Neighborhood Trails

We have these great trails in our neighborhood just 1/2 block from our house. It is one of my favorite things about where we live. There is a 4.5 mile loop you can run or hike. From our house it's just a 1/2 mile hike to the playground and park with a mini beach and boats to rent. Swimming isn't allowed, you wouldn't want to swim here. But it is a beautiful area. I have already seen several deer. One day I was so close to a family of deer, I was afraid of being attacked and was saying, "nice deer, deer, nice deer." to which my sister said, "Deer don't attack." Yea, you didn't see the antlers on the Dad or the look in his eye.
We're off to Oklahoma for 10 days on Friday. Scott will hold down the fort and work while we spend some time with Grandma Charlene and Grandpa Arthur. I personally am looking forward to my long awaited meeting with cousin Eli. Then we'll head to Tulsa for a MUAA reunion. (Mothers Undertaking/Understanding African Adoptions).
Quotes from Annie:
Mommy: Do you think you're cute?
Annie: Yea.
Mommy: How do you know that?
Annie: Cause I'm smart.
Mommy: What does it mean to be cute?
Annie: To be a pickle
Note to self: Self-esteem building with Annie is going well.

Aunt Sue Field Trip Day

To start, here are some real pictures of our house which we are loving!
I took the kids and their cousins on another outing today. This time to Great Falls in McLean, VA which is a place I went in College. Then to an awesome, huge park nearby. It is made so disabled kids can do all of the activities too and there is a rubber floor on the entire park. Here are the snapshots.

Mission Accomplished!

E-man Makes Washburn News

E-man was featured in this month's edition of Washburn Center for Children's newsletter. Click on the picture to see the article.

Peaceful Baptist School

A few months ago I posted about the Peaceful Baptist School in Liberia. My friend, a fellow adoptive mother who is working to help the school, just returned from Liberia and shared these photos with me. She had an interesting trip. I haven't heard of anyone going to Liberia without some snafu yet but Karen was a trooper and I think is glad to be back with running water!



Today is E-man's 6th Birthday. Happy Birthday Big Guy!

Two Years Already!

It took us two years from start to finish to bring Abegail and Emmanuel home. Now in the blink of an eye, I am in the middle of my two year post placement report. I get to do them myself now since we reached the two year mark. Time flies doesn't it?

The one thing about totally uprooting your life is time seems to slow down a bit. We marked the milestones, we've been here a week, two weeks. Now life is full speed ahead with July already here and August not far away.

We had a nice Fourth of July in my hometown, Rochester, NY. I was able to run a 5K with my Dad, something I haven't done in a long time. Then we saw the fireworks.

Before heading north, we spent the day in DC with some old friends (they aren't old, we've just known them a while) and did more of the touristy things. Today I saw them again and we went to the Newseum. It's my favorite thing in DC so far..

To Be Five!

Annie had a great birthday, a fun day at a great water park, the water mine in Reston, VA. We took cousins and a new friend, then presents and cake! She was beaming all day long.

Annie and Cousin Chase, now they are both 5!