Sept. in Review with LOTS 'O PICS

Warning: This post is just a hodge podge of pictures from September!

Kwame and his cute cousin Simon (what is the official term for cousin's kid?) got to meet up for a quick lunch playdate at UVillage.

1st day of school-'Donut Day' with Gramps! It is a special treat the kids get on days that Grandpa has his Men's group in town-they look forward to it every week.

Yes, that is Justus, and he is almost as tall as his teacher this year. CRAZY!!!

Yes, I got to be one of the coolest mom's to my girls (thanks to T&T) and take the girls to the Miley Cyrus concert with many some of their closest girlfriends and moms! They were SOOOO excited for their first concert and I was happy to be there with them. Lucky girls!

Do you think they could be more excited???

Almost there.... Ella was beside herself. She was wearing her Hanna Montana boots and carrying a newspaper purse that Justus made for her.

Fia and Kwame got to visit Grandma Gwen and she took us to dinner. They had so much fun and got to be the stars of the retirement home for the night.

We had a women's retreat at Cascades Camp and I got to spend some quality time with four lovely ladies from Alive. Here I am with my great friend, Tarra,who I am SO thankful for.

The two of us climbed the climbing wall at camp and got to go canoeing too. As a group we were able to listen to a fantastic speaker, have all meals made for us, worship with some rockin music, hike, sleep(sort of), get massages, drink coffee, eat some more, horseback ride, and lots more. It is wonderful.

Hilary, Laura, Tarra, and I: the brave souls who survived 4 women snoring in one cabin!!(none of us, of course)

One of the best parts of the weekend for me was the time that I got to myself one morning. No one was on the lake, it was quiet, and I just got to BE. God and I had a great chat! Ahhh...I just love being in God's creation-there's nothing like it. My life is what it is because of time that I have spent at three important camps during the summer's of my life. This experience was no exception.

This sign is one that we saw heading out with friends to the Olympic Peninsula. Isn't it just perfect for the NW?

Of course part of our tour or the peninsula was to show Jennifer and Lou a NW winery-that is a no brainer!!

Fia's first day of preschool!!!!

Preschool just wasn't going to be in the cards this fall because of a variety of financial reasons as we get back on track after the adoption. But...we got a call from a local preschool we had looked into and an anonymous group had decided to pay for Fia to go to their school this year-Wow!!! We were beyond amazed and humbled. Thank you so much to whoever you are-this little girl is SOOOO excited and we are so thankful for YOU and

to God for this experience!

Fia and Kwame got to have their little cousin over for lunch as Inger and I made plum jam the other day. 'E' is super cute and we are so excited to have her living by us for a few months right now. I also find it funny, as she is almost three years younger than Fia!! Can you tell???

This picture is from dinner tonight-aren't they cute sisters??

We also had a fun day today, but I forgot my camera. It was a teacher institute day(we have at least one a month-no wonder school goes so late, huh?) and we headed out to the Point Defiance Zoo with some of our good friends. The kids LOVED seeing all the animals and sea creatures, as it also has an aquarium there. I was enthralled with all the different types of sea horses! I don't think I had ever really noticed them before-wow!Thanks again 'F' family for everything!

If you are still reading...goodnight! Sorry SO long!