Visiting with family

What a thrill to spend the week with my mom, my sister and my nephew this past week. It is always fun to rock on the front porch and sip coffee with my two favorite ladies, not to mention how much Wil loves having Ethan around to sword fight and x-box with...

Mom and Melissa at the NC Aquarium in Pine Knoll Shores

We stayed busy and got little to no sleep, but it was time well spent. I really miss them since we have moved and it was nice to just have them here. Her birthday is Saturday and my sister her and I got her a pair of Zebra finches, which she appeared to adore. They were simply adorable and sang with us on the deck each morning. They are appropriately named Beethoven and Olivia (Newton-John). Keeping the cat from devouring them was a daunting task at times...we were so glad they made it through the week. Birds are just another way the Lord gets glory, because they are such majestic creatures (and such messy ones!!).

Old fisherman never die....

Jon took the boys out for some swimming and fun fishing in the Inter coastal Waterway. Apparently, most of what they caught were "mini-me's" for Jaws!

If you look closely you can see the Emerald Isle bridge in the background and the blood dripping from Jon's fingers from that blasted creature (for the 2nd time that day). I can already hear the boys recanting the story in their "What I did this summer" papers!

Austyn and Landon on the ferry from Cedar Island to Ocracoke Island

The wind was blowing so hard on the way back that the kids had to hold on to their flip flops, literally. The view from the ferry was breath taking as we pulled into the harbor. One visit to Ocracoke and I am a fan for life. We are already planning a return trip and sought advice from the man who owns the Tradewinds Bait and Tackle on the Island about when to go and where to stay...of course we trust him, he is an NC State graduate.

Captured a moment from the car window at Silver Lake on the island.

Its been a whirlwind of fun.........

We have covered some ground in the past few days...

The girls and I headed out to Greenville Saturday for Landon to compete in a Jr. Olympics skills competition for track and field.

Who knew she was a runner and a jumper? I still laugh when I think about how I tried to discourage her from competing in our district competition...she won at that level and then again in the regionals. Ha! Way to go mom! I sure blew it. It has been great to see her venture into an arena that I know NOTHING about. Hope she doesn't need any coaching...she'll have to call Auntie Mariel or Auntie Cheryl on that one!! Can I get an amen?

Straight from there we drove to Lynchburg, VA to say our goodbyes to the children from the choir as they sang their final concert for World Help this year. All three teams were singing at Thomas Road Baptist Church (Jerry Falwell's) in both of the services. It was so awesome to see some of the kids who have been so far away on the West coast all year. We also enjoyed touring Liberty University and planting seeds in Aus and Lu's mind about the future. :-) I would LOVE for them to attend a Christian university (of course, if they wanted to sport the red and white of the Pack that would be excellent, too!!)

It was bittersweet to see Tingneingak again (she is Tingneitling's sister)! You can best believe that we sent HUNDREDS of hugs for each one of them to take back to the babes in India, especially Ting!

We drove home Sunday night after the concert and rolled in shortly before 1 am.

Then we were on the road again by 9 am to pick up my niece and nephew for a few days of fun with all the cousins!

WATERLOGGED RUG RATS

Madison, Landon, Wilson, Hampton and Austyn

Notice the boys on the ladder...need I say more?

The girls are taking a break from giggling to pose (with Andrea,the neighbor) for a photo. Check out those socks on Landon....did I mention she was in soccer camp this week, too? As if we needed another thing to do this week!! Haven't I taken a bible study a time or ten on overloading the schedule and priorities or something?? Where is Beth Moore when you need her?

OKAY, so the boys aren't posing or giggling...they were just having fun and didn't want to be interrupted for a photo op. Its been a great week and the kids have loved visiting with Mae and the Hamster. They never get to spend much time with them since we have moved away.

Does he look more like Jon than my children or am I dreaming?? I love it!

The Happy Campers

This week Wilson is attending an adventure camp put on by our city recreation department.He is having a blast with 20 other 7-8 year olds. They have been to a challenge course, laser tag, ice skating, horseback riding and will visit the aquarium at Fort Fisher and Jungle Rapids Water park. For those of you who know Wilson, this is so totally up his alley!

Wilson on day three of camp...ice skating and the nature center. I don't think he was quite awake enough to be photographed.

While the camper is away...the girls will play. Austyn and Landon were certainly not left out of the fun. They saw an opportunity and seized the moment.

We have had a wonderful time doing girl stuff!

The lady giving Landon her pedicure is named Julie. She is a hoot(!) and was teasing the girls the whole time! We laughed alot and I laughed harder at them trying to be polite when they weren't quite sure what she had said in her strong Vietnamese accent. Julie is very bright and quite witty and I enjoy chatting with her. We have talked about various topics including her views on adoption of Vietnamese children and her journey to America. I have tucked away some pieces of the gospel here and there as well....

TADAAAAAA!

We finished our girls day with a little shopping and a Japanese style lunch with daddy. The girls loved it and are already planning another day...Father's Day shopping in Wilmington and a movie. *smile*

She saw our baby today!

I sprung out of bed this morning to see if Jenn had posted any photos of her new son.

Jenn and Joon Soo (McKade) at AMSA

She is a friend of mine from the AMSA yahoo group, and she and her husband are in Korea right now bringing home Joon Soo. They had lunch just today with some care nurses and were informed that on the way home they would need to stop by and pick up two boys from kindergarten (preschool). It was JAEHO and Jung Woo!! She rode with him in the car and was able to talk to him!!

This photo was taken of our baby today in the car ride home from school!

This one was taken later Monday (today) at AMSA rehab center.

Thank you Jenn!

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Thirteen of the children that have been adopted from AMSA were together last week in Orlando for an annual reunion. They dress in traditional Hanboks and even attend a Korean church with some of the officials from Seoul and Children's Home Society. We hope to attend next year with Stephen so he can see some of his old buddies.

The Orlando Sentinel covered the story:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-reunion07jun10,0,6705640.story?page=1&coll=orl-dp-classifieds