Rain, rain go away...

A year ago today, I came home to 4 inches of water in my basement. This year, it has been raining like crazy and I find myself running to the basement every hour to check for water. No water inside...yet (more rain forecasted for the weekend). But there certainly is a lot of water outside--and lots of mosquitos too.

What do you do when you are caught in the rain three days in a row? Have fun, splash and get wet!

Floods in Jiangxi Province

Keeping the people of Lily's birth home--Fuzhou, Jiangxi Province, China--in our prayers.

Lily and friends pick strawberries

We had a wonderful day picking strawberries with some of our playgroup friends. The berries were big, red and plentiful and the pickin' was easy!



I love the pride in Lily's face as she holds up her prize berry!





For some, a morning in the strawberry fields calls for an afternoon snooze!

Then and Now...

Three years ago today, we received our first picture of Lily Rose...



Those chubby cheeks, that little smile, that round face--I must have looked at that picture 10,000 times before we boarded a plane a month and a half later! Little did we know she was teeny, tiny, itty, bitty inside those puffy clothes!

Today our Lily Rose still has that round little face and she is always (well, almost always) smiling!

Last day of the 50th...

On the last day of my Mom and Dad's 50th anniversary, they wanted to remember family members who were not able to be with us. My parents released a balloon for each loved one who has passed away.... It was an emotional few moments...

50 years of family and friends...

The dinner celebration for my Mom and Dad's 50th anniversary was held in a quaint little restaurant in beautiful Door County Wisconsin. Set into a hill, with the lake visible below, we couldn't have asked for a lovlier setting (or better food) for this momentous event!



Sometimes, it takes an event like this to realize how truly blessed one is!

50 years

We celebrated my parents' 50th wedding anniversary in Door County, Wisconsin over the Memorial Day holiday weekend.



The whole weekend was really quite perfect--both the weather and the family-centered celebrations.

On the first day, we played in the sand and the lake (it's usually so cold up there, that I didn't even pack bathing suits!).






We shared Wsiconsin-style grill foods together (brats and burgers) and had a few drinks together.



But mostly, we enjoyed each other's company!





BTW, if anyone is wondering where the photos of the guests of honor are, my mom reserves editorial control over which photos of her get put on the web from this event!