Random October pictures

Some fun fall raking.....it didn't last long but it was cute while it did last.

A walk to the park while the weather was still nice.....someone loves that digger.

King of the monkey bars and still training for American Ninja Warrior.

Racing to the top....no surprise who won!

 A little teamwork on the spinner thing.

Smiles on the swing!

Lillie had fun painting and decorating the princess jewelry box she got for her birthday.

And Paul enjoyed drawing and coloring on a big sheet of paper while she was painting.

A trip to the park when the weather wasn't quite as nice.

Trick or Treating 2015

Our Halloween theme this year was Star Wars which shouldn't be a surprise given the love of all things Jedi around here these days.  Paul chose Luke Skywalker of course.

Lillie was a beautiful Princess Leia.

Check out these two.....love it!

Luke, don't chop off her head with your lightsaber!

And then one of our local police officers drove up to give the kids some glow sticks.....

And what a great sport he was to take a picture with the kids.

And when you add Chewbacca and Yoda to the mix you get the whole family.  We were missing our little ewok but know that we will look forward to being a family of five next year for the fun. 

We hit the neighborhood for about an hour before heading back to the house to pass out candy. They had so much fun sitting in the doorway to pass candy out to other kids.

We had another fun Halloween and were blessed with some great trick or treating weather.

The marathon

One of my team members trained to run his very first marathon and used the opportunity to raise quite a bit of money for our children's hospital. We decided to bundle up and head out to the marathon route to cheer him on.  It was a chilly morning but everyone was in good spirits.

Our first cheering spot was around the 10 mile mark.....lots of cow bell and yelling for the runners.

After we cheered for Brent in that spot, we ran to the grocery store to snag donuts and hit the indoor restroom facilities.

And then we hung out at the 19 mile marker.....and had some fun while we waited.

Love this picture so much.  Paul stepped up to give Brent a big cheer and a high five.

After the hand slap, Paul asked if he could run with Brent to which I quickly responded yes without thinking through the ramifications.  After he took off, I had to run after him since I wasn't sure if Paul would know when to peel off. Needless to say, I was not dressed for the all out sprint that was necessary to catch up to the boys.....oh, and I am NOT a runner.  So that was funny to watch I am sure.  I think Brent thought it was pretty cool that Paul wanted to run with him. We had such a fun morning cheering on so many brave athletes that are willing to put their bodies through a full 26 mile run.

Our trip to the pumpkin patch

It was downright HOT on our trip to the patch to have some fun and pick our pumpkins this year. Oh, and super windy and it hadn't rained in quite a while which meant we were covered in a whole lotta dust!  There were a whole lot of people at our favorite pumpkin patch so we were thankful that we had gone there for apple picking a few weeks prior.  We stuck close to the farmyard (which we had skipped the last time) and the kids knew we weren't going to be able to do all of the fun activities because the lines were just too long. Feeding the goats is always a hit.

 Being silly in the three little pigs village.

Love these two.

Time for some pedal tractor fun.

There was no way we were leaving without spending time in the corn pool.  This patch has one of the biggest corn pools I have ever seen and the kids always love jumping and digging and lounging in the corn.

Our beautiful girl.

Paul had some fun on the straw maze.

Such a beautiful day.

On the hayrack on the way to the pumpkin field.

Huge field but hard for us to find good pumpkins. We walked WAY in the back to finally find what we were looking for.

Paul found his pumpkin first....it was HEAVY.

Lillie found one a bit more manageable....but still needed help to carry it back to the hayrack stop.

Paul found a little pumpkin for Peter.  We were disappointed that he didn't get to join us this year but the kids will have fun next year showing him the ropes.

Headed back to pay for our pumpkins and hit the road.

We were FILTHY when we got home so it was straight to the showers.  I haven't felt that gritty in a while.  We put our pumpkins out on the front steps and were proud of our picks.  Another fun annual fall excursion in the books.

Ten years of marriage

Jason and I celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary in early October.  That signified twelve years together and ten of them married. We both just shook our heads thinking about how quickly that time has gone.  We lined up a babysitter and made dinner reservations at Fleming's for a fancy dinner out.  It was a little windy but here we are outside the restaurant.

We ate like kings......seriously.  The fresh seafood platter was and excellent way to kick off the meal.

We enjoyed our bottle of sparkling wine from Schramsberg winery which we visited last year in Napa.  A super fun treat!

Jason surprised me with some new sparkle and some very kind words.  We had such a nice time out together celebrating US.  Here's to many more years together.

A fire pit picnic

In early October, Jason had a great idea to head to a local park and have a picnic lunch over a campfire.  The kids were super excited!  Jason got all of the preparations together and loaded up the car and off we went.  It was a pretty day with lots of sun.  Jason picked a great shelter near a playground.....so off we went to play while he worked on getting the fire started.

There was a lot of stick picking up to help stoke the fire.....that could have lasted for hours.

It was time to roast some wieners.....

And then it was time to EAT said wieners.

And you can't have a campfire cookout without s'mores.....all of that ooey gooey goodness!

We ran into one of Paul's friends at the park so the kids hung out for a while playing together before we cleaned up and headed home.  Big win for Dad on a great idea!

On your third birthday

Dear Peter - 

This is a letter I truly didn't think I would be writing.  My birthday wishes to you should really be happening in person with you in my arms and smiles on our faces.  Unfortunately, that was not to be through no fault of our own.  A little piece of my heart broke when we heard of the delay to bring you home.  When you wait so long to bring home your child, each day is hard.  Each day without the opportunity to touch your cheek, hear your voice and comfort you is hard.  Harder than I can even put into words.  But birthdays, those are the hardest.  

We couldn't be there for the day you were born which makes us want to celebrate the anniversary of that miracle day all the more.  We didn't even know about you when you turned that magical age of one.  When you turned two, we celebrated without you and hoped all hope that we would celebrate the next one with you home.  Over the past year, there were times we didn't think that would be possible but then the timing started to line up and our court date came much sooner than we thought it could.  And we began to hope....and then to plan that you would be here.  And then came the morning of October 12 and that fateful public notice posting.

So tonight as I type this note, I know that it is about lunchtime for you on your third birthday in Korea.  I hope your foster family is spoiling you rotten today.  I hope they are enjoying these final days with your smiling face.  I hope they soak it all in because in just a few weeks we will be soaring over the ocean to see you again.  I know that you aren't looking forward to that because you don't really know what is about to happen and how your whole world is about to be turned upside down.  But we are counting the days my dear son. And when we arrive home just before Thanksgiving, we will have more than enough to be thankful for with three beautiful children sitting around our dinner table.  And on November 28th we will celebrate your three year PLUS one month birthday.  And while it won't be the same, it will be our life this year. 

We have a lifetime together to come.  So on your third birthday, I will try hard not to be sad or disappointed and instead attempt to be joyous that your foster family can spend one more milestone with you.  And of course I will think about your birth parents.  We talked about them at dinner tonight and tried to imagine how they are feeling today.  And while we may never really know how they are feeling, we can only imagine that they miss you dearly and wish you all the best in life.

We miss you sweet cheeks and we can't wait to have you in our arms forever.

Love,
Mom

Lillie turns 5

In the blink of an eye our little princess turned 5 years old and we spent a whole day celebrating her.  Daddy picked out the perfect birthday crown and necklace and she rocked it like a true princess.

We took a road trip and met Gram and Pa and were bummed that GranJo couldn't make it.  First up was a yummy lunch at Cheddar's.  Grilled cheese for the birthday girl.

She wasn't excited for her birthday at all.  Clearly.

Then it was time to open her presents from Gram and Pa....which included a pink miniature guitar. When we were in Korea there was a music store near our hotel that had pink miniature guitars in the window.  Every single time we walked by that store, she fawned all over those guitars and asked if she could have one.  Turns out that Gram was paying attention and found her one when we got back in the States.  Lillie was thrilled!

And then it was time for her cookie monster treat.....hot chocolate chip cookie with hot fudge, ice cream, whipped cream and a cherry on top. Good stuff.  And don't forget that she is 5 years old.

We headed to the Children's Museum and stopped for a quick brother/sister picture in front of the skating rink.

The Children's Museum was pretty cool - lots of fun exhibits for the kids.  Here is Paul acting like a crazy banker.

And Lillie got her shop on at the pretend grocery store.  That is a basket full of food!

There was a cool hospital exhibit....including a dental clinic.  Paul wanted to take a closer look at that big tongue.....

....and Lillie felt like the teeth needed a little brushing.

Checking herself out in the funhouse mirrors.

We spent a lot of time in the "things that fly" exhibit.  She has her princess wave down pat.

Cool flight simulators were quite a hit.

The Lego room was the mecca.  He couldn't have been happier.

Stopping to smell the fake flowers.

We headed to the carousel to wrap up our fun......still practicing her princess wave.

Look mom, no hands!

We hit the road to head home and decided to take the birthday princess out for another yummy meal.  We stopped at Waterfront so the birthday girl could have mussels and sushi for her birthday dinner.  We were only mildly disappointed that they were completely out of mussels so we opted for clams instead.  She gave them a thumbs up.

Mom, I am so happy to have sushi for dinner tonight!

A little high fiving with Daddy.

Goofing around with Paul.

And another dessert....because you can't have too many sweets when celebrating your birthday.

And then it was home to open the incredibly excessive pile of presents.  She was SO excited to open every package and envelope.

All in all I think we succeeded in a super fun birthday celebration.  We are still scratching our heads on how she turned 5 so quickly.  She is a great little sister and I know she will make an excellent big sister once Peter comes home.