The Burke Museum

We went to the Burke Museum on last Thursday. It was FREE DAY, our favorite two words. Apparently a large portion of the museums around here are free on the first Thursday of the month. So you can pretty much bet that we will be trying to attend them one at a time each first Thursday. We were also very fortunate to have one of the teachers from the school go with us. Hi Barbara! It was really fun and we were able to see so many interesting things. They had a big exhibit on wolves. Ever since our trip Norah has been howling like a wolf several times each day. It's really funny when she does it out in public because she totally expects Glen and I to join in, which we do. If you see the three of us out howling at the moon don't think we are crazy. Norah has just learned a new sign and sound that she can make with her voice. Join in! Some of the notes that the kids at the museum left on the "Your Thoughts About Wolves" board are hilarious!

The downstairs of the museum had great displays from different places. Japan, China, Taiwan, and many more. Norah was fascinated with the Korean wedding display. In particular the well dressed chickens.

We are still setteling in. Going from a 1200 square foot house to a 600 square foot apartment has not been easy. Not everything has found it's permanent home yet. I think a couple more days and we should have it as good as it is going to get. We still have to get a insurance policy for Norah's CI's but other than that I think everything has been registered and licensed. We have our library cards (big deal to us, we LOVE the library). I am still trying to find a grocery store that I like. I did find several really good Asian markets in the area. We are still looking for a place to get our hair cut, auto mechanic, towing company, and clothing stores but I am sure that will all come with time. Now I just have to work on brushing up on medications and Washington State Nurse Practice Act so I can find a job that suits me. I think I might be interested in OB/GYN. (Hi Melissa!) That is about as far from heart surgery as I think I can get. Plus I am getting old and kind of mushy about babies now (Thank you Eli!).

Lori  

Photo Friday (Trying something new)

I am going to try and start posting just a photo with maybe a small caption under it every Friday. Nothing major just something from our week that made us smile. Since I am about as consistent and motivated as a dead snail right now we will see how this goes.

Here we go!

Lori

Beautiful weather and fun at the park.

I am pretty sure that it has not gotten above 80 here. When we left Arkansas it was 104 with 80% humidity. Everyone here is complaining that they are not getting a summer but we are LOVING it! There are so many things to do here and festivals in the local parks that you could very easily find free or really cheap stuff to do all the time. There is also such a diverse community here. Everywhere we look are people of different ethnicity, religion and orientation it is fabulous! We were in Target yesterday and I heard 4 different languages being spoken in the first 10 minutes. We also see people signing everywhere! Bonus!

Catching up!

We FINALLY have our internet/e-mail capabilities back up! Here are some pictures of the trip out here from Arkansas. I will be trying to get caught up on all the email I was supposed to be doing at some point at the beginning of this week. You would think with being unemployed at the moment, that I would have just gobs of free time floating around just begging for something to do....HA! I think that I need to find a job just to get a break from this craziness!

 Kansas... Good job Kansas for using your mondo supply of wind for energy.

 We stopped by Norah's adoption agency in Colorado to have a look around and meet some of the wonderful people that made the whole thing possible.

The Directors of the Adoption agency, Lily and Josh were both there and very excited to meet Norah.

 We were very fortunate to meet Xia, the Director of China Charitable Projects. She actually knew Norah in the orphanage, before her adoption. She presented us with this beautiful scroll that was from the director of Norah's orphanage. Xia will be able to let everyone at Norah's orphange know that she is doing well and growing up fast. We are also sending her some pictures that we took of Norah with the scroll and some other pictures so they can see her.

 Wyoming.....what can I say.........the majority of the part that we went through was desolate and depressing. I certainly hope it's not all like that.

 These cool rock formations were the only redeeming quality that we saw in Wyoming. So we pulled over and let Norah pee on the side of the road by them because there was literally ...NOTHING...... forever and ever and ever. Not a road runner, dog, cat, cow, deer, moving tumbleweed, flaming meth lab......NOTHING.

 We were able to stop in Utah (Very pretty by the way) to see our friends. Melissa, Eli, Glen, Norah and I all got to go to the Kennewick (I sure hope I spelled that right) Copper Mines. Poor Mike had to work! ): It was awsome! The place is just amazing. You can actually see the mines from space.

 This is one of the tires that they use on the big trucks that work in the mine. Once you get past the propaganda movie at the beginning of the tour, which Norah and Eli gave all the respect that it deserved, the rest of it is very entertaining.

 Then we went to the Mormon Temple because duh, we were in Salt Lake City Utah. Isn't that what it's known for. Plus I see it on TV and in movies all the time so I thought it would be cool. Melissa told me that if I got drug off to be converted she was leaving me there. So funny! Eli ran around the temple grounds like his little butt was on fire! He was having such a good time. Norah kept trying to mother hen him but he would just blow her off. Then she totally gave up and raided all and I do mean all the snacks out of Melissa's bag. She wasn't even really hungry just wanted to open everything and then refuse to eat or drink it. Mike, Melissa and Eli were all super great about letting us invade their house for 2 days. We REALLY needed a break at that point and they were an oasis. Thanks guys!

 We finally made it to our destination. We did a quick run by the school and then it was off to the apartment.

 The blue thing on top is Norah's princess jeep.

Oh yeah! Looks like something off of Hoarders. I didn't even get a good shot of the TV that Glen tied to the center console so that Norah would have a big screen to watch movies on the whole way.
The trip was pretty uneventful and we are glad to be done with it. I did lie to one badged authority figure but it was a white lie and he didn't really want to hear the truth anyway, it involved urine. This trip involved A LOT of urine! Mostly Norah and Glen. It was like traveling with two pregnant women. Hopefully by this time next year we will have deceided where we want to buy a house and be looking because, Man this apartment is small AND we are so looking forward to having people come and visit us!

More tomorrow.

Lori

We Made It!

We finally made it to our apartment in Washington yesterday afternoon. The trailer is unloaded and most of the stuff is unpacked. Today we have to put everything back together ( beds,chairs,ect) and make an epic shopping trip to restock the pantry and fridge and for cleaning supplies. apparently the last residents idea of clean and mine are nowhere near the same thing. Once i can clean out drawers and cabinets i can get everything put in its place. We made a point of driving by the school before we came to the apartment so that Norah could get a visual of what we have been telling her we were driving to. She did so good on the whole trip. We could not have asked for any better. There were LOTS of potty breaks and Norah may or may not have peed outside in all of the states where there were long stretches of nothingness. ( I'm not telling. ) A whole lot of our trip was spent in areas where there was either no service at all or the service was on the "edge" network which might as well be no service at all. We were VERY lucky to get to stop in Utah and see Mike, Melissa and Eli. They really made the trip fun. We even got to see the Kennicott Copper mine that is one of the few man made things you can see from space. Home cooked food instead of greasy road food was also very appealing but let's face it the main thing was that Eli was there! That kid cracks me up! He has gotten so big and is talking up a storm. It is so sweet to see him interact with Mike and Melissa. You can really tell that they all love each other.

Yesterday was also Boo's 20th birthday. We all went out early and celebrated before we had to leave but it was still hard not being there for his actual birthday. We love you Boo! More later. Hopefully it won't be to long till I can get the computer up and running and some pictures of the trip up here.

Lori

The Mile High City

We have made it to Denver, Colorado! There was quite a bit of rain when we first got here which made pulling the trailer kind of dicey. Norah did well again today, however she has figured out that if she says she has to use the bathroom that we will pull over and go into a place with candy, food and potential prizes for Norah. This discovery of hers means that we had to stop for possible potty breaks about once every 50 minutes. Tomorrow we are going to stop by Norah's adoption agency that is here in town then we will head out for Utah. These first two days were our longest, from now till we get to our new home we will only drive around 6 hours each day to make it easier on everyone.

First Day of Travel

Well the first of our travel days was uneventful, other than Glen running over his iphone that he dropped. Amazingly it still works....sort of. Norah has done really well. She has been coloring, watching movies, and playing with the big basket of goodies that are set up right by her car seat. We all went swimming last night at the hotel, being cooped up for so long it felt good to stretch out and swim a little. There were some kids That came itno the pool after we had been in there for awhile. Norah was dying to play with them but they were actually kind of cold towards her since they didn't sign or even try to interact with Norah. Norah gave it her best though. We finally concluded that it wasnt just the communication part that was the problem and maybe they werent the brightest or friendliest people around. It made Glen and I both sad to see her struggling so hard to make a connection with these kids and them backing away and looking at her like she was covered in dog poo. All the encounter did was cement for us that we are doing the right thing for Norah. She will be among her peers that "speak" her language in 9 days at summer school.
We are traveling through Kansas right now. It is a whole lot of flat prarie. The weather has cooperated so far. We will try to make it to Denver today. So far so good.

Wagons HO!

We are heading out first thing in the morning. The trailer and truck are packed to within an inch of their lives. We literally could not get one more thing in either of them. Norah is kind of clingy and emotional today because we are packing and she wants to make sure that she is coming along with us. Boo is here at my parents tonight so that he and Jess, his girlfriend, can see us off in the morning. We were able to catch up with Norah's speech therapist today at her friends horse barn (more pictures of this later when the computer is all set up again.) the place was amazing. If I was a horse I would want to be there. We have been getting all kinds of traveling goodies from everyone, a very nice surprise indeed. We will be traveling in style. The purple princess  jeep is tied to the top of the truck. Dad said that we should have left the tarp off of it and put a mannequin in it just to mess with people as we drive down the freeway. If we got stopped we could tell them that the kid was giving us lip so we put him up there for punishment. (; Wish us luck! It is going to be a LONG drive.

Lori

Packing and Getting Ready to Travel

Well. I am now officially a bum! I don't know how we would have gotten everything packed and to this point with me working the way that I was. There is not a muscle on my body that does not ache. Advil is my new friend. The entire trailer was packed up on Saturday. Working now on getting the house all cleaned up, getting rid of everything that would not fit or did not absolutely have to go with us. We will be driving across country with Norah's princess jeep tied to the top of the truck bed. All we need is Grandma Clampett (sp?) sitting on top  in her rocking chair. We have been trying to pack, clean and do yard work in heat that is well over 100 degrees with the heat index (heat index is a very dirty word around here), and humidity that makes it hard to breath. Everyday we check the weather in Seattle and are so looking forward to temperatures that have been at least 30 degrees lower than they are here. Glen and I were just saying this morning that when we go to look for a house we will need to make sure that it has at least one guest bedroom because all the people that we know from Arkansas may very well want to spend their summers up north with us. People in Utah can come too! (Hint! Hint! Mike, Melissa and Eli. That was subtle wasn't it.)
This week besides trying to get the house in shape for the new owner we are trying to tie up loose ends here. Norah has seen everyone from her Audiologist to her Dentist and Pediatrician in order to get her ready for the move. If anyone in the Seattle area knows of a good: Pediatrician, Dentist, Pediatric Cardiologist, Audiologist or Speech Therapist please let us know.
I am also trying to figure out how to take pictures with my iPhone and be able to post them to the blog from my iPhone.
Norah still has her two loose teeth. She is hanging onto them for dear life and keeps telling us (signing) that her teeth are "staying in". She went ballistic at the dentist because she was sure that they were going to pull her teeth while she was there. Once she realized that they were done (all they were able to do was look at her teeth and paint on some fluoride and we even had to hold her down for that part. ) then she was fine and followed the assistant right into the prize closet like nothing ever happened.
We should be leaving the state between the 9th and the 11th in order to make it to Washington for the last two weeks of summer school for Norah.
It will be hard to leave all of the family behind but we really think that this move will make a big difference in Norah's future.

Lori

Tired!

No we have not fallen off the edge of the Earth. Here is the short list: House on the market. ShowingShowingShowing(Which means constant cleaning)WorkWorkWork(14 to 16 hour days plus at least one weekend day sine April. Insert frowny face here.)Norah has two loose teeth with her two big teeth pushing in right under them.Lots of repair and necessary work at my parents house.Got to see Boo's new apartment in Little Rock.More showing.Much more work.HOUSE SOLD!!!!! (Yeah!) No more cleaning. We refuse. PackingMore workMore packingThat's right MORE work! I am seeing a pattern here. Will post pictures this weekend.That is all. Lori




 

Happy Mothers Day

Hope everyone had a great day today. We had lunch with everyone at Outback. Some of us may have had a little to much to drink. (; My Mom took Norah home with her so that I could have a nap (best Mom Day present ever!). It was a pretty sweet day.

Lori



 



 

House for Sale

Well, we finally have the house on the market. I think it looks really good (may be slightly biased). The only things not pictures here are the office (used to be Boos bedroom) and the front and back yards. We like the real estate agent that we chose. Rita French with Crye Lyke Reality, she seems very competative and has a good sense of humor. Two traits that we both love in people. So here is to a quick sale for us and a great house for whoever buys it. I just hope they will be as happy with it as we were.

Lori

 



 

HAPPY SIXTH BIRTHDAY

MAY 1, 2011

It seems like every year on Norah's birthday there is severe weather. This year it was flooding that had followed a string of REALLY bad storms for our area and further south. We all met up at Nana and Popi's house, which was iffy at best becuase they had closed the roads leading that way for a while because they were under water. Luckily the roads by us were reopened just in time for us to make it to the party. Brandon was unable to get from his new apartment in Little Rock because the main highway and most side roads were closed. Some of Norah's little friends were stuck at home too, but we did have Nana and Popi, my Brother and his Wife and my Brothers Mother in Law. We had a good lunch and then cake and presents for Norah. She obviously was to sad about the weather to enjoy herself as you can tell by the pictures. My brother and his wife got Norah a mechanical dog that walks and barks. She loves that thing and goes around trying to pretend that the dog is biting everyone. She also got some beautifull new clothes to wear to school and a pink purse and flower for her hair. We saved her jeep till we got home and it finally quit raining. Glen said that yesterday Norah came out to the backyard with her pink purse, towel and her bathing suit on to let him know that she was going to drive up to the pool. Ha! Someone has gotten a little big for their britches. So we are now 6, going on 30. Lord help us all! Lori

Bunnies, Candy, and Motorcyles

 Happy Easter! Sorry this picture of Norah's Easter basket is so fuzzy but it was early this morning that I finally got to put it all together and my head was fuzzier than this picture implies.

Things here at the house are still in full swing as we try to meet our May 1st deadline for putting the house on the market. There is stuff EVERYWHERE still! Carpet should go in Monday. It was supposed to go in on Thursday or Friday of last week but Home Depot sucks. So Monday it is. We are off to our friends house for Easter. My parents have gone further south this weekend to celebrate my Aunt Janet and Uncle Wendell's anniversay. Congratulations guys! Boo and Jess are off on their own so we are going to hang out with friends.

My friend William, that I work with, came by yesterday to show off his new motorcycle. He sure is proud of it. Congrats to you to William.....be careful.

As soon as the house is ready and staged I will post pictures on here. You know in case any of you want to buy it.

    Lori

We're Moving!

Can anyone guess where to? (No fair Melissa, you guys already know.)

Lori