A Weekend in Oshkosh celebrating birthdays and bands.

We just returned from a great weekend up in Oshkosh.

We celebrated Soli nnd Nathan's birthdays plus we enjoyed two of Paul's bands at Beckett's.

My mom, Kev, Vikki and Mal joined us, too, so it was even better.

Here are some of the photos.

I have Tiz here for a few days and I do not want to spend all of our time on the computer.

Enjoy!

Now I am off to spend some fun time with Tizita!

Happy Independence Day

Today is July 4.

We enjoyed the Watertown fireworks last night from the comfort of our backyard. 

Pam, Paul, and Rachel were here to watch with us.

It was a good start to a great 4th.

Both girls were busy, so John and I celebrated today in a little different way.

We went to the parade in Delafield to watch Nic march with St. John's Military Academy where he is a cadet for the summer.

We took Marge with us and we joined Mal, Kev, and Vikki to watch the parade.

The parade itself was only 20 minutes long and it did not have one band in it.  There were lots of Scout groups, a big recycling truck, one firetruck, and a bunch of kids on decorated bikes.

There was an incident where a dog fell off a float and just missed being run over by the wheel on the float and there was lots of candy being thrown out.

Here is Nic in the parade.

After the parade we went over to the campus and Nic gave us a tour.

It is really a very beautiful campus.

St. John's has a reputation for being a place for boys who cause trouble, but lots of the boys are there because they choose to be there to learn respect and discipline.  That is the case with Nic.  He chose to go there and he is loving it so far.

Vikki has been worried when she can't hear from  him personally, but after visiting with him today, I think she feels much, much better.

After our tour, John, mom, and I  went to Culver's in Oconomowoc for lunch and then visited a few of our favorite relatives.

We found Uncle Herb and Aunt Pearl's grave in Ixonia.

Then we headed over to check our Granny, Gramps, Ohma, Ohpa,and my dad.

It seemed like a perfect way to spend Independence day.

I hope all of you had a great 4th of July, too.

Four years ago today, A Little Ray of Sunshine Entered our Life.

It was four years ago today that we met our little Sunshine, Soliana for the first time.

We first saw her in a photo about four months before we actually met her and that photo is all we had for those first months.

Here is what we first saw in that photo:

Much the way that expectant parents fall in love with an ultrasound photo, so we fell in love with this precious face.

The time went slowly as we waited for the day that Courtney, Paul, and Tizita would go and bring our Soliana home.

The wheels turn slowly in the adoption process and patience is needed.

Finally, the day came.

The Van Auken family spent about a week in Ethiopia with Soliana and then they brought her home.

This is the girls waiting in the DC airport on their way home.

 

This is the best sight.

Our first glimpse of Soliana getting off the plane in the loving arms of her family.

What a wonderful feeling.  

They are all safely here in America.

They are all together as a happy family.

The long awaited day had finally arrived.

This little lady has lived up to her name.

Soliana means Sunshine and Soli is our little Sunshine.

She is always happy, always smiling.

We love her so, so much.

Families are built in many different ways, ours was built through adoption and we could not be more in love with these little girls no matter what.

We are truly blessed by them.

God is good.

Happy 3rd Soliversary, Soliana!

A Recap of our Vacation on Emerald Isle

John and I got home today.

We had a wonderful, memorable vacation.

Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of some of my favorite moments.

This was our first night on the beach.  I love seeing the excitement in the little girls' eyes as they watch those big waves.

Our beach was just gorgeous.  A little piece of heaven, for sure.

After a morning walk, we always enjoyed a diet coke on our beach.

 Tiz loved riding the big waves with us.
In light of recent shark attacks, I was always nervous out there, but Tiz said we should not worry about that.

Everyone having fun in the sea.
Soli even enjoyed it.

We celebrated Soliana's third Soliversary while we were on vacation.
We had a Pirate themed party for her.
She loved it so much.
She loves her Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

Pirate sisters!

 We visited the North Carolina Aquarium on Emerald Isle.
We all enjoyed the aquarium very much.
This above photo is from a hiking path at the aquarium.

So glad that the only sharks we saw were in the Aquarium.

 The Van Auken family on a turtle.

Soli loved petting the stingrays.

 John and I on our back deck overlooking the sound.

 The swimming pools were wonderful, the water was as warm as a bathtub.
We always swam after our morning dip in the ocean.

The landscaping around our condo was so pretty.

And everyday ended with a beautiful sunset off our deck.
The week went so quickly, but we do have lots of happy memories.

On the way home, we stopped at Sherri and Jeff Browning's house in Charlotte.
Sherri and Jeff are two of our very good friends from college and we don't get to see them very often so this visit was a real treat.
We enjoyed a wonderful meal, great drinks, and good conversation.
It was a great way to end our vacation.

Sherri and I, we were known as the Sherri Sisterhood in college.
I cannot wait to go back to the ocean again.
There is something magical about it.

Good byes are always so hard, why is that?

Today is Friday, June 26.

John and I are leaving Emerald Isle in about 15 minutes.

We have had a wonderful vacation and I will share photos and details about that when we get home, but for now I just wanted to document a few thoughts.

Why is it always so hard to pack up and leave after a wonderful vacation?

I spent months planning this trip, finding the perfect home away from home, and checking out local attractions for us.

I spent weeks planning what to take, what food we would need, what swimming suits and sand toys we would need.

I spent days packing up all the things to make this vacation a good, memorable one.

We drove for hours and hours to get here.

Then, in the blink of an eye, it is time to leave.

We took in one last sunset, one last walk on the ocean, one last beer on the deck.

We have committed this area to memory and if that fails, we have about 1000 photos to help us recall all the good times we had here.

Courtney and her little family left yesterday.

That was sad, too.

I missed my little girls who shared our bed and our lives for four days and nights.

I don't want to leave, but leave we must.

I think we have island and ocean in our blood.  It is really the most magical place on earth and I hope we can return many, many times in the future.

We still prefer our beloved St. George Island, but an Island is an Island.

So, with a sad heart, I bid this sweet part of God's earth "Good bye."  

You have been good to us and we hope to see you again soon.

Vacation - Part 1

John and I left on our road trip on Friday, June 19.

Final destination:  Emerald Isle.

We left at 4:45 A.M.

Drove via Bloomington to avoid Chicago.

Had an uneventful trip ending up in Beckley WV for the our first night.

We had a nice Super 8 in Beckley.

Left on Saturday and drove through the beautiful mountains of WV enroute to NC.

There were two big tunnels under the mountains.

That whole highway system is an engineering marvel.

We met up with Courtney, Paul, Soli, and Tizita in Burlington, NC

We arrived just in time to have lunch at Five Guys.

So happy to be met by these smiling faces.

They have been on a family vacation for a week already with two more weeks to come.

On a sidenote, they were in Charleston SC at the time of the shooting of nine black people in a church.

The church was only a few blocks from their hotel and the college where they had been while the shooting occurred.  The killed was on the loose for the next day and Courtney and the girls had to stay locked in their hotel room.  Paul was at meetings at the college.

Thankfully, he was captured the next day.

On another sidenote, there have been two shark attacks right off the coast of North Carolina where we will be staying in the beach house.  Ugh!

Killers and sharks, hope that is all the excitement for this vacation.

After lunch we all headed over to Leigh's house and had a wonderful, long overdue visit with her, her new husband Andrew, and our three sweet nieces.

I wasn't sure what to expect, we hadn't seen them for at least ten years due to a nasty divorce situation.

It was such a great visit.

The nieces, Natalie, Holly, and Katherine are the most lovely ladies.

All three will be in college this fall.

Natalie majoring in Parks and Rec.

Holly in Graphic Design.

Katherine in Dance Education.

The three big girls were so sweet to Soli and Tiz.

Leigh ordered pizzas for dinner before we headed back to our hotel.

The three big girls even came over and swam with Soli and Tiz for a bit.

I am so glad that I actually contacted Leigh and set up a visit.

Lights out in our room by 11:00.

Tomorrow on to the beach!