Summer Arts Academy

Rachel has just experienced three weeks of studying the Arts. The school district puts on a Summer Arts Academy which is a fabulous program! She chose photography as her area of focus. She was able to spend three weeks with a photography teacher, learning all about this area. She got to work in a dark room and on a computer with digital softward. The last day, we were invited to come and see her pictures and have her teach us all about the dark room and what she had learned.

The amazing thing about this program is that the students also got to rotate through all the other arts which included: ceramics, 2-D art, vocal, instrumental, drama and dance.
Here is Rachel with two of her pictures that she was displaying.

Rachel and her great photography teacher - Mr. Webb. He really inspired a love of photography in Rachel!

Here is Rachel performing her dance that she learned. She is a really good dancer!

Cute ending pose!

We are so glad that Rachel had this fabulous experience! She is a better person for attending!

Our Fun Fourth of July

We had a great day on the fourth of July! We drove up to Shaver Lake to spend the day with friends who were camping up there. They had all sorts of water "toys" and the weather was perfect!

Brian and Sue trying out the Kayak for the first time. That was really FUN!

Brian relaxing on the boat. It felt so good!

Rachel, Brian and Daniel being pulled by the boat! It was so fun to watch them bounce around the water!

Here's Daniel, Emma and Rachel being pulled behind the boat.

Brian and Daniel Kayaking

Rachel and Emma trying out the kayak. They were pretty good at maneuvering themselves around the lake.

Daniel up on the water trampoline. It was usually filled up with kids, but at this moment, he had it all to himself!

Rachel skimming gracefully through the water.

We are so grateful to have such great friends here! Thanks to all the Ward's for sharing their Fourth of July with us! We loved it!!!

CAMPING!

We had a fun camping trip to Family Camp last week. This was our first time to Family Camp, and we loved it! We stayed for three days, and we had perfect weather!

Our hike! This was Rachel and Daniel's "club" where they hung out. It was pretty cool!

Happy S'more face!

Another tired but happy S'more face!

We made friends with our camping "neighbors." They had lots of water toys. Maryann and Bonnie became good friends!

Daniel trying to maneuver the boat.

Rachel was happy to be in the boat and not the cold lake!

Looking at the tadpoles! They actually caught six!!!

Daniel made this tee-pee with Bonnie.

Rachel made her tee-pee with Maryann.

All around the campfire! Love it!!!!! There is nothing better than sitting by a campfire as the sun goes down and it gets cold. The heat from the fire and the crackling noises are just plain good for the soul!!!

Roasting weenies!!!! Yum! Hot dogs always taste better cooked over a campfire.

Happy camper!

Home Sweet Home!!! (Tent Sweet Tent!:)

Here we are! Dirty and smelly, but happy! Camping is the BEST!!!

Last Day of School!!!

Do these kids look excited, or what? This is the end of the year, summer's here, throw the backpacks away, wear flip flops forever look! YEA!!!!! NO MORE HOMEWORK!!!!!! WE LOVE SUMMER!!!!!

Congratulations Rachel!!!

We are so proud of Rachel for receiving her Block M Award at her school. This is a great accomplishment, and she has worked really hard to make this happen. She had to have accomplishments in three areas to get this award: Mind, body and spirit. The school has a special ceremony for the recipients. This year's theme was western, and she actually got to have her picture taken on a horse. There was a special film that showed each student on the horse with their own words on how to be the best you can be.
We are so proud of you, Rachel!!!

Daniel's Adoption Day!

June 1, 2002 is a day that we will always remember! That is the day that Daniel came into our home and our hearts! It has now been seven years since that crazy time, and I can't believe how fast the time has flown. Here is a quick recap of Daniel's adoption. On May 31, 2002 (Brian's birthday:)) we got the phone call about a little ten month old boy whose mother was possibly placing for adoption. Our social worker was asking if we were interested. Of course we said yes. Later that night, our worker called again telling us that the birth mother wanted to meet us the next day in Sacramento! Ok...we weren't expecting that!! Our worker called us one more time around 9 pm telling us that if the meeting went well, we would be bringing the baby home. Now our heads were spinning! We could do nothing but dust off the baby car seat and go to bed. Saturday, June 1 dawned bright and early as we headed out to Sacramento. We had the priviledge of meeting Jeniffer and her sweet baby De'Shawn. Our first impression of him was that he was the biggest baby we had EVER seen! He was adorable, and looked like a miniture sumo wrestler. We met with them for about an hour and then Jeniffer, with tears streaming down her face hugged him and then handed him over to me. She then hugged us both and left. It was one of the most emotional experiences I have ever had! My heart was breaking for her! It took some time for this to all sink in, but what fun! We decided to change his name to Daniel and keep De'Shawn for his middle name. Just to let you know of his size, Daniel weighed in at 30 pounds at ten months!!! He had the sweetest disposition, and adjusted to our home and family rather quickly!

Daniel, you have been a blessing to us from that day! You keep us laughing with your silly antics and you are always the first to comfort one of us if we are hurt or sad! You have a heart of gold and we love you with all our hearts! We will forever be grateful to your sweet birth mother for sharing you with us! We love you!!! Happy Adoption Day!!!

Brian's birthday surprise!

Last weekend was Brian's birthday, and I kidnapped him away to the coast! It was such a fun trip! We had Rachel, Daniel and Daisy staying with friends; I packed for all of us and had the van ready to go when Brian got off work. I wisked him away without him knowing anything! It was so fun! We stayed at San Simeon and walked the beach that night with a flashlight! That was so cool! There is something about the sound of waves crashing that is very calming to the soul. Saturday was spent exploring many different beaches, as well as driving to our favorite place ever....Apple Farm! We love it there! We loved spending this time together as a relaxing get-away! I love you, Brian! I hope your birthday was wonderful for you!