road trip!

We took our first REAL road trip this Memorial Day weekend.  On Thursday afternoon we headed out on the open road, picked up Aunt Mel on the way, and wheeled ourselves to St. Louis for a family wedding.

It was a reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally long drive, and we arrived about 2 am.

We spent the weekend trying to entertain the little ones in a hotel room, at the pool, and at a park.  I was personally disappointed that I wasn’t able to hang out with the family very much this time because the little ones weren’t very excited about the prospect of sitting quietly in chairs or on a couch and chit-chatting when there were long hallways to run screaming down or pretty little hotel knick-knacks to explore or carry around.  We did our best to keep them busy.

The girls actually sat through the outdoor wedding quite well, and while we waited for the reception to begin, they ran around and explored the reception area, including this enormous, beautiful deck.

Pendo liked spinning in circles.

Kait really enjoyed spending more time with her cousins,

and we were excited to see the beginning of a new marriage.  Congrats, Cindy and Nate!

We left early on Sunday to head home.  11 hours and 11 stops later, we pulled in grateful to be home, but happy we were able to spend a little time with extended family.  Hopefully the next time the reunion comes around, I’ll actually get to spend some more time with the adults!

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riding the rails

Many evenings after dinner, we’ll head out for a short walk.  Recently we checked out a walking trail close by.

LOVE this one

Before we headed back home, G entertained us once again about “railroads being in his blood”.  His grandpa worked on the railroad all of his life, and his dad worked on the rails for awhile, too.  I’m hoping to take the kids back there before long to take some more individual pics.

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the greatest show on earth

Yesterday we had the fun of watching Kait perform in a little first grade circus with her class.  She was in several acts, including stilt walking,

a couple of dance numbers, and lots of singing.

There were some really cute acts.   Before the show all the families came together to picnic on the school lawn.  It was a really great night!

Here’s Kait with her teacher.

This is my favorite picture from the night since I prefer to take pictures up close and personal, and I wasn’t able to do that at the circus.  Kait enjoyed having the chance to participate in the circus, and we are so thankful that we are back home so she had that opportunity.

Way to go, Kait!!  We’re so proud of you!

Also, today is my and G’s 2nd running anniversary.  I NEVER thought I would be a runner, and we can’t believe that we’re still at it.  When we began, we were just training for a 5K with some good friends, but here we are!  We plan to keep at it for as long as we can.  Don’t get me wrong.  It’s still hard to run, a lot of times I don’t want to, and I’m not really running as far as I had hoped I would be at this stage, and one of the main reasons I run is so I can still eat dessert every day, but that’s OK.

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laundry ladies

A few days ago I was cleaning the kitchen.  I heard the little girls giggling and busy in the living room.  When I peeked around the corner, I saw this.

They had completely emptied two big baskets of clean laundry onto the floor.

My initial response was to say, “Let’s not play with the laundry baskets right now.”  But then I saw how much fun they were having together.  They were actually giggling and playing together rather than arguing and screaming.

I’m glad I didn’t stop the fun.  They had a blast, and I was able to clean the kitchen really well while they were occupied.  I just turned up my music and said a little prayer of thanks while I went to town on the kitchen.  Maybe I’ll bring up the laundry baskets the next time I need to deeply clean the kitchen.

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new hair

I tried a new hair style on Pendo this week.  The “rope” look was a nice change from the braids that I’ve been doing every week.  I also liked that it only took about 45 minutes!  Half the time it usually takes!

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who’s afraid of a little bit of dirt?

We’ve had a really busy, challenging week.   After spending a couple of hours with an amazing friend after lunch, the kids were going a bit stir crazy.  Oh a whim, we decided to take them to the park even though it has been raining for 36 hours and everything would probably be wet.  We put them in old clothes and headed out.

The park was the perfect solution.

The play structures were actually quite dry, and the girls enjoying getting some energy out.

I had to include this cute one of Rose’s shoes.  We bought these in Kenya.

After playing for awhile, we decided to take a walk around the park.  Before long the girls discovered a really nice, muddy, puddle.

Didn’t take long until the shoes were off . . .

and the splashing began.

Of course, soon Pendo fell INTO the puddle.  It was just a matter of time.

A bit later, we walked back to the car, very wet and happy.

On the way, Pendo enjoyed some spring “flowers.”

Even though we had to give baths before dinner, we’re glad we stepped out of the ordinary and went to the park right after the rain.

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living the dream

The past two weekends we’ve spent some time on the road driving to see some friends and family.  We’ve had a really great time hanging out with old friends and introducing Pendo to many who prayed for us and supported us on this adoption journey.  When we were in Kenya, many, many, many, many times I would dream about being back here at home and taking road trips with Pendo in the backseat with our other girls.   I mainly dreamed about what it might be like when the Kenyan adoption process was legally complete and Pendo was officially part of our family forever.   Now we are living that dream.  Finally!  I’ve thanked God over and over that we had the privilege of living in Kenya for a  year, for seeing us though in the grueling adoption process, and allowing us to settle into real life with Pendo by our sides.   However, when I dreamed about what it might be like to have her in our family, I did not plan on the fights over the red couch pillows or the knock-down-drag-out explosions between Rose and Pendo over wanting the same toy at the same time or what it would be like to have two little ones whining and literally hanging on my legs as I try to make dinner.  I won’t lie.  Our home is MUCH louder, and there are many more skirmishes to referee as we train our little ones to share and take turns.  But for all the chaos that comes with having three girls, we would not change one thing.  We are living the dream, and we’re just incredibly thankful for God’s work in bringing it all together.

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double day!

Today is an exciting day for us!

It’s Double Day!

No, it has nothing to do with the fact that these little ladies are dressed as doubles (thanks to a friend who sent us some really cute matching clothes for the girls–they don’t seem to mind matching each other now, but I’m sure I’ll hear about it in a few years 🙂 )

So what is Double Day?

That is what I’m calling today–the day we’ve had Pendo as long as we haven’t!!  She began living with us when she was exactly 11 months old, and now she has been in our family for 11 months.

Here are a few pictures from when we first met her in June last year.

She hated when we forced her to stand up.  Her legs weren’t strong enough.

And here she is today–11 months later–climbing on everything that doesn’t move, jumping up and down all over the place,  and learning new words almost every day.

So, so, so, so, so, so blessed that you are in our family, Pendo.  Our lives are incredibly richer because of you.

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sunday sundaes

It’s back!!

We just reinstated Sunday Sundaes!   This had become one of our little family traditions from right before Rose was born.  Every Sunday we would enjoy sundaes after dinner.  We ended up changing it to Monday sundaes for awhile when G’s work schedule changed, and we took a reeeeeeeally long break since we didn’t continue this tradition while we were in Kenya.   I wanted to start it right away when we got back home, but we waited to see what would happen with Rose’s food allergies.  Anyway . . . we are all excited that this tradition is back!

We even have special little dishes that we got from one of G’s distant relatives.  It’s so fun to bring out the sprinkles, syrups, and whipped cream and go a little crazy.

Can’t wait until next week!  I think Pendo likes this Austin tradition.

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