Home Study Update

Our home study went very well. Our social worker is just as sweet as she sounds on the phone. She's hoping to get it typed up over the weekend.

Dh & I now have some decisions to pray about regarding the age of the child we're adopting.

Thanks for praying...keep it up!

Home Study Appointment

Our social worker will be here from 3 to 5 Pacific Time today.

We'd appreciate prayers for a great meeting with her.

Thank you!

SNOW DAY!

Friday Fun...The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Friday was an eventful day in our household. After dragging the kids out of bed and catching the 6:30 a.m. ferry, we headed to the doctor.

The Good: Dh & I each had a physical so we can get the necessary paperwork for our adoption.


The Bad: I had to get a tetnus shot and my arm is REALLY sore.
The Ugly: Having to step on the scale.

Since we had to fast for 12 hours before our appointments we were very hungry so we took the kids out to IHOP for breakfast!

The Good: It was YUMMY and dd/6 kept saying, "This is the BEST day of my life!"

The Bad: I messed up the girls order so instead of face pancakes with strawberries & bananas, they ended up with face pancakes loaded with whip cream, chocolate chips and candied cherries.

The Ugly: The mess on dd/4's face when we were done.

After breakfast, we ran a few errands and then took the kids to see, "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything."

The Good: It was less expensive than we thought it would be because the movie started BEFORE noon.

The Bad: I think a dark theatre might not have been the best choice for dh & myself after getting up at 5 a.m.

The Ugly: Those Cheese Curls! (you'll have to see the movie to know what I'm talking about)

Then we came home so dh could work and I could help ds/8 pack for his first camp experience. After dinner, we all took him up to the campground.

The Good: Ds/8 was REALLY excited and even though I don't know his counselor, it turns out that he's from the church that dh & I went to before moving to the island!

The Bad: He's GROWING UP TOO FAST!!!

The Ugly: In the short time that we were there, the cabin was already starting to smell like sweaty boys & stinky feet! LOL

Then we came home and let the girls have a sleepover together in dd/6's room.



The Good: I LOVE to see them get along and be best friends with one another.

The Bad: They probably stayed up too late and are both a bit cranky today.

The Ugly: The sight of dd/6's room with all the games & books they went through last night.

Whew! I'm exhausted...now it's time for SLEEPY Saturday!

Our Social Worker Called!

We just got a phone call from our social worker!

It looks like we'll be able to meet toward the end of this month. She has to take two ferries to get here so she's going to try and visit us on the same day as another island family (who we just happen to know!).

Our social worker sounds so sweet on the phone! I can't wait to meet her.

She also said that we will most likely be sent our dossier paperwork at the end of February.

Yeah!!! Things are moving along.

A GREAT Article and Book...

Melissa Fay Greene recently wrote an article about her trip to Ethiopia with her 10 year old daughter. She was adopted from Ethiopia at the age of 5. It's a very touching article and you can read it here (have a tissue handy):

http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2008/edition_01-13-2008/Finding_My_Daughter

She also wrote a book that I enjoyed reading very much called There is No Me without You. You can probably check it out from your local library if you're interested. I did. Have a box of tissues handy!

The.....IN-LAWS!!!

Once again, we've had a birthday in our family. My MIL's birthday was this past Sunday. So...I thought it was time I talked about the in-laws. ;^)

There are lots of jokes about in-laws and many people cringe when they hear that word, but I have truly been blessed with mine.

They love the Lord and they show it. Even though they are both retired professionally, they don't believe in "retiring" from service to the Lord as some seniors are inclined to do.

My MIL leads a women's Bible study at our church. She takes an active role in children's ministries and has worked with a couple other ladies to organize and pull together the VBS at our church for the past couple of Summers.

My FIL serves as a Deacon, usher and substitute leader for our AWANA program. Not to mention the community service he's involved with as well.

They both have taught Sunday School for many years and are substitutes this year only because their weren't enough children for them to lead a separate class again.

This past Fall they went with a team from our church to Macedonia and Bosnia, working with missionaries to do whatever was asked of them.

They pray for their kids (birth & in-law) and their grandkids on a regular basis. They are supportive and encouraging of our adoption process and they are excited about having another grandchild from Ethiopia. We are blessed!

One more step toward bringing MAC home

We sent in our home study contract today! We spent the past week filling out the questionnaires that they sent us and mailed it in w/ payment this morning.

We look forward to meeting the social worker that will be assigned to us. Please pray that the Lord will provide a wonderful social worker and that we will be able to relax and be ourselves with him/her right away.

It's a little nerve racking to ask a complete stranger to read through detailed questionnaire responses and then invite them into your home for the specific purpose of writing the story of your life from their perspective.

It's all a part of the process and we've heard wonderful stories of people connecting with their social workers but we've heard a couple scary stories as well.

Thanks so much for your prayers!

Big Brothers...

In honor of my brother B's 40th birthday yesterday... I want to talk about big brothers.

"I'm not too sure about this you guys..." B, M & Me in 1975 or 76

M, Me & B in 1989 at B's wedding. I think this is the last photo we've had of the 3 of us. Like my big hair? LOL

From the time I was very little, I idolized my big brothers. When dh & I were pregnant w/ our first child, I was really hoping it would be a boy. That way...he could be a big brother some day. Everyone should have at least one big brother. They tease you, they tickle you, they give you a black eye (accidently, of course)... They look out for you even when they pretend that they don't. My big brothers were, in my eyes, the essence of cool, popular and wise. One gave me a ride to jazz band on the back of his Harley, making me feel pretty "cool & special" myself. The other helped me through that first school dance with sound advice: "Tell Mom & Dad you don't care if they chaperone, they'll never do it anyway...they can't stand the music." They're a window into the childhood I don't remember... sharing stories from when I was a preschooler or younger. We laugh together as we share memories of family vacations, ski trips, water-skiing, Mom's delicious Thanksgiving dinner... Dad dressing up like Santa Claus. Even though we aren't all together very often, they'll always be special to me because they're my big brothers!

Fun Projects...

We've been back at school for a week now but I thought I'd post some pictures of a couple of the projects we did when we were still on break.

Here dd/6 is painting "stain glass windows." She got this fun kit as a Christmas present from Uncle M & Aunt D. Our "project" girl was thrilled to have something so fun to do. :0)

Here's a shot of a few of the "finished products" before we cut them out.

Ds/8 is making his own cars. Here he is with the first two out of the mold & ready to paint. The last one is in the mold. It needs to harden for about an hour.

Now that the paint has dried overnight, ds/8 can put the decals on his cars to give them a "cool" look. Then we can add the wheels!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my Mom's b-day, so I thought I'd share a few of the things I think are so special about her. She taught us kids how to serve the Lord by example. She's always willing to lend a hand and she's one of those people who does all the "behind the scenes" stuff. You know...the ones who we couldn't function without but who often get overlooked. I think she'd usually prefer to be overlooked. She's not one for public speaking or recognition. Recently, she's been helping dh & I with the Awana store for our club. Everytime I see her, she has another box (or 4 boxes sometimes) of stuff that she's picked up for us to put in the store. She prays faithfully for her kids and grandkids. When I told her we were going to adopt, she was very encouraging. She does her best to make herself available regardless of whether it's convenient for her or not. The word that comes to mind is selfless. I can only hope that 30 years from now, when I am the same age as her, my dc will have at least 1/2 as many fond memories of me as I do of my Mom. Happy Birthday Mom. You are special, you are treasured, and you are LOVED!!!

...Keep the Old...They're Gold!

Remember that song we all used to sing when we were little? The one about making new friends but keeping the old? Tonight we hosted a dinner party with some of our "gold" friends. When we started this tradition 15 years ago, dh & I were the only ones married. Our friends J&J were engaged and everyone else was single. Now, we're all married and have 10 kids altogether. My group of 5 close girlfriends has expanded to 20 people. Wow! It was our turn to host this year and we enjoyed a yummy dinner tonight along with great company, a white elephant (re-gift) exchange, & fun? games. It's funny how we used to all stay 'til past midnight and everyone was out of our house before 10 tonight. Of course, we do all live much further apart, have kids AND they had to take a ferry since we moved to the island. But...I think we might just be getting a little bit older too! ;^) Here's a few pics of "game time!"


Unfortunately, I forgot to get out my camera until after one of the couples had already left. I'll have to get them next time for sure! It's so great for us to all get a chance to catch up with one another's lives. Our friends M&P just got back from living in Japan for the past 8 months so they had a lot of interesting stories to share! Well, we have 5 years before we host again so I guess we'll be the ones taking the ferry for the next 4 years. 'Til next year...think we can make it past 10? :0)

Happy New Year!!!

No pics for this post but just wanted to say Happy New Year! Yesterday, dh worked in the garage. He's building a wall to separate his shop area from the parking area. Then we had dinner and hung out with the kids, playing games & watching movies. Our last movie ended just in time for us to do the countdown with the Space Needle crowd. The kids were SO excited to stay up so late. Dd/4 was snoring by about 10:30 but the other two lasted. LOL! This morning, dh made us waffles for breakfast. Always a big hit, especially with strawberries and whip cream. Then, I proceeded to disassemble, tear down and pack away anything and everything that has to do with Christmas (except for the outside lights...that's dh's territory). I also cleaned out and organized our play room. What a disaster that was! I think I was up there for about 3 hours. I'm begging, pleading and flat out ordering the kids to PLEASE put things back in the right place from now on. I can't even begin to tell you how many different places I found play "kitchen stuff." They pick the room up every week but what I've discovered is that they just shove everything into a toybox or a drawer somewhere with no regard to where it actually belongs. AUGHHH! That has got to stop! So, I guess I've made a resolution for the kids...they WILL put things back in the proper place. Right? RIGHT! Time will tell...;0) Well that's about it for this post. We pray for a blessed new year and hope we will be bringing MAC home in 2008!