Visit with My Granny...

The last weekend in July, I went to southern Indiana with my dad, his girlfriend Amy, Amy's sister Kimberly, my sister Maddy and my girls...Lorelle and Lilyan:) It is not easy to find the time, with a husband and 7 kiddos, to visit as often as I would like. And with the crazy school/sports schedule about to begin, I REALLY wanted to go see her. She is not feeling well most days now and it breaks my heart. I wish she could be here with me on earth forever. I have always had a special connection with my Granny. I LOVED spending some time with her but felt like I was saying goodbye when it was time to leave:( Please Lord be with her (and her incredible husband Don)... I love you both!!!

The whole gang...

Me, Dad and Maddy with Granny...

We visited with Granny and Don on Saturday and we all went out to dinner at the Turkey Run Lodge. It was a delicious buffet:) Then before returning home on Sunday we floated down Sugar Creek in inner tubes. It was beautiful, relaxing and a lot of fun BUT it would have been even better if the water wasn't so low and slow. It took us longer than we thought so we were all pretty thirsty and ready for some air conditioning when we finished. GREAT experience for my girls! Unfortunately, my computer crashed and I had to get the hard drive replaced...so I lost all the pictures (that I didn't have backed up yet...UGH!) that I took from our time on the river and from our visit with Granny. Thank goodness...Amy also took a few pictures (above:) A HUGE thank you to you Amy!!! It was a nice weekend and one I will always cherish.

Zoo trip with their cousins:)

I think this was our 3rd trip to the Ft. Wayne Children's Zoo so far this year. The kids never seem to get tired of going. Thank goodness for our family membership...we get our money's worth;) It was a HOT one but the kids didn't seem to mind much. We had another WONDERFUL visit!!! We took lots of group pictures with their cousins. See below...

The AWESOME Perry Gang!!!

The peacocks were showing off their feathers...

They got to pet a snake...

Gotta LOVE those smiles:)

The orangutang was eating carrots...

Lilyan didn't want to be in this picture...haha, got her anyway!

Lots more group pics...

Then home to make our own kabobs for dinner:) YUM!

GREAT day!!!

Summer FUN with the Indy Perrys:)

Uncle Bubba (aka Scott), Aunt Mindy, Ashley and Angela came to Warsaw for a long weekend. The kids had a GREAT time together!!! They did lots of swimming, jumping and other stuff:)

Swimming in the pond...

Throwing Lorelle...

Levi's turn to be launched...

Built lots of pyramids...

Skinny little Levi on top...

Aunt Mindy playing with the girls...

Diving board action shots...

LOVE Lilyan's smile...

Leytan...

Lorelle...

Dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings...beautiful girls!

A couple of SUPER cute, amazing Perry kids...

LOVE you guys!!!

Six Flags!!!

On Tuesday morning, July 19th...we woke and headed to Six Flags with the gang. It was so HOT!!! Lance and I tried convincing the kids to just go to the water park area but NOPE...they are die-hards. They wanted to ride...RIDES! We drank lots of water and rode the water rides a few times;) All the kids...except Lilyan, want to ride whatever they are big enough to ride;) I sat by Liam on the American Eagle (The worlds largest and fastest wooden coaster:) and he totally cracked me up. He kept yelling "This is INSANE Mom!" the entire time. SO much fun!!! Liam and Levi need a few more inches before they can ride everything they want. We probably won't take the littles back for a couple years. Leytan was super brave and rode everything his big brother rode. All the kids had a BLAST despite the heat. After 6+ hours...Lance and I were ready to go back to our hotel for a shower. The bigs stayed for a couple more hours and then we picked them up for dinner at Lone Star Steakhouse:) Such a hot, tiring but SUPER fun day!!!

All 7 kiddos...

My China peeps with Foghorn Leghorn...

Lance, Lorelle and Levi on the balloon ride...

My STUNNINGLY beautiful Miss Lilyan...

Liam hugging Sylvester...

Liam and Levi posing with Sylvester...

Levi and Liam in front of the bat mobile...

We made the big boys ride the oldest and probably littlest coaster with us;)

Keylime Cove!!!

On July 18th, Liam had a check-up visit with his orthopedic surgeon in Chicago so we loaded up the big black bus with 7 kiddos (Landan took a friend:) and began our journey. After the appointment, we spent the rest of Monday at the water park in our hotel...Keylime Cove. Then enjoyed some delicious Chicago style pizza at Giordanos for dinner. YUM!!! Keylime Cove is great because they have rooms to fit our family. I also like that the water park area is not too big and I can keep better track of everyone. The big boys would have liked it if they had some bigger slides but it is PERFECT for my littles. We all had a FABULOUS and relaxing time!!!

Water Basketball...

Enough with the pictures mom...

My wild boys being lazy in the lazy river:)

Floating and snuggling with my Liam...

She wishes this was REAL!!! Lorelle my sweet tooth...

Lorelle giving her "little sister" a piggy-back ride...LOL!

Our China Peeps...Adoption Reunion:)

Almost 6 years ago now on the other side of the world, in a far away land called China, God brought together four families through adoption. We have stayed in touch and watched each others families grow and continue to be blessed by His love. A few weeks ago we got to spend the weekend together and had such a GREAT time! All together God had blessed us with 11 adopted children...so far:) And also too many to count home grown kiddos...that are not pictured below;) Love you all SO much!!! And miss you already;( Thank you Lord...

Can you guess which little one is not from Asia?! :)

Happy 14th Birthday Landan!!!

Landan turned 14 year old on July 7th! He did not have a big party this year. His dad and I got him an iphone a couple days before his special day. And on his actual birthday...I took the kids to Somethin Funn, then also invited some family and one of Landan's friends to dinner at Hacienda. He also had a couple of his friends spend the night. I think he had a good day. He is growing up, so big and tall, mature...such an amazing young man. I love you sweet boy!!!

Lorelle was excited to finally be tall enough to drive herself in the go-carts;)

Silly boys...

Watching Landan open up a gift...

Happy Birthday song, balloons and sombrero:)

A beautiful sunset for Landan's birthday...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Landan!!!