October 2012

Alright... #3 just means that I must be motivated!  ;)

 Aron helping Ithan carefully chew on the carrot!  A fun and healthy teething snack!

 I mentioned in the last post that we had put the painter's tape on Diego's glasses so he couldn't look over them, remember?  Well, now you see his dad's real creative genius -- a Batman blinder!!!

 This was also the season when I was making all kinds of baby food and (I have to admit) really proud of the fun colors in our freezer!!!

 Also the month when we announced that [swallow hard, deep breath] we were going to have another baby!

Who is already here, yikes!!!

 Date night cooking: kebabs!

 To announce Eric's future arrival we let the kids make their own t-shirts to go around and tell people -- it was fun!

 Carving pumpkins is something we do every year (and hopefully this year we'll get to carve our own that we'll soon be planting!).  The kids thought it was really funny to put a baby pumpkin inside my pumpkin to show that I was pregnant... :))))))))))))))

 The kids and their pumpkin creations!  They sat on the floor with the lights out and watched the little candles burn for quite some time!

BAHIA DE KINO WITH RINK GRANDPARENTS

 We went to the beach again with Papa and Mama Rink and it was a lot of fun!

(Above) Papa Rink throws a pail of water on Diego who was posing in the ditch they made!

 Marcos digging yet another hole!

 Ithan loved the water; and, yes, that is an understatement.  :)

 Candi & Aron

 Playing Grandma Jeanne's bouncy-ball game!

 Getting ready to swim!

 The kids found a live starfish and put it in a bucket with a couple shells and some other creatures -- lots of entertainment to see it moving around and attacking the different objects!

 Aron buried as a turtle!

The prelude (a sand-filled one!) to Diego being buried...

 ... as a mermaid!!!  

[Candi provided the shells to which her brothers gasped and she said, "That's how Ariel is!"  Too true!]

 And... this would be Joel's handy-work... :)

 Hanging out upstairs before we headed in to a restaurant for supper one night... I love it when the kids get along like this and just play together or hang out talking!

 Mama Rink and Ithan!

And last time I started with a bare baby butt, so I figured I better end this post with one too!  ;)

September 2012

Shocked yet with a second post this soon?  I am!!!  :)

 What do you do when your baby has a really bad diaper rash?

Lay him on a blanket and entertain him!  Thanks, honey!  ;)

 These sweaters made my day when I found them at Savers in Tucson... I just knew they would be perfect for our Christmas pic if I could only get my husband to wear his!

And... if you've seen our Christmas pic, you know he capitulated!!!  ;)

 Our kids celebrated Independence Day and Candi was selected to dance "The Cucaracha" with another boy in her class!  She is fortunate to have a very creative daddy who made her an incredible cockroach outfit... :)))  She did great!!!

Diego and two of his friends, Giezzi and Eduardo, as young cowboys!  [This was the point in time where Diego kept looking over the top of his glasses, so Joel invented a way to keep him from doing so!  We actually have NO glasses now since they have broken three, four... perhaps more times.  *sigh*]

 I had to dress up too!  I knew the Mardi Gras beads would come in handy at some point!  ;)

 Ithan at the start of his getting in to everything -- he is now in FULL-FLEDGED "get-into-everything-I-can-get-my-hands-on" mode!!!

 Ithan loved the uniform clothes basket... he would play in this for 20-30 minutes without a peep!

 We were fortunate to get to take a trip to Hermosillo with our good friends Duane & Ann and their family (their kids and ours are all pretty much the same age) -- this was our kids' first experience staying at a hotel!  They thoroughly enjoyed it!!!

 The pool was the biggest attraction of all!

 The following day we went to a children's science museum there in Hermosillo -- all of our kids; at that point!!!

 Garrett & Aron -- good friends!

 Learning how to make muffins -- yummy!!!

 It's embarrassing to mention how many times Joel, Duane & I tried to win on this balance-o-meter (or named something like that!)

 Diego playing "Angry Birds" -- or the equivalent thereof; I think he was there the whole time!!!

 The center of the museum floor has this amazing play area for little tykes -- Ithan had a ball!!!

 Cassidy & Ann with precious little Tory!

 After the museum we let the kids do a "driving course" ride in the same park area -- and it was (dare I say this???) INCREDIBLY BORING.  I mean... they actually had to abide by driving rules -- forget bumper cars, this was driver's ed. for six-year-olds.  :(

[On the other hand, this weirdo pic of Candi maybe made it worth it! :)]

 The parking area!!!  And the kids got tickets if they were going too fast or didn't stop or park correctly... haha!

And last but DEFINITELY NOT LEAST... one of my favorite photos of the man in my life!!!  Anyone want to add a picture caption to this one?!?  :))))))))))

July and August 2012

 Hi everyone!  I'm going to be doing a recap of the intervening months between now (June 2013) and last year!  Maybe things will have settled into more of a routine and I'll be more consistent -- but don't hold your breath!

 Candi graduated from Kinder in June 2012 and they celebrated her graduation in August -- she was super-cute as she got her certificate!  From 14 months when she arrived at CVE to almost a first-grader... crazy how quickly time flies!

 August 2012 also brought the second year of Expo Esperanza!  Our kids all participated and are looking forward to even more projects and excitement for this coming year!

 There might come a day when he is no longer able to do this... :)

 The start of the school year with their new backpacks -- thanks Papa and Mama Rink!

 Ithan at 5 months -- I can't believe how much he's grown since this picture!!!  Updates to come, of course... :)

 The men in our family headed out to work on Limon's ranch!

 We were blessed to have Luke, Jamie and their kids come visit in July; (above) the girls were painting with water-colors.

 The boys outside with water balloons -- notice the continuing water theme?!?

 Brinlee making Ithan laugh!

Aunt Jamie holding Ithan!

A quick adoption update:  last fall we found out that the process of changing two of the kids' birth certificates had to be restarted because of some errors.  It was hard to hear since it meant that we were essentially back at the same point we'd been two and a half years earlier... but we truly believe God has a reason for the timing being different from what we would choose!  We found out a few weeks ago that the birth certificates are now almost ready and (Lord-willing) they will be able to start the process of taking away rights from the birth mother and Candi's birth father mid-June.  We appreciate your continued prayers!