The Gathering

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all. What a beautiful day here in the northwest. Our turkey day was fantastic. We started our morning off with enjoying cinnamon rolls and watching the parade. We were excited to have auntie Kendra here with us for the morning. Shortly before noon we all donned our "handsome" clothes and headed over to Nan & Pop's house. We spent the after noon with our whole family and with good friends. Good food, conversation and much fun was had. How rich are the blessings that are lavished upon us. They are to numerous to count. To God be the glory.

I will sign off now - I must head to bed.....a day of early shopping awaits. :)

Adoption Update

Hi Friends and Family,
Happy week before Thanksgiving! Thank you all so much for your continued prayers and support in our journey to bring Max home.Many of you have asked about your progress. Here is the latest:

PRAISE
We received word last week that the powers that be have decided to delay the implementation of the Hague convention policies and procedures till April 1st rather than the original January 1st. This is good news. This simply gives us more time to have our paperwork in the pipeline.

PRAYER
Our adoption agency contacted us today and told us that our paperwork is still sitting exactly where it was 3 weeks ago. We are waiting for our reports to be released from both family court and the embassy. This is an anxious wait because the next stepis really the final stop (PGN). While our stay there could be long…we want our paperwork to be there.Also, Guatemala began its holiday schedules today. Half of the “important” people will be gone between now and mid Dec.and the other half will be gone mid Dec. till mid Jan. We are hopeful that paperwork will continue to make its way through.


So there it is folks. That is all we know.
Blessings to you and your families this thanksgiving.
There is much to be thankful for.

Gerbil Invasion

This weekend was one of new adventure. We had house guests of the rodent persuasion.We volunteered to watch the gerbils for Jack's class. This was so exciting for Jack. On Friday after preschool we loaded "chocolate" and "pearl" along with their high class abode into our car. We brought them home and placed them in a place of much honor- the coffee table-. There they sat all weekend. We would watch them run on the wheel, climb in towers and chatter with one another. One thing that was very amusing was if we placed an empty toilet paper roll in the cage...they would chew it gone in about 30 minutes. Gerbils love to chew. This morning there is a bit of sorrow (on Jack's part) as we will return the gerbils to the class pet mom. Thanks to the class pet excursion project..it looks like we will be having house guests often..but if you ask this mom, that is better then having a full time rodent resident.

Turkey Cupcakes

This week I have been the mom helper in Jack's preschool class. This has been something that Jack has been looking forward to for a long time. Each preschool day he would ask " are you the mom helper today?" In addition he would contemplate daily what it is that he would bring for snack the day mom helped. After spending Wednesday in his class it all clicked for me as to why this mattered so much to him. When your mom is the helper you get to be the line leader (very important job when you are four) And then when snack is set out all the small people in the room say things like "this is the best snack" or "i love go-gurt" and then in unison the whole class says "thank you Jack for bringing snack". This is why Jack could not wait, he loves to be the center of attention. And so, to help the kid get his praise on Friday, Jack and I set out to make a rocking snack. We decided that since the class is learning about turkeys we would make "Turkey Cupcakes". It was a process to cook with a "helping" four year old, but we are both excited about our product. Last night, Jack wanted to sleep with the cupcakes in his room because he was so excited for snack.

A Spooktacular Halloween

Well it is the morning after and we have deemed Halloween as a huge sucess. Jack was a pirate this year -duh-( and Max was the most adorable guatemalan we know -duh-). Jack wore his costume to school and was in a little parade through the other clasees. He loved it. "mom, all the kids waved at me". After school we came home to make preperation for our annual trick or treat party. Friends arrived for dinner and then we hit the streets with a pirate, fireman, and two girls in poodle skirts. Jack must have been practicing in the last year because he was much improved. He led the pack and hit every house like a pro. When we returned home Jack was self appointed to door duty and was a very generous candy dropper. After some door duty it was off to bed and time for the fun stuff...raiding his candy bucket. The kid did great- his parents are very pleased.