What we’ve been up to this summer…
Just kidding– we’re busy. Verrrrry busy.
Making memories with cousins.
Playing Basketball.
Trying out baby toys he missed out on.
Swimming.
Helping a cousin celebrate her birthday.
New teeth coming in, before the old one comes out.
Learning new skills.
Adoring the baby cousin’s Elvis lip.
That’s our jam-packed, lots of fun summer so far.
Aaron’s sister got married this weekend.
Very exciting!
Reed and Lena had the honor of being a ringbearer and flower girl.
I had to pay them each 50 cents to “hug” for this picture. Later when I told someone else that Reed said, “and it was terrible. I was allergic.” For the record, I don’t normally bribe them, but I couldn’t resist getting a sweet picture of them dressed up.
Gus was very bummed he wasn’t asked to be a ringbearer. Actually, he just hates tuxedos. Especially the shoe part.
Fortunately, I was able to coax a smile out of him.
She was so happy to be a flower girl.
Gus was all better once we ditched the pants.
The simple joys of being 5!
And lastly, as I said on Facebook, sometimes it’s best to just take the girl and leave your pants.
A year ago today, our voices and our legs shook in a Russian court room as we asked if Gus could join our family.
The memory of that day is a favorite of mine. After our court hearing, we went to the baby house and we met Gus. Yes, we’d visited him several times before– we met the laidback child, sedated by fear if not also sedated by medicine.
That day, we began to see the feisty wild child he really is.
Here are some recent photos which show him most accurately.
Playing in a bucket of water.
Someone stole his tricycle.
And he stole his sister’s sunglasses, with a messy after dinner face.
Learning to climb. Everything.
His usual dirty self.
In a calmer moment with one of his canine friends.
Playing in the rain.
And in a creek.
Happy court day to Gus, a feisty and fab addition to our family.
Today was Reed’s last day of Kindergarten.
He had a good year in school. He learned a lot. One of the most noticeable things is his newfound love of writing notes and letters. This is one of my favorites recently…
Dear Reed,
Congnatulatons losing your first tooth. You are gethng so big.
tna (tooth fairy)
All three of them on the first day of school:
All three of them this morning:
Reed’s reflections on the school year: “I had fun and I miss my whole class.” I’ll have to write about my own thoughts on our experience this year sometime, but that’s a blog post in itself!
Gus recently made a new friend. He’s a perfect match for Gus, the same age, also adopted from Russia…
They have A LOT of fun together. It can get a bit wild.
We call this little Gus look-a-like AsparaGus.
The trouble is
we don’t always know where to find him.
And that’s no fun.
a moose in moscow 