First day of Kindergarten and 4th grade

Judah and Mrs. Stanley. Elijah had her for kinder as well - she's wonderful!

Judah did amazing. He was so ready and excited! I left him playing blocks with new friends.

I made a short little video of Judah's first day of kindergarten.

 

 

 Elijah with Ms. Sanchez. She seems really sweet and I think he'll have a great year!

In not too long, Elijah's not going to let me take pictures inside his classroom. :-)

 Thumbs up for a great first day of school!

The first day of school. That's a wrap.

get out some tissue...

I got motivated and made a video of our referral and first trip to Ethiopia. Hope you enjoy it! And if you missed the homecoming video that my mother-in-law made, don't forget to check it out after viewing this one!

some last minute summer fun

 School starts next Monday...boo. We have done a lot of last minute fun things to wind down the summertime.

 The boys went roller skating with my mom and her friend Andi (from Romania) - the boys ADORE her!!!

They took Evie jumping on the trampoline - the girl loves to have a good time!

We went sailing on a friend's sailboat. It was Evie's first boat ride and first time swimming in a lake.

We braved Six Flags. My boys are so much braver than I was at their age. They rode everything they were tall enough for that we could fit in that day. Elijah even rode the new Texas Sky Screamer all by himself because we were all too chicken to ride it. It looks terrifying but he said he wasn't scared at all! Crazy boy.

 Evie rode the Log Ride and the Cave Ride and loved both! We ran into some dear friends, the Schneiders and my sister's kids while we were there. Crazy! Elijah LOVES his cousin Jonathan!

And Judah's best buddy Linkon came over for his first sleepover!

What a great week!

evie's journey home video

My mother-in-law made a beautiful video of Evie's homecoming starting with when Jason took custody of her on the second trip. She surprised me with it a while ago but I am just now getting it uploaded to youtube. It's long but so sweet. Enjoy! I eventually want to make a video of our first trip as well - maybe after the boys start school I'll have some time!

15 months + the boys

 Evie turned 15 months old a few days ago. She is getting so big and is so smart! About a week before she turned 15 months, she started walking all over the place - she hardly ever crawls anymore. That has created a new dimension at our house which I'm still getting used to! :-) She says a handful of words and loves to give high fives and kisses. She walks around the house yelling "Mommy" all day long - I think she hears the boys saying it and just thinks that's what she's supposed to say, but she does know who Mommy is too. She is personality plus and charms every single person she meets! Her brothers & daddy adore her. I told Jason if she asked for a pony he would probably get her one! Ha! We love her and each day she fits into our family more and more.

 The boys are getting ready to start school in two weeks. I can't believe summertime is almost over. It makes me so sad to think that I have to be away from them during the day again for a whole school year. Judah is starting kindergarten which has not helped either...I am in sad denial about that, but he is excited so that is great! He couldn't wait to go pick out his school supplies, uniforms and backpack. I think he's all set now. Elijah has been very excited about Judah being in his school for the first time. I caught him reading this book to Judah the other day. So sweet.

They have had a great summer and the fun still isn't over! We have a few more things planned in the next two weeks. We're trying to fit in as much summer fun as we can before it's back to the school routine. The other day they had fun with water balloons in the backyard. They are too cute.