Random updates...

As you can see from the following 15 posts I just did tonight we've been a bit busy in June. Sorry for the lack of posting, sometimes it's due to lack of things to write about, this time it was just a lack of time. Please be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and then go to older posts to not miss anything! In other things that have happened this month that I don't have pictures for, Hannah's reading has taken off! We went from her wanting me to read to her to spend time with her just a month ago to getting the response when asked if she'd like me to read her a book "No, I'm reading right now, maybe when I'm finished" she told me the other day she was reading a Zoo Book magazine so she could learn more. She was reading a George Washington book and was asking me questions about measles and telling me what she had read in the book. When I got to read a book to her or Evie and it's one that I haven't read but she has she'll tell me what it's about and who's in it and what they do. She even took down the Little House books to "look at" but I'm sure there might have been some reading going on as well. It's been fun to watch her grow in that area. The girls have both been into helping me clean as well. This is something that didn't happen much in Houston, I was fighting clutter and just keeping the house neat there, here I've gotten the house much better organized and everything has a spot! This is amazing, but it also means I actually clean a whole lot more. The girls have been emptying the dishwasher for awhile now, but they've also learned how to do the laundry and Hannah can move it along by herself. She can't start the washer or the drier (she can't reach), but she can take everything out of each of them and move the washer content to the drier. They have both been helping clean the bathrooms as well. And Hannah learned how to mop the other day :-) It's been quite a busy month and we're looking forward to a little down time in July. I hoping to get the girls to the beach and do some swimming lessons with them, we went yesterday and they had a blast and were very comfortable in the water, so that's a good start. And we have vacation Bible school for a week. A little lower key hopefully....Nathan and I start teaching Sunday school tomorrow so I need to get going, but I wanted to get theses posts up for you to enjoy! They were done super fast, so I'll apologize for the typeos now as I'm sure there are tons! :-)

Doctors....

I made it to my physical this week that I needed for our adoption paper work. I really liked the doctor and he has two adopted sons himself. I got my needed tests and everything looks good. As I said we got our finger print cards done and sent those in, so they've started the background check. I got the girls medical forms back from their doctor in Texas this week and I talked to our social worker. She said we can send in the application without all of our medical forms and just send those in when we get them. Nathan still needs to make an appointment for a physical. So we just need our autobiographies done and we can send in the application. We're working on those and getting close. Hopefully everything will be done soon!

Bonfire time!

Tuesday we had our community group over to our house for hot dogs and 'smores. We had a little trouble starting the bonfire due to the fact that it poured the day before. But we finally got it going and everyone had fun. After everyone left we read the girls night time Bible stories outside by the fire and they got to see lighten bugs. This was the first time they had seen them, as we didn't have them in Texas. 

 Evie chilling while eating a hot dog

 Cooking marshmallows! Yum!!!

 Sleeping waiting for it to get dark to see the lightning bugs!

Litchfield Church Campus Clean up

While my parents were at my cousin's house Saturday morning we went to our new church building and helped "kill the jungle" as they said. The lot was pretty over grown and they've been working to bring it back under control while fixing up the building for the September opening of the new campus. We got there just after 8 am and were there until around 1 pm. The girls helped some, and played some, but did a great job staying out of trouble!

 Hannah watching a large bush come down

 Helping carry debris down the hill

 They did a great job helping! And sticking around for so long.

 Before....

 After!

Grandparents take 3

Nathan's parents came to drop off some furniture the weekend before we picked them up to spend a few days with us, so the girls got to see them two weekends in a row, well the 22nd, just three days after Nathan's parents left my parents stopped in on their way to my cousins house in Hartford. Then Saturday they came back and spent the night and left early Sunday morning. The girls loved seeing them, even if it was just for a short time. My Dad helped clean out our gutters too! Thanks Dad! And we had a fun relaxing time with them. It's been great seeing lots of friends and family and the girls have been loving it! I'm enjoying watching the girls build relationships with their extended family, it's lots of fun!

Mud Monsters!!!!!

 On June 21st it was hot here, I think it might have been hotter here than Houston that day if I remember correctly. To help the girls cool off I set up the sprinkler and the water table and let them have fun. And fun they had!

 They enjoyed the water table and making "mud soup"

 And then they turned themselves into mud monsters!!!!

They did run through the sprinkler a bit too, but really had much more fun with the mud.

Finger Printing

On June 20th we went and got our finger prints done for our background checks for the adoption. There are only a few hours a week that they do finger printing, so Nathan and I went together with the girls. They ask that you call first to make sure it's a slow night and they aren't booking anyone, so we did that and they said come in. Apparently when the called the officer to come in and to the prints an alarm went off that he was the closest to, so he had to check that out before coming, so we were there waiting for over an hour before our prints got done. I wasn't really prepared for that, so entertaining the girls got a little hard, but in the end it was worth it. When walking back to get my prints I asked if the girls could come with me. The officer said no and that was fine, I figured I'd ask. As we were back doing the prints I was chatting with the officer and he said he'd give his supervisor a call and see if he could give us a tour after he had finished our print. He called his supervisor and the supervisor said it was fine. After Nathan and one other person got their prints the girls got to go back to booking, they saw how we did our finger prints and then they got to do their own. They also got to see the holding cells, reporting department, investors offices, and he even let us see a squad car and let the girls push the buttons for the lights and sirens. He looked us up in the system too to see if we were in there, but we weren't. I think Nathan and I may have been more interested in the tour than the girls, but I think they liked it too. There are some benefits to living in small town America :-)

Ice Cream!

Tuesday night my in-laws left, but we were able to still have a bit of fun before bringing them to the airport. We went to the Habitat Restore and got some bar chairs for the kitchen island. The girls are loving being able to eat in the kitchen! Thanks Mom and Dad! After that we went to the Salvation Army and the girls got a bunch of books, which they've been enjoying, especially Hannah, who's been reading like crazy! After that there was some time for a quite stop at the park and then we met Nathan for ice cream before heading to the airport. Evie was pleased with the ice cream, but getting a bit confused why she was having it three days in a row is whispered to me "why do we always get ice cream everyday with Grandma and Grandad?" I assured her that's what Grandparents are for ;-)

 Here's a picture of the chairs. Aren't they pretty? :-)

Squirrel!

We have a crazy squirrel that lives near us. Crazy as in it was on our deck and then walking on the frame of our sliding door. With the girls and I on the other side of it looking at him and talking. Kind of freaky! It came back again when Nathan was home and was climbing on the screen, Nathan ran out and scared it away. It hasn't been back since that I've seen, but it is crazy, so you never know.

A little too close for my comfort!

Colors in Heaven

What color will we be in Heaven? We will maintain the same look of our current early bodies? These questions aren't really answered directly in the Bible, but the girls have an answer for you! Hannah and Evie were in the very back of the mini-van while Nathan's parents were here, since that seat is smaller they were a bit closer together and had a grand time. One of their conversations I over heard and it was about how in Heaven anyone on earth who is dark brown will be light brown and everyone who is light brown will be dark brown. The conversation went someone like this "Daddy, you and Mommy will be dark brown in Heaven" "yep, and you'll be light brown, but I'll be dark brown" Nathan heard them discussing this again this week! I think it's pretty funny.

Amusement park fun

 Grandma wanted to do something fun with the girls, so she looked online to see what she could come up with. She found an amusement park only half an hour from our house! So Monday we were off to see how the girls would like it. Nathan and I weren't sure how well they'd do with an amusement park, however my mother in-law was sure they would love it. She was right! They had a blast. There was a carousel that they rode about five times, a train, a bunch of kiddy rides, some large slides and a water park, it was a little chilly for the water park, but they played on the beach for a little bit. The girls had lots of fun and it was topped off with ice cream and a ride on the tea cups at the end!

 Hannah wasn't so sure about the carousel at first

 

 But after riding it enough she was having a great time!

Evie picked a new horse every time the ride stopped she liked the "pretty" ones :-)

 The girls in "jail"

 Riding the train

 On the planes

 In the boats, Hannah is actually smiling here, she smiled very little while on the rides, but talked about how fun they were afterwards, she also talked about how they worked and were put together, so I think she was too busy trying to figure them out while on them to smile.

 Evie took her job of driving very seriously on all the rides and had a great time! Hannah, on the other hand when I asked her why she wasn't driving said "Evie's driving, I don't need to, you only need one driver"

 On the roller coaster.....

 Whose idea was that? Oh yeah...mine....they made it around once, but then wanted to get off, which wasn't a problem since it was so empty the guy just stopped it and let us off.

 More driving....

 Hannah went on the helicopter with Grandma and actually smiled on that ride, Evie was scared to go on them so we just watched.

 On the random flying objects (I think it looks like a space capsule)

 This is the same ride as above, Hannah was very intrigued how this one worked and the fact that you could see the wheels and track was fascinating to her.

 The girls both enjoyed climbing on the random large animals

 And tried them all out

 Napping in the back of the train with Grandma

 The giant slide.....

 and down them come!

 I took both girls down the water slide once, they liked it, but it was just too cold and too much water spraying everywhere to stay in that area and play for long. 

 Here we come down the slide!

 In the sharks mouth!

And the last ride of the day, the tea cups! Hannah went on twice, once with Grandma and once with me, she liked it when I spun it, but Evie didn't, so I just spun it a little and then stopped.

Father's Day

After going to church in the morning and having a low key afternoon we went out to a Japanese steak house for dinner. I didn't bring my camera :-( But the girls were intrigued. Evie really liked it and talked about it to everyone and anyone who would listen. Hannah wasn't so sure about it. When they made the "volcano" out of onion both girls jumped when it lite on fire, Evie with an "OH! Wow." and Hannah with more of a I don't think I like this. Evie at least enjoyed the show, I think Hannah liked it more than she let on, but they both did well and enjoyed the food. After dinner we came home and had ice cream Sundays! Yum. They both really liked those!

 Here's a picture of the girls with Grandad and his Father's Day tie, the Thursday before Father's day we did a craft day with the Mom's group I'm apart of and Hannah made a tie for Grandad and Evie made one for Nathan.

The Park

 After the beach in the morning Nathan and I got out on a date Saturday night and the girls got to go to the park and Taco Bell with Grandma and Grandad. Here are some pictures Nathan's Dad took at the park. 

 Cool chicks speeding off into the sunset...

 Climbing....

 To the top

 Jumpin' for joy!

 Hanging around

 Train! The girls love doing trains on the slide

 Chillin' while Grandma pushes the swings

 Ta da!

The Beach

 Saturday, after picking up Grandma and Grandad on Friday, we all went to the beach. It was a little chilly (only in the 70s), so we didn't stay long, but the girls had lots of fun!

 Playing in the sand...

 Sitting in the water and playing with the boat they brought

 Mommy and Daddy were in the water too and nice and cool, Evie is running back to shore to get warm!

 Hannah watching the fish with Daddy. There were only a few other people there since it was so quiet there were lots of fish around.

 I swam both girls out to the dock

 Here we are waving to Grandma and Grandad

 Evie warming up with Grandad

 Hannah getting buried

 And made into a mermaid! The girls really liked be mermaids