Popcorn and lemonade, movie nights, CHOCOLATE, giggling, Barbies, sidewalk chalk, giggling, coloring, no set bedtimes, spaghetti, the ZOO, giggling, dancing, homemade pancakes, the carousel, bumper cars, butterflies, hugs, kisses and lots of GIGGLING…
Cousin Camp 2010.
Enjoy the last days of summer!
God bless, Tera
In the spring of 2007, we were in the process of adopting Emma from Guatemala. We were in the thick of it. We had already visited Emma twice in Guatemala and we were assuming that we would not see Emma again until our pick up trip.
Matt and Liz were also in the process of adopting a sweet baby girl from Guatemala. Actually, we were using the same agency that they were using. Liz contacted me and asked if I would be interested in taking a trip to Guatemala with her to visit our girls. I felt so humbled and of course, excited!! We had a wonderful visit with our girls in March of 2007! I will never forget it!
Izzy and Emma
Emma…so precious!
Those EYES!
Eating…sort of!
Awwwwww…
We met so many sweet people on that trip including…
Miss Sofia and her Mommy Tricia!
That was then…
This is now!! We met Liz, Matt and their family for lunch today and we snapped these photos of Izzy, Emma, Lily and Dasha! Emma does not always like to have her picture taken and she was not excited about this photo shoot but Liz and Matt’s girls were great sports! My, the girls have certainly grown! Izzy and Emma are just a couple of months apart in age and they will be FOUR this year!! I can’t believe it!
Good times! : D A delicious lunch with a special family!
I love adoption!
God bless,
Tera
Well, summer is officially upon us! : D I have a bunch of fun photos for you!
My new hydrangeas…Endless Summer Twist-n-Shout…so pretty and interesting looking. Love them!
We bought a blow up pool several weeks ago and it started leaking air and water after two uses so, Emma has been enjoying our sprinklers while we decide what to do about a pool! : D I absolutely LOVE this watermelon bathing suit (or, as Emma would say…”Waterlemon”).
This month, we celebrated the THIRD anniversary of the day that Emma came to live in our home! Can you believe it’s been three years? Wow! We celebrated with ice cream! Emma loved her vanilla cone. : )
Today, we took Emma fishing…she had a blast!!
“This is totally AWESOME!! Go faster, Papa!!!”
We enjoyed our picnic dinner on the boat and Papa spent some time breaking in our new motor.
So, here’s Emma’s first fish tale (this tale is true…hee hee)… : ) We decided to let Emma try out her Barbie rod and reel using a little fly as bait. On the first cast, right near the boat, we hooked a good size northern!! Papa guesses that it was around 25 inches long!! We could not believe it and we were cheering!! The fish quickly went to the other side of the boat and easily broke the line! It was very exciting! ; ) Papa didn’t bring extra lures so Emma quickly graduated to the only other rod and reel that we had in the boat. Doesn’t it look like this wasn’t her first rodeo? She blew us away….she was reeling like a PRO! : )
On one the first casts with the “big girl” rod and reel, she had a nibble at the end of the line!
She was a little intimidated by the nibble so she handed the fishing pole over to Papa! “Reel, Papa, REEL!!!!!! I sink it’s a BIG ONE!!”
Emma: “OH, a fish, A FISH!!!!!!”
Papa: “Look at that…it’s a crappie!!”
Emma: “Mama…LOOK…it’s a CRABBIE!! A CRABBIE!!!!!!!” ; )
Emma was so proud of her “crabbie” and WE were so proud of HER. : D
Before I sign out for the evening, I will leave you with a few of my current favorite “Emma-isms”… ; D Little kids say that most hilarious things…
* Papa: “Hey Emma, check out this guitar!” Emma: “Papa, that’s NOT a GUITAR…that’s a UKE-AH-LARRY!!!!!!!!” (Ukulele)
* Emma: “We have to be happy wiff people and den we’ll make LOTS of fwends!!!”
* Me: “We’re going to a Barbeque, Emma.” Emma: “What’s a barbeque? Is dat yike a dance powty???” (Translation: Is that like a dance party???)
* This is what I hear from Emma about 34349384938943 times every time we’re outside and she wants to go on the swings: “Mama!!! Can you SWING ME????? Pweeeeeze?”
* Emma: “Mommy, it was just an AXE-SILL-LENT!!!” (An accident)
* Me: “Hey Emma…come and get your vitamin…” Emma: “Uh, um…I want CHOC-YET! How about CHOC-YET???!” (Choc-yet = chocolate)
* When we’re in the truck, Jason and I try to have a conversation over the very loud talking and phone noises, boat noises, singing, etc. coming from the back seat. I actually LOVE and adore these noises but sometimes, Jason and I can’t even hear ourselves talk so we say, “Hey Emma…can you please make the phone ringing sounds just a little bit quieter so that Mommy and Papa can have a conversation?” Emma quiets down but continues to make the noises and a few seconds later she yells, “Hey MAMA…is DIS quiet enough for you??????!” ; )
* I love that: “Someping” = “Something” and “Nuffing” = “Nothing” : )
* I also think it’s hilarious when she says: “Mommy, can I see Emma on da blog??” ; P
God bless,
Tera
Emma can hoola hoop. Boy, can she ever! : D I think it’s totally cool…and, hilarious too!!
C’mon…click and watch…you know you want too! ; D You don’t even have to turn off my music first…leave my blog music on and watch Emma hoola to the music…LOL! ; D ; P
Thanks for all of the birthday messages on Facebook!
Thanks for recording this video for me, Lesa!
God bless, Tera
What is a lifebook?
For Emma, her lifebook is the personal story of her life from the time that she was born until the time that she officially became our daughter. It is a very important book.
I have not focused enough attention on the creation of this book until now. I have had outline of the text written for quite some time and now I need to put the pages together. I am hoping that by creating this blog post, I will further motivate myself to COMPLETE this very important project! This is the first page…
I won’t share all of the pages with you as I work through them…the content of the pages will be very personal and will only ever be seen by a few people. However, maybe sharing this one page will help others who have been wanting to begin this project but haven’t?
Do you have an adopted child? Maybe a foster child? Are you interested in creating a lifebook for your child? I highly recommend reading the books before creating a lifebook: “Lifebooks: Creating a Treasure for the Adopted Child” and “Adoption Lifebook: A Bridge to Your Child’s Beginnings”. They are both super quick reads. Also, if you are looking for a custom lifebook service, my friend Kelly hand scraps lifebooks through her business, “Custom Lifebooks”.
I’m scrapping Emma’s book digitally using 8x8 pages. I created the page above using digital art by Shabby Miss Jenn Designs.
I need to put my nose to the grindstone…I really do!! : )
God bless, Tera
Emma has a swing set and she LOVES it. : ) Grandpa put it together for her. (Have I mentioned that my parents live with us now?) Emma wouldn't be Emma if she didn't go down the slide head first. ; )
I hope that you are enjoying your spring!
It's May...almost SUMMER, right? Well, I think it's snowing outside right now. SNOWING. Only in Minnesota. I'm going outside right now to cover our hydrangeas. ; )
Love to you, sweet readers!
God bless, Tera
