Dylan - TEN Years in our Family!!!

CONGRATULATIONS on your Ten Year Gotcha Day Anniversary!!

Good evening, Dad here again.

I'm making this post to this blog at the same time as I am posting a short Note on our Family Facebook page.  Regardless of platform, this day is one to remember.

The Post we made on that day 10 years ago is HERE.

But tonight I'm visiting here to say how truly happy we are that we have our Dylan.  After all, "Every Family Needs a Dylan."  Our Family would not be complete with out you!

We Love You Very Much and can't wait to watch you grow up more each day.

And I'm also here to deposit a few more short notes and pictures of Dylan from over the past several months.

We've had a good (yet wet) Spring and start to Summer.  Dylan wrapped up YEAR #1 of Middle School and will be starting 7th Grade in the Fall.  He's making very good progress in his studies, and he's hanging in there with his violin.

It's gratifying watching him continue to mature into a young man.  He's been an attentive and helpful big brother for his new little brother Zachary.  He is very helpful around the house with chores and other projects, as well.

More recently, we've had some additional family adventures, most notably vacationing in Mexico at the Hard Rock Hotel.

Here are a few more...

Last Day of 6th Grade - so fast...

Summer Field Trip to Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery (Lititz, PA)

Celebrating with Ben at his Bar Mitzvah

Move-Out Day for Grandmom and PopPop
as they say "Goodbye" to Disston Street
and Hello to New Smyrna Beach, FL

Hard Rock Hotel, Riveria Maya, here we come!

And Dylan is NOT known for having a sweet tooth!
I count (4), not including the two he just finished!

Ahhh, the Selfie with Dad.  There is NO ESCAPE!

Enjoying a Spring Day at Tyler Arboretum

Phipps Conservatory, near Mom & Dad's Alma Mater, CMU.

At the Chinese Lantern Festival in Philadelphia.

Dylan amongst the many Panda Lanterns.

Happy 13th Birthday, Dylan

It's been too long since we've revisited here, but today is a major deal.  Today is Dylan's 13th Birthday.



A Teenager - not sure where the time went, but it's been a great pleasure watching Dylan grow into the young man he's becoming.

He's now the older brother to THREE younger Brothers and also to Ashley.  The ranks of his little brother has grown by ONE since our last post, with the addition of Zachary!  Zach is 4 years old and Dylan has shown how he can be patient and kind by showing Zach how the Family operates.

Dylan had a great trip to China to bring Zachary home.  He enjoyed going back and experiencing his native country again.  Our days were full of activities and Dinners were always adventures.  If you want to see more about this trip you can visit Zachary's Travel Blog.

Not long after we arrived home, we again packed up and headed for Grand Rapids for our annual Christmas Trip to visit Grandma and Poppa in Michigan.  We got a chance to visit with our cousins and with Uncle Mark again.  We were lucky to also visit them in the Summer at 4th of July.  AND we even spent some time with them during our Spring Vacation in Mexico, at the Hard Rock Hotel in Riveria Maya.

We even were lucky enough to visit Hawaii (Maui), too in the summer!

Dylan has successfully made the transition to Middle School joining Kyle at Indian Valley, in the 6th grade. He enjoys Science, Math, and Social Studies, but ELA (English Language Arts) not so much...  Grades for first marking period were solid though and he continues to make progress, and be an eager learner.  He's found a good group of friends and keeps in touch with them on his new iPhone.  And Dylan's still hanging in there with his Violin, trying his best to keep up with his practicing to prepare for the spring Concert.

It's one of our Family rituals to enjoy Dinner Out on each person's birthday, at their place of choosing.  This year Dylan chose Bahama Breeze in King of Prussia.  As our family has grown, we've become accustomed to the challenges of seating a party of EIGHT.  But for Dylan's dinner we hit a home run.  We got to sit at a huge (a little too big maybe) circular fire-pit table.  We could still converse and enjoy our meals even though it was a little large!  The table was set up on one of the indoor/outdoor porches.  So as a result, it was a little cool on our backs, but toasty on our fronts.  All in all a great way to celebrate 13 for Dylan.

Here is the whole crew tonight as we gathered around the Ice Cream (D's not that much of a Birthday Cake kind of guy).

From the Auto Museum in Hershey...

Braving the Cold and deep snow in March of last year...

On one of our Morning Walks around the Hotel in Maui, Hawaii... 

Looking all growed-up in Mexico...

I could post pictures ALL NIGHT!

But, I'll just run along now.  I just wanted to drop a post today since it's such an important occasion!

Happy Birthday, Dylan,

We Love you Very Much!!

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

Seven Years a Lockhead!

Dad here again with a short post to mark the 7th anniversary of Dylan's joining our family!!

The school year has come to an end and Dylan will be moving from 3rd to 4th Grade this fall.  He had a great year by all accounts and his teacher was a very good fit for him (and for us).  Dylan has grown in his relationship with his little brother Ryan.

It is difficult to believe that it's already been SEVEN years sine we welcomed D into our lives.  The memories of that first day at the Civil Affairs office are still vivid in our minds.  His little face as he walked around the corner into the room.  His hesitation of joining in when Kyle and I started playing with a small matchbox car on the floor of that room, trying to draw him in...

And shortly after, as we departed for our hotel, his beaming smile as he took his place on Mom's lap in the van.

One of our first family shots in our Hotel in China...

Watching 4th of July Fireworks out of the back of our rental SUV in Hawaii, where we stopped on the way home.

My how Dylan has changed...

He's becoming a confident, handsome young man (in a fedora, yet)!

Enjoying the Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival...

Goofing around at Tyler Arboretum...

Dylan is now a published author/poet - his poem was recognized at a ceremony at the School District Meeting!

Enjoying the last day of his swimming lessons - he made it end to end, no sweat!

We can't wait to see what this year will bring.

Always remember, "Every family needs a Dylan..."

And we love ours!  We could not be more proud.
Love,
Mom & Dad

Happy Birthday, Dylan! 10 Years Old Today!!

Today Dylan turned TEN!  It's hard to believe how he's grown, physically and emotionally.  Since his last birthday, he's continuing to grow into his very important role as Big Brother to Ryan.  He is very patient with Ryan and has taught him a great deal already.  They share a room his presence has given Ryan a sense of comfort and belonging.

Dylan is doing very well in his 3rd Grade studies.  He is above grade level in Reading and is developing strong Math skills, too.

We're looking forward to our spring break vacation in Mexico in a few weeks.

For his birthday, Dylan got a big time custom made skateboard from Fairman's - one of the best skate shops around.  We picked it up today and he's been beaming all day.

We enjoyed a birthday dinner at Outback Steakhouse - one of D's "go-to" places.

We are very proud of the progress he's been making and are psyched that he's now be able to answer "Ten" when he's asked how old he is!  Life in our house is a lot of fun right now with our TWO 10-year olds blazing the trail for their younger siblings.

Remember, "every family needs a Dylan"...

We love OUR Dylan very much.

Happy birthday, D-man!
Love,
Mom & Dad


A few recent shots of Dylan...
 

Dylan's 3rd Grade Class Photo

 

 

Dylan enjoying the Oak Ridge Fun Run in the Fall...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoying a Fall Bike Ride at Lehigh Gorge

Christmas at Dutch Wonderland

 

This Winter's HUUUUUGE Snowstorm

 

Happy SIX Years a Lockhead, Dylan!!

Just a quick drive-by post to recognize that SIX years ago today, Dylan joined Team Lockhead.

Dylan just completed Second Grade and is looking forward to Third Grade this Fall.  He has been a great big brother to his new little brother, Ryan.  His support for Ryan was so very important on our trip, and we were able to make tons of new memories as a Family as we visited China recently to bring Ryan home.

The summer is just starting out and we're looking forward to a lot of fun activities!

Here are some recent photos of Dylan.

Thanks for helping to make our family complete.
"Every Family needs a Dylan."

All our Love,
Mom & Dad

Mexico, Spring 2015

 

Oriental Pearl Tower, Shanghai, China, May 2015

At Home, March, 2015

 Dutch Wonderland, June 2015