Reid and Stefani Adopt

This summer we had the privilege of hosting the Carroll Family Reunion in Florida!  Then we promptly forgot to take pictures of it.  So we took pictures of our trip to Idaho/Utah instead.  We spent 2 weeks in the mountain west, and every day was a delight.  We got to go camping in Idaho, go four-wheeling in Utah, and play with so many different cousins that the kids had a hard time keeping them all straight.  They loved it.  Reid and I got to sneak off to go biking and hiking and enjoy a little bit of the fun that we enjoyed before we were blessed with our kids.  Now that both of them can ride on a peddle bike by themselves, though, we hope to take them with us sometime in the near future.  I still get a thrill of joy watching them peddle their little bikes independently.  They are really growing up. Esther holding baby cousin Charly at Uncle Tim's house. Biking in the mountains by Pocatello, ID.  I had an electric assist bike, ...

A friend from our church wanted to have us over for dinner and make father's day special for Reid and our kids.  Her name is Vashti and she is the most energetic 84 year old I've ever met.  She made us quite the feast, complete with turkey, butternut squash soup, greens, fruit, rice, beans, potatoes, and dessert.  I know there was more, but I can't quite recall everything.  It was overwhelming the work she put in for us.  She also bought presents and cards in behalf of the kids so they could give him something special on Father's day.  She had signed them as if she were the kids.  It was so darling.  So thanks, Vashti, for such a special father's day!

Isaac has been watching all of his friends from school and church turn 5 years old before him.  He was so proud of himself and kept telling me he could now reach higher on shelves and do more things now that he was 5.  As a rite of passage, he also got his first sets of Legos, and his first nerf guns.  His dad was giddy with excitement to give them to him, and I'll never forget the sound of Reid's voice echoing through the house saying, "That's right! Run down the stairs like the chickens you are!" as he, Isaac, and Isaac's friend Chloe, had a nerf gun war.  There was a lot of giggling and I have already told Isaac that I am confiscating every stray bullet I have to pick up.  It will be awhile before Isaac misses them, though, because his dad bought him 200 bullets to make sure his guns were well stocked. For Isaac's birthday party, we took him and his little friends bowling.  We intended to pay for all of the children, but as we got in, the worker behin...

The kids earned a trip to LegoLand by doing various chores around the house for over a month.  They were pretty excited to go.  Here's a few highlights of what they got to do.   Handing off the tickets at the entrance.  Let the fun begin! Isaac by one of the myriad of cool lego sculptures at LegoLand. Reid succeeded in convincing Isaac he should try his first big roller coaster at LegoLand.  It took a lot of convincing and Isaac was terrified, but proud of himself afterward. Dad and Esther on the safari ride. Isaac and Mom on the safari ride. Esther's first time on the Merlok ride.  Isaac got to do this one 2 years ago, but Esther was too little. Isaac and Daddy enjoying the merry-go-round.  Esther loved this ride too.  She was very fondly petting her plastic lego horse.

This year we had 3 separate easter egg hunts.  The first two pictures are of Isaac looking for eggs in his classroom.  The next two pictures are Esther at the library Spring Fest doing an egg hunt.  Isaac wasn't there because he was camping with his dad at the church "Father's and Son's campout."  Esther and I also camped out that night, but in the backyard.  After that, we had an egg hunt in our backyard with our good friends, Chloe and Megan.  Isaac insisted that we dye eggs this year, even though the next day we shelled them and made deviled eggs for Easter dinner.  They had fun dyeing the eggs, although I feel I spent most of the evening telling them that it the eggs weren't boiled yet, and the dye wasn't ready yet, and that they couldn't just dump the eggs in the dye or they would break.  It's hard to tame pure childlike excitement.  It was a happy Easter for all and I can happily say that the Easter candy was gone much quicker than the...

Last month we took our kids to a roller rink in Melbourne.  We had gone once before, and the kids had been a little small to really skate at all.  This time, however, Isaac found some little friends who helped him to skate, and he was having a great time.  He was even more excited because the little boys who took him under his wing "had brown skin."  He told me with a little smile, "They have brown skin and black curly hair like mine, mom!" They were so nice to him. After some practice with his little friends, he ventured to try skating without the little skate support.  It was so fun to watch him out there.     Esther, when she first got on the roller skates, took off with no fear and promptly fell down and couldn't figure out how to get back up with those slippery skates on.  She spent most of her time slowly walking around on the carpet and wouldn't go onto the rink to try it out.  She eyed the games and was disappointed th...

This weekend, Reid was home.  We didn't plan anything particularly awesome to do, but it was nice just having the family together.  We did get to go to the Rodeo on Friday, where Esther tried to catch a pig.  She was unsuccessful, until a soft-hearted older boy helped her get one, and then gave her the dollar prize for catching it.  Isaac said he was going to go catch a pig with his little sister, but his fears of getting trampled on by the bigger kids overcame him at the last moment. Esther is the tiny pink blob right under the white sign towards the middle. She got very near the pigs.   On Saturday, we simply just did chores and the kids just played.  I gave them some sidewalk chalk to keep them busy since they seemed to want to play outside where their dad was working on bikes in the garage.  They came in totally covered in chalk.  Reid told me they were pretending to be "tattooed."  I still can't get over Isaac's face all covered i...