Sunshine on my Shoulders

For those of you who live here, you know that the pleasant weather between the rainy days of winter and the blazing hot days of summer are fleeting, but for whatever reason, we have been blessed with some awesome days lately, cool in the morning, warm in the afternoon, not too hot, not too cold...I love it. So we have taken advantage of it as best as we know how. Yesterday the boys and I went to the zoo, we made it to almost every animal, it was so fun. It was just the three of us and we just lingered everywhere they wanted and skipped the stuff they didn't care about. They each got a "special treat" and we played in the children's zoo for longer than normal. So fun!!

Today, Amy and I took an impromptu trip to the strawberry fields and let the kids go crazy. Ryan ate more than we brought home, he said to me, "Mom my tummy is very big now." Which was true, he is a bit of a peanut, so his belly was sticking out pretty far after eating his weight in strawberries. He just crouched down in the rows and would park himself in front of a plant with lots of berries and empty the plant and then move on. Brandon walked up and down the rows with me looking for berries. Amy and Sarah found lots of berries too, but as soon as Sarah spotted the horse nearby, she was done. It is hard to get 3 little kids to do anything at the same time. They were beyond filthy when we got home, covered in dust and strawberry juice, but they were happy.

So, I know these days won't last, but we are trying our best to fill them while they are here.

Update

***I have edited this post, it was posted at a weak moment, a very wise man told me it is not time to give up, so I am not. As Tim Allen the captain from Galaxy Quest said, "Never give up. Never surrender." And since most of my moral compass is from goofy sci-fi movies, this seems appropriate (just kidding).****

OK, first things first, or second depending on how you read my blog entries. We have no news yet from our agency, but things are looking pretty grim any way you look at it. Even Chris's bizarre optimism is waning, and Dad, when you start to feel less than certain it is going to happen, then I know to just throw in the towel, thanks for your unfailing positive spin on everything that is happening. We have let our agency know that we are open to some correctalbe medical conditions, which may move us up the line, or maybe not, but if we do not get a referral by September 1, we will regroup and try to figure out what to do next.

Also, I would imagine that some of you have read some of the AP reports on the web or in the paper about the Vietnam adoption situation. For reasons of space and time, I will not go into my impression of those articles on my blog, but please, if you have questions, let me know, I will answer them with what I know or believe to be true.

Impossible

OK, where to start....I don't even know. This blog may have to go back to "Party of Four". The US Embassy in Hanoi has issued a statement that Vietnam adoptions will end as of September 1st, 2008. You must have a referral by that date in order to complete your adoption. Now what does this mean for us, you might ask, well, is it possible that we will have a referral by that date, sure, anything is possible, is it likely, well probably not. I think given the number of families waiting with our agency and only a few months to go, a referral is very unlikely. Our agency has yet to make a statement about what they think this means. I think in the back of all our minds, everyone knew this was coming, but I know I for one was in denial and really felt like this was going to work out.

So yesterday, our pastor, who sends out daily devotionals (they are fantastic, really they are, and a little ironic that this would be his message the day the Vietnam announcement comes out), sent one out about the verses in Hebrews regarding Sarah and Abraham expecting their first child. They had faith that God's promise of a child would be fulfilled, but Sarah did not get pregnant until she was like 90 years old, can you imagine. It seems impossible, but our God is a God of the impossible. I am not trying to sound all corny here, really I am not, but this adoption thing, it is an impossible situation. Not just for me, but for *thousands* of other families, families in Vietnam, children in Vietnam, and most importantly, children who may not have homes because of this mess. So, our pastor called us to present God with our impossible situation....hmmmm, what would that be, oh wait, I know, that we could get a referral by August 31st. But also to be in the entire Vietnam adoption situation, there really are children who need homes, we would really like to give one of them a home, so we will bring this impossible situation to God and see what happens, if anyone wants to join in, feel free.

I hope soon this blog can return to the funny things that my boys do, it really is more entertaining than all this adoption stress.

Happy Anniversary!!

Yesterday was our 9 year wedding anniversary (a day we share with our friends Jordan and Vicki, we figured out once that with the time zones, and dates, that we got married at the exact same moment on April 24th, 1999, so Happy Anniversary to you guys too!!). So anyway, it is always an interesting day, something strange always seems to happen. The worst "strange" event was being put on an ambulance in preterm labor with Avery 6 years ago, yeah, that was a great anniversary. And last night was no exception. I ate some guacamole at homegroup, something I never do...never really been a fan of the avacado, but I was hungry and it was just sitting there, so I ate it. Well, next thing I know, my lips swelled up, my throat was burning, and I pretty much felt like I was going to throw up. We tossed around the idea of going to the hospital, but I just took some benadryl and hoped for the best. Nothing like a little allergic reaction and a benadryl coma to create a little excitement in our evening. Maybe the universe is trying to tell us something. Anyway, Happy Anniversary Us!! Can't wait to see what happens next year!!

Road Trip!!

So, I have to say, I have truly been blessed with amazing friends here. They are people you can count on, all the time. When we first got here, I met my friend Laurie and we hit it off right away. She was my partner in crime, always up for anything. "Laurie, do you want to drive downtown today and go to the zoo?" "Laurie, do you want to take 3 kids to the mall today and do nothing?" "Laurie, do you want to go to the beach this weekend?" The answer was always yes. She had to move back to New Orleans last summer, and I have missed her so much. Well, she came this weekend for a visit, and we were up to our old antics again. Amy called us Thelma and Louise because the day after she got here, we loaded up the car with the kiddos and headed to San Antonio to go to Sea World. We made the drive, pretty uneventfully, got to Sea World, and found a hotel with many amenities including an indoor pool and free breakfast in the morning. The kids were ecstatic, they could not have been happier, as we walked into the hotel, they saw the pool on one side and huge picture of Shamu on the other. It was like they didn't know what to do with themselves. They swam and swam until they were too tired to go on, then we went back to the room for some dinner, and then sleep (not the easiest thing in one room with 3 preschoolers). Then we were up the next day to go to Sea World, the weather was perfect, the place was not crowded, and the kids had a ball. They were excited about everything. I love watching them experience new things and just flat out enjoy life. We fed dolphins and sea lions, we saw all the shows, they rode a little shamu roller coaster, we saw penguins, sharks, eels, sea lions, birds, dolphins, the list goes on and on. It was great. So now, back to reality, Laurie is on her way back to New Orleans and we are all too tired to move. I am looking forward to a relaxing day, but I will miss my friend. Everyone needs a Laurie in their life.

DTV for 1 month!!

We have officially been DTV for 1 month!! A milestone, I guess? Now where is our referral? Just kidding. We have many, many more months to go, but it is nice to have one down.

Also, today is my Dad's birthday, and since this blog is all about him, I thought I would say "Happy Birthday Dad!"

Field Trip!!

Brandon got to go on his first field trip today!! They went to TCBY for ice cream, big fun. It was so exciting, he talked about it all day yesterday about how he was going to get rainbow ice cream and leave his school, it was so cute. Then, he talked about it all day today after he got home about his rainbow ice cream with gummy bears and he walked and they wore visors so that if they got separated, they could look for someone else with a visor on, again, so cute. I love having these experiences with him.

Festival Anyone??

So this weekend was one festival after another. We started downtown at the children's festival, which sounded like a good idea, but really was a bust. It was crowded, it was chaotic, and to be really honest, a little bit boring. We were under the impression that all the activities were included once inside, but not really, all the rides, events, games, etc. were extra for either cash or tickets. Since we didn't want to spend $100 to entertain our kids that day, there wasn't all that much for us to do. So we left and went for Pho at one of Chris's favorite places downtown. Then we came back home to our little outside mall area and they were having a Singapore festival. I will be honest, it was way more fun than the overpriced, crowded, specially designed for kids festival we had just come from, and the boys had a ball. They went to each of the little booths and picked up brochures for us to plan our next trip to SouthEast Asia (because we are such international travelers, LOL), they got their faces painted, they got balloons, they got to sit in first class seats from Singapore Airlines, they had so much fun. It was also fun because it made us think of Vietnam, I know that doesn't make sense, but Singapore would be a great place for us to fly into when we travel to pick up the baby, so we got to dream a little bit of the flight and think about making plans if and when the time comes. There was also a lady doing Chinese calligraphy (I know, wrong country, but still cool) and she made us a little banner that says "Waiting with Hope." I think that about sums it up. We are going to frame it and hang it up in the house to remind us that all this trouble will be worth it, we just need to wait. Someday, and I don't know when this day will be, but God will decide that he can be done teaching me patience. Apparently, I am not a very quick learner. And so, we wait, but with hope.

The Zoo

So we took a little trip to the zoo yesterday, and it was so fun. The weather was great, the kids all cooperated, it wasn't too crowded. I love it when a plan comes together. It was funny because it is obvious that we all spend a lot of time together as all of the kids were doing a little stroller hopping. I went with some girls from my church, and at any given moment you might have someone else's kiddo in your stroller or arms, or chasing them through the zoo. It was so sweet that even as little as they all are, they are friends and they trust us, all of us. I love having friends that are in the exact same place as me with kids, family, career (or lack thereof), it is encouraging. Anyway, it was a good day and the kids were tired, so it is always good to really wear them out. We tried to get some pictures, but it was just not happening, you try getting 10 kids 4 and under to stand in one place for more than a split second.

Just to answer a question from my last post, we have no plans to move, don't worry, but in life you just never know. It would also be my luck that as soon as the boys were old enough to really cooperate for a picture, we wouldn't be here anymore. But just so everyone knows, that was not a cryptic message that movers are on their way to our house any time soon.