Welcome Home, Evelyn!!

On the morning of Monday, October 26th we got the call we had been waiting a year and half for! We had been chosen as adoptive parents for a baby! We learned the baby was a little girl who was born on September 2, so almost 2 months old. She had been living with a foster couple in Abilene since her birth and would be legally ready for us to get her the NEXT DAY! Wow! We were so excited, and of course, surprised! We prayed about this baby and spoke with her case worker a little later in the day, but it was a pretty easy decision that we would be driving to Abilene the next day to meet our daughter and bring her home. 

We made arrangements for the boys to get picked up from school and left for Abilene right after dropping them off on Tuesday morning. They were so excited. John Mark and I talked through several names on our way there, and about how, all of a sudden, this had become crazy and quick. We finally got to meet our sweet Evelyn Marian after signing all sorts of papers and meeting her amazing foster parents. We also had the pleasure of meeting both of her loving biological parents. They even presented her to us. She was one loved on baby that day. Three sets of parents just couldn't get enough of sweet Evie. We are so blessed that we are the ones that got to take her home forever!

After everything got squared away, we met up with my parents for lunch before heading back home.

Evie meeting Misha and Gin-Gin

Going home!

 Our friend that had picked up the boys had taken them to the playground at church, so we drove up there to gather them and let them meet their new sister! They just stared and laughed and laughed. We had all been praying for this little girl for a long time!

Curtis checking her out at home

Two happy new brothers

Curtis holding her for the first time after his bath

Our first family picture!

Evie was so tolerant of all of us handling her and wanting her attention. She is such a blessing to our family. She was 6 lbs 1 oz and 18 3/4 inches when she was born. When we got her, she was almost 9 pounds, about the size of the boys when they were born. She is overall such an easy baby. We all think she is so wonderful, and she is so loved! Plenty more pictures to come!

Pumpkin Carving

Wesley wanted to carve a pumpkin this year. Usually we just paint small ones, but we decided to go for the carving experience. Wesley was in charge of getting the guts out and drawing the face, and then both he and Curtis worked on the carving.

Wesley showing Curtis how it's done.

Proud of their creation

And little did we know, this was our last Saturday as a family of FOUR!!

Zoo Take Two

Curtis and I had a second trip to the Zoo in October, but this time John Mark and Wesley came too! This was the trip sponsored by my company. Free Zoo trips are always welcome in our family. :) It was another beautiful day to be outside. This time we saw pretty much everything. 

The orangutan is always so funny. He seems to always look us in the eyes.

You can barely see the giraffes back there.

Again, the tigers are barely visible back there.
Curtis had to get out his binoculars.

Lounging kangaroos 

Getting to touch starfish and horseshoe crabs

The boys brought their own money to get flattened pennies made. 

Fun October Saturday

We had to do some tile shopping one Saturday in mid-October after our master shower's dry wall began sinking into the wall! One shop we went to had lots of fun displays and the boys took LOTS of pretend showers all around the place. They had also brought their hero figures, and there was some new fun terrain for them to have battles. This double shower display was especially fun!

After tile shopping had lost it's luster for everyone, we went to John Mark's favorite burger place in Fort Worth, Dutch's. We ate on the roof since it was such nice weather.

 When we came home, Curtis decided it would be a good day to try riding his bike with no training wheels. He does not think it is so fun. We have since put the training wheels back on...

Wesley had gotten a little oak sapling one of his last days of second grade. I had watered it every day, but we had never gotten around to planting it. The boys worked and worked on digging a hole, and we finally got it in the ground. Then they decided to run around in the sprinkler. By the end of that, it was getting a little cool to be wet!

 After warm showers and clean jammies, the boys cuddled up together on the couch and Wesley read to Curtis. A fun sunny Saturday!

Curtis' Field Trip to the Zoo

October 2nd was Curtis' first field trip experience! All of the kindergarteners got to go to the zoo, and I got to go with them. I loved getting to hang out with Curtis all day. I didn't even have another little person to keep track of! It was a beautiful fall day, and I knew we would be coming back in the next few weeks for my company's family day, so I just let him go where he wanted to go and spend as much time as he wanted looking. His main goal was to get to the snakes, and somehow that was pretty much our last stop.

I'm going to have a big collection of Curtis posing
on this statue. He always wants a picture on it.

I think Curtis most enjoyed getting to feed the little birds. One sad little bird that was missing most of it's feathers on it's head took a great liking to Curtis. We stayed in here for at least 45 minutes, and Curtis tried to feed every little bird in there.

On the bouncy bridge

Another favorite picture spot for Curtis.
The otters weren't out for this trip, though.

And finally, the snakes! The King Cobra was very active while we were there. Curtis sat and watched it for a long while. He was amazed that it mainly eats other snakes to survive.

School Run

This year we had two participating in the school run in late September! I think Curtis liked being a part of it instead of waiting around for Wesley to finish. Wesley got more into the racing aspect this year. John Mark didn't run with Wesley this year like in years past since he would be going with Curtis. Wesley got himself to the very front of the line and had a great determined look on his face. He pushed himself through the run and came back sweaty and worn out! His run was about 3/4 of a mile. 

The kindergarteners go last so they won't get run over, so Curtis had a long wait. They do dances and songs while waiting for their turn to run. Curtis looked pretty bored, but did finally participate in the chicken dance a little.

Curtis' run was about 1/4 mile, and John Mark had to do a bit of encouraging to get him to run to the finish, but he made it! He was also getting over a cold.

All three runners cooling down.

A little snippet of Wesley dancing with his buddy, Denver:

Wesley Tries Tae Kwon Do

Wesley's experience with Tae Kwon Do has a happier ending than Curtis' with baseball. We are now in his third month of it, and he still likes it! He will be testing for his yellow belt next week. Hopefully I will be caught up on the blog by then to be able to post pictures after he achieves his goal. He doesn't love practicing at home all the time, but it is more enjoyable if he can get me to join in on practices. 

Curtis Tries Baseball

Curtis wanted to try baseball this year. It was kind of rough on all of us! He didn't really want to put any effort into it all, but we kept at it. We weren't upset when the last game got rained out and never got rescheduled due to muddy fields for three weekends in a row. He did look cute in his uniform. And he did like the times when he got to bat! He smiled the whole time, but barely swung the bat. Oh, and he loved running through the tunnel at the end. While we're focusing on the fun parts, he rather enjoyed snack time at the end, too. :) He was the boy number 13. 

Good representation of his general attitude

Award presentation and snack time after game

The practices and games were both on Saturday. They would practice about 45 minutes and then play a game that lasted about 45 minutes. The coaches were great, both energetic and patient. It was one of those systems where they didn't keep score, and every player got some kind of award throughout the season. Curtis got an award on the one day I was unable to go to the game. He got the award for hustling! John Mark says it was the only day he saw real effort on Curtis' part, and I missed it. 

Batting practice station

Running through the human tunnel after a game!

Curtis has notified us that he does not wish to play baseball again. Maybe that will change, but we have chalked it up to a good (somewhat expensive) learning experience for all of us.