Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Sum...Sum....Summertime...

Boy do I have alot to post.  We have been having a super busy summer, and blogging just hasn't made the cut.  I'm going to try to catch up in a few posts over the next few days.

Here's a rundown though:
*Bryce totaled his truck!  Yep...it was great.  So proud.  Nobody was hurt though, so we're good.
*Richard has been traveling so much that I bought a replacement truck without him. (The first time I've ever done that!!)
*Said replacement truck broke down the second day we had it!!!
*I will never even consider buying a vehicle again...ever!
*Cade's team won the world series they played in Orlando.  So proud of him...totally bummed I wasn't there!!
*Baseball is over.
*Football will start soon.
*Braden is at the beach with some friends this week.
*He has had baseball workouts at the high school 3 times a week.
*Bryce is at band camp for the next 2 weeks.
*Richard and I leave Sunday for Birmingham where he will have surgery on his back.  He has been in extreme pain since the spring.
*The girls and I traveled to Dallas last weekend to visit some amazing women and precious girls home from China.  Let's start there!!

In my mind, 5 was the magic age.  The age where potty training was a thing of the past and strollers were not a necessary accessory.  Where fits were at a minimum and schedules could be more flexible.  I am happy to report that I was right!  We definitely still have our issues, but the girls seem to have turned a corner!  We hopped on a plane to Dallas for the weekend and had such a fun girls weekend!  My littles were great travel buddies and I am excited to be able to do fun things like this with them.

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You've heard me tell the "brick floor" story before, but here's a short version. A few years ago, Jennifer C (blonde on the left) googled "brick floors" because she was building a house. Amazingly, my blog popped up on the search because I had posted about brick floors as we were building. Jennifer started following our blog and fell in love with Wesleigh. Fast forward, and Jennifer C. is now home with precious Molly!! Molly came home and guess what...Jennifer N (far right) decided they couldn't live without a daughter of their own! Ella came home 6 weeks ago!! There is now another precious child home from this same community (they weren't with us this evening) and one more on the way!! It is amazing to see...and I am so humbled that God allowed me to be a small part of their stories! I am referred to as the "godmother" by this group, and I love it!! I had to meet my "godchildren"!! lol... Amber (third from left) lives in Houston and has connected with us through adoption. Her sweetie is Mia. She drove up to spend some time with the group too!

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We took all the girls to Build a Bear in the mall. You should have seen the looks we got as our Asian Invasion walked through the mall...so funny!! Harper (far left) was the one missing in the first pic. She is so precious! The two blondes belong to the mom who is in process :)
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We rode the merry-go-round...
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took bubble baths...
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played in makeup and let Gracie do makeovers...ALL weekend!
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played dress up...
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appeased the mama's with a few photo shoots!...
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played duck-duck-goose...
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again...more makeup!!!!  Gracie is obsessed and she made sure every girl got their share!!
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learned how to play Just Dance with some borrowed brothers!  (all these girls have 3 brothers of their own!!)... How about that...Gracie is the one with her clothes on!!!!  lol....
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Played chicken with a crazy brother who got some evil pleasure out of trying to run down this mama!!....
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got lots of hugs and messy kisses....
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rode the zip line in princess dresses... Ariel meets Tarzan!!....
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of course, this mama had to have a turn.  Only one problem...I broke it!!  lol...I can't even tell you how hard we lauged.  So sad!!...
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and most importantly...made some lifelong friends that we will treasure forever...
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For the mommys and the kiddos!!!

Love you my precious Texas friends!  Can't wait till the next time!!!

13 comments:

Jennifer said...

AWWWW....I can't even begin to tell you how much fun we all had!! Molly is STILL walking around like a lost goose trying to figure out what to do without her new friends! What great laughs and memories we had and what amazing pics to remember them by, by the one and only Jen D photography!! :)) Love y'all so much and can't wait to see y'all for a short visit in just a few weeks!
I'm still laughing about the zipline and the evil laughs in that jeep trying to run you over!..hahaha
Can't wait for our next Asian Invasion weekend!! :)
Love you girls!!

Jennifer Newberry said...

Loved every. Single. Second of these days together! Amazing friendships and I can't wait to see the bonds grow over the years!! Thank you for a beautiful post!

snekcip said...

Totally TOO MUCH CUTENESS in one post!! BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL KIDS!

Unknown said...

My girl loves the makeup too, and she can't leave home without it, and she's 4. I just go with it. LOL...Lov your summer post, looks like a wonderful summer of fun for you guys, sorry about the truck totaling thing. My oldest did that earlier this year too.

Kathy said...

So glad you have all made these connections. We should have come, haha, we are on the other side of TX. Rieley and I will be meeting some friends in Dallas/Ft Worth in Oct for 5 days of fun. Love you blog. Glad Bryce is ok, trucks can be replaced. Good luck with the back surgery.

Kat Shank said...

Sorry to hear about the truck (I know buying vehicles can be a chore, and unfortunately more in the south for a woman than up north, but still no fun). This is why I fixed mine instead of buying a new one. hehe

LOVE the pictures, what a fun time y'all had!! I also found your blog by searching something completely unrelated ('cowlicks' of all things, I think it was a post about Cade?) and have fallen in love. No kids for us, we're not cut out for kids, but I'm happy to give what I can and support the cause of Pearl River at least. You do a wonderful thing without even really realizing it, I think.

Leggio said...

Girl......the pics turned out so good!!!! Such a fun time!!!! Mia keeps talking about all the girls. Last night she prayed for Gracie. It was too cute and this morning she wanted me to get Harper. Lol

Paige said...

Oh my goodness, it looks like so much fun! The kids are too cute together, I'm sure the sound was quite loud haha!! Madeline would have put us over the top in loudness!! Wish I could have been there, looking at my computer in a hotel while my floors are being done, good times:) It will be so worth it when they are finished though. So sorry I missed the memories my friend!!!

The Lloyd Family said...

That is way to many cute girls for one picture!! My husband and I are also adopting a sweet little girl from China. Waiting to be matched! (with CCAI) I follow your blog and just was dying over these sweet girls all togehter!!!!!! :) So fun!!

likeschocolate said...

All of you China moms do not realize how many lives you have touched by sharing your stories.i had always wanted to adopt, but thought it was way to expensive and then I found your blog and a few others and then because of that I thought if they can afford it so can our family. We looked into it and it wasn't nearly as expensive as we were lead to believe. We have need LID since march and are now are waiting to be matched.

Preppy Pink Crocodile said...

How fun! I love how y'all have really connected over the years. Such a beautiful and unexpected outcome of blogging.

KK

Everything Beautiful Shay said...

What a fun weekend! Amber told me she was off for a fun visit with you all! LOVE how adoption brings us together so sweetly. I just had a friend over this week and we talked about how we would never now each other if it wasn't for our children. LOVE all your photos!!! Blessings and love!

Anonymous said...

These beauties just light up my life! Im only 25 and not even married (yet!) but have already started to plan my life around adopting. Wesleigh and Gracie are just the cutest things ive ever laid eyes on!! And you dress them soooo cute!!!!! Bows and ruffles and precious hair styles to fit their personalities, be still my heart. <3
Thanks for sharing and I am so glad I stumbled on your blog. I now feel the need to check in with these sweet girls and their awesome family to see them smiling and precious as ever.

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