Busy "Doing" Summer

We have definitely been making the most out of our summer break! It's been a nice mix of busy and not so busy. Bri only has 2.5 weeks left until school starts back up, so we are going to keep making the most of things. I'm always sad when summer break is over. Bri is definitely my summer girl, and this is always her happiest time of the year.

So what has Bri been up to?

Spending lots of time of friends...

Swimming...

Cooking...

Eating...

Shopping...

 Movie watching...

TV watching...

 Rock climbing...

Vacationing...

 Reading...

Blueberry picking...

Video gaming...

Getting new glasses...

And most importantly, catching up on sleep...

As soon as Miss B goes back to school, I'll go into more detail about our summer adventures. Just wanted to pop in and say hi. Hope you all are having a great summer too. I'll be back soon.

I cannot believe my kid is entering 7th grade! Time is going by too fast!

4th Of July (Early) Photo Shoot

Every year around the 4th of July, my friends Amy, Valerie and I get our families together for a get together and I take pictures of our girls (Imerie, Mary Lin and Briana). This year we all had separate plans for the 4th, so we decided to do our photo shoot early (a month early to be exact!). This was our 5th year having the girls dress alike. (We'll have see if they are on board with it next year - heh.)

Matching shirts, jean shorts and flowing hair ~ they are all so beautiful, aren't they? I love our tradition!

Enjoy the pics!!!

Here are the besties over the years (click to make larger)...

11th Referral Day Anniversary

 Eleven years ago (June 6, 2007), Doug and I saw Jiang Ai Juan's beautiful face in pictures for the 1st time. She took our breath away...

 This is the first time we ever saw our Briana...

Here is my recap post about referral day...

http://waitingforbriana.blogspot.com/2007/06/going-back-to-referral-day.html

 And here are two posts about how "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and the "China's Lost Girls" documentary led me to Briana and my full circle moment when I met one of the families from the documentary...

http://waitingforbriana.blogspot.com/2009/10/december-2-2004-my-day-of-enlightenment.html
http://waitingforbriana.blogspot.com/2013/02/my-full-circle-moment.html

Below are pictures of Briana holding her referral picture each year on our referral day anniversary...

1st referral day anniversary...

2nd referral day anniversary...

 3rd referral day anniversary...

4th referral day anniversary...

5th referral day anniversary...

 6th referral day anniversary...

7th referral day anniversary...

 8th referral day anniversary...

9th referral day anniversary...

 10th referral day anniversary...

And now, our 11th referral day anniversary...

It is truly remarkable to look back and see how much she has grown and changed. All the "baby" is now gone and she has transformed into an amazing young lady.

Summer Break Has Commenced!

One week down for summer break and we've already had a blast! Time certainly flies when you are having fun.

Bri saw the new Solo movie...

Visited with Gramma and Papa and made a huge ice cream sundae...

 Went indoor rock climbing with Meredith...

Ate pizza...

Played video games...

Went shopping with me (and found this Asian-inspired jacket half-off!)...

Swam for hours with friends...

And looked wet and adorable with friends Imerie and Mary...

Also, Bri and I have been watching all of the Marvel movies in order (we started in April - Doug is re-watching them with us), so we can see "Avengers: Infinity War" and actually understand what is going on (Doug has already seen it). We are now about to start the 16th movie (Dr. Strange). We've watched two Marvel movies since summer break started. I've seen more superhero movies than I ever thought possible. #imarockstarmom #superherofog #ohsomanyfightscenes

We've also had a couple of lazy, hanging around the house, catching up on chores days as well.

We still have a lot planned for summer break. Bri has her one and only camp next week. That should be fun for her! Yay summer!