Summer is Upon Us

Well, as you can see I am still struggling to blog regularly, but I'm not giving up. We just celebrated the 4th of July. We had a lot of fun. We went to a new place this year, and it was great. It's sort of off the beaten path, and we liked that the fireworks were far enough away that they weren't right up on us. It was nice not having the loud bangs either. I am not sure if we'll go back to the same spot next year, but it was a nice change of pace from our regular spots.

We have been really busy this summer, and we're only about half way through. :) We have been camping twice. Once we went as a family, and the second time we went with our friends the Radichel's. We had a lot of fun both times that we went. There is a lake where we go camping, and we all had a lot of fun swimming and playing in the water.

Cody did baseball this year. He loved doing it, and we plan to sign him up for Fall Ball. This is his first season with it, but he's learned so much, and he's done a really good job. We've had practice 2 times a week and games in between, so we've definitely been busy. Cody plays with 2 different boys from church, so it has been nice to get to visit with their families while we watch the games. Go Riley, Cody, and Eric!

Carissa and Clark are in gymnastics for the summer. I was planning on having them skip the summer session, but Christy ended up having Sheridan, Cassidy, Kaylee, and Jacob sign up. It's fun that they do it together, but Clark doesn't sit very well in class. To be honest I dread bringing him. Carissa loves it though.

We've also gotten our pool passes, and we've been swimming at the pool a lot. We've gone to the Zoo, and I'm planning a trip to Nauvoo. We'll also be going to Branson at the beginning of August. We're really excited about that. Grandma & Grandpa Berger will be coming along with Kaylee and Jake as well. We're all going to share a house that we've rented out. Wish us luck with all of the kiddos. :)

Well, my last posts had a lot to do with adoption, but right now I don't really have much to say about that subject. Things are kind of on hold. We're still trying to sell our house, so our profile is on hold with the state. We aren't sure if we want to work with the state again anyway. We didn't get a lot of referrals during the year and a half that we worked with them, and the ones we did get we weren't able to be matched with. We were never even up for a staffing. We did have a chance with Baby Jeremiah, which I also posted about. That was through a private agency that the state contracts with though. We'll just see where things lead us once we know if we're moving or not. As for Zoey, I think we've all finally been able to feel at peace about the situation. We'll always have a special place in our hearts for her and her birth family, but it just didn't work out. We wish them all wonderful lives, though, and we're grateful we were able to get to know them and for all that we've learned from the experience.

That's all for now. Hopefully, you'll be hearing from me sooner rather than later.

My bread-making skills have been improving.

Rob and I the night we went to see Wicked together. It was a great show.

Our new baby, Tito.

We went to the Zoo with our friends, the Hansen's.




The older kids & I walked in the Race for the Cure.

Our camping trip.


Cody in his uniform.