Having some fun!

A little music with "dinner" at the AZ Museum for Youth

Our wonderful Arizona heat is finally starting to feel as though it's receding some. Neighbors are coming out again and I am so happy to be getting out of the house with the kids again! We took a little excursion to the Arizona Museum for the Youth with our friends. We started the day with a McDonald's breakfast. The kids loved the play place. Josiah has no fear at all! He, Kaia and Jack were all over that thing! Jack is really a sweet kid and was trying to help our little friend James through the maze of tunnels and slides. After breakfast we headed to the museum for some more fun. Everyone piled in the suburban and off we went! Jack said, "Mom, could you play some God songs?". I put the Newsboys on and they all sang along..."Glory, glory, hallelujah, He reigns..." too cute!

"Sushi" at the museum

At the museum, they had a ton of different play areas. The theme was "table manners" so there were a lot of kitchen/bistro and food sets. They all loved this! I was happy to see that they had a cute little Japanese table set up complete with plastic sushi and chopsticks. It was cute and Josiah loved using the chopsticks. We had just had Pei Wei's the night before and Josiah amazed us with his chopstick skills! The kid is better than I am at using them! Kaia, on the other hand, cracked me up with her approach to chopsticks. She took one in each hand and tried to shovel them together and when that didn't work, she took to stabbing her food! Funny! We had a wonderful time at the museum! It was so nice to get out!! I've got to do that more often.

Making room for Mama!:) Not quite making it in time for the shot! Mommy and Siah.

On Saturday, we took some family pictures. I need these for the 6 month post-placement report due to China in September. I can't believe it's already been almost 6 months, then again, it feels like Josiah has been here forever. He is such a sweetheart and our family has bonded so nicely. It was the smoothest transition ever. I can't believe how the kids just loved each other right away. It is such a joy and a blessing to see them form these relationships. For those who don't understand why we want so many kids, I just have to say that it might be crazy at times, but the blessings are huge. Our kids learn sharing, cooperation and most importantly, that they are not the center of the universe. They are the center of our universe for sure, but they learn to look outside of themselves, to care for others. I want them to love God with all of their hearts and I also want them to have His heart for people. I hope that they grow to be compassionate, loving people who reach out to those around them. Anyway, the picture taking experience is always fun!:) It is near impossible to get a smile from everyone in a family this size! I've decided that I really need to abandon the "tripod photography" and hire a professional!! I'm tired of setting everyone in place, hitting the timer and then running to get in the picture! It just doesn't capture the best picture!

Our family- what a bunch!

Tomorrow is our official adoption day through the state. We have to complete this step for Josiah's adoption since Scott didn't travel to China with me. Josiah is home on a different type of visa and his citizenship cannot be complete until we re-adopt him in the U.S.. We just decided to do both kids at once so that our new adoption decrees will be a U.S. document written in English. We can also get AZ birth certificates this way. This will make it so much easier when I need certified copies for school, etc.. I don't even know how I'd get those from China! I'll post some pictures from our court day tomorrow. Grandma and grandpa are joining us at the ceremony and then we'll celebrate with some yummy food and cake! Anyway, enjoy the pictures from this weekend!