A little bit of this......
4th of July fun with 3 American girls....
best brothers and friends.....
A road trip to with my 16 yr old boy, Joel, to Kearney, Nebraska for a basketball tournament....
Fun trips to the park with dad while mom gets some alone time. They have to send pictures so the whole time I am wishing I were there.......
A trip for the girls to get our nails done......
We took a trip to Dallas/Tyler Texas to visit Scott's family. They hadn't met Samuel or Katy. The kids had fun flying and it went amazingly smooth. Here they are waiting in the airport....
Big brothers are great. Joel carried Katy's American doll and pink backpack through the airport.....
We were able to visit Scott's old stomping ground. We were so proud because Scott's nephew, Shannen, who just graduated from DBU was able to give us our tour.....
A fun filled 10 hour day at Six Flags. About 3:00 I wanted to sit down and demand someone take me home. I decided against that and sucked it up and pushed on. The kids had a really great time......
It was interesting. We had the chicken group and the non chicken group. I will let you guess which this is.......notice that you don't see Katy in this group.........
This is one of my favorites.......
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There were a few rides that the chickens and non chickens rode together...... it isn't the coaster above. That was totally for the non chickens.....
We survived and the chickens even lived to talk about it.......whew!......
Moving on to Tyler to spend some great time with family. Not only has our family grown but the rest of Scott's family is doing pretty good also. These are cousins, nieces, nephews and even great nieces and nephews. They all had so much fun together. This is Scott's sweet sister, Susie. I just love her.....
We had a great surprise when Scott's nephew, Aaron brought his firetruck by the house. The kids had a great time climbing in and out of the truck and trying on the helmets......
Luke Aaron is named after his cousin Aaron. Just some family trivia. Most of our kids have a name that belongs in our families. It is special for them to connect with.....
We all love Popo. He is such a huge anchor in all of our lives. He plays and lives like he were 20. Thank you Popo, for all the love that you have blessed this family with. You taught Scott how to be the best dad and husband in the world. I couldn't ask for more.....
The grown ups plus a few little guys slipped away for a Mexican dinner. So much fun...
Another fun get together was with my nursing school roommate and Scott's medical school friend. Ken and Shannon we had a great time catching up. We have such fun memories with you guys......
Now we are moving into the school shopping season. I took the 4 girls out for the whole day of shopping. They learned what it means to shop til you drop. We were all very tired but what a fun day we had....
More fun at the park but this time I tagged along. Someone had to kill the bees that threatened our picnic....
We have had tons of swimming. Katy loves, loves, loves to swim. Aunt Jan spent the day with her in Texas teaching her how to swim. She is like a little fish now. Jan she loves you so much. That was great time for her. As a matter of fact Katy cried to stay with Jan when we left. I think she is happy she came home with us but likes to call and talk with Jan.
Luke and Leah swam on the swim team this summer. Tonight was the final party....
And finally we have probably had the most of this. Tons of Dr. visits and evaluations this summer for Katy. Whew. It started out a bit rough but she has done so well. She has had a rough life with a medical condition called Anal Atresia. It just means that her bowel plumbing inside and out really didn't form correctly. I am honored and proud to be her mama through this. Her life is going to be a quality life because of the medical care we are able to get for her here. This is one of those times that floods me with complete peace and satisfaction. There is nothing like being able to help a little child in this way. The love and bond that we are building as we walk this path is strong and growing deeper every day. When she gets all upset not wanting to do some tough medical stuff I just ask her, "Katy, do you trust me?" She hesitates and then says yes and calms down and we move on. Katy is a mess. She is full of life. She is loud. She is beautiful. She is determined. She is stubborn. She is kind. She is very smart. She loves her family. Each and every one of us. She was an orphan with absolutely no hope. Her orphan status would have affected her until the day she died. She would have had a hard life with her medical condition. But God loved her so much that he sent this crazy family to scoop her up and place a beautiful crown on her head and call her our own. She now knows that there is a God who loves her and cares for her. She accepts that as the truth. I am blessed like crazy. Katy will start school for the first time here in the US. She is nervous and excited all at the same time. She will do great and those lives she touches will never be the same.
