tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90411635009661613902024-03-13T19:19:16.197-07:00thecountlessconklinsWe are committed to doing all we can to follow Gods command ' whatever your hand finds to do, do with all your might"
Ecclesiastes 9;10Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.comBlogger159125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041163500966161390.post-53508940934035389022016-04-04T15:12:00.000-07:002016-04-04T15:12:18.605-07:00Catch Up PostWe made it to China and back with no real or should I say scarring issues. Some days were rough but they are behind us. Praise the Lord !!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_CvhgrNCuIOg7v03GLvJxL9LNXDc-Nr7iRTD-TU-XguIh6QDaTyQRrHxwcSOKwkbpBIJyCz7MmDwtqTfpaxcbERXYofUvjHN0Q2LPuZzUsjd4w6AIAPzAt7PNEt8pqb63iyOlQjTLwBZE/s1600/IMG_5681.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_CvhgrNCuIOg7v03GLvJxL9LNXDc-Nr7iRTD-TU-XguIh6QDaTyQRrHxwcSOKwkbpBIJyCz7MmDwtqTfpaxcbERXYofUvjHN0Q2LPuZzUsjd4w6AIAPzAt7PNEt8pqb63iyOlQjTLwBZE/s320/IMG_5681.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL1dvPmEtq4nGBNDtdocaUjorPS9KNZTD9izIqH0sOB_FnaMS-r0s-_RulJfO4OR2bNnwfhWdb1CynSgwopMta_tdf5x0UGxHeIQYAXA6oZEQWvAaXGht2hAg2YmRYBh-Xpk2XGkodYMSJ/s1600/IMG_5653.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL1dvPmEtq4nGBNDtdocaUjorPS9KNZTD9izIqH0sOB_FnaMS-r0s-_RulJfO4OR2bNnwfhWdb1CynSgwopMta_tdf5x0UGxHeIQYAXA6oZEQWvAaXGht2hAg2YmRYBh-Xpk2XGkodYMSJ/s320/IMG_5653.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkrBuMmTj9yqCM1hJTlgcy6xGsDUr11mXg6YMahUetOZmyZkVNO4fQyw-YlXP4bURMYfM8jUovD14L6xuHySs9U5AI6FjBfQJmXLKXqZg8B3gRda2KY4CmcF4Tp42Z7wQlQ7NsNgMC9DOf/s1600/IMG_5937.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkrBuMmTj9yqCM1hJTlgcy6xGsDUr11mXg6YMahUetOZmyZkVNO4fQyw-YlXP4bURMYfM8jUovD14L6xuHySs9U5AI6FjBfQJmXLKXqZg8B3gRda2KY4CmcF4Tp42Z7wQlQ7NsNgMC9DOf/s320/IMG_5937.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9HOx7HoDSyCp5UhabSY0MOVAVxwmX3LwHdqYHD8DCjkkSozHx3Abz-PR5TO2f0EXxBRqSElS1yP1N0P5ILd-Kosgir2LTDuQqA0hhFKVQgsf73pgZn7ShbwfX6E2PuI3Yx5IcGSrv5Lgi/s1600/IMG_6067.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9HOx7HoDSyCp5UhabSY0MOVAVxwmX3LwHdqYHD8DCjkkSozHx3Abz-PR5TO2f0EXxBRqSElS1yP1N0P5ILd-Kosgir2LTDuQqA0hhFKVQgsf73pgZn7ShbwfX6E2PuI3Yx5IcGSrv5Lgi/s320/IMG_6067.JPG" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041163500966161390.post-61333364677751327872015-10-27T13:15:00.000-07:002015-10-27T13:15:15.898-07:00So CloseWe are moving right along now on October 22 we got our Article 5 letter and today we got Travel Approval YEAH!!!!!!!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041163500966161390.post-85937469174670258972015-10-19T07:51:00.001-07:002015-10-19T07:51:29.217-07:00Introducing......<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gp8Xkxwgi7s/ViUDJ-6W24I/AAAAAAAAA18/wun-0mc0bVg/s1600/fushan.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gp8Xkxwgi7s/ViUDJ-6W24I/AAAAAAAAA18/wun-0mc0bVg/s320/fushan.jpg" /></a>
Let me introduce you to our newest son.....Ezra FuShan coming home November 2015Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041163500966161390.post-76554501301960345172015-10-06T10:25:00.003-07:002015-10-06T10:25:42.594-07:00NVC LetterSo things are moving along on the adoption. HALLELUJAH!!! We received the NVC letter and I filed the visa info and submitted it , it is being cabled to Guangzhou and we should hear back by October 22 and then get the consulate appointment and then travel dates. All that to say we are on track to travel in November. We are beyond excited to be this close. I have his bedding and some clothes already and will wait on anything else till we have him and know his size. Anything I have purchased can be used for my grandsons who are similar in size. We have decided on his name.
In other goings on the strawberry patch is winding down, whew, we will be open another couple of weeks and then closing for the season. We have had a terrible season for 2015 the weather in June really hurt the crop, but Praise God for what we did manage to harvest.
The kids are all back in school and off to a good start. Anna is doing well hardly any phone calls home. Elaina is in 10th grade and playing soccer, the season is not been great to say the least. Phoebe is managing really well in 6th grade, and Ava is loving 3rd grade so I am happy. Beth is going fine in Colorado although we all miss her something fierce. Alex is at college and we never see him so no news is good news.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041163500966161390.post-6506378500515575122015-09-02T09:29:00.001-07:002015-09-02T09:29:14.468-07:00WOW.... Been a long timeI can't believe it has been so long since last posting. Much has happened since then. We have had a great summer vacation. The weather has been great and the strawberry patch has started really producing. YEAH!
We have moved along on the adoption front cosiderably
Here is the timeline thus far:
October 27,2014 saw him on the agency waiting child website
November 7,2014 mailed in the pre-approval paper work which was the last possible date we could because our agency was going to have to turn the file back in and have it sent to another agency.
November 20,2014 received our pre-appoval YEAH
January 7,2015 had our home study and worked at getting the rest of our paperwork together.
April 2015 filed for USCIS approval
May 2015 got approval and Mailed in dossier to agency
June 24, 2015 received our Log in date
July 1, 2015 went into translation
August 20,2015 we received official letter seeking confirmation, WHEW we have made it this far,
I am now working on the rest of the USCIS docs and have it ready to go to the agency
I am really hoping that we travel in November that would be awesomeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041163500966161390.post-66985845629961477742015-06-08T18:02:00.000-07:002015-06-08T18:02:43.865-07:00Adoption UpdateWell we got our approval 2 weeks ago and it is currently in San Francisco being sealed and then it will go back to the agency and our adoption dossier will be able to go to China. WHEW !!!
We have been super busy here trying to plant strawberry plants, feed, water and keep them alive. Memorial Day weekend it got down to 22 degrees and several rows of plants were hit hard. I am praying they will come back but so far it's looking a little bleak. The next weekend we got 4 inches of rain so again, praying and hoping.
We have been to the dentist, everyone has had teeth cleanings and fillings and we are good for 6 months, that is a big deal here. Anna wasn't too sure about it so I had to get in the chair and hold her down so they could do a light cleaning and inspect her teeth. I confess to hating the dentist so I know how she feels.
We are praying about some big decisions here. Some I really want and feel and Dan is like umm no; don't even want to think about it. So we are at an impasse fortunately God is all about these places and will work it out for His glory and our good.
We have had no update on our little guy, I would love to know how big he is now so I could shop for clothes and toys while it is yard sale time. I have been picking up toys and the girls are loving them, they will be well broke in by the time he gets here. :)
Our grandson Elijah who was born at 24 weeks gestation has been amazing everyone and is ready to come home from the hospital. HALLELUJAH!!!!
He had his surgery today and as soon as he recovers from that he will be coming home. He truly is a miracle baby. When he had to be delivered so early the Drs. told us he would not live but God had other plans and we are so grateful. He is soooo cute. I will upload pics to share in a few days. Because really he is adorable.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041163500966161390.post-37491823173231280362015-05-14T14:00:00.001-07:002015-05-14T14:00:25.320-07:00Adoption UpdateWe have been in waiting mode for 6 weeks now. We have filed for USCIS approval been fingerprinted and waiting for the paper in the mail. UGH I hate waiting. (sigh) Once we have it we will send it to the agency and they will get it sealed and our dossier will be complete and able to be sent to China. We did not make the 6 month date from our pre-approval, so our agency asked for an extension, we are waiting to hear back on that.
Anyhow back to our little guys story. Phoebe began an all out prayer attack on her parents, but I confess I was an easy target. Dan was much more stubborn but Phoebe never gave up. She prayed at every meal, every bedtime for God to change Dads' heart and let us adopt again. After awhile she just started talking about her little brother, when he get's home we will do this.....he will need such and such....he needs toys...bedding, picking things out she was sure he would need, like, have to have and then she started naming him, try saying no when your "son" has a name and is talked about as if he is part of the family. In October Dan agreed to think about it. SUCCESS!!!! I was looking on an agency website at the waiting child list and saw his face and knew he was my boy. The problem was he was in China and we have never qualified to adopt from there before. So I called the agency about a sibling set I had seen from another country and she was talking and I shared how it had to be a boy and she asked if we would consider China and I told her we didn't qualify and then she explained how the requirements had changed for waiting children and not to give up. So I requested his file and prayed that Dan would be open and willing. He is soooooo cute I can't wait to share his picture but not until his referral is official. When we inquired about him the agency told us that we only had a week before his file would be sent back, ugh no pressure. We knew he was ours so I started the pre-approval paperwork and submitted it on the last day they had his file. On November 20 we received email notification that we were approved. We were so happy and started thinking about his name and working on getting the process started. We have actually not shared much of anything about it , our oldest son was announcing their first baby was due and we didn't want to interfere with their news and baby joy. We are very excited and looking toward the day that we can go to bring him home....but as it is with international adoption...hurry up and wait. We are still deciding on the name, Dan has one which is Ezra, the girls want Boaz, and I want William, so for now we call him any of those names. It gets a little confusing and sometimes people ask "how many are you adopting?" just one; but not sure which name so on any given day it's different.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041163500966161390.post-32029603361785627152015-05-14T13:39:00.000-07:002015-05-14T13:39:02.287-07:00Back to the ordinary.....whatever that isWow sorry for the long delay. Life is always crazy but the last 6 weeks have been exceptionally crazy. We have cleared out the strawberry patch, 15,000 plants disposed of and then pots refilled and 16,000 plants planted. UGH I am exhausted. We had this crazy idea that hey we had the room and supplies so lets expand the patch by another 1,000 so we did. We have all been working and now it is planted, we have some stuff to tweak on the system but it is up and going;in about 6-8 weeks we will be open for business.
Anna has been doing fine and that is wonderful for all of us. We truly love our girl she has come so far in 18 months some days I get anxious because I want more from her but usually I am just happy she is here with us and we get to be apart of who she is. I did the initial paperwork in November for a referral to a clinic in Rochester and we finally heard back, did a phone interview and scheduled an appointment for August (that's how busy this clinic is) The clinic came highly recommended so it should be worth the wait. It is for children with autism. I have tried to deny that this is part of what Anna is dealing with, I can explain away many things she does, but alas it is time to face reality. I truly think that it is only a part of the total picture with her, between severe institutionalization, being pre-mature at birth and some very poor choices by her birth mom that makes the whole story but we are taking each behavior and outburst and trying to create a better life for our girl. She is so loving at home, very affectionate, seeking hugs and kisses, touch, snuggles and the nice thing everyone here is willing to give it to her. With 10 children love does not divide it multiplies.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041163500966161390.post-40467831160638706422015-04-07T08:34:00.001-07:002015-04-07T08:34:28.432-07:00Spring Break 2015<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi53R8Jq81RvnfGedaVqMVjccKTbbq70cCr9A40_RiBhcHRvUitTO61-70ve3GeW7vVE9YY1lM1G5S9dWdC3qwx1U15_-DAldXH6RxDg6zSqC8pTKvuebjaPIQfHtPsN_IyqUPoRhxc9Jj6/s1600/photo_3%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi53R8Jq81RvnfGedaVqMVjccKTbbq70cCr9A40_RiBhcHRvUitTO61-70ve3GeW7vVE9YY1lM1G5S9dWdC3qwx1U15_-DAldXH6RxDg6zSqC8pTKvuebjaPIQfHtPsN_IyqUPoRhxc9Jj6/s320/photo_3%5B1%5D.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7pu8GFYft915y9-kNrYGWJT27QTU8u9-8-w1QI6nehyphenhyphenjKqnjfTIsDrkZBVtuAi8pg9SBdBElA-wkXGCnTt44SSB9J5-0DoGa0QLcAIM_CAc5wHATudI_L-4SjA4DBUOWRz04FSiTcRhUs/s1600/photo_4%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7pu8GFYft915y9-kNrYGWJT27QTU8u9-8-w1QI6nehyphenhyphenjKqnjfTIsDrkZBVtuAi8pg9SBdBElA-wkXGCnTt44SSB9J5-0DoGa0QLcAIM_CAc5wHATudI_L-4SjA4DBUOWRz04FSiTcRhUs/s320/photo_4%5B1%5D.JPG" /></a>
We took a much needed break from western New York. As the winter dragged on up here we decided to escape with the girls for a few days. I am so glad we did. Just to be outside was wonderful. We went to Savannah Georgia it was great, to see the beauty of that area and the rich history. Just what we needed. This is the first time we have taken Anna away and we weren't sure how it would go but she did great. She is a real trooper this girl of ours. She wasn't too sure about it when we left but once we arrived she was good. On Friday we went to Tybee Island and she enjoyed the sand and the water. We all enjoyed the break, to breath fresh air into our bodies and our souls. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdtJqCL5u2TiTQGp8AOXgUC0eObFtheMeywCoJcT17BUYpsvElBNxVYWPaJKh4SSeKX3uT8J0DWWjc2DV-r8BcVFC0S_oqzVPPu3EZzIvKdtg9943C7yTzqb-Lvzk_3em9DjllCQo097mf/s1600/photo_3%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdtJqCL5u2TiTQGp8AOXgUC0eObFtheMeywCoJcT17BUYpsvElBNxVYWPaJKh4SSeKX3uT8J0DWWjc2DV-r8BcVFC0S_oqzVPPu3EZzIvKdtg9943C7yTzqb-Lvzk_3em9DjllCQo097mf/s320/photo_3%5B1%5D.JPG" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041163500966161390.post-56712883519601230742015-01-19T07:19:00.000-08:002015-01-19T07:19:41.940-08:00Other Really Big News We have started the process of adopting a boy from China!!!! We are all very excited. Having always wanted to adopt from China but never fitting the requirements ( and not God's timing ) we are now able to bring home a son. I saw his picture on a waiting child website and knew he was ours. But that is just the middle of the story. WE ARE SUPER EXCITED....... God IS SO GOOD!!!
After bringing home Anna and all the challenges that came with that, we felt like we were done. We could do no more, we were so overwhelmed. I wish that I could say we knew what we were doing with her a year ago, but that would be a lie. We had no experience with all the needs that Anna had, and nothing to do but call out in prayer some days minute by minute, and God heard and would give us ideas or thoughts that we knew weren't ours; only God, and we would try it and have results. Someone would come along and make a comment about her and have you tried this or that sometimes we could say yes and it helps or no but we would give it a try. Other people would just comment and not very nicely......but hey we just kept moving forward.....
Anyhow back to our boy.....
Last spring in the midst of building the strawberry farm, figuring out Anna and regular life with 10 kids and 6 grandkids, our Phoebe started the GREAT CAMPAIGN ....."Mom we need a boy" over and over and over...finally I would just say we can't we have our hands full. She knew how hard it was and yet she wanted a boy. So I told her to start paying for God to change our hearts. So Phoebe started praying for that very thing. And after about a month I started to feel like it was a possibility....and then I knew that we should pursue the dream of bringing home a boy. More later....Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041163500966161390.post-5150376025772742802015-01-05T11:58:00.001-08:002015-01-05T11:58:48.247-08:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip9srtLwzRa_hM-FjfiChWRhm2nT4gb5jujDhRn_gpIV5FMY_TqJpPsND5-pS_keJQsj3QIjrpNJZPkVd93ZRm3uezbmpx5CqX7cwT5h7OV-qKvqNxcOyfsoZS6n8cbYvi3r-pOqLzQDrl/s1600/Breeze+New+Size+p.+1.png" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip9srtLwzRa_hM-FjfiChWRhm2nT4gb5jujDhRn_gpIV5FMY_TqJpPsND5-pS_keJQsj3QIjrpNJZPkVd93ZRm3uezbmpx5CqX7cwT5h7OV-qKvqNxcOyfsoZS6n8cbYvi3r-pOqLzQDrl/s320/Breeze+New+Size+p.+1.png" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Pb7VPnura8rDpR-yOv-urGQRoFxo_PCv-fJL0LtGCvfcvVh9Pqdj3KBHeNuWufm9IFwATUBo_lktZUugx4bODsBd5qwn-UuJCtAPHIdnzO5yv8Mwr3m56IPpiO2xQmfGFaL6epEwyBR2/s1600/Breeze+New+Size+p.+2.png" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Pb7VPnura8rDpR-yOv-urGQRoFxo_PCv-fJL0LtGCvfcvVh9Pqdj3KBHeNuWufm9IFwATUBo_lktZUugx4bODsBd5qwn-UuJCtAPHIdnzO5yv8Mwr3m56IPpiO2xQmfGFaL6epEwyBR2/s320/Breeze+New+Size+p.+2.png" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041163500966161390.post-11476353130972424482015-01-05T11:55:00.000-08:002015-01-05T11:56:14.461-08:00A Little Catching Up.......Announcing our new business .....Summer Breeze StrawberriesIn 2014 I was pretty absent from this blog, I had some really time consuming things going on and today I will start sharing what they were. We started a new business that just really took every second of every day between the building it and then working at it everyday for 4 months. I am going to share the website link and we are also on facebook. We put in a 15,000 plant hydroponic strawberry farm. It was a lot of work and between that and Anna and the rest of the family well....this blog was very neglected. We had a fairly successful year.....considering we had no idea what we were doing......and ended in the middle of October, our plan had been to go till the end of October but we had a very hard frost Columbus Day weekend and that was the end of strawberries for the season. Not going to lie it was good to be done I needed a break. We have our plants ordered for the 2015 growing season and I am looking forward to the planting which won't be until May. We should be open for u-pick again after the first of July until end of October (weather permitting). You can check us out at summerbreezestrawberrries.com. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041163500966161390.post-2130706581835219812014-10-21T09:50:00.000-07:002014-10-21T09:50:30.002-07:00One Year HomeOn October 16 we celebrated Anna's gotcha day. I can't believe how quick the year went. The first 4 months were not quick they were extremely long and hard. But after I changed my attitude thing s began to change all the way around. Now Anna is not talking any where near where I wanted her to be or thought she would be but progress has been made. She is much more vocal and is asserting lots of independence and self motivation and I am very happy about that. She continues to grow and develop and that is all we can hope for.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSm9YsvEBJeOJ0hENqJ4kjcinAf7xs2cv-50UzvUcqiy5pryNQbic0MmUJX22jImFn86PY_MpHK5pyK26n2Np-1haPgWlo_pc-Y069LZbY3n-5i08ozA59JfM4D1vBFugULCDKMmOXjEPy/s1600/anna2.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSm9YsvEBJeOJ0hENqJ4kjcinAf7xs2cv-50UzvUcqiy5pryNQbic0MmUJX22jImFn86PY_MpHK5pyK26n2Np-1haPgWlo_pc-Y069LZbY3n-5i08ozA59JfM4D1vBFugULCDKMmOXjEPy/s320/anna2.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWZKNQ8uLE8wlMlEROlxwTvelTRwTvhtjOJjKu2XhTFkrxmZwCWdJVv2iKp0I9TbxciE4mAs2V-tL3FZgVzgrHXGaAwQQz9xCQe8I3oMd2rbYgSBG7KIPRSFz7Bl_96GtnC01tghmAlFpf/s1600/anna1.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWZKNQ8uLE8wlMlEROlxwTvelTRwTvhtjOJjKu2XhTFkrxmZwCWdJVv2iKp0I9TbxciE4mAs2V-tL3FZgVzgrHXGaAwQQz9xCQe8I3oMd2rbYgSBG7KIPRSFz7Bl_96GtnC01tghmAlFpf/s320/anna1.jpg" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041163500966161390.post-59759250179827010392014-06-16T11:37:00.001-07:002014-06-16T11:37:15.638-07:00Anna an her First ice cream cone<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMb2qNR_LL-3BdQgGSVHaxBboAvzC3UhLlzpuUrKArqZ2Z_vg7b3F8Bpr8GGNcBQXVqDmlPnC7vPuqLzgkI0fFc_FQ4XGxa9JGhPqUMcLIQ5Iy1eUt1eLtPDrw2btFumQzvbKwwL1P3nIa/s1600/NCM_0359.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMb2qNR_LL-3BdQgGSVHaxBboAvzC3UhLlzpuUrKArqZ2Z_vg7b3F8Bpr8GGNcBQXVqDmlPnC7vPuqLzgkI0fFc_FQ4XGxa9JGhPqUMcLIQ5Iy1eUt1eLtPDrw2btFumQzvbKwwL1P3nIa/s320/NCM_0359.JPG" /></a>
Anna had her first cone....although she loved it she wasn't quite sure what to do with it. After shoving her face into the icecream she just used her finger to scoop if up and eat it.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041163500966161390.post-45715364284827548872014-03-21T11:01:00.000-07:002014-03-21T11:01:10.309-07:00Its Friday Already?Wow the days fly by. We aren't doing anything special or exciting yet but we will be if the weather ever changes.....ugh enough already with winter.
I am going to post some recent pictures of Anna she has changed so in the 5 months since coming home. Grown 3 inches taller put on 5 pounds and she smiles now.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJyIu4E0suzg3CsWiPuTvoS3b1CLgMEzrscrn9lgmpupfeSKHmm1jJMjzgrRf1KG8Q7GLFJPsI13H04hT9WZFcuLik6q9xYJ__l3sHXkLj_rJIB8uTE3sUv-q7fh8xBkN6yi4RcCFaSHgx/s1600/2013121995131522.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJyIu4E0suzg3CsWiPuTvoS3b1CLgMEzrscrn9lgmpupfeSKHmm1jJMjzgrRf1KG8Q7GLFJPsI13H04hT9WZFcuLik6q9xYJ__l3sHXkLj_rJIB8uTE3sUv-q7fh8xBkN6yi4RcCFaSHgx/s320/2013121995131522.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgVmnNOk8z2yXP0q6cE5tm4bjtZcm4gNUv2fMzANMsJALYirl4s91mpl_KBVH5RxkBEu7tZutH1ewN104wHBwi1G2NjwlCTfBQr8n4uP8N7n_llyCzST7H0CjvFYzLZz0QTmUdYN5HhRbF/s1600/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgVmnNOk8z2yXP0q6cE5tm4bjtZcm4gNUv2fMzANMsJALYirl4s91mpl_KBVH5RxkBEu7tZutH1ewN104wHBwi1G2NjwlCTfBQr8n4uP8N7n_llyCzST7H0CjvFYzLZz0QTmUdYN5HhRbF/s320/image.jpg" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041163500966161390.post-32803522292208679752014-02-05T11:22:00.002-08:002014-02-05T11:22:27.468-08:00So what can I even say.....It has been over 2 months since last posting. Our life has been turned upside down and back again since bringing Anna home. And lest you think it's because of her coming home some days that was the least of what was going on. I will do a quick re-cap of events......
Nov 2 Alex falls and breaks his leg we go to emergency room, comes home and we make appointments to see Dr. First Dr we see.....yikes wouldn't let him touch our son....get a new referral ...see another Dr. really happy with this Dr...he has time to do the surgery that afternoon, November 5 so we go over to the hospital to get ready for surgery. Sounds like a plan except I have Anna with me and now we have been at the drs office for 3 hours not to mention the hour it took for us to get there....she is done, whining ,crying, hungry, you name it, she has only been home for 13 days, she has no idea what is going on.....I call Dan to come meet me at the hospital and get Anna. He got her a yogurt parfait at Mcdonalds on the way home, which has started her deep love affair with parfait and her father. I stay with Alex and take care of him.
We now are driving an hour each way every week for re-checks and Alexs' leg is healing fine. He is missing 2 weeks of college, sleeping on the couch and developing a relationship of sorts with Anna.
December Dan goes to see the same surgeon because he has a piece of metal protruding through his ankle, he is scheduled for surgery Dec 19
December first week...stomach flu....will leave it at that
Dec 16 Elaina has pneumonia.....
Dec 19 Dan has surgery
Wait lets just pull off Christmas and make it happy and wonderful....we got through it that's all I am saying
December 26 Dans surgery is totally infected and he goes on 2 weeks of bed rest and numerous Dr apointments.
December 27 Alex wakes up with acute appendicitis has emergency surgery
We also have 5 birthdays in December!!
Happy New Year
So as you can see the reason I haven't posted is because it has been one thing after another, trying to get Anna to settle and trust us is difficult, but we are trying. One thing we did do is get Anna started in school part time, she needed the exposure and I admit to needing the break. There is only so much I can do. She gets speech, occupational ,physical and play therapy. It is working really well. I never thought that I would send a child to school so quickly upon coming home but hey nothing has gone according to plan.
We are going beyond survival mode into building and establishing a solid relationship. It has taken twists and turns and there have been many difficult days. Days where I just ask God to help me to give me strength and patience.
We are coming out of it and God has been gracious to us.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041163500966161390.post-74894158295525348902013-11-06T11:16:00.000-08:002013-11-06T11:16:27.392-08:00We are backSo much I could write but still trying to decide what should be said and what will be said. Anna is starting to adjust to living here with us. Actually that part is going fine. She sits on our laps, gives kisses and plays with the other kids already. Not bad for only being home for 2 weeks. She still tries our patience regularly. Tries throwing her tantrums to get what she wants but it never works so we are seeing less and less of those, that being said when she throws one she really throws one. Oh well as already stated they get her nothing. The trip went really well. Catherine was a great travel friend, couldn't ask for anyone better. Will post some pics from the trip.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZotEmZZla7JR-6_TbvxrfSkITC34YjZ-EGcfMyXwi2Em9m3E5HVS6ys_DLDgxc__dP8QlQG2zlzIaqKXq5J__JzZ59TjExZsAnP0ILayMSfZ6tiuAdlPW07bjNY_AGwTivHj_wAY7oHtY/s1600/October+2013+130.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZotEmZZla7JR-6_TbvxrfSkITC34YjZ-EGcfMyXwi2Em9m3E5HVS6ys_DLDgxc__dP8QlQG2zlzIaqKXq5J__JzZ59TjExZsAnP0ILayMSfZ6tiuAdlPW07bjNY_AGwTivHj_wAY7oHtY/s320/October+2013+130.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglSt3SuU6mTtRilIEXpZH2j9cDo2czmnVFDquZJnIljs_MGc56KGfLK90OyNLKv8w0ZFZaTGYVaNIWnvgiy_T51A5eedBtJflIkwFB7xK2AOctXsmvZFbkP09tiGFHBFNBlVo6BNZ_ho3B/s1600/October+2013+154.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglSt3SuU6mTtRilIEXpZH2j9cDo2czmnVFDquZJnIljs_MGc56KGfLK90OyNLKv8w0ZFZaTGYVaNIWnvgiy_T51A5eedBtJflIkwFB7xK2AOctXsmvZFbkP09tiGFHBFNBlVo6BNZ_ho3B/s320/October+2013+154.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFKaZ0_0kIVYXuZcdfO3pYf4E5gSNMECZFCViHVqR9elhFr2cHoEE6_59nnTJPc8cHBu0yPX0ymvegOy9B5kASiJf7G2AkdHGImIWENcYygZ5PHMbfIfbeGAs24vrTkCwivUyC65_tcWVt/s1600/October+2013+180.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFKaZ0_0kIVYXuZcdfO3pYf4E5gSNMECZFCViHVqR9elhFr2cHoEE6_59nnTJPc8cHBu0yPX0ymvegOy9B5kASiJf7G2AkdHGImIWENcYygZ5PHMbfIfbeGAs24vrTkCwivUyC65_tcWVt/s320/October+2013+180.JPG" /></a>
WE were in Bansko Bulgaria in the picture with the fountain. Bansko is a great area to go to. The playground picture Anna had a lot of fun at this park we walked to everyday. She played and we drank our Dunkin Doughnuts coffee....a beautiful set up. On the day we got her visa to come home we went to McDonalds as you can see she is not a fan she is looking in the fry box to see if there is anything else to eat.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041163500966161390.post-4501402651940125392013-10-13T15:12:00.000-07:002013-10-13T15:12:43.331-07:00Tomorrow....So this past Friday was my birthday, and my beautiful family surprised me with a wonderful party. Words fail at how wonderful everything was. they cleaned out the barn and made it the most beautiful party hall. I am so blessed!!!
Tomorrow I will be leaving for Bulgaria and be gone till the 23...I am so happy to finally be bringing Anna home...our life will completely change but God is so good to our family. Will try to post from Bulgaria.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041163500966161390.post-21062538402638197062013-10-04T14:40:00.003-07:002013-10-04T14:40:51.225-07:00Leaving on a jet plane.....So we made it through court (whew) and have our tickets booked and an apartment to stay in and now on to packing and gathering for the trip. We have had a few paperwork headaches to get through but hopefully we are all set.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041163500966161390.post-73269510467539092102013-09-23T07:53:00.000-07:002013-09-23T07:54:34.495-07:00The Suspense is Killing MeToday is our court day in Bulgaria. I am so anxious. We have taken so long to get here, so many set backs and now we are so close. I actually wasn't nervous until last week when I was talking to the agency about booking our tickets and she was like umm maybe you should wait until after the 23 that way if there is a problem you won't have to re-book the tickets. Excuse me a problem what?....yeah her words...."with the luck your family has had you better wait and see if you get through with no more trouble"....not what we wanted to hear. So today I am waiting to get the news that we are legally the parents to Anna Sophia......calm my anxious heart oh God.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041163500966161390.post-67726114118809529002013-09-11T09:18:00.002-07:002013-09-11T09:18:42.730-07:00Quick UpdateWe have heard from our agency and we have been assigned a court date in Bulgaria. YEAH!!!! So we are moving forward and are very excited. We have Annas' bed assembled and I purchased her bedding it looks so cute actually the whole room does. We were told to plan travel for October 10 or so. I have been looking into flights. So happy!!!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041163500966161390.post-62616518516490214382013-08-13T07:47:00.000-07:002013-08-13T07:47:49.490-07:00A long overdue updateWow 2 months since last posting. Most people probably don't even check here anymore, but here goes anyhow.
We ran into so many set backs that it became very difficult to stay positive. So we wrote nothing because you know the saying "if you can't say something nice don't say anything at all" so that was the decision I made to say nothing I would regret later. All that to say we are finally closing in the end of the adoption. We needed to update our homestudy and INS clearence because Alex turned 18 so we started that in April and got everything in the middle of May took 6 weeks to get it all done and turned back into our case worker at USCIS. She sent everything to the US embassy in Bulgaria we are ecpecting to get the article 5 letter instead we were notified that our embassy wanted our homestudy re-written we were very upset, we had just done all that. So we tried to get our congressman to help us out but no go. We had to re-do our homestudy and get our USCIS approval all over again in June. And in case you are wondering there were no fee breaks every step cost us again. Oh wait while we are doing all this our medical and psychological checks had to be re-done because in all the delays they came close to being a year old and Bulgaria court was not going to accept them. Oh boy were we ever frustrated. But we complied, not with a good attitude but we did everything and we were issued our article 5 letter on June 28. Ohh happy day we were finally moving in the right direction. WHOA there not so fast in July while we are waiting to get the MOJ signature to move into the court phase it turns out that the only person who could sign on our paperworkk resigned from their position. Are you kidding me? NO we aren't. What can you even do? At any given time if we had not had the delays we would not have been affected by his reignation, God knew. So here we are waiting to hear our court date and making plans to bring our girl home still.....her 7th birthday was last week and if you had told us in January when we visited with her that she would not be here for her birthday I wouldn't have believed you. So on her birthday I went on line and ordered her some clothes....a little retail therapy. We are hoping to be in court in September and then travel 2 weeks after that. If we come to mind pease pray that we get to court without any more set backs, we just want to get her home and start our time with her.
Even with everything we have been extrememly busy and the summer has flown by. We are switching the upstairs bedrooms around and re-painting and cleaning out so the girls room will be set when she gets home. Our three adult kids will be making moves her in thecoming weeks. This Saturday Matthew is moving back out into his new apartment, Beth goes back to college the next weekend and the Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041163500966161390.post-34700860813381388252013-06-11T10:49:00.000-07:002013-06-11T10:49:48.350-07:00We have been very busy and there has been no forward movement on the adoption. Some backwards movement but not forward. It has been extremely discouraging. We recieved our I800 A approval and when it got to the embassy they rejected it and made us do yet again another homestudy update and re apply to USCIC and pay the fees all over again and wait again for the approval that we had all ready been given. We are currently in the empty space between being in Texas and getting sent to Missouri with the paperwork, it can take 2 weeks to go from one place to the other. We did however recieve new pictures of Anna and she looks good, so that was nice.
Our son graduates highschool next week and Matt graduated college last month, and we had pre-school graduation last week so whew so many things coming to an end. Anticipating new things begining.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGV3kkyGALu24pRi8e5sufiz37La-eLozfL6miQdi1fgevBs6kw1god44rPTheVwu_KsMPKXru4lZiEqhsOzhXBqnlKpMSlLtonfmKTFhoQ6_KfUrkdqE6ULmxfgsQpJ_NinXUHstQQyg/s1600/photo0153%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGV3kkyGALu24pRi8e5sufiz37La-eLozfL6miQdi1fgevBs6kw1god44rPTheVwu_KsMPKXru4lZiEqhsOzhXBqnlKpMSlLtonfmKTFhoQ6_KfUrkdqE6ULmxfgsQpJ_NinXUHstQQyg/s320/photo0153%5B1%5D.jpg" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041163500966161390.post-75087755144912460512013-04-10T05:04:00.000-07:002013-04-10T05:04:20.570-07:00pictures<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi27JNncfknO1Izq9q8is8x8Jx9fag77-e0-EcYQ2FX_7aAXZQFUUgmeeCXr5XvOuaCToArqv8BUDdElOIKVKW_b_3vAVieUyuqN04LQ9yMGWde4WM-oEBczT90mt9gGdazqChIOITiWE6_/s1600/IMG_20130323_135403.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi27JNncfknO1Izq9q8is8x8Jx9fag77-e0-EcYQ2FX_7aAXZQFUUgmeeCXr5XvOuaCToArqv8BUDdElOIKVKW_b_3vAVieUyuqN04LQ9yMGWde4WM-oEBczT90mt9gGdazqChIOITiWE6_/s320/IMG_20130323_135403.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg60q85lM7AW-wDVKXyxTymUmyz7lIUycOfsYklyvp2QjTXxgdrarEL6LBc2zWOuY1MTxL9CnTrZlRibTas0NzWrI9ff4uulpHxe619D4wb-zD6yh6OW5sjSg0fZP1Yf7T9-a6GSFbvka-s/s1600/IMG_20130329_101049.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg60q85lM7AW-wDVKXyxTymUmyz7lIUycOfsYklyvp2QjTXxgdrarEL6LBc2zWOuY1MTxL9CnTrZlRibTas0NzWrI9ff4uulpHxe619D4wb-zD6yh6OW5sjSg0fZP1Yf7T9-a6GSFbvka-s/s320/IMG_20130329_101049.jpg" /></a>
Phoebe and Ava with Phoebes' art work that was on display with our counties art council.
My new grandson Jackson Howard. Born March 29,2013 weighing in at 5pounds 10 ounces. He is a tiny little thing.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041163500966161390.post-32128907037597281872013-04-09T12:08:00.001-07:002013-04-09T12:08:37.143-07:00Beauty and the BeastAlex did a great job as Gaston in the school production.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWk2LkMShLaz_w28HpuzVHp6HSO-ZkgwH8rIppkyDDVisOBHhzBEvnChwlttYmvMZwsr7ahlqxPw5tKS_q-p_vvIGfU9OMb67zk25r-QRopGBHhcmW70B_98GA760UVjhYTP8TeGkDuP3N/s1600/SDC10452.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWk2LkMShLaz_w28HpuzVHp6HSO-ZkgwH8rIppkyDDVisOBHhzBEvnChwlttYmvMZwsr7ahlqxPw5tKS_q-p_vvIGfU9OMb67zk25r-QRopGBHhcmW70B_98GA760UVjhYTP8TeGkDuP3N/s320/SDC10452.JPG" /></a>
The whole cast did a marvelous job. We enjoyed the play and so many people have told us "we didn't know Alex could sing" SURPRISE ; just because his parents have no musical ability, doesn't mean he doesn't:) Actually all our kids can sing and play instruments, must be it skips a generation.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07474630054440606209noreply@blogger.com0