A few Christmas pics

Our Christmas was very busy. On the 23rd we went to R's bf's grandparents farm. They have an awesome place and we are thankful that they opened their home up to us for the day. We laughed and played music and ate and did a little sight seeing around the farm. It was cold and drizzly so we stayed in a lot but we did get T out to see the old bridge and dam and whats left of the old mill. Here is the bridge.

And here's the old mill. I guess the wood part of the structure burned several years ago. I was totally amazed at the cut stone work foundation.

You can tell that the block work is newer than the rest of the building. It's still quite interesting.

This is part of the turbines, if I remember right.

We had Christmas eve at our friend's house. We've been doing that for 10+ years. We always have a great time. This one of their dogs. You might recognize her from the parade pics.

Isn't she cute?
And here are the hosts.

And a Christmas pic of all of us (except J, sigh). Someone asked me the other day why R doesn't wear her contacts anymore. I explained that she discovered that it's very easy to just put her glasses on and she got lazy about it.

And here is one with R's boyfriend. Love those timer pics.

I hope your Christmas was wonderful. Ours was.

Merry day after Christmas

Our celebration continues today with my family. Cooking has commenced. Gifts are just about ready to go. I'm looking forward to it.

We got some pics of our son last night. Here he is opening the backpack of gifts. The O has everyone send their gifts in backpacks so the kids have a place to keep their things.
Here's another one with some of the other kids. J is on the far right. Notice the Spiderman masks on the tree. I love it. Each of the kids got a stocking with their names on them from a church in the states. How special is that? Oh, the blanc, or little white girl, is the daughter of the couple who lives at the boy's home. I've never met them but I'm so thankful for them. They're awesome.

Merry Christmas!

The celebration has begun. We had a candlelight (sort of candlelight) communion service yesterday evening and then went to friends for our Christmas eve traditions. We eat, sing, and tell stories and then open some gifts. It's a lot of fun. I made pajama bottoms for all of us and we opened them at about midnight and then went to bed. This morning we opened some more presents and now the kids are playing video games. Misty the cat is totally enjoying the bows, boxes and wrapping paper. She is quite entertaining. R is going to her bf's house today and we will all go to my parent's tomorrow. We may go to a movie later today. We'll see.

We still haven't heard if our papers got picked up and put back into MOI, or when that might happen. We'll be trying to call J today. I hope we get to talk to him. Christmas number 4 without him is kind of tough. We kept thinking "surely he'll be home by next Christmas" for a couple of years. Ha! We know better than to even think that this year. He still has unopened gifts from last Christmas. Merry Christmas J. We love you and miss you.

Merry Christmas to everyone else, too. I pray for health and joy for you and that you will remember the Real Reason for the season.

And I think I'll do a thankful list. I'm thankful that God sent His Son to save us. I'm thankful for the sun that's out today as we've had a lot of rain and the sun is a nice break. I'm thankful for family and friends who are like family.

P.S. I just talked to J! He got the water gun that he asked for and we sent him. I'm sure there are some kids there that are not thankful for his water gun but he seemed very excited about it. He sounds like he has laryngitis, either that or he's been yelling all morning. R has laryngitis too, but her's is not from yelling. So, I'll add to my thankful list that I got to talk to J and wish him a Merry Christmas and tell him that I love him. I am thankful for that.

Yada, yada

Well, blogger finally decided to let me on. I tried earlier today and couldn't get on. Anyway, our lawyer said that she got our file finally. Hopefully she will find no more errors and the O can pick it up and hopefully get it back into MOI next week. Pray.

The weather has been crazy here. It's been raining a lot. We saw a few peeks of sunshine yesterday. We weren't sure what it was at first-LOL. It was cool this morning, then it started raining and warmed up, but it's supposed to get down to freezing tonight with snow flurries. Zoiks. I don't know what that will do for church attendance but we have some nice musical numbers worked up-if those performing are feeling better, that is. Some of them are not feeling so good. Sigh...

We had a "request" for a pic of the staircase. T made some shelves for at the top a couple weeks ago and I stained them last week. After struggling to stain them, I decided to put plastic all around and spray polyurethane on them.

Here's the shelves. The spray poly was a good idea and the job was done in no time. T and the girls put the books and pics up.
There's some empty space still so I'll have to get up there and re-arrange and maybe take some books from the downstairs shelves up there. I'm excited about more room for family pics too.

The presents are filling up under the tree. The girls have been very busy shopping and wrapping. I got some wrapping done the other day.

With the lights on.

This is A's little tree in her room.

She does love to decorate. Those are shells that she and my mom collected at the beach and then put glitter and bows on them for ornaments. You can also see some of her interesting bottle collection.

Did I mention that R got straight A's her first semester at college? Yup, that's my girl.

Maybe I'll do a thankful list. Let's see. I'm thankful for my family, for our pets and that the lawyer got our file back in hand.

Man cold

I know I've been posting a lot of video links but that's where I'm at right now. There's a lot of busyness going on here and a lot of heavy things on my mind. So, forgive me, but I have another one for you. Yes, I've linked this one before too. T has a "man cold". I don't think he got it from me as I've been well for over a week. This video explains the "man cold". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXLHWmjA5IE

Check this out

No good adoption news yet.

I have another video for you to check out though. I love this. Go to www.livesayhaiti.blogspot.com and watch "Journey to Bethlehem". Awesome job, Livesays.

Another link

Having trouble getting in to the Christmas spirit? I discovered these guys last year and they really help you get into the Christmas mood. They're too funny. And oh so good. They're so good that I bought their CD this year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8 Enjoy!

Blast from the past

Hey y'all, watch this. This is a link to a video from A's friend's 10th birthday party. A is in the cream colored shirt and E is in the red shirt and L is in the purpleish blue shirt and M is in the back with the basketball. Enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ja8GOJcI_k

Snow day and 39 months

School was closed on Friday because our slush turned into ice. R had to be somewhere early in the morning so T took her. They said it was slippery. By the time I left for work it was pretty much melted on the roads.

T made a fire in the fireplace last night. This isn't the best pic but I love having a fire going, especially at Christmas time. I made a s'more and played video games with the kids.

I woke up early this morning thinking about the adoption and stuff going on in our lives. I couldn't get back to sleep. Why is it that you can never sleep on the days that you have time to sleep in?

We're at 39 months since beginning the paper chase for the adoption. This is the 4th Christmas without him here. I'm so tired. We are just weary of the process. I was talking to a friend who is trying to bring her third child home from Haiti and she is weary of the process too. We're both so tired of the fight. I said, "Please tell me that it's worth the fight. Tell me that it's worth it to bring the kids home." She said it definitely is.

I could be very bitter about this process. It has not left me feeling good about adoption, the process, and the world as a whole. I just wish the people who need to sign these papers had an idea of what we go through as adoptive parents. It's been such an emotional roller coaster and I feel like we have "been through the wringer". I feel like we have nothing left to give but it's not even over yet. Pray for us.

I have to choose to not be bitter. I have to look at pics and videos of J and remember why we're doing this. I have to hear people tell me that it's worth it. Lord, please let J come home.

Obviously, we're struggling. We're trying to have the proper perspective on Christmas and the Reason for the season. We're trying to make good memories for our other children. We have to choose to find things to be thankful for. That's why I do thankful lists. Please pray for us.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

It's snowing here. Not a huge deal in some places but cause for celebration here. We probably won't get much but it's exciting none the less. Nearly a half inch when T took this pic.

I love this because you can see the flakes that are falling. It's been raining all day so the snow is mostly slush. And it's very "slickery". Do you think they'll close school tomorrow?

Still here

We're still here. Just busy this time of year. No news on the adoption. Sigh...this is Christmas number 4 without J here. I hung up his stocking again for the third year in a row. It's depressing if I let it be. Please pray for us.

Maybe I should do a thankful list. I'm thankful that we're all relatively healthy. I'm thankful that we're catching up on rain and have not had bad storms. I'm thankful for the joy that my husband, children and pets bring me.

Pets

This morning I found a lump in my bed. This is what it looked like.

So I peeked up under the quilt and this is what I found.

Sanomae had wormed her way up under the quilt but was on top of the rest of the bedding. That cat loves to root and get comfy. A and I were taking pics and laughing at her when A looked up and said, "Well Dexter's in your sink." Of course we had to take pics of him too.

Recently it was time for the annual Christmas parade. So we hooked up the "redneck open sleigh", which is the design of a sleigh cut out of plywood and painted up and then attached to the sides of a 4-wheeler trailer. Of course, it's pulled by a pick-up truck. We saw mules on the parade route.

The people that own the redneck open sleigh take their dogs with when we ride in the parade. They put hats and antlers and sweaters on the dogs and embarass them. It's a lot of fun.


We saw reindeer sleeping on the job. Casey is taking note of them and learning how not to do his job in the redneck open sleigh.

Yeah, the whole town is kind of funny as noted by the saddle on the cement horse statue.

Abby was not impressed with her sleigh ride at all.
The humans sure enjoyed it though. We sang, "Dashing through the snow, in a redneck open sleigh..."

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I'm still fighting the snotitis but it seems to be getting better today. Monday was okay, yesterday not so good, somewhat better today. Anyway, I promised pics of the decorations. A pretty much decorated the whole house. I put lights and garland on the tree and set some things out here and there and she has pretty much done everything else.

I had to put this one in here. Dexter is still looking for the treats and willing the door to open.
The piano is all decorated. Sorry for that glare.

The Christmas cactus is blooming like crazy. Can you see all the little blossoms?

Here is one close up.

The staircase.

It has lots of lights on it.

Here is the fat, fluffy, flat-topped tree.

Dexter is enjoying the new blankets we put out just for him (so he thinks).

This is the top of my kitchen cabinets. I don't know why but I really like this pic.