Sha meets cousin Joseph for the first time

It's always exciting, especially for Sha, when she meets a new family member for the first time. As I always say she "LOVES" family and I know it comforts her to know she is now a part of such a big "modern" family.  My first cousin Joseph, was in town from Colorado for a few days.  As expected Sha loved him and was a bit sad when he left.  What was very neat about this visit, he arrived while we were at Camp Little People.  I did not write about this in the CLP post, however while we were at camp Sha pretty much was with her new friends the entire time and occasionally would come hang out with us. It was fine, we knew she was starting new friendships and enjoying herself. She had also sat with them for all the meals.  Well something happened Saturday night where she came up to me and asked if she can sit in the middle of me and Paul for dinner, of course I said yes.  I took it as her missing us a bit and the comfort of having her parents around hit her and she just wanted to be close by, all good.  We are not sure if something happened with her new friends, I think since most of the girls already knew each other, Sha was starting to feel a bit left out, not totally sure because she didn't talk about it, but my motherly instinct thinks that's what went on.  Needless to say, we had dinner and than she came up to me later that night all excited about meeting Joseph tomorrow.  Originally she wanted to stay till lunch on Sunday but then decided she wanted to leave after breakfast so we can get home in a hurry, Aunt Joan was also up. She then asked if she can call Grandma, she wanted to ask Grandma if she can make mussels for tomorrow when we are all together.  Back up a week or two before, Sha had the famous "Jane's mussels" for the first time and LOVED them.  Of course Grandma, who can't say no to Sha told her she would make "100 lbs" of mussels just for her-lol.  The absolute best part of this story is,  it was another major moment where she felt safe and happy with her new family, she had her brief fun with her friends but then wanted to come back to the comfort of all of us. 

Sunday we met Joseph and it went great.  During his visit they played Wii and of course, Sha kicked his butt.  It was truly great to see him. 

Brownies to Girl Scouts Graduation-Flying Up Ceremony.

Well as quickly as Sha became a Brownie, she moved just as quickly to the next phase, she is now a Junior Girl Scouts.  They had a "Flying Up" ceremony for this graduation and it was adorbs!  She now officially has her green vest with all her badges (that I have to iron on).  It was super cute, they walked over a little bridge to become a GS.  Of course her BFF Ella was right by her side the entire time as well as her friends Lea and Hannah.  I, being the over emotional mother I've become, cried the entire time-ha.  Enjoy. 

Camp Little People

Ahh, this is the blog I've been excited to write about.  What a GREAT weekend we had.  Not only did we get to see good friends of ours that we have not seen in years but Sha got to meet 8 other children, mostly from China, who are adopted.  She also got to experience sports and activities that were suited for "achons", meaning they were easier for her to use.  She did everything from camp fires, to rock climbing (got to the top),  zip lining, painted wooden snakes, swimming, played a game of baseball, rode bikes everywhere (even tried a friends with no training wheels), but the most refreshing event was when it down poured Saturday night and she went dancing in the rain.  She had been doing this a couple of time at home which was never a big deal.  Well this time it was pouring and she wanted to do it, I decided "why not" and the next thing I knew all 11 kids were out dancing in the rain.  It was pure innocence at best. It was such a relaxing weekend and we are totally sold on going again next year.