Kassy's 1st Tooth has Arrived!

We had a terrific visit with Grandpa Doug, Grandma Linda, and Great-Grandma Marilyn this afternoon. We enjoy watching them play and interact with David and Kassy. I love how they love my kids! Grandma pushed David in the swing, encouraged him on the slide, and played in the sandbox. They all read books to the kids. After supper Great-Grandma was holding Kassy, who, of course, wanted to jump (she loves to stand up, hold on to your fingers, and jump, jump, jump!!!!). I reached out to help hold her and saw a tiny flash of white in her mouth. I couldn't resist sticking my finger in to find out, and yes! yes! yes!!!!! After 4.5 months of drooling, a tooth is finally making an appearance in Kassy's lower left jaw! She's a long way from enjoying a steak, but it's still exciting!

Bathroom Business

More official news: potty training for David has begun! On July 4th, just before we left for Kurt and Christine's to celebrate Independence Day, David announced that he wanted to go potty. I asked him if he was sure, and he said, "Yeah!" So, clean diaper in hand, the two of us went to the bathroom. I took off the old diaper and seated him on the toilet facing the tank (I had previously been advised by a clerk in Walmart that this was a sure-success method.) and he did it! We celebrated by clapping hands and loud cheering. David even cheered himself--he said, "I did it!" So far we've managed to at least sit on the toilet one time per day and more if we're at home and I remember to encourage him. I was advised by a friend not to push him to do it, and so far I think I've done a good job of not forcing him. David is doing great and we are so thankful that he's ours!

Blow on it

We had a wonderful weekend with lots of "just the four of us" family time. Allen spent some time laying timbers and spreading wood chips under the swing set and slide. It looks really nice! Sunday evening Allen and David were swinging and enjoying Allen's hard work when Grandpa and Grandma Pickard drove by on their way to Brookings. David hopped in their van and went to church to pick up some fruit that Grandma ordered. On the way to town, David noticed Grandma's bottle of Root Beer and asked for a drink of pop. Grandma, knowing that the bottle had been sitting in the warm van all day, told David that the pop wasn't any good because it was warm. David was quiet for a bit then he told Grandma to "blow on it." In case you missed the funny part of this story, we tell David to "blow on it" if we give him food that is too hot to eat. David thought that by blowing on Grandma's Root Beer it would be cool enough for him to drink. Isn't he smart?

She's "Officially" Ours! and Hills Highlights

Kassy has been a loved, treasured, and welcomed member of our family from the moment we received the phone call from our social worker, Barb, that her birthmom had picked us to parent her baby. Even so, the law is the law, and on June 28, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. we were in court to finalize the adoption of our precious Kassandra Briahna! The judge gave Kassy a little stuffed tiger-striped cat as a congratulatory gift and said that this he was glad to hold court proceedings for this reason.

I can't imagine life without our little Kassy. Her big brown eyes see so much and it's amazing how much she has learned and is learning each day. We are so blessed to have the opportunity to love, nurture, cherish and encourage this unique person with her own personality. You are wonderful, Kassy, and we love you very much!

Our Beautiful Baby Doll

After a big family pizza and chicken lunch, we headed home to finish packing our camper to leave for the Black Hills. We drove to my folk's, helped them finish packing their camper and headed for Rapid City at 6:30 p.m. I got to drive the pickup pulling the 33-foot camper from Ft. Pierre to Wall while Allen took a nap. He sure has a lot of confidence in me! We were almost to Rapid when Dad's camper blew a tire. Nobody had a flashlight-except David! He had a cute little dinosaur light that shines and says, "roar!" when it's mouth is opened. It didn't take the guys long to get us back on the road and we were finally settled for the "night" at 1:45 a.m.

We met up with my brother's family and visited Dinosaur Park. Mom and Dad stayed in the pickup at the bottom of the hill while the rest of us climbed the stairs. David was pretty excited to see the dinosaurs but didn't like posing for pictures. We had supper at a Burger King with an indoor playland and gave Jonah and David the opportunity to burn some more energy.

David and Jonah on the way to meet some friends

June 30 is Mom's birthday, so we celebrated with traditional camping fare for brunch-pancakes, sausages (that took 2.5 hours to cook on Dad's grill-they were good though!) and scrambled eggs. This year's candle for Mom's pancake played "happy birthday." We didn't get to light it because it was too windy. Then off to Bear Country, USA for a wild time. We saw all of the animals that the signs indicated we would see except one-the mule deer. Jonah had a good time going from side to side in the van to see the animals on each side. David, Kassy and Caleb took naps. We had grilled burgers (on Allen's grill) for supper then Allen, David, and I went for a quick dip in the pool. We had heard that the water was very cold, so we spared Kassy. It was cold and David clung to Allen the entire 15 minutes we exposed ourselves to hypothermia.

That brings us to Thursday, which was a windy, wild ride home. We bucked the wind all the way except for a 35 mile stretch where we went north. Dad lost the tread on one of his camper tires. Fortunately, he had a spare, and in less than 9 minutes they had the tire changed and we were rolling again. Not quite NASCAR, but impressive anyway.

Friday and Saturday Dad, Mom, Allen, and Jody (Tricia's brother) cut, chopped, hauled and pushed alfalfa. There's still more to do but rain Saturday night stopped further progress.
We celebrated the 4th at Allen's brother Kurt's house with yummy supper and entertaining fireworks. David and Conrad played in the sandbox, the pool, the house, and anywhere else they could. David came home with about 20 mosquito bites in various places-yes, he had repellant on!

Our precious Kassy

Aunt Christine, Allen, David and Cousin Conrad