Thursday, July 21, 2011

53rd Ave. Park

 Yesterday we went to a fountain park in Hillsboro with the Woodwards. It was really fun and not too crowded. Lilly and Elise love playing in the water. Hannah said that she would not play in the water and that she hated the park, but after we got there she was in the water the most and you could tell that she was having fun. Afterwards we went to Costco and got some ice cream. These pictures are from last year when my cousins were visiting, so a little outdated. 
 Lilly
 Maddy
 Elise
 Chloe and Maddy
Hannah, Chloe, Maddy, Natalie, Elise and Chloe's friend Katelyn

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Family History Trip 2010

Last May we went on a family history trip to visit our relatives who lived an hour away. We went to the Dalles, Salem and Klickitat. We learned a lot about people and saw some really cool pictures along with a video of my great-great-great-grandma. We've kept in touch with my great-grandma's cousin, Aunt Pat,  who lives in The Dalles, and have gotten to taste her many baked goods. 
 Aunt Vicki (my great-great-uncle's wife)
 Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Gilbert (my great-grandma's cousin and his wife)
 Aunt Pat (Uncle Gilbert's sister)
 Aunt Patti and Aunt Icel

Miss Mia

 Most volunteers have their one baby that they get attached to while they are at Starfish. They spend tons of time with them and take tons of pictures of them. My baby was Mia. There were those other kids that I hung out with when Mia was sleeping or someone else was holding her, but if you ask my friends who I talk about most they would tell you Mia. Mia has cleft lip and was fairly new when we came to Starfish. The birthday that the orphanage gave her is March 4, so she is 4 months old now. She was the youngest baby there when we were there and the healthiest for her age. I spent my time putting her in cute outfits that fit her and cuddling her. She is a cuddlebug. She won't go to sleep unless someone is holding her and will wake up if you try to put her down. I spent a few meals holding her to keep her happy. She had her surgery a few weeks after we left and will need another one next year. 
Pictures from Mia photo shoot



Pictures of Mia and Me



More pictures from our photo shoot


Mia at 7 a.m. right after she woke up

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Cannon Beach

 We went to Cannon Beach yeseterday with Grandma and Madelynn. The Woodwards joined us and we had loads of fun. It was busier than normal, but we had awesome weather. We got a lot more gnome pictures and walked out to haystack rock. Oh, and don't forget our aggressive game of Cat and Mouse.




 Madelynn covered herself in sand. It wasn't until we got home that she decided that it wasn't the best idea. :)
 We saw these 2 older guys building a sand castle together. We thought that it was pretty cool.
We went to the fairgrounds today so Autumn and I could enter in our photography stuff. I entered a picture of Daniel from when I went to the Starfish House. I'll tell you what I got in a few weeks when I enter the rest of my stuff. Autumn did get a blue ribbon. :)

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Video of Starfish Foster Home 2011

My mom made this video 2 months ago for church. I hope this is the right one. :)

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Happy 4th of July!!

Happy 4th of July!! This is a picture of Connor last summer. He is super dooper cute. I thought that it would be patriotic since he's wearing blue. :)

Friday, July 1, 2011

Cameron: Another Starfish Miracle

 Cameron is another one of those babies that just amazes you with their progress. While we were at Starfish, Amanda was showing us pictures of the babies when they had arrived and when they left. Cameron was one of those babies that you would think wouldn't make it. He was so tiny. He slept and ate for the first month after he came and the progress he made in that short amount of time is just amazing. He was just adopted this week to a family in Boston. I was so happy to hear that he finally had his family. He is the sweetest little boy. One day at Starfish, after lunch, Cameron and Aaron came up to me and grabbed my hands. They started pulling me around the courtyard grabbing the hands of any of the other babies that were in our path. Soon I was pulling around 10 toddlers with 3 in walkers following behind. We got some really good pictures of him while we were there. He was really good with the whole smiling for the camera thing. Once I gave Cameron and Joshua a piggy-back rides around the courtyard. He left once I was done. I thought that he was just going off to play with some other kids, but instead he came back with a few with him and soon I had a line for rides. The rides got shortened really quickly, because I got really tired.
I was just reading Cameron's mom's blog and there was a sweet story about how he had gotten this toy car from his mom and how he was attached to it. When they were at the Xian orphanage, Cameron gave his precious car to one of the toddlers there. Here is the link to the story: http://peaceandjoyarecoming.blogspot.com/2011/06/greatest-love.html
Coco update: She is starting to walk

Cousins' Camp 2011 pictures

Hiking to Blackman's Lake
Canoeing at Blackman's Lake

Buttercup 
Group picture
The wigwam that Grandpa made