A Lovely Fall Day - Rudy's Point of View

So while Paul was climbing the ladder and fixing the shutter, Rudy asked for my camera to take a picture. I gave it to him and he wandered around our yard and our neighbor's yard for a while taking pictures. It was a great way to keep him busy and not trying to climb the ladder or help hold the ladder.

His view of me and Paul.

One of our Halloween decorations.

Looking through one of the Halloween decorations (very artistic).

Rudy's moto

A branch

The roofing sign on the yard next door.

Sitting on the curb, either purposely taking pictures of his feet or playing with the buttons and just having pictures come out.

Another very artistic shot of his foot in the street.

A Lovely Fall Day

Today was a surprisingly nice day. After church we took advantage of the nice weather and got some things done outside.

Rudy, the tyrannosaurus, helped stomp some branches down.

Paul patched shutters that had been attacked by carpenter bees nesting there, and then woodpeckers eating the carpenter bees.

The tyrannosaurus attacking me.

After raking leaves and picking up sticks int he yard, we took a walk over to Aunt Pat's house to take Shea (I guess she's ultimately Neil's dog) for a walk. While walking we saw a little sliver of a rainbow.

Not Much Walking

Today was our Arc walk. Thanks to everyone who donated - as of the beginning of the walk The Arc had raised over $4,000 and they expected that amount to triple before all donations were counted.
The weather report had predicted rain but we managed to get a nice, partly sunny morning. Here is Rudy dancing before the walk. Notice the bag of M&Ms in his hand. They were given out as we checked in at 9am. We made him wait until after we walked before he could eat them.

Of course they also had donuts available so he had one of them and a banana.

Glaring at me when I tried to take a picture of him dancing again.

The walk begins and what's the first thing Rudy wants to do? Take a break on the bench. Unfortunately, there were benches at almost every block of the walk. It was a very slow walk.

Besides benches there was also the boardwalk to sit on and admire the view. Any excuse to stop walking.

A few short minutes of running..

We got to the end of the boardwalk took a rest, had our picture taken, had some water and then turned around. Notice the water on Rudy's shirt? He was lying down on the bench and decided to try to take a drink. Paul and I were in the process of telling him he needed to sit up when he poured it all over himself. Hopefully, a lesson was learned.

Another break on the way back. This time sitting on the ocean side.

Slowly walking and stopping at every sign to ask what it says.

Once we got back to where we started there was more food, more music and a bouncer. As you can see from Rudy's face, he was finally allowed to eat his M&Ms.

Two Years!!

Two years ago today, Paul and I arrived in Guatemala ready to finally bring Rudy home. You can read what I wrote about that day here.

It's amazing to know that Rudy has been with us for two whole years. We have had him with us, longer than he was not with us. I don't know where the time has gone. I can very clearly remember the joy and chaos that came with Rudy coming home. It was such a transition - more for Paul and I than for Rudy. Paul still has nightmares about that time, I think (ask him what he thinks about kids aged 18-24 months and his feelings about adopting that age again).

Here are my favorite pictures from that trip:

popeye

Best picture ever of the curls and a smile.

Mio - Mine!

Poppy's boy right from the start

Eating papas fritas - shortly after his foster mother left.

A celebratory dinner at the Italian restaurant at the Marriott.

A family together

One Week

Next Saturday is our walk for The Arc. Here is the link to our fundraising page. We appreciate any donation you can give to this wonderful organization.

FFF- Highs and Lows

The low of our week - our poor sick boy. This is pretty much how he spent Monday - lying on the ottoman, with the blanket on, staring at the TV.



The high of the week - Rudy wrote his own name on his writing pad. I know he's been working on it in school, and his papers come home with his name on them but I never know how much assistance he gets. He wrote this entirely by himself.

The Reader

The other morning I came into the back room to find Rudy sitting and reading. This is a book of Far Side cartoons. He was concentrating very hard.



Then when he realized I was trying to take a picture, he turned his head.

Then finally he agreed and looked at the camera.