Washington

I'm really not sure how many people read this blog, but I enjoy blogging so I guess it doesn't particularly matter. I figured since I said I would post pictures that I probably should even though it's been a while since they were taken.
We had the opportunity to visit our friends Holly and AJ Haddenham and Lorne and Cathy Spooner (although we didn't get to see Lorne because he had a shingles outbreak) in Republic, WA the last week of June. We had a GREAT time and the kids had a blast playing with their kids and the animals....particularly the horses.

AJ (who had just gotten back from riding Dew...he was preparing for an endurance ride in which he finished 15th out of 37...not bad for his first endurance ride), Holly and Phillip...and don't forget Dew!

Holly and Miss MaijaCathy & "her baby" Maija...she likes to claim her anyway.
Samuel, Nolan, Phillip and KatieJo

KatieJo the cowgirl...complete with pink cowboy boots. The two girls are Echo (left) and Sabrina.Samuel...the handsome looks great on Tilly the ornery pony. When Tilly doesn't want to be ridden she gets up on their porch.Phillip....the horserider extrodinair. He LOVES horses, particularly Holly's. Oh, and he LOVES, LOVES, LOVES his "Wally" aka Holly.

I have a whole lot more pictures from Idaho. I'll have to do those in another post.

Things I've learned

I've learned some things in the past few weeks that I thought I'd share, partially because our computer's chord is having issues so I can't put pictures on my blog and partially because I haven't blogged in a LONG time.

I've learned that.....

*KatieJo has to wear her glasses. Normally we park them for the summer on her desk, so when I took her in to get her eyes checked in June the Dr. asked me where they were. I told her and she said that if I didn't want her right *lazy* eye to start wandering she'd better start wearing them ALL the time....OOPS!

*My kids are good travelers, but even they have their limits! I.E. back to back vacations for almost 6 weeks in a row is a little bit too much.

*Seeing cousins after about 8 years is awesome, and it's great to catch up again.

*Potty training on the road is a J*O*K*E!

*Sunscreen is a must! My poor kids have burnt more this summer than in their whole lives. I forgot after spending last summer under the trees in my parents backyard that we have to have sunscreen.

*Being home is WONDERFUL!

*Having clean laundry to take out of your suitcase when you get home is WONDERFUL!

*Having to resume life as we knew it before we left is nice and sad at the same time....it's always fun to see friends and family.

*My children LOVE animals, particularly horses that they get to ride (my friend Holly's horses)....as soon as we get our new computer chord I'll post video of that that I took with my *NEW* video camera.

*Trampolines with LOTS of cousins on them equal disaster. (Samuel's head + Ellen's wrist (our niece)= Ellen's broken wrist in a cast)

*Meeting the new niece and one of our new nephews was fun.

I think that's all for right now. I'm sure there are more things I've learned, however they'll have to wait for a future post.
We hope you are having as much fun this summer as we are!

Fathers Day

A man and his new grill...it's a beautiful thing!

Whirlwind

What a CrAzY couple of weeks! It all started on the 7th with Maija's blessing. Since her adoption was finalized on the 3rd we had the opportunity to bless her when Stuart's parents, his sister Alice and her husband Ryan and their kids were here. Stuart's mom made her beautiful dress. It was great to have the family here, although I wish I could have stayed to enjoy the rest of the day.
KatieJo, Maija and I headed out on the 7th at about 6 p.m. to go to Denver. KatieJo started her swim lessons on Monday the 8th and Maija and I flew to Maryland to visit my sister and her new baby Carson. Maija is by no means a large baby, but Carson makes her look HUGE! He's an adorable baby!We had the opportunity to visit Gettysburg, PA although because of the babies we were unable to do the "tour". We saw a couple of the sights, had a great lunch and headed home...oh and we got to go to the Boyds Bear Factory Store. It was pretty cool....if you happen to be in Gettysburg and need a break from battle sites, stop in.

This is the ONLY picture I took of any Gettysburg signs, I'm not sure why I didn't take any more, but I didn't. It's not even a particularly fun sign, but it's all I have.

Maija REALLY wanted this p.j. shirt, but I insisted she didn't get it because it just isn't appropriate. It is a little bit funny though (and deep down I wanted it, but restrained myself).
We also went to NYC so my sister and her husband could attend a wedding and so we saw the sights as well. HOLY COW is NYC packed full of people! I felt like I was playing sardines in a HUGE city. We went to FAO Schwarz (the toy store in Home Alone), the Magnolia Bakery (I recently bought their cookbook...which I love, however if you don't want to pay $2.50 per cupcake call me...I'll give you the recipe!), Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I have always wanted to go to Ellis Island as several of my ansestors came through there. It is a fairly impressive complex!

Tuesday brought us back to Denver and today the girls and I headed home! My mom followed us up to bring a chair and love seat that they no longer want and we did, and Stuart's Father's Day present. He got a grill and for some reason we couldn't buy it in a box, so it wouldn't fit in the van.
Here is a picture of the kids and the requested I love NY shirts and hats. Phillip's hat wasn't requested, however I thought it was cute. Maryland is known for it's blue crabs and so I bought him the hat....I think I'll make it into a Halloween costume.
Today also happens to be my 22nd birthday...yes I realize that could be construed as a lie. However, I prefer to think of it as improving the truth. LOL What a great present to come home to my family after being away! I sure do love them!

Summer

School is FINALLY out! The kids got home a little after 11 and in order to hopefully make the transition between school and summer easier I decided to make a banner for the kids to break through before coming into the house. They thought that was pretty cool, and really had a BLAST running through it. We even had to hang it up again so that Mattias (a family friend who was in Samuel's class this year) could run through it since my kids ran as fast as they could and Mattias just watched.

Phillip & Mattias's younger brother Alvin thought it was HILARIOUS, and were running around like madmen with all the excitement.So, KatieJo's glasses have been put away for the summer and the backpacks have been put up....YEA for Summer Vacation!

It's official!

Maija Elisabeth Mobley
born November 18, 2008
Adopted June 3, 2009

We got the news this afternoon that Maija's adoption is FINAL! I'm not sure why, but as I write this I have tears in my eyes. She's been ours since we brought her home from the hospital, and she is such a wonderful addition to our family!

Monday Effort

It's Monday.....again....yup just Monday. WAIT. This is the LAST Monday of the 08-09 school year! YIPEEEEEEE!

Technically Stuart has to work next Monday, but that doesn't affect anyone except Phillip and that's just because KatieJo, Maija and I will be out of town. Samuel will be at soccer camp for part of the day and that leaves little ol'Phillip either hanging out with Dad at work (won't that be fun!) or at a friend's house. Or maybe with Grandma if they can stay an extra day.

I'm sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring...that's right, I'm waiting. I'm not sure when it's appropriate for me to call our lawyer and ask if Maija's adoption papers have been signed by the judge yet. So I'm attempting to excercise my patience which isn't really working so well. However, I am passing my time by surfing the internet when I should be cleaning and putting clothes away.

It's a nice not too hot, not too cold day outside and so our plan for FHE is to work in the yard. I have a bunch of cedar mulch that needs laid down and some hostas to plant. Oh and did I mention that our backyard looks like a jungle? We haven't managed to get a lawn mower yet and so borrowed one from a friend on Saturday, but Stuart only managed to get the front done. I hope the grass has dried out from yesterdays rain and that we can get it mowed before today's rain.

I'm going to complain for a moment, bear with me. So Samuel has been getting enrichment during the day at school by going up everyday for 1st grade math and 1st grade reading. We asked them to test him because he has already done 1st grade work and we're worried about how he will behave next year in school if he's in 1st grade. They agreed to test and told us that he had to get 80% or better on the tests in order to go to 2nd grade (they did the end of the school year tests for 1st graders). He scored above 80% on all of the tests. However, they told us this morning that the tests aren't reliable enough to skip him up a grade....WHAT?!?!?!?!? Then why did they do the tests in the first place. They have now told us they want an IQ test to see where he is (but the district won't do it because they only test special ed kids, and it could cost anywhere between $300 & $600). However, even if he scores where they want him to in order to skip a grade they don't feel that it's good for KatieJo. I'm less than impressed....good for KatieJo? As her parents isn't that our job to worry about that? We've already talked to KatieJo about it and she's been competing with Samuel her entire life. They typically do things at the same time. So, really what they should tell us is that they don't want to skip him rather than give us all these exueses (my favorite was...there is another little boy who is scoring what Samuel is but his parents don't feel it's appropriate to skip him up.....Well, good for his parents. I'm here for Samuel!) they should just tell us that they don't feel that he should be skipped up. What they don't realize is how much research I've done and who I've talked to. We're not coming into this blind. We understand what the ramifications could be, but we also understand what kind of child Samuel will be in the classroom if he isn't challenged. So I say let him skip 1st grade and we'll see if we can get a group rate on counseling sessions!