Wedding Fun

This past weekend Monte was in a wedding for one of his good friends. He had to be there super early, so I just brought the kids right before the wedding started. It was only 45 minutes away so not a big deal.

Here are my loves before the ceremony...

The kicker was after the wedding and the reception. I had to entertain the kids all by myself while Monte had pictures and then he had to sit with the wedding party at dinner. That was the hardest part. LOTS of glass and fancy things with my five kids, that is an anxiety attack waiting to happen for this mother! Thankfully nothing was broken and I actually enjoyed the dinner!

Here are the fabulous five before the food arrived...

I seriously can't get over how big he looks here.

Yes, John is our comedian. Who would take him serious with that hair cut anyway?

My sweet little guy...

Hannah is in HEAVEN! More on that later...

Our other ham...

She is a hoot!

Then the party started... music and dancing. Here is Chloe getting down!

Monte dancing with his princesses. This is huge for Monte! Neither one of us were brought up dancing. We didn't even have dancing at our wedding, but he is an amazing Dad and will do anything for these two little girls!

Daddy and Chloe grooving.

Josiah even got in on the action a little bit!

Hannah went to her first wedding (at least in America) in July and she has been hooked on them ever since. She talks about getting married a lot. She dresses up as a bride. She plans on marrying all her brothers. She pretends her dolls are getting married. And most importantly is the dancing (Monte and I are going to have to take dance lessons before her big day). She loves to dance and she made her rounds at the wedding. Chloe mostly stuck by our family, but not Hannah... off she went to find others that could actually dance with her!

She danced with...

the bride (she calls brides princesses... yay I am thinking she'll want a Disney wedding? My wallet is hoping not!)

The groom's daughter and friends...

The groom's mother...

And of course the groom...

She is so funny! Weddings are something that she adores. I was NEVER like that (Chloe isn't either). We ended up staying until 10pm just for Hannah. She was having such a great time, we didn't want to pull her away. She is our girly girl and I wouldn't want it any other way!

It won't be long and we'll see PALM TREES!

Seriously... it is a lot of work to pack for 7 people going on vacation. It has consumed most of my week minus school time. Of course my anal tendencies come into play and the house also has to be spotless when we leave. Please tell me I am not alone!

We are going to be staying in a timeshare that has a full kitchen. Since we have the whole gluten free thing going on right now, we are going to cook most of our meals there. I am so thankful for the kitchen because it is so hard to eat out when you are dealing with a gluten free diet.

We are staying right on the beach (Atlantic side), but it is suppose to be cold and rainy. Oh well... we will be together and will make the most of it. I have packed some fun inside things to do (games & puzzles).

While I have been packing I have been thinking a lot about last July when I was packing for Ethiopia. There is nothing like packing for travel to a 3rd world country. You HAVE to make a list and check it 15 times, because there are no modern conveniences and no Walmart around the corner. I remember packing and thinking I really had no clue what to pack for the girls. They were strangers. I didn't know what theirs likes and dislikes are. I knew NOTHING. I packed what I thought an average toddler would like and it did work out, but it was hard.

This time around it is so different! Yes, we will have a Walmart around the corner, but this time I know the girls. I know who they are and what they like. I am excited to see them experience the ocean and Disney World for the first time!

So many fun memories will be made...

A Zoo Trip

On Labor Day we decided to load the kids up and head to the Indianapolis zoo. I absolutely love the zoo and we usually buy a membership for the whole year. We only live 20 minutes away, so we get our monies worth in the first month!

This is one first we have had with the girls. It is so fun to hear them call out the Amharic names for some of the animals. They are quickly learning English, but I think with adopting two it is going to take longer because they still only talk to each other in Amharic. I don't mind though, it is a beautiful language and I truly hate for them to lose it.

I am not a writer and will never claim to be, so as always, I will let the pictures tell the story.

This is usually the reaction I get when I say, "Photo."

Or I get this...

JUST A SIDE NOTE: Hanna cried when she realized she wasn't big enough to go on the roller coaster! FINALLY, I have a child who actually like rides!

The over priced pony rides that are not included in the membership. The girls had a hard time choosing between the carousel or pony ride. It was really cute to watch their wheels turning about which one they really wanted to do. They both ended up on the pony. Isaac and John both decided they are too old for the pony rides. They are ready for "real" horses.

This is the only picture I got that actually proves we were even at the zoo. I guess when you have five kids there are a lot more interesting things to photograph.

I AM ONE BLESSED MOMMY!

Our zoo has a sprinkler park. We brought their swim suits and let them at it. The girls have NO fear. They are so fun to watch. They usually end up entertaining everyone that is in that area. The boys didn't even play long enough for me to think about getting pictures. I actually think Monte took these, I was busy getting ice cream cones.

AGCI get together!

Our family...

was able to drive three hours south yesterday to get together with...

The Ausbrook's

The Bogard's

and The Lucht's

We all adopted through All God's Children Int. (AGCI) and we have all traveled this year to get our children. Our girls were not at Hannah's Hope when the Ausbrook's traveled, but they were there when the other two families got their boys. They both were able to check in on them for us and I am so grateful! It makes the wait so much more manageable when you know someone is loving on your sweeties.

We had planned on getting together in August, but that was when we had chicken pox so we had to cancel. I am so thankful it worked out this time... for all of us. It has been great getting to know these families over the past year through email and blogs! The Bogard's are only two hours away from us, so we have had the chance to meet them prior to Saturday.

Eating lunch on the ground. You can tell our kids are city slickers, they were not too fond of the bugs all around them.

Mom, please put down the camera and get me a drink.

Silas and Eli getting ready for a ride.

Silas, meet Silas...

Eli, hold on TIGHT!

Serious Cuteness!!!

The girls wanted N-O-T-H-I-N-G to do with sitting with the babies. They only way I was able to get them to sit on the cooler was to bribe them with cookies. Chloe puts her hands in her mouth when she is nervous. I am sure she was wondering why all these white people were making such a big deal of them and taking tons of pictures. :)

John taking his sisters for a stroll.

Troy has already done a post on our visit yesterday. He has some amazing pictures of our girls, so head over there if you haven't gotten enough!

On the way home we stopped at the Dairy Queen in Jasper, Indiana. Monte's Dad lived here 25 years ago and used to take Monte to this same DQ when he spent his summers with him.

Some much needed family time!

This was where we spent our afternoon...

Josiah's one wish as a five year old is to go to the beach. We have no plans to go to the ocean anytime soon, so we thought Lake Michigan would work. As you know from this post, Josiah has not had an easy time since his sister's have gotten home, so we thought it would be great to do this for him.

We got a late start today. Our plan was to get there when it opened and stay till it closed. Well, when we saw the high was only going to be 66, we decided to sleep in a little, but still be out the door by 8am. We left at 8:45am and when we were 45 minutes from home, I realized we forgot our bag that had the towels and bathing suits in it. I couldn't believe it. How in the world did that happen? Oh, right... we have five kids now! We decided it was worth it to go ALL the way back home and get the rest of our things. So, we didn't make it to the beach until 1pm. When we got to the entrance gate, the park ranger (or whatever that person is called that collects our money) told us that because of rip currents there was NO SWIMMING TODAY! Yes, you read that right... no swimming, but the beach was still open. We decided we'd make the most of it and all I can say is, we had a BLAST! I will use pictures to tell the rest of the story...

This was when we first got there. I LOVE these six people!! Chloe has been a Mommy's girl lately, so that is why she was way behind everyone else. She was hanging out with me.

Josiah knew we were going to the beach, but we wanted to get his reaction on camera...

I am so glad we did! His eyes were huge...

They couldn't get enough of the water. Well, everyone except for Chloe...

She was content to sit in the sand and not worry about the big waves!

Josiah loving the beach. It was his most favorite day ever.

My guys getting ready to check out the dunes.

Look at that face! She loved the waves. We really had to keep an eye on her.

Once again, preferred to be on dry ground...

I think I may give up getting a picture of the five of them together. This was the best one. The sun was directly in their eyes, but still.

Now some random pictures...

That is Chicago on the horizon.

The rip currents that kept us from swimming. They got worse at the day wore on. The kids (minus Chloe) all ended up getting soaked. The wash back (under tow) would literally knock them over when they were getting their feet wet. They didn't mind and neither did I.

It is so pretty there. I can't wait to go back!

My babies fast asleep! Chloe is sportin' M&M cookie residue on her face. That's my girl! :)

Even though we got a late start, had to go back to the house, and couldn't swim because of the rip currents, it was a perfect day! I love my family. I am blessed.