What comes to mind...

My husband left our camera at school this last week and there have been several occasions that I have wanted to snap a few photos and make a blog post but couldn't. For instance, I really wish I could have snapped a photo of Kailtyn reading to Adam on the couch. She has recently taken up this hobby of pretending to be "mommy" and so she read all the books just like I do. It is cute most of the time but when she copies some of the things I'm not so proud of, I tend to put a stop to it! I also would have wanted to post a picture of the kids at the zoo. We have LOVED the zoo here, I have a lot of pictures of them when they are little at the zoo but wanted to capture how grown up they have become, it was our first year going without a stroller....It's so liberating to not have to take a stroller everywhere you go but it does kinda stink not to have something to put your purse in or to hold your drink. I also would have wanted to take a picture of us going to our favorite neighbors baseball game. Robbin and her son Corey have been our family while here in Iowa. Corey is pretty much the best adopted uncle Kaitlyn and Adam could ask for and Robbin is not old enough to be my mom but she makes me feel comforted like my Mom and she is so sweet to the kids. They always go to her door and ask to look in her "treat" cupboard. They run down to her car when she gets home from work and they ask if they can help pull her car into the garage. Kaitlyn and Adam love them so much, it will be so hard to leave them. I also would have wanted to take pictures of our super fun Memorial Day Camping trip we went to on Friday Night. We packed it all up and headed just a few miles out of town to the local campgrounds and settled in with a few other families. We hiked a little, roasted a little and looked at the stars. Fortunately Kaitlyn and Adam LOVE camping and we will hopefully have many more wonderful camping trips as a family. The next morning we woke up to some friends making us biscuits and gravy and it was oh so delicious. We headed down to the pool and the kids splashed a little and than we all headed home completely drained. We had so much fun. It was nice this year not to have to guard the kids from the fire, they understood it was dangerous and it was so relaxing to just watch them enjoy the outdoors and get a few minutes of peace myself under the trees and by the fire. I looked at the calendar tonight and realized we have a little over a week left in this trimester. If things go as planned we will be leaving after the next trimester. It baffles me to think about being done here. Looking back it seems like it was so short of a time but when we were in the midst of it, it seemed like it took forever and to be honest I didn't think I was going to make it. Joseph bless his heart has always done his part well but sadly I am the weaker link, our time here in Iowa has brought out the good and the bad in me. I have a lot to be proud of and some things I'm not so proud of but I've learned a lot and know I will learn more in the next few months as we make some BIG decisions and close this part of our lives. I have a TO DO list sitting next to me, it's LONG...I hope this week is productive and that I get my camera back so I can post as the week goes on with photos to go along with the moments I want to capture...