Happy 5th Birthday Timmy!

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Today was Timmy's birthday and now he is 5 years old! Here are pictures of him with his cake (brownies) and ice cream-- although he doesn't eat yet, he enjoyed playing in it. ;o) He loved the little Pooh Bear from Grammy and the new Cars PJs. We gave him a monkey puppet because he loves putting socks on his hands... and a small music box that you turn the crank to play "Happy Birthday to You".

Four of our kids have birthdays in July so you'll see more in upcoming posts!

The 4th of July 2008

Independence Day 2008! Mike and Gabe spent time working on our deck and in the garden. We enjoyed time with family and friends at Matt & Charma's house where they treated us with shishkebabs like those made in the Philippines!

The other small children pictured are our grandchildren by birth, foster care and adoption, a three-generation tradition. Those that you see besides Joel, Tim and Ella are Janina and Marty's children; Janina is in a red shirt, Marty is standing in the pool. We are truly blessed by each child!

Note the typical scenery in the background of the pool photos: corn fields.

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Note Timmy's G-button and the scars from our little boys' heart/abdominal surgeries. This is for the benefit of any of my readers who may be considering adopting a child that faces these challenges. You can do it!!!

Little blessings

One of the best blessings of having adopted more than one little child with Down syndrome is seeing them help each other learn. Granted, sometimes they argue like any other siblings, but there you go-- they are siblings!

For instance, sometimes Tim will be afraid to come down the stairs by himself and will stand at the top and yell. Joel goes upstairs and helps his younger brother by the hand, showing him to hold the railing with the other hand. When they get to the bottom Joel announces, "Look Mama! Timmy did it!"

The boys love each other and always look for the other when one of them gets home from school or day camp. And if one is crying, the other goes to his brother and gives him a hug. I can't think of anything better in this life for the positive development of a child than the love of a sibling... and the love of a forever family.

Photos from trip

Souvenirs

We're home, Lora's home, what a weekend! After traveling all night with no sleep and spending lots of time with a cute and busy little girl and her dear family, and then traveling all night again and meeting Lora (who had also traveled all night) at the airport, we're all very tired. But... we're possibly going to see "Wall-e" tonight with the kids.

Here's Timmy wearing Lora's souvenir from Taiwan. My souvenirs are mostly photographs, too many to share now but I may share a few later.

Mike and I enjoyed our anniversary and DID eat clam chowder in bread bowls as well as ice cream on the bay. We saw a lot of beautiful sights and it's good to be home!

31 years

We're taking a little trip this weekend to celebrate our wedding anniversary! I hope our grown-up kids will take good care of their little siblings and that the ward will be fine for several days without the bishop . ;o) Our anniversary is the same day as my dad's birthday, so Happy Birthday Dad! We'll eat some ice cream on the bay to celebrate you!

Lora, we should arrive back at the airport an hour and a half before your arrival. Keep your cell phone handy!
Love,
Mama

Summer Camp

We always get to "sleep in" in the mornings for about two weeks after school lets out for the summer (which means we try to sleep in but the kids still get up and wake us up at the regular time ;o)... and then Camp begins, Monday through Thursday, lasting until about two weeks before school starts again. This is Joel's third summer riding the bus to day camp for kids with disabilities. He gets to swim twice a week and goes on field trips every Wednesday. He loves it!

But here's the neatest thing about Camp this year! Our daughter Mikelle ("Kelly") is a counselor there! We're really happy about that. Although she says she won't get to be Joel's counselor this year, she's there and can give the others some tips if they need help with him. And Joel thinks it's great that he gets to see his sister there at camp. He's missed her since she grew up and moved away.

We went to the Open House for the families last night and Joel was pleased to show off for us and get hugged by his camp counselors. We brought Timmy and Ella with us to meet the camp staff. Tim and Ella enjoyed running around in the gym and playing outside chasing bubbles. Ella hardly slowed down in the gym and each time she nearly caught up with a ball her foot would kick it and it'd scoot on ahead of her again. Too funny! She kept going for a long time until finally she laid down on her belly to rest, with her arms and legs stretched out and we knew it was time to go home.

And speaking of Camp, our daughter Robin is at Girl's Camp this week as a counselor for the younger girls. This is an overnight church camp, complete with singing around the campfire and all of the typical fun of camping out! I hope Robin's having lots of fun and not getting too many mosquito bites! Camp always has some great memories and friendships that last and last.