Swim pictures....and more

I finally remembered to take the camera to a swim meet. Of course, Emily is sick so I've only got Sarah pictures as Emily spent the morning in the van reading a book. I know that shocks many of you that she was reading! : ) Sarah swam freestyle, breast stroke, and freestyle relay. She placed 3rd in both freestyle and breast and 1st in relay....pretty good considering she was running a temp of 103 three days ago! Anna had fun playing with Polly's while Sarah swam and Lauren went to sleep because, well, that is what she does when she doesn't like being somewhere. Thankfully, Dinora came to get her after 45 minutes so she didn't have to stay the whole meet. Enjoy the pictures. I'll get Emily swimming next time.

Sarah is getting ready to swim freestyle....she gets her serious look going as she waits!



Sarah's start on the relay. She was ready as soon as Madison touched the wall. They won!!



Sarah swimming the relay. They have a really good group of 4 this year.


Anna playing with Polly Pockets while Sarah swims. Is this a cutie-pie or what?


And here are a few more from this week. I was too tired to add them last night. In the first, Lauren is asleep. That girl gets in the weirdest positions sometimes. The second is my sweet girls playing a game with their friends. It was 80 outside and they sat on a blanket and played board games for over an hour and had such a good time together. That made this mama's heart happy. Finally, Anna is playing peek-a-boo around the kitchen cabinets with me. She LOVES this game. It is so much fun to see her growing and learning new things.

Summertime fun!

"Hey Lauren, ya want some of this?"


Anna giving Lauren some good lovin'


My beautiful girl....as we've said before, "That smile is worth a thousand words."


And get a load of this cutie! I love her more every day.


Okay, just a few pictures from our week. I will add more tomorrow after the swim meet. We had a fun week with fun at the pool, in our backyard, and even in the kitchen. Enjoy the pictures. More soon.......

Happy Father's Day

Shawn with his four girls


We've had a nice Father's day so far. After church we went to lunch with friends, then came home for a nap. We may go to the pool this evening or we may just go for ice cream instead! Either way, it will be fun. As with Mother's Day, we are thankful to have our sweet Anna home with us this year. We pray that as she grows she will come to know her Heavenly Father and understand how much He loves her. How thankful we are that God has entrusted us with Anna Grace. All 4 of our girls are a wonderful blessing to us. It is a joy and a privilege to watch them grow. Happy Father's Day to my dad and Steve. Thank you both for being such wonderful dads to us. We love you!
I just loved this one because is shows Shawn singing to Lauren trying to get her to smile. He is such a wonderful daddy. I can't imagine my life without him.


Emily and Sarah with their friend, Ethan

The long awaited update

Anna's very first look at the ocean....



...and her first time stepping into salt water!



Lauren trying to decide if she really wanted to get wet or not



Mimi and Grandy with three of their 10 grandchildren!



I LOVE this picture...as a matter of fact, it made me cry when I pulled it up for the first time. I am so thankful God has given us a fourth daughter. She is such a blessing to us all. Adopting Anna has changed me forever and I'm so glad it has.


BE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN THROUGH SEVERAL POSTS TO READ THE UPDATE THAT GOES WITH ALL THESE PICTURES~

Wrightsville Beach

My four girls at "my" beach. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE having 4 girls?




Don't think there is really any question as to whether she liked it or not.
What do you think?

Masonboro Island.........or, One more reason to move home!

Lauren loves playing (and eating) on Masonboro Island



Okay, is this not the cutest picture ever???? Anna saw Mimi standing with her hands on her hips and did the same, then looked up at her. I am so glad I captured the look!


Emily and Sarah had a big time playing with their cousins, Uncle Ryan and Mr. Luke.

Introducing Ellie!

This was Anna's reaction when she heard Ellie crying right after she was born. We were all in the hall and could hear her.


Ellie with her mama, daddy, and two big brothers.


Precious girl!

Final set of pictures with the update!

Anna with cousin, Mallory. They are 7 months apart in age and yes, they had matching bathing suits....and no, we didn't know the other one had bought it!

Anna and Daddy had fun playing in the sand at Wrightsville Beach!

BEAUTIFUL!!



Anna playing the piano with her Great Aunt Libby.



Yes, I am terribly behind on updating this blog. We are all doing well, no one is sick, we are all still alive....I'm beginning to get e-mails and phone calls asking if we are okay since I haven't updated in over a month. We have been wrapping up our homeschool year as well as Lauren's school year. We had the annual Rett Syndrome conference here in northern Virginia at the end of May. That was FABULOUS! Shawn and I are always encouraged when we spend time with other Rett families and Rett experts. Our girls have so much potential...they will make us work to get it out, but it is in there. Everyone who works with them agrees, they are smart girls. So we have once again been motivated to keep fighting for Lauren and to help her learn to communicate so others can see the smart girl that she is. Anna is growing...and she should be the way she eats! This girl seriously eats all day long! She is beginning to say new sounds and is definitely trying to say things every day. She starts speech therapy next week and we are excited about what she will learn. Emily and Sarah are thrilled to be finishing 5th and 3rd grades. We will finish up this Friday. We've never gone this late into the summer before, but then we've never taken a trip to China in the middle of the school year either! Swim team has started in full force. Both girls swam time trials on Monday and were pleased with their times. They worked with Shawn throughout the winter and can already see how it helped them. Swim team will take over our lives for the next 6 weeks....thankfully it is a short season!

Last week we went to Wilmington for the birth of my niece, Elizabeth June. My sister, Lisa, had her 3rd child last Monday. I took the 4 girls down for the big event. It was our first trip with Anna and my first trip as a mother of four. The trip down was pretty good. Anna's limit in the carseat was 3 hours so that got us half-way before I had to stop and give her a break. The week in Wilmington was great! I LOVE my hometown and look forward to getting back there one day. The beach was awesome and Anna loved it! That is a good thing because the rest of the family certainly does! Enjoy the pictures from our week in Wilmington. I will try to post again after our first swim meet.