National Kasey Day

What? You have Never heard of "National Kasey Day"??? Are you insane? It is only the coolest Holiday this side of the mountains!  We have been talking to Kasey's Birth Mother, Mallory, quite a bit lately.  One of her concerns is that this poor kid has his birthday SO close to Christmas and she never wants him to feel "lost in the Holiday spirit".  Completely Agree.  We also celebrate the 16th of July each year as that is the day we were no longer "Foster Parents" and Kasey was officially "Kasey Cannode".  I'm not sure how many other parents were smiling at the 'Robert A Christensen Justice Center' on July 16, 2010... but We All Were!!

The day Kasey officially became a Cannode

Couldn't have done it without the support of our family

Back to the Present... Mallory, Kris and I decided it would be fun to celebrate National Kasey Day to ensure he doesn't get "lost in the shuffle of the holidays'.  And there you have it ~ National Kasey Day was born!  We arrived a little early to Chatfield and as you can see - Gma and Gpa were still working.  In fact; we had to employ the kids' help in cleaning a few sites before the fun began.

The boys helping Gpa clean up a site

"See Grandpa this is how you do it"

"What else can we do?"

Whew - that was Tough Work!  You guys do all that Every Day?  Who needs a gym?  Ok, time to cool off and start the festivities.  We started out with some good ol' fashioned sprinkler and pool time.  Yes, we have a lake within spitting distance, but Gma and Gpa decided it was nice to have a pool too.

The only way to relax after hard work

"So what is supposed to come out of here?"

"Watch out ~ it's water!"

"You can't catch me, Karsten"

"See, all you have to do is run through it"

"The water won't stop getting me"

"Maybe if I hit it with the bat, it will miss me"

Grandpa looks a little concerned in the background

Banzai!

Kasey's Turn!

After we thought we were done swimming, we decided a "Cannode Baptism" was in order.

 

 

Then there is Always room for Ice Cream Cake!!

 

Our Family would definitely not be the same without you, Mr Kasey.  We love your inquisitive, comical and yes, sometime tenacious personality.  You make us giggle and my favorite part of every day is listening to you and your brother talk about your day at school on the way home.  In fact; when you aren't in the car... Karsten just looks longingly at the seat wondering where you should be.  You were meant for our family and we are blessed every day with you in our lives.

3.5 years later and still a perfect family

Mallory sent a little package to our house to help celebrate.  It was funny because I told Kasey he had a package on our front step.  He squealed and asked "Is it from Miss Mallory?"  The first item he pulled out was a stuffed dinosaur that he had met last time we skyped with Mallory.  He recognized it right away.  This has become a required sleeping toy each and every night.  No going to bed without Lamby and his T-Rex.

Kasey getting ready to open his gift from Mallory

You can see the excitement in Kasey's eyes

We have been trying to do an Art Exchange Program with Mallory.  We recently sent pics Kasey drew to her and she painted him a picture for Kasey Day.  Currently, it is in our living room as the colors look great there and we can all enjoy her artwork.  Maybe eventually I will stop being selfish and put it in his room so he can stare at it as he falls asleep each night.

Kasey could not wait to display his new artwork

And who can forget Spiderman.  This dude has made it to show and tell at school at least Three times.  Each time, he tells his class that he got it from "My Miss Mallory".

"It's Spider-man,  Mommy"