For all his stubborn and bull-headed tendencies I am completely in love with this boy! None of my children can exasperate me as quickly as this little man but what's life without some daily challenges?
The kids always seem to enjoy going outside with daddy more than myself. Could it be because he lets them get as dirty as they possibly can and doesn't stop them? Today they are just playing in the left-over water from the rain last night and this morning. I tried to get a picture of Tristan's water logged pants but he kept running away.
And here is Eden eating a popsicle while perched on one of her favorite things - her daddy's mowers. I don't know why she likes the mowers so much but she is always climbing on them.
Notice the dark lever in front of her leg? Yeah...her mouth met that a few minutes after this picture was taken. A slight bloody lip but she didn't want anything to do with coming inside yet. Her hands look like little prunes from playing in the puddles. 
For some reason this picture will not rotate for me. We were watching the wonderful Penn State game last night and Tristan fell asleep on the floor. It was priceless!
When I picked him up and carried him to bed he muttered only two things: "oh, my pillow" with a very contented sigh and "go eagles". We are training him real well. 
This is my little boy after church today. I couldn't resist his blue eyes! And I can't figure out when his hair bleached out. Someone actually asked me if I put something in his hair to help it lighten. I'm sure my puzzled and slightly aghast look was the only answer they really needed.
Here is miss personality with her baby! She is becoming increasingly verbal which is shocking. Everything I have read would have led me to believe that her verbal skills may be delayed simply because she didn't have exposure to English before she was 10 months old. Well.....she is talking earlier than any of our boys and is very emphatic about most things. Two days ago she walked around the house with a very stern look on her face yelling, "don't, don't, don't" over and over. She also tells me when she has pooped now. She tells me "poppy" and points to her little bottom. She likes to sit on the potty seat and pretend she is going "poppy". I am taking this as a very positive sign since she will only be 16 months next week. She likes to tell me "no" when I ask her something or instruct her to do something. On the flip side she does tell me she loves me too and likes to give kisses. I look at her sometimes and am amazed that she has been with us 6 months already. 
One morning this week she was enjoying taking care of her baby. She likes to feed the baby and of course stop to smile for me. Every time she sees the camera she gets out her biggest and best smile for me.
Tristan is extremely territorial lately and everything in this house belongs to him. Everything!! Here he is taking Eden's baby and she isn't happy about it. She goes right after him now and will full out tackle him to get back what he has taken. 
All is well again and baby is being fed properly. 
And apparently Tristan is very happy about the trauma he just caused on both Eden and the baby. This little guy is also beginning to initiate sitting on the potty but rarely leaves anything behind. This is okay though. I have never pushed any of my kids to use the potty but just kind of followed their lead. He has had hives on and off all week this week. I don't know if they are making him miserable or if he just doesn't like life all the much 
Here is Judah harvesting his pumpkins. He informed Shane that if he isn't going to help him very much than they will not split the money down the middle. He is a shrewd business man. We told Shane that that is how things work - you get paid for your work. Shane isn't nearly as interested in making money as Judah. Judah worked hard last year and again this year while raising his pumpkins. The pumpkins didn't do as well this year so he won't make as much loot. He has sold a few so far but we need to get working on his sales.
I think he only got somewhere around 30 pumpkins this year as opposed to his 50-60 last year. Oh well. It will still be a good amount of money for a 5 and 7 year old.
And I will leave you with a picture that I love. When I was a little girl I vividly remember laying in the sun spots on our living room floor on cold winter mornings. I just loved the warmth of the sun. Now...it wasn't particularly cold on this morning but the two munchkins each got a pillow and snuggled on the floor for a bit. They giggled and giggled - I guess they thought they were clever or cute. Or maybe both!
Friday of last week I took the boys to a local cavern - Lincoln Caverns. They were so fascinated and amazed by everything we saw underground. 
They were so quiet as the guide took us through the cave and explained things to us. But.....when she asked if they had any questions Judah just started chatting with her about all sorts of stuff. One of the things I love about these two boys is that they have no problem carrying on a conversation with adults and don't seem in anyway intimidated. 
Saturday we went into my Mom's for the evening to hang out with our family and some extended family. I was making some dessert to take along and Tristan asked for the spatula. So...I gave it to him and soon Eden was begging too. He shared so nicely with her. 
He would take a lick and then she would take a lick. There was a lot of giggling and messy faces but oh so sweet!!
Here are the boys earlier this week working hard at their schooling. They have been doing really good and I am quite proud of them. It is very rewarding for me to watch their progress.
Tristan got in on the action that day as well. He seems to be gaining an increasing awareness that he is like his brothers and he wants to be involved in everything they do. Judah and Shane do so well with him. They take him outside to play and try to involve him in things they are doing a few times a day. I love watching them interact. 
Tristan stopped his coloring to give me a smile. So sweet!
Now, I must say this picture doesn't do the damage a whole lot of justice. Other than the fact that you can see Tristan's nail is askew. He got his finger pinched in a door at church on Sunday as we were leaving. It is a very heavy door and he somehow got his thumb pinched in the hinge side of the door. Today his thumb is looking very purple and I think he may be fighting an infection. The doctor gave him an antibiotic since it is really hard to keep it adequately cleaned. The doctor also thinks the tip is probably fractured but there isn't anything they can do. That would be our first fracture at this house. He tells pretty much anyone who will listen, "Boo-boo. And it closed." His version of the door closed and I got a boo-boo.
This little man comes to mind so, so often. What is his story? Has he been here long? Are his parents deceased or only unable to care for him? Does he have siblings at the orphanage with him? If he is orphaned does he hope everyday for his chance at family life again? These are the children that were painful to leave. He knows that his chances are slim. He watches the ages of children who leave and his is all too aware that more than likely he will finish growing up here and then embark on his own. Recently, I was reading an account of a family who have 10 children now. They adopted a sibling group from Ethiopia last year - 3 children. They returned to bring home another little girl they fell in love with while there last year. So...they now have four Ethiopian children. Two of them are HIV positive. Their story is amazing and moves me to tears so often when I read their blog. The point of me mentioning them is this: their one daughter just celebrated her 10th birthday. Sometime during the day the daughter came to her mother and said she needed to tell her something. You see...this little girls Ethiopian father new her chances of being adopted were going to be really slim if she revealed her real age so they lied. She was actually turning 13 - not 10. You know what her biggest fear was? That she would be deemed to old to sit on her daddy's lap. I kid you not. How horrible that kids need to lie in hopes of finding a home. 
And then there is this little girl. I would return tomorrow and bring her home if it were possible. 
And this little guy. I am pretty sure that after being in Ethiopia and seeing these children we could actually request specific information about them. 
This is the age group that so often goes unnoticed. She captured my heart in a big way. Isn't she beautiful? 
And just for kicks - I love this picture of Mark meeting his little girl. She has so rapidly become a daddy's girl. It is really quite shocking. She looks so tiny and vulnerable here. How much she has changed. 
Eden is a little fish. She has absolutely no fear of the water and will walk in really far, fall over and after we scoop her up she comes up laughing. She really doesn't care if she goes under. I have never had a child this young okay with being completely submerged. Makes me more than a little nervous!!! She was in the water before I could get her swimming suit on so she just got her clothes wet. 
I love this little girl. She has added so much spice to our lives. Have I said lately that she is really, really feisty?!! We have seen her more than once running away from Tristan after he starts crying with an extremely guilty look on her face. Some kids are just so aware from such a young age. 
I am amazed at how far Shane has come this summer. He is completely water safe at this point and would live in the water. He has a pretty proficient breaststroke. 
And here is my Judah man! Also, very good at swimming and would also live in the water.
And then there is Tristan. Content to stick his feet in the water but much more concerned about climbing everything in sight. There are many stone walls and retaining walls at Whipple Dam. I had to retrieve him multiple times. Walking on a stone wall 4-5 feet above pavement isn't exactly a great idea. At least I don't think so.
Here he is again. The stone wall in the background is the wall I had to get him off of a few different times. 
We opted to leave these two little turkeys at home. We figured they would have much more fun at home and we would have a lot more fun at the wedding without them in tow. I called the babysitter at 7:30 to see how they were doing and this is what I heard: "They are both asleep already." What??? They never and I mean never go to bed at 7:30!! I was able to really enjoy the rest of the evening knowing they were asleep and kind of dreading the earlier wakeup time the next morning. Turns out they both slept until 8:00 the next am! Really weird....but wonderful!
This is another one of my favorite photos from the wedding. The girls were obviously getting tired of pictures. 
Here is Yuan a.k.a. Diana! I know her as Diana and will probably always call her Diana. She is so, so much fun! She used to live in the area and moved to Philly a little over three years ago. She is just starting law school and she is very urban mission minded. I love that about her. She is passionate about inner city kids especially.
All the sisters again. What is it like having five daughters? Seems a little scary to me.
Mark's mom is a psalmist and writes beautiful music. She is leaving an amazing legacy to her children and grandchildren. Her music is by far some of my favorite! She wrote a new song for the wedding out of Song of Songs 4 - the verse "You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride." It was the first time I heard the song and as always was moved to tears. 
Here are Eric and Christine after saying their vows and taking communion. This wedding was one of the most beautiful I have been too. So sincere and just filled with the Father's love.
Right after the ceremony and they are waiting to greet their guests. Stealing a kiss! Christine is always gorgeous but she was the epitome of what you picture a bride looking like! I was going to try and get these pictures in some sort of order but was having a hard time keeping them straight in my head. So sorry about the hodge podge here.
Here is the very dapper and handsome ring bearer. But wait.......he just looks the part. He became quite obstinate and stubborn and refused to lower himself to any sort of spectacle for any one's viewing enjoyment. No amount of bribery or coercion was going to convince him to walk down that aisle.
Thank goodness his big brother has no problem being the center of attention. Judah very willingly stepped in and did the duty of ring bearer. He didn't match but he still looked sharp. I think this is my favorite picture from the whole wedding. I captured my boy so well in this picture. He looks like a young man and no longer like a boy. So, so handsome.
And the entourage of beauty begins. Again, these are out of order but oh well. This is Hannah.
Suzanne.
All four girls. I missed getting a picture of the maid of honor because I was too busy snapping this picture of Mark's sisters. And I just realized I forgot to upload a picture of her. I have more pictures to post which I will do within the next few days. I will make sure she has her shining moment.
The beautiful bride and her father.
Another one of Christine.
All the girls getting ready. Oh...Diana is in this picture. She sure is a bundle of fun!
John & Ashley's little Jacqueline enjoying the ceremony.
Caleb enjoying the ceremony too.
Oh...the rest of the bridesmaids. What do you know. This is Grace!
And Joyce.
Mark and the boys.
Me and my boys! I love these little chumps.
Shane in his non-effective tux. 
Mark with his mother. She looked lovely. It still amazes me that she has had eight children.
Judah beginning his trek down the aisle. Like I said, I will post more pictures in the days to come. But for now I need to start getting the boys to bed. The past few late nights have resulted in exceedingly grumpy boys.