Computers--Ahhhhhhhh!

Computers are really a great thing when they work! Can't live with them and can't live without them!!! Our wonderful 1 year old computer locked up on Monday night. It is now in the "shop" to try and figure out what's wrong with it. We've heard everything from windows being corrupted or damaged to, it's a security thing with a recent windows update. With all that said we won't be seeing it until sometime next week. I had a couple of things to post, but they'll have to wait. Some of our recent highlights--Playing in the snow, snowmobiling at the mountains, Benjamin getting his braces on (I have before and after pics to post when we get our computer back), and celebrating the Chinese New Year! Well enough of my computer stories! Hope to be posting again real soon!!!

(Oh, you might ask how am I posting with no computer? Brent's work computer. Thanks Brent!)

Adoption Update

Good Morning! We received our monthly update this week concerning our adoption. A lot of people have been asking what's the latest. It's actually the same that's it been for the last year. Still waiting! :-) Just a little recap for those that aren't as familiar with the adoption lingo. Our dossier (paperwork) was sent to China Dec 2005. We were logged into their system Jan 24 2006, so our log in date (LID) is Jan 24,2006. That is the date the clock officially started ticking for us. We are waiting for our referral (picture, name, any info). The current wait time has now gone to 17-18 months and increasing. This means it will be 17-18 months or more from our LID until we could see a referral. Of course, this wasn't the news we were hoping to hear! :-( Due to the overwhelming amount of families wanting to adopt from China (which is awesome!) all over the world, things have significantly slowed down. Please remember all the families out there, whose wait times keep increasing. It's not an easy wait. Please remember our family too. We already redid our fingerprints in December. After talking with our agency yesterday we are starting the process of redoing our home study. This means--physicals again for the whole family, child abuse checks, criminal checks, financial statement updates, and an update to our home study. All of this paperwork that we did already will expire May 4, 2007. We have to keep it current. Next week will be a busy one for us! So there you have it! We get monthly updates from our agency on the status of referrals. We will try and post adoption updates towards the beginning of the month. Thanks to everyone for your prayers for your family! It's been and will continue to be quite an exciting journey! We look forward to that amazing day when we will meet our daugther!!!

Family Fun!

Well, it's been a little later than sooner in getting our pictures posted. There are so many photos, I just couldn't decide! A few highlights from our trip:

-Of course the surprise! We all arrived to Ft Lauderdale on different flights, met up together (somehow without Mom seeing us), got on the ship, walked up behind her having lunch, and SURPRISE!

-Formal night on the cruise was Mom's actual birthday. We cleaned up pretty good. :-)

-Garden tour and climbing Dunn's River Fall in Ocho Rios, Jamaica

- Sting Ray City in Georgetown, Grand Cayman Island, snorkeling, and ending up at Seven Mile beach for lunch and relaxation. Yes, to the family I did have fun at Sting Ray City even though the video shows me pretty much in a panic the whole time. Memories!

- Upper 80's and lower 90's for the temperature, sunny skies, and blue waters.

-Taking in shows on the ship, fun times at dinner in the evening, and just spending time together as a family!

Thanks Dad for all your planning of this trip. Thanks Mom for having a birthday!

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

A BIG thanks goes out to my family for helping out while we were gone. Thanks Uncle Jon, Aunt Becky, Cousins Ethan , & Emma for taking such great care of Benjamin for the weekend. He had a blast. Thanks to my parents for helping out during the week. We appreciated all the running to get Benjamin back and forth to school! Thanks so much!!!