Family Fun, Odds and End Jobs, and Last Minute Travel Prep

Well, we got our temporary guest room in acceptable condition by the time Stephen and Mandy and Jesse arrived Saturday.  It worked out quite well for their family.  It afforded them a quiet, private room to themselves, with an a/c that they could control.  Jesse loved it!  (Imagine a large, mostly empty room with concrete floors.)  It was great for running around and rolling his car around.  But the absolute best thing was the door!  There is no telling HOW many times that little guy opened and closed the door leading from the living room to the den!  Kids sure get a lot of pleasure from very simple things!


Tacos!



Doing a little reading

After lunch on Saturday, we took Jesse to the city park.  He had a blast!  He loved climbing on the playground equipment, but didn't quite know what to do once he got up there.  One section had a steering wheel, which he played with a lot.  When other kids would come over and start playing with it, he would patiently stand aside and wait until they left, then play with it some more.  He was leery of the tunnels and slides (although he went down the small one a couple of times with me holding his hand), but loved the swing.  We adults finally had enough of the heat, so we headed back to the house, stopping for a cold treat on the way.  (And I discovered that Jesse LOVES lemonberry slushes!)

After supper and washing dishes, we all piled into Stephen and Mandy's little SUV and went for a drive through the state park looking for deer.  We were able to see quite a few, and a couple were close enough that Jesse could see them.  He really enjoyed that!  Then we parked and walked down to the lake.  If Stephen hadn't been holding his hand, I do believe Jesse would have jumped right in!

Looking for deer

Jessica came over Sunday, after church, so all of my kiddos were here at the same time.  It was so nice having everyone together!  Right after lunch, Ricky and Dennis had to leave (Ricky - going out of town for work; and Dennis - going to a business meeting).  After getting the kitchen cleaned up and visiting a while longer, Stephen's family had to move on.  (They were heading to Abilene for a work conference.)  We thoroughly enjoyed the weekend!  Jesse is so much fun!  He is old enough now that he remembers all of us from visit to visit.  I love seeing him relate to his Uncle Ricky (boom-boom!) and Aunt Sheila.  Being a granny is the best!

We are hoping that things go smoothly for Shepherd to come home soon.  All of the preliminary stuff is done, and they are waiting until the rainy season ends (in Ethiopia), so a court date can be scheduled.  Stephen and Mandy will fly over there for the adoption, but it will be another several weeks before they can go bring him home.  We are hoping and praying that will occur before the end of the year!  We are all looking forward to meeting our new little guy!

Dennis and I are trying to finish up a few odds and ends around the house before we leave Thursday morning.  We've decided not to worry about having to get the den and guest room finished.  The den worked so well for a temporary guest room that we can use it again, if needed.  We are getting the ceiling painted today, as well as several little jobs that we've been putting off.  We may try to do some of the flooring before we go...depends on how things go.  I've been busy making my lists of things to take with us on vacation and getting things together.  Plus I have a couple of CASA commitments this week.  So there is plenty to keep us busy over the next 3 days!

I will try to start posting travel pictures when we get to Tennessee.  I'm hoping we start seeing some color by then.  This has the potential of being the best fall vacation ever!