New Jersey

Playing in the sand with our cousins.

Samantha helping uncle Matt with the pond.

Katie having sand issues-Luke showing signs

of his earlier coloring with markers.

Baby Jenna just being happy!

Samantha celebrating her 9th Birthday!

Katie hugging her cousin Luke.

Isabelle looking adorable.

Taylor and Isabelle playing by the pond.

Samantha enjoying the outdoors with Jenna.

Zachary Jason Migliore

Zachary Jason Migliore

Born: May 23rd, 2008

Time : 1:15 p.m.

Place: Asheville N.C.

Today we recieved an incredible gift from God. We started this adoption process just 8 months ago and now our son is here. It is incredible and hard to beleive, it is the coolest thing to bring this child in as our own, he is our son. This has been a journey that began for us many years ago in Korea when God first put adoption on our hearts. This adoption is a small picture of how we are adopted by God through his son Jesus, this child that we received today is such an awsome gift from God. He is not ours but Gods just as our other 3 girls are gifts from God and and belong to God. Our prayer for him and our girls is that they all come to know God and have a personal relationship with him.

He is a laid back little guy, with a quiet disposition, so far..... It is amazing that although we did not know him until today it seems that he is just a perfect fit into our family, We know that the birthparents can revoke their decision until Midnight June 2nd. But today when we spent the afternoon with the birth parents, they had an overwhelming peace and this decision was made for them at the beginning of their pregnancy. They were kind, gentle people and as we said goodbye to them it just felt rite. For all of us.

Homeschool Family Night

Our Church Homeschool group has a family night each year where the kids are able to be recognized for completing another year of school. We celebrate each child by giving them the opportunity to present something of their choice and set up a display to highlight their year. Samantha played "America the beautiful" on their flute. This was a challenging song, it was in the back of her book and after a few weeks of practice she mastered it beautifully! Taylor and I did a skit showing her knowledge of the Solar System " Planet Roll Call" I would call off each planet and she would reply with a fact. She had everything memorized and did better than I could have done. Katie was a last minute add -in. She started singing the ABC's the week leading up to Family Night and seemed eager to perform. She got up in front of everyone and belted out her own rendition that went on for 3 rounds. There were many tears from laughter. She was so proud of herself. Jason and I were very proud of the girls!

Monticello

The home of Thomas Jefferson. This was by far our favorite historical house to date. We had a great time on this field trip. The girls and I went with our friends the Walters.

Well this month has been quite full. When you try to cram every activity into the last month you are living in a state it makes for a busy calendar. This is just a sample of what has been going on in our home. This does not include sorting, cleaning, scheduling, schooling, appointments and all that a normal life entails! The month is not over yet , in the next week we will celebrate Samantha's 9th birthday, drive to NJ and visit the statue of Liberty!!

Fancy Shmancy

Jason and I enjoyed a night out. It is the 72nd Quartermaster Birthday this year... What that means is a night to go out and get dressed up. The girls did great. We have been blessed with a wonderful babysitter. She is the 2nd oldest of 9 kiddos and comes from a wonderful Christ centered home. Who could ask for more. The girls love Hannah. We will miss her when we leave. We also celebrated out 12th Wedding Anniversary today. We are so blessed and it just keeps getting better!!

Sweet Pea

Last week we "Rat Sat" no just kidding. Hamster sat for Darla and the boys while they were out of town. Sweet Pea was well Loved by everyone (except Jason) who never had pets as a child. Thanks Sue!!) Anyways, Katie really "lubbed him" as she would say over and over as she held him. It was a nice opportunity to see how everyone would do caring for a 3rd pet.

Check out the Horse Show!!

Camping Out

All winter long Samantha has been asking to camp out back. Last August we set up a whole campsite in the backyard. It was great, we built a campfire, roasted marshmallows, swatted mosquitoes and had a great time. It is finally warm enough to sleep outside. So yesterday the girls asked again and we set up the tent. This time instead of down in the forest part of the yard, we set it up on the back deck. Thinking the girls would go lay out there for awhile and then want to come in. We should have known better.

It was about 8:45p.m. when the girls went outside. By 9:30 p.m. Taylor was back inside because Katie wouldn't be quiet and she wanted to sleep. For those of you who know Taylor , she is all about her sleep. I went out and told Katie and Samantha that they had to be asleep before 10p.m. or they had to come inside. Taylor was already asleep by this time. Katie of course was still cracking herself up. Needless to say then Katie wanted Momma and Samantha didn't want to be abandoned. To shorten the story by leaps and bounds , I slept out on the deck last night with all 3 girls. Jason thought I was a bit nuts. Since the deck is really hard and my back is really bad. But Samantha gave Momma her good mattress to sleep on.

We had a great time. The neighborhood barn owl hooted during the night. The local trains ran by about 3 times with a faint whistle in the back ground. Taylor had to potty at 3:30 a.m. and since we were up she needed a snack too. I kind of lost that great mattress to Taylor who was huddled around me like a boa constrictor (It got a bit chilly towards the end). Then there was the 5 a.m. wake up call from every bird in the forest . Oh and let's not forget the cat who thought attacking the tent periodically throughout the night was a good idea. I must say, It was all worth it when Samantha said "Mom , thank you for coming out with us" in one of those tones of gratitude that you know are straight from the heart.

If you really payed attention to what you read, you might be wondering how Taylor got back into the tent. Well, after I went out with the girls. Jason came to check on us before he went upstairs. I asked him to carry Taylor down from her bed. I didn't want her waking up in the morning the only one who didn't "camp-out". So she was back in the tent and didn't even know it until the 3:30 bladder call....

A day at the Farm

The tractor ride over to the farm. That is Darla rite behind us .

She is my faithful Virginia friend, neighbor, and fellow homeschool mom.

The "boys" as they are know in our home. Andrew and Daniel.

The sheep and the shearer....

He does look relaxed doesn't he. I wonder if that is kind of like a day at the spa?? Or maybe it just feels good to get that hot wool off now that it's getting warmer.

Ok , so the closer we get to leaving Virginia the more I try to experience neat things here. Our time always seems to go so quickly. I still have a few things to check off my list before we leave the East coast. Last week was "Homeschool Sheep Shearing Day at Chippokes Farm" say that fast 3 times. Anyways, Darla, her boys, the girls and I headed off for what we thought would be an easy drive. After all it was the same highway from our house to the farm with only a few turns at the end. Somehow we mangaed to miss the sign and add an extra hour+ to our adventure. The kiddos did great and we found our way.

We arrived and saw a perfect spot for a nice picnic lunch. Samantha wasn't out of the car 2 minutes when she spotted her first specimen. "hey mom , I found and owl pellet" otherwise known to us moms as owl puke. But of course as a homeschool mom we love everything that has to do with school. We decided to collect the specimen after our picnic lunch!!

We headed out on the tractor toward the farm and we were able to see how they wash the wool, we had an opportunity to spin the wool, and check out alot of farm equipment. The grand finale was the sheep shearing. It was really cool and we had a blast. After a long enjoyable day. We headedback to town without any wrong turns. Making the trip home, with one bathroom stop (Katie , who is now wearing big girl panties full time) we made great time.