handsful

It’s Payton’s turn for a parent/kid night!  He chose a movie, so they headed out tonight to see Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.  They both look a little meatball-ish to me :)

We had a FANTASTIC time at the annual Autumn Moon Festival with our FCC (Families with Children from China) group.  This year, we met at the beach and the weather was perfect.  If you want some info on what this festival is all about, do a search on the blog for “Autumn Moon Festival”…I explained it last year.  Call me lazy. 

Our day started with everyone having a picnic.  The extra guy in the picture is Payton and Ethan’s friend Corey.  He was over playing so we brought him along.  The more the merrier and all. 

Next up, games.  There was a craft area (which our kids avoided), egg races, sack races, and Moon Pie race.  I’m wondering what China would think of that last one…how American (and Southern) can you get than Moon Pies??

Daddy helps Lainey with her first sack race.

Now she gets help from big sis!  (Lainey’s burn blister broke open that morning, so her hand is wrapped to protect it)

Having fun!  I’ll be honest, I’m usually not a huge fan of the beach.  Hot sun, sticky sun screen, fair skin, and sand just don’t equal tons of fun.  But, being at the beach in the evening is the BEST. 

This picture makes me see the future…Lainey’s protection squad. 

Lainey and Angel practice a little football.  L isn’t exactly precise, but Angel was very patient with her attempts!

Lainey wanted to stay right at the water’s edge the whole time…she loved it when the water ran over her feet, but held tightly to my hand.  If she had had a bathing suit on, she would have been IN that water. 

As the sun was setting, the whole group came together for a tug of war.  Yes, Randy is right in with those kids.  He was fair, though, and helped each side win a few times!

Lainey wasn’t sure why she was pulling that rope, but she loved doing it!

Taking advantage of a nice back drop :)

We tried to light a beautiful lantern, but the wind was blowing hard and toward land instead of the ocean.  So, we just hung out for the rest of the night, and enjoyed gazing at that autumn moon.  

By the light…

Lainey, do you know what today is??

Lainey lived here, in this room (her crib is the one closest to the door) for the first 19 months and 14 days of her life.  Exactly 19 months and 14 days. 

We have very few pictures of her life in the orphanage, and she’s only slightly smiling in one of them.  Here, she’s definitely not a happy camper.  (Her face still does that pitiful little scrunch-up when she cries.)

Today marks Lainey’s 19th month, 14th day with US.  Get it?  She’s been with us for the same length of time that she was in the orphanage.  Which means tomorrow is the “longer here than there” day (as a fellow adoptive mom called it).  Many adoptive parents have told me that this was a turning point for their child.  Their children visibly changed, became more relaxed, attached.  Somehow sensing that they were truly home.

Yes, Lainey, this is your home.  Forever and ever.  We cannot even begin to imagine our lives without you.  You bring us such joy and laughter…just like our other children were born to us, you were meant to be ours.  We’re sorry it took us so long to find you. 

We’ll never know about your family in China.  But, your Forever Family is big!  You have 2 brothers and 2 sisters who love you dearly. 

Happy 19 months and 14 days, Lainey!  We love you.

Sometimes the best parties are those with no good reason…nothing to really celebrate, just spending time with friends doing fun stuff.  That was today for Abbey and her 8th grade friends from church.  Here’s what they did…

They played the Wii

They went swimming.  (Yes, Abbey graciously allowed her “non-8th grade” siblings to play, too.)

They played cards,

Guitar Hero,

and ping pong. 

Somewhere in the middle of all this, they had lunch and then…

Randy explained the rules for the day.  As you can see, he’s on rule #2 here.  No running with scissors. 

As the boys giggle behind Randy’s back about said rules, he’s having the rest of them draw colored discs out of a cup.  This was to split the kids up into two shifts for going out on the boat. 

Happy to be in the pink 1st shift!

So, while the 2nd shift kids went swimming and played even more Guitar Hero…

The 1st shift kids pretend to enjoy being trapped in a blown up tube…

or balancing on a knee board. 

There was a change of shift around 2ish and everyone was back at the house around 4pm…some thoroughly exhausted (well, maybe just Randy) and most wanting to stay on that boat just a little bit longer.  It was a great day. 

Ever try to get a group of teenagers to pose for a decent group picture?  Attempt to get them to all look your way AND not make funny faces?  Me too – it’s not possible.

In August, we made our annual trip home for Cousin’s Day…a full 24hrs worth of crazy fun for Randy’s dad and step-mom Kathy.  The very first CD had 5 in attendance, I think.  Kathy, correct me if I’m wrong.  With Abbey being the 3rd oldest, that would be maybe 9 or so years ago.  We’re now up to 17, with our Lainey being the youngest!  They were all there this year…

Out of the 6 or 7 pics I took, this was my best shot.  Hopefully, Kathy got a better one to use in her annual Christmas card :) 

It’s very unlike us, but we barely took any pictures during our trip to NC.  Not sure why, other than we were just so busy not being busy.  It was a nice trip (with the exception of bringing home the flu – amazingly 13 / 17 grandkids got this!)  Here are some shots I did get:

Granpa and Ethan having a jam session. 

Grinning with Granma

Lainey attacking Granpa with her black bear.  I’m not sure who was laughing harder. 

One of the highlights of our trip was visiting with my Grandmom.  I just love her! 

Have you ever seen a sweeter picture?!?

Now for the “comings”…

Randy’s mom and step-dad Paul came down to FL for a visit this past week.  We had no big plans…they relaxed, we went out to eat, we swam, etc.  It was a really nice visit for everyone…

Gram brought her crocheting and knitting bag and was instantly swarmed by Lainey and Marley.  She makes little caps and booties to give to her local hospital’s NICU and she taught Marley how to make them. 

She made 4!  (Today, I used my 50% coupon at Michael’s and bought her her own knitting looms)

Lainey spent a ton of time at her feet, cutting and winding yarn.  I guess I know how to keep her busy from now on. 

When she wasn’t “knitting”, she was sitting on Pa-Paul’s feet.  Weird kid. 

Everyone went swimming on Friday…Gram was really looking forward to that.  She looks pretty happy to me! 

Gram and Pa-Paul, with 5 of their 11 grandkids.  Thanks for coming to see us!