Bathroom Posting

I'm hiding in the bathroom of the hotel room as I finish out the photo album for Oksana to take home with her.  Tears running down my face as there are only 2 more sleeps.
We went into this knowing it was only to host her. We knew we wold be stretched and pulled. We never knew just how quickly we could love.
Though we can't go into details she is not available for adoption.  We will do our best to keep in touch with her. A little piece of all of our hearts are leaving on a plane in just a couple of days.

Promises

We signed off to spend some time as a family. Here is God's promise for Oksana!

Happy Almost Birthday!

We celebrate Birthday's BIG at our house. Oksana's was no different!  We celebrated a little early from her real birthday, but that never stops us from a party!

All day she asked if it was really for her!  The outpouring of LOVE was amazing. Oksana has truly touched the lives of so many people in such a short time. It is amazing what people can do when they invest in each other. Thank you EVERYONE for investing in Oksana! 

An Ordinary Day

So mommy worked today and Daddy was in charge!!!! He let them build forts in their bedrooms. The girls let Ethan help, but then kicked him out.

Roller Skating

There is a great program called Kids Skate Free.  Kids can go skating 2x a week for just a skate rental fee. It was $4.50 to go skating!  Oksana had a blast skating, saying WOW as soon as we walked in the door. Ethan was a good skater as usual with all things athletic.  Hannah, well she may never be a speed racer. She did try as hard as she could to keep up with the big kids. We thankfully ran into our other friend named Hannah and our Hannah and friend Hannah had a blast hugging the wall!!! They did finally come off the wall towards the end!!!

Give Me Smore!!

We had some great friends over tonight! After dinner and Daddy's softball game we started up the fire pit and got ready for a treat!!! The 2 big boys never stop moving!  So why not give them a little more sugar!!!

They all played and played and played. We had to make them come inside! 

That is the ultimate summer night!!

Lions, and Tigers and Bears OH My!!! A trip to the zoo!

Just a warning this post is full of pictures!!!
We have a fabulous ZOO here!  I got my dates mixed up and thought Sunday night was Members night. Well Members night was Saturday, so after church the kids and I packed a picnic and headed to the Zoo while Daddy worked.
It was HOT!!! The kids loved playing in the water.  I'm pretty sure that we didn't really have to look at any animals.  They did LOVE looking at the animals when I dragged them away from the water.
Oksana's favorite were the Polar Bears, Ethans were the Snakes/Alligators, and Hannah's were the Pandas.

Playing on the rocks in the water. 

All the Animals

More Water Play

Little Giraffes

One of my favorite shots!  Sitting in the Bubble watching the Sea Lion

The sea lion was so interactive. He kept coming up to the glass and doing flips. It was as if he was playing with the kids!