MACBETH
A much needed group date before the craziness of three more children sets in!
YUMMY FOOD
GREAT COMPANY
AND MY HONEY
“fort”itude
My favorite memory from Nana and Papa’s this summer was catching imaginations at play in the back yard. It so reminded me of my own childhood in that very same yard.
All of the cousins were whining one day that it was too hot, and that there was nothing to do. Excuse me…bounce house, pool, gigantic lawn, awesome sand pit, 11 children, and I could go on. Anyway, all the moms chimed in at once, “go use your imaginations and don’t come in until lunch.”
When we went out to check on the crew, they were taking old building supplies from around the property and making forts. They had divided into two teams and were having a contest to see which fort would be the best built. It was hilarious to see what they came up with for building materials.
(notice Nikki sitting on a chair with her legs crossed letting everyone else do the work…)
Well, they never finished their projects because Brooklynn stepped on a nail, which quickly put the kibosh on using papa’s old building materials. But they had a great time trying.
JULY 2010
looking forward
Summer will quickly be upon us here in the desert. And you all know how cranky I get when summer comes. So I try and make the summer as busy as possible for myself so that I can endure the baking hot sun.
Here is what we are planning:
MAY
—Zion Nat’l Park, of course. Year six. We leave tomorrow.
JUNE
—Spring Mountain Ranch, Willy Wonka. Planning this outing for months now with friends. So excited to take the kids to their first official play.
—Camp Invent. Danny is going to his first invention camp with a buddy. He is totally stoked.
—Bear Lake. The kids and I are planning a week at the lake with my mom and sister. (Adam will be in China on business–boo, boo!)
—Swim lessons. Hopefully we can squeeze a couple of these in. :)
JULY
—Grandma Penning Visits. YAY!
—Relay for Life. We are going to Oregon to participate in Team Georgie this summer. So Excited!
—Washington. Oh how I love escaping the desert heat, trading it in for two weeks in Yakima. I can’t wait to hang with my family, scrap with Jes, camp at Rainier with cousins, and see old friends and their children.
AUGUST
—The Beach. Yes! Who love the Oregon Coast? We do. We do. We have been planning this vacation since Thanksgiving with my parents and siblings. One whole week in Seaside with my family. The kids are going to learn to body surf this time around. Can’t wait for vacation with my hubby and kiddos.
flyin’ by
Ezzy’s eighth year is going so fast. She started attending Activity Days. One of her first activities was a Daddy Daughter Dinner. How cool is it that she has a daddy to take her?
October always bring Fall Conference to our home. It is one of only two times a year that we intentionally stay home for church–glorious internet. The kids did awesome. They sat through all four sessions of conference while coloring ties and pictures of the speakers, and writing down the main themes of each talk. What a difference a year makes when it comes to communication, right?
I started exercising again today. Yeah, it was only a mile walk. But I also went out and walked with the kids later in the day too. Maybe my motivation is slowly returning. It would be really good for it to hit around the holidays. Perhaps it will stave off extreme amounts of weight gain due to even more extreme amounts of consumed peanut brittle and sugar cookies. :)
space cadets
Our nine year old son could not be any more excited than he already is about scouting. He dances around the house chanting, “I’m going to Scouts!” every single Thursday. He is an oldest child in every sense of the word. It drives me insane sometimes because I see my own oldest child tendencies manifesting themselves in him. So when he is too nervous about unimportant things, or when he gets frustrated because he didn’t do something exactly right the first time, it is like looking into a very sharply focused mirror. I suppose you do not have to be related by blood or race, or even speak the same language to be so much alike after all! :)
The super-supportive siblings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
United Breaks Guitars
Although it wasn’t United’s fault that my bag was lost, their lousy communication kept it lost for 3 weeks after it was found in Hong Kong. Here’s a funny, but all too real, look at how your baggage is handled:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo
Full Story: http://www.davecarrollmusic.com/story/united-breaks-guitars/
a life full of sunshine
I sure do like being a mom these days. In fact, things are feeling a little too comfortable around here. We are a few months away from our one year familial anniversary. WOW! Look how the stars have begun to shine. Truly Bright! Today, I am grateful for the opportunity to mother.
Pine Nut Road
Pine Nut Road is north of Las Vegas, inside the Desert National Wildlife Refuge. I gave mommy a break on Sunday afternoon and took the niños out for a drive with Jeremy. We have been wanting to explore this area because there are a few areas we have heard are good for camping in this area. I explored the other side of the mountain the week before with Dave, but we didn’t have any great success. The Refuge is a pretty lonely area – not a lot of traffic on these roads!
Though we didn’t make it all the way to the campground, we did make it almost all the way to the end of Pine Nut Road. From the end of the road, one can hike to Hayford Peak, the highest point in the Sheep Range. We hit snow at about the 6,500 foot level. We decided to have a little snow ball fight and head back for home since we were quickly losing the light.
Once the snow is gone, this will be a great place to head for cooler temps and camping in the trees (there ARE more than Joshua trees up there!). It’s a good thing that the kids like driving out on “la tierra” because they’re going to be doing it more. :)
not so “quick care”
Before the head staples!!!
After the head staples!!!
Adam wasn’t home from San Antonio but 10 minutes when the boys decided that wrestling on the stairs was a good idea. Hello!!! Wompy knocked his head (where Danny had already given him a goose egg on Halloween) on the corner of the banister–leaving a giant splotch of blood on the moulding.
Needless to say, instead of Sunday napping, we spent a few hours finding a Quick Care that took our insurance and then getting Juan P. treated. We are really proud of his bravery though. He didn’t cry when he brought a handful of blood down to me, nor did he cry during the stapleing procedure.
And he’s so stinkin’ cute that the doctor gave him TWO dulces. Yummy!
***the ouchies on the front of his head were for something the day before–oh, the five year old. :)***
2008 in review (july-december)
JULY was full of wonderful adoption preparations. My girlfriends helped me pack and shop for the kids. My mom helped me put their rooms together. We also met our children over the video for the first time.
August was….well a cornacoupia of emotions. In short, we became parents–gaining four amazing Spanish-speaking Sunshines. And we spent one hell of a month in Bogota. Another thanks to grandma, grandpa, uncle brian, and tia jena for flying out to help. It feels surreal, doesn’t it?
SEPTEMBER was the month that saw us home. We drove from LA to LV. We immunized and enrolled our munchkins. And we spent two weeks attacking the lice-infested hair of our daughters.
OCTOBER was full of rock-climbing, bike riding, and Halloween. Adoption-wise, the kids started to pick up a bit more English, and respond well to school. Their first trip to Logan, UT (7.5 hours) went off without a hitch. These munchkins were born to be our children–they are excellent travelers. And yes, most of our travel is DVD-free! It is possible. :)
NOVEMBER was the month that Amy (and Mya) and Jes flew into visit. We scrapped, ate Cold Stone ice cream cake for Amy’s 30th, and cruised the strip in the minivan. We spent Thanksgiving with the Penning clan in Logan, UT. While in Logan, we took real autumn family pictures. I believe we have felt more like a family since November.
DECEMBER was just last month, but it seems likes ages ago. We hit a turning point adoption wise and language wise in December. I like to think it is the spirit of the season that forged us closer together. The children’s language jumped forward during Christmas Break. Also during December, we started to see lots and lots of kisses given freely to us and to each other without Adam and I initiating….what a wonderful feeling. December 2008 is most decidedly a keeper. December also brought Kavika to our door. The jury is still out on how long Kavika will be with us. But for now, he is part of our family.