Warm weather and BBQ.

As the weather this week continued to be warm, Amber and Eddie came over after work to go swimming and have a BBQ for dinner.  Hannah is doing great with her swimming, but Lauren has surprised us with her fear of the water since she loves taking baths and getting water poured over her head.  In time as she gets used to the pool and knowing how competitive her personality is she will in no time be trying to catch up with Hannah.

Master of the grill!

Cameron.

Lauren, Amber, Hannah.

Hannah

Eddie

Big Water!

Today Lauren finally had the chance to go in what she has referred to as "The Big Water"  our pool.

Lauren only saw it for the fist time about a month ago when we had her in the area behind our barn when we brought the chickens home.  We knew she did not know how to swim and even though the pool is in an entirely fenced and gated area away from the house we did not want her to venture out there alone as we learned soon after her arrival home she is an explorer and would have tried to find a way back there.

Well enough of my (Kevin's) rambling here are a few photos from this afternoon.

Cameron's Invisalign Braces.

Not only is Cameron about to graduate from High School, he just got his Invisalign braces today. The doctor is estimating less than 18-months to complete the process.  It is amazing that you can hardly tell he has anything on when he is wearing them and he loves the fact that he takes them out to eat and does not have to worry about all the things that Amber could not eat when she had her braces years ago.  He is however a little sore as his teeth have already started to move - oh the price of a great smile!  (Cameron's pain in the mouth and the pain in our wallet! )  : )

Father's Day

 Our annual Father's Day tradition (Kevin's menu) for the day includes having a late lunch after church with cheeseburgers, salt & vinegar chips, and Corona & lime.  Amber and Eddie were able to come over and join us so all the children were here at the house for Father's Day.

Yesterday, we went over to our friends the Martinez's house to say farewell as in just a few weeks they pack up their family and move to Wisconsin to be closer to family and also due to work relocation.  The girls had the opportunity to play on the swing set they have and enjoy some time running around while we visited with the Martinez's and some other friends that we have not seen in years.

In just a few short weeks Bea has
adjusted to being in her new home.
Here she is sleeping next to Mia.

Kevin has been threatening to go rabbit
and squirrel hunting since it seems we are
being overrun by them and they are attacking
our fruit and vegetable plants.  Cameron talked
Lynda into letting him get a new CO2 power
BB gun to go "hunting".

  

First Fruits of Spring & More!

We are getting the first fruits from our trees and various vegetables from our garden to enjoy including peaches, plums, lemons, radishes, various peppers and tomatoes.  The flowers are blooming and the property is looking wonderful and full of life.  We have many different varieties of birds that have nested around here and our chickens are now twice as big as they were when we brought them home just a few weeks ago.

Here are some pictures of our harvest, flowers, chickens, and the kids!

                                         

 

Adoption of a dog brings questions.

We guess bringing a new dog home (the shelter calls it an adoption) got Hannah thinking.  As parents of children brought into our lives through the blessing of adoption we know questions about their adoption will come, just not sure when and what if anything would prompt them.  We went through similar questions with both Cameron and Amber, obviously different circumstances brought about some different questions/answers since Amber is from Russia and was 7 when we brought her home and Cameron has been with us since birth as his birth mother lived with us and we have kept in touch over the years.

Back to the main story, Hannah was asking last night why someone would take such a sweet dog and give it up.  She asked what happens if the dogs do not get adopted? This must have got her thinking harder because today she asked Kevin do we know who her birthmother was, did we know anything about her, and did we know where she was now. She also asked why she was taken to an orphanage.

Well, great questions, but hard at any age to answer.  We could tell by her questions and expressions that hearing the word "Adoption" associated with the new dog she took what she heard last night and was wondering why her birth family took her to the orphanage, and of course has fear that what happens if we decide we do not want her, would we take her or Lauren to an orphanage?

Kevin told her that we did not know anything about her birthmother, we were not sure where she was now but guess she was still in the Hunan Province of China.  As for why she was at the orphanage, we told her we can not be sure of all the reasons but believed that her birthmother knew she would have a better chance of survival and better opportunities being adopted.  Kevin told her that we are so blessed that her birthmother took her to a place where she would be taken care of until we were brought together as a family. We told her that we never leave her and she was our daughter - forever.  The simple responses were accepted by her for now.

As she gets older many of the same questions will arise and as she she gets older the answers will be based on her level of understanding and maturity. We will not lie or make up fairy-tale answers (yes believe it or not we have seen/heard of this), but as in the case of her being taken to the orphanage we assume that it was a hard decision for her birthmother and it was most likely a choice of necessity and love. Some questions we may not have the answers to, but we will do our best to give what details we have while assuring her that she (as with all our children) are a blessing from God, each of them a special gift that brings love, joy, and happiness into our family.