summer in green county.......

These photos are from a session for friends of mine who asked me to capture their beautiful property in the four seasons.  I just captured summer...and just had to share the beauty!
I really enjoy nature, up close and personal....How I LOVE these!

anti-blog summer

Hey, so I haven't been much for blogging this summer.  Maybe it is because of the death of my Mac laptop....so sad.  And now I sit at a P.C. and don't like it.  Maybe it is because we have been traveling a little here and there.  And when I am not traveling I am chauffering kids here and there!  Maybe it is because the pool is calling our names most days, or my garden...but mostly it is because the little people are calling.  I LOVE summer.  The sun, the flowers in my yard, the water, getting people together by the pool.  I love it. 

There have been life's stressors.  Which is just generally annoying in the summer, right!? The remodel on our boat house has taken on a life of its own.  It has been a major stressor in every way.  And while it will all be worth it, creating this little haven for our family has been a challenge! 

And so I have been away from my blogging, which I do mostly for myself anyway to document our lives as a family.  I don't really intend on having a blog "following" like many, but hope to share with our family and friends that are far away from our everyday lives... and perhaps with a new friends out there.  So, if you are out there, here are some moments from Summer 2010....so far.  In no particular order....because, well, I am just too tired for that!

Cookie Daze in Ripon...all american goodness wrapped up in a day of cookie fun!

A trip to MN for the Van Dusen Mansion Grand opening....and a LOT of fun!

Mom, Tyler, Bekka, Krissy...we had a little too much fun.  ;)

Tessa was baptized.  Godparents Marcie Frehner and Robb Mathia, who both adore her!

Court day!

July 13th...the Green County Courthouse the day the judge signed off on our readoption in the US.  Tessa was already our daughter in the eyes of the Ethiopian courts and now in the the U.S. too. 

It's official...even though our hearts already knew that!

The lake

Boating fun on Lake Kegonsa as we wait for the boat house remodel to be completed.

Days poolside....

Judson's surprise pool party

 (This photo cracks me up)   And then the trampoline photo of Jack jumping in the buck at Uncle Jeff and Aunt Julie's house with his cousin, Jonah.  Gotta love it!

Joe...and the hanging of the bell with Jack.   I can ring my bell and call them all in and the whole neighborhood might hear it!  Joe has been around all summer helping us recover our yard from all the construction and septic system chaos from last summer.  He is a tremendous help to us!

Tessa's first steps!

Tessa started walking!  She loves it! And while I am a little bit sad that she is leaving baby-hood behind, it all means she is doing just fantastic.

I leave you with this image.  Bob meets toad.

I did not include photos of 5 weeks of summer school, adventure club, tot lot, fun-n-sun, baseball for 2 boys, camp invention, playdates with the Leuzingers, and trips to Dairy Queen.  This is just some of our summer in a nutshell.  It is a full life, complicated at times, always busy but I am immensely grateful for all of it...and frankly, don't feel much like blogging...especially without my Mac. boo hoo.

Double Birthday, Double fun!

July 1st, 2001 & July 1, 2009

Judson & Tessa share a birthday!

On this day Judson opened my eyes and heart as a mother.  I became a mother and my life was forever  changed.  I never knew I could love like this.  Happy Birthday my sweet boy, I love you more than words can say.

A world away our sweet girl was born in Hosanna, Ethiopia.  Of course, we didn't know it, but she had been born in our hearts long before.  We knew our daughter was on her way to us, but didn't know how or when it would be.  Tessa entered the world and made her journey to our family. Happy Birthday sweet girl.  You are a dream, you are a joy.  I am forever grateful that God brought you into our family and that I am your Mama forever. I love you forever.

With Tessa's birthday, I am thinking so much of Tessa's first family.  I send love and gratitude out to Tessa's first family for giving her life and bringing her into this world.  How I wish I could share with them how loved, how safe & healthy, and how happy she is....(I suppose that is why I share it with you.  To send it out into the world.)  How I wish I could give them that peace.

And now for birthday photos of the birthday girl in her birthday tutu.  I couldn't help it...

Brace yourself for tutu crazy cuteness!

the end

play!

PLAY it's Monday!...and we don't have to rush out of the house and go to school!  It is summer!  yahoo!

In the spirit of play and the i heart faces challenge, I am posting my boys at play this morning.  The ironic part is the box in which they are playing was from the recent BIG birthday present of a peg pergo yard car!  The box is now being played with and is currently "a paper store" with paper products for all to purchase!  Hope you find some time to play today!
P.S.  That is a little red mail box.  ;)

Taste of summer

Ah....a taste of the summer days ahead.  We love it!

Tessa's first swim....

At last outside, sunny days by the pool, playing with friends, and dilly bars poolside.

Summers days come to an end

The last weekend of summer was spent in Minnesota.  Our very special Nana just celebrated her 60th birthday with lots of surprises (Pops provided his own).  Our surprise was to show up at her house when she came home from work on a Wednesday.  She never expected that!  The kids were so excited for that garage door to open!  It was fun to be with Nana and the family on her birthday.  We miss so many  birthday celebrations with that side of the family being so far away.  Nana thought her birthday celebration was over, but we surprised her again.  Pops offered to take the boys all day Saturday so I was able to set it up for Barb and Cori to come with us for a day at the spa.  ahhhhhhhh.  It was a wonderful day.

The end of summer in MN means the MN State Fair.  So, Pops helped me take the boys and their cousin, Grace there for a couple hours.  We hit some rides and of course ate our favorites: mini-donuts, corn on the cob, corn dogs.  Yummy.  I even let the kids have cotton candy!  What a treat!

           Dad and I stopped over by the old, old house at 1079 Ingerson in Shoreview to take a photo by the tree we have planted together.  This was also the first home to me and my brother and sister.  Sadly, the tree had been taken down earlier in the summer after it spilt.  Well, it did have a nice long life of over 30 years!

We arrived home to the construction....major construction.  The septic system is being installed, which means at least 4 trucks ripping up my backyard.  Yes, totally ripping up my entire back yard.  The electrician, security guy, and house painter was here power washing the house.  And of course the contractor was working on the garage.  It was chaotic!  Ugh.  The garage project is looking great.  Boy, I sure will appreciate having an attached garage and art studio upstairs!  

The first day of school tomorrow....for all the boys!  A big day.  More to come....

Into August...

Today we made the trek to Milwaukee to be finger-printed....AGAIN....at the Homeland Security office.  They will expire soon and since the process is taking longer than anticipated we need to have them current to bring our sweet Tirunesh home.  Today we also received an update on her height and weight.  It looks like she is growing just fine.  She is still small for her age in weight.  It is bitter sweet to receive these updates.  I want sooo badly to know more about our sweet girl and while I am grateful for an update on her height and weight, I am sooo anxious to know more! What are T's favorite toys? what makes her smile and giggle?  What are her favorite foods?  What soothes her when she is upset?  I could go on and on.  This process is beautiful in so many way, but is also incredibly frustrating.  It is so frustrating that our daughter is a world away and we can't find anyway to get to her any sooner.  It is so frustrating that we have to wait for the entities in Ethiopia....the court closing in August means another month added to our wait.  It is all so very frustrating.  There isn't anything anyone can say or do.  I so appreciate people just witnessing it with me.  Sitting with me in the frustration and pushing me into the future of hope.  So, on that note, I leave with photos of the boys and their cousins on the beach from our wonderful visit to Minnesota.  Next year T you will be there too.

Really? 14 months!

Really...it has been 14 months of official waiting.  And as I think about it I realize it has now been 2 years since we officially started this process.  Wow.  I am so glad we had the foresight to start when we did.  Jack was such a peanut (9months) when we started, but I remember thinking that it would make for a good age difference between he and our daughter.  I do think that is still true, but the wait is wearing on me.  Some days I do really well with distracting myself.  And for a while I wasn't on edge about it, knowing it wasn't time.  Then last week with all this talk about the upcoming court closure, my mind is on things much more.  I really feel like we are incredibly close so whenever the phone rings my heart skips a beat.   The other day the pediatric office called and said "Is Jennifer there?".  I responded with a very excited, "Yes, this is!".  She must have thought I sounded like a nut, because then she said "This is Katie from Pediatrics...Drew's culture was negative".  Oh.  Anyway, that is what it has been like lately.

The agency is hopeful that anyone who receives a referral by the end of this week will pass court in Ethiopia before the court closure.  Our specialist has said "You are soooooooo clost.  We just need a bunch of referrals.  It is going to be a close one."  AHHHH!!!!   So, now I need to work on accepting, once again, my lack of control in this process.  It is very likely we will hit the court closure and have an extra 2 months added to our wait to travel to our daughter.  Now I am focusing on just receiving the referral and all that that means:  we will know who our daughter is, we will be able to see her photo, we will know her health and social history, we will know she is safe and being cared for at the care center, we will KNOW....   I will hang on and hope that the next blog post is "the post"!!

Here are some recent photos of us enjoying the lake.  As you can see, we will need to find a new name for the boat!  Next summer for sure!

Summer time fun at the pool!

 The boys have had ALOT of pool time this summer, but this week we ventured to the recreation park pool so Juddy could show his diving.  Then all the boys went down the slide and Jack had his first afternoon at the "Ducky pool", perfect for his age.   Summer is flying by....and we are having a great time!