Congratulations on 8 Years, Dylan!!!

Hello again, Dad here, a few days later than I should be, but here nevertheless to celebrate OUR Dylan's 8 Year Forever Family Anniversary.

We're already 2 weeks into our summer adventures, and it's already been a bit crazy. Fun, but a bit wild.  We're lining up the next few weeks, with a trip to Michigan, and another week away (to ???) sometime later toward the end of Summer.

Dylan continues to grow in his role as Big Brother to Tyler, helping out in many ways. Tyler has bonded with all of his siblings and Dylan takes his responsibility very seriously.  He helps to guide Tyler back track when things start to go sideways by trying to be a calming influence.  He's also already trying to mentor T-Bone in the basics of Minecraft!

As Kyle is now moving on to Middle School, Dylan will take his place as part of the 5th grade Masters of the Universe!  He is looking forward to being in the oldest class and sharing the upcoming year with his large set of friends.  Dylan is a good friend to many of his classmates, and he usually shares lots of good school stories with us at Dinner.

He has continued studying and playing the violin and has been quite responsible with his practicing efforts.  Nearly every time he practiced this spring, our older cat, Mocha, found her way to his feet and curled up near him as he played.  She must have found the music comforting, or interesting - so much that she would relocate herself from wherever she was to  Dylan's side.  That made him very happy.

Our family (and Aunt Rita) had the opportunity to enjoy the Oak Ridge Elementary Spring Concert, with BOTH Kyle and Dylan performing.  A proud day for Lisa and me to say the least.

Dylan had a blast during our spring vacation in Punta Cana.  He enjoyed tons of beach time and pool time.  The most fun for him was being able to navigate the Breakfast and Lunch Buffets to fill his own plates - and go back for seconds and thirds of the really good stuff.

He's growing taller every day and he still enjoys climbing of all sorts - from boulders in the parks, to the many playgrounds we visit, to our backyard Locust Tree.  He loves bike riding, skateboarding and scootering.  He's becoming harder and harder to keep up with!  He also shares a natural curiosity about all things in nature and science.  I can't wait until his math and science education catches up so he can start to understand the hows and whys of what he sees as mysteries now.

We're looking forward to the rest of our summer and to taking on the 5th Grade!


Here are some recent adventures...

Picking Summer Fruit (Peaches = Favorite) at Linvilla Orchards

Getting ready to Wow The Crowd at the Spring Concert

Tyler's First Trip to DW

Driving with Kyle at DW

Cooling off at Home

Planning our DW Day with Mom

At the Lehigh Valley Zoo

Picking Favorites at Hershey's Chocolate World

"Every family needs a Dylan"... and we sure love ours!We Love You Very Much.
Mom and Dad

Happy 11th Birthday Dylan!!

Good evening all, just another drive-by post to officially recognize Dylan's 11th Birthday!  Happy Birthday!!

Dylan continues to grow into a handsome and confident young man.  He is enjoying his classmates and his Teacher in Fourth Grade at Oak Ridge.  Hard to believe that he'll only have one more year left before middle school.

The past few months have seen a few changes in our family.  Dylan took on the additional role of Big Brother to his new younger brother Tyler, who joined our family last August (2016).  Dylan was a huge help on our adoption trip and has matured a great deal in his new role.  With our new addition, he's again rooming with his big Brother Kyle, while Ryan and Tyler are sharing their new bunk beds.  He's an important role model for his now TWO younger brothers.

In school, he has taken up the violin as his instrument of choice.  He is working diligently and has recently hit his benchmark for the spring of 2017!  We are looking forward to the annual Spring Concert, so we can enjoy his performance with his peers.

We're also looking forward to our upcoming family spring vacation, this year to Punta Cana.  Dylan is looking forward to sailing, and lots of pool and beach time.

The calendar seems to be flipping faster with each passing month, and time seems to be accelerating. We're happy to have had a chance to slow down a little bit tonight to celebrate Dylan's 11th Birthday - even Aunt Rita was able to join us!  It's been fun watching Dylan grow and develop and we can't wait to see what the future holds.  Not too fast though, just ONE year at a time!

We're very proud of what you've accomplished, Dylan, and we all love you very much.

Love and Happy Birthday,
Mom & Dad