We returned on Saturday from 8 fun-filled days visiting Mimi and Pop-Pop at their summer trailer in Indiana. We had such a wonderful time building memories as a family of 8 now. We have not been to the lake since the summer of 2005. Last summer we stayed home thinking 'the call' to get Mercy and Odesco would come any day. We also spent the time feverishly painting and reorganizing rooms to get ready for their anticipated arrival. During our visit 2 years ago, I vividly remember laboring over our homestudy biographies and filling out all the AOH paperwork after fun days on the beach and now,it's hard to believe that our little "Belongers"have been here for over 7 months!! When we sent photo albums over to Liberia for Mercy and Odesco introducing them to their new family in April 2006, there were many pictures of the fun they would one day have at 'Mimi and Pop-Pop's lake'. It was very special for these 2 to actually experience it all themselves and a great blessing to watch them enjoying these privileges. I took over 130 photos so it was hard to narrow down the highlights...there were so many!! As you will see, Mimi and Pop-Pop have the gift of hospitality and made each one of the kids feel extra special.
Thanks Mimi and Pop-Pop for a fun filled week of memory making!
Thanks for checking in!!
MamaB
Thanks Mimi and Pop-Pop for a fun filled week of memory making!
Thanks for checking in!!
MamaB
Our day began at 4:45 am when we woke everyone up and piled into the fully packed van thinking they would all go back to sleep...everyone was so excited that sleep didn't come for several hours!!The picture above is of
the big boys relaxing on the way out-watching "Everyone's Hero"...
Initially I resisted the thought of needing to rely on media to get us through the 12 hour trip I mean, we never had that when we were kids and our parents (and us kids!) somehow survived, right? But then, reality set in... 6 kiddos in a van for 12 hours!!...How thankful I am for the creativity of my hubby and big boys as they rigged up a laptop computer and monitor and for our generous neighbor who loaned us the essential converter...just look at that ingenuity above...the speaker is duct taped to the bulky monitor. The big boys were in the front bench seat with a laptop, L was in the middle next to the big monitor above and the other 3 were in the very back with a great view of the big screen :) Daddy created a table with some scrap wood and Voila...we had our own personal theater! The kids watched 2 movies on the way out but coloring books, naps and the latest season of Down Gilead Lane helped to pass the time too! (check it out on cbh ministries.org - we love this series and have addicted several other church families to it as well!)
Cooling off - G and Mimi... soon after unloading the van~
Our first night..what's a camping trip without s'mores?! Notice L's fashion statement?..sweatbands around his ankles. He informed me they can go on any part of the body!
Roasting marshmallows with a little help from Daddy~
Mimi and Pop-Pop's place never looked so 'lived in'!! Bike riding was another big thrill of the week...the speed limit in the campground is 5 mph so it is a great place for the kids to ride safely. We took lots of daily jaunts to burn off the kiddos boundless energy.
The Saturday night wagon ride is always a bit hit...thanks to my hubby for braving the crowd and squishing onto the floor of an unpadded, wooden wagon. Someone needed to stay back to take pictures, right? :) It doesn't look like Mercy is too thrilled but she did have a good time...especially when onlookers threw candy into the wagon!
Kayaking is always a highlight at the lake..P is now old enough to handle this one person kayak by himself! Pop-Pop followed in the yellow one with some of the other kiddos~ 
The girlies on their kayak adventure with Mimi...Mercy thought this was such fun...her favorite part was the bag of 'ground peas' or peanuts still in the shell- they brought these along to snack on and entice some turtles! 
On another kayak ride with Pop-Pop and big brother C, Odesco fell sound asleep!! Brought back memories of the time several years ago when C fell asleep while sitting in front of Daddy on a wave runner...must be something about this lake and the sun beaming down!
Everyone gets their turn! On our final day, Mercy and L went out for a ride with Pop-Pop. They came back with a tale about a fish leaping into their boat and flapping around under Pop-Pop's seat until he could locate it to throw it back into the lake. I think Mimi is still a bit skeptical but L and Mercy still stick with their story- a fish tale of their very own!!
Mercy and her 'natural bouquet'...these are all the treasures she collected on her kayak ride with Pop-Pop! All of the littles loved collecting cattails, lily pads, and water lilies...of course for the boys, the cattails became weapons/swords as soon as their feet hit dry land!
Early morning smiles!!
Doing crossword puzzles with Pop-Pop has become an anticipated event for the big boys...
We tried to eat most of our meals outside because our family is now too big to comfortably fit inside the screen room . At the end of the week, though, we squished in because the winds were so strong, we couldn't get through a meal without someones plate taking a messy ride off the table ! 
Every Saturday morning there is a craft time at the pavillion of the campground. The kids had fun making these door hangers and we were able to sit next to the Amish family who were camping at the top of the hill. They rode their horse and buggies in towing all of their belongings in a rowboat behind them...very innovative and resourceful!
Our Sunday morning worship service. Pop-Pop's brother and wife (who also have a trailer here), joined us for a time of prayer ,singing and a short devotional. It is one of my favorite memories of the week ... hearing the kids sing "I have decided to follow Jesus" and a host of other songs. Mercy even sang a song in what she says is her tribal tongue that we have never heard before about Adam eating the fruit and hiding from God...
Mimi's Sunday breakfast helper...notice the 2 hungry siblings longingly watching from the deck? The previous morning was rather chaotic (that is an understatement!!)as all 4 littles wanted to 'help' Mimi prepare,so we made a quick decision to designate a breakfast helper each day. The breakfast helper especially enjoyed the privilege of 'taste testing' the food first!
the race is on... Mercy began plaiting "Aunt" Robin's hair...then Robin's sister Kim( who is a hair stylist by profession) challenged Mercy in a race to see who could braid the fastest...I'm still not sure who won?! Obviously, it didn't take long for Mercy to warm up to more family members...this picture was taken shortly after the introductions!! 
The line up on the slide.... these are a few of our kids and Pop-Pop's great nieces . (Daughters of the moms mentioned above). Shortly after this picture was taken, 3 floats were placed next to each other at the bottom of this slide and the kids had such a ball attempting to fly off all of them into the water. Even L who tends to be a bit less daring, surprised us and joined in the fun.
Our 4 youngest kiddos and some of their 'cousins'
Breakfast Helper of the Day....
While Odesco was busy helping Mimi with breakfast, Daddy and L were having tickle/snuggle time :)
Mercy and Miss Felicia K~ We were blessed to visit the K family during our vacation. (These are dear friends of ours from home who also adopted at the same time from AOH ~we are blessed to go to the same church, be in the same homeschool coop and our families love being together :) Their family also has a summer place only 40 minutes from where we were staying and thankfully, their vacation was the same week as ours.
Oh , this little girl just makes me smile!! Sweet Felicia in a pensive moment~
Just goofing around! Okay, I'm probably going to pay for this big time but I just couldn't resist and even warned Daddy K that this picture just might show up here!! 
Sweet friends....J and G enjoying their day together~
Chillin' with Daddy at the K's...as L loves to say, "Ahh , this is the life!!"
A well deserved rest for Daddy!!
The little guys : L, Jenkins and Odesco enjoy some bumper boat fun...the best part was squirting each other with the built in water guns!!
A great ending to a wonderful day...here the little boys keep Mama K's Dad company while he attempts to fish...I have a feeling the little chatterers scared all the fish away! 
New day, new breakfast helper :)
What a memory...mealtime is always an event with Mimi. Here the gang is making part of breakfast: cinammon rolls over the fire.
I love this picture of Odesco in his Liberian squat stance :)
You healthy eaters don't even want to know what C is doing here...he is dipping the 'hot-off- the-fire' roll into melted butter and then he will smother it in cinammon sugar...definately a once a year treat :)!! The preparation is almost as fun as eating them!
Umm-ummm good!!! Odesco wears his food well... all the littles got an outside shower after this breakfast!
While we were visiting the K's, Mimi and Pop Pop went to town to replenish supplies-(yep, we wiped out the surplus in only a few days!). While there, Mimi bought some goodies to treat the girls to manicures and pedicures...she had them soak their hands and feet in soapy water and then asked them if they'd like some refreshments (a special treat of a mini can of soda!)...then she filed, polished and even decorated their nails with dainty decals! Notice the sign on the wall?!..."Mimi's Nails" .Mercy gladly sat in the chair for Mimi as she was in the middle of her hair session with me and was getting a bit restless!
After a fun filled day~Our little Spidermen all ready for bed~Shortly after this photo was taken they snuck up on a 'Daddy long legs' spider in the grass and were doing their best to intimidate it with their Spiderman moves and shouts!
Patient Pop Pop teaching the little boys dominoes~
Pop Pop has company for his morning exercises!
The girlies promised to cooperate and work together as breakfast helpers...look at all those eggs ~every last bit was consumed! 
We were blessed with a spur of the moment visit from the K's...they were trying to contact us but had our old cell phone #...imagine our surprise when we saw their van pull in! What a fun visit!!
One windy ,cool morning we decided it was not a beach day. No worries though, Mimi had a project up her sleeve. Here's Mimi and her charges working on their sewing crafts~
These 2 were getting into mischief while the girls worked with Mimi...finally they creatively decided to recover all the scraps of material on the floor and decorate themselves! Later the same day, I watched L as he stuck a 'cattail sword' in his holster/belt and fought imaginary enemies in his 'mean' looking green and pink calico get-up!
The 'Littles' and their finished projects with the ever patient Mimi! The girls made quilts for their American girl dolls and the boys, not wanting to be left out made cool bags for who knows what- I can only imagine what treasures will be stashed here!!
A meeting of the men and men in the making :) Pop Pop seems to know someone everywhere he goes...he grew up in a small town and here one of his old friends popped in unexpectedly.
The little boys playing the 'washer game' with Pop-Pop...they made up their own rules as you can see by this picture. 
Sweet sisters in a sweet moment :)
Our youngest and oldest just hanging out together ~
Pretty in pink!!
Mimi blessed the kids with a $1 each to choose a treat at the camp store...both Odesco and G chose kites...a fun way to end our last evening in Indiana!
During the kite flying adventure, Daddy decided to let L have some fun since it was our last evening there. So, our little man waded into the lake...clothes and all...a squishy ,squashy cold mess but quite the memory!! Oh and guess what I found yesterday? The bag of wet (SMELLY!!) lake clothes that never made it into the wash on Saturday night!
These 2 were so cute...early in the am I peeked in on them. It was a chilly morning and they both sat up at the same time and wordlessly communicated as they twirled around in the bed trying to get warm and comfy together. Odesco signalled with his eyes that L could share his pillow...I told my hubby they reminded me of 2 little sleepy puppies :) 
It was COLD this final morning...here we are using the automatic timer on my camera getting one final shot of the gang before we climb in the van for our 12 hour journey home~ 
One last hug before hitting the road... Mercy was so forlorn about leaving Mimi that she even attempted to jokingly hide in the trailer so that we would have to extend our stay!!
