Our newest addition

2 Basset Hounds + 1 rabbit + 1 kitten = happy kids...

and 2 parents who wonder how we ended up with four pets...

(hint: the kids wore us down, and this parent is a sucker when it comes to animals!)

Plus, Sarah's Chinese foster family had a cat, and I convinced Dave that Sarah really needed a cat! ;)

Home for (over) eight months!

Yes, I'm a little late with this post! Between going on vacation and recovering from a minor surgery to my eyelid (that's for another post!), I'm a little behind!

Here's what our little Miss Sarah has been up to this month...

She is quite an artist and enjoys coloring on paper...and knees, too! Believe me, I know this could have been a LOT worse! Why is it that kids always find the Sharpie marker??

She LOVES dressing up and will eagerly put on a dress any time to pose for the camera. I am not a "girly girl", but I'm glad Sarah has so happily indulged my desire to put her in pink, ribbony, flowery outfits!

After fourteen years of boy clothes...well, I just can't help myself! Thank you Nicole and Chloe for this beautiful dress!

Sarah continues to be very independent. She is almost potty trained and talks up a storm! :) Her favorite phrases are, "Me do it!!" and "How you do-een (doing), mama?"

Can't believe another month has flown by! We are so grateful for this sweet, precious gift in our lives!

got sand?

We just got back from our summer vacation. We love the beach, so we try to go to Southern California once a year. We've been making this trek every summer (or sometimes in the spring) for several years now. Packing for a family of seven is a challenge (er.. nightmare?) and the road trip is long and hot... but always worth the effort!
As soon as we got settled in, we hit the beach. We first took Sarah to an area that was sheltered by a jetty. I wanted to get Sarah's first reaction as she approached the water.

As we predicted, she led the charge...

skipped right in...

and scooped up the sand. Ah, sand.. the best and worst thing about the beach!

This is my favorite picture from the trip! It was totally spontaneous and such a great shot of the kiddos!

Our Little Firecrackers!

One of our traditions is to spend the 4th of July with Grandma and Grandad. They live in a small Wyoming town in the middle of nowhere (literally)! You know you live in the middle of nowhere when the "big city" is amost an hour away and its claim to fame is a Walmart and a McDonalds! :)

It may be a small town, but it is full of big hearted people and we always look forward to our visits.

The day started with a parade, where Granddad drove his "float", an antique tractor.

Like all 4th of July parades, several fire engines rolled through, sirens wailing. Jason was not pleased with the noise!

We spent the rest of the weekend eating too much and enjoying time with family. Justin, Evan and Logan had a great time riding Grandad's four wheeler and other motorized vehicles...

Jason and Sarah also rode the red tractor, but enjoyed Grandad's big orange one even more because it has two seats!

Happy 4th of July!