:00.000-08:00

Decorating the tree

2009-12-07T14:26:00.000-08:00

What a pro! A few mis-thrown ornaments and he had it down. Check it out. Part 1.

Pics from the last month

2009-12-07T14:12:00.000-08:00

My new Sponge Bob hat!!!

I love Kyle! I hate Kyle!

Christmas Parade downtown Austin

Cash has had a very busy month. Birthday parties, Christmas parties, parades and meeting Santa!

What a year

2009-12-07T13:29:00.000-08:00

Can't hardly believe a year has come and gone. To refresh your memories, Cash has been home with us for 1 year as of Thanksgiving Day. Cash has come so far and we have had some great milestones. Watching him learn to sit-up, crawl, stand, and finally walk! He has gone from bottle only, to darn-near feeding himself without assitance. He talks all the time, but has finally dropped a few words we can understand..."Dadda", "Mollie" (which is more like Ollie), and "I love you" thanks to Grandma Marlene. Cash has brought so much love, joy and laughter into our lives in the last year, we can't wait to see what this next year has in store. This is video taken on Thanksgiving Day while Kevin was on the phone to Aunt Doris and Uncle Wayne in Montana.

Just some random "cute-ness"

2009-11-09T14:14:00.000-08:00

Couple pics of us this last month at a fall festival, Dell's Children Museum and in our yard. He's growing up SO fast.

Halloween Pictures

2009-11-08T15:16:00.000-08:00

Halloween

2009-11-08T14:51:00.000-08:00

We had our first halloween with Cash, and as if there was any question, he dressed up as Elvis of course. He took right to trick-o-treating and received lots of attentions, mostly from the girls, which, in true Elvis fashion, he loved. Although he couldn't quite get the "trick-or-treat" out, he knew to take a piece of candy from the bowl offered and put it in his bucket. And, at the end of the night, dumped the whole bucket out in the middle of street which we got a great pic of. We are looking forward to an eventful holiday and all the fun it will bring.

Yum, Cherrioes

2009-10-03T06:50:00.000-07:00

And I thought letting him carry a little bag of his cherrioes around for a snack was a good idea. Stupid mom.

Cash's Fat Eye

2009-09-29T13:22:00.000-07:00

No, we didn't punch Cash in the eye. The misquitos have been crazy since all the rain the last week and he got a bite right on his eye lid. Poor baby! People would walk by us at the store and I'd hear them say..."OMG, did you see that kids eye!". I'm lucky people didn't call the cops.
Last Sunday Cash's favorite TV character, Chica from Sprout TV, was at the mall. We went and met her and Cash totally recognized her. He really did like it, despite the over-joyed look on his face. Here's some current pics from September.

Stupid Dog

2009-09-29T12:41:00.000-07:00

We saw this laughing dog at the mall and Cash thought it was pretty funny.

Mollie Chasing Cash

2009-09-29T11:15:00.000-07:00

Cash's new favorite game to play is "peek a boo", usually around the garden outside. He has now taken it to a new level with Mollie around the kitchen island or table. He is just sure that she is chasing him. In actuality, Mollie is just waiting for him to drop some food. Regardless, it makes for hours of fun. Oh, and all the "eeeeee" he is saying, ya, that's his version of "Mollie".

Happy Anniversay

2009-08-26T14:26:00.000-07:00

We celebrated our 17th wedding anniversay last Saturday by taking our #1 son to our favorite Korean restaurant. It's owned by a local Korean family that LOVE Cash. The family mother, who speaks very little english, gave Cash a bowl of sweet potatoe noodles, which really look like worms, but Cash loved em'. She said " I knew he would". Best anniversay yet!

Visiting Montana in July

2009-08-26T14:01:00.000-07:00

Thanks Grandma! Whatttttt.... All I need is Daddy.

I love the wagon! I HATE the wagon!

I know, I know...long time no post. Well, welcome to parenthood is all I can say. So we have some catching up to do. Let's start with our visit home to Billings, Montana the last weekend in July. We went for a hillclimb that Kevin was racing in, and did very well I might add. Seeing how we have been over 100 everyday since the first week of June, we were really looking forward to that cool Montana weather. Ya, jokes on us. It was 101-102 all weekend! I guess the bright side is we were accustmed to it, although the look on Cash's face in some of these pics says otherwise.

Casher (as Uncle Bill calles him) is doing very well. We have been working on 3 molars and 2 canine for the last 2 months, but are finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel! Maybe we'll get a few months off before the 2 year molars come in. He is definetely walking, nearly running now. And in true fashion like his mother, hates shoes. Kevin calls the two of us "Pocahontus" becasue we are bare foot all the time. He starts back to "school" again next week and moves up to the Toddler room from the nursery. How exciting!! I know he is looking forward to it because quite frankly he is tired of staying home all day. Again, just like his mom and loves school. How does he take after his dad you might ask...well, his nickname is "Stinker". You figure it out. Heres some pics of our trip home, enjoy!

Patio is finished and working great.

2009-07-05T15:53:00.000-07:00

Even though its a 105 every day now we still enjoy the outdoors on the patio. The shaded cover, the ceiling fans, the misting system and the cold beer cooler all make 105 degrees seem a little more bearable.

4th of July

2009-07-05T10:21:00.000-07:00

Waiting for the parade to start Yea! Happy 4th

First family July 4th With our friends from the neighborhood

What a day!

We had a great first family 4th of July here yesterday. Went to an old' fashioned parade right in our neighborhood with lots of floats, horses and fire trucks. Tons of candy which the older kids that were with us would run and get and bring back to Cash. So cute. He just loved it and sat so nice on the curb with me and watched the parade go by. Not even the LOUD fire engines got him upset. He was just amazed. After a super-long nap (4 hours!!) we went to a friends house and played in her pool which is always a big hit with Cash. He is just sure he can swim and tries to jump out of my arms into the water. Fearless! Time for swim lessons. We finished the day up with Cash eating his first cheeseburger, which Daddy barbequed perfectly, and tater-tots with ketchup. And of course, the traditional sparklers before bedtime which he just wasn't sure about, but was pretty interested. What a great, all-American day for our newest American citizen. Happy 4th of July!!

I can walk after all!

2009-07-05T09:50:00.000-07:00

Cash decided this week that bending his body in half was just to uncomfortable after a while. So...he choose to stand up and walk instead! Yea. It so amazing to witness these little moments of development. It's like, "man, he is SO smart", or maybe I'm just an amazing teacher! Yea, that's got to be it. Regardless, our little man is now walking on 2, rather than 4 and he's so darn cute doing it. He's accomplished so much in 6 months, we couldn't be prouder.

Who needs to walk...

2009-06-12T08:28:00.000-07:00

Who needs to walk upright when I can bend myself in half and crab-walk...

Cash is an official U.S. Citizen and Bromenshenk

2009-06-12T08:12:00.000-07:00

Playing in fountain Judge Casseb

Waiting for our time in court Lunch before proceedings

In front of courthouse

Cash has been an "American" one week as of today. The three of us traveled to San Antonio last Friday, June 5th, to stand before a judge and swear to take good care of our boy. Coolest part of the whole ceremony is when the judge said, " and you understand once this adoption decree is signed, the federal government does not view Cash any differently than a biological born child", to which my response was "hallelujah". The judge replied, "that's latin for yes I take it". It was a really awesome experience. Best part (other than Cash) is no more reports, social worker visits or fees! We are one hundred percent in the eyes of God and Country The Bromenshenk Family of three. Wohoo! Here are a few pics of the day in San Antonio and the court proceedings.

Petting Zoo

2009-05-28T14:57:00.001-07:00

Love the hat

Easter, boating & friends

2009-05-28T14:44:00.000-07:00

First time on boat! mmmm, peeps.

ELMO! Thanks for the basket Granma.

Cash & Ryder Olson-best buds

Mothers Day & Billings Hillclimb

2009-05-28T14:33:00.000-07:00

May hillclimb Grandpa & Cash

Mothers Day Lunch Daddy & Cash

Cash at school

Fun at dinner time

2009-04-10T12:38:00.000-07:00

Cash loves the pool

2009-04-10T12:25:00.000-07:00

Whoa, what a bod I'm too sexy for my shirt.

Ah yes, the pool This is the life!

Well, we hit 91 degrees today which I figured it meant it was time to go to the pool. After all, I've been waiting since November to do this, right! So I put Cash's Bodyglove floater swimsuit on him, packedthe sunscreen and off we go. There are a few groups of people laying in the sun when we arrive, but nobody in the pool. I walk by two boys about 10 years old and their dad who are all sitting on the edge of the pool, refusing to put even their toes in the water. I ask, "cold?" and the dad says, "deceivingly cold!". I keep walking on over to the kiddy pool figuring that is a good place to start. I sit down on the edge, with my feet on the one little step and put Cash on my lap. Feet in the water, ya, a bit nipply, but not the worst I've felt. After all, we are Montanan's, right! So I quickly dip his feet in and out of the water and wait for the scream. Alas, I get giggles, giggles and more giggles. He really is his mother's child. The only time he did scream, is when I took him out of the water to go home. Of course the two little boys and their dad thought were were absolutly out of our minds. We don't care, do we Cash!

Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-10T12:17:00.000-07:00

Cash's playgroup Girlfriend Sophie

My first egg Ok, this is fun!

I'm pooped, let's go home.

We got together with some of the families in our neighborhood that we playgroup with and had an easter egg hunt in our family park. It only took a short period of time before Cash figured out that there we goodies inside the eggs. Then we were hard pressed to keep the eggs in the basket! He catches on quick and had a great time.

Daddy's Company Picnic

2009-04-10T11:18:00.000-07:00

Cash & lady on hot rod. Great lunch Daddy.

The BIG slide. Are you my mother?

Kevin had the pleasure of being tapped by the boss at his company to plan the company picnic, which of course, was a huge success as Kevin never does anything half way. It was labeled as "The Best Company Party Ever" and according to the boss really brought everyone together which is must needed during these hard economic times. As you will see from the pics, it was a family freindly party which fit us to a "T" this year! They were actually having to tell people the party was over and it's time to leave. Another first for the company. Kudos to Kevin!

Pics of the week

2009-03-16T08:14:00.001-07:00

Naked Baby!

2009-03-16T07:42:00.000-07:00

I like sweet potatoes and noodles

2009-02-27T07:29:00.000-08:00

I really like cake!

2009-02-18T18:40:00.000-08:00

I like birthday cake!

2009-02-18T17:47:00.000-08:00

More Birthday Pics

2009-02-18T17:37:00.000-08:00

I am 1 today

2009-02-18T17:17:00.000-08:00

We had a very good first birthday and we are all exhausted! The day started out at 9:30am with a playdate with 4 others kids from our neighborhood that came over to our house to play. Cash is learning very good social skills and likes to be around other kids. We also went for a long walk to the park to swing in the swings and ended up playing with a couple kids we know from the neighborhood, lots of sunshine and fresh air. Once daddy got home we celebrated just the three of us with cake and presents which was great. Cash did not hesitate to dig right into the cake and immediatley got that..."SUGAR" look in his eye which I'm sure will be a very long and happy relationship with anything sweet if he's anything like his mother. We then went outside and got out the new, green motorcycle and practiced going down hill. Everybody knows that's the hardest part. Cash has already learned to hang onto the handle bars and balance on the seat all by himself. He started pushing himself to get going down the hill, so it won't be long before mom is having mini heart attacks everytime he gets on it. We finished off our great day with a bath, a bottle and off to bed. No complaints, just layed down and went to sleep. Whew, first birthdays are hard work. We've posted some great pics and videos of our day and stayed tuned for the big birthday party to come this Saturday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CASH - WE LOVE YOU!

Get this monkey off my back

2009-02-14T14:39:00.000-08:00

Sally says, "but he likes it!"

Rev it up!

2009-02-10T11:03:00.000-08:00

Make it go!

2009-02-10T10:19:00.000-08:00

Good Crawler

2009-02-10T08:28:00.000-08:00

Almost One!

2009-02-10T07:52:00.000-08:00

We are a week away from Cash's first birthday and Mom and Dad are gearing up. We have decided to do the whole thing right with a big party with some of his friends and balloons, cake, noise makers and alot of love. In celebration of being "all boy" we are going with a racing theme of course with a Monster Truck cake and Hot Wheels decorations. Oh, and Elmo noise makers just because Cash loves Elmo.

Cash is crawling on all fours now like a champ, even on the slippery, hardwood floors. And is getting good at pulling himself up to stand. He walks with assitance but hasnt' taken that first step alone yet. Maybe on his birthday!

Here are some new pictures and movies. By the way, the green motorcycle is a birthday gift that Daddy couldn't wait til his birthday to give to him. Not sure who was more excited, but Cash sure does like it. Enjoy!

Cash is crawling and sorta walking.

2009-01-24T15:09:00.000-08:00

Week in Pictures

2009-01-21T09:37:00.000-08:00

Didn't touch it Mom, I swear

What, show you my teeth... Tada!!

Happy in the mornings Daddy taught me a new trick!

This was an exciting week for the Bromenshenks. Cash got a haircut (4th for him, but 1st for Mommy). He did so good. We went to Cool Kids Cuts and Cash sat on my lap while the nice lady quickly cut his hair. He had his first grape dum-dum lollipop as a reward and I regret not having my camera with me. He is like his Mom and loves his sugar! He laughed and giggled all the way home and kept giving me this smile like, "it's good Mom, I LIKE IT!". He cracks me up. He also had his first arguement with a playmate at playgroup. A boy, much bigger than Cash, decided he wanted the toy Cash had, so he took it away from Cash. First Cash looked at me like, "what the $#@!" as if he wanted to cry. I told him it was ok, he turned around and snatched that toy back from his freind. Well, all hati broke loose, screaming and crying...it was awesome. Us Moms just sat back and had a good giggle. Least we know Cash can stand his ground, no matter how big the bully. BTW, they are friends again, we made em' hug it out. Life is good at the ranch and it keeps moving along.

Are You My Grandma & Grandpa?

2009-01-21T09:24:00.000-08:00

Cash is learning to pull up & stand. Discovered new pictures of Grandma York and Grandpa Pearson that made him laugh. What a punkin.

Pictures of the week

2009-01-12T12:18:00.001-08:00

Cowboy Cash. Trying to copy cousin Colby.

Happy in the morning

Waterbaby for sure, he loves bathtime.

He loves the Hanbok that his Foster Mother gave him. What a kid!

The Great Cash!

2009-01-12T11:56:00.000-08:00

Mom's Best Birthday

2009-01-12T11:45:00.000-08:00

Who loves motorcross? Daddy and Cash love motorcross!

My little cowboy.

Block head, thanks to uncle Sean.

Well, today is my 41st birthday and I can hardly believe that. I don't feel 41, and Kevin says I don't act anywhere near 41...more like 14 most of the time. But I will say without all the big plans, or lots of people around and all the normal fan-fare that normally goes with my "birthday week", I have enjoyed this one the most yet. Cash and I took our time getting up this morning (ok, 7am to clarify) then we played basketball in his room awhile. Following that, we made our way downstairs for his morning bottle where we practiced patty-cake (in honor of Grandma Bromenshenk) and repeated the word "Momma" about 65 times. Ok, me...not him. Then back upstairs for some more basketball and a few other games. Finally decided it was time to take a bath, him first, and get ready for our day. Once dressed we decided to vaccum that carpet which is always a big hit because he loves the loud vaccum, such a boy. All the excitement caused Mr. Cash to fall asleep in his jumper station so he took a cat nap while I ate left over faitjas for breakfast. He's awake again in less than 30 minutes so we have a yummy lunch of squash and pears, two of his favorites and then spend some time chasing Mommy and the vaccum all over the downstairs. Great fun especially when you bumper car the vaccum with the walker. Alas, time for a real nap which allows the birthday to write this blog. Below I have attached new pictures of the past week and a new movie displaying the next great Asian basketball player at work. Have a great week Ya'll, I know we wil.

Sally

Survived Christmas

2009-01-05T10:56:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! We survived Christmas in Montana where we saw 2 days above freezing in the 10 days we were there. Most days were below zero and lots of snow. Cash was enthralled by all the white stuff! He got to meet all of Kevin's family (and I do mean all...aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, third cousins!!!) as well as my sister's family (The Luciani's in McAllister). He especially got on with our God kids, Hailey and Colby, which are Kevin's sisters children. They spent most of the week pushing him around in his walker and making him squeal. Kevin's family hosted an open house for Cash and invited all our Montana friends and we had a great time. Cash was completely spoiled with lots of love and gifts and it was nice to be able to share him with all of our closest family & friends. Traveling was no problem until we hit the last leg of the trip from Denver to Austin and Cash decided he was over it. Over Mom, over Dad and definitely over the airplane! We received our official parents wings after surviving the 2 1/4 hour flight with a screaming baby. Ugh, yes, we were THOSE people and Kevin sheepishly apologized to all the people sitting near us in the plane as we deplaned. Bless his heart! So now we are back to some semblance of order. Cash is back on a schedule and like a champ is sleeping through the night more often than not. He is like his Mom and likes his life to be orderly and on time! Throw off any part of his schedule and he's gonna let you know about it. He is not walking yet but does get up on all fours and attempts to crawl. He knows his name and the word "no". Grandma Bromenshenk was also able to teach him Paddy-Cake during our time in Montana which we do everyday in order to remember Grandma. We are trying a few sign language words but not much success yet. So we are rooted down and ready for the New Year. Can't wait to see what's in store! Here's hoping you all have a terrific one too! Enjoy the pics and video below.

Cash loves beating up Grandpa

2009-01-05T10:37:00.000-08:00

Christmas Pictures

2009-01-05T10:25:00.001-08:00

Week 2...still alive

2008-12-15T05:32:00.000-08:00

Our official 2 weeks home was last Friday and things are going great. Cash still has a touch of "time zone" lag, but being on Korea time for the last 9 months is going to take a little while to get over. He slept through the whole night for the first time last Friday night, so there is hope! Considering that we have not been very good about keeping him on a regular schedule with all the visitors and house guests we have had it's no wonder. And this week, on Friday morning, we will be flying to Montana to spend the holidays with family. So, the regular schedule may have to wait til New Years. Daddy is ready for it now, but it just doesn't work that way. Cash is really doing well though. He is happy unless hungry, sleepy or his diaper is full. His Grandma Marlene visted this weekend and he took to her very well. He also had his first visit to the nursery at Church which was a huge milestone since we have not left him since we came home. Mom cried...baby didn't. He was able to stay for the entire service and they said he was very happy and played alot. Well, he's awake now so time to go. Here's a few new pics of our boy. Happy Holidays to all of you.

Week One - Come and Gone

2008-12-06T06:15:00.000-08:00

Cash has been home now for one week, and we are all still alive and well. He has done extremely well at bonding with Kevin and I and is adjusting to our home better than we could have ever imagined. Every night has gotten better with his sleep habits as he adjusts to our time which is 13 hours difference from Korea time. The first two nights he was up at 1am ready to play which he did until 5am. Ugh. Last night, he went to bed at 8:30pm, woke once at 2am for a bottle and was back asleep by 3am straight thru to 7:30am this morning. Not bad at all! He has been sleeping in his crib since the first night with no complaints which we are pleasantly surprised about since he was sleeping in the "traditional family bed" in Korea which means the whole family slept together on a bed on the floor. He seems to love his crib and is happy to just lay in it and play once he wakes up. What a good baby. He eats like a champ, which you can tell from his pictures. Loves pears, bananas, sweet potatoes and rice cereal. The proteins...not so much. I even pureed chicken and turkey in my Cruisinart with veggies and tried to get him to eat that. Yay, he proceed to spit it at me. Guess that's a no. I think we will try mac & cheese today and see if that's better. He had his first doctor visit on Tuesday and passed with flying colors. He has acutally lost 2 lbs. since being home which puts him at 19 lbs and 28 inches long. We attribute that to letting him be very active by walking in his stroller and crawling. Yesterday he pushed himself up on all fours for the first time and he and mommy were both so surprised all we could do was sit and laugh at each other. He gets around like little speed racer and won't be long before he's walking I'm sure. Time to baby proof all the cabinets. The biggest milestone of the week though was yesterday when daddy started up his motorcycle to see if his son was going to take to it right away or cry. Well, the verdict is in. He's is definetely all boy! Kevin started up that big ole' KTM and Cash just laughed and laughed. Not scarred one little bit. He couldn't take his eyes off Kevin as he rode around him and up and down the street. Finally, we just sat Cash right on the seat with Kevin and Cash took ahold of the throttle. Daddy couldn't have been beaming more! Guess we will be buying a 50cc not too far down the rode. God help me.
It has been such a whirlwind week that I can't believe it's come and gone all ready. I don't know what we did to deserve it, but thus far our son's adjustment to us and our home has been a text book example. There is no question that he was meant to be in our family and we can't remember what it was like before he was here.

What day is it again?

2008-11-30T21:16:00.001-08:00

Well we are home. It's the third evening home with Cash and it seems to be going pretty darn well. I'm still not sure where Sally found the instruction manual for motherhood but she is putting on a clinic. It's amazing watching her in action with our son. We are still trying to get him used to the time zone here in Texas vs Korea. Today we forced him to power through a couple of napping oppurtunities in an attempt to tire him out. Tonight he went down to sleep right on cue around 8:30pm, however, he is wide awake right now and its 11:20pm. Seems he may still be on a different time zone but is adjusting extremely fast.

I'm completely new at being around a baby. So everything is an out of left field question to me. Am I doing this right? Why is he going to sleep when Sally does this for him but when I do it he freaks out? She is able to just react so well to any situation with him. Holy crap what do I do now? I'm learning a lot by fire here. Good news is he isn't screaming as much as he was the first couple of nights. He was just flat out scared each time we introduced him to a new environment. I think we all would be if over the past four days we went to sleep and woke up in a whole new place. He really loves to be walked outside to be put to sleep but is getting also used to being put to sleep in the house as well. Amazingly even after he has been sleeping in a family bed with his foster family he is sleeping well in his own room in his own crib.

It's all amazing to me. Thats all I can say about it right now. Except for what a great kid he is. We are fortunate to have him home. We love him.

The dad, Kevin

Photos from Korea

2008-11-25T01:03:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone. If you're as excited as we are right now you are likely checking in on this blog. So we are just taking a few minutes to share some photos of us in Korea and the first photos of us meeting Cash for the very first time. We will get him for good on Thursday at 1:00pm and bring him home to Austin this Friday. Today was torture! We had the whole day to ourselves to shop and just kill time. Tomorrow we get to see Cash again and watch him get another medical check up. This is the coolest experience we've every dreamed of having. Cash is the greatest!

Enjoy the photos.

Love,
Kevin and Sally

WE ARE GOING TO KOREA!!!!!!

2008-11-20T12:22:00.000-08:00

The day has finally arrived. We got the call this morning that our travel certificate has been issued and we are now free to travel to Seoul to get Cash!!!!!!!!!!!!!. This is such a surreal moment and one neither of us ever want to forget. So, on to the good stuff. After my husbands "bull in the china shop" routine, we got Holt to agree to allow us to leave this Saturday 11/22 at 7:00am which will put us in Seoul about 3:00pm on Sunday 11/23. This gives us Sunday and Monday to see the city and spend precious time with our cousin, Kirsti Bromenshenk. Our first meeting at Holt will be Tuesday to finish paperwork and tour the facility. Then Wenesday, we get to meet Cash for the first time along with his foster family. That brings us to Thursday, THE BIG DAY, when we get our son forever. Anybody happen to notice that is Thanksgiving Day??? Pretty cool, huh. We will then leave Seoul at 3:00pm Friday 11/28 and land in Austin at 6:00pm Friday 11/28. Love it when you get a whole day back. Have much to do, which included popping open that bottle of champagne that has been in our fridge way too long. We will write more as this unfolds. Thanks to all that beared through this long wait with us with good thoughts and prayers. We love you all.
The Bromenshenk Family.

Cash's visa will be issued tomorrow!

2008-11-19T06:49:00.001-08:00

After 5 weeks and 3 days, we finally will have Cash's visa. The appointment is set for 11/20 at 1:00pm at the Embassy in Seoul and the visa worker for Holt will be given Cash's visa. This is it folks. Once visa is in hand, we can get our travel call literally at anytime. I know they do not celebrate Thanksgiving in Korea, but I am not positive that the Holt-Korea office does not take that day off anyway because of their association with the States. Regardless, there is a strong possibilty that we could be eating that kimchi instead of turkey afterall! We will let you all know as soon as that wonderful call comes!!! KEEP PRAYING!!!!!! We are almost there.

While We Wait

2008-11-11T07:21:00.000-08:00

Well you have to do something to pass the time. For Kevin, I and a group of friends that was going to the Wurstfestival in New Braunfels, Texas. A small little German community that puts on the biggest polkafest that I have ever seen. It runs for a week the end of every October and we went the last Saturday night it ran and there must have been 15,000 people there. The food was incredible - reuben sandwiches, brautwurst with saukraut, sausage on a stick, potatoe cakes, hot german potatoe salad, funnel cake...and of course BEER. More beer than I have seen in one place and what would a good German festival be without beer. We also ran into a few characters as you will see from the pictures. A couple of elderly gentlemen that quite honestly we were trying to figure out if they were really natzi's. Plenty of cute boys in Lederhosen and cute girls in beermaid dresses, something for everyone! And lastly what would a polkafest be without polka music. Amazing music that we kicked our heels up to. It's not walking through the streets of Seoul with your son, but it definetly took our minds off the wait for a few hours. Enjoy the pics!!

Good News & Not Great News

2008-11-03T07:13:00.001-08:00

So we will start with the good news. We received confirmation on Friday that Korea is moving forward to get Cash's visa physical done. Yea! Not so good news is it can't be done until the second week in November. Boo! Once the physical is done, they will move forward with getting the visa interview scheduled and then we get the call to travel. So, it may be the end of November before all this takes place and we are allowed to get on a plane and go get him. It's just nice to know that everyone, both stateside and in Korea are communicating and working towards getting Cash home. We survived Halloween, although it was bittersweet since we completley expected to have little Cash here with us by now. So, we took the opportunity to do things that only "married without children" would do like go to my boss's haunted house and have the crap scarred out of me. Kevin just laughs...he thinks it's funny when I scream. We are not dwelling on the past, and moving forward planning our holiday season with a little one. Anyone know if they serve turkey in Korea? Who knows, we may be having rice and kimchi for our Thanksgiving dinner which is just fine with us!

Making some progress on our case of the hiccups

2008-10-30T07:33:00.000-07:00

Well, word to the wise - try to never get under my husbands skin!!! Dear sweet Kevin had enough of his wife crying and complaining. So, he simply called the Director of the Korea Program at Holt International and gave her a piece of his mind. By the end of their conversation, she had a list of questions that she would personally take up with the Holt-Korea office to find out what the status of our case is. When Kevin made the phone call we thought the only hold up was a physical exam that needed to be done on Cash to finalize his visa. But during the conversation Holt realized they were missing a signficant portion of the paperwork that was floating around somewhere between the Embassy in Seoul and the Holt office in Seoul. So, we feel as if we are back on track now and that the Director is championing our case so we can finalize and bring Cash home. We hope to have word by end of this week or first of next week what our time frame is to travel. Thank you all for your prayers and good thoughts. I can honestly say that the last two weeks have been the hardest two weeks of my life, and as most of you know...I've had some hard weeks in my 40 years. We promise to keep you posted over the next week. Love you all!

There will be hiccups

2008-10-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

As a very wise person said (just can't remember who it was) there will be hiccups in your process to adopt. Just learn to accept it and move on. Well, we are having our hiccup. I should start by saying this has been our only hiccup, so we really should be grateful (grrrr....). As you all know, the only item we are waiting on is our visa for Cash. Well, all the paperwork is complete but apparently a physical has to be done before the paperwork can be finalized and we are waiting on that physical to be done. The doctors at Holt-Korea administer the physical but they do a whole group of babies one day a month. We missed the last group and are waiting for the next batch. Our social worker is trying to find out when the next batch is scheduled for and we will share that info as soon as we know. So please, everyone send good thoughts right now to Korea to get Cash's physical done and the paperwork moved on! Positive thoughts, positive thoughts, it's very close.

Still in Texas

2008-10-15T07:05:00.000-07:00

We have had a lot of phone calls and emails (which is great!) from friends and family just checking in to see if we have left for Korea yet. Well...as of 9:06am this morning we are still here. I'm sitting at my desk at work twittling my thumbs because I have successfully handed off most of my work load to teammates so that I can leave at the drop of a hat if needed. The down side is now my days are just DRAGGIN by as I wait for news from Korea. Kevin is doing a good job of keeping busy and good for him! I spoke with the visa center yesterday and they confirmed that our paperwork has been recieved by our agency in Korea, they just have not sent it back to the visa center yet. Once it's back at the visa center they will schedule a visa interview and inform us of what day that is. This gives us a good gadge for when we will get the travel call since the call to travel usually comes 1-3 days after the visa interview day. So, we keep calling everyday asking if we have an interview day yet. I can admit this has to be the most frustrating part of the process so far because you know this last step could happen at any moment and then again it could drag on for weeks. All your prayers and good thoughts are appreciated and lets continue to hope for a call this week!