Fall activities

Here's a few pictures from the last month.  We have been enjoying the awesome fall weather and spent as much time as possible outside.  Our big trip for the month was to Newton, Kansas for homecoming weekend at Eric's alma mater, Bethel College.

Alex's first fish!

Fun at the Wichita zoo.
Alex loves to pretend he's Curious George!

Alex and Sophie playing

Alex the helper

At Roger & Frederique's house

Happy Sophie

Future truck driver visiting maman at work

 Sophie likes to roll onto her belly

Sophie is 5 months

Sophie is 5 months today. Time flies when you are having fun! She has grown a lot and started to eat rice cereals a couple of days ago. She rolls onto her side a lot now and can shake a rattle. She loves to talk to big brother Alex.

Papy and Mamy returned home yesterday. We had a very nice visit and are very grateful that they could spend some time with us learning to know the kids and helping us around the house. Alex's French vocabulary has improved dramatically since they don't speak English and it was fun to see them interact. Alex now wants to go to France to visit them. Hopefully we can do that next year!

Never a dull moment with Alex in the house!

Look at what papy built for me in the garage!

Sophie hanging out with Oma

The girls

The boys

Check out the pretty dress I wore for my child dedication at church!

A proud mommy

Checking out the fish tank of the Vietnamese restaurant for Gotcha Day

Do you have any teeth yet, Sophie?

Alex the builder repairing the steps

Alex didn't catch any fish but had fun trying!

Sophie trying to take a nap with Papy

Look how big I'm now

Cutie pie

Two Years with Alex

Two years ago today, we met Alex for the first time.  We cannot believe it has already been that long and at the same time it is hard to remember our lives before Alex.  We are very thankful that Alex is a part of our family!

Our first picture

Playing with Alex in Vietnam

One year ago

Our big boy!

Papy et Mamy à la rescousse

Papy et mamy sont arrivés le 3 septembre pour faire la connaissance de Sophie et jouer avec Alex. Sophie est dorlotée toute la journée par mamy. Alex, lui, regarde ce que fait papy qui est occupé à isoler la cave. Alex a fait beaucoup de progrès en français et fait maintenant même des phrases. Il apprend à mamy tous les noms des dinosaurs.

For those of you who are not fluent in French, here is the quick translation: Grandpa and Grandma to the rescue
Grandpa and grandma arrived on September 3rd to meet Sophie for the first time and play with Alex. Grandma is holding Sophie all day. Alex watches what grandpa is up to insulating the crawl space. Alex made a lot of progress in French and even makes sentences now. He teaches grandma all about dinosaurs, farm animals and cars.

Sophie aime tenir son biberon toute seule
Sophie loves to hold her bottle

C'est l'heure du bain
It's bath time

Papy contruit une cabanne pour Alex
Grandpa built a cabin for Alex

Alex montre à Papy comment il fait (détruit) des chateaux de sable
Alex shows Papy how he can make (destroy) sand castles

Sophie est un heureux bébé
Sophie is our happy baby

Alex adore lire avec Mamy
Alex loves to read with Mamy

Alex dit à Papy de se raser
Alex told Papy to shave

Sophie sourit et gazouille de plus en plus
Sophie smiles and talks more and more

Resto
Eating out

Sophie ne peut pas encore manger de steak !
Sophie can't eat steaks yet!

Match de foot américain avec Papa. Allez les Huskers !
Watching football with Papa. Go Huskers!

J'adore ma nouvelle robe. Merci Olga et Jean !!!
I love my new dress. Thanks Olga and Jean !!!

Portrait de famille
Family portrait

August fun

We are having a good August. It's been hot, so lots of indoor activities for us. Sophie saw the doctor today and is doing well. She is 24 inches long and weighs 12.5 lbs. (61 cm and 5.7 kg)
We are impatiently waiting for Mamy and Papy to come visit us. They arrive Sept 3, and will be with us for most of September.

Alex at the dentist (no cavities!)

Dinos Unearthed

Lots of cool dinosaurs

Sophie and Walker

Walker is fun!

Look at me!

A little of this, a little of that.

The heat of August is upon us here in KC, yet we are finding ways to keep cool. We visited the Clifford exhibit at Crown Center before Jo returned to work. Alex had fun climbing on Clifford, while Sophie took a nap. Papa and the kids are settling into a routine without Mama at home. We usually try to get out of the house in the morning and go to the mall, library, store, whatever. It's nice to be out and about, but takes a little more work with two kids! After naps we usually play until Mama gets home from work. With the heat, its been hard not to be outdoors, but we are surviving.

Last week our friends Cecile, Gerald, Thomas, and Emily stopped by for a couple visits. They were into town for 2 weeks to visit family. It was great to catch up with them and to see the kids play together. Hopefully, we'll get to see them next year in France. Today, we went to the Holt picnic. We saw a lot of adoptive families there. We met up with our friends: Roger, Frederique, and Tyler Jae and met some new friends: Stacey, Corey, and Autumn. Autumn was also born in Vietnam and is just a couple weeks older than Alex.

For the next 3 weeks, Alex will not have Parent's Day Out, so I guess I'll (Papa) will have be "on" more of the time. It should go well, but I'm already looking forward to PDO starting up again!

Climbing Clifford

Eating dirt and worms

Alex and Sophie

Sophie's playmat

Thomas, Emily, and Alex

Alex and Autumn

Tyler Jae and Alex

The Jantzen's