Good to be Home!

Jeremy says that is MY piano, MY toilet, MY door, etc., etc., etc.!!!

Hide and seek--the universal ice-beaker!

Guess who hasn't has much sleep in the past 36 hours in this picture!!!


Just a few minutes to update that we made it home--almost 34 hour trip from start to finish! Needles to say, we are in NO hurry to go anywhere any time soon! :>)

With essentially no sleep during the whole trip home, we arrived home around 4:00 a.m. and tried to sleep for a while, but Joshua woke bright and early to meet his new family! He seems to take everything in stride--it is amazing! Jeremy is not quite so taken with the whole idea of sharing--ANYTHING! This brother idea was good on paper, but didn't quite think through all of the consequences!!! He alternates between calling Joshua "brother", Xi Ze, and Joshua, depending on the level of frustration with what Joshua is playing with! They have had their "brother" moments,playing throwing cat toys at each other, chasing each other through the house laughing, and eating supper with their hands and trying to "out do" each other's mess! I suspect it won't be long before they are plotting all sorts of things together! The girls are totally charmed by this silly little boy, but he has yet to begin the mission of getting into their things! :>)

We spent today at the 4-H cattle show, which we NEVER could have done with Jeremy one day after getting home!!!!!! Joshua doesn't know a stranger or seem to be thrown by anything. He let me carry him up to pet a steer, smiling the whole time and then trying to go up to the steers on his own after being put down!!! This, having never been near any kind of animal as far as we know, let alone a 1400# steer! I foresee some daredevilish behavior in our future! He was also VERY proficient and very diligent to rake up loose straw into and pile and and then transfer it to a wheelbarrow, with Jeremy insisting on helping to "load" the rake by hand... I don't know where he learned to do that (although it totally fits with his personality!) and I am pretty sure that using their hands to pick up the dirty straw wouldn't pass any health dept. codes, but hey, Jeremy was being helpful to his new brother, so we have to take those "bonding" moments when they come!!!!

I will add a couple of pictures of the first hours together, and if my computer would cooperate, I would add some pictures of the show today, but for some reason it won't read the SD card at the moment and I need to get supper going, so that will have to be a no go for now! All of the Kinzingers (cousins included) did very well, Lauren got Grand Champion Rate of Gain, Erin got Grand Champion Senior Showmanship, and Audrey got Reserve Grand Champion Registered Female (I THINK that one is right! RGC of SOMETHING!) They are now getting ready for the auction, where they hope to make the BIG money! I will have to find out when they get home, as the boys and I are in for the night!

The natives are restless--they are trying to force feed the cat Cheese crackers--so I DEFINITLEY need to go! Boys are a whole new world, huh?

Hope to see you all soon, but for those of you we won't, thanks so much for following along our adventure! We love you and appreciate your support!!!!