A Campin' We Will Go!

We did it!

Team Lewis had a truly awesome, fun-filled camping adventure and we couldn't be more excited to do it again soon!

If you know us in person, we are not the type that you would initially think would be all over the camping thing.  Though we don't consider ourselves high maintenance, per se, we aren't super outdoorsy.  Hiking is good, as long as it is relegated to 1 or 2 weekends a year, we don't particularly enjoy bugs, and to be honest, layers of outdoor filth on everything we touch kind of grosses me out.  But camping is different for some reason.  Camping is pretty magical, actually!

I think my parents may have been slightly brilliant with the whole camping scheme.  Almost every summer we did a beach vacation and a camping trip. Though the beach was fun and I may have even been more excited about the beach trips at the time, the camping trips are the ones that truly stand out in my memory.  Growing up as the only girl with 3 brothers, it was easy to feel left out.  Add our significant age differences (one of my brothers is 7 years older than me and another is 9 years younger), and it was rare that on a typical weekend in our free time that any of my siblings were hanging out with each other.  We all had our own friends, our own rooms and our own interests.  Even when we had "family time" it was hard to ever find all that much that a 17 year old and a 1 year old would all really enjoy.

But camping.  Camping was different!

We were forced to be together all the time and for once, didn't mind a bit.  Even if we spread out a bit during the day, that evening campfire brought us all together. No one was hanging out with video games in the tent, no friends were stopping by to see if we could play. It was just us.  And talk about common interests:  roasted marshmallows and mountain pies can be appreciated by kids and adults of all ages!

As our kids grow, they have the added bonus of handheld technology to distract them from true family connection, so camping as a family seemed like the perfect way to get together as a family and remove all of the pesky distractions of life.

The first weekend in August we headed down to Shawnee State Park in PA (the same place I had grown up camping!).  Team Lewis was joined by my dad, my youngest brother, and my oldest brother with his two girls. The camp site was set up very quickly, as the sky was threatening to rain at any minute.  Luckily, all we ever got was a slight misting.  When the camp was all set up, we started on dinner and we were all very thankful for the Pinterest camping pointers that we had put into place. After dinner, we explored our surroundings.  We were thrilled to see that a new and even closer bath house had been built since the last time we had been there.  We hit up the camp playground and even checked out the amphitheater to find an interesting speaker on the evolution of teeth in animals based on their diets.  At dusk, we headed back to the campfire, made s'mores with the kids and then put the kids to bed. The adults then had some time to catch up before we hit the hay.

The next morning, though a bit chilly at first, after a great breakfast, we all headed to the lake. Noah and Audrey haven't had a lot of extended time with their cousins on my side of the family so it was awesome to see the kids all swimming in the water together and having a blast.  After swimming, we had nap time for Audrey and Uncle Shaun led a nature hike for the bigger kids.  Dinner was followed by another campfire and more marshmallows (oh, the marshmallows!).   The following morning, we decamped and headed our separate ways, very eager to do this again next year!

Noah and Audrey could not stop talking about it.  They loved spending time with the cousins, sleeping and playing in the tent and falling asleep to the beautiful night song of nature.  As we are planning a little vacation time in September, the kids have made it clear to us that their vote is camping again.  In short, I would say it was a grand success. Now let's pray they still feel this way in their teens when they have friends, drivers' licenses and their own cell phones!!

(pardon the pics, I forgot my camera and only had the phone!)

The kids claim their spots around the campfire. 

Audrey got a new pink chair just for this trip.  She never wanted to leave it!

Noah was this deliriously happy for the entirety of the trip. 

The had a blast swimming! Noah NEVER gets this deep in the water. He had no fear.  We are thinking of hiring his 4 year old cousin as a swimming instructor. No floaties or anything!

We searched high and low for a yellow camping chair for him.  This is one happy camper...literally!

There was a window in the tent right where Audrey's Pack and play was set up.  She liked to play in there and open the window to tell us when she was done!

Audrey loves her Happy! (Grandfather)

The kids pretty much stalked my father.  He never had a moment's peace! What a trooper!

A Very New England 4th of July

Noah's 4th of July Fruit Masterpiece " The Grand Ol' Flag" 

July 4th was always one of our favorite holidays in PA.  We usually spent a relaxing day with the kids, followed by an awesome cook out with family and friends.  We spent the whole evening being surrounded by people we love, sitting on a big back porch, watching our kids and our nephews splash in a kiddie pool or play home run derby while the adults chatted about anything and everything.  Oh, and there was always wonderful food, too.  

So this 4th of July, we were a little bit sad to think of what we were missing.  We were determined to take

Excited for the big day

advantage of a few New England opportunities to celebrate the holiday.


The festivities started on July 3rd when our neighboring town hosted a fireworks celebration on the beach.  There were also booths for food, games and even a gigantic bouncy house for the kids.  Our church sponsors a booth and we sold cold drinks and gave out beach balls and cupcakes.  The turn out was great and though we only "worked" a shift or two, most of the church community turned out to set up some camping chairs and stake out the booth and chat.  They might not be our oldest, closest friends in the world, but they are certainly our oldest, closest friends in MA and we are so very grateful.  The fireworks were pleasant and Noah enjoyed every second while asking, "Is this the grand finale?"  Audrey was terrified of the noise and held onto me for dear life.  To be honest, mommy didn't mind the cuddles!  She later enjoyed the Boston Pops fireworks that we DVRed for her!

Our spot was practically empty when we arrived. Amazing!

On July 4th, we spent the morning at the beach (our new Saturday tradition).  It is so nice to be able to get to the beach in 30 minutes or less, experience no major traffic, pack a lunch and come home for baths and nap time.  It really has become our favorite thing to do up here.

After we splashed, we headed home to get clean and rested as we were spending the evening with a few friends.  We were so excited to be with folks, but also have it be low key and just relaxing.  They really helped initiate us to New England as we boiled fresh, live lobsters and steamers.  The kids LOVE watching the live lobsters in the grocery store, so they were thrilled. We had never deconstructed our own lobster before, so we had to learn the tricks of the trade.  Noah tried it and decided he was just fine with his burger.  Audrey on the other hand ate about 3/4 of my lobster.  For the next week or so, if you were to ask her what she wanted for breakfast/lunch/snack/dinner, her auto response was, "I love lobster!"  Here's hoping her future hubby has a trust fund for her pricey tastes!

Prepping their gear for a day at the beach

Once the kids went to bed, Dave and I spent some time in prayer together, completely amazed and humbled by the gift of our freedom and so acutely aware this year of so many that we love who are not able to experience this in the least.

All in all, a nice and extremely meaningful holiday this year.  We feel we embraced a few of the treasures New England has to offer and enjoyed every second!  

Love the beach!

Prepping their July 4th fruit creation

Proud of their final project

6 Months in Boston!

We have survived 6 months in Boston and it feels....well, surreal, to be honest!

We thought we would sum up the last 6 months in the broadest terms possible:  The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

The Good:

The kids-  Noah and Audrey have transitioned without as much as a tear.  Noah loved his new school and was super fortunate to find a best friend.  The two were inseparable and we will do our best to play date as much as possible this summer as Noah is quite sad that he is no longer seeing Danny 2x a week!  His school had really great activities and even had a 3's class graduation ceremony complete with diplomas. They sang 9 songs and Noah nailed every one.  He will now belt out Grand Old Flag whenever the mood strikes him and he wakes up from most naps singing, "It's a beautiful day, to be alive!"  We love it!

Dave's job- So far, so good!  Dave is still making the early train and is home most nights by 6 pm! Even during the busy times, he is usually home by 6:30 and then only has maybe an hour or so of work from home time, which is a far cry from the extra 6-8 hours he was putting in from home each evening with his old job.  They even have summer hours, so Dave is home by 5 pm every Friday evening in the summer.  It's amazing! He takes the ferry home (he can even get a cold beer on the ferry!) and picks up some fresh seafood for us on the way.  We LOVE summer Fridays!   His company is being bought out this fall, so he will be a bit busier and there may be some changes coming down the pike, but we are hopeful and prayerful that everything will go smoothly during the transition and beyond.

MOPS- Audrey is really digging MOPS this year.  Every day we take Noah to school, Audrey begs to go to MOPS.  Unfortunately only 1 out of every 4 days we take him to school are actually MOPS days, so we have some tears on the other 3 days.  When it is that magical Thursday when we do get to go to MOPS, Audrey and I have some time to kill before the meeting begins.  We will run an errand or two, but Audrey mostly enjoys our Mommy/Daughter donut dates, as there are 4 Dunkin' Donuts locations on our 2 mile journey from preschool to MOPS.
As for me, I, too am enjoying the MOPS group.  Though it is very different than my old group, I am starting to make inroads with some of the other moms and have even had a few play dates and Moms' Night Outs with the group. I am looking forward to being more involved next year.

Church-  We are involved in a local church, and even though it might not fill all of our wants and desires in a church, it has so many strong points.  The community is solid and the kids really love it.  We will be supplementing a little in the fall with Community Bible Study (upon the recommendation of some of my mentor moms) and even a couples bible study through another church, but it is exciting to think of expanding our circle of Christian friends.

Neighborhood-  Right now we are really loving the town of Braintree and our current home.  It wasn't what we originally would have picked in terms of floor plan, but it is working well and definitely has its advantages.  We have been blessed with some fun neighbors and are looking forward to some fun impromptu summer gatherings.  We have found an awesome dairy farm with fresh milk in the glass and some of the best ice cream we have ever tasted--and they deliver!  For a family that goes through a gallon of milk a day, it is a dream come true to get milk delivery!

Visitors-  We have been so blessed to already have 3 visitors to our new digs.  Happy (Tiffany's Dad) was able to come visit for Easter and we were able to take him out for a fun day to celebrate the kids' birthday and a fun adult night in the city!  Our old babysitter and church buds, Kim and Karl visited for dinner on their vacation to the Cape.  Noah and Audrey loved seeing them and goofing around, while Dave and I enjoyed catching up on the news of the church. We also welcomed our dear Philly friend, Kristin as she spent the night on her way to NH.  Her visit was rainy and cold and we barely left the house, but it was very fun nonetheless!  We will make sure to plan something a little special and fun for her next trip up!

The Bad:

Taxes-  There are a lot of weird taxes up here in MA that we are having to get used to. Ugh. A yearly excise tax based on the value of your cars??  What??  A fee to ride the school bus??  They don't call it Taxachusetts for nothing! Now we understand why adults are scared to open up the mail each night. You never know when a new tax bill will arrive!

The pronunciations-  I don't care how long we are here, we are not calling Quincy "Quinzy"; we will say Worcester, not "Wooster."  The kids will most likely get made fun of when they are older, but for now, we are sticking with actually pronouncing the correct letter sounds in the words.

Chick-Fil-A proximity-  45 minutes-1 hour depending on traffic.  This CFA loving family is in major withdraw and we will be making a trek up soon and ordering a big tray so that we can always have some nuggets in our freezer.  This is the ONLY one in MA and it is a mall location so it doesn't even have the play place.  It makes us VERY sad.

Panera Delivery-  We used to be jealous of those that had a drive-thru Panera.  However, our Panera DELIVERS!  We were thrilled to hear this. Then we were saddened to learn that we were 1 stinkin' street out of their delivery zone!  Whaaa.

The UGLY:

Hockey-  The Penguins performance in the Eastern Cup Finals was just plain ugly.  It didn't help that they were playing Boston and we were appropriately razzed about our home team's unfortunate implosion.

Ru$$ia-  It continues to be ugly and heart wrenching.  We were so blessed to receive a new picture of our guy, but as we celebrated a glimpse into his life, we also wept to see how tiny his little body is, obviously not receiving a proper amount of food for his age.  We are still praying round the clock


So it seems the Good far outweighs the Bad and the Ugly, always a good sign!  We will leave you with our final, surprise category.

The Cute!

We babysat some chickens for a week and the kids LOVED it.  They spent entire days hanging with the little guys in the garage.

We marched in the Quincy Flag Day parade with our MOPS group.  The kids loved it!  The parade ended at a big field and we had first dibs on the best seats for the fireworks.

Noah and Daddy getting ready for the fireworks

Noah was fine for the fireworks, as long as he had a glow stick.  Audrey enjoyed them in her own way.  She needed to be cuddled and have her ears held tightly the whole time.  My arms were about to fall off by the end!

We are only 20 mins from the beach and it is fantastic. We found a great spot and we have so enjoyed having low key beach days whenever we need to recharge!

The kids love the beach.  But why would they look at the camera when they have a whole beach full of sand and a cooler full of snacks. Life is good!

She is not yet embarrassed by her mother at the beach yet!

Hudson at 2.5 years.  Gosh he is just getting cuter. But look at those shoulders!  Hardly anything to him. Ugh.  I think I am becoming an Italian grandmother b/c all I want to do is feed him!

Noah is 4! (And we are procrastinators!)

On Thursday, April 4, Noah turned 4 years old!  He didn't seem to want a party this year, which worked out well for us, as we didn't really have too many kids to invite.  Since we are not really weekday people, we thought we would do the real celebrating that following Saturday so Dave could join us, but we wanted to do just a few things to make his real birthday special.

Noah's Lego Brownie

Noah woke up to a special Munchkin breakfast, since we are in prime Dunkin' Donuts territory now. Thursdays are school mornings for him, so he didn't get to leisurely enjoy his breakfast.  As per usual, he ended up eating most of it in the car as we rushed off to school.  He was excited to bring his class a birthday treat, as this would be his first time celebrating a birthday in school. We had scoured Pinterest for weeks looking for the perfect treat.  Noah is quite the little Lego enthusiast now and the moment he saw the Lego brownies, he knew that was his perfect birthday treat.  We spent Tuesday and Wednesday creating his
delicious works of art and Noah proudly carried them into school all by himself that Thursday morning.

The dental hygienist from our dentist's office was the special guest at school that day. Since Noah was the birthday boy, he got to show the class how to brush the alligator's teeth with the giant tooth brush.  They had also set up a dental chair and while he was offered the first crack at showing the kids how to sit and open your mouth, he politely declined.  He was a little anxious about the chair being there as he had recently had a cavity fixed and all he wanted to do was go sit next to his best friend, Danny.  Once the two were reunited, he enjoyed the rest of the special presentation.

After school, we headed to the McDonald's in the neighboring town with a pretty impressive play place.  Noah had been there once on a weekend and was too intimidated by the crowds to venture up to the top of the climbing structure.  On a Thursday afternoon, though, no one was there and Noah and Audrey got to play with everything uninterrupted.  I believe that really may be the definition of 4 year old bliss!

Noah's rocketship

The kids took their naps and Dave was able to sneak out a little early to come home to build a rocket with Noah out of one of his new birthday presents from Aunt Jenn et al..  He was so excited to find that he actually fit in the rocket.   We then dined on the gourmet meal of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and green smoothies, as per Noah's request.

On Saturday,Noah and Mommy made pancakes for their special time together and then Noah sneaked out with Daddy at nap time to go duck pin bowling for his special birthday experience.

All in all, a pretty good day for turning 4.  Now, Noah is already starting to talk about the party he wants when he turns 5, so I am glad we got to enjoy a nice, low key birthday this year!!

Can't have a birthday without some trains. (or any other day)

Noah prepares for his cake responsibilities

The guys

He loves blowing out candles!

Noah is very excited to open his present from Grandma and Grandpa!

A Humbled Heart

Well, they met.

Surprise, surprise-The country does not want to budge for families in the pipeline. (knifeinheart) There was a whole bunch of other stuff said, but nothing that my heart can bear to relay to my fingers to type.

They did say, however, that no law is forever.

But our God is!

Through this ordeal, we still praise God for so much. No matter what governments do, no matter what politics come into play, they cannot ban our love for God and they cannot change the fact that God loves these kids even more than we do!  So now, we feel it important to praise God as we wait. (Oh, and we will wait!)

We praise Him for opening our eyes and more importantly our hearts to these children, as God clearly lays out in His word.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. ~ James 1:27

We praise Him for bringing us an amazing support network, many of whom are going through these steps with us. We have cried, fasted, and prayed together for our sweet children.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. ~ 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

We praise Him for providing the resources necessary to complete the adoption as soon as that light turns green.

Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. ~John 16:24

We praise Him for the children, so many who may be considered different from the typical children. We praise Him that they have been born, as the reality exists that most children with differences in many countries don't even get that chance.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. ~ Psalm 139:14

We thank our prayer warriors for lifting up these children and families in your prayers. It means so much to us!! We are not giving up; we intend to watch this thing play out as long as it takes until all of these children are home!

All the Marbles....

This one is for all the marbles!  (Or if not all the marbles, a lot of the marbles.)

On December 28, 2012, Hudson's country closed their doors to all US adoptions.  This horrible, politically motivated decision sealed the fate of over 800,000 orphans.  Included in that number are the 1,000 orphans that had families in the process of their adoption.  Some of those children had met and hugged their parents, hearing promises of their swift return.  Some of these children had no idea that a family a half a world away were pining for them, dreamily staring at their pictures and waiting for the day they got show these children the love they so deserve.

For four months, those 1,000 families have been holding their collective breaths, desperate for any news coming out of the country. Between spending hours each day researching and sharing articles that come out of the European media, Department of State and US Senate conference calls and some even entering legal cases overseas on the basis of inhumane treatment for these children, the process has been grueling.

On April 17-18, the Federation from Hudson's country will be holding talks with the US State Department.  This is the FIRST time in these long four months that these two countries are talking specifically to address these 1,000 families and how/if things can proceed.  All too familiar to us is the time, money and emotion that has gone into this process and to have our boy remain in an orphanage is truly the toughest thing to stomach.

We need some prayer!!

Whenever I get sick of this political mess, I think of this sweet face, and I am propelled to pray and pray and pray some more!

Please join us in prayer for these children and families!   If the picture above didn't make you drop to your knees and pray immediately, here a few other cuties that our hearts are aching for. These children all have parents waiting who long to hold them forever and ever, as soon as we all get the green light!

You are the helper of the fatherless. LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear, To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, That the man of the earth may oppress no more.

Psalms 10:14,17-18

Happy 2nd Birthday, Audrey!!

On Monday, March 25th, Audrey turned 2 years old!!  Since Monday birthdays aren't a lot of fun and she is not old enough to know the difference, we celebrated her birthday on Sunday, the 24th instead. Shhhhh.

Hugging a character from Peep and the Big Wide World

She woke up to her favorite breakfast of waffles and pears and then she chose the Boston Children's Museum for her fun outing.  She most enjoyed the bubble room, the light up dance board, and Peep and the Big Wide World displays.  We ate lunch in their cafe and they kids even got to pick a little present from the gift shop. Noah shockingly chose a train, while Audrey chose Floam.



We then returned home for her favorite dinner: a giant spiral ham and Panera-style mac and cheese!

Audrey waiting for her birthday dinner! She's excited about food!

After dinner, we feasted on cupcakes from Sweet, one of our favorite cupcakeries in Boston, and then she opened her present-- a dress up chest!  She spent the rest of the evening trying on high heels, gloves and hats.  She certainly is a girly girl!

Then it was bedtime. For everyone!  Happy Birthday, girl!

Playing in the Kindergarten area in the Museum.

Climbing in the construction area

Noah takes a break from bike riding to sing Happy Birthday to his sis.

Audrey's cupcakes!

Mama helps blow out the candles

Noah helps her open her present

Mama has to try on the hat, too.

Accessorizing!

She walks in heels better than her mama!

Can't leave out the skirt, gloves and purse!