windows, doors, and more

outside fireplace

view when you walk into the house through the front door

C & J's hideout behind their bedrooms (access from closets)

great room

stairs (one is looking from 2nd floor to basement)

master bath

side door (with plywood behind it)

windows are all in

a little culture

our first look at Claire

September 20th was Claire's adoption/gotcha day. The day before she and I went to our second cultural camp put on by our local organization, FCC-ET (families with Chinese children-east tn). What good timing. Claire got to spend the day doing Chinese crafts, Chinese dancing, some Kong Fu, and hearing about the Dynasties that make up Chinese history. As she gets older and is recognizing how she is different, it was wonderful to spend the day with, and making friends with , children that look like her and whose parents look like me. It was great to talk to her about how all those kids were adopted just like her. I added a few pictures from our day below. On her adoption day she got to show her brothers and dad all the neat things she made at camp. Then we watched her adoption movie. The movie that Allen spent many, many hours putting together that shows our journey to her. He did an incredible job. We all love watching it and taking turns cuddling with Claire during it. Allen and I can not watch it with dry eyes. It is just impossible. I am so grateful for this movie that truly captures how we felt and how incredible the whole experience was. It has been five years since Claire came into our lives. Five years. As I watched the movie this year I kept thinking, did I really go to China and experience all that? As I watched little Claire with her bald head and giggles, I am so thankful for the "trials" that brought us to her. What a miracle she is to us.

good times

This is what makes Allen happy. Every time we are out on the boat Allen will say things like, "this is awesome, this is the life, it doesn't get better than this". He truly loves having a boat and being on the water. He says that when he is on the boat he can forget about the daily stresses that life brings. Add me and the kids to the boat and he is in heaven. It doesn't matter if he actually gets a turn to wake board or not, he still loves it. He loves to watch his kids laugh and have fun, he loves to hear me scream on the tube, he loves to see them accomplish something new and see the pride on their faces, he loves throwing the kids in the water, he loves swimming with them, he loves to watch the sunset, and he even loves cleaning the boat. The other day our family spent most of a day cleaning the boat (Allen did most of it), having a picnic on the dock, and swimming in the water around the dock. As Allen was finishing up the cleaning, the kids and I were sitting on the dock with our feet dangling over, watching the boats go by and Carter said what a great day it had been and we all agreed. Then he asked if we would have a lot more days like this when we moved here. And I was so happy to say yes, we would. I can't wait.

best pj's ever

Thanks to my mom being somewhat of a pack rat, Claire is able to enjoy my FAVORITE pj's as a child. I have vivid memories of running around the back yard in CA pretending that I was a princess. I remember feeling like a princess. These silky pj's with matching robe were a dream come true for me then and are for Claire now. Thanks mom.

mirror confusion

Ok, this one is going to make you laugh. Today at school they had spirit day=wear your favorite school team colors. Of course our kids were decked out in orange and white. Carter had art today and his teacher let all the kids paint their faces to match their outfits. They used a mirror to put on the paint. As you can see Carter ended up with TU instead of UT. So did all the other kids that were putting letters on their faces while looking in the mirror. What's that show, "are you smarter than a 5th grader?" Yes, I believe I am.

11 years

It's true, Carter is 11 years old. I know, I can't believe it either. He repeated his friend party from last year-on the boat. He loves it, we love it. This year he shared the celebration with his best bud, Konnor-even better. Our new tube was a hit with the boys-and I caught the air they got on camera. That is Carter jumping over to the other tube. Our present to Carter was a guitar. He and Allen will be starting lessons any day now.

going back in time

As Allen and I have been packing, we have come across our old annuals, photo albums, report cards, scrapbooks and such. In one of my scrapbooks I found a page dedicated to the 1982 World's Fair. This is the year we moved to Knoxville and we were able to go a few times. In the pages was this shirt that looked brand new. Probably because I was 10 when I got it and as you see it fits my 5 year old perfectly. I don't remember the story on that one...mom? Anyway, for a second I wondered if an authentic 1982 WF shirt would be worth anything, but then I imagened Claire wearing it and that won. Doesn't she look cute?