Our Adoption Story: Summer 2017

The summer started off with Dow graduating from Auburn in early May, moving to Birmingham and starting a new job. He loves B'ham, his job and his many friends who live there after graduating. Beth spent eight weeks in Haiti. Six of those weeks were in a very remote areas on the western most point of Haiti. Her time there was spent providing wound care and education. She has some amazing stories. She spent the second half of the summer enrolled in Samford's second summer session.

We celebrated Lena and Will's third Gotcha Day and Hope's 8th Gotcha Day in May as well. Then we enjoyed all the end of the school year activities! Hope and Will started their summer off attending the Montgomery Zoo camp again this year! Hope asked me if she could volunteer at the Zoo when she turned 16. She is animal crazy and has such a wonderful appreciation of nature. Then we made our annual trip to the beach and were accompanied by Tropical Storm Cindy. I just have to say that a four bedroom condo gets really small with three rambunctious kiddos. After Cindy departed, she left high and dangerous waves which did not allow for swimming in the ocean.

We also celebrated Andy's grandmother's 95th birthday at the lake! The grandchildren call her Grandmother but the great grandkids call her Gigi. She is a very Godly woman and has had a great impact in the lives of many people including mine.

Since we were at the beach during our VBS, the kids were guests at both Vaughn Forest Baptist Church's and Eastwood Presbyterian's VBS. They enjoyed both very much. We did not spend much time at the lake this summer but Will and Hope did manage to get up on skis a couple of times. Hopefully, next summer will be their year to start skiing and wake boarding. Andy was in three out of state trials this summer lasting three weeks each. Needless to say, it was a challenging summer without him at home. There is some mysterious phenomenon that occurs with some young children when daddy is not at home! And this is not a positive thing! A big thank you to everyone who helped out this summer with the kids and bringing food!

Andy and I did manage to get a weekend to take Hope to NY. If you know Hope well, you know she has always been and still is a big fan of the Lion King. I told her when she was five that for her 10th b'day, we would take her to NY to see the play. Little did I know those five years would pass so quickly, but she loved every minute of it! From seeing the play to having her picture made with the statue of Balto to seeing the Statue of Liberty. She also got to see the 9/11 Memorial which someday will become a special memory for her. However, one of the major highlights for her was touching a wild bird in Central Park. She was over the top about that!

We also spent a lot of time doing math facts and reading this summer much to the kids' dismay. The kids also spent many days at the pool in our neighborhood (we are so thankful for that pool!). Lena and Will did a lot of occupational therapy exercises/activities for both gross and fine motor skills. Will worked a lot on speech.

I have to admit that I was one happy momma when August rolled around and school started once again. Even though I am not a very scheduled person, I have come to appreciate the need for structure and a schedule in the lives of our three youngest, especially Will and Lena. They want to know what is happening every minute of not just this day but the next day and the next:). Knowing what to expect is very important and comforting to them!