"Congratulations, It's a girl!"

A lot of you have probably heard, but in case you haven't...

in August last year, after a series of classes, my parents drove down to Florida to become the new foster parents of a little girl name Ashlei, bringing her back to become one of the family. We were so excited to have her. She pretty much instantly became one of the family. She's helped Joel come out of his shell (before she came he hardly talked at all) and they're practically best friends. :)

well, long story short, Yesterday, June 27th, she became, legally, a member of the family. We called it her 'adoption day.' My parents decided to change her name to Sarah. At the end of the court session, the judge promptly stated, "congratulations, it's a girl!" :)

after it was all complete, we went on a family trip to botanical gardens to celebrate. And, well, see for yourself :) (i decided to take some photos of the fam along the way :D)

Sarah and Joel :)

my super tan amazing bro, phil

Stephen :)

Alexandra

Playing in the water

Simeon

Mom, Phil, Alexandra, and Dad

Natasha

Mom and Dad

Caleb :)

 Sarah is so bright and outgoing. I'm so excited to see what future God has charted out for her :)

Peculiar Places: Libraries.

the automatic glass door groans as it opens and I proceed to enter. I take a deep breath and sigh. The sweet scent of paper, glue, and newspaper permeates the air. There is a respectful hush that fills the space. People talk in low, monotonous voices. It's so perfect. The sun shines through the windows as i browse the long bookshelves, my fingers gliding along the plastic-encased and paper covers, searching for an intriguing title.

I don't know about you, but going to the library is one of the best things about summer. I know, it makes me sound like a bookworm, but it's true :) I just don't have time to read during the school semesters. (i think that's a little ironic...don't you?) I mean, I'm not a great reader (you won't find me sitting in the house on a lovely summer day reading Old Man and the Sea or Moby Dick or anything like that) But i do love a good book. By the way...Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is pretty amazing :D

my dream library would either be like the one in Beauty and the Beast, or the one in Sense and Sensibility which is filled with old books and atlases.

I love this library :)

Libraries are peculiar places. You can have a HUGE library like the one above, or you can have a small, dusty library like the one in Sense and Sensibility. And you never know what sort of books you'll find there. Sort of like going to a bazaar. I've never been to one, but i can imagine they can be pretty strange. Just like libraries. :)

Williamsburg, monkeys, mustaches...summer so far

I know. I know. I haven't been posting very much. But that happens to everybody, right? Anyway,  I thought I'd catch everybody up on what's been going on since that final exam on May something-or-other. 

After my final final exam, i accompanied Laura and Rebekah to Colonial Williamsburg where we strolled along the near-empty pathways and soaked up the colonial culture. For dinner we ate at the Cheese Shop in the merchant's square part of Williamsburg. Never been there? I highly recommend it.

Bekah ♥

I love the colors in these hats

Friday i went to Busch Gardens for the first time this summer. It was great! among riding the rides, eating pretzels, and other things, we babysat a monkey, almost drowned in all the rain, and had lots of good laughs. Fun times :)

However, after all this, my summer didn't really feel like summer. I mean, I was only going places on the weekends. But yesterday that changed when Cat came over and made my day :)We went to target and browsed the aisles. Tried on a few pairs of sunglasses (so i exaggerate a little...) etc, etc, etc. Then, we had a surge of creativeness. and, well, see for yourself.

Don't judge...^_^

She's so pretty :)

cat took this and the four above by the way :)

So it's been a pretty great summer...so far :) hopefully there are many more posts to come.