Still in December. It worked out perfectly to spend time at Ge and Granddaddy’s house celebrating Christmas and December birthdays the week Emmie had her MRI and appointment with her neurosurgeon.
We even got some good visiting time with Uncle J and Aunt Yaya and family.
Present time is always exciting.
Oh man, I don’t know if Emmie is excited about another baby or not. 😉
Aunt Yaya’s family was in-between houses during Christmas, so I made up a fun gift for the niece and nephew. Lots of fun goodies tucked in there. I know they are old teenagers but they can still have fun. I’m pretty certain I win the Crazy-Old-Aunt Award.
Double piggies…this girl!
Granddaddy’s hat is always fun to try on.
There is a Lego store just down from where Ge and Granddaddy live. A big one! We took the kids there the day before MRI day and we all had a blast.
You can create your own mini-figures. So, I made one of Emmie’s neurologist and one of her neurosurgeon. Next time we go, I’ll have to actually make them and buy them for the docs!
Emmie loved this little table.
Drawers ya’ll. Drawers full of Lego bricks everywhere! 
When we told them what we were doing, they were a little skeptical that it would actually be fun. 
The only two brave souls for pictures!
Pet the snakes!
Emmie thinks she is big enough for the front seat.
Our traditional Lion statue picture.
On October 31st, Krispy Kreme gives a free doughnut to anyone dressed in costume. The kids were game and went to work the day before to find things around their house for their costumes. We have Anna (the mama), Alice in Wonderland, Spiderman and a slew of characters from The Wingfeather Saga book series.
Touch a snake. I love petting snakes! At least a couple of the kids were willing to pet too.
Sky high kids.
Saying hello to da birds.
Trying to catch a glimpse of sea lions.
We attended a high school football team and cheered on my nephew. Ya’ll I have a nephew old enough to play high school football. Emmie had a wonderful time and was cheering and yelling along with us. 
Playing at Papa and Grandmere’s house is always a treat.
We took the kids over to a local lake where we braved sprinkling rain to play on the playground and feed ducks and capture Pokemon. 
Malachi and Bryant have been captured by blue and green hands!
Seeing Emmie’s confidence grow since the halo has come off has been amazing to watch. She jumped, walked and giggled and was always full of smiles.
Silas’s first jumping trip!
These smiles ya’ll!
The highlight of the weekend is the family olympics. This year, Ceili Rain and I attempted the canoe race. We did good. Until we had to turn around and come back.
Thankfully we didn’t tip over.
One of the many things I love about our church is the sense of family. Everyone helps. So, if Malachi needed help with a game, one of the other “moms” stepped in to help!
Daddy is super talented…hold the toddler…throw the water balloon.
Malachi has to be one of the cutest olympic competitors.
Every year, there is a family scavenger hunt. My kids, well, they are some pretty competitive kids (I have no idea where they got that). The above picture was part of the hunt. And yes, our kids won.
At the camp, there is a small stone outcropping that they call Little Stone Mountain. This is our trek up the hill.
Halfway there and the view was already gorgeous.
Made it! So pretty.
A little melodramatic re-play.
Selfie on top of the rock.
Someone forgot to tell our city girl that you need water to make the canoe go.
Camp Dog Bandit and Emmie were fast friends. Well, Bandit is friends with everyone.
Papa had a wonderful time seeing Eastern Europe for a week with Mark and Silas. We were glad he made it home too!
Having a crown is just as good.
Mr. H goes to church with us and has notarized untold numbers of adoption documents and been rewarded a couple of times with supper on us. Then there was that one day he had enough notarizing like a normal person and decided to do it in style. With a box on his head.
Smudge sensed something was up. Again. And did everything in his power to keep us from packing for our Ukraine/Grandparent trip. He was not happy with any of us.
Cute contemplative cookie eating.
Girls in rollers…it’s a rite of passage in our house.
Just because Zoe is pretty and can do some pretty amazing things with her hair.
Princess Emmie surrounded by lots of knights…traipsing through the fields.
We enjoyed a subscription to Genius Box for the summer (and then three months after because I forgot to cancel it.). Okay, we have four boxes sitting in our school area because I forgot to use them up but they will get used when we are at home with nothing to do. Stop laughing ya’ll.
Malachi’s first grown fruit…watermelon. It was left too long on the ground and split. But at least it was something.
We got home from Josiah’s hospital stay and I walked in to the girls’ room and realized that one of the cats had used the bathroom in it. Which resulted in me cleaning out the entire room and cleaning all the carpets upstairs. Which resulted in rearranging the room. Which resulted in the discovery that Emmie’s crib (bought used) was starting to tear up). Which resulted in Emmie getting to sleep like a big girl…on the mattress…on the floor. Which resulted in Zoe, Ceili Rain and I brainstorming how we could re-decorate their room. Which we did this past December…and are still doing…so you have to wait on pictures of that.
The night after we got home from the hospital. Josiah wanted to crash on the couch. So, we did.
Zoe celebrated Urkainian Independence day in her traditional shirt and with a traditional hairstyle.
My kids are awesome.
And Emmie has shades…Her right eye (which is effected by Horner Syndrome from her first surgery) is very sensitive to light. She finally agreed that wearing glasses was a good idea.
This is pretty much how she spent her August. At the water table, in a diaper. 
Smudge is eating her toe???
We trapped a Emmie.
And a Bryant.
And an Emmie and a Bryant together.
“Small but Mighty” Yes, indeed.
