Mommy, I had so much fun!

My sister and her family are in town for our belated family Christmas party. With my brother and my sister's family, there are 14 of us in all. We all had a great time just being family together. Enjoy our pictures from the last few days.

Florida, Disney and Christmas

Abby and I got home from Florida last night. We had an amazing time!! We started out at 6:30am on Saturday the 19th and we didn't get home until Monday the 28th. It was 10 days of pure bliss and great entertainment. The weather fluctuated between 68 and 80 degrees. Wow, could it get any better?
We decided to drive down to save money and I must admit, I was worried about the long drive down there and back. I thought it would be too long for Abby, but she did great!! I bought a portable DVD player over Thanksgiving break so we packed up a huge bag full of toys and movies and headed off. The DVD player worked wonders and she never said, "Are we there yet?" or "How much longer?" (that is, until about an hour away from home). She was a real trooper!
Our time share room was upgraded, which was a big surprise, so we had two bedrooms, two full bathrooms, a living room, and a huge fully equipped kitchen. The porch was even screened in so we could leave the sliding glass doors open. I was expecting to sleep on the pull -out couch and Abby on a blow up mattress, so two double beds and a bathroom of our own was the icing on the cake! Abby kept calling it our "apartment" instead of a hotel.
We headed off to Magic Kingdom on Tuesday. Abby was excited and loved every minute of it. I worried that it was going to be busy since it was Christmas time, but we didn't have to wait too long. The longest wait was to meet Princess Ariel, which was Abby's only request. Her face when she saw all the princess' was priceless. We loved the Buzz Light year Ride, Mickey's Philharmonic 3D movie, the Peter Pan ride and Mickey's Christmastime parade, which had all the characters so it was doubly great!
Much of the week was spent making puzzles, shopping at the outlet malls, playing with Christmas toys, reading books, playing card games, and trying out a new restaurant every night.
We headed over to Animal Kingdom on Friday. I had never been to Animal Kingdom so I was excited. The shows were fantastic! We were able to walk right into all the shows and onto all the rides. It wasn't busy at all! The Lion King show was awesome and so was the jungle ride through the safari to see the live animals. In fact it was so good we got off and went right back on it to see it all over again. A giraffe, ostrich and rhino were so close to the truck that I could reach out and touch them!
All in all, it was a perfect trip. We had great company (my mom and dad went with us), great weather, and a very relaxing time. It was exactly what I needed before life gets crazy here with a new baby and changes in routine. Now we're home and there's snow on the ground and it's freezing. But, at least I still have another week home to play and spend time with my amazing family. Abby was so excited to go on vacation. She's been camping before, but this was her first long trip away from home.
We drove and drove until we found the palm trees!

Pooh and Tigger were the first characters we saw at Magic Kingdom. I was concerned that Abby would get scared of them, but she ran right up and gave them hugs.

Meeting Ariel was a dream come true! I waited in line for over an hour for Abby to get her picture taken, but it was worth it. If you ask her what her favorite part of Disney was, she'll answer "Meeting Ariel!".

Here we are sitting on the back porch in glorious weather playing a mean game of Crazy 8's.

My parent's room was attached to a bathroom with a HUGE whirlpool tub. Abby went in a couple times during the week. Each time she entered the water her name changed to "Princess Ariel". :)

Here we are entering Magic Kingdom. Can you see the excitement on her face?

Here we are entering Animal Kingdom. There were Christmas decorations everywhere. At the front of each park was a huge Christmas tree filled with ornaments that matched the park.

Meeting Minnie Mouse was also a big hit! The characters were by far more interesting for Abby than the shows or rides. Seeing them in real life was incredible. It was a great trip!

not yet...

So I guess I'm being asked to wait a little longer. I know that God's timing is best, so I will wait.
I received a phone call from my agency this afternoon. I did not pass court. Apparently there was a letter missing from MOWA (the Ministry of Women's Affairs). My new court date is January 12th. We'll try again then. Thanks for your prayers, I truly appreciate it. Our God is good and I know he's holding me even in my tears. We're praying earnestly for January 12th.

In other news, Abby and I have made it safely to Florida. We're in a great time share and the weather is awesome. We're scheduled to go to Magic Kingdom tomorrow and then another park later in the week. Unfortunately we don't have Internet access at the hotel, go figure! So our updates will be few and far between, but you can expect a big update when we get home. Love to you all!

Oh yeah and we're in a blizzard among other things...

So, we're in the middle of a blizzard here. We had a snow day yesterday because the blizzard was supposed to start right after lunch. The morning was absolutely fine, and the blizzard didn't start until late in the evening. But it was a full force blizzard this morning with over 300 schools closed. BUT MY SCHOOL DIDN'T CLOSE!! I couldn't believe it!! The roads were horrible. I dropped off Abby at my parents and my awesome dad volunteered to drive me to work. I absolutely hate driving in the snow and I felt so relieved that he drove me. He even came to pick me up after school. He rocks!!
Schools have to have 75% attendance in order for the day to count as an academic day. The roads were so horrible that we didn't even make 62%. Therefore the day doesn't even count. You can imagine there wasn't one teacher there today in a good mood. Everyone was ready to complain, it was a rough day. We should have stayed home! I had 10 of my 27 students gone. It's hard to teach new concepts or give tests when over a third of the class is gone. The blizzard is supposed to last until 6am tomorrow so we'll see what happens with tomorrow's snow day.

Here's a picture from last Sunday night. We went to my brother's church to watch my niece and nephews perform in their Christmas play. They did so well. Here is Abby and Seth. I just love this picture!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

Abby and I have been waiting for today all week. Today we went to get our Christmas tree! I did all my school work and the laundry last night after work so that today would be totally devoted to setting up the tree and putting out all the decorations. It literally took us all day, but we had so much fun.
We got another free tree this year from my realtor so we headed out early this morning and picked one up. My parents also got a free tree so we went together. It's a good thing I live so close to them because I needed my dad's expertise, clippers and hand saw today to help get the tree home and set up. The rest of the day was spent setting up the tree, hanging the stockings, putting out the decorations, shoveling the walkway, making a quick trip to the store and baking the Christmas cookies for my cookie exchange. And now Abby's asleep and I'm watching White Christmas, one of my favorite movies! It's been a good day. All of the trees were tied up so we didn't know what we were getting. It was purely a guess if there were holes in the branches, if it was full enough, etc. So we just grabbed the tallest one we could find.

The place were we go to get our trees also has a small farm with horses, cows, sheep, goats, pigs and chickens. We were able to walk through the barn and see the animals.

There was also a building there for hot chocolate (with marshmallows) doughnut holes, and gingerbread cookies. Abby loved the powered doughnuts and the more the powder the better!

This picture doesn't do the tree justice. I tried taking a picture in the dark, but the lighting was funny. It's a really tall tree and it looks awesome!

These are my favorite Christmas decorations to set up. Click on the picture to enlarge it and see each set. I have several nativity sets that I display every year. The one on the right (on the plate) is the set I picked up while in Guatemala getting Abby. The one next to that is the one my dad got while he was in Mexico visiting my missionary aunt and uncle. The one in the middle that looks like a coconut hut was a gift from a friend who went on a trip to Haiti. The one on the left I got while I was in Ecuador on a mission trip. The tall metal structure in the back was a gift from a friend last year. I just love the message. I can't wait to bring one home from Ethiopia to add to the collection. It's so amazing that all the sets look different, but the message is the same: Love came down at Christmas Time.

Family Rocks!!

We left yesterday morning and headed down to see my sister and her family. I absolutely LOVE going down to see them. There's nothing like spending time with and loving your family. We had a great time! Enjoy our pictures. My sister Beth and her husband Jeff
My beautiful superstar niece Lauren

My parents took us out for pizza last night and then took us out again for breakfast. Yahoo!

Five beautiful women!

What a family!

Sophie and Abby were inseparable this weekend. They had so much fun together. They giggled, and played and then giggled again. It's the stuff I used to dream about... Abby getting along with her cousins and becoming best friends. It actually happened this weekend!

Papa and his girls

Laundry, laundry,laundry....

My amazing sister (who has three daughters) was kind enough to loan me all her baby clothes for Grace. I have quite a few clothes left from Abby, but when Abby first came home as an infant, I did borrow these clothes from my sister. My sister is so giving!! She allowed me to use them again. Needless to say my washing machine has been working overtime tonight and will work again tomorrow to catch up on these little outfits. Here's the first load, all washed, dried and folded into piles. These are the 3-6 months size clothes. I'm hopeful that Grace will be 5 months old when she comes home.

This is the next pile. It's the 6-9 months size. She should be in these fairly quickly this spring.

Here's another 6-9 month pile. I think I'll be doing laundry for the next few days!

Happy Thanksgiving

Bless the Lord O my soul and ALL that is within me, Bless His Holy Name!
We had a great Thanksgiving Day. We started the day by waking up super early and running to Meijer to check out some early bird specials. They had a Wii Fit for half price and a portable dvd player on sale. I couldn't believe how packed the store was and it wasn't even Black Friday. We were successful with the portable dvd player, but not with the Wii Fit. I was even able to pay for it in electronics and didn't have to wait in the enormously LONG line.
Then we went to church were it was a packed house. I love going to church when it's packed and everyone is in a great mood. The atmosphere was so electric and so thankful. There was an open mic session and I can never bring myself to say anything. I'm not a public speaker and I get embarrassed so quickly. But my amazing dad stood up and gave thanks for his 8th grandchild who is in Ethiopia and coming home in January. I started crying. This is the one thing I am most thankful for this year and it is because of God's grace that my dream will be coming true.
After church we made another quick stop at Meijer to pick up some diaper deals and then it was off to my grandparents house for dinner. We had a feast! It was delicious! After a few games and some great conversation we headed home to go through the huge stack of ads in the newspapers. I was armed with paper and pen to write down everything I needed (I mean wanted). But...I couldn't find anything to write down. We did make one last trip to Walgreens to pick up a very few deals and then it was home to take showers and calm down. Tomorrow we're headed to my sister's house so it's early to bed for everyone tonight.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! My cousin Rachel and her husband, Ben, are in town for Thanksgiving. They flew in from Oregon last night. I haven't seen them in several years, so it's nice to reconnect again. Abby is loving the time with them. At bedtime I asked her what her favorite time of the day was and she said, "playing with Rachel and Ben". Too cute!

I love this picture! Here are four generations of beautiful Godly women. My grandma turns 89 on Saturday, then there's my mom, me and my daughter Abby. This picture will be a treasure for years to come.

Downtown Holiday Fun

Last night we headed downtown for the annual Holiday celebration. Even though it's an annual celebration, we've never gone so we weren't sure what to expect. We had a great time. The streets were lined with luminaries, the carolers were singing Christmas songs, Santa was visiting with the kids, there was hot chocolate and even chestnuts roasting over a fire. I ran into lots of people I knew and Abby loved the free cookies from the stores. We were only downtown for an hour, but it was totally worth it. We'll do back again next year.

Nesting

I've really gotten the nesting instinct lately. I just really want my Gracie home! I've already emptied several tubs of clothes and put them into her drawers. Saturday afternoon I decided to tackle the crib. I was planning on putting it up next week when I have a little time during Thanksgiving break, but I was in the cleaning mood and decided to go ahead and just do it. It looks so great in Abby's room. I was worried that it wouldn't fit nicely because Abby's bed takes up so much room, but I was surprised at how much room there was for it. I was also concerned that Abby wouldn't adjust to it being in "her" room, but again I was surprised. It didn't seem to faze her at all. She was totally fine with it. I hope I can be as blessed when Grace finally comes home and actually sleeps in it.

Friday Night Fun

On Friday night we ventured over to our friend Beth's house for dinner. This is the group of single adoptive moms that I get together with once a month. I absolutely love these girls. We have a great time and our kids get along so well! Beth prepared a feast for dinner and we were actually able to sit around the table and chat while the kids played and played and played. We giggled, laughed and shared. It was fantastic. I love this group of moms! Abby and Levi played hard all night. They spent much of the night running around in circles and screaming. (that is until I put a stop to the screaming...)

Aliya surprised us all by finally coming out of her shell and making almost as much noise as Abby and Levi. It was so fun to see!

Kim brought her friend Cassidy along and she fit in so well with all the kids.

Parent Teacher conferences and Report Cards

It's been so crazy here. I'm in the middle of parent teacher conferences and report cards. I'm working 14-15 hour days and feeling the pain. My parents have been incredible and have been keeping Abby until I get home around 8:30pm. They even bring her home and have her in pajamas for me. They are such a blessing. I have a love hate relationship with parent teacher conferences. I truly do enjoy meeting all the parents and I always have important things to share with them, BUT it's hard to have conferences after a loooong day of teaching. I'm so ready for Thanksgiving break.

When I came home from my conferences, I found Abby's preschool report card waiting for me. It felt a little weird being on the other side of the report card. I've always been the one creating the report and writing the comments. This time I was the receiver. I've never been more proud of Abby! She's doing great!! I don't have conferences with her teacher until March, and I'm sure it will be different to be on the other side of the table. But for now, I'm in love with my daughter's report card and with her awesome moral character.

Yep, I'm in love with coupons!

It's true. I'm a fanatic with coupons. But...I can get such great deals!! Today I headed to Target armed with my store coupons. I was ready to find the deals. We headed to the baby section. Yep, I'm going to be a momma again so I need to stock up!! I got everything in this picture (4 tubs of baby wipes, 4 packs of baby wipes and 4 packs of toddler wipes) for only $1.16!! Can you believe it? What a deal! Maybe, just maybe if you're nice, I'll share my secrets. :)

A Perfect Fall Day

Today was absolutely beautiful. It was almost 70 degrees and we saw the sun all day. I love the Indian summer in November. We went off to church this morning. It was my week to teach preschool so we headed to church early. Then while Abby went home with my parents, I was able to go to the second service. It was so much fun to share my referral news all over again with my church family. There are two other families who have adopted kids from Ethiopia this past year and they were excited to share my news. After church we headed out to Pizza Hut for lunch. We talked and talked about our traveling plans, new baby clothes and how we can't wait to bring her home. By the way, I have decided on her name, but I'm not going to put it on the blog. So if you see me in real life, ask away because I'm totally ready to share. Otherwise I'm sure that you'll be able to get it out of Abby without any prompting or bribing. She pretty ready to share her news too.
After a short nap we headed outside for an afternoon walk. I walked the dog and Abby rode her bike. She was so excited to be back outside again. It was so beautiful outside that we quickly shed our jackets in the sun. After our walk I pulled out my beloved lawn chair and the neighbors joined us for some entertainment. Ahhh...it made me miss the lazy days of summer. I thought I wouldn't get the lawn chair out again, but it felt good be in it today. I'm not sure how many more days there will be. We headed in for some dinner, bathtime and some Dora before bed. I worked a little more on report cards and now Abby's sleeping and I'm checking email and updating the blog. It's been a good day. Abby thought everyone should have a snack so she volunteered to get her snacks and share. It was cute to watch her give everyone a snack. I'm only hopeful that she'll also be in the sharing mood when her sister comes home.

This picture cracks me up. I asked both Jake and Abby to smile. Jake did a great job, but Abby thought she would be funny and look the other way. But you can tell by the smile on her face that she knows exactly what she's doing.

Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow!!!

Today turned out to be a G-R-E-A-T day!!!!! Today I got the call!! Around 11:30am my adoption agency called and told me they had a referral for me. A referral!!!!! For me!!!! She' adorable!!!!!! I wish I could post her pictures but there are regulations with that and I won't be able to post her picture until she becomes legally mine, which is after our court date. Anyway, here are the vital statistics:
Name ??? (yep, STILL haven't decided, or I just want to keep you guessing)
Age ?? (unknown...she was abandoned so there is only a guess at her age...approximately 2 months old right now)
Weight about 9 pounds
If you see me in real life, I'll have her picture and yes, I'll share it. She's so BEAUTIFUL!! I'm totally amazed at the intricate workings of our God. He worked out every finite detail. Every single one! Even down to same size and season of clothes that Abby wore when she was so little. PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!!

Happy Birthday Nana!

Today was my mom's birthday! We love her SOOO much! We are so blessed by her and through her. She has been the most incredible mother, but even more so she has become an amazing friend. Very few people can say that they get along with their mom as friends, but that's exactly what we are...friends!
We hosted her birthday party and we had a feast! The menu included chicken enchiladas, tacos, chips and cheese, fruit salad, corn, ice cream and cake! We all left the table with full stomachs. My brother and his family joined us too. My sister-in-law and nephew stayed home due to illness, but the rest of the family came and we had a great time. Enjoy the pictures! Abby helped me make this cake yesterday and was super excited to show Nana as soon as she arrived.

Here's a close up of the cake. It was super easy and super fun! It looks great and tasted even better!

The kids were holed up in Abby's room working on "art" projects. They all had their own art coloring book. This is Seth. Abby and Leah are below.

Here's the whole gang at dinner. What a good looking bunch!

Since everyone was worried about sickness Nana decided to use a paper to put out her candles instead of blowing. It was hilarious and caused us all to laugh. We love you Nana!