Okay, so I deserve the worst Blogger award! Life has been very busy!! This move has been a tough one! We are slowly but surely settling in a bit more. I have had some wonderful help with a decorator, who is now a new friend, help me get things together. We will soon have the main areas of the house painted and we are going to go ahead and do our bedroom too. I have really struggled with the feelings of sleeping in someone else’s bedroom. I am ready for it to feel like our bedroom. The living room/dining/kitchen area is finally beginning to feel like ours. We are getting closer and closer to finished.
We made our annual business/fun trip to Oklahoma City. We had a good time. We usually are set up in a foo-foo hotel and we have not been too fond of the one for the past few years. They moved us to the Hampton which we LOVE! We have had a wonderful experience with Hampton and we have preferred it ever since. When we were in our adoption process and God was waiting for to place Clara in our lives…we had the opportunity to potentially adopt another little girl. Her name was Denaya (where we got Clara’s middle name from…Denae) . We went to Louisiana to take care of Denaya and waited out the 5-day period for birthmom to sign relinquishment papers. We even waited another day. Long story short…and heartbreaking….birthmom changed her mind and decided to keep her baby. It was a really sad story and it took her 8 hours to find a ride to pick up her baby. My heart still breaks for her and her young family as she had 2 other children already. She lived in a chaotic, violent home as we were told. When we met her she was just broken. We hugged her and told her we were not mad and it would all be okay. It was one of the hardest things I have gone through. Denaya will be 3 in August and I think of her and her Mom often. I pray they have a blessed life and that they can rise beyond what they have experienced in the past to have all God has planned for them!
Anyway…I veered off course. During the terrible time of waiting for Denaya’s Mom to pick her back up the Hampton was so supportive of us. They set us up in their lobby area which was set up like a living room. They made the kids cookies and were such gracious hosts during such a terrible time of loss for us. This Hampton in Oklahoma City was no disappointment!! It had the coolest pool we have ever seen in a hotel. It was completely set up for the kids. 
This pic is misleading….Little Miss Clara was too scared and ended up not going down the slide. I was shocked!
As you can see it was pretty neat! They had little explosive dynamite set up in the deeper part. There were handles on the side of the pool you pushed down and it would cause a water explosion in the pool. It was really different and fun! Oklahoma was a neat trip. We made a trip to 105 Degrees which is a raw restaurant. It was a neat experience but one 2 year old was exhausted and was not feeling it was time for a dining out experience. All in all a good and memorable trip to Oklahoma City.
We have had many paddle boat outings and kayaking outings. Christian caught the first fish. 
There has been much more fishing. The boys have learned if they use the catfish food and put it in their nets they can catch lots of perch. Daddy has taken the whole gang out for a fishing outing. 
We have seen more wildlife…. baby turtles, baby birds, baby ducks, rabbits, etc. We visited the beaver home on the other end of the lake too. It is neat to see how they do that. Not so neat when they eat the rope holding your anchor. LOL =)
This is a shot of baby ducks….and not a good shot. Sorry!
A sunset in the backyard…
For the 4th we spent time at Meemaw and Pawpaw’s. The kids spent the night before over there. Clay and I went to dinner and a movie. Saw Eclipse. I have to throw in how sad I think it is that people think this movie is appropriate for preteens and teens. The unhealthy relationship between the main characters rivals obsession and the lust exhibited in the movie is sad. It is definitely not material younger children and teens should be exposed to during such a learning time in their lives. They should be learning of healthy relationships that their parents exhibit and not exposed to such confusing feelings of lust and false impressions of what love is. Okay…enough ranting there.
We enjoyed our fireworks at the lake with Meemaw and Pawpaw along with Matt & Candy. We even had drop in visitors with Candy’s brother & wife and their kids and Candy’s cousin and his wife and their kids. I did not take any pics this year but the fireworks were the best yet. They even had a firework that exploded into a smiley face….How cool is that? I hope you all had a safe, fun 4th! I hope to be blogging again soon! I also hope to have a video of Clara singing Happy Birthday up soon on Youtube. She cracks me up!! She loves to sing and she actually did it for the camera this time with her acting talent involved too. Speaking of singing too….Christian got a part in the play “"The Big, Bad Musical”. It will be a busy month of getting him to rehearsals, performances, and we will be hosting the cast party but I cannot wait to see him perform!! Congrats, Christian!!!
Hope to Blog again soon and not bombard you with so much stuff!!! =)
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