What in the world have we been doing for the past four months????

It's funny how when we were in the process of adopting (I was obsessed with reading blogs of people who were also adopting), I would be so disappointed when I hadn't seen a post from my "virtual friends" for a long time...how could they possibly be too busy to update me on their life????

Well, I am not sure anyone reads our blog anymore, but I want to keep updating in an effort to share some family memories, but most importantly, remember some family memories (because let's face it- I am NOT scrap booking these days...another long forgotten hobby that I really tried to keep up with).

So here is a quick update on our family...

Bryce turned 10 in January and was thrilled to receive a five pound gummy bear.  Seriously.  He loves it.  It sits on his dresser.  It is heavy (five pounds of gummy bear is solid I tell you).

Bryce also received a special surprise from his crazy mom...turtles! Illegal turtles.  Please don't turn us in to the authorities, but I guess it's illegal to own turtles under four inches long.  Funny, it was pretty darn easy for me to order these little guys online.  They were shipped from Florida, and arrived safely overnight (I paid more for shipping than the turtles).  You don't have to write to me to tell me how scary these little guys are to our health...I had my fair share of freaking out about salmonella, but I did my research, and we are VERY diligent about hand washing and disinfecting.

 We have also been busy attending our fair share of basketball games.  Bryce played ball, and transformed himself on the court, and off.  This is Bryce at the beginning of the season (white jersey...#33).  Notice his beautiful flowing locks?

 BEFORE

 AFTER

 What???  Break this mommas heart!  This is the same basketball player after he decided that it "was time" to cut his hair(red jersey #33)!  The boy had not had a real haircut in all of his ten years of life.  When he showed up at school, the kids thought there was a new student in their class.  I overheard some dads at basketball practice questioning who the "new player" was. At the end of one basketball tournament (following Bryce's haircut), a parent came up to me to ask why I was there..."Bryce isn't even playing..." they said.  Funny, no one recognized him.  I am finally getting used to his new look.

 High school dance team season also kept us VERY busy this winter.  There were many dance team performances (which came with awesome varsity basketball games to watch on Friday nights) and competitions to attend.  The girls had a great season.

 My favorite performances were their pom numbers, but...

 Their hip hop routine is what took them to "state."  It actually turned out to be a really cool routine.  Gotta love those baggy M.C. Hammer pants.

 When dance team season starts to wind down, studio dance teams are just getting started.  

We are in the middle of tons of (studio) travel team competitions (that will have to be another post).

Grace recently turned six  (had a great birthday) and is doing fantastic at school and loving kindergarten. 

She is also sporting a new "do."

We absolutely adore extensions.  They are such a time saver in the morning.  It takes a very long time to do the braiding, but after that...easy peasy.  We love the look on Grace too.

 Something new for our family this year, was watching Drew shoot at the state archery tournament.

I knew NOTHING about archery until this year.  It's actually pretty cool.  We were very proud of Drew.  This is something we knew nothing about.  Doug doesn't hunt or shoot, so it was totally up to him to learn how to shoot.  Turns out he is really good!  Drew even qualified to go to "nationals" for archery!  Crazy to think my 7th grader will be driving across the country to compete with 10,000 other students at the national archery competition in Louisville...

 And, last but not least, when it comes to the furry part of our family, there is good news and bad news.

Our sweet dog Blue is getting old.  His health is not great.

We thought we were going to lose him about a month ago, but, it turns out that he is pretty darn resilient.

He is hanging in there, but is 11 years old and slowing down a ton.

 The doctor was surprised we were able to celebrate his 11th birthday since he is losing weight and not eating much (he only weighs 30 pounds...crazy for a dog his size...thank goodness for his fur).

 The good news is that soon Blue will have a new friend.

We are adding this little cutie to our family soon.

I am pretty excited about this little guy.  I am looking forward to having a little dog in the house.

He is a cavalier king charles spaniel. He doesn't have a name yet (at least that's what I'm letting everyone believe...we can't agree on a name, but the way I see it, he's mine to name because I am the one who will be training him and getting up in the middle of the night with him).

 So, there you have it.  We have been busy. This last picture shows where I am heading in my next blog post...road trippin to South Dakota.  Funny, our adoption blog is the reason we headed to South Dakota...gotta love this crazy world of "virtual" turned real-life friends.