- School got out. We did stuff. Weekly activities at the library, art classes, piano, gymnastics, early Saturday morning family/friend soccer games, hikes at Makoshika, day trips to Billings, a rained-out trip to the Medora musical (musical-less, thanks to the deluge), reading, snow cone snacks, baking... This was probably the most scheduled summer we've had in years. And I liked it. I think I can count on two hands the number of times the B-word was uttered by a child. (No, not that B-word, "bored.")
- I dislocated my shoulder at the end of July while playing soccer with a bunch of little kids. I'm not proud. I'm also not healed. I start PT this week and may have surgery on the horizon. Pray that I won't have to go there.
- We came up with a name for YunLi: Zinnia Joyce YunLi. Joyce was my great-aunt's name, and Zinnia is a name we both love.
- Our dossier was logged in in China on August 19th, and our agency is giving us a loose prediction of December or January travel.
- Joshua was just transferred back to one of his old areas and gets to spend the last 5 weeks of his mission NOT being an assistant. He's very excited about that. WE are very excited that we get to pick him up a few days early and our entire family will get to go to General Conference together. Super awesome!
- We went to the county fair just before school started and Maizie and Sofie became zipper initiates. There's no way I would have gone on the zipper at their age. I scream like a baby (and might even utter a few choice words in my terror) even now.
- We're homeschooling Maizie and Sofie and the rest of the kids are in public school. The first week is done, and things went great, but this is the week that all the after-school activities start up. Ugh.
- Our sweet Poppy (our corgi) passed away unexpectedly from a suspected brain tumor. We miss her terribly, but we have a new little "Augi" (corgi/mini Aussie mix) named Rocket who is lots of fun. We also have a yet-to-be name sheltie puppy coming in early October.
- I got a job. It's not much of a job, but I'll be spending this school year supervising the two new school district speech pathologists. It's a whopping 2.5 hours per week, but it will help with our adoption expenses.
- I've been busy applying to college for Joshua. He's already been accepted to BYU-Idaho, but he's holding out for BYU-Provo. We're all crossing our fingers.
Those are the major points, except for lots more cruddy things that happened, that I'd rather not revisit. ;)
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| Ready for the dance recital |
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| Cool photo that Joshua and the other assistant took in Milwaukee |
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| Running through the sprinklers |
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| Sofie's 11th birthday |
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| At Elitch Gardens in Denver |
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| Weird Uncle Jay... |
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| With the fam for my niece's baptism |
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| 4th of July parade - gymnastics kids (Thalia's in the blue leo) |
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| More parade pics (Cora and Jack) |
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| And still more parade pics (Maizie and Sofie) |
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| Jonah subbed as a drummer for the Catholic school marching band. Doesn't he look thrilled to be wearing that hat? |
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| Dancing at the 4th of July concert |
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| Zoe, in a rare face-showing shot. Isn't she lovely? |
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| Jonah drumming in his uncle's band |
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| At the library after an activity. Sitting on Rodys and thinking of Grandma Thorley. ;) |
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| A birthday surprise for me! |
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| Jonah, master piggy-back giver |
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| Hiking at Makoshika |
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| Hanging out with two of my sisters (I'm on the right) |
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| spousie-selfie |
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| Makoshika again |
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| Saying goodbye to our beloved Poppy - truly the best dog who ever was. <3 |
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| And saying hello to our little Rocket (right) |
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| Beck's 8th birthday |
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| Beck and Jack at their British soccer camp |
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| Ethan and Jonah's 16th birthday |
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| Joshua (blue guy in the middle) and the other mini-golf crazed elders |
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| Our authenticated dossier! |
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| Celebrating Joshua's 21st birthday without him ;) |
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| Our little sheltie puppy. She is as of yet nameless and will be joining us in early October. |
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| At the fair - our last hurrah of summer |
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| All but the two on either end are ours. ;) |
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| Torturing new missionaries |
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| Thalia getting her baptism lessons |
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| First day of school for Maizie and Sofie |
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| New picture of YunLi/Zinnia! |
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| First day of school for Lily, Cora, Thalia, Jackson and Beck |
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| First day of school for the rest of the teens (Lily - right - started the day before) |
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| Bountiful Baskets haul, with a photo bomber |
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| Rocket's getting bigger! |
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| Joshua (2nd from right) before leaving for his last area |
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| Another new picture of sweet Zinnia. Isn't she so cute?! |
Loved all the pictures! I didn't know about your job, but it sounds perfect - not enough to make the rest of life overwhelming, but still enough to put a little dent in the adoption budget. :)
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