Legals have arrived!

Today, I got the mail from our mailbox. Bummer, no letter from the USCIS yet with a refingerprinting date. We have to have our fingerprints done again before we can travel. I reached to open the door, looked down, and was like, what's that under the doormat? As soon as I saw the UPS envelope, I knew what it was. Jay-R's legal paperwork! Yeah! Now, we need to send everything into the gov. so we can get our I600 approval and his visa. More waiting, but one step closer!!!

We painted Jay-R's room last weekend. And right now we are in the process of painting Ashleigh's room. I will send before and after pics as soon as they are done.

What's the Hold up?

Everyone keeps asking me what the hold up is and why we can't leave now to go get Jay-R. We are waiting for his legal paperwork. We need that before we can get the visa squared away and then we will have a travel date. We are hoping he can spend Christmas with us!

While we wait, we are keeping busy with soccer games, getting his room ready, finishing the painting on our house, and the routine things of life. Our house finally got finished from the hail storm last year. Both our roof and siding were damaged so we resided our home and reroofed it. We love the new colors-cactus (a greenish gray & cranberry)! It used to be this faded yellow that we hated with green door, awning, shutters. We've been doing the green thing since we were married so we're kind of sick of green. But, we've created a lot of work for ourselves with all the painting to do due to the color change. Oh, well!

So much to do!

Well, it's been 4 days since we found out about Jay-R. We've been on the phone spreading our exciting news, milling over paperwork we must fill out (those gov. forms are so confusing!), and making lists of the many things that need done. I have a list for home and a list for work. Since I am the Activity Director, I have a lot of things I need to get done ahead of time before my leave. I plan to take up to 3 months off work. Can't wait to hug that cute little boy! We received the color pictures yesterday. He is so cute!!!!! Last night, we looked at boy comforter sets. Can't wait to start decorating. If anyone has any ideas for a boy's bedroom, share. Til, then, we keep waiting!

We have a son!!!!

We received a referral today for a son!!!! He's four and his name is Jay-R. We'll post more as we find out more. We can't post his picture but we'll be more than happy to show it to you when we see you. We should be getting his picture tomorrow!!! Thanks for your prayers and keep praying...we have a few months before we can go get him!!!

One More Forever Family...

Not us...yet, but we are excited for the couple we met online who are also are adopting from the Philippines. They are close to our age and were accepted in Sept. 2007 as well. We have been following their story on their blog. They received a referral for a 15 month old boy on Monday. We are so excited for them. Yes, it brings about a little voice within that says, "What about us? We want a referral, too." But, seriously, I know God is blessing our adoption and theirs as well and this is all in His hands. Maybe our child isn't ready for us yet. I can be excited for them and know our day of excitement is coming. Besides, we can learn a thing or two or three or more from them about the whole travel experience. Check out their story...

http://ribaradoption.blogspot.com/

And keep checking back for our moment! Thanks for your continued prayer support.

Paradise....aka Hilton Head Island

Here are some pictures from our recent vacation to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. My sister and her family joined us for the trip. If you have never been there before, we recommend it. The weather is wonderful, the beaches beautiful, the island is pretty. It was wonderful!


Fourth of July Beauties, Ashleigh & Elena


Family Picture by the Palm trees


My Sister's Family...
Tonia, Ted, & Elena
by the palm Trees

More pokes...

Hello! We are back from a very relaxing trip to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina...aka paradise on Earth! We had a wonderful time with my sister and her family. We biked, we swam, we soaked in the sun, and we cried at the thought of returning to reality....

Back to life, back to reality...

So we are here. Today, the three of us ventured to Henry Cty. for our Hep A immunizations. Tomorrow I will get my second dose of Hep B. All part of the pre-traveling plans to go to the Philippines. I don't mind the shots-as long as I don't watch! Now, Ashleigh, she half enjoys getting shots. She likes to watch the needle go into her arm. Strange child-makes us wonder if some sort of medical career is in her future. I've thought of med school and nursing but I'm not sure I can get past the needle thing.

Anyways, we're home. I promise to post some HHI vacation pics sometime this week. It'll be a busy week as I help Ash finish her 4-H projects. She has her dog project judging this Thursday and her sewing project next Tuesday (which her grandmother is helping her with-I don't even sew on buttons!). I am also trying to finish up the last of my Activity Director Course modules 1-3 to send out. The fun part will be making copies of 500 papers so that if they get lost in the mail, I have back-ups. Well, we are off to bed. We want to be well rested for our first day back to work. Yuck...can someone take me back to the beach!