Reunion Time...in Iowa

In June we headed to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for our 3rd annual reunion with Ava's China travel group. This year, 8 of the 11 families in our group made it to the reunion. It was a wonderful weekend filled with reminiscing and reconnecting, laughing and playing, and eating and more eating! This was the first time since China that the two boys in our group were able to be there with their families. It was so great to see you again, Ben and Matthew! Hannah was excited that Ben's two older sisters, Grace and Cassidy, were also there.

While in Cedar Rapids, we hung out at the hotel and ate pizza, went swimming, watched a parade, took part in the Freedom Festival, snapped photos of the traditional couch picture, ate Chinese food, played outside, and had a water fight (thanks for supplying the squirt guns, Dave and Janice...sorry you got so wet Dave! Haha). We parted ways after a delicious brunch on Sunday.

Each year the reunions for both Ava's group and Hannah's group are such an important part of our summer. It's always great to see the families in our group, but more importantly it allows our girls to stay connected to an important part of their history in China. We're already looking forward to Hannah's reunion!

Matthew, Ben, Gabbie, Ava, Amy, Allison, Kailey, Lucy

Thanks, Dax and Shelly for a wonderful weekend in Cedar Rapids!

And We're Off...

June was a fun-filled, action-packed month. Some days it felt like we were in a race, so we put on the brakes and tried to slow down. Even so, June flew by.

Leah and Ava...little buddies

When Papa told Ava that he and Nana had never been to Chuck E. Cheese she was shocked and determined to change that. Now Papa and Nana can cross Chuck E. Cheese off of their bucket list. :-)

Megan and Ava

My student Anna came to our house to play...the girls adored her as much as I do. They had so much fun together

Listening to Hannah and Anna read aloud Guess How Much I Love You? together was priceless

Hannah, Chloe, Ava and I chopped a lot of fresh fruit and made a delicious fruit salad

Our nephews on Doug's side of the family, Chris (pictured above) and Justin, both graduated from high school. We enjoyed celebrating their graduations at an open house and family dinner. Way to go Chris and Justin!

Our niece on my side of the family, Taylor, also graduated from high school. Yes, it was a busy year for graduations and open houses. We also enjoyed celebrating with Taylor at her open house. Way to go Taylor!

Daddy and his girls. Happy Father's Day Doug! We love you!

Uncle Phil came through with a tackle box for Hannah, who is determined to do some fishing this summer. Hannah was elated, as you can see! Thanks, Uncle Phil! How about some fishing lessons too?

Ajla and Ava - two of a kind

Papa with four of his grandchildren on Father's Day. We love you, Papa and Dad!

Mark's first Father's Day with Alissa. What a beautiful family!

You wouldn't know from the picture that this is late at night after the tornado siren went off. Our kids thought it was awesome that we got to camp out in the basement storage room. Fortunately, the bad weather blew through without any tornadoes.

After the storms that came through here, Ava thought we needed a little sunshine

Ava has moved on to a big girl bike

Hannah did Heritage Camp again. Here she is with her teacher behind their graham cracker rendition of the Great Wall

Hannah with her pen pal and good buddy Allie from Florida

Hannah and Ava are ready for our camping adventure in South Dakota

Stacy's Visit - Take 2

Some of you may remember that my dear friend Stacy came for a visit last summer (see my post for July 30, 2009). We had such a blast that she came back this year for another ladies getaway. Well, that and she had a voucher from last year that she needed to use. :-) I think it may need to be an annual tradition, although, I'm more than happy to head to NY too. We had a wonderful weekend with our friends Kristin and Sue. Thanks for the laughs ladies. "You know I love you more than my luggage!"

Stacy once again sent an adorable "Thank you" cookie bouquet...that disappeared very quickly! :-)

A Fabulous Finish to First Grade

I find it so hard to believe that Hannah is done with first grade. She had a great year...she played hard, grew in grace, made new friends, learned lots, and loved her teachers. We are sad Hannah's school is closing, but we are grateful that so many staff and students are also moving to the new consolidated school. Thank you OCS for four amazing years!

Hannah's fabulous finish to first grade included a fun-filled field trip (wow...that sentence ended up being a tongue twister...you know how much I love alliteration)! I was thrilled to go on the field trip with Hannah to our local botanical gardens/sculpture park and then to an area park for a picnic. It was a beautiful day!

The first and second grade at OCS performed a rock opera called "Stone Soup" during the final days of school. We scoured second hand stores for a costume and Hannah pieced together what she wanted to wear. The performance was adorable...although, we were all singing "Stone Soup" for weeks. :-) Hannah got to play the cowbell. She was all smiles when she got to play.

Somehow our sweet and sassy seven year old is moving onto second grade. Where did the time go? Here she is on her last day of school. Not sure if you can see, but she chose to wear her zebra headband and shoes for her last day - guess she wanted a wild and wonderful end to first grade. We are so grateful for Hannah's homeroom teacher pictured below. We love you Mrs. K! See you at the new school!

How Many People Does it Take to Hold Alissa?

Sometimes it takes two people

Megan & Brian's Wedding

We had a wonderful time at my cousin Megan's wedding over Memorial Day weekend. The girls stayed overnight with their grandparents and had an equally wonderful time.

I'm back!

Yes, we are still here! :-) I know some of you were starting to wonder if I'd ever post again. Thanks for being patient. Right around the time school was getting out for the summer, we started having computer issues again (yes, I know, it's time to buy a new computer...I just need to convince Doug). We finally have our computer fixed again - I hope! Now I have lots to catch up on. I can't believe it's almost August!? I hope you are all having a wonderful summer!

Blessings,
Sheryl

*I started a few posts awhile back, they are posted below.