So, what have we been up to for the last 6 weeks?

1. Finished Upwards soccer for this season. Maicol and Juan Pablo both enjoyed it, although Maicol is much more competitive and much more serious about it. Andrew will be old enough to play next year, so maybe we'll have all three with games on Saturday mornings!

2. We've been doing alot of swimming since our neighborhood pool opened. They all still love to go swimming and are doing very well. Maicol and Juan can both dive. This week Andrew was able to swim the width of the pool. He loves to swim underwater, but couldn't figure out how to come up for air and then swim more. This week it just "clicked" for him and he is so proud of himself. With a little more practice he should be able to jump off the diving board without his lifejacket.

3. We became in-laws. Jonathan and Kristin were married May 30. It's starting to balance out a little more in the daughter department. It was a beautiful wedding and we really enjoyed having both sides of our family there. Most of Dan's family and mine haven't seen each other since we got married 26 years ago, so we took pictures of everyone and are excited to see them. Andrew and Juan Pablo were ring bearers. They really wanted to be the "flower boys", but we talked them into the more traditional ring bearer job. :) Maicol was a groomsman. They all looked very handsome in their suits and in the end did their jobs well. Juan Pablo initially refused to walk up the aisle because he didn't get a boutonniere, but we were able to get past that and he and Andrew made it up the aisle before the bride (barely). I had to go to the end of the aisle and tell them to "GO!".

4. We spent a three-day family vacation with my side of the family. We try to get together every year and spend 2 or 3 days together. This year we rented a house at a state park and stayed together after the wedding. We had a good time playing games, playing with glow sticks at night, riding bikes and letting the cousins play together and get to know each other better. The boys spent as much time as possible playing Gameboy and such. Andrew and my niece spent as much time as possible being pulled behind the bicycle in a cart. They could have done that all day I think, except for the fact that the parents legs won't last that long!

5. We're still doing the usual things. Riding bikes, roasting marshmallows and hotdogs as often as possible, doing schoolwork, etc. We're also still trying everyday to convince Maicol that he is here to stay and that this Mom will never leave him. While I think he logically can see that I love him and will not leave, because that's not his past experience with mothers he has a very hard time believing it. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to not feel sure that your mother loves you and will never leave you. I grew up with a great mom and dad and I never questioned their love and devotion to me. I don't know how to convince him that I won't leave. We repeat the same conversations with him about how we're different, we haven't left our older children, he can see what we have done since he came to our family, etc., but it really does try my patience to have to go through the same things over and over.

Enjoy the pictures.

Karen

"Sleeping Beauty"

The Wedding Rehearsel

"The Cousins" (I love this picture - the boys were fascinated with their cousin)

Maicol teaching Andrew how to play Gameboy

Dan still reads to them almost every night before bed. If they're lucky he'll read up to 3 books.

Love the watermelon!

They all love mangos. They would prefer them to any candy or other sweet treat.