First 4th of July

Andrew on his Like a Bike.

Kathlena's first go-cart ride. She liked it except for the
grasshoppers pelting her as they rode. In this pic. they are
studying one that hung on!

J.Michael catching up on his Wii skills.

Twin baby goats born today.

Andrew holding one of the newborns. He loved their soft
fur. Kathlena was climbing out of the back at first then she
eventually touched its tail and giggled.

Yellow watermelon...first time to try it and he loved it.

Thank you cousin Clint...it was a hit!

Kathlena taking out the trash. This girl loves to clean up!
She is a great little helper.

First Go-cart ride with Dad

bouncy slide

Kathlena liked the box...of course!

Playing Golf with Daddy

Oops! still working on the potty training...the green just
got a little greener!




Well Andrew and Kathlena had a great first 4th of July. They loved the fireworks...Andrew would say "more, more". They both did well on their first road trip since they have been home with us. Andrew thought we were going by plane at first but he enjoys car rides as he gets to see so many new things. We took the country route through Bryan, TX heading to Hillsboro, Tx where my parents live. We all had a fun time playing golf, go-cart riding, wii, grilling, petting goats and visiting with family.

Andrew and Kathlena got to meet their extended family that has been watching and loving them through this blog. It was so great to hear the stories from family of them following our journey through the blog. Some even waiting 2hrs for video to load on their computer but said it was worth every minute. Wow! we are so grateful and blessed to have such a big family and humbled by your prayers and love for our whole family. Andrew and Kathlena have lots of great aunts and uncles, 2nd and 3rd cousins, and a great grandmother too. I know one thing is for sure they knew that all of these people were very excited to see them!

PawPaw and Grandmommie Visit

PawPaw and Kathlena playing with leaves.





Andrew working hard learning to shoot a bow
like his big brother and Daddy.

Andrew "teaching" Grandmommie how to hold
the bow and arrow to shoot it.

Kathlena stuck pretty close to PawPaw.

Everybody on the trampoline!




We had a great weekend with grandparents visiting. Andrew and Kathlena got to spend some time getting to know David's parents. I am again reminded that it seems like Andrew and Kathlena have always been with us. They both just adore their PawPaw and Grandmommie and we are so thankful to have two sets of loving grandparents who are so accepting and supportive of our adoption.

This was the first time that PawPaw and Grandmommie have really had a chance to see Andrew and Kathlena one on one with us. Andrew was born on PawPaw's birthday and also seems to be left handed like his PawPaw. It was a great time for them to see their little personalities and begin building grandparent relationships. I know it has been hard for grandparents being so far away and not able to stop by to see them, but we are seeing so much progress with both of them attaching to their new home and family. How grateful we are to our families understanding that this process is different and loving us enough to patiently help us through this season of the process too. Much grace has abounded for us all during this process and the Lord is faithful to continue to give us the grace to persevere and trust Him with everyday.

Thanks again Emily for capturing these memories on film err...pixels for us.

Lucy, eat your worm!!

Andrew and Kathlena love Lucy the Leopard Gecko. They love to feed her mealworms and touch her soft velvety skin. Kathlena is still a little skittish around her, but gets braver with each encounter as you can see from the video. So fun to see them experience all of these new adventures.

Yes, Lucy is named after the Lucy from I love Lucy. J.Michael and Emily had just discovered the I love Lucy shows when we got the Leopard Gecko.

Kathlena's Neurology Dr. Visit

I am happy to report that all went well today with Kathlena's appt. The doc concurred with us that we should proceed with opthamology first; that her neck issues are likely related to her vision and we should treat that first then, see how her neck responds. The dr. was super nice and even gave us paperwork for a CAT scan should the opthamologist think her neck issue is not due to vision then, we could go ahead and schedule her appt. for a CAT scan without having to come back to see him first.

Kathlena did so well even "helping" the dr. as he was examining her. Poor thing she has had so many dr.'s look at her in her little lifetime she knows the drill and even tries to "help out".

Just this week she has really started to talk more. She will pat herself on the chest and say "Yeena" or point to something and say "Yeena's" She points to each of us and says our names. It is so cute. I cannot believe it has been a little over a month since she heard her new name for the first time and already has "attached" to it as her own name.

Another new thing this week has been the recognition of ownership of things. Thus the statement "Yeena's" she is starting to catch onto the idea that she has "things". Although, while in Target she points to things and says this but, in the usual 3yr old manner of I want that to be mine. :)

She is such an amazing little girl...she just gets cuter every day!

My Kombucha Buddies and their new trikes

Andrew got a new trike this week from one of our favorite places--Harbor Freight. He is really doing well on it. So, good for him to use those large muscle groups and build them up! As a side note according to our scale he has gained 4 lbs in a month. I knew he looked thicker in his neck and face...wow! that is 10% of his body weight gained. Andrew in the video below has taken to riding laps around the house for Kombucha. He loves this stuff! Funny since it originates from the Ural mountains of Russia.

Kathlena loves Kombucha too but it is more of a I like it but I don't relationship. Kind of like Andrew with salsa...he loves the salsa but it is hot so he keeps eating it while he drinks a gallon of water to keep going. Well, Kathlena drinks Kombucha then makes the "ahhhhhh it burns face" then asks for more. She is not quite as committed as Andrew though as she prefers to sip hers in the swing instead of riding her trike for laps. They were both quite excited about getting helmets...we are making Kathlena wear her indoors now. She took a nasty fall into our padded couch and now has a black eye. You will notice in the pictures and video below.

Putting the trike together. J.Michael did most of the work
and Daddy, Andrew and Kathlena help with the seat.

Father and son working together...I love this pic.

Trying it out...first ride.

A little off roading.

He is giving it his all. Andrew is so hardworking.

He likes to go fast.

Giving sister a ride.

She is loving it!



LAPS AROUND the House for Kombucha

Andrew and his dogs

Andrew has really changed his mind about dogs since he has met Charlie and Chase. He absolutely loves them and now he can't get enough of the dogs. Here are some photos Emily took of Andrew with Chase and Charlie.


Hugging Charlie

Charlie is almost 10yrs old. He is a german short-hair

pointer and one of the best dogs for kids.

Charlie is eating up all of this attention.

Charlie getting kisses.

Come on Chase lets get in the pool...just try it!

Chase is really not wanting to go along with the pool idea.

Okay, no pool how about a ride?

Charlie and Andrew "sharing" a popcicle.

Kathlena Phonics

Kathlena has been working on her letters and sounds and she likes to practice them. During blanket time before dinner tonight she saw the steam rising at the stove over a pot of carrots cooking and said "HuhHuhHuhHuh...got!" Which is Kathlena phonics for sounding out the letter "H" but she pronounces "hot" as "got". It was too cute a moment not to record so here is our latest video.

Uncle Steve and family Visit

Uncle Steve(David's middle brother), Aunt Ceci, and Hannah came for a visit this weekend. It was their first time to meet Andrew and Kathlena. Andrew and Kathlena both had been working all week on saying "uncle Steve" and I am happy to report that they both were able to say it to him when he was here. They also were able to say Aunt Cecelia and Hannah too.
Uncle Steve surprised the boys with a hydrogen powered rocket that they launched; J.Michael and Andrew absolutely loved it. Andrew will tell you about it in hand signs quite well. Here he is holding the button and waiting for it to be ready to launch. It is a really cool rocket because while you are waiting for it to be ready to launch it talks to you about Hydrogen. It helps the time go a little faster in between launches (4 mins) and an educational bonus.
Uncle Steve thank you for leaving the Rocket...the boys love it and definitely want to learn how to make more hydrogen fuel for it.



Kathlena likes to get right next to the action to check
things out.

I wasn't fast enough to catch this but Kathlena would go
up to Charlie an grab his tail then run away squealing with
laughter.


Oh! I just missed it again.


Kathlena has become quite brave around the dogs. She
likes Charlie's tail wagging. She thinks it is so funny.

Kathlena is pointing out Charlie's knobby knees.




Kathlena gives good hugs!


Uncle Steve and Andrew