partial year recap :)

This year has been full of all kinds of stuff.  Most of it I have been recording on Instagram - it's so quick  and simple. If you'd like to follow me on there my name is skitkat19.  Here is a snippet of what has been going on...

I said goodbye to my sweet Superman.  I still miss him all the time!  

Then, for a couple weeks, I got to fill in as nanny for this sweet delicious baby. 

He was a bit colicky due to a milk allergy and his mom had been holding him ALL. DAY. LONG. Seriously. Like 16 hours one day because he would just scream when she put him down.  So we fixed that right away and got him on a good routine - eat, play, sleep.  It was neat to be able to work with his parents and together come up with a routine that worked for them and him.  He was doing great when I left and hopefully his full time nanny is having as much fun with him as I did.  :)

Oh, and I should mention that he's adopted!  And my friend was his parents' lawyer!  Ever need an adoption lawyer, I know the best one out there! :)  

In February I went to this wedding of two of my favorite people ever, my cousin Ben and his new bride Karen (and that's my "little" bro on the other side).

I absolutely love it when our extended family is together! And I'm so happy Karen is part of that now. :)

A few weeks later, these two hot chickas came to spend a weekend with me and help me plan a design for my craft room.

This is what the room looked like at the beginning...a LOT of white!

Aaand more white!  And I hated those little bumpy things at the tops of the bookshelves.  They used to be display cases at a store and I got them for cheap when they were getting rid of them.

So after a few runs to the store and a little hard (but fun!) work...

Tada!! Chalkboard door!  And my pretty banner from Rebekah.

And pretty bookshelves with little chalkboards on top!!

Much more to come...as God provides the funds....  :)

Got in some spend-the-night time with my godson.  Who is crazy cute.  And likes lemons.  But told me "It's 'picey, kiki!"

Had the privilege of being the photographer for this "secret" wedding.  :)

Little Lion turned three...and had his first birthday at home with his forever family! Yay!  :)

He still talks about how he sat up in the tree one day...  :)


Worked on learning colors with these four munchkinz.

Hung out with these three cuties (but NOT often enough!!!)

He's such a goofball!  :D
I miss his hugs.

Seriously. I haven't seen them since April.  I'm going through serious withdrawals.



Felt very old when I got these two in the mail...

...on the same day!!

Took a road trip with the one in the pink to see the one in the stripes.  Actually that was a detour on the way to...

See a very special production of Anne of Green Gables with a surprise at the end that left Abby sobbing happy tears!

(That's the surprise right there...Aunt K...all the way from VA just for the show.)
And yes...that is a bouquet of carrots. If you have read or seen AOGG, you'll know the reference.
If you haven't...go read it.  Or at least watch it!

I could not have been more proud of her!  And just a couple weeks ago she moved into her dorm room at

college - the same one I went to!   :)

Next, this Little monkey

had his birthday too and also turned three! :)  (The picture on the top left is the first picture we ever saw of him...how could you not just fall in love??)

Next my newest almost-niece was born!

Yum.


And this handsome Lion had surgery again.

And then all the families from our China trip last summer gathered for a weekend in Pigeon Forge near by and came to the boys' house for a cookout one Saturday evening!!  I can't tell you just how good it felt to be together again...with people who just "get" it. Get the adoption thing...get the worrying and wondering and desiring that their child reach his or her potential to the fullest.  Going through surgery...and recovery afterwards.  Get the emotional stress and joy of blending a new child into your family.  Get what a privilege it is to have God call you to bring home one of His orphans and make them an orphan no more.  Get that even though I'm not the momma, I "get" all this too and am so thankful to be a part of this awesome group of families!  Wish we all lived closer and could "do life" together.  But I will have to be satisfied to keep in touch on fbook.  :)

Camp this year was very different...but actually turned out to be one of my favorite years yet.  I had no little kids to do "Kathryn Kamp" with so instead I helped out around "big camp" where ever I was needed and also got in some good hang out time with these awesome girlies.  Oh my how I love each of them!

This dude left us hanging at camp without our game guy and headed to China himself for five weeks!  I can't tell you how badly I wanted to be going with him!!  He fell in love with the country just like I did (although his experience was vastly different than mine...he went to teach English) and didn't want to come home.  We got to Facetime with him one morning during camp and that was fun.

Celebrated the best friend's birthday with a girls' night out to the Cheesecake Factory...YUM!

Said goodbye to our sweet fuzzy cat of 21 years. It was time. RIP Boswell.  

And most recently, I helped my good friend Laura set up and open her own bridal shop!!  We stayed up until 3am working on these drapey things and I had a total blast!  I will admit that by about 2:15am I was sprawled on the little couch watching her up on the ladder and saying, "Yup, that looks straight. Wait...move it to the right just a tiny bit...there! Perfect!"

Be sure to check out her website and see what she's all about.  And if you know a bride looking for her very own custom dress, send her Laura's way!  

http://mybelovedbridal.com/

And now you are pretty caught up with my year thus far!  Hopefully I will be back on soon for a very special post or two.  :)

Hope you're enjoying this year and that it is going well for you!!