FUN, FUN, BUSY Summer!!

We were so busy having fun this Summer, there was no time left to blog! Now that the boys are back in school (sigh) I will share what we did in pictures since there is too much to tell in just one post!

Here is a run-down of our time since May:

* My good friend Cammie and her son (Bradey's best buddy) flew in to visit us from WA

* Our family spent a week in Gulf Shores, AL with our friends the Trimbles who we knew from our time together in Holland

* Anna and I flew to California for my cousins wedding and were able to see lots of family. Anna was on the dance floor from the moment the dancing started until the last song ended, she is a dancing fool:-)

This is Anna's Great Grandpa E

* We took a 9 day road trip to Pennsylvania and stayed with our dear friends the Hanna's, then spent some time in D.C. on our way home

* Ryans parents and our nephew Sam visited us for 10 days. We took a road trip to Gattlinburg, TN spent a few nights there and hung out at Dollywood!

* We drove to St. Louis, MO to see some friends and catch a Cardinals b-ball game

Somewhere in between all our travels, we did spend some time hanging out at the pool and playing with neighborhood friends. Here is what our trampoline looks like on most evenings, we love it!!

It was a great summer and we

were so sad

when all the fun had to end for school to

start!

Brooks Graduates!

Last week was a milestone in Brooks life...he graduated from preschool!!!! We figure with this degree under his belt the possibilities are endless:-) He was so proud of himself and we enjoyed making this a special day for him.

Next year he will join big brother Bradey at Grace Christian Academy for half-day Kindergarten. They are both so excited to finally be at the same school.

Here are some pictures of our proud day!

1st Gotcha Day!

Celebrating Anna being with us for 1 year!

It was a great day of celebrating together as a family as well as with Amy's parents who flew in from California. We plan on making this a special day for Anna every year by focusing on her Russian heritage and talking about our memories of the day she was finally ours. We made a meal of traditional Russian Borsch soup and stuffed cabbage rolls (recipe courtesy of our Russian friend Nina!). We also set out various souvenir's and mementos from our time in Russia. I remember the day we took her from the orphanage as clearly as I remember the birth of the boys. Every moment was so special, a new beginning for all of us! It has been a tough year in many respects but also a wonderful year, I am so glad to be where we are today in our understanding of each other. Sometimes I wish we could go back in time, knowing what we know now of Anna's needs and personality and redo some of those days of trying to figure it all out. I am so thankful to be where we are!


Leaving the orphanage one year ago with our sweet baby





One year later, a complete family!


Anna with some of the Russian souvenirs


Playing with her Matryoshka doll (this is a special thing I normally don't let her have it because I am afraid we will loose some pieces!) She loves to play with this!


The day was even better celebrating with Grandma and Grandpa and of course a few presents!

Easter Day

We had a wonderful Easter day this year! It brought back memories of last Easter when we were packing and preparing to leave on our second trip to bring Anna home. We are so thankful that this Easter she was home with us!

Here are some pictures of how we celebrated:

Our tradition is to make "Resurrection Cookies" the night before and read the account of Jesus sacrifice for us on the cross. In the morning the boys love to race downstairs and discover that the tomb is empty and Jesus has RISEN! Here they are EARLY in the morning eating their cookies.



Let the hunt begin!



Anna seemed to know just what to do, she was not going to let her brothers get all those eggs!



Bradey and Brooks were very sweet and left the easy ones for Anna to find while they hunted for the harder ones









We, along with many others, are concerned for the future of Russian adoptions because of the recent horrible act of one family. Please pray that the countries can come to an agreement and allow U.S. adoptions to continue in Russia. There are thousands of Russian children who have been adopted into loving families, it is heartbreaking to think that the door could be closed to so many of the children still waiting in orphanages. I can't help but think that what if this happened one year ago and we were not allowed to bring our daughter home? We are confident that God has a plan in all of this and He will prevail!
"A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families" Psalm 68:5-6

A Typical Tea Party

It has been so long since we last posted we are not even sure if anyone is following this anymore! So many things are going on since our move it has been hard to keep up. I have lots to post and update, but thought I would start with our tea party that happened a few days ago.

Anna's favorite thing to do is serve up tea! She will work on a tea party to make sure everything is just right and everyone is served properly. One morning she was really wanting to do it and I so I bribed Brooks into joining us. I told him I would pay him 25 cents if he would come:-) He negotiated and said he would join us for 25cents as long as R2D2 could join in as well! I wanted to document one of our tea parties so I could always remember them, so I grabbed my camera and captured how it all went down:

First off everyone gets all dressed up for the event. Who can resist wearing a tutu!! Even Brooks sported an animal print one (he will not be happy that I posted this!)



Anna works very hard to put everything just where it should be!



Tea parties are serious business!




Here Anna is learning that an uninvited robot is joining us... she is not happy




At some point a fight broke out




R2 prevails and gets to stay for tea




Everyone is happy...



We all enjoy our tea and animal crackers




Being a party planner is hard work, Anna falls fast asleep for naptime!

Lots of changes!

So much has happened in our family since the last time we posted! Just a few days before Christmas we moved out of our home in Washington and sent the movers on their way to our new home in Tennessee! In the meantime we flew to Arizona and California to spend Christmas with both of our families. We had a great time seeing them even though it was too short! A few days after Christmas we flew to TN and closed on our new home just outside of Nashville. We have been in the house 3 weeks and are absolutely loving the area, our home, the neighborhood, boys schools, etc. We feel so blessed that this has been such a smooth transition, many prayers have been prayed for us! This is our 4th move with Ryan's company and lets just say I don't typically handle the change so well:-) We are missing our friends in Washington, our church, and everything that was familiar there. However, the people here have all been very friendly and have gone out of their way to make us feel welcome (gotta love Southern hospitality!)

Here are a few pictures to show what has been happening:



Anna sees Santa Claus for the first time...not a big fan! Oh well it made for a really cute pictue. When she sees a Santa now she still signs to me "cry" or "sad".



Our first Christmas with Anna, what a blessing to have her with us!



Anna's favorite things right now are babies and tea parties. When we go somewhere she typically wants to take a doll with her, when we are at home she is usually busy making anyone who is willing a cup of tea! I love it! What a change our home is seeing to our typical legos and swords!





Our attempts at keeping 3 kids busy with outside temps below freezing while we unpack the entire house




The boys are both enjoying their new schools. Bradey is in a small private school about 25 minutes from our house and Brooks is going 2 days a week to preschool



I bought this dress for Anna during our long wait in between trips to bring her home. It hung in her room as a reminder that one day she will be home and be able to wear it. Last Sunday she wore it for the first time! I can't believe she has been home over 8 months now, she has grown SO much in so many ways. She is still receiving Speech therapy to help with her expressive language, however, her therapist believes it is just an articulation and speech delay and nothing more serious. We are so thankful for our healthy, beautiful, smart, silly little girl.