Sorry Excuse for a Pumpkin Patch

For some reason, we have been just crazy busy this year and didn't make it out

to the pumpkin patch for our annual event. Wally World had to do. I'd should start planning for Thanksgiving dinner now so we don't end up at Mc D's...

Rocky Point 2007

What a weekend we have had! It was a bear to pack up and get out of town but so worth it. Here are a few pics:

Audrey hoped to get her hair braided this year and I hoped that we would have the opportunity to have it done before it turned into a ratted, sandy, salt-watery mess. Lucky for us, Maria arrived just as we pulled up to the condo. So, for 4 days I didn't have to worry about Audrey's hair. It was great!

Here's a view of the back.

Here's a shot of Noah mid-air jumping in the waves. This was a perfect vacation for the kids. They slept like rocks every night.

Here's Noah and his buddy Camden. We had such a great time with Cam and his parents, Shannon and Doug. Here's hoping that we spend some time with one another outside of the U.S. again sometime very soon. ;o) (Our LIDs are 3 days apart so we are hoping to travel to China at the same time...)

This is the second time that we have made the trip to Mexico with neighbors, friends and friends of friends. I think there were about 50 of us this year and about half were children. All of the kids had a blast and enjoyed the usual sand and water fun and other adventures like night time sand dollar hunts along the beach with flashlights and glow sticks. Here's Xander with some boating buddies.
Daddy's boy Audrey made a new pal, Ava, and they were inseparable for the four days of the trip.

I wouldn't trade this guy for anything!

Okay, let's play 'what is wrong with this picture?' Do you see it??? The title of this photo is My Four Children...and four of my toes. Ugh.

The Whole Brood on the beach.
Some observations from this trip were how nice it was to travel without a baby-although we would gladly have it the other way, and how nice it was to see the kids play with each other when they didn't have tv/video games, etc. to distract them. Here's a rare shot of A and T proving that they can in fact get along...
After almost eight hours in the car (4+ in line to cross the border) we made it home last night safe and sound. The kids are already asking to go back!

Adios!!!

We're headed to Mexico with a bunch of friends including Shannon and her family. Despite this mountain of stuff in my living room and the challenge of fitting it into the car still ahead of us, I can't wait for 4 relaxing days on the beach!!! Will return with pictures, none of which will feature my blog-affected behind in a swimsuit...

Momentous Occasion

We just returned from a three day camping trip but that's not the momentous occasion. What is??? Well, this is the first time posting from the new laptop! It's our first and another one of those purchases where after a few days you can't remember what life was like without it. I find myself daydreaming about using it to blog from China with Meili sitting on my lap...Anyway on to the camping report: I had a home study appt. 3 hours away and the kids were out of school and Matt was off of work so we decided to make a vacation out of it. Matt dropped me off at the clients' home while he set up camp and then we stopped by again on the way home. Good deal. We hung out at a lake and had a blast.

Here's a picture of the kids in the natural hot spring/hot tub.

On the 10th, we 'celebrated' our 19 month LID-versary by

hiking the Ladybug Trail on Mt. Graham.

Water and dirt is about all that is needed to entertain these boys for days on end.
Xander, whose joy at playing in the dirt can only be surpassed by the joy he finds in being free to pee in bushes.

It was scary, but we let the dog off the leash in public for the first time so he could fetch a stick from the water. He loves to swim! And yes, he is now also a canoeing enthusiast but no matter how nicely we asked, he refused to help paddle.

Please Vote!

This is Jenny Bowen, founder of Half the Sky. For those who may not know, she has two daughters, adopted from China and has spent the last 10 years working to improve the care of those children who are still in Chinese orphanages. Click here to vote for Jenny and enable her to carry the Olympic torch in Beijing in August of 2008. If chosen, she will run with 8 orphans from 8 different provinces in China. It only takes a minute and a couple of clicks to make this dream come true.



For selfish reasons, I don't have many warm and fuzzy feelings when I think of the Beijing Olympics but this is something that I can get excited about! Please vote!

Scarred For Life

After a readoption court hearing this morning (awesome!) , I had one mission-to find six sets of bumble bee wings for a church costume party. I had given up on the internet and planned to set out with Xander and hit every Halloween costume shop in town until we found them. It was quite 'educational' to see what many people consider to be a costume. Early on, we walked into this place and Xander was greeted by a giant pair of fake b**bs among the other costume accessories. I didn't notice them probably because they were down at his eye level. Nice. This is how he chose to spend the rest of his shopping day. He says he was scared of the monsters, but I think it was definitely the b**bs that freaked him out.