Family Summer Vacation - Grand Finale

And it was GRAND! Instead of making the 12 hour trip back to Texas during the night. We drove about 10 hours to Oklahoma during the day. Much better way to travel with our babies. And it was about time we went to Oklahoma because we had to meet our new little friend. She just moved here in April from Ethiopia!

So let me introduce you to Miss Abigail.

Some wonderful friends in Oklahoma City were in the adoption process waiting and waiting and waiting so patiently, when we moved away to Texas. They had announced that they were adopting internationally a few months before we finalized our decision on domestic adoption (so before Holden). So we had been placed with 2 babies during their adoption process and wait. And that was hard. Telling him them about Paxton while they were so eager to receive a referral of their child. But you know, they rejoiced with us and loved on our 2nd son, just as they had done with Holden. And now it has been their turn! There daughter is home. It was such a blessing to spend and entire day (plus a few hours here and there) with our friends and letting the kids play for the first time. Abigail is a delight. She has a fun little personality and has quickly bonded to her mommy and daddy. I saw such an incredible change in our friends as I watched them in their new roles. Adoption still amazes me. The stories I read (normally through blogs) and the ones I get to walk through with friends. Often times, in these stories, the hand of God is so evident. And it's an encouragement and joy to see other families share our passion. Adoption has definitely become that to us: a passion. Here are a few pictures from our time in Oklahoma:

I realize that no one is looking at the camera, but it was hard to get all 3 at the same time.

I know they don't look very enthusiastic, but aren't they beautiful?! And they have a similar, little button nose. Something that I didn't recognize until this picture. Abigail is about 3 months older than Pax and about 1 year younger than Holden.

After our fun visit with friends, we packed up to head home. We made one last stop and had lunch with M, Paxton's birthmom. Since we were in the area, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see her and let her love on Pax. He gave her a slobbery kiss, which I'm sure she loved. I did take pictures, as I normally do, but I keep those private for Paxton and M.

Here he is enjoying his lunch visit with M.

And the drive home, was quiet and peaceful with 2 boys napping (most of the way). Family Summer Vacation 2010 is over and I am already looking forward to the next.

Family Summer Vacation - Part 4

So Thursday morning, after breakfast, we headed to the United States Airforce Academy. You probably know that Holden LOVES airplaness, so my sister suggested this place. And it was perfect. We enjoyed strolling around as much as Holden did. It was nestled among the mountains and a great view from every angle. Jeremy and I both began daydreaming of Holden going to college there. And how cute it was going to be because we would have all of these pictures taken from our visit when he was only 2 years old. Whoa! We got way ahead of ourselves. I promise we won't force our children to go to military school. But it just seemed like a cool place. And Holden seemed to agree.

Here we are watching the cadets marching. I realize from this picture that I HATE my hair. I look like a skunk. Why didn't anyone tell me? It's changing soon. Bleh!This was our view of the cadets.

Holden practicing his military march.
Paxton terribly wanted to join in on this military march

Ah, the nice view of the mountains. And of course, me with my sweet boy.
Holden and Jeremy are posing by daddy's plane. Ha! I like to take possession and call it Jeremy's plane. It's nowhere close to Jeremy's plane. I think he does some kind of work on this type of plane. Honestly, I'm not really sure what Jeremy does at work. :)

Some other pictures from our time at the Academy:

So this was our final day in The Springs. And honestly, I wasn't ready to leave. I hate when vacations end. The only thing that kept me going was knowing about our little detour on our drive back to Texas. Holden and Pax would finally get to meet their new friend. They had heard about her for months and now it was almost time to see her face in person. And that little visit deserves a post all it's own. Until next time. . .

Family Summer Vacation - Part 3

Getting bored with this yet? Well, on Wednesday of vacation week we went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Hands down, the best zoo I've ever visited. It was up in the mountains and it was a cooler day. I felt like we should have all brought jackets. There were some chilly moments, but the weather was perfect. And it was a good workout with the hilly terrain. Especially for Jeremy since he pulled the wagon that we had rented for the day. The boys + a wagon are quite a combo going uphill.
One of the most exciting features of the zoo, was being inches from the giraffes and being able to feed them crackers. Holden was so brave and loved it so much we did it twice. Can you believe how close they are? I took about a bajillion pictures of this, but I will spare you the repetition and show just one more. And a few other pictures from our day at the zoo:

Exiting the zoo. Pretty sure he had a fun day!

Next stop: the Airforce Academy. Holden is now enrolled for the graduating class of 2030.

Family Summer Vacation - Part 2

So Tuesday morning we left Uncle Loren, Aunt Mandy, Hopie, Bella and Ava and headed to Colorado Springs. First stop: Focus on the Family. The entire downstairs was created for children. And it's pretty amazing. They have something for every age. I think the boys will enjoy it even more in a few years. But they loved running around freely, enjoying the play areas and stopping for icecream. There was much to see and do at this fun, little place. And I'm positive that we will be making more trips here in future years.

A little sugar right before afternoon naps. There is no cost to tour the facility or to come and play. That's right, it is completely free, which seems so generous to me. But then they have an enormous bookstore for suckers like me. So we left with a couple of souveniers for the boys. A Veggie Tales sing along DVD and a Veggie Tales book. Jeremy or I may one day regret the DVD purchase when we can't stop singing Love My Lips. After naps and dinner out on Tuesday, our evening was spent like this.

With daily evening showers in the area, we were elated for the indoor pool. So we soaked up the fun that offered. On Wednesday we headed to the amazing Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. More on that later ...

Family Summer Vacation - Part 1

We returned home last night from our little family getaway. It was really, really great! It was nice to spend the time concentrating on just the 4 of us being together. I took over 250 pictures on this trip. I won't bore you with all of them. But I am sharing alot, so I will be doing a few posts over the next few days, as time allows. Otherwise, it will be one big, fat post and that's just too overwhelming to me at this point.
So we left last Friday night at the boys bedtime (7:30pm). That should have put us rolling into Canon City, CO at 6:30am (since we would lose an hour moving into mountain time). We thought the boys would quickly drift off to sleep since it was bedtime. I remember laughing because at 9pm they were both happily jabbering away. But the happy travels didn't last forever. Lets just say we won't be doing anymore middle of the night driving. If I'm going to be unbuckling my seatbelt every 15 minutes to reinsert a paci (for Pax), then it might as well be 2pm instead of 2am. On the way there, he was a terrible traveler. In his defense, we found out he was poopy at one of our stops (around 1am, I believe). And my guess is that he had been sitting in that poo for 4 hours. Eeek! He drifted off to sleep for several hours after that diaper change. Our bad. I think we made it to Canon City at 6am with a couple of brief stops along the way. And there, our fun began with my sister and her family. We had a relaxing first day at their house and took some naps. Some of us more than others (Jeremy hardly remembers anything about this day, though he had conversations with me and others. He can not recall them.) My sister and I, with her big girls, went to the farmer's market in town, which was fun. All the while, the boys and babies napped at home. We went to church with them on Sunday, where 2 of my boys sported their pink. I had to ask Jeremy's permission to play matchy matchy. He gave me the okay.

We were able to meet their wonderful friends that we've heard so much about. And I know they are more like family to one another. Sunday was the 4th of July and it was lots of fun. Relaxing. We stayed around the house. Loren cooked brawts and burgers. We played outside and enjoyed a nice Colorado summer day. The weather felt amazing for our entire stay! You gotta love Colorado summers!

Paxton enjoyed the company of his cousin, Ava. They shared paci's, beds, diapers and all sorts of things during their week together.

I have no idea why Holden has his tongue out in some of these pictures. Weird. I'm just happy he will look at my camera. Sometimes. When he feels like it. :)

That night the fireworks began. Since we stayed home, we put the babies to bed at their normal time. Now, fireworks are my favorite part of this holiday! Holden started out timid.

Notice Bella holding his onto his arm to comfort him. So blasted sweet!

By the end of the night, he was a brave little boy and held his first sparkler (with daddy's help). Everyone was so proud of him!

And a few other pictures from our time in Canon City:

This is how the kiddos slept. Hopie's eyes are open, but yes she is asleep. :)

Uncle Loren getting some cuddle time from Holden.

Pax pulling up on anything he can get his hands on. In this picture, it's his daddy's leg.

4 little cousins.

Holden was unwilling to participate in this photo. :) This was taken on Tuesday morning. And right after we snapped this photo, Jeremy and I loaded the boys into the car and made a short drive to Colorado Springs where we spent the next leg of our fun getaway. Stay tuned.