Remembering Summer

It is hard to believe that tomorrow is the first of September and that fall will soon be here. We have had an action packed summer with baseball, a camping trip, VBS, sewing camp, drama camp, science camp, a beach trip, and lots more fun. Instead of focusing on the fact that we are still waiting on TA after 5 1/2 weeks, that we will most certainly miss Ellie's 2nd birthday, and that consulate appointments are now booking into October, I will for now focus on the terrific summer we have had. The following is just a glimpse of all the special times we shared as a family. Enjoy the pictures and please keep praying for God's perfect timing of our TA and for all of us to rest in His plan.



For now we only have Ellie's picture to hold, but we pray that soon, very soon, she will be here with us to make more wonderful memories! I found the children in our den holding Ellie's picture and taking pictures of themselves. Too cute. We all want her home- to hold and to love.

Silliness at home when it was TOO hot to go outside and play. What a hoot these boys are!

Lilly loves gum and ice cream and had plenty of both this summer. Note the wad of gum in front.

Fun in the sun during our annual beach trip. Lilly loved the ocean this year and the birds. This year was extra special because we had friends from home there the same week as us so we got to spend time with them as well, and our LOA came on the last day.

We had a garage sale in July in hopes of getting rid of some of our junk and making a little spending money for our trip to China. The children sold lemonade and cookies to raise more money for Ellie's orphanage. It was hot, but fun and successful!

June 30, we started school in anticipation of Ellie's arrival. We wanted to have several weeks to get to know her without bothering with school. Who knew we would have SO much time. We will have already completed more than one third of the year by the time we get her home. Photo Hint: The number of fingers corresponds to grade level.

Hanging out at home with Wags, our sweet lab. Lilly loves animals. Despite the extremely hot weather, we had fun just playing outside on many days.

Baseball- Fulton enjoyed his second year and improved quite a bit. Lilly was his biggest fan- the candy from the canteen was an added bonus.

Our family's first camping experience - well actually we were in a cabin, but it was a rustic cabin.

We all had fun playing in the very cool water, hiking, and fishing. Shelby caught the only fish!