5 hour trip

I said a while back that I would post pictures from our trip to my step-sister's wedding, so here they are. Autumn reminded me a day or so ago that I hadn't posted and I said that I would and it gets on her nerves when bloggers say they will post pictures and never do....don't want to get on her nerves, so here are the pictures! Some of them anyway. The wedding was so fun....it was small and just tons of fun. My step-sister Stacy and her husband catered all of the food......they did an incredible job! The girls always have fun with their cousins.....cousin J always comes to stay with us in the hotel when we go....good memories!

The girls love dancing....usually we just have dance parties in our kitchen, so it is fun for them to dance with other people besides just us in other places besides just our kitchen.
Me, dad and Autumn. I'm glad we got to visit with him. It has been a while since we have seen him. He got to come to our hotel and visit for a couple of hours the day of the wedding, so that was great!

Cousin J fits right in to our clan! They all enjoy each other so much. There were a couple of times she was with us that we forgot she was there because she is so good!

I love to watch the girls dance when they forget that people are watching. None of the girls danced when we first got them. Through my few years of experience with foster care, there are two standards that I use to judge if a kid is stable and secure in a home. If they are stable, their skin and hair are healthy.
All of the girls, except for A came to us with unhealthy skin or hair, and it cleared up in a noticeable amount of time. Also, I say you can tell if a child is secure in their home when they are comfortable enough to dance......not in public necessarily, but just dance. Anyway, there I go on my rambling, but that is why I love to see the girls dance. I love to see the freedom and joy they have when they dance!

Here is the whole crew.......minus Bethany and her fam....they weren't able to make it this time.

Uncle Mike (my step-sister Nanna's husband) is so good with the girls and they love him.

The bride, Amy, and the parents.

The night before the wedding, we got together and ate and the kids played. I'm glad they get to see their cousins and spend time with them.

When I am around a bunch of boys, I am reminded how different boys and girls are. I grew up with only sisters, have a house full of girls now, so I am so not used to boys wrestling, making funny noises, and all that comes with having boys. I AM used to squeals about nothing, mood swings like crazy, and drama like you have never seen, but wrestling and such.........not so much! These boys are great kids and fun to be around!

Hmmmmmmmmm............these two make quite the pair. They are pretty quiet, which means they just MIGHT be making some sort of plan.

Little cousin (boy) J is just so cute. He always smiles, which brings a smile to all of us.

They had so much fun together.

On our trip, about halfway, we stopped at Becky's daughter's house. These guys are basically my girls' other cousins. They have so much fun together, and when it is time to leave each other, there is always pouting and crying or sneaking into the other ones car to try and go together. That brings back memories......my cousins and I used to try and sneak to each other's homes (sound familiar Macy and Amanda?) The "potty stop" at their house was so fun but way too short!

This is Becky and Joey, Becky's youngest grandson. He is SOOOOOOOOOO cute! When we were walking out and saying goodbye, he just laughed and laughed at us. It SOOOOO made me not want to leave!