We are back home!!!

We had a great vacation but.........

I also wanted to thank my cyber shower buddy, Dannye, for all the wonderful gifts she sent for Gracie!!! She is going to be so cute in the bibs and the little panda toy is so much fun!!! I also can't wait to pick up the mail tomorrow and see all the quilt squares that have come in while we were gone!!! I have so many now, I can make Grace three quilts, lol, atleast she will be snuggly warm!!!

See all the cool stuff she sent!!!! THANK YOU!!!!

We will be home tomorrow...but first Mount Rushmore!

Today we spent a long day on the road but we made time to go through the Badlands and Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. We are currently in Bozeman, Montana and we should be home tomorrow night. We will first stop to have lunch with Grandma and Grandpa in Spokane and then back to sleeping in our own beds.

Picture from the Badlands

Pictures of Mount Rushmore

We had a great trip but of course we are glad to be coming home. School starts next week for Hailey...and Kyla and I have to get everything squared away for our first year of homeschooling, so we will be busy, busy, busy.

Our last day in Black Hammer, MN

We had another wonderful day out in the countryside of Minnesota, but of course the highlight of the day was seeing Uncle Lenny preach at his first church. He did such an awsome job!!! Lenny (if you read this) we are so proud of you!!!

This is a picture of the beautiful church. We met a lot of nice people at the service and they all love Len as their pastor.

We finished the day off with dinner in Wisconsin ( a few miles away) and then spent an hour visiting another friends beautiful farm. They raise the cutest miniature cows and horses. Kyla also fell in love with one of their little puppies. It is such a beautiful place here in Minnesota and we sure will miss it after we leave. Thanks Len and Sharra for hosting us this week. We had a fantastic time!!! We will miss you!

Tomorrow we are back on the road and we will stop along the way to visit the Badlands and Mount Rushmore in South Dakota before we head back home.

More pics from 8/26

I was having troubles uploading these pics to my blog???? So these ones go with the post below...I hope????

We are having way too much fun!!!

Today we went to one of the Laura Ingalls' museums in Burr Oak, Iowa (there are actually several in many of the locations that she traveled and lived in). The location we visited today was a hotel that her family lived at and her family worked at for about a year when she was about 9 years old. The location was not actually ever written about in her many stories as a pioneer girl but the hotel was full of memorabilia and we had a fascinating tour. I think you could probably make a whole vacation around just visiting all the different locations she lived. The most interesting thing I learned today was that Laura did not start writing her books until she was in her 60's. Her daughter, Rose, was the one who really encouraged her to start writing about her life as a girl. I am really glad she did too.


After touring the Ingalls' Museum we stopped off in Harmony, MN (wouldn't you love to live in a place with name like that) to see what some of the Amish were selling by the side of the road. I wanted to respect them so I didn't take a picture of them personally but they said I could take a picture of their quilts they were selling. Aren't they just beautiful? I was able to buy a beautiful handmade basket signed by the young girl who made it on the bottom of the basket. So cool!!! I also bought some of their homemade cookies, peanut clusters and some sweet quilted pot holders.
Finally, at the end of the day I was able to go help Lenny's neighbors up the road to help milk the goats and feed the calf while they are at the state fair. My favorite thing was feeding the really cute little preemie calf, Jasmine. Can see the look of excitement on my face? Maybe there is a farm girl in there just waiting to come out? Our nephew, Josiah, had a ball too!


Well I better hit the hay (hee hee hee) in the morning we get to hear Uncle Lenny preach for the first time! I still remember him at our wedding as a young sixteen year old kid and now a preacher. Wow, I can't wait! Will post more tomorrow. It is our last day here. :0(

We are in Minnesota!

We arrived in Black Hammer on Wednesday night and we been having a great visit with Uncle Lenny, Auntie Sharra and Josiah. The girls have been going to the neighbors farm in the mornings to help milk the goats and a newborn calf. They loved it!!! They want to move on a farm now.

We are headed to the town pool today and tomorrow we will be going to a Laura Ingalls' museum. I can't wait for that! I was a "Little House on the Prairie" girl when I was little and read all the books again when I was pregnant with Hailey.

Also....I am so glad we are in Minnesota now where I can get internet because the July Dragonflies' referrals are coming......YEAH!!!

Congrats to all the families who will see their babies faces very soon!!! I am so happy for them all!

I found the internet, yeah!!! We are having a great time!

Here are some of the highlights so far....
Yellowstone was absolutely gorgeous!!!
Check out the cool Bison next to our car!!!

The Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, Wy was loads of fun too!!!

Road Trip-See ya when we get back!!!

We are taking off for a couple of weeks on a road trip to Minnesota to visit family; Lenny, Sharra, and their adorable son Josiah. We decided to make this vacation into a fun family road trip to see some things we have never seen along the way. Our first stop will be.....

Yellowstone, then onto Mount Rushmore and finally to see the family in Blackhammer, MN.

I probably will not have a chance to indulge my internet addiction (yikes) so.....see you all when we get back!!!!

The cute family we are going to go see!!!
Mike's youngest brother, Lenny and his family.

(There is another cousin on the way too!)

In the wake of 4 teen girls after an impromptu slumber party

Hailey and 6 other kids from her middle school were invited to attend the OSPI (Office of the superintendent of Public Instruction) to learn about leadership by attending various workshops. When she was first asked to be a part of this group last spring, we thought it was a conference for just student leaders throughout Washington State, but as it turned out they were the only students who attended. The conference of over 1000 Washington state educators, administrators and counselors, was geared towards adults but our kids were asked to participate to represent the student population. The students, along with school staff, took vans into Seattle all week to attend workshops and trainings. What an honor for these kids to be a part of such an important program.

Sorry....but proud mom needed to brag a little bit!!!





Hailey and the girls who attended the conference with her, spent the night for a last minute slumber party. This is what they left behind in their wake. They may be leaders at school.... but they are still teens!

I've been tagged!

A fellow July Firefly, Donna, “tagged” me, so I must finish these open ended statements....

I am…a happy wife and mother....the best job in the world for me!
I want…my kids to be happy.
I wish…everyone could have a husband as wonderful as mine!
I hate…when people yell at each other.
I miss…my kids as little babies and toddlers.
I hear…birds chirping, construction noise, and Kyla breathing as she sleeps in a sleeping bag on the floor next to me in bed.
I wonder…what heaven will be like.
I regret…some things I did as a teen.
I am not...a conflict person.
I dance…to embarrass my kids;).
I sing…terribly...but I sing anyways!
I cry…when I feel out of control.
I am not always…patient...and we are adopting?
I make...lots of crafty stuff...must be doing something creative!
I confuse…my words sometimes...and Mike always notices and teases me.
I need…a lot of sleep.
I should…be going for a walk this morning and not playing on my computer.
I start...a lot of projects at the same time.
I finish…my coffee before I get going each day! Must have coffee!!!

I’ll now tag Robin and Emily!

Where did the time go?

I am posting this picture of my girls when they were 4 and 2. I can't beleive how fast the time has gone!!! When did they grow up? They were just these little girls and now they are becoming young women? I love this picture because it just captures their sweet little personalities. Hailey, the older, caring big sis. Kyla, with her little blonde ringlets, and that little mischievious smile. They still have the same personalities today!!! Hmmmm....how time flies!

What kind of coffee am I?

You Are a Cappuccino

You're fun, outgoing, and you love to try anything new. However, you tend to have strong opinions on what you like. You are a total girly girly at heart - and prefer your coffee with good conversation. You're the type that seems complex to outsiders, but in reality, you are easy to please

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

Pie for lunch and meeting a new friend!!!

Today the girls and I headed into Snohomish to meet with cyber friend, Gen, at the Snohomish Pie Factory. We talked for 2 hours and it only seemed like 15 minutes. It was so wonderful meeting her after reading about her life and their journey to adopt, Xin Min, from China. I wish she wasn't moving to Montana though=(..... I wish her the very best and hope all goes well with her move, settling in, and the paperwork in China!!! I have a feeling we will connect again!!! Thanks Gen for a wonderful afternoon!!!

Ladybug Hunters Scrapbooking Club Swap

This was the page sent to me by my swap partner, Alyson. Isn't it so cute!!! Thank you so much!!!
This is the page I did for my partner, Fritz, I used ladybugs along with the 4th of July theme.

I am in a scrapbooking swapping group for people adopting from China called Ladybug Hunters Scrapbooking Club. I joined a couple of months back and I am having fun swapping with other scrapbookers around the country. This month our scrapbook page theme was "Proud to be an American". The hard thing for me is doing pages for other people. I usually do my pages fairly quickly but I am finding doing pages for other people is harder then I thought. I guess that is the perfectionist in me, I want the pages to be "just right" since someone else will be using them. It is neat to think though, that pages I create will be in scrapbooks around the country for these beautiful babies adopted from China. On to next months swap theme....bathtime!

Here is the link if you are interested in joining this fun group to help pass the time....

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LadybugHuntersScrapbookingClub/

Celebration Dinner

Last night we went out to celebrate our LID. We couldn't go to Chinese food because Mike has bad alleregies to eggs and chicken and with wok cooking it can be dangerous (we will have to be extra careful in China) but we went to our favorite Thai restaurant instead and the food was delicious and safe. LID....2 days and counting!

We are Logged In Finally!!!

We are finally happy to announce we are officially logged in at CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs). This is the official date that we will be watching as our referral draws near. Right now, people who were LID June 29- July 13 of 2005 are receiving their referrals. So if we go by that timeline we should be receiving our referral in about a year from now. Of course, China could speed up in the process (yeah, hopefully) or there is some rumors that the wait could even lengthen (boo, no!) I just need to remember that the perfect baby that God has planned for us will be in our family in the future and I will try to remember that during these long months ahead!!! Today, though, we celebrate this major step in the process!!! Official LID is 8/1/2006!