Reni Got "Inked"

Monday night was our monthly adoptive families fellowship and it's always a highlight to spend time with these friends!  The adults meet upstairs and the kids play downstairs.  I'm guessing that the quiet, 'good' little boy didn't attract the sitter's attention. When it was all over we quickly discovered that Reni had somehow, somewhere, found a marker and thought his body would make an acceptable canvas for lack of paper.  You can hear his description of what he drew in the video below:

Digging Out: July 4th

July was so crazy with packing up, relocating, and traveling out of town nearly 2 weeks of the month.  A few folders of images never were shared here.   We love our little town of Wilmore and not the least of the many bonuses about living where we did was having front row seats to the start of the 4th of July parade route .... where you can catch mega amounts of loot, as our kids quickly discovered, while we frantically kept pulling them back off the street.  We were joined that morning by our friend Meredith who helped us bubble wrap a ridiculous amount of framed wall art we had somehow collected.

Reni figured out quite quickly that the more you waved at people, the more candy was thrown at you.

We went back to packing boxes after the parade concluded, then took another break after supper to tailgate and watch the fireworks at RJ's...

Of course, fireworks are a fun time to play with one's camera.  In between shushing my shrieking children.  They had a blast.

Ahhhh.... Summer

Today we take a break from the posts on packing, moving, transition, garage sales, and goodbyes and remember a wonderful 2 and a half days in July with the Waggoner family at Dale Hollow Lake.  It was refreshment just when we needed it.  I have so many pictures not yet published from July but couldn't not post these here.  I ratcheted up the saturation on these 'cause, well, that's what summer pics on the water call for!  These were almost exclusively shot on my 35 1.4 lens.

We arrived on a HOT Sunday evening.  The water was beckoning us!  This was our first time to Dale Hollow and I think we became fans!  I know you out-of-staters might mock Kentucky, and that's alright.  That just means more of this prettiness to ourselves!

We had 10 kids under the age of 11.  Yep.  Our two, Steve & Rachel's 5 plus their 3 foster kids.  It was fun and lively!  Our kids had a blast!  (Below)  Anxious to hit the water!!!

 (Below)  Riding the pontoon boat out to a cove for some swimming.  Or more accurately, lazy floating on a noodle.

 The pontoon had a sliding board, which was fun, but wouldn't it be more fun to just jump off the top?

One evening while the first crew took off to go start supper, Uncle Steve, Aunt Rebecca and Aunt Cydil stayed with the kids on the pontoon.  I thought an easy way to work my way up to super-cool-aunt status (or at least work my way up a little) would be to take jumping pics off the side of the boat that we could watch later that evening on TV.  Envision me hanging off the side of the boat, holding a pole with one arm and camera in the other.  So much fun.  I wish I could share more!

 Then... YUM!

 Couldn't resist including these images of Ellie.  Her eyes have always captured me, from the first day I met her.

You can't tell from this angle, but they're sitting on a small island in the middle of the lake.  Ellie has to go potty.  I'm holding a camera on a boat that Nathan is desperately trying to keep from getting swept into rocks.  I'm shooting, shooting, shooting and shouting directions. It's amazing as many of them are looking at me as there are!  They were good sports to humor me when I requested this pic after lunch!  (Image below shot on the 70-200mm)

 (Above) the girls are trying to teach Reni how to hold up three fingers for his approaching birthday.  Ellie and Elisha were buddies throughout the weekend.  (Below)  It's the morning to leave. I think you can see the effects of two full days in the sun and water.

Thanks for the memories!!!

Okay, off to work on our newsletter!  Enjoy these last few days of summer!

Garage Sale

We're having an online garage sale for one week only!!! Spread the word to your Central KY friends (esp if they have an interest in photo-related stuff!) as most of the items are large/bulky/and/or heavy...(though a few items can be shipped).  Click here to see the items!http://onlinegaragesalewilmore.blogspot.com/   Yes, I can make blogger work for me in a VARIETY of ways!

An Apple a Day...

... keeps the doctor away.  Unless it's time for your annual check-up!  Nice mommy that I am, I scheduled Reni's check-up on his birthday.  I could give captions, but I think these photos speak for themselves.  As much as Ellie works herself up when it's her turn, she rather enjoyed accompanying her brother.  We are going to miss seeing our friends at A Caring Touch Pediatrics!  We don't take for granted a staff that really cares for our kids!

Happy Birthday, Reni Boy!

I think birthdays take on a different slant when you are the parent.  There is a gratitude for life I don't remember feeling celebrating my own birthdays.  Perhaps it has something to do with being an adoptive parent.  I don't know.  Regardless, there's no denying the gratitude in our hearts for the gift of having this little boy in our lives.  Reni brings such joy, a zest for life, a sparkle to each day, as well as a warmth from the love and affection he shares with us.

There's so many residual gifts that we get having Reni in our family that I never anticipated.  Seeing how he touches those around him makes us proud to be his parents, whether it be through his amazing smile, displays of determination, or speedy little run across a room.

(off topic: isn't Ellie beautiful here?)

As the weeks rolled by leading up to his birthday, we asked Reni what he wanted on his birthday cake.  (Imagine this delivered with a 2-year-old lisp) he'd say with gusto, "Race cars and baseballs!!!"  We quickly realized that he was referring to the popular baseball cake sold in the Sam's Club bakery (the kids always request to see the cakes, go figure!)

I know this post is about Reni, but I absolutely couldn't resist this image. If I knew how to do it, I'd make it my phone's wall paper. I love my family.  We're blessed.

It's getting harder and harder to get that good 'smile' shot of our boy, but by the end of the evening, I got close enough. He's gonna kill me when he's 13.