Welcome back to our blog!  We have been posting over on the adoption blog for Charlie, Ashley, and Katelyn since April and now we are back on the family blog.  It is good to be back!

A lot has transpired since we last updated you. We went through quite a few birthdays, starting with Riley in May.

Although Riley hates a lot of attention, she has been doing a better over the last couple of years.  And yet, at times, that shyness comes back through!

We are pretty good at coaxing her through it and she comes out with flying colors!

It has been nice to have the older boys home from college this summer.  Well … MOST of the time.

We slipped a quick Mother’s Day in there…

.. and then continued on with Leah’s birthday the beginning of June.

She didn’t have as many issues blowing out the candles on her cake that Riley did.

We then kept moving forward towards the middle of June and had Charlie’s first birthday in the US!

He had airplane cup cakes instead of a cake.

But he still had the opportunity to blow out a candle!

And … just in case he forgets who he is …

Between all the birthdays, we had a visit from Tony McQuinn and his daughter Christina.  Christina grew up with Ali, Riley & Jessie and it was nice to get to see an old friend.  Tony brought a bunch of older pictures of the kids, many we had never seen before, and the girls had a great time going through them.

And if you are going to have company, you need to go the pool, right?  And, even if you are company, you have to pull your weight.  So, Tony had to take his turn and watching Charlie swim.

We did not, however, require the same of Christina.

And, if you are going to swim, you need a little ice cream afterwards.  Luke seems to have a continual problem with keeping food off his face, ESPECIALLY ice cream!

Kelly does not.

As Tony and Christina were getting ready to head out, the girls were in high spirits after getting to spend a couple of days together.

But picture taking can become so exhausting!

At the end of June we had the opportunity to go camping in Arkansas and celebrate my parents 50th anniversary!  What a great example to give your children and grandchildren of the blessing of being faithful for some many years to one person.

Mom and Dad opened some cards at dinner…

… and then Nicole had purchased some awesome cup cakes for us to share.

The entire family then took a quick picture.  Sorry about Brittany and Nicole.  They got a little lost.  These things happen when you have to hand the camera over to someone else.

The next day we all went to Magic Springs for a day of amusement rides and water parks!

Bumper cars were high on the list of rides to ride.  Caleb wasted no time jumping into the drivers seat.

Charlie took his turn for the first time, but was content to let Jacob take the wheel.

While Ali WILL be turning 16 this year, she will NOT be driving yet.  This was as close as she will get for awhile.

Brittany, also, will turn 16 this year and she may see herself behind the wheel of a car.

Riley, ever trusting of her big brothers, let Nick be in control.

SOME people took this a little seriously.

As did others.

After that, it was time for the Magic Springs version of Tea Cups.  I was a little worried my car was going to get a little sick, but my girls were troopers, especially Ashley.  The crazier the ride the more willing she was to go on it!

The little kids turned their car with a vengeance!

A little more of a “mundane” ride for Charlie was in order with the airplane ride.

But Mia and Luke took a turn also.

While this girl is very pretty, she is a little crazy also!

All of these girls are beautiful, though, and we have been very blessed.

We eased into the water park by starting with a water ride.

The water park side was not conducive to taking pictures, but there is video below.

After a long day at Magic Springs, we had the opportunity to see some of our closest friends in the world, friends we haven’t had a chance to see in several years.  Darren and Paulette came out with their family and spent a couple of hours with us at Sonic.

They brought their kids with them…

And their kids, along with our kids, made up a pretty good looking group!

Although a somewhat quick trip, it was great to spend a few days camping, playing, and celebrating with my parents.  Here is a video that gives you a little more of a feel for our weekend.

https://youtu.be/mP-uBpuGlkA

The summer is just coming into full swing!  We should have lots more to post soon!

Cameron

It is truly amazing how long you can wait for an event to arrive as it seems to move forward at the slowest of paces, and then all of the sudden it is upon you!  Tomorrow we leave for China and it just seems like the past week has been a blur.  To do lists to complete, last minute purchases to make, and then packing everything up in suitcases that won’t go over 40 lbs each.  All the while packing for an additional three children coming home with you.  No one said it would be easy!

I posted some pictures from the Easter party at our church, but have yet to post any from Easter Sunday itself, so I will throw a couple up here.  First and foremost, lets look at the fingernails for the day.  I like nice fingernails (not on me, mind you) and Brittany loves to do nails, so it was a mani-event at our home the night before.  Here is some of her handy (ha!  pun) work.

Each girl had nails that matched her dress.  For several of these girls, this is only their second Easter.  Last year, when they were only here a few months, we were surprised about how excited they got about receiving a new Easter dress.  This year was no exception and the girls were very impatient waiting for the day that they could finally wear the dress.  Here is Kelly modeling Easter dresses with Riley, Jessie, Ali, & Mia.

And then, a few minutes later, I was able to get one of Leah and Brittany.

SOME of us went to sunrise service.  Unfortunately, sickness had overtaken the house and we were not sure who was going to make it for the ANY service, let alone one that started at 7 am.  I went with several of the girls, Kelly came with a few more kids for the pancake breakfast (because, Hey!  It’s free pancakes!), and Jake brought a third vehicle to the main service with Luke in tow.  Luke had been the most sickly, so it was nice to have the entire family there for a picture (less Zachary who is still in Oklahoma at college).  You also get a view of the worship team at church warming up because we had everyone looking at the camera and smiling so we had to take it!  These things do not happen very often!

After we got home it was time for the Easter Basket hunt.  You would think this far into life that older children would tire of the activity.  Kelly and I seriously considered just putting the bags out on the table and have them come grab them.  But, no!  They wanted them hidden.  And hidden in places more difficult to find than last year.  That isn’t easy.  But Jake and Nick helped and we were able to stump a few of them.

Mia is a little irritated in this picture because I hid her basket in the blanket at her feet and she didn’t feel that was challenging enough.

Britt got involved and re-hid the basket in a MUCH more challenging spot!

Here is a shot of Luke and you can tell he still isn’t feeling that great.

It was really nice to have Jake home from Cedarville for a long weekend.  He wasn’t really expecting this shot, but how many times have you seen Jake texting?  This is a relatively new phenomenon.  One that comes with having a girlfriend I guess.

Max had a LOT of trouble finding his, after he challenged Nick to make it really difficult.  So, Nick pulled the cereal out of a box and put it there.  We pretty much had to take Max’ hand and direct him to the cereal box.

Then it was time to sort through the newly acquired candy.

We went and had dinner at Kelly’s parents house with most of the rest of Kelly’s family.  Here is the “middle child” table, with plenty of cousins to go around.  The “little kids” table is in the background.

The bigger kids had a table next to the adults.  It is your basic caste system.  It works for us.

After dinner, time for the annual Easter Egg hunt, not to be confused with the Easter Basket hunt from the morning.  Hundreds of eggs spread out all over the place, most with candy, some with money.  There was great anticipation at the garage before the hunt began.

And they are off!

There was a little tension between Jake and Riley over how he had hidden some of the Easter eggs!

But everyone received a pretty good assortment of money and candy.

While Easter was certainly a highlight of the week, we also celebrated Nick’s SEVENTEENTH birthday!!  Oh my goodness.  That is so hard to believe.  His birthday is actually next week, but since we will be in China that week, it was moved up a little.  Nick decided that he wanted to eat in, which was kind of nice and much less hectic than going out.

After dinner, he opened a few presents with the family.

We prepared to eat a little cake, only to realize we didn’t have any candles.  But you HAVE to have a candle, so we improvised.

It sill worked!  It’s the thought that counts.  Nick was able to delicately blow out the candle so that wax didn’t go everywhere!

So now the house is beginning to get quiet and in a few short hours we will make an early morning trek to the Dayton Airport and hop on a plan at 6:00 am to begin this new journey!  This week has been full of both anticipation, excitement, and a little bit of nerves.  We have done this many times before, but you still don’t know what you are getting into.

But we continue to get confirmations of God’s hand over and over.  When they were first told about the adoption months ago, Riley, Jessie, and Leah were very unsure of the situation.  I am sure it made them a little uncomfortable to think about bringing more children into our home when they have just arrived not that long ago.  But as the date has come closer, it has been amazing to watch them get excited about the new kids coming home and we look forward to how they will welcome them when we return.

I was in a meeting this morning and multiple people prayed for God’s covering over our trip and for the family that remains at home.  I was struck with the realization of how many wonderful people are putting us into their daily prayer life.  It was very humbling.  How can you not expect the best when you know so many people are petitioning on your behalf?

We will arrive in Hardin at about 10 am Monday morning, which will be 10 pm Monday night in China.  We are hoping to update the adoption blog every day, but you never know what to expect with access to wi-fi until you get there.  To date, although it hasn’t always been great, we have always been able to upload something.

Continue to watch and pray.  Thank you for your interest!

Cameron