Six Months!

It is hard to believe but 6 months ago today, Caleb was placed into our arms and became part of our family. We celebrated by having another surgery to replace the ear tubes that had already fallen out. He actually did very well and has been happy and running around the rest of the day. These are permanent t-tubes so they should last much longer than the temps put in in December (don't get me started on that one - just suffice it to say we are much happier with our new ent).
My birthday was over the weekend and Ken and I were able to get away to a B&B in western MD. My parents kept the kids for us and we spent the whole weekend eating grown up food, shopping, sight seeing and doing a little bit of nothing. We had both been in sore need of some time away and it was a wonderful weekend. I am so blessed to be married to such an awesome guy and am thankful that we still have fun together. I am also thankful to have parents who are willing to keep the brood while we spend some grown up time. All in all, I am a pretty blessed gal!

A REALLLLY big hole in our yard

Getting ready to dig!
Walking it out - with all the rain yesterday this was a messy job!
Digging the hole
What we had at the end of the day....
This is what happens when a 2 year old is left inside with his siblings while Mom and Dad are outside with the pool guys. Yes, this WAS a family size box of Cheerios....


After several years of planning, we have taken the plunge (no pun intended, hahaha) and are putting in a pool. Because of heavy rain yesterday, they were delayed starting until today. We have watched heavy equipment transform this corner of our yard into a gaping hole that will be ready for swimming, hopefully by the end of June. Ken's put the boys to work helping to move brush and several small trees that have needed to be taken out. We also have a very tempting mountain of dirt that will be moved around and used for grading tomorrow. We'll keep you posted on the progress!

Slumber Party?

Grandma made the cake - yum!
Make a wish!!
Getting ready for the "slumber" part of the party
The morning after - notice Caleb in the middle of all the women...

Who really came up with the title "slumber party"? It implies sleep and slumber - do those really happen? Actually Anna had her first slumber party Friday night and I can proudly say that I actually got about 7 hours of sleep - way more than I anticipated! The girls did well and had a good time playing outside, doing makeup, watching movies - you know, girl stuff :) The boys remained scarce except for poor Caleb who was always the center of attention. It was like having 10 mothers - poor kid!

My Anna

On the 16th, my Anna turned 7. It is hard to believe that she is no longer the little girl with a sweet smile and bouncy blonde curls. Now she is becoming a smart young lady with a flair for performing and the smarts to match. We are so proud of her servant spirit. She has a heart for others and we are anxious to see what God has planned for her.

We love you Anna!!

more FL photos

We saw Mulan at our princess dinner!!

Yes, we sat on the HOT pavement to watch the HSM show. Jacob got to do the limbo and both Jacob and Anna got to get up dance at the end. They loved it!

Photo op with Mickey at Animal Kingdom

Caleb liked Donald Duck - we were afraid he might freak out but he didn't!


blogger isn't cooperating with uploading a bunch of photos this morning so you'll have to see them all out of order....

To Florida and Back

Family shot with Chick-fil-A founder, Truett Cathy in his amazing office

Nankang girls Christina, Lucy, Amber, Sarah, Kaeli and Lia

Daddy and Caleb at Nemo

Sorry for the lull in posts but we've been busy! We made our way to FL last week for a reunion of Sarah's travel group and then a week of Disney. Along the way we stopped in Atlanta to visit the Chick-fil-A home office and meet with Chick-fil-A's founder, Truett Cathy. It was a special visit and we are glad that we were able to make the stop. My parents came along for the ride and survived the whirlwind that is a Disney vacation. We had a great time meeting back up with some of the families from our trip to China. We call them Sarah's China sisters since they are all from the same orphanage and were adopted at the same time. We also got to spend some time during the week with a couple of the families in particular and Sarah even got her first sleep over with Lucy at the hotel! It was a bit crowded but it could have been worse. Overall it was a great week - now back to the chaos of life!