This past weekend was beautiful!  Probably the last nice weekend Minnesota has to offer us.  Kade begs us all the time for a bonfire, more often than not we don't oblige.  Mainly because he always asks on a week night or if we do light one, by the time the fire has started he's completely lost interest.  Anyway, he asked again on Saturday and this time we couldn't say no to Kade or Mother Nature!

Erik sent out a text to his family to see if anyone wanted to join us.  With 3 busy siblings the odds of all of us being free were slim.  Pigs must've been flying somewhere because everyone was coming! The last time that happened might've been Christmas.  That seems to be how it goes though, if you want everyone to make it to something it needs to be planned months in advance and even then someone usually can't make it.  However send out a random text just hours before and everyone is available.

Mason's not quite old enough to realize he should be hanging on for dear life with that crazy tractor driver!

Mason impressed everyone with his size and mobility.  This almost 8 month old is squeezing his baby muscles into size 18-24 month clothes these days.

Jay and Kade were the Eagles and they were playing Erin and Kurt.  If you ask Kade, the Eagles won but who can be sure when Kade tackles anyone with the ball, his teammates included.  Notice the towel in Kade's pants?  He insists on wearing it because that's what "real quarterbacks" do.

Cutest little football fans ever!

The 13 of us!  Soon to be 14 (there's a little man growing in Jenna's belly😊). 

Not much to post about this week.  Erik and I have about a million and one things we want to do with our place.  Of course one idea leads to another idea which leads to spending more $$$.  So instead we are doing nothing and enjoying the last few nice days left of the season outside with the boys!

Kade is at the age now where we can make up silly games, with silly rules, and play them forever.  This one involved Mason and I throwing the ball to one end of the porch, Kade running after it and kicking it back.  Okay, so maybe that sounds a little like "fetch"....so, not really made up.  And maybe a more appropriate game to play with dogs?  Kade's expression makes me think he didn't mind it :-)

You can't leave Mason alone on the floor with blankets.  I have no idea how but he gets himself wrapped up like a burrito Every. Single. Time!

Mason's first ride on the lawn mower.  If he enjoys riding it as much as Kade does Erik is going to have to get a bigger lap.  Or a bigger lawn mower.  Or another lawn mower since Kade is now tall enough to reach the pedals and drive it himself.

This past week I've been thinking a lot about some acquaintances of ours.  They were on the adoption list at the same time we were.  I remember, 2 years ago when we were working on getting back on the list after Kade's adoption, our social worker told us to hurry up and get our stuff in because there was another couple working on theirs and they were going to be finishing up any day.  Although birth parents can look at as many profiles as they want, the order in which they see them is based on how long a couple has been waiting.  Or sometimes a birth mother doesn't choose a couple at all and the baby goes to the couple next in line.  Such was the case for Mason.

We ended up getting our stuff in about 3 days before them.  At the time we didn't realize we actually knew this couple.  Not that it would've made a difference.  We didn't do anything to expedite our paperwork process and we definitely didn't "hurry up".  Paperwork, photo scrapbooks and writing letters about ourselves is not something we enjoy and we most definitely didn't hustle getting it in!  Anyway, if we had waited another week this couple would've become Mason's parents.  

The reason I'm thinking about them is because they brought home a baby girl in June.  They had her home for exactly 2 months when the birthdad filed a custody lawsuit and ended all adoption proceedings.  This was their first baby.  They got to be parents for exactly 2 months.  It's heart wrenching.  It's every adoptive couple's worst nightmare come true.  They literally had to pack her up and take her back to her birthmom on the spot.  Although that exact situation crossed my mind a billion times, I could never bring myself to actually plan for it.  I know God has a plan for them and I pray that it involves a baby in their very near future.

Adoption is a beautiful thing but sometimes it's not.  I've said this before and I'll say it again, adoption is not for the weak...and that goes for both sides of the adoption--birth family and adoptive family.  Everything happens for a reason and I thank God everyday for my boys.  

Just some pictures this week.

I thought we'd start Mason on some finger food.  He's not quite there yet.  When he's lucky enough to land a puff in his mouth he's not exactly sure where to take it from there.  It sure is cute watching him try though!  And there's no complaints from Molly, she's rediscovered her love of hanging out underneath an eating baby.

I just love this picture.  You'd think there is a mutual love between Molly and Kade.  There isn't.  But it's nice to pretend once in awhile :-)

Handsome fella.

Cousin cuties.  Violet is 2 years and 3 months old.  Mason is 7 months old.  They wear the same size diaper and Mason weighs about 3 pounds less than her. Yep, he's big.  And yep, she's a peanut!

Uncle Jay, the boy's most energetic uncle!  The guy is made up of energizer batteries, I swear!

Mason discovered a new game this weekend.  He hits the ball as hard as he can and then scoots after it as fast as he can.  This kid can move!!  Fast!!  All of his "Kade Observations" have paid off.  Kade doesn't stand a chance in a few months.

Seriously.  I can't get enough of this little nugget.

Daddy Daycare.  Gotta do what you gotta do when football is on!  just kidding, he was only in there for a minute.  Enough for me to snap a picture and give Erik a hard time :-)

And finally....

My loves....

Labor Day weekend

As if we weren't busy enough with unpacking, cleaning and just settling in we had reservations for camping over Labor Day weekend.  So we took a break from unpacking the house and instead packed up the camper!  Although the weekend was book ended with rain, Saturday and Sunday were beautiful!  And even though it was a little more work for us, it was well worth the trip because it forced us to relax--which we wouldn't have done if we had stayed home.  That's what camping is all about!

Kade had a blast playing with Reed, Paige and Carter for 3 days in a row.  Mason had a blast watching them.  Although he's getting pretty frustrated with not being able to move like the big kids.  He's working hard at it everyday, so it's about time to do some major baby proofing.  

He's not a huge fan of this yet.  He pretty much can only move backwards so he gets stuck a lot.

These pictures don't do justice to the enormity of the mud puddle on our campsite.  It was impossible to keep them out of it so we didn't even try.  The catch phrase of our weekend was, "We're making memories, people."  The mom's had to keep repeating it over and over and over as more and more clean clothes and clean kids came back covered in mud.

Finger lights and sparklers, what could be better?

Ice cream, that's better :-)

Sorry for the lack of Mason pictures this week.  Every time I had the camera out the little cutie was napping!