Update on the Wright house. This has been one wild and fun summer. I don't think I've ever had one like it. We found a house to rent, have spent each week going back and forth to different homes, done a lot of therapy, been working on wheel chair and special shoes, become the Director for the Branson CC group, and gone to some trainings. Meanwhile, in my spare time, I've been getting ready for the school year. We've so enjoyed our times in Branson and am so thankful for the opportunity to start a CC group. It's been a blessing to our family, and I want to pass it on to others. So, if you know homeschoolers in our area, pass them on our way!

We'll continue going back and forth, Buddy joining us when he can, but we'll be there more than here, except when we take breaks from CC and coming back to visit if Buddy can't come our way. I'm working on streamlining our transitions to make it more enjoyable for all of us. Chore charts and tasks are really helpful.

More has happened, but it's time to head out again. Finally getting internet access, so I can feel more attached to the world!

A year ago yesterday, we came home from ROG and got to be with loved ones again. It was a fabulous, tiring ordeal. Obviously, if you've followed for any length of time, I'm not great having the camera in the same state as I'm in, nor do I put pictures on here of signifcant moments. I also don't know how to make a slide show to commemorate the journey. If you care, you can go back and look at pictures, which are fun to see.
As we were talking with a friend at gold camp yesterday, Hannah was running around the green, chasing after Caleb. Happy as can be. Amazing to think a year ago I carried her everywhere, she only got around on her knees with much encouragement. So many other things have changed in a year, sometimes it's hard to remember what it was like when she first came.
Gotta run, but thankful for the good times we've had.

I got the header picture changed! Such talent, haha! Slowly but surely, I get things done.

This past week, we took off again for the farm and decided to be really brave. Buddy worked into the weekend again, so he couldn't join us. We've figured out our way around the house and the yard and are venturing out. But we haven't been to SDC since we first went over in June. Picture 4 kids and me going to the park for the day. I forgot to move the stroller into the car before we left here, so we were strollerless. Thankfully, when I explained our situation to the parking people, they let me pull up into the disabled parking (right in front of the park entrance) and we were able to rent a double stroller. We had a blast, deciding Thursday is the day to go, especially if you can go in the morning. We made our way to the local library on Friday to check it out and use their internet. (The guys didn't quite make it or bother to call to let us know they weren't going to make it to the house.) It's quite small, but was still full of books, and they can get books from the big Springfield library if we need them. (We went to the big one a few weeks ago. Quite an experience- they had a gift shop and a cafe. Small town people getting culture shock in the big city!)
We intended to have guests on Friday, but it didn't work out, so Saturday we invited some other friends. Good times in our pool, sharing some good food, and eating cherry cobbler. MMM mmm! I'm so glad I got all those cherries on sale!
Sunday after church, we weren't quite ready to go, so while the littles were resting, the big ones and I read a book about the civil war from the perspective of a 14 year old girl and planned what to do. SDC called our name, and we set out for a few more hours of fun. The cool thing is that it's only about 20 miles (like most everything else) from the house. Zip, zip, zip and we're there. I think we got everything in we wanted. C and H rode the ship that goes up and down and actually had fun. We're going to wait on Thunderation for C until Daddy's with us. 3 seems a little young, but he's big enough.
Glad to be back here where we're altogether. This weekend will be a big camping trip for Samuel- caving in the panhandle somewhere. I'm so thankful he has these great opportunities. He'll surely have seen more of OK in the time he is here than I have in the 20+ years (that sounds terrible!) since I came.
Have a great week!

A few pictures from the photo shoot.

Spent the day trying to track down wiring receipts from last year for our adoption credit. This is ending up being a lot of work! In the process, I did find out more information about H's birth parents. They were pretty young when she was born. I'm not sure how I would have handled things had I been their age and lived in their country. They were brave, and we're thankful for them.
Tomorrow morning we're going to have our family picture taken! It's only taken a year to have us all together, dressed properly, and have a photographer there at the same time. Granted, it's very early and I'm not sure how chipper we'll all be, but at least we'll all be there together. I hear photo shop is a fabulous thing. :)

Off for a walk First picture together in a long time. We've both greyed a bit since last summer. Having fun with the sparklers

Watching the big fireworks. As we spent a lovely weekend relaxing in the Ozarks, Buddy and I reflected on "this time last year." Last year, July 3rd we were stuck on the runway, waiting to see if our flight would leave, only to be taxiing into Houston to see our connecting flight taking off. July 4th was spent in airports, and July 5th, we saw the plane the director of our adoption agency was on when we landing, never getting to meet her face to face. However, we also got to see Hannah in real life for the first time and spend some surreal time together before heading over to court. What a whirlwind that was. As I sat in air conditioning, enjoying having my family around me, I remembered the sweltering evenings in the apartment, trying to have some contact with home.

When Buddy pulled into the drive for the weekend, Hannah threw up both hands, straight up, and was so excited to see him. I've not seen her do that before. I remember how difficult it was to raise her left one even to shoulder height. She put 6 words together into a sentence. It was jumbled grammatically, but it was 6 words. She spent part of the weekend wandered around the yard carrying a big stick, so pleased with herself.

We shot off a few fireworks on the 3rd, with the little ones in bed, but waited for the big ones until the 4th. At first, the fireworks were not a joy to H. She actually asked not to do sparklers. (We had her try one, and that was too much.) The look on her face during the first big bangs was a mix of confusion, fear, and a request for direction. I told her it was pretty and fun and we liked them. After that, all was well.

The scripture that came to mind was "He puts the lonely in families." Amazing the changes in a year. Thanking God for the good work He's done in us and in her.