Videos

I mentioned that I had purchased a flip. Our computer is older than the new technology of the flip so it took me a while to have Joseph teach me how to upload. Here are some cute videos of our cutie:

Our adoption blog

I put away the cradle, infant car-seat, and boxes of cloths and supplies that we took to Maine today. They had been behind a sofa in our formal living-room up until now. We stowed them there when we unpacked the van and left them until I felt like I could take care of them. It felt like some closure to the failed adoption. I keep telling myself that we will need to be very ready the next time around and therefore we had to have everything well packed and prepared. Hopefully that is the case.

So...this is the perfect time to launch our new adoption blog. www.countingonmiracles.blogspot.com. It’s not totally done but done enough to put it out there. Please give us your feedback and share it with anyone and everyone that you know.
Be sure to check out the Mine all Mine link to a fabulous song and cute video.

Lots of love to all,
Diane

River rafting

We bought this picture at Dutch Wonderland. We are always suckers for pictures that we are all looking at the camera in.

Where to start

I haven't posted in forever. Mostly because we have been busy chasing Benjamin, having fun, or canning fruits or vegetables, or did I mention chasing Ben? Benjamin has grown a ton this summer. He is talking really well and always has a lot to say. We love hearing what is going on in his little noggin.
Here are some of this summer's highlights:



Ben outgrew his turtle sandbox. (Well, he and is toys.) Joseph spent the better part of one Saturday constructing a new one for him under a tree by the swing-set. He loves it. I am glad that he likes to play there. I can see him from the kitchen window and love to watch him construct.







We joined some dear friends of ours at Enchanted Forest Water Safari. Benjamin loved the rides and playing in the water. We spent the whole day and enjoyed the cooler climate, the pie decorator plates that I picked up at the hardware store, the interaction with friends and an Adirondack Mountain town. I personally think that for water fun the waterpark in Fulton has been the best of the summer and the cheapest. They had the best slide for Ben.





I'm done with peaches. I can't believe it. It's only August 21st. Everything is early this year. I went Blueberring and was able to put up 50lbs of berries. I made pie filling and froze a bunch. I learned that Ben loves blueberries and will eat as many as allowed.


One of the highlights of the summer was this weekend's trip to Dutch Wonderland. It is in Lancaster PA in the heart of Amish country. It is an amusement park specifically for young children. We had a blast! We left Friday morning and arrived at the hotel by 3pm. We wanted to take advantage of the parks' twilight hours. With Saturday's paid admission we were able to go to the park on Friday from 5:30 to 8:30 pm. It was nice because we were able to get a feel for the park, look around, ride on lots of rides without waiting in line etc. Benjamin loved it. His favorites were the bulldozer rides, scooter ride, bumper cars and of course the water park. I loved it too. It is so fun to make Ben happy. Here are some of the pics:









































Last but not least I bought a flip. I love it. We have been recording Benjamin like crazy. I have really enjoyed being able to have some of the funny things he does on film. We have an older camcorder (It's only 6 or 7 years old - but in technology time it's ancient. and the recordings were grainy) My goal today is to weed through the clips and post some that might be entertaining. Stay tuned!

Canning Beans and summer fun

We got 21 pints 10 quarts. Ben is a great helper.









Ben loves playing with his cousins Caleb and Joshua. On Tuesday we went to the farm and played with these crazies. Ben is a climber. He fell off the monkey bars, but still wanted to climb. I am amazed at the way he climbs without fear.






Our other favorite past time is spending time with John in the back yard. Here they are on the slip&slide.
This is becoming a fun summer!

Sugar cookies

My Sister-In-Law alerted me to a wonderful food/recipe site. Ourbestbites.com. It's fabulous. She also tried their sugar cookie recipe and loved and recommended it. Ben and I decided to make them today as it is 96+ degrees outside and we aren't going out until it cools down a tad. All week has been hot and humid...I'm anxious to have this heat wave over. Here is a picture of our creations. We had fun doing them. Ben especially liked the gingerbread men. We'll feed them to the missionaries tonight. My guess is that we won't have many left.

Sensational 4th

We have had a wonderful weekend. That is a nice change compared to the last few weeks. It felt nice. Yesterday we had dinner and watched fireworks with some good friends and today we went to a water-park. Ben had a ball!!!
Thunder Island is about 30 miles from us - not bad - and little kid friendly. The slides were fun for all of us.
I have a terrible sunburn. I forgot that the bathing suit I was wearing has a very open back. I'm feeling thankful for aloe.
I'll post more soon, for now enjoy looking at this cutie pie! He is such a fish, and so brave -he was almost a foot shorter than most of the others on the big slide.
There was a DJ at the park - the music was mixed. He played Ice, Ice, Baby. Joseph and I started fooling around and singing it. Benjamin broke into a rendition of Ice, Ice, Benjamin....He's hilarious!