Another Year & More Waiting.....

Englemann Spruce Christmas Tree: Decorated with old time family favorites

Larry and Katie at our house for Thanksgiving weekend.....me and Mike and on right

We can't believe a year has come and gone since we were logged in. Time has truly flown by! Yet, it is difficult to think the wait continues to grow. It seems each month that goes by the wait becomes longer by several days or longer. We recall thinking that we would be matched by now and making preparations to travel to China...now it looks like we'll travel in 2009. If we are lucky!

As you may have read in a previous post, we are adopting domestically during the extended wait. This too has been a little disappointing, as we thought we would have a child before the holidays. Yet, we've been fortunate to have been matched a couple of times, but we've had to say "no". The first time was difficult, but our social worker has been very supportive. Linda - you are the best! We must put the safety our our Chinese child first and he/she is already part of our family. We know there is a good domestic match out there...until then...we wait.

Spooky Night

I hope everyone had a happy and safe Halloween!

Mike carved the pumpkin on the left. You can tell he has much more talent compared to mine on the right!

Now that Halloween is over......here come the Christmas commericals!!!! I think I've seen five in just the past 8 minutes of watching TV.

In other news....we are starting to receive information on children. Now it is just a matter of being chosen and and choosing a match. We'll keep everyone posted :)

There is always next year....

There is always next year....boo hoo for the Cubs. As a result of the Cubs being swept, I've decided to root for our local team, the Rockies.

Putting aside baseball, the weather is setting cold here in South Park. I'm sitting by the wood burning stove in the leather recliner watching the Gambler V and snow lightly falling outside our window. I just love fall. It's my favorite time of year. Even though the leaves are 90% off the trees, we still have one Aspen tree half full of gold leaves outside our living room window. It's so pretty. I doubt the leaves will be there tomorrow after weather coming in.

The only updates I have for the Chinese adoption is that the wait increases everytime we receive word. If we travel to China before 2009, we'll feel very lucky :)

Our paper work has been sent off to various agencies for our domestic adoption... and all we do now is wait (which we have a lot of practice!). Hopefully we'll be matched with a child by November and have him/her/them in our home before 2008.

Go Cubs go....Go Cubs go....Hey Chicago whatcha say, Cubs are gonna WIN today!!!

There is hope for all you Cub fans out there!!! Mike is taking off Tuesday to catch the Wed game in AZ with my brother. Should be a blast. Also looks like there is a chance the Cubs will be playing the Rockies....how cool would that be????

And then there were more....

I haven't posted for some time, but there is a good excuse!! We are preparing for a second adoption! We have decided to adopt domestic during the long wait for our baby from China. Mike and I have decided to adopt 1 - 2 children between the ages 5 - 12. We will keep the blog updated as we get closer. It looks like it might be as soon as Thanksgiving!

Photos: Left - a fabulous experience hiking Mt. Elbert (highest peak in CO) with the club's Triple Play Wilderness backpacking team. Me and Boo Dog on the right.

Right - Mike added our bridge to the front of the home. Way cool! I can't wait to plant a bunch of wildflowers under the bridge for next summer. Note the sunflower - my pride a joy :)

Arizona

I was in Tucson this past week for a drug free community grant grant training. We were able to take two youth with us for the youth institute training. Very worth the time. I think I learned more working with the teens than I would've with just listening to adults speaking. Pictured is the gang L-R: Jane, Me, Lacey and Samantha. The training was at a beautiful J.W. Marriott Spa/Resort. Too bad we weren't able to spend more time at the spa/pool area :) Next time!

My brother and his longtime girlfriend moved to Phoenix this past week as well. My dad picked me up Thursday evening for a long time needed visit with everyone. Larry is going to be a student at Thunderbird College - looks like someone will finally receive a masters in our family after all! Way to go Larry, we are so proud of you! I don't have a photo of us...sorry mom..I forgot.

In other news: 1 1/2 weeks ago the Boys & Girls Club backpacking team almost made the summit of Mt. Elbert. Mt. Elbert is the highest Mt. in Colorado. We were so close, but weather came in and we had an hour late start. Maybe next year we'll bag it. Hopefully I'll be able to post a photo soon. It's on my phone and my phone is currently MIA. Mike's sister and her family also came for a visit. Jill and her husband, also Mike, have three wonderful kids. It was a fabulous visit and it looks like there might be a future geologist in the group. Rocks R Fun! Again - photos missing :(

Pets R Family 2

Aren't these handsome dogs and one pretty kitty? Besides an occasional hampster, hermit crab and more hamsters, I never really grew up with pets. I got my first cat in my mid twenties and got Macea in 2000. Mike brought the two "boys" into the relationship. The dogs took me fast and I love them both. Simba, our yellow lab, is almost 12. Macea, the princess cat, is around 9 or 10 and Boo, Black Lab, just turned 8. Despite becoming older pets, all are doing really well. Simba looks still looks young and has that puppy spirit. Macea is slowing down a hair, but still loves to chase her shadows....and makes really weird noises when she looks at a corner. Funny cat. Boo, still going strong. (some of you may laugh at this if you have seen our utility door). He is a very solid dog and loves to go on hikes. He'll be hiking his second 14er, Mt. Elbert - the highest peak in Colorado, this week. Go Boo!

We're back

We bought a laptop this past weekend and I'm now able to post again *smile*. Our out of date computer just won't let me upload or even save on blogger anymore - this is why it's been so long since our last post. It feels good to be back!

A lot has happened since April. We moved into our new home at the end of April. We still have a few things to do with the house, but plan to finish them in stages. The picture on the right shows the outside of our home. We just love it and feel very cozy.

Mike opened a log furniture store in Buena Vista. Over time it has proven to be a positive move. He's been wanting to do this for some time now and this summer was the right timing. I'm so proud of him!

I also want to thank our SB for all the wonderful gifts they sent. The SB gift exchange was experiencing a transition stage, so several of us were lucky to have our SB revealed. John and Julie from our DTC group made a fantastic match. Thank you both again so much! The left posted photo shows one of the gifts they sent in April.

We also would like to thank all the family and friends who have sent us the beautiful fabric for the 100 wishes quilt. I hope to start on it soon, but we still need 40(something) more.

Our small South Park community has experienced two more losses. It has been very tragic. An outstanding, loving and caring person, Rama, lost her life in early July due to an auto accident. We will miss her dearly. I will miss her positive outlook on life and working with her on a professional level as well. Jason, a wonderful and active young local, recently lost his life due to the hanta virus. He was such a hardworking and well loved young man. The community is left in disbelief with these two recent deaths. It is a reminder to us all that life is so precious and to appreciate each day.

On a more positive note...although we still stand in line to wait to adopt with the many many other parents, we did receive our group #. We are #359 and I believe they are on #305/6. How exciting. It still doesn't give us a time frame, but at least it is good news :)

We had the pleasure of having our first home guests last month. Mike's parents, George and Bonnie, came to visit. It was so nice to have them. We also look forward to seeing Mike's sister's family and my father in the next couple of weeks.

More news to come soon.....