Disney on Ice......

Wednesday night I was lucky enough to join my posse (minus Jamie)and attend the Disney on Ice - Princess Wishes show. We met early in the evening and enjoyed a wonderful dinner at a local mexican restaurant. We then jumped in the mini-vans and headed to the show. I feel confident in saying a wonderful time was had by all!!!

Now on to the pictures:
Valerie double-hips the girls!!!

The flounder hats that came attached to the cotton candy bags were big hits.


Cinderella arrives in her horse-drawn carriage.

The emcees of the show: Mickey and Minnie

Belle looks for the Beast.

Ariel (my favorite) skating for her Prince Eric.

Mollianne and Erin.....a great mother/daughter shot.

I LOVE this picture of Grammy sporting the flounder hat!!

The whole crew!!

All of the princesses performed together for the finale.

Mulan shows off her battle skills.

Three generations together enjoying the magic of disney.

I can't wait for the next show to come to town. We were talking about how sometime next year when we come to a show we will have 8 little girls accompanying us. Can you imagine??

Thanks for the great time girls!!!

A numbers game......

15 - Number of months our dossier has been logged in at the CCAA

19 - Number of months since we started the adoption process

7 - Number of months we "thought" we would have to wait for a referral

11 - Number of months that Avery's room has been finished and waiting for an occupant

57 - Days between the last day referred and our Log In Date

2 - Christmas's we have received gifts for Avery

1 - Number of friendships we have lost because of the adoption

5 - Number of best friends we have gained because of the adoption

1000+ - Number of times we have been asked "heard anything yet?"

Countless - Thoughts we have daily about our daughter

Life......it is just a number's game.

So, here's to 15 months down and hopefully just a few more to go!!!

One person's junk is another person's treasure.....

This past weekend we went to Oklahoma for Paul's parents and grandparents annual "Community Garage Sale". Last year was the first time we participated and we did awesome. This year we did not have nearly as much stuff but we still managed to come away with $585. Not too shabby for one day's selling. Too bad the money will go straight to the fund to renew our adoption paperwork. Yes, we have actually passed the point where our approval from the US government has expired and we must re-pay to have it updated. Oh well, as I expressed in my earlier post the roller-coaster ride continues.

We did have a great time visiting with Paul's family and haggling with all the die-hard garage sale shoppers. Our first customers arrived at 7:15am and we finally closed up shop at 5pm. I think because it was community wide the shoppers came in mass.

Overall it was a fun yet tiring weekend. I have some really exciting plans for later in the week so be sure and check back!!

The Roller-Coaster of Adoption....

Paul and I have always been roller-coaster enthusiasts. The higher the ride, the more twists and turns, the more they take your breath away the more we enjoy it. We try absolutely every ride once and most times wind up going back for seconds and thirds.

When we started down this adoption path we had no clue that it would mimic the roller-coasters we love so much. There have definitely been some euphoric highs and dreadfully low lows. Sometimes when we visit amusement parks the lines for the fastest, highest, best rides are huge. It does not deter us, we get in line and wait with the masses. Kind of like this adoption: we decided we had to take the ride, we will wait as long as we have to because we know the final result will be heart-stoppingly awesome. We are on this ride, we will not get off, and we can't anticipate how may more peaks and valleys there will be so we just hang on the best we can.

Yesterday was one of the downs but thankfully we are slowly climbing back up. It is so ironic that I made a small post on this blog expressing my frustrations and within a few hours I had uplifting emails, great comments (an especially touching one from my dad), and my support system busy at work to lift my spirits or lend an ear.

So thank you all for taking this ride with us!!!! We truly cherish every thought and prayer we receive and know that God in all his wisdom is already watching over "Our Avery".

I know, I know, it's been a while......

I have been trying to get my thoughts together to post on the blog. Referrals came last week for families registered through Oct 24th. That means a mere 57 days between the last day referred and our log in date. In a way it seems that we are close but in another way it still seems so far away!!!!

I am tired of waiting, tired of wishing, tired of being positive about this seemingly endless wait. I want my daughter!!!! Paul and I are so lucky that we have such an awesome support system in family and friends. They believe in us, they lift us up, and they encourage us when we are down. Thank you so much to all of you for being there for us!!!

Sorry this post is not more uplifting and informative it is just that we are are in a mellow place right now.

Tomorrow is another day!!!

A week-end of fun....

Paul and I had an action-packed weekend. It started out Friday night with a birthday celebration for his mom. Friday was Sandra's birthday and we invited her and Clifford, Grammy and Daddy Sonny, & Aunt Kay and Uncle Larry over for a birthday dinner and cake. Originally I was going to cook for everyone but we decided to go out to eat instead and then come back to our house for cake and presents. I had made an entire digital scrapbook album of our cruise and gave a copy to Sandra for her birthday and also gave one to Grammy since her birthday was Feb 28th. They were very impressed with my creativeness and loved their gifts. We were so glad that Larry and Kay were able to join us for dinner. Since they live about 3 hours away we don't get to see them near as often as we would like. After dinner and cake we all went in to Avery's room and had a fashion show of all her clothes. Boy, she will have a hard time wearing any outfit twice!!

Paul and Daddy Sonny at the restaruant.

Kay and I: two peas in a pod!!

Grammy and Sandra "The Birthday Girls"

Rowdy loved getting extra attention from our visitors!!

Everyone had a great time and I can't wait until next month when we all get together to go camping at the annual family reunion.

Saturday we did chores around the house in the morning and then early afternoon we headed to my cousin Terria's to help celebrate her daughters 6th birthday. Alexis hosted a "Cheetah Girls" Party and all the grils made hats, had makeovers, and then sang and danced until they were exhausted. As we were leaving I reminded Paul that all the high energy, loudness, and giggly girls were in his future!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEXIS!!

We made an early exit from the birthday party to meet up with the M3 crew for a night at the dinner theatre. Anton, Christie's husband, was acting and we all wanted to take the opportunity to see him in action. Believe it or not, all 6 of us and our spouses were able to get together on the same night. We had an awesome time, eating good food, watching a great murder mystery, and just being together. It was definitely a night to remember.
The entire Posse and their hubbies!!!!

Anton AKA:Detective Charlie Bean. I think an Oscar might be in his future.

Paul got up close and personal with one of the actresses. Wipe that smile off your face!!

The gals and one of the actors in the production.


After leaving the theatre we all headed back to Valerie and Gary's for more fun. We played Taboo, girls against guys, and spent alot of time not only laughing at each other but laughing at ourselves.

Valerie standing over Bob's shoulder to make sure he did not use any forbidden words....

It was a wonderful night with great friends and we can't wait to do it again!!!!!!!