Irish Festival

A couple weeks ago, we all went to the Irish Festival. Why, you might ask? Well, John is part Scottish and he enjoys going to anything even somewhat related. Besides, the Irish dancing and bagpipes are always fun!

Eli still talks about the "Irish music" and tells random people about how he danced to it. And, yes, he did indeed dance. As you can see here, he would spin and clap and then fall down when he got dizzy. The people around us loved it, and we did too!




Of course, I think he liked the kid's stuff even more. He got to go on a huge inflatable slide, jump around in a bounce house, and get on our shoulders to catch bubbles! What more could a kid ask for??


As for Maddie, well since she has red hair, everyone that saw her just assumed that she was Irish. I must say, I don't think I've ever seen that many red-heads all in one place at one time. :) She fit right in!

8 Months Old

Time flies when you don't blog very often, and Maddie is now 8 months old! She has accomplished a lot in the past month.

She now has TWO teeth

She figured out how to crawl forward! She uses her right knee and her left foot. :)





She can drink out of a sippy cup (the straw kind, she still doesn't know quite know what to do with a spout and handle one that you have to tip up)

She pulls up on everything and can even switch from one piece of furniture to another, if it's within arm's reach

She eats puffs and biter biscuits in addition to all types of baby food



She loves to "swim" - her version is to stand up while in her float and cruise around the baby pool


Eli's favorite thing for Maddie to do is crawl. Yesterday afternoon, he looked out of his room and saw her trying to crawl down the hallway and he shouted, "Maddie's coming!" and ran squealing into his room to hide from her. :)

Fourth of July

We went to the mountains for the July 4th weekend and really enjoyed ourselves. Eli has been asking for "more cabin" ever since we went for Memorial Day. He loves being up there and, I must say, we were very impressed with our 2 little travelers! They did awesome in the car. The trip there we only stopped once and there were no meltdowns. John and I even had some time to talk with each other. :)


Eli had a great time outside looking in the valleys for elk with binoculars (thanks to Papa). Each morning he would wake up and ask to look for animals. We got to see lots of deer and even a few adorable fawns!

We drove up to Ouray on the 4th and joined in on some picnic fun. Eli just loved playing at the park and then we of course had to walk around town to get some ice cream! We ended the evening with smores around the campfire and got to see fireworks on TV (none in the woods, thank you).




Just before the holiday weekend, we got together with some friends of ours who were visiting from TX. They too have been blessed by adoption and birth. Our older children are about 5 months apart and our younger ones are only about a week apart! It's fun to be able to share life with them and see them, even if it's only once a year.


The older boys had a grand old time getting thoroughly drenched with water! And, Maddie cheered them on. :)