8th Anniversary of Gotcha Day

Yesterday was the 8-year anniversary of Shen joining our family. It was 8 years ago that he and I met for the first time in China, and what a blessing it has been to our family to have Shen as our son and Connor's brother. I thought i would just post a couple of pictures to show how much he has grown. One picture is from his green belt testing for Karate and the other is on a 6-mile hike in Rocky Mountain National Park that we did in August.

Shen's New Friends Summer, 2014

Shen has met some new friends this summer. They are Ryan and Kyle Cavnar. Here are the 3 boys at Brookfield Zoo....Pretty cool!

Firsts

Well, it's been a long time since I've posted, but there have been a lot of 'Firsts' for Shen in 2014. Take a look at the photos with this post. There's his first time fishing, Connor's High School Grauduation, and receiving the Mr Hustle Award at Basketball Camp.

Shen's First Bike Ride

Memorial Day Weekend, 2012 - A big time for Shen! It was this weekend that Shen and his dad went on a 2-mile bike ride. Connor had already played the big role of teaching Shen how to ride his bike, and maintain balance. But, on Saturday and Sunday of this weekend, Shen and dad worked on getting started on his own, keeping the bike going, and making turns. Then, it was time for t

he big day, an actual bike ride. We walked our bikes up to the bike path, and then Shen led with dad following. We had to stop 6 times (intentionally) to practice stopping and walking our bikes across streets. All in all, a BIG weekend and Shen was simply elated about his first REAL bike ride. Here are some picutes from the weekend! Enjoy!

Summer's Ending

What a fast summer this has been! After a brutally cold winter, and a short, very wet spring, we hit summer hard. Shen had a great summer. First, he went with the Brewer family to Florida (while mommy and daddy spent their 10th anniversary in the Tetons). Then, the family went on an Alaskan Cruise, where Shen saw a Lumberjack show, 11 whales (both Orca and Humpback), panned for gold, and got to pet some sled dog puppies. Once back from Alaska, he went to soccer camp for a week and had a GREAT TIME (Please see the attached picture).
During the entire summer, we realized that Shen's hearing had gotten worse, and sure enough, he had to have the tubes re-inserted. So, in early August and just prior to school starting (August 15 - really early), he had tubes inserted in his ears. You can see the attached picture as he was leaving the hospital that morning.
School has started, homework has started, and the temperatures are falling. Life is Great!!
Love,
Jack, Jodie, Connor and Shen

Summer's Ending

Summer's Ending