BUSY WEEKEND...

Wow where did the weekend go?

We celebrated my parent's 40th wedding anniversary on Saturday. We had a nice reception for them with about 80+ people there. I was very impressed. It was a lot of work but I think everyone had a great time visiting each other. All of my mother's siblings were there and 2 of my dad's brothers were there and so that was nice to see.

We had another memorial service for my cousin who passed away. My Mom was the only sibling who made it to the service in St Louis so we had a service so everyone could be there. It was very nice. I am very thankful for Matthew and all he has taught me. I know he is in Heaven right now with my grandparents celebrating!

On Sunday we attended Church with my family and then left and drove home. When we got home and got changed we were off to volunteer at the Oktoberfest for the boyscout troop. I had to sit in the sun the entire 4 hours but I survived. This fundraiser keeps our program running for a year so that is a great thing and very worth it!

We are still trying to get everything together to send in to our agency. We are hoping to get it sent by Thur. We are trying so hard to make sure things are all done correctly plus coming up with the large payment!! It is tough when you have lost so much the first time and are working so hard to come up with it the 2nd time. I know God will help us out and we are very close!! It would still be very nice if we could get something back from our dossier fee the first time!!

I will post when we send it in.

Until later~

Tina

IT HAS ARRIVED!!!

The long awaited I 171H is here!!! And here is the story of it's arrival...
Today I sent my hubby to get the mail. *I have only been stalking the poor mail person for atleast 2 weeks!!!* He went and got the mail and came into the house. I ask "Is it there??" He says "I didn't look". So...I take the mail and rummage through it and do not find what I am looking for! I complain and whine that it is not there. Then he pulls an envelope from his pocket and says "Is this what you are looking for?" I am going to be honest...I smacked him with the envelope!! Then I opened it and read and reread it!! We even got our extension so we don't have to do anything until next Nov! Please God, let our little guy be here by then!!

We are so very happy tonight! We will get a few things notarized tomorrow and then get everything state certified and it shall be on its way to our agency and then hopefully we will get on the waiting list! I know we still have a while but I will be so happy to just get on the list.

I really think it will be Apr/May before we get a referral but I am ok with that and if it happens sooner I will be thrilled!!

Thanks for all the prayers and please continue to pray that all of our paperwork is in order and it gets through everything smoothly!!

Until Later~
Tina

LOTS TO SAY...

Well...The last week has been pretty crazy here. I have been running from here to there with no end in sight!!

SAD NEWS: Last Saturday I found out my cousin passed away in his sleep Friday night. He was handicapped and lived a great life for 31 years. He touched many lives just by being here. I drove my Mom to St Louis on Monday morning and we returned extremely late Tuesday night. I was so thankful we were able to go and be there for my aunt and uncle and the girls. It was a very touching service. My aunt and uncle are such strong Christians and they have done such a great job with all of their children.

So from Saturday to Monday morning I was running around trying to get things worked out for me to be gone for a few days. It's hard when I do most of the running with the kids and hubby is on pm shift so that doesn't fit in to swim lessons and fb practice. But thankfully we worked it all out.

We also got our 2 little ones back for an undetermined time. Our friend who had the kidney transplant is now in the hospital. She had hernia surgery this morning. As much as I love having the kids I know she is so ready to be healthy again!!

We have a parade to walk in tomorrow. The kiddos will love that!!

My parents will celebrate their 40th anniversary next weekend and we are having a big reception for that. I still have a lot to do for that!! It is mainly just buying things at this point.

ADOPTION NEWS: Still no I 171H here yet. Don attempted calling to find out what was going on. (It has been 7 weeks today!) They did not return the phone calls. SO we made an appt to check the status of it. Don went and said that they told him we should have it next week. I hope so!! I would sure feel better if we were one of those waiting families NOW! There has been a little shake up with yahoo groups lately. I am not sure what it is all about but I have to say our adoption agency now is 100% better than the one we had before. I love getting weekly updates and I love that they are so informative. I guess after the agency we had before getting information every month would be a plus! Better than nothing for about 4 months!!

Please continue to pray with us and please add our friend and my Aunt and Uncle as well.

Until later~
Tina

I AM THE BIGGEST LOSER....THIS TIME!!

So...we(hubby and I) are doing a biggest loser challenge with a group of friends. How fun! At first I was very skeptical because I have always been a little crazy about weight issues. BUT this has really been a good thing for me. I began losing some weight at the beginning of the summer and figured this was a way for me to continue to get healthy before our little guy comes!

SO...thanks to walking several times a week and eating things that are good for me and staying away from the fast food places I was the biggest loser this time. Granted I did not lose a major amount of weight but since it goes by percentage I won this time! I am so excited and feel like I can get to my goal!! I am loving walking with my very good friend. We chat the whole time and it makes the miles go faster!

Now I must continue and work hard for the next weigh in. I am meeting my friend in the morning for a walk...

Until later~
Tina

NOT TODAY...

SO...our immigration approval did not come today. Yes, I am sad and a little frustrated as well. Don made the first phone call to the USCIS office and they said we needed to make an appt to see what the status was on our I 171H. Tell me...Does that make sense to you??? Me either!

BUT...we were going to make the appt and then decided to give it until this coming Wed which is exactly 47 days which is what we waited last time. Then as I went over to change my inspiration calendar I read what the scripture was for today.

WAIT FOR THE LORD; BE STRONG AND TAKE HEART AND WAIT FOR THE LORD. Psalm 27:14

So... we will wait as we have been doing and pray that God's will be done!

Please pray with us!

Until later~
Tina

A GOOD WEEKEND...

We had a pretty good weekend. We went to the FB game Friday night. Randy will not
will not play Varsity this year but we thought we should go and watch him stand on the side line just itching to get in there! :) They played an ok game. There were a lot of mistakes but ended up losing "only" 40? to 60?.

On Saturday we had to drop Randy off for FB practice and then went and walked for our almost 3 miles. Then Em and I went to shop for something to wear for a wedding that night. Yep--I waited to the last minute. Emilie wanted a good dancing dress. And I just wanted a dress that did not make me look like an elephant!!! We both found something. I wish I had taken a picture of me and my girls all dressed up. We actually looked pretty good! The wedding was Don's cousins. She was the flower girl in our wedding over 19 years ago!! TALK ABOUT FEELING OLD- She did look beautiful and the wedding was also beautiful.

Nothing on the adoption right now!! We are still waiting for our I 171H. I am hoping it will be here by the end of the week. We will see.

Until later~
Tina

ANOTHER DAY!!

There is really not a lot going on here. Randy had their first JV game Monday night. They did not play very well. Randy got to play in the last 3 plays of the game.(better than not at all) He did get a tackle though so that was good. Their first sophmore game is tomorrow night. He should get more play time then.

We are still waiting for our immigration change and approval. It has been a few days over a month. I really hate waiting!! I feel like we have been waiting forever. Monday was the "official" closure of the Vietnam program. I am very sad to see it come to this but am thankful that God has given us another plan. I pray that others will be able to recoop and move forward as well.

Until later~
Tina