BEST DAY EVER!!!!

And what a day it was! Maria had such a wonderful time! Her 8th birthday party was a success and I don't believe she could have had more fun.

After much thought, she decided on a Tangled party theme again for this year. We made invitations and invited her first grade class plus some extra special friends who don't go to her school. We had the party in the ministry center at church and rented inflatables for the kids to play in and on. They all had such a good time!

We took a break for craft time. My sister came up with the idea of making satchels (in honor of Flynn Rider). After the satchels were finished we had a scavenger hunt for gold covered chocolate coins and golden wrapped bubble gum. The satchels were adorable and the kids loved making them (and filling them with yummy loot).

They used their satchels to carry their pinata stash too! Those bags came in very handy!

Next, the pizza came. We had to keep up our strength with all that bouncing and sliding ;) and then of course, cake and ice cream. To top it all off, we had to send the kids home with a little more sugar. The cotton candy machine was a big hit and everyone took a bag home.

Such a great birthday party! It was wonderful to see the kids have so much fun! There were some adults who enjoyed themselves too!!

Happy 8th birthday Maria! We love you sweetheart!

Thanks to all who helped, especially my big guys who loaded the inflatables back into the trucks when it was all over.

A party fit for a Princess!!

The Blog Post About Nothing

I guess Seinfeld and I have something in common. I haven't posted for a while because........well.........although there's lots going on in our lives, there hasn't been anything earth shattering happen. We are STILL waiting to hear from the USDOS. I did receive an e-mail a couple of weeks ago that said "several" of the cases with CNA have been submitted to the DOS and their paper work has begun. The message also said that they are urging the CNA to send more cases but I'm not sure the CNA is obliging.

There has been some very encouraging news for adoption cases in general. There were meetings in Washington DC this week between Guatemalan and US officials and the talk in those meetings was very positive. It does seem that the new Guatemalan President and his staff are committed to finding a way forward for the cases that have been stalled for so long. The Guatemalan Minister of Foreign Affairs has promised to have a transparent process for the pending adoptions within 100 days. Believe me, the waiting parents have that 100 day deadline marked on their calendars!

In other news, Mark and I are stiiiiilllllllll working on remodeling our bathroom. I think we could probably go into some record books as having the longest running remodel job in history! I'll have to post some before and after pics when it's all done. But.........don't hold your breath for those.

On a personal note, I started on January 1st to try and get myself back into shape. I had become, over the last few years, a sedentary blob!! After months of encouraging from Kelsey, I finally attended my first zumba class on January 5th and now I'm hooked! I've never had so much fun sweating in my life! I've lost about 10 pounds. The weight is certainly not coming off as fast as I would like but at least it's coming off!

We're preparing for Maria's 8th birthday which is coming up in just a week. We sent out the invitations on Friday and she is so excited. She is still princess obsessed and is having a Tangled party theme again this year. She wants a cake just like last years. So far, all of my talking hasn't swayed her from that idea yet. We'll have to see who wins this battle.

Stay Tuned!

Happy New Year!!

I'm still amazed that another year has flown by. I'm learning what I had always heard is true; the older you get, the faster they go. But also, hopefully, another saying I've always heard is true; the older we get, the wiser we get. I'm believing that one too. I'm already thinking about how I can make next year's holiday's a little less chaotic. Even though I started shopping earlier this year than ever, I didn't finish until the last minute. Mark will never believe it when I say I'm going to do better next year. I'll let you know next year how I did with that.

We did receive some news about the adoption a short time back and I started a post but never finished it. I kept thinking I would have time to sit down and proof read..........ha! Since our news (that was actually 3 weeks ago now) nothing has happened. Even though the USCIS expected to immediately begin receiving names of cases, no one has gotten the call that their case is ready to proceed. Hopefully, now that the holiday's are over, things will start moving. There is the issue of a new president and new faculty and staff that will also potentially slow things down............don't you know..........there's always something. But I believe our good news is around the corner. Below is the post that never got posted and was written on Dec 14th.

It feels like forever since we've gotten any good news but it has finally happened! We were contacted by the USCIS on Monday. The e-mail stated the CNA had given them our case as one that they are planning to process under their new Acuerdo. We were given instructions to call in to a teleconference call today to find out about the process. The absolutely wonderful news is that our case now has a path to follow to completion. The not so wonderful news is we have no idea how long that path is. We were told that the group of families who were invited to join the call are cases that could be ready to process rather quickly. Not sure if they're talking my idea of "quickly" or CNA's but I really hope it's mine. The process will be initiated by the CNA so when they are ready to begin the final stages of our case, they will contact the USCIS, who will in turn, notify us. We were informed about the documents we will have to prepare when the USCIS contacts us and then were basically told to just sit tight until we are contacted. That'll be easy........... I thought I was bad at stalking my e-mail before! Now that I know we could get a notification at any time, I'll probably be tied to this computer!! The process sounds fairly simple. The CNA will require 5 items for our file:

1. a CNA application

2. current homestudy

3. photos of the inside and outside of our home

4. a psychological exam for both Mark and I

5. a copy of our I171H.

We are responsible for getting any written documents translated into Spanish before we can submit them. The psychological exam won't be cheap and getting a certified translator to translate the documents won't be cheap either but at least now we know there is a process to follow and our case will be included. I had been praying Nola would be home by Christmas. That's not going to happen but getting this good news during the holiday's is certainly a blessing! And now............we wait again!

I'm praying the new year brings good news for all of the waiting families! Let 2012 be the year that all of our children come home!!

Sending You A Little Christmas!

Praying this is the last Christmas we spend without you home!

Thanks to my brother Jay and my nephew Trey for putting this together for me!

Happy 4th Birthday Nola!

We celebrated Nola's fourth birthday last week end. It's so hard to believe four years have gone by! I know her special day wasn't recognized in the hogar. They do have a monthly celebration of some sort for all of the children who have birthday's that month.

I'm looking forward to the day when she can have her own party, and pick out what ever design she wants for her birthday cake and have her birthday wishes come true!

















Maria has appointed herself the official candle blower outer.

But I know next year, Nola will take care of that job herself!

We're praying you home sweet baby! Happy Birthday!

It Feels Like It Might Be Hope!!

We finally had some news last night, through a conference call, about the most recent trip to Guatemala by Senator Landrieu and her group. It sounds like cases, like ours, that have Certificate of Adoptability will be ready to process rather quickly. The CNA has released a Memorandum of Understanding which covers how the process will work and seems to have included most if not all of the stalled cases. I guess now we wait again to see how the process will actually function but for now I'm thrilled for an answer to prayer. We were told that the tone of this trip was completely different than the trips before. I know that was God at work. He softened the hearts of all of the officials involved which allowed them to see a way forward for these cases. The process is indeed in writing and ready to be put to work.


Thank You Lord!!!


"Hope has a way of turning it's face to you just when you least expect it.
You walk in a room, you look out a window and something there leaves you breathless.
You say to yourself, it's been a while since I've felt this
But it feels like it might be Hope!"


(Chorus of It Might Be Hope by Sarah Groves)

Waiting

There have been moments in my life when I wished time would stand still...........and then, there is this moment. At this moment, I am so anxiously waiting to hear some news, any news, of the most recent meetings between the US and Guatemala concerning adoptions. The US group was in meetings in Guatemala Monday and Tuesday last week and arrived home one week ago today. Now tell me, how long should it take to gather thoughts, information, facts and statistics and put it all together into a message for the hundreds of families who are waiting???? In my opinion...............one week is plenty of time.