Summer vacation!

Here is my first ever video - it took me quite a while to get it done (haven't done much of anything else while at it, either *ha*), and I know it will be such a fun memory for all of us!
Enjoy!
Now, of course I did not include all the unpleasant details, like Anya eating too many Smores (they did not look pretty a few hours later), or me wiping out on the forest floor when I tripped over a tent string (I'm still sore!). We've learned many valuable tent-camping lessons (we're pretty new at this!), and we're looking forward to next time!

(Wow, Youtube really downgraded the quality of it, but oh well!)

Beautiful...

From tonight

What keeps kids entertained in the backseat

While I'm working on my first ever little movie thing with our vacation pictures, I just have to show you this.

The kids' favorite entertainment in the car was taking pictures of other cars driving by.

Yes, you can laugh.

It was comical to listen to them. Elia was usually on the lookout for more cars. He would announce them loudly, and then Anya would take the picture, and they'd all cheer.

Repeat.

Needless to say, Anya had a BUNCH of blurry car pictures on her camera, and we think it's hilarious....

We're home, and a couple of changes to the blog

Not like I have totes and sleeping bags and coolers to put away, or do 2 more loads of laundry.....

NO!!

My first project is messing around with the blog. Go figure this blogger's priorities *LOL*

I just added the "Wyoming summer" pictures on the left hand side (almost at the bottom, just in case you have not noticed that section before).

But what I have been wanting to do for a while is highlight all the milestones in our adoption journey. Those are like the "pearls" of adoption that are mixed into a lot of family "stuff". To ME those are super important, but if someone wants to come here and read up on adoption, it's more relevant to find those milestones quickly.

YES, we have been on vacation, and trust me, I have lots of pictures and stories to share.
This was our first TENT CAMPING trip (we have camped before, but chose the little "kamping kabins" while the kids were smaller).
Gosh, we had fun!!
But more on that tomorrow.
And on the not-so-fun episodes too (I'm still sore!!!).
Well, I guess I can't leave without at least one picture, right??This was taken by my very talented young photographer Anya!!

The Singer

Nico participated in a choir camp for the last couple of weeks. He is always singing, so we thought he might enjoy that. And he did, for the most part (not enough boys there for his liking!)

We let him ride his bike to the camp at the High School and back, and he really enjoyed that. He did a great job getting ready in the morning, making sure he had enough time to get there and lock up his bike. This is the first time I've let him do that, and I think he will be ready to ride his bike to school if he wants to. It's only about 1 mile to the High school (but then I'm a horrible guesser), and about another 7 blocks to his Elementary school.

They had a concert today, and it was very nice. I really liked the songs they learned (all Broadway songs), and it looked like they had fun. Performing is NOT Nico's favorite thing (too much like his Mama, introverted and all), so this was quite a stretch, and I'm very proud of him!

I took these pictures with my new camera (duh :-) ), and the amazing thing is that I did not use a flash! I also took all of them from my seat in a good sized auditorium, so the zoom on the camera is awesome! About half the pictures ended up blurry, but I was still pretty impressed how well the others turned out!

Determination, and the power of LOVE...

A son asked his father, 'Dad, will you take part in a marathon with me?' The father who, despite having a heart condition, said 'Yes'.
They went on to complete the marathon together. Father and son went on to join other marathons, the father always saying 'Yes' to his son's request of going through the race together.
One day, the son asked his father, 'Dad, let's join the Ironman together.' To which his father said 'Yes' to.
For those who didn't know, Ironman is the toughest triathlon ever. The race encompasses three endurance events of a 2.4 mile (3.86 kilometer) ocean swim, followed by a 112 mile (180.2 kilometer) bike ride, and ending with a 26.2 mile (42.195 kilometer) marathon along the coast of the Big Island.
Father and son went on to complete the race together.
View this...

For more information, go to the "Team Hoyt" website. Read the "Who we are" section to get their entire story!

Out of the mouth of babes...

They crack me up!

Today is a nice and warm, and very pleasant morning. Perfect for a little bit of gardening before breakfast.
While I'm digging up an unwanted groundcover I had planted last year (and didn't like, obviously), Alex and Elia are sitting on the rocks, talking to me.

With all the elections going on, this is a topic we cover frequently, as their Grandpa is running for a seat in a County government position.

So here we are, digging in the dirt, when the discussion goes like this:

Alex: "Mama, who do you think is going to win?" (the election, that is)

Elia: "Grandpa, of course"

Then they are silent for a few moments.

Alex: "But I don't think Grandpa can run very fast..."

Also ihr Schweizer, ihr seid doch "Jammeri's" :-)))

Hier ist das Rezept auf Deutsch, extra fuer euch uebersetzt und gewogen!!!!

8 Aprikosen (450 gr), in kleine Stuecke geschnitten
60 gr Zucker
2 Tassen (a 250ml) entsteinte Kirschen, ca 225 gr.
1 Essloeffel Mehl
(es darf bei bei beiden Fruchtsorten auch etwas mehr sein, ich habe gerade drei Portionen eingefroren, und "e Hampfle" dazugegeben)

140 gr Mehl
85 gr. Maisgriess
Echli Salz
1 1/2 Essloeffel Zucker
abgeriebene Schale von 1/2 Orange
2 Teeloeffel Backpulver (8 gr)
70 gr kalte Butter
187 ml Milch (Haha, moechtet ihr's noch ein bisschen genauer??)

Aprikosen und Zucker vermischen
Kirschen und Mehl vermischen (nur mit dem 1 EL Mehl!)
beiseite stellen

Alle "trockenen" Zutaten vermischen (inkl. Orangenschale), dann Butter in Stuecke schneiden und beifuegen, verreiben. Milch einruehren.

Fruechte in eine Auflaufform geben, Teigmasse darueber verteilen, bei 180 Grad backen (25 - 30 minuten)

Mit Puderzucker bestaeuben. Warm servieren.
Schmeckt sehr gut mit Vanilleglace!

YUMM!!!

I was able to purchase Cherries and Apricots from Colorado (by the case - I look forward to this every year!)
On my quest to find great apricot recipes, I came across this cobbler, and made it this afternoon.
It was to die for!!!!
So, so good!
I thought I'd share, in case you need a great summer dessert recipe. I doubled it, fed 4 adults and 5 kids, and had about 1/4 of the pan left over.
Here you go:
(My comments are in red)

Apricot Cherry Cobbler
8 fresh apricots (1 LB), sliced
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups pitted fresh cherries (1/2 LB)
1 tbsp flour
(you can easily use more fruit)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 tsp salt
1-1/2 tbsp plus 1 tsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp grated orange peel
5 tbsp unsalted butter, chilled
3/4 cup low-fat milk

Heat oven to 375°F.

Combine apricots and 1/3 cup sugar; set aside.
Combine cherries and 1 tbsp flour; set aside.
Combine dry ingredients; reserve 1 tsp sugar.
Stir in orange peel
Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.
Add milk; stir just to moisten dry ingredients.
Combine fruit in buttered 1-1/2-quart baking dish; spoon batter over top.
Sprinkle with remaining sugar. (I omitted this step, and dusted the cobbler with powdered sugar before serving instead. Makes it look very pretty!)
Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool slightly and serve.Makes 8 servings (For the double batch, I ended up baking it for 45 minutes)
Nutrition information per serving: 255 calories, 4 g protein, 42 g carbohydrates, 205 mg sodium, 9 g fat, 21 mg cholesterol, 3 g dietary fiber, 1190 IU vitamin A, 309 mg potassium.

You asked for the close-ups :-)

And here are a few - well, I had three, so I added a cute picture of Nina to the collage!
I got my new camera yesterday, and there is so much I need to learn, and a lot of the technical stuff sounds chinese to me. Love the "Auto" function, where is does all the thinking for me, while I learn more about the details!

Will you be my prince of peace...?

I love that song.
Makes me want to cry every time it plays on the radio.
I really, really need that peace...

My new toy, a "superkitten", post placement and more from the orthodontist front

I'm so excited - I ordered myself a new digital camera last week! My little point-and-shoot camera died several weeks ago when a boy who shall remain name-less kept messing with the shutter, and managed to ruin the same part.

I have been using Anya's camera for quite some time now, and although she has been very gracious about it, it annoys her. It's hers, and she got it as a gift from her aunt Kami.

I understand. I so understand!

Thank goodness, the awesome direct-sales company that I'm a consultant for (and have been for four years) has a cool reward points program, and since I have been saving my points for a long time, I'm now able to "buy" a pretty nice camera for FREE! Wohoo! I'm sure it will be a learning curve, but I'm excited about this new photographic adventure!!
This camera is said to have a huge zoom lens on it, and I'm looking forward to playing with that. I LOVE close-ups! Someday I would like to get a VERY nice camera, but that's just not a priority right now. I just gave myself an early Christmas present. Gotta do that every so often :-))
As far as the direct sales company goes, you are more than welcome to take a peek here. I'll be happy to give you the link to my personal website, but I can't do it on a public blog (company policy AND my personal privacy concerns). Email me if you would like me to send it to you!

********************

On a happy and sad note - Gandalf the gray left us today and joined her new family. They are good friends of ours, and we're all happy that we will be able to see this cute little furball in the future. Her new name will be "Ophelia" (their kids came up with that one :-) )
One of Gandalf/Ophelia's sisters however had some "superkitten" ideas today, although I really don't think it was intentional that she hurled herself off our 10 foot plant shelf. I heard a big "thud", and the only thing out of place was a dizzy little kitten. I guess "Rocket" was the right name for her after all. So far so good - she seems to be okay, and we are sure happy about this!

********************

We had our last post-placement visit yesterday! I really, really like our social worker, and she has always been very encouraging and understanding. All we have left now, as far as formalities go, is the re-adoption procedure. We have the paperwork filed, and will have it all completed in hopefully a few weeks.

**********************

Anya started her orthodontic journey earlier this year (poor girl has NO room for her lower teeth), and was recently fitted with a bottom retainer to keep things from getting worse, until she has more of her permanent teeth. She will have braces after that. We assumed we would get a break for a while.

NOT.

I took Alex for his cleaning last week, and he had his first set of XRays taken. He also JUST lost his first 2 teeth within the last couple of weeks. He thinks he is pretty big now. Well, his XRays revealed that he has 2 permanent top teeth MISSING! Ughhh! Does this poor kid EVER get a break???? He has the 2 front teeth, but then the 2 right next to it are simply not there! Needless to say, they strongly recommend to see the orthodontist right away, so they can develop a treatment plan before he actually loses the affected baby teeth. He is quite excited about seeing the orthodontist, as he has heard all the cool stories from his siblings, and can't wait to try out all the video games at their office himself!! Gotta love the perspective of a 7 year old!!

Kit Kittredge

"The girls" in their matching shirts :-)

Anya has been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the American Girl "Kit" movie. This afternoon, Grandma is taking her to FINALLY see it! Can't wait to hear all about it!

Backwards-ys...

Nina is so funny.

She has a few words that she always says backwards, and of course her siblings get the biggest kick out of it.

Her best ones are

Wash-car

(she was so excited to go to the wash-car with Daddy today!)

Shake-milk

(does not appreciate it if I put peaches in it!!! She really does not want her shake-milk when that's the case :-) )

Happy 4th of July!

...from Wyoming to the rest of the (Bloggin') world....

On top of Grandpa's float... Nina did some serious flag waving during the entire parade!

My patriotic gang!

Sisterly 4th of July beauty shop :-)Getting ready to shoot off some poppers, glow worms, and sparklers.

One year reflections

One year ago, two red thumbprints and a read handprint sealed Nina's adoption. We were going to be bound to each other forever. There was so much anticipation, so much love, and the willingness to commit to this little stranger that we had just met, but that had totally won us over in less than 24 hours.

Now, after a year has passed, she is definitely part of our family. I would like to share some of my thoughts and my heart here, because that's what I have promised myself to do, and not to leave out some of the tough stuff.

The first few weeks at home were very draining, you may remember some of my posts about that time. Our older kids crashed after the "anticipation high", and everyone scrambled to find their new spot, and to fit Nina into the picture. They all reacted in different ways, but eventually came out of that adjustment fog. For some it took longer, but I'm so thankful to say that I truly believe they have found their inner balance again.

Nina adjusted easily, it seemed. This still really amazes me, given the huge change this was in her life, and how she just kind of went with the flow, loving all those new experiences.

For me, it was such a blessing to have Big'e Anja (I don't know if we'll ever stop calling her that *LOL*) here, just to have that extra set of hands and her friendship.... (we love you, girl!).

The second half of our first year together has been more difficult in many ways, as well as easier in others. The biggest obstacle I think I have found is myself. My bonding process to my little girl is still ongoing, and I struggle with that. I had this image of myself being the oh-so-loving super-adoptive-Mom, and trust me, I'm not. Yes, I do love Nina, absolutely, and I'm so glad she is here, but there is still a good portion of that based on commitment, and of doing the right thing. We have beautiful moments of a deepening emotional connection, but there is still room to grow. I think this is definitely the challenge in adopting a preschooler - you meet them at a point in their lives when you typically deal with some really annoying age-related behaviors (whining, defiance and temper-tantrums...) without having had the benefits of the "cute and cuddly" kind of baby phase. I find that I don't have much tolerance for those behaviors, and they annoy me more than I'd like to admit. I seriously don't know how God puts up with all his adopted children, because he NEVER gets us at the "cute-and-cuddly" stage - EVER!! Yet his love is so complete and so selfless and shining so brightly and I marvel at that. I know that the more I dwell in HIS presence, the more I will have the strength to be the Mom he wants me to be. I have been lacking greatly in this area. The devil has been very successful in whispering all kinds of lies to my heart. And I know the Lord is just waiting for me to realize that I can't do it with my own strength. I have done a good job trying, and I just does not work!!

A few days ago I watched a photoshow that Julie, the Love without Boundaries foster care coordinator for the City of Loudi, had put together. She visited Loudi in the spring, and seeing the pictures of the places Nina had lived in for so long, was very emotional. I was able to send some pictures of Nina with Julie, and in one of Julie's photos it shows the orphanage staff looking at Nina's pictures. Talk about a Mama being a total mess!! It's so easy to forget how very different her life had been until a year ago.

I really believe that she loves being here. For the most part, anyway :-).
She still LOVES to color, but boy is she a perfectionist! She can have a complete meltdown over a little rip in a piece of paper, or a unwanted scribble on her picture. She is very impatient with herself, and if she doesn't succeed right away, she'll throw a fit and completely destroy the object of her desire. She does a great job playing games and taking turns, and she really likes to help, and I can always count on her doing little chores if I ask her to.

She is very much a girly-girl, and loves anything pretty :-). We're thinking about putting her in ballet lessons in the fall - I think she may enjoy it better than soccer!

We have some mealtime struggles that we are trying to work through (control/power issues), but she continues to like pretty much all foods! We will be going to our favorite chinese restaurant tonight to celebrate her adoption day!

I just found out that she will have a spot in a preschool class in the fall, and I'm very happy about that. It will be at our local center for early intervention, and although she does not need any early intervention services, she will benefit from that environment and the knowledge of the staff there (plus they have THE KILLER playground!!!!!). They were such a lifesaver for me when Alex went through their early intervention program, and I'm looking forward to going back there with Nina. She is very, very excited about going!

She is very torn between wanting to be little, and stay little, and wanting to be big like Anya or Mama. I assure her all the time that she can stay little as long as she wants to, and that seems very comforting to her, but that someday she will want to be big.

Really, over all she is doing wonderfully, and maybe I just need someone to smack me over the head and tell me to get my big girl panties on (Mike thinks I'm way too hard on myself :-) ).I do much better when I focus on the blessings than on the difficult moments, and I DO believe that things will continue to improve. I mean, they are not bad AT ALL, and I feel kind of silly putting it that way, but hey, there you have your honest one year assessment :-))

Updated measurements as of 7/8: Weight: 32 pounds (14.5kg); Height: 40 inches (101.6cm). She has grown 1 1/4 inch in 6 months, and gained 1 pound.

I just love the support of all you blog readers, and you guys mean so much to me. Thanks for letting me share my heart, and not judging me for it (if you do, don't tell me *ha*). Thanks for rejoicing with us, and praying with us, and being on this journey with us.....

One year ago.....

One year ago we met a little girl whom we had only known from a picture.

A little girl who needed a Mama and a Daddy just as much as they needed her.

Because the dream of her had been there for many, many years -

and the yearning of a mother's heart had steadily drawn her closer.

Because the fire of compassion of the Allmighty had sparked the same in a Father's heart -

and he allowed that fire to carry him to the other side of the world.

The new beginning was also an end.

The joy tightly interwoven with sadness.

The certainty of a new family laced with the uncertainty about her new life.

She did not want to let them in.

Just a little - maybe.

The tears of saying goodbye still stung in her eyes.

But she took the chance, and opened up to the life that had been placed in her little hands.

A different life.

Brothers.

A sister.

A place to belong. Forever.

And she made room in her heart, and started to love and to grow.

She was home.