Family Day and Fire Engines and Bike Safety....

Saturday we  went to a family day at Brooklane sponsored by our pediatrician's office. Lots of free or very cheap activities for the kids...and they had a blast. Before we went to the family day....Target in conjunction with the Washington County Fire Fighters and Sheriff gave a family safety tips and tour of fire trucks and a special unit that was like a house and they stimulated a fire....Very good tips and lessons for the kids. They also had a bike safety part and a raffle. When we got there it was towards the closing and not crowded at all...2 other families and ours ( 27 ) went - So the raffle was sort of a done deal for our family. We won 4 of the 5 items in the raffle ( 2 bike locks, a helmet and a bike pump). Another family won the bike which we do not need right now but their little boy was thrilled to have. I love how that worked out.

Nataly made us all proud

Naty was the speaker for her GED graduation class . I was very proud of her. She did so well . Honestly she was so poised and sounded very mature.  Nataly was very encouraging and inspiring and gave the Lord thanks for her life redeemed.
Here we are waiting very early for the ceremony to begin...It was a packed auditorium and as she shared you could tell people were amazed at her life. We are very proud of your efforts and look forward to watching you discover your future.

Life around here lately.....

The little ones are getting along just fine

Under the porch during the storm last nite...

Anna doing Bible with some of the kids

The boys love wearing hats :)

Loved his first ice cream sandwich

Working on Bible - I love Sari's smile

My hubby, Paul taking a nap this afternoon. It was gorgeous weather and just perfect for a nap in the shade....

We do have an unspoken prayer request that we would appreciate you lifiting our family up .

We do enjoy our pools... and Sari is starting to blossom

This is a favorite of Kloe's

We have lots of poolside "lifeguards"

We see Sari smile more each day....She is learning how to play and she relaxes into things that a little girl should...like playing, toys and being a child. It was a little hard at first for her not to take care of her brothers ( I am sure she had the responsiblity for them) as well as working...but we now see her enjoy being a kid and it is very rewarding to watch as she discovers this side of herself.

They are getting used to each other....

Mady and the boys are the same age and it has been fun to watch the 3 of them discover each other. It is a good thing we have had lots of girl toys because the boys love the Barbie heels, baby dolls, purses and such :) The 3 of them actually are doing very well...but it is funny. Like the boys had these black shoes and Mady wanted a pair just like them...or if they eat snacks out of these cups then I have to make sure they all have the same type of cup...diff. colors. I love this age and how they process things....Sometimes I wonder if I am dreaming when I think about spending my days with this adorable age and with three of them this age.

Memory making Memorial Day

As I took this picture I was thinking , " Boy that is a lot of kids. "

 

 Feeding this group is crazy ...I mean who grills this much meat - ( bbque pork loin chops).

Since our theme for the day was a Luau....We had snacks of chips, salsa and cheese and I had bought coke in cans and we put them in a cooler- the kids loved this.

We made smores - all 3 new ones loved them and we swam in the pool at nite with glo sticks.

 Of course we had our traditional water balloon toss...

All of these decorations came from Keith and Mary Kate's wedding at the beach...We had a fun day and it just ended with the older ones swimming at nite. We are grateful for living in this country and for all the service men who have fought to make us free. Every time we are away in another country - even for a short time we appreciate living in the USA. It was a great wknd. and we made many memories.....