So happy together!!!  Finally!!!

Waving goodbye as we head back to Oregon.  

Swing time at the park.

First time in a pool for Daniel...he acted like it was no different than a bath.  Gabe can swim the whole way across the pool now.  He started at one side and swam towards me saying "Keep taking pictures of me"  This is the last one as he arrived all the way to me.

Gabe had a school performance while we were there too.  After it was over, Daniel greeted him with that darling hug again.  

Daniel has it all figured out who his Mommy is.  He does not speak English yet, but she has Korean phrases down and has figured out what some of his words are.  Already he is starting to repeat words in English.  I just know by the time we go down again, which won't be too long from now, he will be speaking in English to us.  He talks non stop in Korean and you can see him just looking in your eyes hoping that maybe you will understand him.  When that does not work, he resorts to sign language. I know he will have English down soon out of his desperation to communicate faster.  Right now he calls me "Highmay"  which is a toddler version of Grandma in Korean.  When Emily was a toddler, she used to call me "Hamma"  and sometimes shortened it to 'Ham", which I did NOT want to be called "Ham"  when other grandmas get cute little enduring names.  I decided right then that my name would be Grandma. Well, as the days went by, with him calling me Highmay , he would say it over and over, Abby said "It is sure sounding more like Hamma all the time.  Oh dear.  I just know he is going to pick up the language so quickly that by the next time we go down, he won't be calling me that anymore, so I recorded him calling me that so I could remember how it sounded.  

These two just hit it off!  Makes me smile every time I see this photo.

Over two years ago, I made these little dolls to take with me when we flew to Korea to give to my new grandchild...one for big brother Gabe too.  As time went on, it was decided that the original  plan for us to fly to help out with Gabe changed.  He was older and there really wasn't going to be a time when they needed to be away from Gabe.  They decided to have us wait to go until after they came home in case there was something we could do then.  As it turned out, they didn't need us one bit.  Daniel just seemed to be adjusting so well!  Gabe needed to be with the family and not off with us, even for just a trip to the park.  They all needed to be together in this time, so we were able to just sit back and watch it all happen.  

While we ate, the boys got up to play, by then Daniel had woken up from his airplane daze and  could not stop hugging Gabe.  It is like he fully understood he had a new big brother.

First look at the new family as they begin their new phase of life.

 

Everyone was starving, so we headed out for something to eat.

Gabe had not been at the airport because he was doing his encore performance at church.  He and Mimi and Poppy (Abby's parents) were waiting eagerly for us all to arrive.  So were Midas and Dagney.  Gabe went right to it being the Big Brother.  He took Daniel by the hand and showed him his new house. 

The moment we have been waiting for for over two years!!!  Daniel is HOME!

I could not keep the tears out of my eyes as I saw his tired little face, the look of confusion as to what was going on, but at the same time that tiny little arm wrapped around Dennis' neck as he held on to his new Daddy.

Gabe loves to sing, and dance.  He is a natural up there!

Dennis and Abby and their two friends David and Shuna flew back to Korea two weeks later to bring Daniel YeBin home.  Gabe stayed home this time, as he had been working really hard on a church program.  We left Oregon to be there in time to watch him perform.  He had two performances, one on Friday night and one on Saturday morning.  We went to the first one, but on Saturday, we had a date to be at the airport to pick up those Korean travelers...and of course my new grandson!

I can finally post photos of our newest family member!!!  This one was taken of them in Korea before they went to court to appear before the judge on their first trip.

We drove through Napa Valley, the vineyards are so pretty with their rows of grapes.  Pretty barns and orchards and even a town called Dixon!

We headed out of here to go to welcome Daniel home from Korea.  We took a drive down the Oregon coast to get there.  The first time we have stopped in Bandon.  The middle rock is called Face Rock, but there were other rocks there that had faces too.  In fact, I see two faces on the main rock.

With such awesome spring/summer weather, we have been taking more trips to the park to ride bikes, play in the spray pad and we even had a picnic with these guys. 

Josiah has gotten really good on his bike.  Arianna has been trying to ride her bike with training wheels instead of her balance bike that has no pedals.  And when she gets tired of riding it, she just gets off and pushes.  :)

We were surprised to find out the spray pad was going!  They didn't have their swim suits with them, so just stripped down to their underwear...oh man, to be a kid!  They had a blast, even though it was not that hot yet.  Arianna especially had a riot, as you can see by her face.  Lina, just took it all in.

We didn't know the spray pad was open, but we did prepare to have a picnic dinner there by the lake.

This little guy was singing his song of springtime.

Dew drops on the roses.

Mother's Day.  So blessed to have my parents so happy and healthy!  I know that this is not the case with so many of my friends and family.  Each day is a blessing!

Jessi asked me to go along with them to OMSI.  Fun to watch the kids learn while they play.

I was so happy to see an eagle go after a fish!  He missed, but the osprey caught the one he went after later on.  Meanwhile, the vultures wait for something to die...

The Blue Heron 

I have spotted 4 of them all at one time, but in different areas of the lake this year.  Maybe young ones from the same parents, I am not sure, just guessing.  Anyway, this year, I saw one doing something I have not seen before.  The first photo on the top left, shows him with his wings down.  It was almost as if I should turn my head instead of shoot a photo.  Kind of like he was flashing me.  a little awkward.  The bottom right shows what I saw at first, but the way the lake is and where he was, kept me from seeing the front side.  From the side, I could see his bill open and his throat wiggling, he was breathing hard,I think, not sure what he was doing, it was like he was in a trance.  Normally they fly away the minute they hear or see me, but he just kept there.  After a while he flew over closer to me and I got the top shots of him.  Very strange.  I think that he was sunning himself.  His feathers looked a little wet once he got close enough for me to see.

The first set of geese are doing well.

This mama Mallard had 10 babies!

But this mamma Wood Duck had 12!  so many that I could not get them all in the photo. 

 The baby bunnies are nibbling on the clover, bull frogs are a croaking, bees are buzzing and for the first time ever, I saw a baby squirrel!  The picture does not show how tiny it was.  The bull frogs were croaking in stereo as I approached the pond.  Loudly!  Normally when I get close, they hear me and stop croaking, but this day...they could not be stopped...all over the pond they were sitting and sounding like fog horns, now and then hopping around.  I have not seen so many in one place, let alone heard that many.  

Josh ran his All City Track Meet, competing in the 1500.  Once again he ran an awesome race.  Can't wait to see him run again in the fall when Cross Country begins.