Lon and Don playing horseballs 

Wayne and Tyler playing "horseballs" 

Riley Jean 

Our Sherman 

Uncle Jeff, Kristen and Julia playing the "guitar, drums and sing" game! 

Julia and Kristen on the swing 

Chunk of wood that Cam got stuck in his wheel of the quad. 

Many have asked where in China Julia is from. There is a green province called HUBEI, about where the black dot is is where her city, XIANNING CITY is located. 

Just thinking....

While sitting on the couch eating BBQ potato chips with Julia I thought about a few things.

1. She is a constant reminder of what being a toddler is all about. She loves to laugh, giggle, scream, cry and run around with her brother and sister just as though she's been here her whole life.

2. Julia continues to amaze me with her knowledge of English. She's a little parrot. She mimics everything we say (good and bad!). She's polite; using pleases and thank you's, says excuse me after she burps or toots and reminds all of us to do so too.

3. Cameron and Anna have totally adjusted to having a baby sister that drives them crazy. I thought they might have issues, but here we are 7 months later and once again, it's as though Julia was born into this craziness.

4. Wayne and I have adjusted to life with 3 kids. I look at a few of the families in Wayne's extended group like the Johnson's and the VanDyke's. They each had 8 kids. If Rita and Bev are still sane raising all those kids, than we should be able to handle our 3 (4 if I get my way...I'm not implying anything, just saying I would like one more!)

5. Julia has a huge memory of life in China and of her foster family. We can look at pictures of our trip or at books and she knows that it's China. She talks about missing her foster mom and foster sister. It's heartbreaking to hear her say that she misses her "China Momma". She also knows that she has 3 Mommas. One China Momma that she grew in, one Momma that took care of her until she was adopted and then me. She will say, "Ai China Momma" (love China Momma) and then say "Ai Momma" and give me a hug and kiss. She knows the difference. We want her to know about her Chinese mothers and how important they were in bringing her up.

6. She is a clean freak! Wayne is thrilled. He loves the fact that she likes to wash tables and fold laundry. Me on the other hand knows how sad it is that she knows how to do these things at age 2. Cam and Anna still don't wipe tables or fold clothes. LOL!

So, there's a little run down and where we are and what's going on. Sorry there are no pictures, just some of Momma's ramblings. Many hugs!

Here's a look at the first picture I saw of Julia (in the turquiose outfit, minus hair), then we got updated pictures in June of 2005 (green and yellow shirt, more hair!) and fianlly the one I took just a few weeks ago. Hard to believe it's the same little girl! 

Parades and T-Ball

I'm fairly tired and don't feel like writing a ton tonight, so here's a little run down on the latest pictures.

We agreed to pull a float for the Hart, Mears, Silver Lake Chamber of Commerce for a few parades this year. The 1st one being the National Asparagus Festival. Kids had a great time. We did another parade this last weekend, Walkerville Pioneer Days. Julia loved waving to people.

The latter group of pics are Cam's t-ball team. He's had an amazing year with it. We have enjoyed getting to know more families in our area. Cam has great sportsmenship and it makes us proud when he says, "It doesn't matter if we win or lose, Mom...as long as we had fun and tried our best." How awesome is that?

Well, take care and maybe I make a longer update later this week. :-)

Anna, Cam and cousin Mitchell ready for the 2006 National Asparagus Parade (in Hart, Michigan).  

The Oceana Singers all ready to sing. 

Wayne's truck with the Oceana Singers all loaded up. 

My happy flag wavers, Anna, Cam and Mitchell in the parade. 

Here's our family (with Julia!) watching the parade. 

Here's my grandma video taping us in the parade! 

Can you find my cousin Lavonne? Hint: she's got a camera taking a picture of me, taking a picture of her! 

Some of our friends watching the parade...Can you spot the VanSickles??? 

Cameron checking his runner on first. 

This is a typical crowd for a t-ball game. We are related to more than half of these people!! 

Close up of Cam heading to 1st base 

Julia and Daddy watching GeGe's (older brother in Chinese) game. 

Cousin Mitchell, the power hitter. The blue guy in the back is Mitchell's dad and coach, Jason. 

Cam's pal Logan getting a good hit. 

Cam watching the ball take off (He got a double out of this hit!) 

Cam up to bat at the game Monday night.