And life continues to fly by.....

It seems like things haven't slowed down...I guess that's normal with 3 kids and 2 dogs. Yes, you read that right-We got a NEW puppy. Chase (our 7-8 year old cocker spaniel) welcomed Chip (a now 73 lbs, 7 month old Chocolate Lab). He is a great dog, but is still very much a puppy. We had a great time at the dog park recently with Chip and Chase.

 

We love staying busy though. We've enjoyed being in WI and so close to "home". Back in January, John took the boys to Indianapolis for a day to experience all the Super Bowl Festivities. They were beyond excited when he surprised them by picking them up early from school and heading south. What a memorable daddy and son experience.



We have enjoyed the very mild WI winter. We had a few good snow falls, but nothing too crazy. The thing that was hardest to get used to is that nothing stops when it snows. There was one day that it was snowing fairly hard when the kids left for school and we ended up with 7 inches before the end of the afternoon and school wasn't released early or anything. It's no big deal here. We loved every minute of it!

We are excited spring is here though. I keep waiting for it to snow again, but the sunny weather has been nice. We've been spending our weekends house-hunting, hiking and going to the dog park. The boys have started guitar lessons and Chip is enrolled in puppy elementary. 

We have enjoyed visitors over the course of the past few months as well. John's parents, sister, brother-in-law, and nephew came to visit for Christmas. My sister, her fiancé, and my nephew came and took us to the Wisconsin Dells (Great Wolf Lodge) and most recently my mom came (along with my sister and her family again). It is great to be so close! I really hope to have more visitors this summer!! Especially if our plans go through and we get a new house! Additionally, we will probably need help with the boys when Adalynn has her next surgery since it will be inpatient and she will have to stay at least one night (more about that later).


We been able to enjoy even more fun times as a family over the past few months too. On top of our time house hunting (seeing approximately 25 homes) we have also had fun doing things like seeing Casting Crowns in concert (with the Afters and Sanctus Real) and going to the Rock and Worship Road Show (with Mercy Me, Sidewalk Prophets, and 6 other bands). We also got to go to events on campus like the  Dr. Suess Suessical and Chemistry Club Family Night. Oh, and we can't forget the sporting events. We saw the Division III National Championship Football team and Basketball team play, and Adalynn and I went to see the co-champs Women's Gymnastic Team at a meet.  The kids really enjoy taking advantage of everything the Whitewater campus has to offer.

Adalynn has been busy with gymnastics, herself! She loves watching the big girls. Her favorite things are the bars and the balance beam.

And finally, cleft related info....Adalynn went back Madison and the UW American Family Children's Hospital last week. We discussed her upcoming surgery when they will revise her palate and reconstruct her nose. This surgery will probably involve a stint placed into her nose to mold the nostril that is still fairly flat on the cleft side. We will probably do this mid to late summer. We don't want her to have a miserable summer, but also want to get it done before school starts back up. It's hard to believe that it is time for this surgery already. It seemed so long ago, back in Georgia, that the plastic surgeon said her next surgery wouldn't be until she was ready to start kindergarten.....time flies!

I hope you all are as blessed today as we feel! We had a fantastic Easter (and here are the kiddos in their Easter outfits). 

 

I am hoping the next post will include the fantastic news that we finally have a REAL house and are DONE renting. Keep your fingers crossed for us. 

Blessings,

Shannon