Meet Abraham

I've probably written this somewhere on the blog previously, but Adam Zimel is about the closest thing I have to a brother. We've been friends now for close to 10 years, and it is always a highlight of my day/week/month/year whenever we talk or get to hang out (much less frequently than I would like since the Zimels now live in Austin and we live in Seattle). Even better, our families mesh almost seamlessly. I say "almost" because one difference between our families is that the Zimels now have 5 kids while we enjoy just Drew and Samantha. Missi and I consider ourselves to be an "aunt" and "uncle" to the Zimel kids and love them like our own - and I know the feeling is mutual as both Adam and Amber-Rose love Drew and Sam.

So it was with complete joy that we got to meet the newest member of the Zimel family, Abraham, when he and Amber-Rose came to Seattle to meet up with their adoption group. Abraham was adopted from Ethiopia and is about 8 months old. He is absolutely beautiful and we were so grateful for the opportunity to meet him.

A few recent pics

Been quite awhile since I've blogged - been super busy with work and life in general. Here is a big 'ol batch of pics to update what we've been up to the past few months:


My little lady is growing up. As she often reminds us, she goes to "full day school" now.


Drew is 100% all boy. Fishing, exploring, shooting BB guns, anything related to the military, sports, forts, and sneak attacks. The boy loves them all.


But Sam isn't too grown up to stop putting on performances for us. Definitely a favorite past-time of mine.


It was great to see my niece and nephews this summer. Here is "the little sweetie" as she is known by my sister.


And here is "the little sweetie's" older brother - "Mr. T"


Unfortunately it's pretty rare when my sisters and I are ever in the same place at once, so it was fun this summer to spend a few days together. Here is Missi and my two sisters at Silver Lake in Washington.


The "siblings photo" on our camping trip this summer.


Missi and I had our first on-water SeaFair experience this summer. We were with some awesome people but the weather wasn't great!


Getting ready to head into the forest to have an airsoft war!


Missi with two of her great friends, Nina and Monica.


Missi and the kids took a trip to Bend this summer with our friends John and Kiki. Unfortunately I had to stay in Seattle to work. It was a great trip with sunshine, pool time, floating the river, and other adventures.

First day of first grade!


First day of fifth grade!


Date night. Heading to Staple & Fancy.


Sam and one of her best friends Kylie.


At a friend's wedding this summer.


With my two pretty ladies.