I Am A Total Blog Slacker!

I can't seem to keep up with this blog now. Maybe it's because I have a 7 month old CRAWLING all over the place :) Gloria Grace is totally mobile now. She started out a few weeks ago with the "army crawl." Where she would be pulling herself around, while laying on her belly. She is now able to do the hand & knees crawling, and she's getting faster everyday :) She is also a professional at sitting up on her own, and proud of it I might add. It's very cool to see the boy's amazement each time she does something new.

We've pretty much settled in to being a family of 5 :)

The boys are doing well in school, and have settled into a routine. Coy is in 5th grade & Seth is in 2cd. Mid-9 week progress reports showed that both boys are on target for a great year. Coy is excited to be in the art club this year. Seth is happy to have a few friends from last year in his class again. Both boys are looking forward to basketball starting next month.

A couple of weeks ago, Nashville hosted the Music City BBQ festival. This was one of our first outings, besides going to church. It was hot, and unfortunately we choose the wrong booth to buy BBQ from. It was the saltiest BBQ I have ever eaten. It was not good at all. To top it off, when we left the festival I backed into a car in the parking lot :( I would have to say that it wasn't the funnest day. Here are a couple of pictures @ the festival:

It's not easy to get all 3 kids to look & smile simultaneously :)

The boys had fun rolling down the hill @ River Front Park:

We traditionally camp @ Barren River State Park in Kentucky on Labor Day weekend. I remember when I told Beth, from Gladney that I wanted to be home for the boys to go to school. I also told her that we had reservations for Labor Day weekend, and I remember her saying, really? :) We would not be anywhere else :) Gloria Grace, as usual, was fabulous the whole weekend. She even slept all night in her play pen :) Here are some pictures of our wonderful weekend:

Gloria Grace loved the hammock: Coy had to help get a branch off the top of Paw's camper:Such a handsome little/big brother:This is Little Ms. Gloria Grace crawling!I will leave you with by far THE cutest set of piggy tales you have ever seen :) I will try not to make it another 3 weeks before I post another update. I started on this one a week ago, and have worked on it 3 different times before I finally am done with it. :)

Making Memories

Even when we don't realize it, we are always making memories. Good or Bad. We spent today getting things together for our 1st big camping trip this year. For the last 9 or 10 years, we have gone to Barren River Lake in KY. It's one of our favorite camping places. We've made lots of memories there. Both boys rode their 1st horse there. We've camped with lots of different friends & family members there. We've met many new people there, as well.

Last year, Lou went on her last camping trip w/us. Oh the many memories from last memorial day weekend. We went horseback riding, swimming, ate lots of food, made pottery. All through out the weekend I kept thinking about how it would be the last camping trip w/her and I would get a little sad, but then I would think~~well @ least next year GloriaGrace will be here.

May 14th, 2009 we had just learned that Chiquitines accepted our dossier & would (eventually) place our daughter w/us. When we initially were accepted, we were told that things could move very quickly & we could even travel 3-6 months from then (that would've been by November of last year). We really have no idea what exactly we are still waiting on. The latest that we have been told is to expect a referral in August. That would have us travelling sometime between September/Novemeberish. I really try to keep myself from the what if games. Planning out our imaginary timeline. Figuring out flight information (I go on travelocity all the time, checking costs to Colombia). As much as I try not to, I just can't help it. We are soooo ready to meet & bring little Ms. GloriaGrace home.

I will enjoy my time with Tim & the boys this weekend. Both sets of grandparents will also be going camping w/us. We will make many memories this weekend, but while we are making them my mind will also be filled with thoughts of sweet little GloriaGrace & the hopes of her making memories with us soon.

Labor Day Weekend

This past weekend we went camping for the long weekend @ Barren River, in KY. On the way there I couldn't help but think--I wonder if Gloria Grace will be making the trip with us next year? I sure hope so. Granny & Paw Watson joined us in their new camper. The boys love all the activities the park has to offer. There is arts & crafts, swimming, bike riding, horseback riding, campfire stories, hiking trails, good food :) We got the boys out of school a little early & headed out. When we got to camp & got everything set up, Tim realized he had left his bag of clothes @ home. It was pretty funny, actually. I told him he was going to be smelling pretty funny after wearing the same outfit all weekend :) It got even funnier when I got to town & the only store to buy him any clothes at was Kmart :o) Not a lot of choices at Kmart, but I managed. It turned out to be quite a relaxing weekend. Here are lots of pictures:

On the way there:

The view from my mirror (Coy):
Seth loves his animal friends:

Toasting my toes by the fire:

Coy:

All 3 of my boys playing cars in the dirt:

Coy:

Daddy & Seth:

Daddy & Coy:

Seth @ the beach:

Coy @ the beach:

Seth & his "rocket box:"

Coy & his "robot box" hat:

Seth making crafts:

Coy & his spider:

Coy making another craft:

Daddy helping Seth w/his bird:

What a Beautiful Weekend

Anyone who knows the Watson family, knows we like to camp :) When we saw the weather forecast for this past weekend, we decided to take a last minute camping trip. We have never been to Cedars of Lebanon before to camp. It is only 30 minutes away, so we decided to try it out. It turned out to be a beautiful weekend. I had to work Thursday, but Tim packed up most of the stuff & headed to the campground w/the boys. I met them up there after work. The sites were really close together & set up w/only 1 adult isn't always so easy. Tim had a little mishap w/the site marker & the front bumper of his truck :( He decided that site was too small, and moved the camper. As he pulled the camper off the site, he scraped a tree along one side of the camper :( No biggy--just a little scratch. Anyway, he found another site & got set up...the rest was totally fun :) Here are the fun pictures:

All the makings of smores--Yummy!!!

Seth & Coy roasting marshmallows for smores:
Seth:

Coy:

I have not had Jiffy Pop in a very long time:

Seth did not make the jiffy pop! He just wanted to wear the oven mitt:
The family enjoying our popcorn:

Coy's favorite game--UNO:
They have a really nice pool, here are the boys w/their fancy moves.

Coy:

Seth:

On Saturday, Grandma & Papa, Granny & Paw, Aunt Mary Ann & Uncle Ray came to visit. All the grandparents stayed for supper & a few games of Sequence. It was such a nice weekend. I couldn't help but think about Gloria Grace. I'd see moms pushing their little girls around in strollers, and think about how hopefully soon Gloria Grace will be camping with us too. When I hear the boys praying, and they ask God to watch over G.G. in her orphanage-it melts my heart. This whole journey has been such a blessing to our entire family. We are so close to a referral, I can feel it :) Keep praying friends!

A Few New Pics to Share. . .

Here are some pictures from our latest adventures, camping at Defeated Creek :o)

Taken by our future photographer, Coy:

I sure do love my cuddling boys :o)
Coy & Grandma
The boys worked on this sand for hours.
Beautiful :o)

Pictures as Promised :o)

The Lake @ Salt Lick Campground

Our Home away from home

Lourdes, Tim, and Granny

Coy

Seth

Lourdes

Tim

Coy & Seth swimming (Lourdes did get in,but I wasn't there w/the camera :o)

Coy having fun in the sand

Seth w/perfectly roasted marshmellows

Lourdes lounging

The Boys :o)