I know, I know...

It's been a very long time. Hope everyone is doing well. I've been very busy since last post. My bestest friend Shannon came for 5 days and we scrapped our hineys off. It was great to scrap with her again- the last time being last December-January in Kansas. Even Rachel came over and did some creating. That was fantastic!
We had a very successful garage sale and got rid of a lot toys. Feels very good to clean up the clutter.

My dear Grandma turned 80 this month. I did the math and figured out she was only 43 when I was born. That's only 6 years away for me! Frightening!! So I've put one of those ankle bracelets on Bailey like juvenile deliquents get so I can keep track of her for the next 6- 10 years. Hah! Just kidding. Sort of.

The kids and I went to the zoo last Sunday with Dad and Carolyn. My other brother Greg and his adorably expecting girlfriend were there, as was my nephew Sterling. It was so hot but a ton of fun.
Unfortunately, Bailey was not able to eat that day as she had to be cleaned out for a colonoscopy and endoscopy the next Monday (yesterday).
All went well and he took some biopsies which we will get results from in about a week. I really am hoping they find something so they can fix it and we can move on. I'm very worried that this is going to run into school starting and that will be so hard to schedule appointments. Thankfully, her stomach pains are not bad enough lately to keep her in bed. But it's a constant thing still.

I had a wonderful lunch today with my former teacher's assistant friends and Betsy my 5th grade teacher. She's not my teacher of course, she's the wonderful teacher I work for! It was so good to catch up with everyone and I get more excited about school starting with each day. I'm really anxious to start my new position being a helping friend to a girl going into 7th grade. Her name is Rachel and she has Down Syndrome. She is so loving and affectionate. I will make sure she gets to the right class, help with class work, keep her on task and just be there for her.
So I think that brings everyone up to date. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Photos from zoo courtesy of Bailey!

A New Addition To Our Family

After years of thinking about it and doing nothing. After a church service this morning that made me realize we CAN and HAVE to do this.
We have adopted an 8 year old girl in Uganda! Her name is Susan. She is an orphan living with her grandmother and 2 brothers. We'll get more info on her in the coming weeks and the kids are so excited to begin writing her and sending small gifts.
We had a guest speaker from Gulu, Africa today. He is a pastor of a church there. With his wonderful accent, he spoke of children as young as 10 being pregnant. Giving up their bodies for 1 meal. I immediately thought of Bailey. I got sick. Children who are as young as 3 who have AIDS through sexual contact. How can I sit there and be o.k. with this?? Even writing about it now makes my heart pound. Jesus said that when we feed, clothe, house, and give water to those in need, we do it to Him. When I thought of how quickly I can spend the money it takes to support Susan for one month, I just couldn't stand it any more. Such a small amount. Yes, things are tight right now. Bailey's Dr. bills are pouring in. I'm not bringing in the income I do during the school year. But we eat every day. Susan gets one meal every 3-4 days. We have closets full of shoes and clothes. Does she even own one pair of shoes? I don't know yet. I think probably not. We can go to the movies, soccer games, shopping, (I could go on and on) and she loves to jump rope. We are blessed to be able to do these things.
We are all so excited about Susan and hope we can make her life which is so precious to God just a bit easier to live every day. God calls us to love those as we love Him.
Is your heart pounding?

Our Fab 4th of July

Cobi pulls a popper and I catch the action on camera!! Woo Hoo!!
Miss America Maggie. She's so close to losing that tooth on the bottom!! One of the few photos I got of Bailey since she is still not feeling great.
Maggie and her friend Lili passed out in the car on the way home from watching fire works.

We had a pot luck-cookout with our neighbors. This marked our third year in this house. Can't believe how fast time flies! The 4th is my 2nd favorite holiday. I love the colors, the summer night, our friends, and thinking about the wonderful country we live in. Hope you had a fab 4th too!

We're Baaack!!

This is our whole group from our trip to Avon/Beaver Creek. We had 22 people at one time!

This was our Hummer tour outside of Avon. Beautiful scenery. Sadly, one of the 3 Hummers broke down and we had to cram all those people in the other truck. We still had a blast though.

We spent the days swimming, eating, playing Guitar Hero, Wii, eating, shopping, eating, making crafts, eating, sleeping, eating, watching soccer, eating, paddle boats, eating, riding the ski lift, eating, rodeo, and horse back riding. Did I mention eating?!? Holy cow. Literally.

I never grow tired of the beauty of the mountains. We are so blessed to live in this state!

The whole reason for this trip? Dante's parents own a time share in Avon. We go every year. This year, Dante's younger brother had some of his friends come too. Lots of teens! We were also lucky enough to have his grandparents and uncle all the way from Maine! I love them! Unfortunately, Dante's grandma cut her leg on the free bus and had to have 13 stitches!! She'll be fine- she's very tough!

The highlight of the trip for me was watching Maggie on our trail ride. She is a horse freak. Loves them. She had done lessons but hasn't been able to ride since. She had her own horse- Jasmine, who she was in complete control of.

That's Maggie on the white horse!

I love going on this trip and look forward to many more. It is good to be home though!

The Hummer trail.

Our family!