Thelma and Louise

"One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats." Chris Murdoch

Some times you just have to jump in a Bug and get out of dodge! This morning my "small treat" was coffee with my girl Tina at 6:00 a.m. It is always a sure thing that we will be laughing the whole way down the road!

~Small wonders~

Just taking care of business...giving Ned some water. That's his den back there that my dad built.

Hmm...what's that sound?

Chirp, chirp, chirp....

Oh hi! Nope it's not you little one...you just look scared to be out of your nest for the first time.

Oh, hey little buddy! It's you. How'd you get in there?

One thing the Chief, Alex and I have in common is the soft spot in our hearts for animals. We all share the same nurturing, protective love of God's smallest creatures. Alexa and I see wonder each day in the hummingbirds, the quail who sing to us, the butterfly that lands on a branch, the roadrunner that walks along our fence, and the baby birds learning to fly.

When the Chief and I first moved into this house, there was a little baby bird that had fallen from its nest and broken its wing in our backyard. Neither of us could stand to watch it suffer, so I found a place (after many phone calls ) that would take it. It was about 30 miles from our house but at 10:00 that night the Chief and I brought this baby bird to the "bird lady" who takes in injured birds. I think living out here in the desert has made us appreciate all the unique wonders it gives us each day. Don't get me wrong, if I find a scorpion in the house I whack the sucker with my flip flop at a high rate of speed and regularly kill spiders without pause but I never take the small wonders for granted. Alexa has that same spirit in her and I hope she keeps it. I want her to respect her surroundings and see the beauty in the smallest wonders.

Happy Father's Day!

I chose this photo of the two of them because of how happy the Chief looks. Happy Father's Day honey...you are a great dad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Concert at the Park

Last night was a playgroup date with our FCC called Jia Ting. It is for families who have been home with their child since 2005, so a lot of the girls are similar in age. We met at the Railroad Park where they do a free concert on Sunday nights and lots of people show up! It was really fun!

This one is blurry but Alexa's big smile is all I see. Playing with some new friends.

With Amy. I couldn't seem to get a shot of them both smiling but it's still cute.

Alexa dancing to the band. She loved her glow sticks.

Beautiful baby Georgea made her debut last night and everyone wanted to see her!! She is so precious!

Alexa had a blast playing, dancing, doing somersaults, hanging out with her buddies James, Amy and Georgea and eating marshmallows. : )

~The Girls~

Yesterday we went over to see Georgea. Our friends James and Amy just returned from China last week. Bestill me heart...I am smitten with their little girl. Alexa loves her too and proclaimed at the airport last week that "She is darling." That she is! When we came into their house, Georgea wouldn't take her eyes off Alexa. Georgea is so sweet, has the cutest raspy voice and just loves to snuggle on her mom. Alexa gave her some tickles and some "coochy coochy coos" and Georgea smiled and giggled.

Watching Georgea's journey home has been really good for Alexa. It has brought up some really beneficial conversations between her and I about her birth parents( which we are already open about), China and adoption. She has been roll playing with her dolls and pretending that she is a baby and we are coming to China to get her. It has all been positive and I think it is so important that she knows there are other girls like her, who are with their forever parents and are loved and cherished like she is.

I love the fact that her and Georgea share a very special bond and will have each other to lean on as they get older. Best buddies forever!

Introducing.....

Beyonce Shine!