20th class reunion

This weekend was my 20th class reunion. It is so hard to believe that 20 years have passed since I left Amery High School! We had a fairly low turn out, of the approx 140 classmates only about 1/3 turned out. It was still fun to see everyone, some of who i have literally not seen since graduation day. Our class has had 3 people die which is sad for our age. The event consisted of an afternoon picnic & an evening dinner. At the picnic many brought their kids (of which Maddy was the youngest). I have at least one classmate with a child in college and many others with high schoolers. This was one time when I really felt the reality of us starting our family later in life. I do not really consider this a bad thing, just a little different from most of my peers.

We also went to Matt's grandma & grandpa's house for a couple of hours in the morning to help with the annual wood cutting & stock-up the cousins get together to do each fall. Maddy got to see some of her cousins, which she enjoyed.

Here are a few pictures-

Paperchase blues

I haven't written much about our paperchase for our 2nd adoption so I thought I would give an update on where we are in the process. This time around various rules have changed mainly the fact that the US has now become compliant with the Hague Convention. This convention speaks to the treatment of children internationally related to adoption and tries to standardize the process country to country. To us this means more background checks & further scrutiny on our life in general.

We were hoping to have our dossier to China by November (known as the DTC or Dossier to China date), but at this rate we will be lucky if this happens by the end of the year or January. The new rules have only been in place since May so many of us that are applying now are essentially the Guinea Pigs for getting our paperwork done & into the USCIS for approval. Many of the agencies are getting a lot of questions back and this is delaying approvals. Ugh!!

Swimming Lessons

Maddy started swimming lessons this week at the local community center. Her class is called Tiny Tots for 1 & 2 years olds with their parents. It was so cute to see all of the kids ranging from 12 months to 2 1/2 years splashing in the water. Maddy's friend Olivia from our neighborhood also is taking the class.

Here are a few pictures:

A few dedications

Here are a few pictures we have taken over the last week that we would like to dedicate to a few people....

To uncle Adam, Daddy & I went to McDonald's the other day & look what came in my Happy Meal. He comes complete with sound effects.

To Grandma, I've really gotten into The Gingerbread Man book you gave me. I have especially taken to the 'Man' you made me. I even cuddled with him at naptime today.


To Auntie Joyce: thanks again for the dress you gave me, I finally got to wear it to church last week.

Thank you so much to the 3 of you for all of the things you do for me. Although they may seem small, they have a big impact on my life. I love you! -Maddy

One year ago today......

Our lives were turned upside down with a phone call. At approximately noon I received the call we had been waiting over 2 years to receive-news that we were parents of a beautiful baby girl from Jiangxi Province, China. We got stats first & then her picture was e-mailed to us a couple of hours later. That night we celebrated at PF Changs this long awaited event.