It's a Boy-Introducing our Son

We would like to take this opportunity to introduce our son:

Ezekiel Meng Yang Hinton

He is two years old (DOB- 08/25/08) , waiting for us in Hubei Province, China. We received our letter of approval today & are very excited (especially since this is Matt's 40th Birthday!) We are hoping to travel by the end of the year to get him.

Thankful Thursday

Thankful today to be counted among the living & to be employed. Glad to have a roof over my head, clothes on my back & food on the table!


Thankful also for family, here is Maddy with Grandma Linda-

First Visit to the Dentist

Maddy had her first dental visit last week. She did really well & had no cavities. It really helped to have the Usborne Book on first trip to the dentist to prep her & walk her thru walk was going to happen.

Ready for my exam

AWWWW

Scored a bag of goodies

Week at the Lake 2010

We spent our 3rd year at Yellow Lake with family for the 4th of July week. I was nice weather & we had a good time. I am attaching a few photos:

Maddy & I hanging out by the fire

Cousin Haylee & Maddy

Cousin cuteness!

Our Godson, George on the tube

On the boat w/Hannah & Tori

Fireworks extravaganza

Grandma & Creed (the newest member of the family)

Chris

Caleb & Maddy

Princess Stage

The princess stage did not last very long around our house. Maybe it will make a return again, but until now the dress of her royal highness is making a nice door decoration. The big thing Maddy is into these days is animals (& really always has been for some time). She likes to pretend each week that she is a different animal. One week it was a squirrel & the only way she would let me put a ponytail in her hair was if I called a 'squirrel tail.' The next week she was a mouse. This week she is a 'bunny bear' in honor of the bear she bought from our neighbor's garage sale. (Our neighbor's happen to have 2 domestic bunnies living in their backyard.) It will be interesting to see what kind of wildlife next week will bring to our house!

Good Bye Kitty

Today we said goodbye to our kitty, Priscilla, who has been part of our family for almost 15 years. She has filled our lives with so much love & will be missed by us.

This was Maddy w/Prissy last year

A more recent picture

Grandmas & Hats

I have occasionally written about how blessed Maddy is to have so many living grandmothers. Over Mother's Day weekend, we had the opportunity to spend a little time with all 3. Our church held a 'Hats off to Women' brunch on the Saturday before Mother's Day that my mom & mother-in-law attended. We had a really nice time & enjoyed listening to women at different places in their life speak about the 'hats' they were wearing in this season of their life. Here are a few photos of the event:

Maddy with Grandma Mommy & Grandma Linda


My mom was the grand prize winner for the best hat- she is a Red Hat Lady so she is semi-professional in her hat wearing & collection

On Sunday, we headed to a nursery after church to pick out some flowers & veggies for our gardens. My stepmom came with us & was also wearing a hat that day. I thought this was pretty cool to be able to have each grandma in a hat for the weekend. Here are a few photos from that:

Hanging out with Grandma Lenore at the nursery