Fall Break Fun

Caylie and Samuel's school was on Fall Break last week through this Monday, so we tried to do some fun activities while the weather was still nice.  Justin's school was off Thursday and Friday, as well.  The first Monday was taken up with parent-teacher conferences.  I should have taken pics of the kids with their teaches, but didn't think of that till now!

On Tuesday we walked up to one of the playgrounds in our neighborhood.  Caylie liked this slide, but wanted someone to race with!

And Jim and Samuel played some basketball.

On Wednesday we went to the zoo.  (So glad we got a pass this year.  It's come in handy!)  One of the first things we saw was the feeding of the penguins.  

This mama gorilla had a tiny baby.  She brought it right up to the window to show us.

Aww, so cute!

 Brittany, Tessa, and Caylie, enjoying their lunch.

Giraffes are my favorite.  

This guy came out to do a show for us.

 Caylie and a sea lion friend.

Samuel, Tessa, Caylie, and Mr. Lion.

Sam and me.

On Thursday we went to the indoor pool where the kids took lessons.  At the end of each session of lessons, they get a free pass, so we went armed with four of those!

Caylie is so tiny that she can stand in the shallow end, but just barely!  Daddy's helping her with her back float.

And big brother Justin made her a noodle seat.

Practicing her breathing and kicking.

Justin likes his goggles.

Samuel tried to hide from the camera, 

but I managed to get this shot.  

Justin resting after some laps.  He is a very good swimmer!

The breast stroke is his favorite.

Justin looks so big and old in this picture.  I don't know how that happened.  He was my baby for so many years.

Cutie girl!

Oops, I managed to get another one of Sam.  You can tell he knew it, since he's making this face.

On Friday we drove down to Colorado Springs to Focus on the Family.  We met up with my blog friend, Joli, and her sweet kiddos.  Her blog is "Following Where He Leads", over on the right side.  --->
It was one of the first blogs I found, back when we started our adoption process for Caylie in 2012.  Joli's family just moved to Colorado, and it was fun to finally meet in person!

Caylie enjoying a boat ride.

And then was joined by Samuel, Gabriel, and Abigail.

Gabriel and Caylie coloring an electronic picture.

All the kids.  Samuel really enjoyed making new friends.  It was good for him to meet some older kids from China and also to learn about domestic adoption.

Justin, Caylie, and Samuel at the city of War Drobe in the land of Spare Oom.

Silly puppets.

Caylie and Abigail.  Cuteness!!

Justin with a puppet friend.

Samuel and the WW2 plane. 

Caylie, Gabriel, and Abigail entertaining us.

Justin liked this guy 'cause he had a trombone.

 Joli and me.

And all the kids!

Then it was time for halloween!  We don't do a lot for that, but we do like to carve faces in pumpkins (especially when the pumpkins are free!) and dress up a little bit for trick-or-treating.  We never go all out or spend money, but we have fun.  :)

Pumpkin carving on Sunday.  Keelan made yummy pumpkins seeds, too.
Destiny, Brad, Tessa, Caylie, Jim, Samuel, Keelan, and Brittany.
 (Taylor and Justin were doing their own things, I guess.)

Jim made an owl.

Tessa and her Auntie Caylie.  Cutie girls!

Caylie and Sam with their pumpkins.

And Brittany and Tessa with theirs. 
 (I just realized I did not get a picture of Jim with his finished owl.  It's kind of wilty outside now . . . )

Ready for trick-or-treating on Monday night.  Sam is a Rockies player, Justin a bandit, and Caylie a Broncos cheerleader.  (I told you we don't go all out, haha.)

Keelan and Destiny came along, too.

 And sweet Tessa was a cute little kangaroo.

The local fire department brought one of their trucks into our neighborhood and handed out candy. 

It was a fun night and a fun Fall Break! 

October Stuff and Samuel's Birthday

I have been getting behinder and behinder!  But here are a few pictures of what we've been doing in October.

The kids have been back in school for a couple of months.  Caylie works on her Chinese writing every day. 

 (And she's lost another tooth!)

Keelan is learning auto mechanics at Pickens Technical College in the afternoons.  He'll be taking classes there for at least one more year, and probably more.  

We had out of town friends come to visit!  We've known Chris and Sheldon for over thirty years.  We went to church together back when we lived in Indiana.  It was great to see them and catch up on life.

Sam got his hair cut.  (And sometimes even combs it.  Ha!)

Sunday afternoon with our friends, the Shaws.  

Justin's enjoying his new school, and all the homework that comes with it.  Not even joking!

Jim gave me this bear for my birthday, but Caylie latched onto it right away.  She seriously loves him.  So cute.

Papa and Tessa out for a walk. 

 She had a grand time rearranging his hair.

This is Samuel's flag football team, the Yellow Jackets.  They finished the season 0-7, but they had fun and I know Sam learned a lot.  He made ten tackles (including a sack) in his last game.  

Our house.  I don't know if I ever posted a picture of it after we moved in, so here it is.  I need to remember to take a picture every year, so we can see how much our baby trees have grown!

Caylie went with Brad and Brittany to the pumpkin patch last week.  She had a great time with Tessa.

Our friend Mark is in town this week.  Here's a couple of shots of all of us at Sunday dinner.
This one by Mark . . . 

. . . and this one by selfie stick.  :D

Samuel turned 13!

Presents!

Skyping with Amy, his former foster mom in China.

Birthday cake!  (He picked chocolate with blue icing.)

Happy Birthday, Samuel!

Samuel and Caylie are on Fall Break this coming week, so we should have some fun pictures of our adventures. 

 Stay tuned!

Keelan's Senior Pictures

Thanks to our friend Brice for taking Keelan's senior pictures.  I think they're awesome!