Happy 16th Birthday, Douglas!

So the eldest hit quite a huge mile-stone today. How can he possibly actually be 16?!

We started the day bright and early. Douglas and I headed off to the Bookin' for Books 5K run in Intercourse. Him to run and me to take photos.

From there we hit IHOP for breakfast. I'll just tell you now, raspberry white chocolate chip pancakes are very impressive and birthday worthy fare!

We headed home to meet up with the rest of the family, then went to the driver's license center. We were all pretty sad that they were closed today for Memorial Day. It looks like we will be headed back down as soon as they open on Tuesday morning! I have a boy who needs a driver's permit!

This evening we all enjoyed dinner together at Fiesta Mexico.

It was a good day. He gets his gift on Monday when Keith is taking him to Carnegie Hall in NYC to hear a performance directed by John Rutter. This was the gift he requested and Keith is more than happy to take him!

To the fine young man who made me a mother, happy birthday! I love you more than you can even imagine!

It Is Webinar Day!

Today is the day! We are having a Superkids webinar! It begins at 1:00 (Eastern time) this afternoon.

April and I will be talking about our most recent trip to China. We will be showing you lots of pictures of children and talking about some of Superkids Charity's goals. We will be introducing you to some of the children that we just got files for! There will be time for questions at the end.

You can register here to get in on the fun!

Birthday Parties and Other Forms of Awesomeness

We started our summer off right! The children have the tent set up out in the woods and have been building a fire and roasting marshmallows regularly. The benefit to me is getting roasted marshmallows delivered to the house. And they know exactly how I like them lightly browned on the outside, warmed to the center. Every single one of them has learned to do it perfectly. Even Eliana can roast a mean marshmallow!

Grandma feeding Oreos to Brandt

The other evening we were invited to celebrate our little nephew, Shawn's, birthday at Keith's mother's house. Shawn just turned five. Do you remember how much fun fifth birthdays are? It was so fun to see him enjoying himself so thoroughly! He's pretty cute don't you think?

We also went to a friends house recently and took family photos for them. It was a beautiful evening. With that gorgeous golden light coming across the Lancaster County fields. So ideal for photos! They were very fun people to take photos of.

We've truly wrapped up school now with even our portfolios being completed. It's a very good feeling!

This week we are expecting guests from Missouri. My sister Keri and her family are coming! It's been a while since we've seen them so we cannot wait to see them again.

Welcome summer! We're so happy to see you again!

Storytelling {Baking Cookies}

I am taking a photography class and one of the assignments is to take a series of photos that tells a story. Here is one attempt at "telling" very common, everyday type of story.

Keith- Superkids Supporter Extraordinaire

You all know that I volunteer with Superkids Charity. We do a lot of wonderful and amazing things and we blog about it and post about it on Facebook. We even tried tweeting about it, but that has been a bit of a failure since Twitter remains a mystery to most of us. Anyway, you get the idea, you pretty much know what I do with Superkids.

But let me tell you about Keith. He is as dedicated to Superkids as I am. He doesn't mind that I spend hours every week on volunteer work. He always encourages me and often can be heard "bragging" just a bit about my involvement.

When I go on those wonderful trips to China that I love so much guess who takes over here at home so that I can go? Yep. Keith. When I need to speak with families or on a webinar guess who makes sure the house is quiet (no small feat, I assure you!)? Yep. Keith. He is the quiet supporter behind every single thing I do.

And now he is taking it further. He is planning to run in the New York City marathon in November to help raise funds and awareness for Superkids! We have a fundraising goal of $1,250 by the end of May. I should have started this sooner, but, um CHINA was happening! 

Any donation would be so appreciated! You can read what Keith wrote and donate here.

Thank you so much for helping Superkids in this way!

Post Placement Reports

It is that time of year. Time for Annika's post placement report to be filled out and sent to Gladney so they can forward it to Kazakhstan. It has become a fun thing to do as the years roll by. She helps me fill it out.

It starts with us typing in her Kazakh name. It is long with a lot of consonants. We try to say it, but we only know how to pronounce the part of her name she actually went by "Diliara".

We move on to height, weight, and health. Considering that she is a little girl and is healthy these are fun blanks to fill in.

She loves telling me all of her likes and dislikes and having it all recorded to be sent to people in Kazakhstan. She always wants them to know that her favorite food is burritos and that she doesn't like spicy foods. That her favorite color is blue and she doesn't like to be bored.

Another fun part to fill out is the "recent accomplishments". She has learned to swim, is taking piano lessons, and is learning to play soft ball.

She wondered what the "Changes/Stresses noted in marriage of adoptive parents" section meant. I told her "They are asking if Daddy and I fight." She thought that was hilarious! She told the other children that the people from her orphanage want to know if Mommy and Daddy fight! (Just in case you are wondering that was easily answered with one word, None.)

Every year we answer the same questions. Every year I am amazed again at this perfect, beautiful little girl who is our daughter.

I Just Have to Post It Here! {Grayson}

Is he your son?