A Family in Two States

This week, Tony took James with him to speak at Student Life Camp at Louisiana Tech in Ruston, LA. Meanwhile, I have 4/5's of our crew back in Wake Forest. I think I'm starting to actually feel like I live here now. ;-) Tony, however, has continued to have an insane travel schedule, ha. He looks forward to being home next week (though may turn into a hermit - ha)...

We've done a little of this and a little of that. Here are some pictures of that... school work... Skype...

This little guy loves to snuggle, especially when there is food around... mooch pooch...

A little run to Target... a favorite past-time it seems...

We went to Walmart another day and picked out a new set of sheets (much needed) for the boys' room... Joshua picked out Toy Story sheets for him and Transformers sheets for his big brother, James...

I finally got around to tackling the boys' room... threw out a huge bag of trash and could have probably thrown out a lot more... next time... ha.

BEFORE

AFTER

It has been wonderful and restful to be at home this week. I look forward to being home for the week as a complete family next week. One of the highlights of my week thus far, was connecting with a new friend and fellow adoptive mom of multiples here named Krissy. ;-) We broke away for lunch on Tuesday. It is a blessing to hang with someone who, as we agreed, "just gets me". Hoping to get the kids and families together soon.

Thanks so much for your continued prayers as we continue to settle! I hope to get into a better swing of blogging soon.... at least, I feel like it is quite slow going these days, ha.

The Week in Florida...

We've had a great week down in Deland, Florida with Tony as he speaks at Student Life Camp on the campus of Stetson University. What a blessing to travel together as a family, enjoy worship led by Chuck Hooten, hear the Word and visit with the great staff of SL... The theme this summer: Devoted

The kids and I have enjoyed a few afternoons at the hotel pool. Here, the kids are on a brief break. An idea came to me while they were sitting out to have them work together to memorize their Scripture verse. 3 of the 5 already have it down. So, as their incentive to get back in the pool they were to help the other 2 who are struggling. Precious to see them spur one another on...

Thursday morning we had the pleasure of driving a few minutes to visit my Aunt Cindy & Uncle Bob who live in Geneva, FL. On the drive over, I tried to explain to the kids who they were. This picture helped of my Aunt Cindy and my mom as little girls playing dress up...

They were SO excited to see "the pig"...

Their Great Uncle Bob drove them around on a tractor ride...

They EVEN got to take turns driving!

We had a little banjo led clapping and singing. James said he wants to learn how to play the banjo next...

The kids playing a little dress up themselves, ha ha...

Aunt Cindy made a fabulous meal, coupled with some Moose Tracks ice cream to follow.... an extra treat.

Finally got to snap a group shot with Aunt Cindy... what a blessing to get a quick visit in! I had not been down to their house since high school! This was extra special... Back at the beach, Joshua looked up at Tony curiously, pointed to everyone and asked, "Are all these family?" Ha ha... "Yes, Joshua, all these are your cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents." It was fun to share even more of his new family.

The kids each gave a snack to Jimmy the dog (he was extra spoiled today by all the attention and treats, ha). They got to help him practice his trick to "speak"...

\

Friday, following Student Life Camp's closing worship time, we will hit the road back up to North Carolina. We appreciate your prayers as we travel, as well as for our 2nd Imago Dei Church gathering at our house Saturday morning. You are welcome to join us on live stream Saturday at 10AM EST.

Leftover Pics & Runners' Camp...

When I plugged my camera up this afternoon, I discovered some leftover pictures I'd forgotten to download from our time in the Outer Banks... They were too cute to leave out ;-)... The kids devoured some crabs, and had a blast doing it...

I LOVE this picture with little Soli's head in the background... he wasn't sure what to think, ha.

I don't think Izzy knew quite what to think either...

This past week, the kids attended the Runners' Camp hosted by N. Wake Baptist Church. They thoroughly enjoyed each morning that included track & field events, Bible study, rec games and worship. The week ended with a track meet at Heritage High School. Friday morning during camp, the kids signed up for and competed for the top three places in the field events in their age/gender category (at least that was my understanding)...

Victoria qualified for javelin; Jana qualified for long jump and high jump; Joshua and James qualified for shot put...

James throwing the shot put...

It was a little chaotic and spread out, so I did not get many pictures of the kids participating in the field events...

Meanwhile, here are my little runners...

The Parade of Champions...

Lining up for the 100m... Joshua made 2nd place the first time, however, there was an error and they had to re-run... he made 3rd place the second time around... loving every moment ;-)

All the kids wanted to run the 1600m (a.k.a. the 1 mile)... they started off well, and were able to finish but had to take a break to walk a lap or two... Victoria was the last to cross the finish line to many cheers from the crowd... I mean, there was an entire 400m between her and the rest of the runners by the time she made it to the final stretch... it was hilarious... she even ended up receiving a ribbon after it was all done for "first place" in her age group... brings new meaning to "the last shall be first"... ha.

James ran hard the whole 1600m...

Joshua smiled the whole way...

Taking a break in the bleachers...

Victoria made a friend with a cute little girl that actually looked a little like her... the two had a blast playing in between events...

From the sidelines...

Time for hurdles...

Ribbon collecting... it was going on 10:00 PM! But we had fun...

We rested some on Saturday in between our first core team worship with our IDC Raleigh family... Stay tuned for a blogpost about our time together at: www.idcraleigh.com (coming soon!)

Sunday morning, this buck stopped by for a visit... Wish you could have seen us giving each other the stare down from behind our kitchen/den windows... loving the miniature wilderness behind our house...

Sunday, after I finally got everything and everyone packed, we hit the road for Savannah, GA to stay a night with my sister, Priscilla & crew... Cousins reunited for a night... Too short, but sweet...

Monday late in the morning, we arrived in Deland, FL for StudentLife Camp at Stetson University. Tony is speaking all week. Looking forward to the week...