Hello

I wanted to officially say hello to my new cyber-friends. It is exciting to have the privilege to meet new friends through unconventional channels on the Internet. Thanks to our adoption agency we have access to a yahoo group online where many of the families who are adopting are in regular contact. This has been most encouraging and helpful. We have been able discuss adoption issues with families which are going through the same issues we are, being encouraged, and seeing adoptions finalized. We get to see pictures of families meeting their children and also give advice to new families just starting the process. We are able to read others families blogs daily (sometimes few times a day). It is great to see all of you moving forward with the paperwork and bringing home your little ones. I am so grateful to God for sending all these people our way and I am hoping that someday we will get to meet some of you. Hello to all of you out there may God be with you and bless you !!!

Happy 4th of July

Happy Independence Day everyone! What a privilege we have to live in a free country. We are all so very blessed with everything. As I was watching the fireworks last night I couldn't help but be thankful for my wonderful family which God has blessed me with. A loving husband and three beautiful (and busy) children soon to be four.

Yes we got to see the fireworks day early. We headed out yesterday and spent the day in Kittery ME and Portsmouth NH area. We saw a beautiful fireworks display and I believe we found a new family tradition. We will spend some time this afternoon with some of our friends from church. I am sure we will head home early to catch up on sleep.

The kids were waiting for some boom booms and busy running around with glow sticks. For those who do not know earlier in the year, after the boys playing with glow sticks in their room, one of them broke and leaked. It spilled around Nate's eye and he ended up walking around with a chemical burn around his eye. Even though it looked bad the skin healed without any problems. Anyway since then I am not a big fan of glow sticks and I am kind of paranoid when the kids play with them (but I have to say that it is cool to play with it in the dark).
Our Little Miss Fire Cracker

(She will pose every time I take picture.)

Fishing

Well we are in the month of July and the Steiger Clan has not slowed down yet. Yesterday the boys went fishing. Only the boys, me and Emma stayed home and did some work around the house (Emma played outside and I was trying to do some pruning on our cherry tree. I will have to get some books on that the tree looks bad). Anyway the boys headed out to a state park to go get some fish for dinner. They were all exited and from their stories I could tell they had a great time. The boys ready for some fishing.
Nothing yet.
Nate in action.
Sam learned a lot and did not want to leave (they were gone for more than 4 hours).
By the way we had steak tips for dinner. Maybe next time we will have some fish.

Children's Museum Boston

Yesterday we took the kids down to Boston to the Children's Museum. We have been very fortunate since we have 3 very nice children's museums nearby. The Boston museum is our favorite one though. It had been closed for some time for renovation and they did a great job. The parking is still a little challenging because of the dig. I don't think I have gone to the museum the same way twice. However if you pay attention you will find it without any problems. Anyway we made it down without getting lost and as you can see the kids had a great time. Some of the exhibits we saw on previous trips but there were new ones as well. Emma loved getting her hands on everything.

For those who do not know I grow up outside of USA. Well actually I grew up in a communist country but that is another story. When I first visited America, hands-on museums were one of the things that I had never experienced before. Museums were always a place where you go look but not to touch. Here in the USA kids and adults are encourage to touch and try everything. What a great privilege we have to be able to learn by play. Anyway I am so happy my children have the opportunity to learn that way and as you can see from our blog we are in some kind of museum at least once a month.

This is one of the new displays in the museum. Sam was too scared to go up but Nate on the other hand we couldn't get him down. It is over 3 stories high and even though it looks shaky it is very strong and safe (what a great idea).
Here is a mix of few thing we got to do. Construction zone never gets old and Nate enjoyed playing the blue man group instruments (pipes). The boys got to ride an airplane and play with bubbles.

650 miles+

Here we are again at the beach. Well there is a big surprise since it is finally summer. I love taking pictures of the kids in different places and I have few of my favorites. We have been traveling a lot this week. Well to be exact over 600 miles. With the boys VBS and our trips to the beach and Boston I did a lot of driving. We sure were busy. The main reason was that Fil had to leave for a business trip to San Jose CA for the week so we were on our own (this is the first time he has had to travel since he has been with the company so I can not complain). I have no idea how other wives do it when their husbands travel almost every week. I mean we did fine but I am so tired and worn out by the end of the week.
Our beach girl. No matter what she is up to she always has a time to smile for the camera.
Well boys will be boys. I bet you can guess what the boys have been up to in the water.
Sam busy collecting sea creatures on the beach.

Anyway Fil made it home today and I am looking forward to some quiet time this week. I should also mentin that I have been thinking a lot about our referral lately. I know it would be a miracle to get it so early but I am thinking about it a lot (and praying as well). It is fun to watch the kids play on the beach and think that next year there will be another one around (I hope I will not go crazy with four kids). Man, I can not wait.

Strawberries

The strawberries are ready in New England. Since I don't have the boys with me in the morning (they are at VBS) I get to do all kind of stuff with Emma. We have mainly done some shopping but also catching up on some stuff around the house. Today we went strawberry picking. Emma was not so sure what I was up to but after I gave her one to taste she was going yum yum all the time. However, she did not want to get her fingers dirty by picking them up by herself but she felt free to pick from my basket (that I did not like). Anyway I did manage to pick over 13 lb in 45 minutes. So I guess you know what I have been doing all afternoon. Making Strawberry jam ( it was about time too since I just opened our last one from last year). The boys helped with the mixing and we are all looking forward homemade strawberry jam during the winter months. The rest of the strawberries we ate and I think we are done for a while.

Howdy

Guess what are the boys up to this week? Yep VBS would be the correct answer. They are enjoying it very much. I do all the driving and it is not around the corner.

This year the theme is Avalanche Ranch and it can get really loud. This time the boys are in different groups but I have to say that they are fine with it and both of them are making new friends. They have so much to tell me everyday after we drive home and then they repeat everything to dad who is in CA this week on business.

I am so glad for this church and their passion for children. They run two VBS sessions one in the morning (160 people) and one in the afternoon (120 people) Everything is very well organized and you can see on the children faces they are all having a good time.