Celebrating 10 years!!

I can't believe Luke and I have been married for 10 years!  The time has flown by!!!  To celebrate our anniversary, Luke and I went to Mountain View for the weekend.  We stayed in his grandparents camper- to say it was an adventure- was an understatement!  I had forgotten how small a camper bathroom really is!!  OMG!!!  We ate our breakfast and supper in the camper- and explored around for lunch.  We arrived Saturday morning and set up the campsite.  Memories of the movie RV kept rolling in my head, things like: "bring me that there hose spreader."  " you got any tortilla chips?"  "miles and smiles"- too funny.  After getting our nest made, we set out to see what all there was to do in Mountain View.  We ate lunch on the White River at Jo Jo's.  The catfish was really good, and the scenery was beautiful.  We then cruised around the square and stopped in all the shops.  For dinner, we had spaghetti.  For some reason, I could not get the water to boil for the noodles!  How can you have spaghetti without any noodles- so I did what anyone would do- I called the local Pizza Inn to see if I could buy un-sauced noodles.  Yep, for 4 bucks!  We settled in for dinner and a movie.  We watched "Here Comes the Boom" what a cute movie!

On Sunday, we had pancakes for breakfast.  We decided to check out Blanchard Springs and Caverns.  I hadn't been in a cave since I was a little girl.  It terrified me at Silver Dollar City- I rode on Dad's shoulders and squeezed his hair.  Chris, on the other hand, ran through the whole thing!  So, when we arrived at the Caverns in Blanchard Springs- I was a little nervous to say the least. Especially, knowing I couldn't ride on Luke's shoulders- and well, the whole hair thing. So, looking around, I decided all these little kids can do it- so can a 31 year old woman! I will say, waiting to get on the elevator was the hardest part.  I'm surprised Luke has any feeling left in his hands.  As we rode down- some 245 feet- thanks to the tour guide for filling us in....I was so scared!  Once we actually got in the cave, I relaxed and enjoyed the scenery.  It was amazing what God made- even underground! 

After the cave, we walked the short hike to see the actual Blanchard Spring Waterfall.  It was really pretty.  That afternoon, Luke and I ate lunch at the burger place in Mt. View.  It looked on the outside like a Shorty Smalls- but it was not what we expected on the inside.  However, the burger was delicious. 

For supper on Sunday, we ate Frito Chili Pies.  We ended up watching another movie while eating smores.  Well, I had smores, while Luke ate Chocolate and Graham Crackers. 

On Monday, we headed home.  I started feeling sick- with a sinus infection and ear infection- so we didn't do much on the way home.  However, we stopped at the Romance Post Office.  I couldn't resist getting a picture of us 10 years later.  That was where we mailed our wedding invitations!

It was a fun adventure to celebrate our 10 years.  I can't wait to see what the next 10 years hold!

 Us at Jo'Jo's fish house

 Our dinner!

 My Campin' Man

 Our un-sauced noodles and homemade spaghetti sauce!

 Smore's!!!

 Notice- I don't look REAL happy!

 Romance Post Office

Happy Birthday Skelley!

The choir gathered at the ballpark to celebrate Jon's 39th birthday.  When Luke and I heard about it- we couldn't resist going.  Jon threw out the first pitch at the game and Jeremy sang the National Anthem.  It was a fun night filled with baseball, hotdogs, and of course birthday cake.  Luke and I love the choir and orchestra team at church- they are truly the real deal.  It was an honor to be a part of Skelley's special day. 

 Luke and Reed

 Some of the sweetest people- Cindy, Amy, & Herschel

 Lindsey and her sweet babies!

 Dean & Ken

 Love this group of people!!

 The Rhodes Clan

 My friend from highschool- Casey and his girlfriend

 Skelley Boy

 Big breath- that's a lot of candles! LOL!

 Me and my best friend Amanda- she's so good to me!

 Lindsey & Jeremy Raines

 Singing Happy Birthday

The Choir

Father's Day

We had Chris, Summer, Kingston, Mom and Dad over for a Father's Day lunch.  Luke grilled some chicken legs and thighs- and even started a small fire in the grill thanks to leftover BBQ grease in the grill.  Mom fixed ranch potatoes, skillet fried corn, and we had fruit salad.  For dessert we ate on a strawberry cake, kentucky derby pie, and a cheese cake. It's crazy and fun to think next year there might be more kids added to the pictures!  Can't wait for Luke to be able to celebrate Father's Day too!

Kingston & PaPa Flying a Kite

Over Memorial Day weekend, Mom, Dad, Kingston, and I all headed to Neosho.  We had a blast visiting with family and eating good food!  I didn't pull out my camera at all- except to get a few shots of Dad and Kingston flying a kite.  Well, Dad flew the kite while Kingston held the string- and got tangled in it over and over.  It was a fun aftenoon.

Kingston Painting and the Zoo

We had Kingston on Tuesday night.  I picked him up from Chris Tuesday afternoon.  We had a blast playing and jabbering together.  Since I have very little toys here for him to play with, I pulled out the big guns and we played with paint!  He loved it.  I think we might have a little Picasso on our hands.  Luke, or "gook" as Kingston calls him played and played with him before bath and bedtime.

On Wednesday, we went to the Zoo with Alicen, Ryan, and Aiden.  Kingston loved seeing the animals.  It was a workout pushing that stroller around the zoo.  It was also preschool day at the zoo- a little crazy for sure.  Every time we would see a new animal, as we were leaving the exhibit Kingston would say "bye" to each animal.  We ended the day with Chick Fila and a nap.  That poor little boy took a 2 1/2 hour nap!!  He was plum worn out.

It was a great time.  We love spending time with Kingston.  His words just crack me up. He's crazy about Madison, he loves "Dutch" which is George, and is even crazier about this uncle "gook"- which was actually that first thing Lily called Luke.  Kinda neat!

Our First In Home Consultation

Luke and I visited with our Adoption Specialist Kimberlee last night.  She was so very nice.  It was a little awkward though to have someone snoop through your home.  However, she did it very tastefully- and even loved my "junk" decor!  Her favorite thing was Grandma Graham's tea towels I have hanging in the living room- I'm sure that would have made Grandma Graham's day!

We talked and looked through all of our completed paperwork.  I asked her several specific questions about adoption in particular- giving what all we've been through with Mom's adoption.  When we told her we wanted siblings- she grinned and wrote it in all caps on the sheet.  We do have a few things to change in the house...but only 3 items.  She said that was the littlest list she had ever made for a couple to fix.

We had more homework to finish too.  Paperwork that was not given to us at our training.  It asked the generic questions about growing up and our parents.  Then, it got to some personal stuff for me and Luke.  I don't think the two of us have laughed that hard in a long time.  Throughout this whole process, the two of us have grown closer.  Not because we've learned a lot about one another, but because we laughed and talked about some of the most stupid questions we've ever been asked!

So, now we wait to see who does our home study from here on out.  DHS says the CALL does it, and the CALL says DHS does it.  We shall see!