Several Months....Catching Up

I've been so lame about blogging lately that I thought I'd just catch you up by photos of the last several months. I hope you enjoy!

Summer camping trip.





















BONDING!!! (A.K.A. getting into face paints w/o permission.)
















Madi made the competition soccer team!



















New hairdos for the three youngest. First time I have taken them to a salon.





We had Lilly sealed to us in the Salt Lake temple in August. She is now officially part of our "forever family"! It was a rainy, windy, wet day...so not many pictures.

Madi's birthmom and grandparents came for a visit. It was so fun showing them around!

First day of school! (They chose to wear matching outfits. They did this for about the first week of school. I guess it got old after that.)

Sierra and Savannah joined a soccer team. Lilly has chosen swim lessons beginning in November.

What Does Drdl Spell?

Lilly is in Kindergarten now and loving it!!! She is learning that letters have sounds and sounds make words. The other day she showed Steve the word she had made.....drdl.

Steve looked and looked and couldn't figure out what it said. So he asked her what it spells. She said "durdle" in her still to be heard Ghanaian accent....in case you're still wondering what it spells, it spells turtle.

Another funny story. She came home the other day and was so excited to tell me that she got to move her clip to orange, her favorite color. I didn't understand what her clip was. Madi heard her though and told me that each classroom has clips with each child's name on it. If you do something wrong, you get a warning and move your clip to yellow. A second warning means you move your clip to orange and you miss recess. The third warning, you move your clip to red and you have to go to another classroom for "think time".

So, Lilly was so proud that she got her clip to her favorite color! I asked her what she was doing to move her clip to yellow. She was talking really loudly in the hallway on the way to the library. The second warning was because she wasn't listening to the teacher in class, she was talking to her friend instead. So, she understands why she moves the clip, but it just doesn't serve as a determent because she just loves orange.

Does the Dentist Cut Hair?

I caught Sierra talking on her pretend cell phone yesterday. She was talking to Daddy. She said, "Mom is making me clean my room and it's just horrible. Maybe you should take Mommy to the dentist and cut off all her hair if she doesn't be nice and buy me a treat."

What can I say? It had definitely been a rough day. She spilled nail polish all over the carpet and then refused to clean up her room even with my help. She is a strong-minded one!
...counting the days until preschool starts....three hours per day, four days per week....(just maybe I'll have more time to blog).

Summer Fun #2

Forgot the camera...no pictures...again. But we had a good time. We went to a new park near Steve's parents' home, then met up with Steve for lunch. After lunch, we went to the Salt Lake City library. This place is so cool.

The kids loved riding the elevator, even Madi who hates them rode it 3 or 4 times. It is a glass elevator with 6 levels. The children's section has its own floor. The kids really liked the attic and cave where they enjoyed playing hide-and-seek and listening to me read stories.

There is a door that leads outside from the children's section where there is a waterfall. They enjoyed feeling the water with their hands and feet. We also walked to the roof of the library from the bottom. There is a curved wall (shown below) with steps leading to the roof. There is a garden and benches at the top with beautiful views of downtown Salt Lake.

Total cost for the day was $12 for lunch, $2.50 for parking. FUN DAY!!!

Cindy's Wedding

Steve's parents are now officially empty-nesters. The last of Steve's siblings got married. Congratulations Cindy and Justin!

(Of course, our girls are thrilled to have a new uncle.)

The girls were counting down the days until they could wear their pretty dresses, except Sierra, who would have preferred wearing a tie like Dad.

To Throw a Tooth...or Money

Lilly lost 2 teeth in 3 days. She told us in Ghana, they throw the tooth on the roof. We told her in America, the Tooth Fairy comes and takes the tooth and leaves money in its place. Any guess which she wanted to do? ....SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!

She didn't understand what in the heck the Tooth Fairy wanted her teeth for. Madison told her that she builds tooth castles with them. She seemed OK with that. (Doesn't she look adorable with her "long, flowing" braids? She loves them!!!)

Congratulations Madi!!!

I have to be a mom and brag a bit about Madison. She scored in the top 10% nationally on the Iowa Tests in Math, Science and Total Composition. She is such a good student and loves learning. She never needs me to tell her to do her homework....she just does it on her own. She is very self-motivated and driven to learn.

She also just made a competition soccer team. She has been playing recreational soccer since she was 4 and just loves it. We are happy for her. She will get better coaching on a comp team and I think she will really be able to improve her skills. The competition league held a soccer clinic where the coaches could watch the girls who were interested in the team run through some drills, then the team coach attended one of Madi's rec games to watch her play. He said he liked what he saw and wants her on his team. Practices start in July.

Congratulations Madi! We are proud of your accomplishments!!!