Piers Gorge
We got some gorgeous pictures of Piers Gorge, in which the Menominee River flows. It's hard to decide which ones to post here!
For family and friends to share our journey through the adoption process and beyond.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Weird, I can't create a title for my entries. The box is there, but the cursor won't appear in there. I guess, Ill guess that I'll have create my own title seperately from the way I use to.
Our Trip to the U.P. of Michigan
I just realized I never posted about our trip a few weeks ago. We took a couple days off end of the week and went for a long weekend to visit Kevin's brother and father. The weather was great warm during the days, but the evenings and nights really cooled off. I took tons of pictures, so this will be more of a pictorial essay.
Here's a couple views of Pine Mountain. The sun was just starting to set somewhat so we got to see a beautiful sunset.
I believe this is the peaceful waters of Lake Antoine.
Our Trip to the U.P. of Michigan
I just realized I never posted about our trip a few weeks ago. We took a couple days off end of the week and went for a long weekend to visit Kevin's brother and father. The weather was great warm during the days, but the evenings and nights really cooled off. I took tons of pictures, so this will be more of a pictorial essay.
Here's a couple views of Pine Mountain. The sun was just starting to set somewhat so we got to see a beautiful sunset.
Here's one of the ski jumps in the area. This one is at Pine Mountain.
I believe this is the peaceful waters of Lake Antoine.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
You're as old as me if :
1. You’ve ever ended a sentence with the word “PSYCHE.”
2. You can sing the rap to the “Fresh Prince of Belair.”
3. You wore biker shorts under your skirts and felt stylish.
4. You ever watched “Fraggle Rock.”
5. You had plastic streamers on your handle bars.
6. You wore a pony tail on the side of your head.
7. You played the game “M.A.S.H.” (Mansion, Apartment, Shelter, House) with friends at school.
8. You know the profound meaning of “WAX ON, WAX OFF.”
9. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off.
10. You thought Thriller was the most awesome song (and video!) ever.
11. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf.
12. You remember the CRAZE - then the BANNING - of slap bracelets.
13. You still get the urge to say “NOT” after every sentence.
14. You believed the “By the power of Greyskull,” you had the power.
15. After you saw “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure,” you kept saying “I know you are, but what am I?”
16. You wore, like, EIGHT pairs of socks over tights with high-top Reeboks.
17. You owned a bicyle with a banana seat and a basket.
18. Your roller skates had metal wheels.
19. You begged Santa for the electronic game Simon.
20. You had homemade ribbon barrettes in every imaginable color.
21. You wore the Little House on the Prairie inspired high neck, ruffled, plaid shirt in at least one school picture.
22. You can sing at least one song from “Annie” by heart.
23. You would tape songs off the radio by holding your portable tape player up to the speaker.
24. You wore friendship pins on your tennis shoes.
25. You had the shoelaces with the rainbow or heart designs.
26. You wore a banana clip at some point in your youth.
27. You know who Max Headroom is.
28. You ever wore fluorescent or neon clothing.
29. You could breakdance or wished you could.
30. When somone mentions two consecutive days of the week, the Happy Days theme is stuck in your head for hours on end
31. Partying “like it was 1999″ seemed sooo far away.
32. You thought that Transformers were more than meets the eye.
33. You wanted to be on Star Search.
34. Your first Walkman weighed about as much as a brick.
35. You HAD to have your MTV.
36. You know where to go if you “wanna go where everybody knows your name.”
37. You actually thought “Dirty Dancing” was a REALLY good movie.
38. You got a Little Professor calculator for Christmas.
39. You remember when ATARI was a state of the art video game.
40. You own any cassettes or records.
41. You thought by the year 2000 we’d all be living on the moon.
42. You ever had a Swatch Watch, and a Swatch Guard for it.
43. You had to stay after class to scrub your desk because your silver Outliner pen leaked through.
44. You ever rang someone’s doorbell and said, “Landshark.”
45. You thought eating Reeses Pieces would attract your own alien.
46. You have ever called 867-5309.
47. You held the top score on PacMan.
48. You owned a T-shirt that said, “I shot J. R. ” or know someone who did.
49. You ever said “I pity the fool”.
50. Your dream car was either: the A-team van, KITT or The General Lee.
51. You were sad when the “Where’s the Beef” lady died.
52. You remember when Ricky Martin was a member of Menudo.
53. You remember when cellular phones weighed 15 lbs. and had to be carried over your shoulder.
54. You still know the Big Mac song. “Two all beef patties, special sauce…”
55. You owned a real Rubik’s Cube
56. You used to own a Snoopy Sno Cone Machine.
57. You have a tendency to turn the collar up on your Polo shirts.
58. You remember exactly where you were when you heard the space shuttle Challenger had exploded.
59. You know all of the words to at least one of the Schoolhouse Rock songs.
60. Your first computer was a Commodore 64 or an Atari 800.
61. You thought being a latch key kid was completely normal.
62. There were days that the homework just had to wait until the ABC Afterschool Special was over.
63. You know what movie the phrase, “Number 5 is alive!” is from.
64. You remember when Molly Ringwald was on Facts of Life.
65. You wore the little bootie socks with the colored balls on the back.
66. You just had to have a Trapper Keeper to stay organized at school.
67. You remember when McDonald’s served their burgers in styrofoam boxes.
68. You were afraid of the Sleestacks on Land of The Lost.
69. You never thought they’d be able to top the special effects in TRON.
70. You played with Lego’s when they were just blocks of various sizes, not any of the special little parts.
71. You made Star Wars shrinky dinks in your oven.
72. Pierce Brosnon will always be Remington Steele, not James Bond.
73. You owned at least one Choose Your Own Adventure book.
74. You watched Mary Lou Retton win the gold.
75. The Dark Crystal is still one of your favorite movies.
76. In many of your childhood photos you are wearing something plaid.
77. You still love to play Pong!
78. Two words: The Clapper.
79. Six words: “This is your brain on drugs.”
80. You can sing all the words to “One Night in Bangkok” by Murray Head, and now you understand that it is about chess.
81. You had an entire wardrobe of Esprit clothing (or coveted one.)
82. Your bangs were teased perfectly to 7 inches above the rest of your hair.
83. You had multi-colored earrings that touch your shoulders
84. You’re still bitter that WHAM broke up
85. You can feel St. Elmo’s fire burnin’ in you.
86. You still can’t believe that Milli Vanilli was deceiving you all that time
87. Every now and then, you blurt out: “Ooh noo, Mr. Bill!!!”
88. You used to watch things on Beta tapes
89. You know who Martha Quinn is.
90. You carried your boom box on your shoulder
91. You remember Bruce Willis from Moonlighting, not Die Hard
92. You had ringside seats for Luke and Laura’s wedding
93. War Games had you wondering if you could really start Armageddon using your crummy TRS-80.
94. You can name at least three members of the Brat Pack
95. You wore a “Members Only” jacket.
96. You ever used Lee Press-On Nails
97. You believed drinking soda and eating Pop Rocks would make your stomach explode
98. You still argue over who was better: Tiffany or Debbie Gibson
99. Every time you hear the “OH YEAH…” song you think of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”
100. You know how to use a rotary phone.
And how many people think it’s weird that so many things from this list are back in style again? Well, everything old is new again!
*** Borrowed from Mrs. Broccoli Guy's blog
1. You’ve ever ended a sentence with the word “PSYCHE.”
2. You can sing the rap to the “Fresh Prince of Belair.”
3. You wore biker shorts under your skirts and felt stylish.
4. You ever watched “Fraggle Rock.”
5. You had plastic streamers on your handle bars.
6. You wore a pony tail on the side of your head.
7. You played the game “M.A.S.H.” (Mansion, Apartment, Shelter, House) with friends at school.
8. You know the profound meaning of “WAX ON, WAX OFF.”
9. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off.
10. You thought Thriller was the most awesome song (and video!) ever.
11. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf.
12. You remember the CRAZE - then the BANNING - of slap bracelets.
13. You still get the urge to say “NOT” after every sentence.
14. You believed the “By the power of Greyskull,” you had the power.
15. After you saw “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure,” you kept saying “I know you are, but what am I?”
16. You wore, like, EIGHT pairs of socks over tights with high-top Reeboks.
17. You owned a bicyle with a banana seat and a basket.
18. Your roller skates had metal wheels.
19. You begged Santa for the electronic game Simon.
20. You had homemade ribbon barrettes in every imaginable color.
21. You wore the Little House on the Prairie inspired high neck, ruffled, plaid shirt in at least one school picture.
22. You can sing at least one song from “Annie” by heart.
23. You would tape songs off the radio by holding your portable tape player up to the speaker.
24. You wore friendship pins on your tennis shoes.
25. You had the shoelaces with the rainbow or heart designs.
26. You wore a banana clip at some point in your youth.
27. You know who Max Headroom is.
28. You ever wore fluorescent or neon clothing.
29. You could breakdance or wished you could.
30. When somone mentions two consecutive days of the week, the Happy Days theme is stuck in your head for hours on end
31. Partying “like it was 1999″ seemed sooo far away.
32. You thought that Transformers were more than meets the eye.
33. You wanted to be on Star Search.
34. Your first Walkman weighed about as much as a brick.
35. You HAD to have your MTV.
36. You know where to go if you “wanna go where everybody knows your name.”
37. You actually thought “Dirty Dancing” was a REALLY good movie.
38. You got a Little Professor calculator for Christmas.
39. You remember when ATARI was a state of the art video game.
40. You own any cassettes or records.
41. You thought by the year 2000 we’d all be living on the moon.
42. You ever had a Swatch Watch, and a Swatch Guard for it.
43. You had to stay after class to scrub your desk because your silver Outliner pen leaked through.
44. You ever rang someone’s doorbell and said, “Landshark.”
45. You thought eating Reeses Pieces would attract your own alien.
46. You have ever called 867-5309.
47. You held the top score on PacMan.
48. You owned a T-shirt that said, “I shot J. R. ” or know someone who did.
49. You ever said “I pity the fool”.
50. Your dream car was either: the A-team van, KITT or The General Lee.
51. You were sad when the “Where’s the Beef” lady died.
52. You remember when Ricky Martin was a member of Menudo.
53. You remember when cellular phones weighed 15 lbs. and had to be carried over your shoulder.
54. You still know the Big Mac song. “Two all beef patties, special sauce…”
55. You owned a real Rubik’s Cube
56. You used to own a Snoopy Sno Cone Machine.
57. You have a tendency to turn the collar up on your Polo shirts.
58. You remember exactly where you were when you heard the space shuttle Challenger had exploded.
59. You know all of the words to at least one of the Schoolhouse Rock songs.
60. Your first computer was a Commodore 64 or an Atari 800.
61. You thought being a latch key kid was completely normal.
62. There were days that the homework just had to wait until the ABC Afterschool Special was over.
63. You know what movie the phrase, “Number 5 is alive!” is from.
64. You remember when Molly Ringwald was on Facts of Life.
65. You wore the little bootie socks with the colored balls on the back.
66. You just had to have a Trapper Keeper to stay organized at school.
67. You remember when McDonald’s served their burgers in styrofoam boxes.
68. You were afraid of the Sleestacks on Land of The Lost.
69. You never thought they’d be able to top the special effects in TRON.
70. You played with Lego’s when they were just blocks of various sizes, not any of the special little parts.
71. You made Star Wars shrinky dinks in your oven.
72. Pierce Brosnon will always be Remington Steele, not James Bond.
73. You owned at least one Choose Your Own Adventure book.
74. You watched Mary Lou Retton win the gold.
75. The Dark Crystal is still one of your favorite movies.
76. In many of your childhood photos you are wearing something plaid.
77. You still love to play Pong!
78. Two words: The Clapper.
79. Six words: “This is your brain on drugs.”
80. You can sing all the words to “One Night in Bangkok” by Murray Head, and now you understand that it is about chess.
81. You had an entire wardrobe of Esprit clothing (or coveted one.)
82. Your bangs were teased perfectly to 7 inches above the rest of your hair.
83. You had multi-colored earrings that touch your shoulders
84. You’re still bitter that WHAM broke up
85. You can feel St. Elmo’s fire burnin’ in you.
86. You still can’t believe that Milli Vanilli was deceiving you all that time
87. Every now and then, you blurt out: “Ooh noo, Mr. Bill!!!”
88. You used to watch things on Beta tapes
89. You know who Martha Quinn is.
90. You carried your boom box on your shoulder
91. You remember Bruce Willis from Moonlighting, not Die Hard
92. You had ringside seats for Luke and Laura’s wedding
93. War Games had you wondering if you could really start Armageddon using your crummy TRS-80.
94. You can name at least three members of the Brat Pack
95. You wore a “Members Only” jacket.
96. You ever used Lee Press-On Nails
97. You believed drinking soda and eating Pop Rocks would make your stomach explode
98. You still argue over who was better: Tiffany or Debbie Gibson
99. Every time you hear the “OH YEAH…” song you think of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”
100. You know how to use a rotary phone.
And how many people think it’s weird that so many things from this list are back in style again? Well, everything old is new again!
*** Borrowed from Mrs. Broccoli Guy's blog
Thursday, July 5, 2007
A Late Update
Last week, our agency received 3 more referrals, so we have moved down the list a little more on the list. We are now #87 for a boy and #143 overall. Little by little we are chipping away at the list. Just under 2 months ago, we started on the list as #159 and #95 and we have already made some progress. They are expecting more referrals soon. So hopefully, we may see another update tomorrow or Monday. Also, there are currently 5 families from CHI who are in Vietnam getting their children; I believe they all should have their children now.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Monday, July 2, 2007
Sad News from the Office
Mondays are always quieter, more somber days at the office. But today, we found out the sad news that one of co-workers passed away on Friday on the way from work. He had seemed fine at the office, but when he was walking to the train station, he had a heart attack. Everyone is shocked and saddened at the sudden news and that we were the last people who saw him that day. I have other news to share but that will have to wait until a later post. Rest in peace, J; you will be greatly missed! You were a great lawyer!
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Ugh, today was so hot and humid. It was ridiculous. I don't do good in high heat and humidity and neither does my hair. If things work as predicted, (although international adoption is never predictable) but if it happens this way, it looks like we may travel in the fall or winter, which is more a dry time of year, while the summer is very humid. This would be good for me, but not much we can do about it otherwise.
End of last week and last weekend, we were up in the Upper Peninsula visiting Kevin's dad and brother. It was so nice to get away and especially to a place where the pace is slow and not as hectic as Chicagoland. The weather was beautiful, very warm during the day and cool at night. Just perfect!!! Can't believe how quick this evening went before I head to bed for the night, I want to leave you with one photo. I'll post more later, but this will whet your appetite.
End of last week and last weekend, we were up in the Upper Peninsula visiting Kevin's dad and brother. It was so nice to get away and especially to a place where the pace is slow and not as hectic as Chicagoland. The weather was beautiful, very warm during the day and cool at night. Just perfect!!! Can't believe how quick this evening went before I head to bed for the night, I want to leave you with one photo. I'll post more later, but this will whet your appetite.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Clarification & Update
I e-mailed our SW at the agency last night to find out where we are on the waiting list. I guessed that we were #153 overall and #89 for those open to a boy. I was partly right, we are #89 for those requesting a boy or either a boy or girl, but overall, we are a little further along than I thought, we are #146. So it seems , we moved 13 places from being #159 when we first were put on the waiting list. After a little over a month and a half, we are making some progress. Hopefully, we'll have more referrals come in soon and we can keep moving on up the waiting list.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Agency Referrals
Our agency received 2 referrals this week. One for a healthy toddler boy and one infant girl who is a waiting child. They are waiting for more medical exams to be completed and hoping for more referrals, possibly this week. Also 8 families received their travel dates a week ago Friday and will be traveling later this week. Hopefully, this time next week, I'll have reported that more referrals were received for healthy children. We have moved up one on the list for those open to a boy and 2 on the main waiting list.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Congratulations to Stacie & Kevin!!!
I wanted to give a shout out to Stacie and Kevin, who just received a referral for a 3 month old baby boy named Yabsira who is in Ethiopia. This is the first Ethiopian referral for our agency since they have been licensed. Also check out CHI's blog.
Who left this comment?
Today, I got the following comment on my blog comment section:
But it was not signed, so I have no idea who it is from. I'm guessing Melissa, but I'm not sure!
Kathryn - first off I want to see if your blog posts my comments...secondly I want you to know that I check on you often, but the blog does not always allow me to comment.
So glad you are moving up the list - I realize its slow and can't imagine how hard the wait is for you.
But it was not signed, so I have no idea who it is from. I'm guessing Melissa, but I'm not sure!
Saturday, June 16, 2007
While I was looking at the different adoption blogs. I found this cute photo on the blog one of the husband's were doing. I understand the feeling, although people are starting to comment more
In response to Becky, actually that is not my garden; it's part of my mom's. Ours does not look anywhere near that good. Weeds love us too and I just don't have the patience and diligence to pull weeds as often they need to be. Wait, as the summer progresses, I'll post some of the gorgeous flowers and all my mom grows. I'll have to post some of the stuff in our garden. I better do that soon before I start posting pictures from my parents; ours will look sad in comparison. Of course, they have lived in the same house for over 40 years and we have only had ours for a little over 2.
To respond to Shannon and Misty 's comments, the Pregnant with Love ... t-shirt is available at Adoption Mama. The t-shirts run on the small side and are fitted. I bought a large thinking that should give me a little room, but I probably would have been better off with an X-large if I really wanted some wriggle-room.
Last night, we went to the Sycamore Speedway and people watching is always interesting. You always see all kinds, but this was a first for the speedway, I am sure. There was an older gentleman, maybe in his 60's in a jacket and tie. He looked so out of place dressed like that. He also drove a real nice convertible and his car just did not fit in with the others in the parking lot.
Updated
We received an update from our agency yesterday and unfortunastely, no new referrals were received, so no movement has been made this month yet on the waiting list. Please keep praying for some more referrals soon. In better news, the 5 families that were just in Vietnam adopting their children are now home. By next week's update, they should have received some travel approvals and there could be 7-10 families traveling in that group. Also, there was a meeting with all the adoption agencies in Hanoi. There are currently 42 approved adoption agencies who can work in Vietnam. Since Vietnam reopened in January 2006, there has been a total of 780 children that have come home to their families in the U.S. (other countries also work with VN in placing children in forever families.) Also, in April 2007, 120 children were placed, which is probably the largest number in one month so far.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
I can't believe it is almost the weekend again. I'm looking forward to the weekend; it's been a tiring work week. Hopefully, we will be receiving an update from agency tomorrow and hopefully, there will have been some referrals. On Saturday, evening, the Chicagoland Families with Children from Vietnam is getting together at Nam Viet restaurant for an informal parents get-together. I know of at least one other family that will begoing who is with the same agency we are. Actually, I know her only through the our agency's Vietnam adoption Yahoo group; hopefully there will be some other families who are waiting for their child.
I just realized I never downloaded any of the photos that I have taken in the past month or so. Here are a couple pictures from Mother's Day, here I am with my mom and here's a close-up of my "Pregnancy"t-shirt.
I just realized I never downloaded any of the photos that I have taken in the past month or so. Here are a couple pictures from Mother's Day, here I am with my mom and here's a close-up of my "Pregnancy"t-shirt.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
1 Month Down
A month ago yesterday, we were added to the waiting list, so that means we are one month closer to our son! In the month since we have been on the list, we have moved up 5 or 6 slots on the waiting list. Today, we got an update from our agency. Really, there is nothing much to update. There were no referrals for healthy children received, there were 2 waiting children placed. Waiting children either have some kind of medical, physical or developmental problem (this could be very minor and correctable in the United States or something more involved.) A waiting child could also be an older child, of whom is harder to place because of age. No travel dates were received either. So, it was not much of an update. Their are 5 families who will be returning home next week with their children. Please pray and send good wishes that our agency will receive several referrals next week, so we can continue to keep moving up the waiting list.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Finally An Update
The agency's main Vietnam coordinator is back from her 2 week vacastion; during which time, we have not had an update on the status of things. It turns out, we are moving up 3 more spots on the waiting list. That means overall on the waiting list, we are about #153 and for those who are open to a boy #90. In a little less than the one month (27 days as of the time writing this) we have moved 6 positions up the list. If things continue at this pace, more or less, we should be in good shape to receive a referral as they are predicting in 12-15 months. Please keep praying, sendng good wishes, thinking positive thoughts, etc. that our movement up the waiting list will continue as quick or even better quicker than they now are predicting. Nothing is ever for sure in this field. Look at Chinese adoptions, a year and a half to two years ago, they were taking about 9 months from being logged into the country's system to when the referral was expected and as of now it is approximately now an 18 month-wait and it is expected to increase. One never knows about these things. The adoption process though is entirely different though in terms of Vietnam versus China.
Back to the update, our agency had a record number of families who were added to the waiting list this month after having received governmental approval (as we had); a total of 23 separate families. During the month of May, our agency had 10 familes travel to Vietnam, As of today, there should be 5 families who are presently in-country, 1 of whom received their little boy the other day; while the others shall be shortly.
Overall, May seems to have been a pretty good month and lets keep hoping for the same or even better news in the future.
Back to the update, our agency had a record number of families who were added to the waiting list this month after having received governmental approval (as we had); a total of 23 separate families. During the month of May, our agency had 10 familes travel to Vietnam, As of today, there should be 5 families who are presently in-country, 1 of whom received their little boy the other day; while the others shall be shortly.
Overall, May seems to have been a pretty good month and lets keep hoping for the same or even better news in the future.
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