Summers coming to an end

Wow you guys where has the time gone??   Summer has just flown by and the kids will be back to school soon.  I’ll try to catch you up on what’s been happening in our busy lives.

Car blows engine -   Sadly the adoption gremlin hit us this time around..  Joe’s engine blew on his car. We’ve been searching for well about a month now for something decent to last us a few more years that we can pay cash for.  We’re praying we find the right fit for us soon!   My wonderful sister Brenda has graciously let us use her minivan while we search.  I have the BEST big sisters ever.  #sisters4

We spent a lot of time this summer working on the garden at Nian's school.  The veggies have been great!  It's hard work but gives Nian some extra "Mom" time when we go. I actually find it relaxing, but don't tell my mom that cuz I hated weeding the garden when I was little. 

Zoo Camp – Nian did a 2day camp this year called Master Tracker.  He had a great time learning how to use his senses to track different animals.  Just as I had thought he was wishing he had another camp to go to at the zoo.  I knew I should have signed him up for the big cats one. Oh well there's always next year.  He had such a great time at all the camps he went to this year. 

Buss family day - We spent a raining Saturday afternoon up at Joe's brothers place with the whole Buss family. It'd been a while since we had all been together.  And we got surprise wedding on top of it.  So happy for Scott and Lisa.  

Hanging with Uncle Mike

I800a approval – We got our finger printing done on the 28th and by the 1st we had approval. This is the last big piece of paperwork we needed to complete so we could get our Dossier completed.  Of course with the car issue we are a little delayed on actually getting the Dossier totally complete.  We have 2 big fees to pay for the Dossier to be considered complete.  We were chosen out of many families to fill out a grant request with a company in Colorado.  We had a brief chat with the CEO of the company and should hear something about mid October. Which is ok since none of our paperwork will be a year old until next April/May. Luckily we have our home study done so we can view files at any time.

Fourth of July – The boys and I  headed out to my parents for some fireworks on the 3rd.  Cheng of course fell asleep on the way out there so it was just Nian and I hangin.  We had a good time picking out fireworks at the store.  yep Cheng was sleeping and we lost each of his shoes at one point or another before we left.  Luckily we had some good people who found us with the shoes.  The items were bought weren't too bad, one was a dud tho so that kind of sucked. Nian had a lot of fun so that was good.

I have no idea where he gets that from.... 

Lake Day - Lake days are always fun.  If it's sister overnight the night before it's much better. Nian is slowly opening up to new things each time we go to the lake.  He still won't jump off the boat but he has fun fishing (yes he's caught some), driving the boat, keeping Aunt Shellee's drink away in the water, and kayaking.

This drink was SO strong I was buzzed after only
a few sips. wowzer...no juice in this sangria at all

I should have seen this coming when he asked
to get out of the lake after only 10 mins...

Who is this boy in the water??  So glad to see
how far he's come this summer. 

Happy 5^th Birthday Cheng - Batman has arrived.  We had a great time at his party and are so thankful for everyone who could make it. He had so much fun.  His main concern for the day was that his cousin Ava didn't blow his candle out this year. lol.  Gotta love that boy he's such a ham and bring so much joy, laughter and love to this family. I can't believe he's 5 already... Our wonderful daycare told us about the Budweiser Clydesdale horses being in town so we headed up to see them after dinner on Cheng's birthday.  They didn't get it but I know someday they will look back and realize how awesome that time we spent there was. How often do you get to see these magnificent creatures that close!?

1^st 4H fair – We finally made it to our first fair.  Amazing that it took so long but the boys had a great time.  We met Vickie and the boys had fun with cousins Ava and Jennell. It was a tiring-long day, but a good day. Cheng LOVED all the fast rides, especially the kiddie coaster.  Nian bless him held on for dear life. I found my coaster buddy! Nian was none too happy about having to "share" some rides with Cheng - but it was a busy day and we had to double up. 

yea that's my child!

We got to spend an evening at Meijer Gardens with Papa and Mimi as well.  The kids had a lot of fun, and they had all sorts of stuff for the kids there.  It was Grandparents night too so we got to ride the Tran for free.  Nothing says rudeness like a free tram ride.  We waited at what was the front of the line since mom can't walk fast so of course everyone rushed the seats as soon as the tram stopped.  Hey forget that we've been sitting here for 10 minutes waiting. But it was a Meijer location so I wasn't surprised.  I deal with that at the stores all the time.

OH NO look out Cheng

This is Mad Mom..  if you ask my kids they will tell
you "that's my mom".

Large carts really means please put the small one here.

The line is there so you don't go over it.
and I pulled far ahead so i could open the tailgate. 

The boys are ready for school to start, and we're close to getting Joe another vehicle. I hope... I'm not looking forward to 4 days of driving from work to preschool to daycare to work during my lunch. I should say i'm not looking forward to dealing with dumb drivers on this wonderful round trip. I think my dad will be doing one of those trips for me so that will be great.

We're looking forward to the boys meeting new friends this school year, and the many adventures they'll have along the way.  The nights are getting darker earlier which means fall is on the way.  I'm ready.  I know a lot of you aren't but this girl loves the fall weather. We're also going to be starting up a few fundraisers.  We're bringing back our puzzle fundraiser.  We still have plenty of spaces to fill on the puzzle and it was a great one to do.  We're starting to think about another dinner one as well, but we'll see what happens.  We're praying we get this grant which could possibly cover all of our expenses.  What a blessing that would be for us.

Thank you for continuing this journey with us.  Keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.
Enjoy the rest of your summer.

Blessings to you!  Becky