New Favorite Band

So, every once and a while I get an urge to listen to country music. Maybe because it reminds me of working at Schramm's in High School, maybe because it reminds me of summer nights star gazing with my dad, maybe because God wants to give me a message. Last year it was Carrie Underwood's "Jesus Take the Wheel" when we were trying to decide to go with adoption or not. Then it was Rascal Flatts' "My Wish" when I started working on the 100 Wish Quilt Scrapbook. I'm using the lyrics throughout the scrapbook to tie it all together. Now, in the midst of my despair, once again Rascal Flatts comes to the rescue with "Stand."

Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you're made of
You might bend 'til you break
'Cause it's all you can take
On your knees you look up
Decide you've had enough
You get mad, you get strong
Wipe you hands, shake it off
Then you stand, then you stand

So many cliche's come to mind, and frankly I am just about sick of all of them. But this song really touches me right now, and I've heard it so often that I know it's God's long distance dedication to me.

Thank you all for your prayers and support in this difficult time. I truly don't know what I would do with out you.

Keep the positive vibes for a speed up!
:D

Four Days...

The new referrals are on their way. The CCAA has posted that they include folks LID through 11/25/05. That is four days worth of LIDs this month. Last September, they were referring folks from July 2005. That means they have done less than 4 months worth of referrals in a calander year. We are currently 16 months behind the front of the referral line, which means if things do not pick up, we are lookng at 4 MORE years before they get to us. This does not take into account the 5 months of "official" waiting that we have already put in.

Please keep mega prayers coming for the process and for our sanity.

D

Where did August go?!?

August has been insane for our family! The first weekend had us playing host to family visitors. We had a very fun weekend touring the 'burg. We painted some pottery and saw how doctors in the 1700's treated patients. Who needs HMOs? The picture is from this fun weekend!

The second weekend we traveled to Indianapolis for my cousins' wedding. It was a beautiful day and it was so great to see the family again. Since we are scattered all over the US, it is extra special to get together like the good old days!

The third weekend we made an unplanned trip back to PA for our friend Paul's funeral. He suffered for many years with his health, and died surrounded by his family. He and his wife Dawn are good friends, and we hold them in our prayers during this difficult time. Our niece was also baptized that weekend in PA. We weren't planning on making the trip, but since we were up there, we were able to celebrate the baptism with them.

This weekend is catch up weekend! We are busy with house work and yard work, and trying to stay cool in 95+ degree weather. We had a FCC Waiting Families dinner on Saturday. We met up with three other families in the area that are also waiting to adopt from China. They are all much further ahead of us, and with fewer people choosing adoption from China, soon we will be the only waiting family! We'll just have to have our own dinners! :)

We are truly hoping September is a much slower and cooler month!

Hope all is well in your part of the country!
:D

Home Coming!

We had a wonderful weekend visiting our dear friends in PA. We went up to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with Paul and Dawn ~ it was AWESOME!! (Can't wait till the book comes out this weekend.) We also went to the Cherry Festival for some good carnival sausage, fries and deep fried Oreo cookies.

We had a lovely dinner party with "family" from our Church. It was so great to catch up with everyone. Geoff and Sue's house is just perfect for a relaxing dinner by the stream!

The picture is my little pic of Americana. This is the square in our old home town where the Cherry Festival parade is staged. (3 hours of fire trucks, marching bands, floats and of course the Cherry Queen and her court.) The chairs in the foreground ~ they were set up about a week and a half before the parade to save the spot. That is one of my favorite quirks of the town!

No new news on the adoption front ~ still waiting, waiting, waiting. At this point, no news is good news. Please keep your prayers coming for a speed up and our sanity!

Hope all is well with you!
:D

Sneak Peak!!

We have the nursery just about done! I love the room. It is a little pink for Brian, but as we add wall hangings, it will tone down!

The Ladybug in the bed is a gift from Brian's Aunts. She is just keeping the bed warm until Ladybug can sleep there.

We are also keeping our eyes open for another lavender window panel. I thought one would do the trick, but we need two, and Lillian Vernon is not carrying them right now. We have a cute sheer with appliqué butterflies and dragon flies on it, but it is a little long, and I don't want to fix it until I know for sure which panels are going to hang. CRAZY!

We are painting our room this weekend, and have ordered our super cool bed. That should finish up the major indoor projects. Yea!

Phantom of the Opera was incredible last weekend. We left early in case there was traffic. We got up to the District early enough that we killed some time at the Natural History museum looking at the dinosaurs and gems. Then we had a fantastic lunch at the Kennedy Center Cafe and enjoyed a spectacular vista on the terrace. We could see the Washington Monument, Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials, the Pentagon and the Potomac river. How cool! Then we went to the Opera House to watch an amazing performance of Phantom. Our seats were great and we had a wonderful time.

We'll keep you posted!
:D

3 Months Down...

... who knows how many to go! The CCAA is now predicting at least a 2 1/2 year wait, possibly up to 3 years, or more. Many rumors as to why, but the one I believe most is that they are trying to put on a good face for the world for the 2008 Olympics. They publish that 1/5 of adoptions are international and 4/5 are domestic, so I think they are trying to force the numbers to match the "ideal." Sucks to be us stuck in the PR machine.

So any ideas you have to pass the time, we are certainly open to them. The 100 wishes quilt is slowly progressing. I have about 25 squishes so far. Keep them coming!

We went to Siena's first birthday party last weekend. We took our nephew Ben with us, and he had a fantastic time. The picture is of him giving Siena a Happy Birthday kiss. How sweet!

We go to see Phantom of the Opera tomorrow at the Kennedy Center. I am so excited!

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!
:D

Welcome, Miss Belle!

I was fortunate enough to be in the delivery room as my sister and her husband welcomed Isabelle Marie into the world today! She made her debut at 10:33 AM, and weighed in at 7 lbs 12 oz, and was 19 inches long. Mom and baby are doing great!

Now let's hope that we get Ladybug soon so she and Belle can be best of friends! We hope to hear sometime this week from the director of our agency about the meeting that she had with CCAA officials last weekend. We hope one of the topics of discussion was realistic wait times and what is being done to shorten them.

Keep you posted!
:D