Vacation!



Day 1 of our amazing vacation!



We just returned from our 1st family vacation as a family of 7!!! I was quite worried about how it would go but it was Great!! The only bad part was the 20hr. drive to grandmas and back in a 7 passenger van filled to capacity!! Tommy and Milly were troopers never complaining just wondering when we might get to grandmas house! We had beautiful weather the whole week, 80-85 everyday!! We mostly stayed and swam at the pool. Both Tommy and Milly loved the water!! No fear and not concerned at all with water getting in their eyes. After the 1st hour they were both jumping in, of course with swimmies on! We will be starting them both in lessons soon. We visited Gatorland where the Gators were a plenty!! Marianna and Matteo even sat on a live gator and posed for a picture! We also made the drive to Clearwater beach but it wasn't very Clear! The fog had set in blocking all the sun and we froze yet the kids made the best of it! Watching Tommy and Milly experience many firsts was amazing! They had no problem sleeping at grandmas and adjusting to all the different people and places we visited. While we were there we also got to meet a fellow adoptive family just starting their journey to Ethiopia and their children. We loved sharing about the blessings of our experience!



Our kids and the Kicklighter kids a fellow AWAA family!



This will go down as one of our best and favorite vacations yet! One whole week of family time..no cleaning..no work..no softball/sports or music lessons! Just a whole week of relaxing and bonding! Every day they amaze me at how well they are doing, if you didn't know you would never guess they had only been home for 9 weeks! We certainly miss the warmth as we were welcomed home to a typical Buffalo storm! Tommy said first thing in the morning..No shorts?! No not here! I took so many pictures that I'm going to put together a slide show! It is incredible how it feels to make such wonderful memories! Everyday is a new experience through their eyes. I'm so Thankful for every moment! Not only has this adoption taught me to treasure every second with them it has also taught us to slow down and really enjoy every second we have with all of our children! All of our children are such miracles!! I could not imagine our CrAzY life without them!!