Catching Up!!

We have been so busy the last couple of months that I am behind in my posts. In January Del and I licensed to be foster parents. In February a couple of young  children came to stay and have spent the last seven months with us and just last week they moved on to their adoptive home. This is the reason I have been lax in posting. Obviously four children take a lot of time.
I hope now I can catch up on a few post - but if another placement comes our way - well it just might not happen!!! So here goes.
 Here is some photos of what we have been up to - in know particular order.
J.D. on the first day of Seventh Grade.

 Brothers

 K.J.  on the first day of school.

 And my best friend - celebrate the big 40 this year- happy belated birthday.

 K.J. and his third grade teacher on back to school night.

 We had a series of hospitals stays with one of the children and spent one night in the Ronald McDonald house - J.D. hanging with the big guy himself :)

 K.J. and J.D. spent sometime on the basketball court at the Ronald McDonald house.

 We also held K.J's fundraising 5K for his service dog and had a nice day, a good turn out, and a great time.

 Scouting was a part of our summer as well. J.D. attended his first scout camp. And K.J. his first official cub scout day camp. Here are the boys in our troop and their leaders.

 J.D. receiving his merit badges had earned at camp and a rank advancement too!

 K.J. received his bobcat - it was a challenge for him and we are very proud of him and J.D. too!

FASD Awareness Day!!

September 9 is National/International Awareness Day.

Every year on September 9th, International FASD Awareness Day is observed. Proclamations are issued in countries, states, provinces, and towns all around the world. Bells are rung at 9:09 a.m. in every time zone from New Zealand to Alaska. People all around the world gather for events to raise awareness about the dangers of drinking during pregnancy and the plight of individuals and families who struggle with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). The first FASDay was celebrated on 9/9/99. This day was chosen so that on the ninth day of the ninth month of the year, the world will remember that during the nine months of pregnancy a woman should abstain from alcohol.Anytime is a good time to raise awareness about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD).

Remember 0 - 4 - 9 . Zero alcohol for the Nine months you are pregnant!

FASD's are 100% preventable.

It's Official!!!

It's Official - We now have a teenager at our house!!! Thirteen years ago today J.D. arrived on the scene. And we are so glad he did. Happy Birthday J.D. We are greatful your are a part of our family! :)

For those of you who follow our "Canine4Kennan" site. We are in the process of putting together a fun run as a fundraiser and are taking a poll for t-shirt colors. Please visit us at that site and vote for you favorite. Help us decide what the participants will wear on race day. Happy voting! :)

Nature's Fireworks!!

Last night we had our first real rain in weeks. It included an awesome supercell and an incredible lightning show! J.D., K.J., and I did a little local storm chasing. We parked and took some pictures and video. The lightning shots aren't super great because they are captured from the video shots we took.

The leading edge of the storm as it has just past over us and is moving North/East.

Lightning - lots of cloud to cloud with multiple forks - to bad my camera work doesn't really do it justice, it was quite spectacular!

We had a great time and had a little over an hour of enjoying our time together. Maybe we'll do it again sometime - hopefully soon. :)

Oh, Baby, It's Hot Outside!!!!

It has been excessively hot this summer. We have spent almost every late afternoon and early evening for the last month out in the backyard make use of the sprinkler (and not for watering the lawn - although it hasn't hurt). Our water bill doubled in one month.
Water,

Water,

more water,

and more water,

more water,

and still more water.

We never go out for water fun until at least 4:30 or 5:00 pm. We have to wait until temperatures start dropping back down towards the low nineties or high eighties. Before it is cool enough to even be out in the backyard -even for water play. (We have had temps in the high nineties and low hundreds - with heat indexes of around 110 to 115.) It has been blisteringly hot and humid. And I don't think my water bill is going to go down much for at least another month - sigh!!

Spring Concerts

K.J. and J.D. both had spring concerts.

K.J.'s concert was sing. He and his class did a nice job. We enjoyed the concert.

J.D. had his spring band concert. This is his second year playing the trumpet and he has done a great job. He played in regular band and a special 'pops' band this year. He also participated in a special Honor band - that was made up of 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students from all over the centeral part of our state. We enjoyed this concert as well.