Micah's Birthday

Our sweet Micah turned 12 this past week. I cannot believe how fast this son of mine is turning into a "young man". Micah really wanted a cell phone for his bday so we added a line and now he has one!! He is sooo happy. He wanted to go bowling on his bday and then go eat at his favorite restaurant "Five Guys Burgers N Fries". His big party was Saturday and he had several friends over for pizza and Xbox!!

1 month....

Ok so we have one month down waiting for our LOA. Our agency coordinator told us it could be 2.5 mos fom LID to LOA. Our Lid was 12/25/09 so now we have one month down.(repeating myself). After we get our LOA, it will probably be another 2 mos before we travel. So..(just thinking out loud here) Say we get our LOA in one more month that would put us at Feb 25th...then two months to travel would be around April 25th. This is all BEST case scenario. I am praying God will make it much quicker b/c I know He is able and nothing is too hard for Him. He sees our precious son waiting for us. Will you pray with me that we will get all our "A"s quickly?

You light up my life!

Love this silly girl!

Everybody was Kung Fu fighting

I am so proud, proud, proud of my husband and children!!I just can't help myself! They tested for their black belts in Oct and FINALLY received them this past Saturday at the Black Belt ceremony. The road to BB had been l o n g. I am so proud of their endurance and for completing this goal. The kids have not always wanted to go to class and unlike other sports where you have seasons off there is no "off" for karate it is year round. Thank you to all our special friends who came and celebrated this once in a lifetime achievement with us. Way to go guys!! I love you and I am so proud of you!! On your way to second degree!!

If you can spare a second..

Please go to my friend Cynthia's blog. www.mychinesedumplings.blogspot.com For some reason I can never get links to work..someone help me please!! Cynthia and her family were with us together in China when we adopted Sophie and she is now adopting a darling boy. Please go check out her awesome give-aways to help pay for their adoption.
Thanks!!

The Girls/ Meagan is old.

I scare myself in this pic.

The Mom-Mobile(notice Linzi's "wild" look

Wow, my nails look 30(look at the lady eating the chip)

Ashley has fingernails,,yes we were wild!






I see Linzi's elbow..pretty wild

It started with Meagan turning 30 and a spend the night party! I cannot believe my dear friend is now 30!!! I used to feel sooo much older than her but now I don't even mind saying I am 33!!! Cuz now we are both having to check the box 30-35. :)

So we planned one of our infamous "girls gone wild" parties. Which is really a joke because we are actually pretty boring, strict pentecostals so just the name "girls gone wild" makes us laugh even harder. I hope your following this..(Linzi this is for you). So Linzi, Josh, Ashley, Stephen and Taylor all spent the night on Friday,,,,uhhh notice who is missing? Yes, that would be the 30 year OLD birthday girl who is now much too sophisticated for our spend the night parties. We stayed up till around 2am playing Wii carnival. My arm is still sore(it's a miracle I was able to save the dog). Then we got up and got ready. (let me know when you notice something "wild"). Laura was the saviour of the day b/c she kept all the kids!! THANK YOU LALA! Well, our first "wild" idea was to take the 12 passenger van! Whoo HOO!! Yes, all 4 of us crammed in...it was tight. We are really starting to get crazy! Since it was Meagan's birthday we let her pick the restaurant and she picked Konomi. Well, guess what? We pulled up...it took me 15 minutes to get parked in the mom-mobile we get out in the cold and it is closed. SOOOO we decided we would be angry and throw rocks and burn the building down....NOW THAT would be wild. But obviously since we are not sitting in jail right now we did not do that. Instead we went to the next best restaurant. Superior Grill! There we got really crazy and ordered 2 DINNER size (even though it was lunch..remember we are "wild") chicken fajitas. (I even got sour cream). So then we basically stared at people and tried to figure out if this person at the next table was a man or woman. Never did figure it out. Well, since we were really getting crazy now we decided to go Home Goods and Bed Bath and Beyond and of course Brewsters for ice cream!
It was seriously the most fun I have had in a long time and I got to be with my favorite people and I cannot wait to do it again!!!!

Not your average hero

Well, it's not every day you get to be your kids hero. Our pond is frozen over and the kids wanted to know if they could take a quick break from school and go throw rocks at the pond. I said sure they had 15 minutes to get out there and then come back in. (benefit of HSing..take breaks as needed). So I had just hung up the phone and I was looking out the window at the kids. I saw our lab walking on the pond, I was like cool I am gonna go out there and check it out I didn't realize the ice was so thick and wanted a closer look. Well as soon as I got to the back door and opened it I could hear the kids hollering for me. I started running and saw that Duchess had fallen through the ice in the middle of the pond and couldn't get out.

Let me just pause here to tell you, I rarely in the middle of the scorching summer heat ever get in our SWIMMING pool. I only enjoy being wet in the shower or tub...and would much prefer to lay out then swim. Ok back to story.

To help set the stage further, I had to run Sophie to 4k this morning so I am in my son's sweatshirt a long blue jean skirt and my yellow box shoes. OK, I run off the deck, I roll under our barbed wire fence and get to the edge of the pond. At this point it is obvious that Duchess is not going to be able to get out. So I decide we are going to let her drown.. GASP.... JUST KIDDING. I hand over my cell phone to the kids and start going in. Now, the ice is so thick I am having to put all my body weight on it to break it, it is not thick enough to hold me so I HAVE to break it. I am not even feeling the cold. By the time I reach the dog I am up to my neck in the icy cold water. I have broken a path free and she is able to swim to shore. I am swimming back and I start to feel a little cold but mostly exhaustion. I get out of the water and I am literally gasping for breath. Did I mention my kids were cheering me on the whole time? I told them to keep encouraging the dog cause I was gonna be really ticked if I made it all the way to her and then she decides to drown! So my kids kept calling Duchess and calling my name. I could hear the terror and the pride in their voices. I made it out of the water(that's why I am here typing)...had to ROLL back under the barbed wire. I am really starting to feel bad..the kids are worried. They keep hollering "We need to build a fire!!" I told EG just to go turn the shower on. (Bert is still at work, w/ a torn ligament or a broken ankle not sure either way it is too swollen to X-ray, and Tyler is at a homeschool class). We finally get back in the house and EG has to take my shoes off and help peel me out of my wet clothes. I get in the shower ( a big rock fell out of my panties..lol) (for real) but the shower about killed me...the water made me feel like I was being stabbed to death so I got back out and put a big robe on. Well, I come in the living room and Micah and EG start hugging me and sobbing me and telling me I am the best mom in the whole world!!! Then they notice my legs which I had not noticed b/c basically I could not feel them. They are cut and swollen and bruised from thigh to ankle. I didn't even notice!! The feeling is starting to come back slowly and I have a feeling I am going to be sore tomorrow. But guess what? My kids think I am a hero!! oh yeah the dog is fine.

LID

Whoo hoo, we found out our LID was Christmas day!! 12-25-2009. I am hoping we will travel no later than the beginning of May at this point. It is usually 2.5 mos to LOA and then about 6-8 more weeks after that to TA. I would have no problem if any of these things came sooner!! :)

3 year gotcha and DTC!!

3 years ago we were handed a precious beautiful gift and our lives have never been the same! Sophie has opened our hearts and eyes to so much. She is truly a gem. I cannot imagine our home with out her and she it truly a blessing to everyone she meets. We have a little "gotcha day" tradition where the older kids all write a letter, poem anything they would like and then they read it to Sophie. She LOVES it!! The undivided attention of her 3 older siblings is like heaven to her! Then of course we are off to lunch at the local chinese buffet where we are met by Lala, Uncle Bart, KK and Nick...Kaydence has joined us the past two years also. And we were happy that grandma joined us this year too, but she had to leave before we got the camera out.

Is it just coincidence that we are also..... DTC today?? (our paperwork is on its way too China) WOO HOO... One step closer to Jax...can't wait to start our gotcha day celebrations with him too!

SNOW!!!!

Sophie was so excite to wake up to snow this morning. She was sneaking down to our room at 7:30 this morning and when she came in our room I told her to look out the window. "HOLY SMOKES" is what she said in her best country accent! She ran upstairs and woke up EG and out they went!! The boys had spent the night at their cousins so they missed out on our fun.

Well, our tree is up and the house is decorated. We had to do a lot of running around today for things actually not related to the adoption...I know *gasp*. Kids had dentist appointments, then had to return stuff to the store, then chinese food..I was hoping for a great fortune cookie that would say "you will travel to distant land soon"...but NO, mine said "you will find something you lost next week"...the only thing I have lost lately is my mind and I don't think it will be returning next week. Then off to the library and the kids are now at karate. I am waiting to hear from my courier if she has sent my forms on to my agency...*fingers crossed*

Sigh...of relief

Well, after going to the courthouse in Ashville, we went to Montgomery then back to Trussville..mailed everything off so it is out of my hands! All this accomplished before 3pm and with the whole gang in tow. HOORAY!!! I am hoping to be DTC by Dec 7th at the lastest.

4k Thanksgiving

Sophie's school put on a great Thanksgiving feast for all the classes. Bert and I were suppose to go with her, but unfortunately he had a stomach bug. I told Sophie she could pick one of her brothers to go in his place and she picked Tyler. He was such a sport to join us among all those adoring 4 year olds!

CIS approval

Thankfully "it" finally came yesterday!!! So Monday I am off to get my final two forms certified and then driving to Montgomery, then mailing it all off to Houston and then off to California and then finally off to CHINA!!! Maybe by the end of next week this dossier will be out of my hands.
We did get an update on Jax. No measurements though and I am dying to know how big(or small) he is. We found out his favorite color is purple(just like mom). His favorite foods are crackers, apples and chocolate. He is in first grade and his favorite subjects are math, PE and art.

Approval

Ohhhh I SO WANT MY APPROVAL TO COME IN!! I talked to my very nice officer (for real she is so kind). And she approved me last week it has just not come yet. I am daily stalking the mailman. Today I was like, uhh are you sure you only have 20 magazines and not 1 envelope for me? ARGGHHH I never thought I would so desperately want approval..I feel so needy! :)

Update

Still no I800 approval. I received a letter in the mail Friday that said my HS has still not made it to NBC even though it was suppose to have been sent on Oct 30th. I even got an email today from NBC confirming the fact they do not have my HS. I so thought I would be DTC by our anniversary and now I don't know when we will be. I am hoping this will all get straightened out this week.
On the other hand I hate to post without any pictures. Here are some pics of Sophie and her friends playing dress up last week.

15 years..

Yesterday was our 15th wedding anniversary! I was more than surprised to walk into my kitchen and see 15 DOZEN beautiful roses!! I love my husband so much. I am so blessed and humbled that God has blessed my life w/ such a wonderful husband and father to my children. I know of no man that is more patient and kind and long suffering than Bert! We had a sweet day together. After we checked the mailbox a million times(for our adoption paper), we went for a walk. Then we loaded up all the kids and went to Sam's and had an icee and a piece of pizza, then on to Wal-mart and then we came home and played Disney Princess Memory with Sophie and Tyler. It was really a fun day! Tonight we will go out for our anniversary dinner. I love you so much babe and I thank God for giving you to me!!!

Even our animals "got skills"

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