Happy Father's Day!!!

We had a lovely Father's Day! The weather is absolutely perfect today! I opened all the windows early this morning with the expectation of having to close them part way through the day, but it was just awesome all day.

Elena and I did lots of nice things for daddy, who deserved every bit of it! We started by having a landscaper clean up our landscaping. Usually Sean does it himself and actually enjoys it, but this year he was just so busy and hasn't gotten to it. They are not done with it yet, but so far so good. The rain kept them from finishing yesterday. That is something that I have absolutely no interest in tackling myself. Second, we completely cleaned the garage. It was just me doing the work, of course, but I told Sean it was Elena's idea. I was filthy and exhausted, but it was well worth it. It took me ALL day Friday. I pretended to go to work, but actually headed to the store to get hooks and peg boards and other stuff to organize and clean. Sean seemed pretty happy when he got home from work. He thought I was at work all day! Saturday morning Elena and I made a stepping stone for daddy. See pics below. It was fun; albeit, a little messy. We're going to put it out front once the landscaping is done. It will be nice to see it out there everyday. This morning we made daddy's favorite Nana's Apple Cake. Mmmm . . . mommy and Elena's fav too. Then today, we had Sean's parents and my parents and my sisters and their families over for a cookout. Simple and relaxing. It was a great day to sit and just enjoy being with family. Sean is an awesome father and he deserved a great day!

My niece just got back from NYC where she did some cleanup at a camp and did mission work in the city with her youth group. She was so excited and had so many stories to tell. I'm so happy that she has made some very important personal decisions in her life recently that will really just change her life forever. God is amazing! Both of my sisters have amazing children that I am so proud of!

I hope you all had a wonderful Father's Day, especially all you dads!! Happy Summer too!

Gotcha and Home Forever Weekend

I can't believe it has been two years! Our Gotcha Day was Friday and Home Forever Day is Monday, so we made a weekend of it. Yesterday we went to Dutch Wonderland. We had a really good time. I was very upset with myself when we got there because I realized that I had taken the memory card out of the camera and so we were only able to take ten pictures. :( Thankfully we had the video camera, but I was still a little bummed. I was hyping up the event a few days prior telling Elena that we were going to see a REAL princess and ride on a REAL train. When we finally saw the princess, Elena didn't want to get her picture taken with her, but once she left, she looked all over for her. Then when we saw her again, she was excited to see her. We took a picture of the Princess, the Castle, and Thomas the Train so Elena would remember the day. She loves looking at them! She's was pooped by the time we left.

Today we also celebrated Sean's Mom's birthday, which is tomorrow. We met his parents at the Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Elena loves the rocking chairs and the checkers outside. We spent most of the day outside today; the weather is awesome! I'm glad we had a great weekend. I'm assuming that when you give birth, the day is special for your child, but also for the parents. I'm assuming it brings back the memory of the day you had given birth, the days leading up to it, etc. When you adopt, obviously you don't have those memories. But you sure don't forget the day they place that child in your arms forever! Gotcha Day is very special to us and I plan on doing something special and memorable each and every year!

Hope you are all well and are enjoying Spring. Summer is just around the corner! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDA!!!!! We hope you have a great day! Love you!

Turtle Sunday

Sean spotted a turtle creeping through the loooong grass in the front yard this morning. Now I have to tell you that I'm not "afraid" of much of anything, but turtles, they give me the heebie jeebies! I would sooner pick up a snake, which I'm not afraid of at all, than a turtle. I know that is strange! Anyway, it was fun to show it to Elena and to watch Sara sniff it obsessively (that would be the dog). Elena loved looking at it, but didn't want it near her either!

This pic has nothing to do with the turtle, obviously, but it was just cute.