Baby Moon!

Towards the end of August Peter and I were able to sneak away for 4 fantastic nights away to enjoy one last trip before baby comes.  We purposely timed it towards the end of the 2nd trimester knowing that the 3rd trimester can be a bit unpredictable for me.  We brainstormed several ideas of places to go but ultimately decided to head in the direction of one of our most favorite areas - Central Oregon.  Man, we love it down there, and getting to spend a few days just the two of us (and baby in the belly) was refreshing and relaxing and perfectly what we needed!

We didn't do anything big or exciting, definitely went on some walks and enjoyed the scenery of which there is so much to enjoy!  

Checked out the high desert museum

And amazingly neither of us have ever been to Smith Rock before which is just crazy with how many trips we've taken to the area.  We did some very light hikes there and got to see lots of the views but we definitely would like to go back post baby and check out some of the more challenging hikes. 

Lots of rock climbers 

But the best part was just being together. The kids wear us out at home, and Peter has been completely crazy at work (and will continue to be with deadlines right up to the end of this pregnancy) so a few days to just be "us" was truly wonderful. I love this guy and we always enjoy our time together, can't wait to hold our newest little baby together soon! 

Family Day

I love that the adoption world introduced us to a concept called "Family Day" (aka Gotcha Day).  This is the day that you celebrate meeting your kids or your kids coming home.  It so worked out in our family that these dates for our two adopted kiddos actually happen during the same week of the year. In fact LB came home one day before we celebrate the day that we met Malachi.  

Every year we look forward to taking some time to just celebrate that we are a family! On Malachi's actual day we met him, we like to celebrate with a little bit of Ethiopian food.  Some of our kids are picky but this year they all jumped right in and devoured! 

Another fun tradition is that we set a day aside to just go have some fun! The last couple years the kids have picked the beach.  We were a little bit worried about the weather because we've had a lot of rain this year but the weather at the beach was perfect and the kids were quickly running around in swimsuits! We have the perfect little secluded beach area that is never busy and the kids just have a blast running around and playing. The beach is a favorite of our kids and we always have to drag them away at the end of the day.  This year has been so busy so a day at the beach was just the perfect way to get some time together just enjoying life together. We as the parents could just sit back and relax and watch and laugh at this crazy family we've made together!  But boy are we blessed. 

And just because her salt water curls are amazing!