Summer has come!

It's hard to believe it's June 7 and we are just now
starting to enjoy the warmth of summer. Last weekend
we had one nice day to enjoy and today is the first
day all week which has been warm and nice. We have
enjoyed playing outside and taking the boat out on the
lakes nearby.

Emma enjoyed touching a fish when it was being held,
but freaked out when a sunfish flopped off the hook
and onto the dock. She's got a few things to get used
to! Thankfully, she enjoys the boat. She did not,
however, enjoy leaning too far over the end of the
boat and landing in the water head first. Thankfully,
her big brother, Matthew, was there to rescue her
(with the help of her life jacket!). That was not the
best introduction to swimming in the lake.

The boys are surprisingly patient when it comes to
fishing and they enjoy watching their dad catch some
"whoppers". Emma's favorite game is throwing out
her line (with a bobber on the end) and "catching"
either Daddy or Matthew who are swimming around the
boat.

Otherwise, school is out and summer has begun. We
have a couple of fun camps scheduled for the boys, but
mostly, we will be hanging out at the beach, pool and
park with friends. Summers are a huge bonus of being
a stay-at-home mom. Lots of play time!

Thanks for taking the time to check in. I'm not so
good at the updates, but I'll try to get one in sooner
this time!

P.S. Please note that the big yellow Land Rover in
the back of the picture of Emma and me is not ours!

When will it warm up?

Well, it's mid April and we are still cold. It did
hit almost 70 yesterday, but back down to the 50s
today. We had the kites out flying on Monday but 3
kites in a small area is not a good idea. At least
it was windy!

Not much new to report here. We are into the swing of
things and doing well. We still await the sale of our
home in WI and tentatively look at houses around here,
just in case it sells. Justin is enjoying his new job
and Lisa has re-engaged with tutoring and writing
curriculum at church. It's great to be back. The
boys continue to enjoy school and will start baseball
(Matthew) and soccer (AJ) in May. Emma continues to
learn the ways of being a little sister. She loves to
jump on her brothers but screams when she doesn't get
her way (or gets a brother's toy removed from her
hands). She loves her brothers and gets so sad when
we leave them at school and excited when she wakes up
from her nap so we can go pick them up. She is the
perfect little girl for our family. We are so
thankful.

Thanks for checking in. It's so fun to hear from
everyone!

Swimming!

We finally had a more "normal" week now that we have
been home a month. It felt great to have a bit of a
routine. We had friends visit from Racine and had a
great time catching up and having them get to know
Emma.

We took the kids swimming yesterday and we weren't
sure how Emma would respond as we didn't know what her
experience with swimming was. Well, the minute we
walked into the pool room, she started SCREAMING!!
The kind of scream that makes everyone stare and
wonder what you are doing to harm your child. She
settled down and played on the side of the pool for a
while. Then, she slowly warmed up to the water and
splashed around, bounced in the water, and eventually
put her face in the water. She get so proud of
herself when she does something "new". It is fun to
watch her grow and develop.

Emma's words are coming more frequently. She said her
first semi-sentence today. "More juice." Close
enough! She is really good at saying "no", so it is
pretty easy to discern what she doesn't want and we
are working on more words so that we can know what she
does want!

We tried to have Emma stay in her Sunday School room
today so we could go to church together. That didn't
go so well, so I (mom) went back in within moments to
calm her and remind her that I will come back. This
will definitely be a process, but I know that she will
be comfortable one day. She does fine if we leave, as
long as a brother or two is still with her. That is a
step in the right direction. She has only been with
us for 6 weeks. She is doing great.

It's hard to believe it's almost April and the
forecasters are predicting 4-6 inches of snow
tomorrow. The boys have been enjoying playing
outside, which is great for keeping the townhouse more
in order. We are very much looking forward to summer!

Thanks for checking in with us. Write us if you have
a chance!

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Happy Easter!

We hope you have a wonderful day celebrating Jesus!
We wish it were a warm, spring day, without snow, but
it's been a fun day of celebration as a new family.
We are so grateful! Have a great day!

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What a month!

Well, it's been a month since we first met Emma and we
are all adjusting quite well. I (Lisa) ended up
having my appendix out a week after returning home
from China. It was a quick surgery and a short
recovery and we are all thrilled that it happened
here, rather than there. The boys have been on Spring
Break this week, so it has given us a chance to hang
out and get to know each other. Some days this was a
good thing. . . other days it was not!! The kids are
doing well playing together and Emma seems to fit in
quite well. She sleeps great, takes good naps, and is
generally a happy child.

She loves to color, play with play-doh, push the
stroller (rather than ride in it), and play with her
babies. She loves to pick out her clothes, dress
herself (including putting on her own diaper at
bedtime) and put clips in her hair (only to remove and
lose them 2 minutes later). She loves to play in her
nursery room at church and when I went to get
information on preschool for the fall, she practically
joined a class within minutes. She is quite social!

We continue to connect with Emma's foster family on a
regular basis. We are so grateful for this connection
and for their love for our daughter. It is a gift
from God and we are so blessed. They continue to have
sad days as they miss their girls, but it is getting
easier as they get back into the routine of life. I'm
sure your prayers would be appreciated as they
continue to adjust.

Our move back to MN has been pretty easy. Our only
problem is selling the house in Racine. We hope that
spring will bring some buyers, so please pray that it
sells. The townhouse is working out fine, but it is
not ideal and we look forward to finally getting
settled. The boys have adjusted well at their school
and it's great to be back at our church. We have
reconnected with friends and sometimes it feels like
we never left. If only we could move back into our
cul-du-sac which we loved so much! We continue to be
thankful for our time spent in Racine, but are
thrilled to be back "home". We have friends from
Racine coming up this week and we can't wait!

So, that's the quick update of our time at home.
Thanks for continuing to check in. It's always great
to hear from you. Have a very happy Easter.

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Fwd: Fun at home

> Photos back at home.
> 1. The kids watching a little TV together.
> 2. Emma with Auntie Suzy
> 3. The kids playing a lovely game of "shoot
> brother"
> while AJ has an envelope on his head.
>
> Emma fits right into the chaos! The kids all love
> each other. They have spent all afternoon playing
> together and making each other laugh. What fun!
>
>
>
>
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> Be a better friend, newshound, and
> know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.
>
http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ
>
>

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All is well!

Well, it's day 3 being home and things are going well. The boys and Emma are having a blast playing together. My parents, brother and sister-in-law have been here this weekend and Emma seems to be adjusting to visitors just fine. We are recovering from jet lag fairly well. Emma is fairly awake in the night from about 1-3 am, but in general doing well. Maybe tonight we'll all sleep through the night.

We went to church today and Emma, Suzie (Sister-in-law) and I spent the hour in Emma's new Sunday School room. She did great and loved all of the toys. There are many sweet kids in that class so Emma will have a great time once she's able to adjust.

Tomorrow will be our first "normal" day at home with the boys at school, Justin at work, and Emma and me at home. We are more than ready to figure out what "normal" looks like. We've been waiting for this for a long time.