Finally, some new photos

It's been quite a while since we received photos of Avery. The last time we received any directly from For His Glory was from June I believe and we only got one. This time we got three! It looks like she now has 4 teeth and also a case of round worm or scabies on her forehead. Poor little thing! It's sad because each time we get photos she has grown so much and we still have so many more months (or years...hope not) before she comes home.

Time Goes By Way too Fast

Today was Caden's first day of second grade, where has time gone? Next week is his 7th birthday. He is growing up way too fast, although, he still hasn't lost a tooth, so at least that's something I can hold on to...for now! Gracie is also growing really fast as you can see in the photos! She is a really good dog, except for this morning when she decided to leave the backyard head to the busy corner out front...which means I had to go get her wearing my PJ's, hair not brushed, you get the picture!

Adoption update: We have none. We are waiting for Estherline's (Avery's) Bio Parent's to return to Orphanage to officially relinquish her (by signing some papers). Until they do, we are at a stand still...hopefully not for too much longer!

Lizard under my bed

IS NOT WHAT I WANTED TO SEE WHEN I AM GETTING READY FOR BED. And to make it even more exciting, Mike is out of town so I had to capture this lizard all on my own...luckily it was almost dead, otherwise there is no chance I would have ever caught this thing. And, there was no way I would ever go to sleep knowing there was a lizard crawling around under me, on me or anywhere near me!!

The Toothpick Fairy

Yesterday Preston asked: "Are these cracks (he means spaces) between all my teeth for the toothpick fairy to come?"

More photos

Ocean Isle

We absolutely fell in love with Ocean Isle Beach. The boys want to move there permanently...so do I.

Their favorite day was going on the Dolphin Adventure Cruise and watching dolphins splash and play in the ocean. I happened to get lucky and caught a large (citation size) Pompano off the Ocean Isle Pier. Catching a large fish on the pier makes one an instant celebrity I learned. By the way, citation in this case is a good thing. I thought I was going to have to pay a fine or something when they said I might be issued a citation. Apparently, I'll get some kind of certificate in the mail. By the way, I estimated the fish to weigh about 15 pounds...it was 2 and a 1/2. Hey, what do I know. It felt like 50 reeling it in.

When I went back to the fishing pier later that night, people were still talking about the girl who reeled in a large Pompano and didn't know what she was doing. Oh yeah, Mike caught a couple sharks...sorry honey, I almost forgot about that.

We also enjoyed (a little too much) Calabash Creamery and Ocean Isle Creamery.

It was perfect weather and we only wish it could have lasted longer!

And her name is...

GRACIE....and she has definitely made herself at home!

A New Addition to the Family

While we wait for Avery, we thought what better way to pass the time than adopt this precious puppy! We haven't officially named her yet, and we won't be picking her up until we get back from the beach next weekend. Some names we're considering: Annie, Lucy, Daisy...

She is an 8 week old yellow lab.

Her story: The little girl in the photos saved up her allowance and when her mom went away for a weekend, her dad took her to buy the puppy. Now, they already have a one year old lab, so needless to say, mom wasn't too happy when she got home. So that's how we have come to take this puppy off their hands. That's what we get for browsing on Craigslist for a pet turtle.

Now, we don't have much of a track record when it comes to training dogs, so any input is welcomed!!! Good thing we are going on vacation, because it's going to be a little hectic when we get home!

So far, we have determined Preston is feeding the dog each morning, and Caden will be on pooper scooper patrol after school. We'll figure out the rest as we go along!