A Little Angel!

This is the picture I sent out on our update list but it is so incredicly cute I just had to post it! Samuel is doing great, eating and YES, SLEEPING LOTS! The only time he really cries is when he's hungry or has gas bubbles. Everyone keeps saying he is so small, but when we took him to see his new friend, "Piper" who was born July 6th (one week prior to him), he looked like a giant compared to her little 4 1/2 pound self. When I introduced them (of course they were both sleeping at the time), Samuel grinned the BIGGEST grin!

The Garden of Dinsmore

Our, well, let's be honest...CRAIG's garden just exploded while he was gone! This is his 2nd year at gardening and he is having alot of fun and learning a whole lot the hard way! This year he learned that Missouri is one of the hardest places to grow in because of the bugs )=:, but he "plows" ahead none the less and is keeping us well fed and healthy! Now I guess I have to learn how to can and freeze )=: - or do I? I certainly did NOT learn to dress a deer when he started hunting.
But it is definitley time for a chest freezer in the Dinsmore Den!

Home, Sweet, HOME!!!

After nearly a month of being apart, it was so nice to be reunited as a family again! The boys greeted us in the driveway with anxious hearts to see all their siblings, old and new!



Thanks to my friends Charlene Thill and Therese Engle, we came home to a spotless house and a home cooked meal. After years of looking around our table and feeling like someone was missing, it was a little overwhelming to sit around our table with our now 8 children and rejoice over all God has done! We can't explain the awesome privledge it is to be chosen by God and by Samuel's birth mom to be counted worthy to raise this precious one - a gift not at all taken lightly.

OH MY GOODNESS, Zachary (15) LOVES this little guy! He pretty much won't put him down whenever he is home! In fact, when Samuel was crying after his night time feeding, Zac popped out of bed at the chance to hold him. He says, "teach me how to wrap him mom." He had better marry a girl who LOVES babies!

It took some convincing but we finally got Michael(18) to hold him! Michael loves him but he's just not so into holding babies - he looks forward to the day when he can "play" with him - but by then Michael will be off to college )=:

Nic(16) can often be found with Samuel in his arms as well (unfortunatley I don't have a picture of that), but, when I look around and see him in Nic's arms (again) I am always pleasantly surprised!

Big Red Van Keep on Rollin'

Almost home! This picture was taken at a rest stop outside St. Louis! Bring it home Samuel! He did so well on the trip! He slept in between each rest stop! He definitly likes motion!!!

Last Days at Camp

One of our last days at camp with some cousins sitting on the porch. We had alot of fun reconnecting with them and certainly do miss them all! We're hoping they will come to KC next spring!!! What a good brother. Camp did a small fair the last weekend we were there and Craig won the dog on the skateboard for his sister Cathy! Go Craig!!!

During our last day or so at camp I started reviewing the first week of Samuel's life - it was quite busy. Here are some of the things he did:

broke a record being the youngest baby brought to camp

Auntie Chrissy's 40th birthday party

Camp Fair - where a sweet little girl named Emma kept winning him stuffed bears

3 camp fires - though I was the only one consuming the marshmallows

church at the beach

afternoon nap at the beach - in the shade, in his stroller, under a bug net of course!

No wonder he is such a good sleeper, plus all that fresh mountain air - not a bad way to start out!

"Dejavous"

Is it "dejavous' from 18 years ago when I had my first baby or 40 years ago when my mom would string a low clothesline for me in the basement so I could hang up my doll clothes? I still remember the little red metal ironing board and orange and yellow play iron I used to 'iron" them with when they came off the line!

This is the fleecy bunting that I had Samuel sleep in at night while we were still at camp; this, and a fleecy hat too! Everyone made fun of me, but, HEY, he slept 5 hours a night right from the start! I just know from MANY years of fall babies, how warm they like to be, and, it hasn't been a hot summer in NY. Now that we are in KC, he hasn't slept in it once.

Snug as a bug in a "fleece" rug!!!

Welcome Baby Samuel!!!

Born July 13, 2009 he is the youngest Dinsmore to ever visit camp! He even beat Craig who I believe came to camp at 2 weeks.

Though Samuel will not visit the beach this year, he does sunbathe in our cabin - trying to get rid of that last bit of "yellow".

So very sweet, he is so good, he sleeps and eats and sleeps again. Everyone keeps saying it is the 2 week honeymoon - my theory is that is is the formula vs. breastmilk thing. Molly and Luke were my best sleepers and they were formula babies. Who knows really....he's just a Good Boy!

"Lady in Waiting" passes the time by working in the camp commisary....

As Jessi, Brianne, Luke, Molly and I wait for our birth mom to go into labor, I am passing the time by working in the camp commisary! I actually LOVE this job because I get to see and talk with people. When it is slow, like today, I get to catch up on emails and post to the blog! It is a Perfect Camp Day today, no clouds, slight breeze and 85 degrees!!!

Below are some of my FAVORITE customers.....

Molly and Leah....

Luke, Molly and Leah....

Friends from CT, Bella, Katie (Michael and Katie did preschool together and just graduated from HS this year), Emily (also graduated this year and friend of Michael) and Oliver (good friends with Zac)

My very handsome Luke sporting the straw hat. He's a cutie!!!!

A Look at Camp K-20 in Bear Mountain, NY

Lake Kanawauke or Little Long Pond is it's other name. It never changes! Kids are swimming, canoeing and kayaking all day long!

Craig's parents "tent", really it's a cabin; there's actually a real roof under that tarp. The tarp kinda makes it look shabby, but actually, it's quite cozy and comfortable inside with an eat in kitchen, living area, 2 bedrooms and a screened in porch. The tarp is there for.....nostalgia?

The Outhouse! All the facilities have indoor plumbing with sinks, showers, and washing machines but when you have "to go", it's off to the outdoor "john"!!! (shhh, our's has an indoor one!)

The laundry!!! We thank God for sunny days so we can catch up on laundry! A "Linda Fun Fact", I LOVE, love, love to hang laundry and hand wash dishes! I find it so relaxing.....

Craig was born on July 1st (45 years ago this past week). He was no sooner out of the hospital and he was up at camp visiting his grandparents who spent all their summer here! This summer camp is celebrating it's 90th anniversary!!!

Ethiopian Princess comes to Camp K-20

Our friends the Comollos, http://www.overthemoonwithjoy.blogspot.com/ have 7 children; 1 homegrown and 6 adopted. The newest addition came this year from Ethiopia and she is a "Princess"!

Jessi, Brianne, Avianna (the Ethiopian "Princess") and Molly at the beach ( how do you get sand out of African hair?)