Fed Ex Confirmed!!!!

Well, another big day for us on this adoption Journey! We received a call from the Thai Consulate in NY yesterday saying our paper work was ready to send back to us with it's authentication!!! BUT, we gave them the wrong account number...............AHHHHHHHHHH!!
Luckily the lady I spoke to was super sweet! She took our correct info and then sent it out with FED EX !!! Looks like we will be getting our package tomorrow!!!

One last step and it will be out to HOLT and then to Tahiland for good!

We are soooooooooooooooooooo happy!

K

Spring Flowers

Just a few of our blooming spring flowers! It's so nice to be able to spend our days outside!

Beautiful day......take pictures!

It was a beautiful day yesterday and we enjoyed it! We spent most of the day working in the yard. Abby had school, but we had a chance to get out and look at our flowers before she had to go. It was nice seeing her love, what I love in th garden. She is starting to learn the names of plants and I just had to laugh when she came running through the yard yelling "mom, I have a petunna!". Well, it was a dandelion, but she said petunna!
I have been taking pictures of Abby in the same spots since we moved in to this home. While taking these, I remembered seasons past and thought about just how fast she is growing.
She is growing much too fast!

Thai Consulate!

Our papers are on the way to the Thai Consulate in NY!!!! They should have them by Monday (my moms b-day) and hopefully we will have them back at the end of the week.

Could we possibly be a May DTT???? I think so! Maybe even April???

1o Months from May is March 09, for referral, then travleing sometime between October and December 09. (just predictions, of course!)

Today is a GREAT DAY!

K

**** Shaun, we are waiting!****

A day at the Zoo

Fun Pics

Here are a few pics from this week! It has gotten cold again, so much of our time was spent inside.

Abby talked Daddy into getting his guitar out. She just loved watching him play and she was so proud that Dad let her play with him. Abby has always loved music and we hope she always will!

What else is there to do when it's too cold to play outside? Well, make party masks of course! What would we do if we got invited to a masked ball? Well, we spent a day making masks and we think they came out great! Do you know who that is behind the mask?

Enjoy!

under $20 project!

Something needed to be done in our homes entry way. We live in a bi-level and the entrance foyer is very small. Since we turned the coat closet at the top of the stairs into extra kitchen storage some thing needed to be done for our coats, and this Wall was crying out for something. For under $20 I was able to do what you see above, I hung trim molding and then added a 1X3 for a shelf, after caulking and painting, it looks like it has always been there. Then I added simple coat hooks (4 hooks, one for each family member and as you can see, Abby has taken over 2 hooks for now!). The hooks are low enough for Abby to reach and are out of our way. I also painted the wall under the molding a different color. (Lowe's oops paint $3 a gallon!)

The shelf is great for leaning pictures against and makes a great eye line to hang pictures above. I have struggled with decorating our house, this idea was 3 years worth of thinking. Well, worth it we think! We are glad to have some pictures up and I am looking forward to decorating the shelf with the holidays. My Dad's Santa statues will look great there at Christmas time!

Once I tile the floor, we will have totally changed the entry way. I spent about 3 weeks last year painting and re staining the wood work. I also added a etched class look to the windows on either side of the front door.

It's coming along!!!!

K

State Certification!!!

We have State Certification!!!! Yesterday we drove to Columbus for our second to last step in the paperchase process.

I have no problem saying ............by rights, we should have 2 more children! This is our 3rd dossier completed for adoption!

Next, we send it to the Thai Embassy in NY. We hope to have it out by the beginning of next week.

Returning to us within 10 days.

This means........................we could be DTT (dossier in Thailand) by months end!!!! This is great news!

K

Dirty feet season !!

DIRTY FEET SEASON IS HERE !!!!!

Yesterday we enjoyed being outside working in the yard. The weather was wonderful and we actually accomplished a lot in the yard. Abby just had to wear her flip-flops, as you can see they don't stay on her feet very well. She found 3 lady bugs, a bunch of worms and a salamander! We washed hands about 20 times yesterday!

We are starting to see all our perennials poking through the mulch. My polish clematis is starting to climb and the grass is needing a mow, already! Our tulips should be blooming next week, I cannot wait!

K

Gimme those cheeks!

Now, I know that I AM partial to Asian babies, but how cute is this little one? Look at those cheeks! When we waited for Abby I always dreamed about a baby with big cheeks, much like these! I just love 'em.

New friends!

Hello Wels family from Belgum! ,
It is so nice to meet other adopting parents on our blog. I wanted to thank you for sharing your blog with me. Your daughter is also from China and is absolutly beautiful! She reminds me a lot of Abby a year ago!
Good luck on your new journey and please, keep in touch!

Kathleen

Amanda and Kyle

K

Amanda and Kyle are getting married!!! In May, Kyle will be home from Iraq on leave. He has been gone since September and I know my niece misses him terribly. The big day will take place in upstate NY on May 10 Th.

We are very sorry to be missing this wedding, but do wish these two a wonderful future together.

This picture was taken last year during our family camp weekend. Abby really likes Kyle! She talks about how they caught a turtle together fishing and how he likes to play play-dough. We look forward to him becoming a part of the family.

(we do have another wedding we are missing this year. Once I get a picture of the future Mrs. Brain, I will post it. Their special day is June 19Th in Portland!)

K

Dossier

This picture best expresses how we feel! We have just had our Thailand Dossier County verified, next we take it to Columbus for State Certification. After that, we send it to NY and have it Thai Authenticated. Then................it's off to Holt and out of our hands. We are starting to feel the end of paperwork is finally near an end...........for now!
We still need to change our Government approval, changing our country choice to Thailand. We are allowed to do so one time for no charge. We will also eventually need our fingerprints done again. They will certainly expire before we travel.
All in all, we are thrilled to be so close. With all the changes we have faced so far this year in regards to the adoption, we are proud! We still have the good fight in us. Another child is what we want, no matter what it takes!

K

Thailand Flag

The flag of Thailand shows five horizontal stripes in the colours red, white, blue, white and red, with the middle blue stripe being twice as wide as each of the other four. The three colours red-white-blue stand for nation-religion-king, an unofficial motto of Thailand.[citation needed] The flag was adopted on 28 October 1917. The Thai name for the flag is ธงไตรรงค์ (Thong Trairong), which simply means tricolour flag.
The first flag used for Siam was probably a plain red one, first used under King Narai (1656-1688). Naval flags later used different symbols on the red ground—a white chakra (the weapon of god Vishnu which use as the symbol of the House of Chakri), or a white elephant inside the chakra.
Officially the first flag was created in 1855 by King Mongkut (Rama IV), showing a white elephant (a royal symbol) on red ground, as the plain coloured flag was not distinct enough for international relations.
In 1916 the flag was changed to the current design, but with the middle colour being the same red as the outer stripe. The story goes that during a flood King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) saw the flag hanging upside-down, and to prevent this from happening again created a new flag which was symmetrical. In 1917 the middle color was changed to dark blue, the auspicious colour for Saturday in Thai astrology, the day King Vajiravudh was born. According to other sources, the blue colour was also chosen to show solidarity with the Allies of World War I, which also had the colours blue-red-white in their flags.
The flag resembles the flag of Costa Rica, which was adopted 11 years prior to Thailand's. The main difference is that the blue and red colors are inverted.

If it could only grow.......

I found this picture on another adoptive Moms blog. I am not sure if it is her pic or she found it like I did, But I LIKE IT!!!

I wish we could grow money.................I love to garden! :) If we could grow money, adopting would be a lot easier!

Just had to say it!