4th of July

We spent 4th of July at home and had a visit from our cousins. We all went to an outside concert and then saw fireworks at the end. It was the first time that my two had ever seen big fireworks. Fi was a little scared of them and not a fan, but T loved them and watched from a top his Uncle Ryan's shoulders.

The four cousins ages 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Unlce Ryan (Clark's best friend who lives here in Atlanta) came too and is one of Fi's favorite people.

The cousins made some paper flowers for their Grandma who was recovering from surgery.

My Dad and our little family went hiking the Monday after the 4th. It was a beautiful hike through the GA mountains. The trail stays next to a big stream the whole time and ends at a waterfall.

The Farm

We spent Easter in Oklahoma on my grandparents' farm. I use to spend every summer out there and we all love it.

On Easter the wind was defiantly sweeping down the plains

hunting Easter eggs

Going on a walk around the farm with their sunglasses that they got in their Easter baskets. Fi always insists on wearing hers upside down.

T loved getting to ride on the lawnmower with Daddy.

We had a great time and wish we could live out there all year long. Maybe one day.

The beach

Sorry it has been so long in coming, but here are pictures of our spring break at the beach with grandparents and cousins.

the four cousins

running in the freezing cold water

the beach was fun but very cold most of the time we were there.

Daddy and Fi eating ice cream.

Let it snow, let it snow! In March?

It snowed yesterday 3 inches at least and then was gone by this afternoon. Now we live in the south and it hardly ever snows here so it was pretty crazy.

It was the wonderful wet type of snow that makes good snowmen and snowballs. It was a first time experience for my little southern babies. We don't really have the clothes for it, as you can see Fi has two different types of mittens on.

It just kept snowing all of yesterday. It was beautiful to see that much snow falling.


We made snowmen in school that day since we were so excited.

This picture was taken when it first started snowing that morning.

What is new with us....

Good News:
My sister Jessa just had her big PET scan last week to see if the cancer has come back and there is no cancer in sight. I think we all sighed a big sigh of relief that we didn't even know that we had been holding these last few months. Now with chemo and radiation long over and the all clear, she took off today for NYC and then the west coast to see her two best friends. Soon she will be getting a job in NYC and moving away for good. I can't say that her having cancer was wonderful (it was horrible and scary) but having her at home was so nice. These last few months since she has been feeling good and getting back to her old self have been great. The kids have gotten to play with her everyday and Aunt Jecca is the favorite around here. So now we try to live life again without her. BTW her hair is growing back and is so cute. She gets comments on it all of the time because now it looks like she cut it that short on purpose and not just because of chemo.

The Olympics:
T is totally into the winter Olympics right now. He loves to watch it and imitate the different sports. He puts on swimming goggles, his ski hat, gloves, and finds some sticks to be polls and runs around doing the downhill skiing. I have seen a lot of kids imitate things but he really has it down. It is amazing how how he picks up little details. When he pretends to ice skate, he falls down on purpose, says that he won't get the gold and then sits in a chair and watches for his score. He is so funny to watch and he makes us do all of the sports with him.

Sleeping Beauty:
Fi is finally starting to sleep in her own bed all night long. We have been working on it for about a week. Instead of sleeping the last half of the night with her in her single bed, I now just sit beside her and hold her hand. She has not cried at all, but is not a fan. After one night of waking up many many times during the night, Jessica asked her if she slept in bed by herself like a big girl, her answer (with a big smile of course) was "baby cry for mommy". But, things are getting better and though I am really tired (3 years of not sleeping more than 4 hours at a time will do that to you) I am seeing progress and have gotten one or two good nights. T is sleeping through the night most all of the time now and if he can after three years than any kid can.

The Zoo and Adoption Day

We went to the zoo the other week even though it was 38 degree out. We had the zoo to ourselves which was nice and some of the animals were out. I am determined to use my zoo pass as much as possible. The picture above is the kids in the little school bus thing at the park inside the zoo.

The kids liked the petting zoo the best!

We also celebrated Fi's first adoption day! One year ago we picked up a screaming baby that was our new daughter and now she is a screaming (but happy) two year old. Adoption has been the most wonderful journey and everyday I look at her and I am so thankful that we took the leap to adopt. She has made our lives a brighter and more beautiful place.

We are back!

Sorry that we have been so absent in our blog. We are back now getting the new year started. Here are some pics of the kids over Christmas with our Christmas tree and their new kitchen they got for Christmas.

This was Fi's first Christmas and she loved it! Her favorite part was opening presents and would open other people's when we weren't looking.