End of summer wedding

This isn’t adoption-related, but it was an event that was a big part of our summer.  My cousin and his fiance were getting married at the end of August, and they asked us if Zoe could be one of their two flower girls.  We were very excited to say yes, but I reminded them of her age and that I didn’t know if she would actually be okay with walking down the aisle on the big day.  They were okay with that.  So we had a day of dress shopping, a shower, and a rehearsal all before the wedding day. 

And then the official day came along and everything went so well…

Outside of the chapel…

My sisters looked beautiful…I look like I’m sleeping standing up…

…as did, of course, the bride and groom!  (I’m not including pics of the other children that were in the wedding, but they were adorable.)

One of my cousins walking with one of my newest cousins…

More cousins!

My mom and dad got out on the dance floor a bit, and Zoe encouraged everyone there to do the same!  She literally went up to  people she didn’t know and tried to get them out there to dance.

It was a beautiful day…so happy for Allan and Glenda and all of their children.  We were so happy to be included.

The last week of August? Already?

My last post is dated July 16th.  How is that even possible?  I can’t believe it’s pretty much been a month and  a half since the last time I wrote.

We are all doing well.  It’s been one of those months (summers?) where it was just a blur.  Right after our trip to the lake around the 4th of July, Zoe started swimming lessons.  She was so brave – jumped in the pool (shallow end and deep end), swam across the pool with the help of a lifejacket and a pool noodle, went down the water slide, and jumped off the diving board multiple times.  It’s amazing how much they learn in such a short amount of time. 

We had many get togethers with  friends – trips to the park, bowling, swimming, hanging out at each others’ houses.  We were beyond busy.

We had a big trip out to the East Coast in the middle of August.  We visited family and friends and hopped from one house to the next.  Zoe was an amazing traveler.  I loved watching her interact with her cousins, her aunt and uncle, her grandma (Mom-Mom) and her two great-grandmothers.  I loved seeing her playing with our friends’ kids, too.  She was so sweet with all of them. 

Portraits taken with the cousins, lunches out, barbeques, playtime in a bouncy house, a trip to the zoo and a splash park…

Super hero mini golf…I mean, really…Who doesn’t wear their cape to the golf course?!?

Mini pedicure with her Mom-Mom…(she’s making such a goofy face…)

A trip to the bowling alley with our friends…love this picture

And an amazing day at the sculpture garden…

This one (below) took my breath away…I’ve always loved the Monet painting that it is based on…

Making music with friends…

A family picture of our friends on the Japanese bridge…

And in classic Zoe style…a family picture of us, too.

After 9 days, we returned home and had a house guest and a wedding to prepare for - I’ll have more to share soon…sorry it has been so so long.

Loving open adoption!

Back in June, we had a great visit with Zoe’s birthmom, Z.  You can read about it here:   A Visit with her Birthmom.  We hadn’t seen her since late September.  We also hadn’t seen Z’s family since January because they moved out of state.  They happened to be here on vacation, so we were able to get together with them today at the zoo. 

I am guessing that most of the country is having the same heat wave that we are having this week.  Wow, it was quite a lot to handle.  But we all had a great time walking around and talking about what has been going on with each other.  New jobs, new homes, kids getting bigger…it was really nice to catch up.  Zoe had a lot of fun with her birth grand parents and one of her birth uncles.  They bought her a little water toy that sprayed water, and she was very happy to get everyone wet!  (Not that we minded, that’s for sure.)  We are hoping to see them again sometime soon!

I love that we were able to make a visit happen today.  We miss them a lot, just like we miss Zoe’s birth mom. 

4th of July at the lake

When I was growing up, we used to drive about 3 hours away to get to my grandparents’ house.  They lived on a lake, and we spent a lot of time there every summer.  My sisters and I would spend hours swimming and looking for rocks that we could skip.  We would see how far we could swim out until we couldn’t touch bottom anymore.  My dad would take us all out for boat rides, and we would go tubing or waterskiing behind the boat.   I can remember walking up the hill to Hunts’ drugstore with my change in my pocket; I couldn’t wait to buy candy or magazines.  We would go putt-putt golfing and go to the waterslide.  We went strawberry picking (or raspberries) with my grandma, and we would beg our parents to stop at Zubler’s and the Rocking Chair Gift Shoppe for souvenirs. 

My parents and my aunt uncle own my grandparents’ home now.  We were lucky enough to go up this past week and spend some time on the lake with my parents, my sister, Janice, and my cousin, and his friends.  It was pretty amazing to see the lake that I loved as a child through Zoe’s eyes. 

 

Heading out for a fishing trip…

Fourth of July and s’mores kind of go hand-in-hand for me, but apparently not for Zoe.  She was not a fan.  Oh well. 

Campfire, fireworks, and sparklers…the perfect night!  I think Zoe was super excited to stay up past 8:00 pm, too!  She got to stay up with the big kids.

Zoe’s favorite part of the trip?  Riding on her grandparents’ boat…and trying to help with the driving!  I could really see how much she loved it all when she was out on the lake. 

What have you been up to this summer?

This past Friday was Steve’s follow-up appointment to check on his progress since the open-heart surgery he had done just a bit over two years ago.  We are still waiting to hear news back about his test result, but the visit in the office went really well.  They are very happy with how he’s doing; so are we!  I feel so thankful and grateful that he did so well when he had the surgery done and that he’s doing so great today!

Adoption-related news…I just finished working on a project that is going to be part of Zoe’s birth mom’s birthday gift.  I will post a picture soon; I just want to wait until after she receives it in the mail.  Other adoption news…we applied for the Cade Foundation’s Family Building Grant.  I had heard it about online and had also heard that they hadn’t had many people apply who were adopting.  The grant is given to couples who are doing infertility treatments or adopting.  We won’t know if we received the grant until sometime in the fall. 

(a picture Zoe drew of her birth mom…we’re sending it to her soon.  By the way, that’s an eyebrow – just one – with eyelashes above her eye!)

Other than that, we have been keeping busy.  We’ve been doing some things with our neighbors, going to the pool, checking on our garden, and playing in the backyard.  We found a new place (new to us and relatively new to the area) for Zoe to play – Detroit Kid City.  It was a lot of fun to watch her run back and forth between their post office, bank, recording studio, diner and a few other little places.  We had so much fun there the day of Steve’s doctor appointment that we went back yesterday so we could take some friends with us. 

(planting a garden, just like ours at home…)

(our first peppers…I was just a bit excited!!)

(Hoping we get some strawberries, too!)

(Someone loves to be in the water.  I love watching her go up to other kids and talk to them at the pool.  She’s so interested in meeting them and talking to them.)

What fun things have you been doing this summer?  Anything on your summer ‘bucket’ list?