August 2013, and then it was over

One of my boys favorite things to do is fish. Some friends came and brought their gear and fish they had cleaned, Luke is a catch and releaser,for a fantastic fish fry. Thanks Ryan and Michelle! Found this on the camera. The girls were having a photo shoot with Ms.Lola. Isn't she cute!

She knows what to do, but not sure when to do it. boop boop! Not even 18 months and wanting to potty train, this could take a while. grunt grunt

Somewhere over the rainbow, we had a double rainbow and everyone who posted the rainbow had it over where they were. I guess we can't hog God's promises! This RV, our latest great idea, finally made it's home to storage out of our driveway (after a couple months being in the way!) We envision some great time to be had on the road. After a kid scratched my 2010 nice 12 passenger, it became clear that we are not really in a phase of our lives to have anything that cannot be destroyed. So we got rid of the van and decided on this family fun apartment on wheels. Everyone wants to know if we are going to church in it. No, we are church in it!

Sonny, Isaac, and Noah all bringing home 1st place state wins in Brainerd. We got some skill in these genes! Sonny actually bought our newer van and we got back our old trusty '96 Ford Club Wagon. I could tell you til I am blue in the face that no vehicle is going to make me cool.

We had the honor of puppy sitting! Otis came for a week and he is the late Bruno's grandson. He was a solo pup and was spoiled rotten over here. His eyes were not even open yet! He came with his momma Bella and we loved having them! It was not convincing enough though to puppy shop yet. maybe. someday.

My darling sister with our newest nephew, Ivan Lee. He was such a honey and we had our first mini reunion. Being in 3 different states we decided to prioritize a weekend each summer and plan it, so we had a nice time in Sioux Falls, tbd if we will rotate hosting or find a resort for the future.

THE 3 YEAR OLDS!!!!!!! GETTING BIG AND ALL SO CUTE!!!!!!!

The cousins! We did skip out on a couple, and that is our reality because we cannot have the same expectation for everyone. We are not your typical family and never will be, incase that wasn't established. And that is okay.

Next time this duo will have seperate check ups. We were at the clinic for 2 hours!!! What do ya do? Take some pics! They both scored 20/40 on their eyes too, but since then the eye doctor squashed it for Naomi and confirmed it for Noah. She did say though that we will wait on doing any eye wear for him unless worsens. Bum though, thought he would always be perfect:)

.........................a mother and her son................................. ........................this kid cracks me up! ...............................

somebody got a bike! still a little leary, but by next year will be bringing home trophies!

Rider in the black helmet, gaining on the one in front. This was Noah at the state final race, he lost his lead in the burm when he went high and the rest went in and he got nubbed out. He then went from last to fourth and had a very successful first year in BMX. He was awarded a state plate that day and ranked number 5 in the whole state! We are blessed always and abundantly. We had a good summer. We are going to have a great school year too! It's how we roll!

July 2013 road tripping for family

I took a few kids on a road trip to Sioux Falls, SD. My cute nephew, Oscar, was glad to show a few cousins around. Lillie had so much excitement. The park was not as impressive, but the falls are beautiful. It was a hot day! We spent the night at my brother Reed's new place and then went to pick up the oldest sibling of our adopted kids.

Annie stayed with us for about a week. Here is their maternal biological grandmother and aunt with them. It was great to see the kids together again. We regret that Ashley was not included, but hope that when she is older she can join us too! The grandma calls us sometimes and is grateful that we have the 4 we do, and was going to visit Annie, but after nearly 9 years of hearing she wanted to visit, we welcomed them to come and see everyone.

For the road trip home, we trailed across Iowa and went to my other brother, Ryan's house. Noah got to experience a FireFly Expedition! Noah and Henry capturing wild bugs just before bed.

Noah caught on right on his hand, and below you can see it lit up for the camera! What fun this was, as I fondly remember catching fireflys at dusk in my field behind my childhood home.

Uncle Ryan with his boys and everyone's favorite cousin, Noah, reading a story before bed.

Sylvi the gorgeous red head! She is a sweetheart and it was great to spend some time with her. Made it so worth the 16 hour car travel over a 2 day period:)

Grandpa Curt made the travel with us and was relieved to be delivered back home. We hadn't seen Annie since I was pregnant with Naomi. She had come for a week and then it backfired in various ways, as we had some concerns with her transition planning that the state was responsible for due to her being in long term foster care. Her visit stirred her emotions as well and we became the bad guys. In the end, it likely prompted her to have some additional services and connections with people that she may not have otherwise. Since aging out of the system, it has become evident once again that the system fails people. We just be who we are and do what we do.