Classic Jack

When Jack came out of Sunday school this week he had in his hand two crowns made out of tag board. One was elaborately decorated with sequins, glitter and GLOBS of glue. The other had mere coloring on it and the letters MAX. I praised Jack for his efforts and asked about Sunday school. " Later Mom, later" . So jump to later that evening. We sat on the front porch eating popsicles and taking about our day. We talked about Sunday school and like any good mom I asked probing questions trying to get the most accurate account of the lesson. The crowns indicated that it was about royalty:eventually I learned it was about Esther and her enabling the Jews to worship the One True God. After Jack and I had re-capped the story accurately I inquired as to why he had made two crowns. The response was classic Jack.

Jack: "Mom, one for me and one for Max"
Mom: "Oh, that is great,you guys can play kings"
Jack: "No, Max will be the king, and I will be the one true God."

Oh, so close....and yet so far away. It appears that Jack has big plans for Max, and apparently for his own self appointed holy self.

Summer School

The sun is finally out, the temps are high (for the seattle area) and the backyard sprinkler calls. Where is Jack you ask? He is doing self-inflicted summer school. Now Jack is one who likes to do things when he likes to do them. Don't ask where he got that trait. So it only seems natural in Jack-logic that come summer he is hounding me daily to print off school work and to give him "really hard...for real kids" work. So I do and now we have a new routine. After breakfast:a worksheet, after lunch: worksheet, while mom makes dinner: worksheet. All under his own power and his own free will. Let's see if we can keep this up come September when school really starts. I am guessing.......no.

Spectacular Fourth of July

Our family enjoyed a leisurely day with friends in celebration of the fourth of July.We joined our friends the Garnes family for a casual bbq, walk and pyro-technic fun.Doug and Karen live in beautiful North Bend.The kids: Dillon, Paige and Jack always have a great time together and are never at a loss for entertainment. The grown ups always enjoy good conversation, good wine and good food. After our dinner we took a walk at a near bylake.(more a tactic to settle the kids down...they were just so amped for fireworks)The lake and scenery were beautiful and kids, despite cool temps, hopped right infully clothed. When the darkness came Jack thoroughly enjoyed the fireworks. He continually applauded and kept saying "this is just so great" & " I love ourcountry". Funny Kid.


Jack and Mom lounging on the hammock...this is the life.


Dillon, Paige and Jack eating dinner in "the fort"


Awe, Sparkler fun. Do sparklers ever get old?

A Hiking Good Time

At our house most Sunday afternoons Jack and I find some way to entertain ourselves so that Jon can have what we call his "holy hours". The time where he gets some down time before the craziness of the work week. This last Sunday the weather was so beautiful that Jack, Mormor and I went on a hike to Franklin Falls. It was a great 3 mile hike along a river that leads up to the falls. There was still snow on the ground in some parts and the river was raging wiht all the recent snow melt. It was a great hike and Jack did a great job.

Max's Room

Last week we began painting over the teal and teal room that sits at the top of our stairs in anticipation of Max. I have had a plan and color scheme since December, but did not want to paint it or get it ready till we we were out of PGN. My parents came last thursday and knocked the majority of it out in one night. I spent a couple of days touching up and painting trim. Then yesterday thanks to my friend Nicole we set up the crib. Setting the crib was quiet a task. We were missing a few pieces but that did not detour us. We threw our small children into the van and ventured to the home depot. Then we came home, put the children in the back yard with chicken nuggets and ice cream sandwhiches. (occassionally checking on them of course) A mere 2 hours later the crib was done. It feels great to have the room complete and ready for Max. Now all we need is a kiddo!

One week later

We are still flying high on the news that our adoption file has made it out of PGN.The end is near and we are busy getting things checked off the list for our departure and Max's arrival. Today, Jack and I took the wagon for a walk to the new Home Depot( it is just down the street and Jack has had his eye on it, waiting with baited breath to open) to by paint for Max's room.Did you know they have tasty treats at a grand opening. Gotta love home depot. My mom & dad will come this evening to begin painting. Next week,our friend Gretchen who gave us our crib, will come to set it up. We have pulled the high chair out and cleaned it up and Jack has gotten all of the board books and "baby" toys out of his room and into Max's. Clothes have been hung in the closet and we have started making lists of items that we need. Along with all the "house" items we have been preparing, we have a lot that needs to be done for our travel. We have a stack of paperwork that we need to complete, an even bigger stack contained in a binder that has to be taken with us and we have to pack for immediate departure. We have to take with us bottles, sippy cups, diapers,formula,(all things baby/toddler), clothes for a kiddo that we don't have a real accurate understanding as to his size, gifts for foster family, social workers and our attorneys. Yeah for the new airline policy of paying for each bag checked.

Many have asked what the next steps are so here is a little info...due to protection of our case I cannot give huge specifics on the blog as to where our case is but here is a rough outline:(if details don't amuse you, feel free to stop now)

ADOPTION PUBLIC DEED: When the PGN’s office issues the final decree (the final approval), the attorney picks up the documents and must register an Adoption Public Deed, which is signed by the birthmother. The adoptive parents become the legal guardians of the child when the Adoption Public Deed is signed. The birthmother’s signature on the Adoption Public Deed typically takes 3-5 days depending primarily on the availability of the birthmother.

BIRTH CERTIFICATE: Once the Adoption Public Deed is registered, the attorney requests permission to apply for the new birth certificate, which must be registered and obtained at the child’s place of birth. The new birth certificate will be in the child’s first birth name and the adoptive parent’s last name. Adoptive parent(s) will complete the child’s name change after the child is in the U.S. The civil registry process typically takes 1-2 weeks, but may vary depending on the workload of the civil registry. After the new birth certificate is issued, tentative travel dates are considered but not yet confirmed. A family will typically travel 1-2 weeks after the birth certificate is issued.

PASSPORT: After the new birth certificate is issued, the attorney requests the Guatemalan passport. The passport can usually be obtained in one day.

US EMBASSY APPROVAL: The U.S. Embassy requires a set of translated documents to be submitted before issuing their final approval. The documents that need to be translated are: new Birth Certificate, Social Report, Attorney General’s Final Opinion, Adoption Public Deed, Consent Confirmation (DNA approval by the Embassy), Power of Attorney, Attestation of Documents, and birth mother’s Power of Attorney (if she signed one.) Translation takes approximately 2 days. The attorney can submit these documents to the Embassy any day but Friday (when the Embassy is closed.) After the Embassy’s review of the documents, the “pink slip” is issued.

IMMIGRATION PHYSICAL: Once the “pink slip” is issued, the attorney can schedule the final physical for the baby, which is done by an Embassy approved doctor.

TRAVEL: Typically families will travel at least two days prior to the visa appointment and will receive the baby the day before the appointment.

So there it is. An excessivly long blog post about life one week post PGN. It's crazy and wonderful all at the same time. Keep you eye on the blog...for updates, things are moving and we are so excited that you can be part of this journey with us.

We are OOOOUUUUTTT!!! of PGN

Yes, your eyes are not playing tricks on you.
We got the call just moments ago.
We are out, we are approved...in 6-8 weeks we will be in Guatemala.HOLY CRAP!We are so excited. When we know more, we will post more....but for now YEAH!!!! We are doing the happy dance!

Get ready Max, Here we come!

HAPPY FATHERS DAY - We love you.

What a joy it is for me to be married to Jon and to be his partner in parenting and life. Today in honor of him and his stellar daddy skills we ate old fashioned doughnuts for breakfast, attend worship, and took a hike to enjoy the great outdoors.
* * *
We enjoyed the sun with our friends the Woods family. Paul Woods knows every crazy trail in the area (and believes in bigfoot- he he) and so we trusted him to lead us deep into the woods and down to the river. It was great hike. When we got to the river, we sat for picnic lunch amongst the river rocks. The river was very high today so we made Jack wear his lifejacket, and the kids could only play in a shallow gathering of water.But have no fear they were not at a loss as to what to do. They spent their whole time building dams and throwing rocks. It was a beautiful to spend a sunny sunday.

Attack of the Character Shirt

Anyone who know me knows that when it comes t-shirts with characters on them I feel like I am going to vomit. I have tried my hardest to resist but much to my shagrin a few have made it into the house. On Monday a Spiderman shirt joined the cast of closet characters. Jack is in heaven. He has WORN IT THREE DAYS STRAIGHT. The kid wakes up and dresses without a sound and then appears downstairs with the biggest smile on his face. (as if he knows how much it erks me). Tonight, though it came off and took a little spin in the washing machine.* Because you know, Spiderman eventually looses his powers if he is dirty*

Happy 1st Birthday Max

It is June 5th and Max is one! I anticipated that I would be in and out of a funk today and that certainly has been the. For that reason I invited a couple of girlfriends and their kids to join us at McDonalds today. The kids could play, the moms could chat, and I could drown my sorrows in a chocolate shake. My friends came and much to my surprise they brought a party. How awesome is it to have good friends.Gretchen brought a great gift for Max (personalized shirts that I cannot do justice here) and Jenny brought a full-on personalized cake and party plates. I felt the love. We sang happy birthday, opened the gift and ate cake.Thank you friends. I am so appprciative....beyond words.....


What a rocking cake, and tasty too. Thanks Jenny


Evan, Jack and Aiden "Celebrating with nuggets"


The "We bring a Party" Queens Jenny and Gretchen (and Annika)


Mia sporting her best party face.

Thanks too, to all of you who have thought of us today and sent kind emails with prayers, encouragements and personalized songs (erinn). On a day that has been a bit difficult to deal with we are so blessed to be surrounded with friends, near and far, and their words of encouragement. You all rock our world.