Da Havs

We decided this year to trick or treat at our church, instead of going around our neighborhood. The weather was perfect and the kids were super excited to get into their costumes and “Trick or Treat” everyone.  As you can see, Ryan is a gallant knight and Caroline is Cinderella.

Ryan joined the Owasso Soccer Club for the fall season. It took him a long time to really get into it. He missed a total of 1 practice and no games.  By the end of the season he was making goals and learning how defend his goal.  He sometimes got frustrated with the other boys because they weren’t quite getting it yet.  We’re definitely signing him up for the Spring season.

Ryan started Kindergarten this year. I can’t believe my baby is growing up so fast! He LOVES it. He hates going every single day but he thinks Mrs. Papp is just awesome. And she is the perfect teacher for him. Firm but loving.

Caroline also started  a Parents Day out program. I didn’t take any pictures, but she just loves going to ’school.’ She hardly even kisses us goodbye when we drop her off.  It’s so different from when Ryan first went to school.  He would cry and hang on me until they peeled him off.  So for Caro to run in and wave bye, it’s pretty cool!

We went to Korea Camp again for the 2nd year. Ryan just LOVES seeing all the other Korean children and Caroline got a chance to walk around and explore more. She’ll get to join when she is 4.  Ryan had Andrew in his class again and remembered some of the boys from the year before. His teacher this year was also a Korean Adoptee and it was a great experience for everyone!

The kids took swim lessons this summer at the Broken Arrow Pool.  Ryan was in the Level 1 class for the first 2 weeks with Andrew, Colton and Braden.  Then he and Andrew moved on to Level 2.  He can tread water for a very long time and passed all but 2 of his tests to move on to Level 3.  He still won’t put his face in the water for very long, so hopefully by the end of Level 2 next year, he will! Caroline was quite the fish. She had no problem jumping into the pool and going completely underwater. She could have been in the Toddler class, but she wasn’t ready to leave me. So we did the Mommy and Me class together.

Even though swim lessons were over, our trips to the pool were not. We went to the pool about 3 days a week. Broken Arrow has a really great park system and their pools are awesome!

After we visited the painted desert we drove straight through to Palm Springs. Caroline didn’t nap the WHOLE 3 days of our trip, until the last 20 minutes of the drive to Nana and Papas!!

However, as soon as we got to their house, we put on our swim suits and got in the pool. It was SO amazing!!

Every chance we got we played in the pool. It’s salt water and heated, so the temp was perfect every day. Every night, Mike and I got in the sauna portion of the pool. It was so relaxing and romantic! We needed to have that time together.

Mike parents have the most beautiful back yard. My mother-in-law has spent hours on it and you can tell the love she puts into everything. I was able to get some good photos of the kids.

After resting for a couple of days, we headed to Anaheim and DISNEYLAND!!! It’s everything everyone tells you it is. I can’t wait to go back!! I’m getting my ears next time

Ryan did some pin trading while we were there. He just LOVED it. We have some wonderful memories from several of the pins.

He tried pulling the sword from the stone. You should have heard him grunting!!

As soon as Caroline saw the Carousel in the background, she had to ride it!! It was her first ride in Disneyland and she was scared and thrilled at the same time! It took FOREVER to load everyone on it was so big, and she almost changed her mind, but finally it started it up and she cried when I had to take her off!

We had 2 wonderful days at Disneyland. The first day Nana and Papa went with us and the second day they decided to hang in the hotel and watch TV all day. So we were able to go back and see things we didn’t get to see the first day.

We were also able to go to Huntington Beach. Ryan wanted to see the ocean and he LOVED it.

We also got to eat at Johnny Rockets. We used to eat there about twice a month in Kuwait and we missed it. The kids weren’t as excited about the place as we were but the food was still great!

The drive home was faster than the drive there. We only stopped at a Meteor Crater in AZ. It’s so cool to hang out with your kid as he’s touching a real meteorite and super excited about it. Mom! What if this is the one that killed the Dinosaurs???

After 2 very long days of driving, we finally made it home. Ryan was dead asleep in his chair, Caroline was coloring in her’s with the light on and when we pulled in the drive, she started saying NO! Don’t go home! I guess she enjoyed the trip!

So I haven’t posted since January! Bad Blogger! I have decided to just do quarterly updates. Maybe I can stick with those! We’ve been very busy this year. Ryan finished pre-school in May and we then took a 10 day trip to California to visit the Grandparents and Disneyland. Then we came home to swim lessons all summer. Ryan passed level 1 and is now in level 2 and Caroline did Mommy and Me classes. She’s actually good enough to do the preschool class, but I don’t trust her to do it without me, so we’ll wait until next year.  We are getting ready for school to start, Ryan will be in Kindergarten this year! I can’t believe it! Then Caroline will start a Mommy’s Day out program 1 day a week.  I am actually going to be increasing my hours at the library starting in August. The kids have done great for the last year that I was working 10, we’ll see how they do with 20 Here’s a picture history of our summer. Enjoy!

Easter Sunday

Library Card!

On our trip to CA, lunch in Elk City, OK

Tucumcari, NM

Banderas Volcano

Ice Cave

Petrified wood from Petrified Forest

WOW! One whole year has went by since we brought you home! You were so scared and held onto my neck so tight for the 8 hours of our flights home. You were SO mad that I had to let you go to put you in the car seat. You wouldn’t go to sleep at all that first night, afraid we’d disappear. We both finally passed out in exhaustion on the floor pallet I’d made and then Ryan came in at 7 (thank God!) to greet you for the first time. You were (and still are) enthralled by your big brother. The Sun rises and sets on him for you. He thought you were the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. He got over that quickly and decided for months that you needed to go back to Korea NOW. But eventually he decided you were ours and that God really knew what he was doing when he made us a family.

I agree with that. God really did know 15 years ago that I would have 2 beautiful Korean born babies and that I would feel love unlike any I have ever felt. Thank you Lord, for blessing me beyond measure.

Those first 3 months were the most exhausting in my whole life! Once we got into a groove, and we felt normal again, we really began to enjoy you.  Your personality really came through and we knew we were in trouble!  You have brought so much joy to our lives.  Again, we can’t believe how blessed we are!

Things are going great in the Hav household. We all had a cold/stomach flu thingy, but now seem to be on the mend. The kids are growing up so fast and both will have their birthdays in March. I can’t believe my babies will be 5 and 2!!!  These are pictures from our trip to the Sam Noble Museum in OKC with our friends the W’s and the W’s.   If you haven’t been and you are close, you really need to see it. Especially if your kids love dinosaurs like ours do!