On the Road

(Yes, I know this is sideways. I got tired of trying to correct it so just tilt your head.)

Well after getting up at 5am getting everything left over together and packed and Robbie fed some breakfast they were able to leave our house at around 5:45. Of course it was raining and storming the morning they left. As you can probably tell from the pictures Robbie was a bit confused as to why his day had start so early. Amanda and Robbie made it after a 13 hour drive to meet up with Robbies dad/Amandas husband at around midnight. It was very fitting that they were able to arrive by Fathers Day. Amanda said that the trip went well and Robbie was a trooper. It was quite an extended drive for a brand new driver who just got her license a few days before they left. We are thankful that they made it safely and can now start setting up their household as a family.

Roof and Garden

The garden is doing well, except for the tomatoes, they just aren't producing like they should be. We have been using produce out of it on almost a daily basis. There are several things that we will plant more of next year, like onions and green beans. Lori had sauteed sugar snaps at a resturant the other day and would like to try growing those next year as well.

The water plant in the koi pond has put out four blooms this year that are about the size of an adults hand. They are beautiful but they only last for a few days.

We had another severe storm move through about 2 or 3 weeks ago that damaged the roof quite a bit. We had to call out the insurance people and are now in the process of getting a new roof. So for now there is lots of plastic all over the back of the roof. Beautiful, isn't it.

So where are we now?

We are in the best place we can be for now. We see progress with the SN adoptions through our agency and now there is a calm that has come over me like never before. After years of such uncertainty I now feel like we will get a referral sometime close to the end of this year, the beginning of next. Lori would have to talk me off the ledge every time referrals would come out for NSN and they would only get through 3 or 4 days in a month. We have been dreaming of Norah since December of 2005! Once we finally got excepted into the SN program, there has never been second thoughts about our choice. We continue to study up on the different SN and there requirements/treatments and watch for updates from our agency. We got finger printed back in January, and we just sent in our updated home study a couple of weeks ago so we will see if waiting to send in our home study update pays off or not, I think it will. This way hopefully it will be good until we get our referral and travel to meet our sweet girl, or wild child depending on her personality.

We continue to be Gingers sponsors and send her care packages and are awaiting another letter she wrote us. We are so blessed to get photos and letters from her, she is a wonderful child and we like doing things to make her happy.

Speaking of wonderful children, Annie is to come back to go to university here at least for the first semester. We were so excited to get the news that she will be coming back. I hope nothing changes from now until the start of school. As long as she can get her visa to return to the U.S. we will see her soon. We would like to highly recommend being a host family to an exchange student and may do it again after the adoption at some point due to the positive experience that we have had.

Brandon got into a charter school that is done mostly online. He is looking forward to that and we hope that the independent study will be something that really clicks with his personality. He also is looking for a summer job at this time.

My niece and her son Robbie have been visiting us for a little while. She has bought a car and will be heading out soon to go be with her husband. He is in training for the army now and will be so glad to see them when they get there. We have had to be very careful with what is left on the floor as Robbie has become super mobile since he arrived and is trying to put EVERYTHING in his mouth. We have purchased a few things to make it easier on them. A portable crib, a highchair that attaches to one of the kitchen chairs, and a swing that we hung in the tree out back. All of the items have gotten much use and the portable crib and highchair will go with them to their new place. The swing will stay here for Norah.

We had another storm blow through and tear some shingles off of the house. It was bad enough that we are going to have to have the roof replaced. I am hoping to get that done by the end of this month. We also lost some corn but will still have a bumper crop. All our vegetables are doing good and producing lots of food.

We have expanded our garden to include; three lemon trees, two lime trees, three orange trees, a banana tree, and an avocado all of these are in pots that can be transported into the garage during the winter to ensure their survival. Also three peach trees, a fig (that one was already there, Lori planted it 3 years ago and it has really started to produce), and a nectarine tree. There will be no scurvy around here!

So that is where we are today.