I'm sorry that I've been absent from the blog this week as life has been very busy, and I've been trying to catch up on some around the house projects. If I'm not careful, I can spend too much time on the computer and not enough time on tougher projects like picture albums! That would be one of my goals this week - to sort and finalize pictures for another year's album! I won't tell you that I'm on 2004. ugh. I'm determined to catch up. I'm constantly trying to balance picture albums and lifebooks. I've been playing with lots of different ideas of how to tell Ava and Maia their special adoption stories, and then there's Maia's 100 Good Wishes book that is finished but not bound. I don't want any of these to become a "have to" and a burden, so I'm trying to tackle each one and not try to make them perfect! I want to enjoy doing them, and I've realized that I have to set aside time to focus on one or the other. Easier said than done! After seeing this picture, you'll understand why I'm behind this week! Uh, oh. I didn't latch the gate all the way! She was being SO quiet. I knew something was up!
Fourth of July morning, Ben and I spent some quiet time outside with Ava enjoying our freedom and really being grateful for it. Watching the documentary, Inside North Korea, recently heightened our appreciation of freedom so much more this year. Also, knowing that we have countless men and women, armed forces and missionaries, in places all around the world fighting for democracy, human rights, social justice and religious freedom made us even more grateful this year. Maybe, it's that Ben and I are thinking about world politics and freedoms more than we ever have. I dont' know. We both said that the Fourth of July felt different this year, that we didn't want to just eat and watch fireworks, that we truly wanted to think about and be grateful for our freedoms. It was a beautiful morning.
Daddy and Miss Ava
Mommy and Ava smiling in the flowers. As you can see, growing cheerful flowers is a hobby of mine! I grew a lot of these during some really difficult years of waiting and suffering. Now, I like to go out and sit among them and look at them and think about how a suffering season can produce beauty. I found great healing in gardening during those years and still do.
Ava is now crawling over, around and through things, and as you can see, she sometimes bumps her noggin! A not so happy moment....
Fourth of July kisses from Daddy
We celebrated the 4th of July this year by having our supper club friends and their kids over for a cookout and swim party (baby pool swim party that is!) We had a grand time celebrating together, and everyone was busy in the kitchen or grill area preparing and cooking their own special meal. We teamed up on sides, and each family brought their own meat. You name it - I think we had it! While it was complete chaos, we discovered that it doubled the fun! Kids with wet swimsuits and grass-covered feet mingled with peeling shrimp and frying green tomatoes etc. We really did have a ball, and the kiddos had a lot of fun all being together for the first time. Miss Ava was wide-eyed at all the excitement and joined in on the action in her baby pool! Our county normally hosts a big fireworks display at the Alcoa duck pond, but it was cancelled this year due to budget cuts. I understand that a lot of cities had to cancel their fireworks displays this year. We hope to take Ava when she's a bit older. We did go outside and watch our neighbors backyard displays! The kids loved it - fireflies and fireworks make for great entertainment! Here's a few pictures from our evening together.
Notice Ava in her own little pool. Bless her heart. :)
These are our dear friends eating and celebrating together! I'm bummed that this picture turned out fuzzy. We wanted to get a group shot, but with the craziness, we just never got around to it! Next time!
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