The Big 4-0

Hanging out with a few friends.

Roses from a friend, my favorite flower and color.

My official birthday is on Tuesday, but we celebrated this weekend. I didn't feel the need for a party or anything, but Ryan didn't want it to go by being celebrated. So we invited some friends over for an ice cream social. All the kids went in the pool and we got to visit and eat ice cream. A little later we broke out the cheese fondue pot that friends brought to share. Then we decided to bring out the chocolate fountain and really end the party with a bang. Other friends brought Rock Band and we played that a few songs also. Overall we had a wonderful day.

Pigging out on the chocolate fountain

On Sunday, Ryan declared it Mommy day. We got to do whatever I wanted to do. I chose to go open house hopping. I looked up the houses I wanted to see and made a map. Everyone happily looked at 6 house with me. (there was only one we would buy if we were really in the market) Then we had lunch at my favorite restaurant, a big huge burrito!! Ryan was going to buy me dinner also, but I don't think I'll finish feeling full from lunch before bed time.
It was a great relaxing birthday, just the kind I like.

Finally some good news

We just found out that Shella May's packet has really made it to the Embassy this time. The Embassy confirmed that they had it when we called and our Representative's office just called to tell us that they received an email from the State Dept. saying the Embassy has it. So now what??

Now the Embassy forwards her information onto ICAB and they make a medical appointment for her. She then flies to Manila for her medical appointment and Visa interview. We pray that she passes her medical and then we finally get permission to travel and go get her. We could be within two weeks of going to get her now. We are really hoping to leave the 9th, but we will happily leave the 16th also or whenever they tell us to go.

Yay, we finally made it over that hurdle!!

Beating the heat

It has been in the 90's this week and humid. I know for some of you this may not be that hot, but remember we had -20's last winter so this is quite the spread for us. So we decided a few weeks ago to set up our little blow up pool. We bought it 3 or 4 seasons ago and it will be its last year for sure. The boys have grown and the pool has shrunk (we think the sides are losing their integrity and it can't stand up as straight as they used to. The boys don't complain about it at all, they are just happy to be outside in the water and cooling off.

The Boys' Recital

The boys had a recital yesterday for all the students of their violin teachers. It had about 20 children in the recital and it went in order of how well the students play. These are pictures of the boys sitting nicely before it all starts. Liam went first because he has only been playing for 4 months now. He played a variation of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Since he was first I got to steal a picture of him before he started. He did a great job and was not nervous at all. Lance went in the last half of the kids and he had a challenging song which he knew well. However, when he got up there he got a little nervous or something and lost his place in the middle of the song. He figured it out and started up again, but was not very happy about it at all. He was also mad because they handed out awards from a competition he was in earlier in the year and he got her certificate for a perfect score in that competition. He was so mad at himself for messing up at the recital he said that he didn't deserve the certificate. We told him that he did perfect at the competition and that was a different day and he deserves the recognition.

After the recital they all got chocolate notes. Lance perked up a bit when he saw the chocolate. Here they are relieved that it is over.

A wonderful distraction

We just found out that some military friends of ours are stateside for a bit. The real exciting part is that they are going to stop by our house and stay for a few days. We have only seen them once since we parted ways for duty stations in 1996, but they are great at keeping touch. She was an army friend of mine that I met during basic training and went on to school with and he was a good friend of Ryan's in the Corps and he was a groomsman in our wedding. We are so excited that they and their daughters are coming to visit. It really gives me a great purpose in this time of waiting. So, I'm off to clean the house now and get ready for our visitor tomorrow.

Proud to be a Minnesotan

Of course you all know the troubles that we have been having with our government agencies and the lack of communication and cooperation between them. Well, last week I shot some emails off to the people that represent us in this great state. I am happy to say that Representative Kline's office has been more than helpful at trying to cut the red tape. His staff members often check in and give me updates. In fact they now feel they have broken through the red tape and that our information is going to be sent again. I have never been so happy to be back at the beginning of a long wait. If this is true, we are right where we were on April 21st, waiting for another 4-6 weeks to go get our daughter, yay!!
I have also gotten emails from our senator's office, which surprised me because I thought her office would be way too busy. You see, we only have one senator right now because someone won't admit he lost the election 7 months ago (that's a whole different entry). Senator Klobuchar's office are a little behind in the making things move because they are using email instead of calling, however they are double checking everything also to try to find the problem.
I am so excited that our politicians represent the people of their state and really try to help. I almost didn't ask because we are just a small family in this big huge state, but they are showing us that every person does count.

My shower

Last weekend my friends threw me a "little girl" shower. They decided that I needed to be in the girl club, so they bought me some cool things to help jump start our life with a 6 year old girl. They had a princess cake and I got to wear a tiara and pink boa. I didn't take any pictures of the actual event, but I do have a few pictures of some gifts. They totally spoiled me with lots of gifts and really cute stuff. Here are a few of the cute outfits and pj's. They also got me a bunch of stuff that every little girl loves, including lip gloss, nail polish, hair extensions etc. Lance hated this bag when I showed him all the gifts. He doesn't want a girlie girl sister he said. We had a lot of fun and it was great to get together with everyone. All I have left to buy are a few more pair of underwear and a swimsuit.

Happy Birthday Lance!!

Lance turned 12 today and we had a fun busy day. He already had his party last week, but we made his present fun for him today because he had to go buy it himself. We gave him Amazing Race envelopes and made him tell his driver where the clue said to go. He had fun and we had fun making it for him. I wanted to include a bunch of pictures of the cute pre-teen boy, but it has gotten late so I'm just doing a then (6 years old) and now post.

A call for action

I just saw a complaint about a movie on one of my group boards. I can't even believe someone thought this was a good movie to make. It is a horror movie about a little adopted girl that is evil. I read that the trailer is "how could anyone ever love an adopted child as much as their own" or something to that effect. I doubt anyone that reads my blog would be inclined to go see the movie, so there is no real need to call for a boycott or anything like that. I do have some addresses if you would like to tell the movie producers what you think about the premise of the movie. I plan on writing a few myself. You can check out the trailer if you want.

Here is a sample letter someone wrote with the addresses you can write to:
To whom it may concern:
I want to express my outrage about the release of the movie Orphan. The film
plays into the stereotype of adopted children as damaged and dangerous.
It discourages families from pursuing adoption, particularly adoption of older
children, who are especially in need of loving homes. As an adoptive parent, I
am horrified by the line in the trailer that "it must be hard to love an adopted
child as much as your own." Adoption has often been misrepresented in the media,
but the previews for this film are unbelievably offensive. I urge you to change
the promotional materials, and to consider holding the release of the film
altogether.

Contact information:

Warner Bros.
4000 Warner Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91522
818-954-6000

Silver Pictures
4000 Warner Blvd. 90
Burbank, CA 91522-0001
818-954-4490

Time Warner Inc.
One Time Warner Center
New York, NY 10019-8016
212-484-8000

More brick walls

I have called the National Visa Center (NVC) and the State Department trying to get some answers on when NVC sent our paperwork. They just keep telling me the same thing it says on our letter, that they electronically sent our paperwork to the U.S. Embassy on April 21st. So, last night we called the Embassy. First I called and tried to explain that there is a problem with our paperwork not being received. The woman totally cut me off and wouldn't help me, but I did get a fax number out of her. We wrote the fax and Ryan ran off to the local store to fax it to the Philippines. When he got home, he called the Embassy again. He asked if they could follow up on the fax and they said no, but he was persistent enough that he finally got a number of someone in the department we were trying to deal with, instead of just the call center. He called that number and got through to a person, but was disconnected. He called it again and got a person, but she said everyone was on lunch break and she couldn't help. We waited another hour until they got back from lunch and then called again. This woman worked in the area we were trying to call, but again she was not helpful. She did not believe that NVC was sending things electronically. Finally Ryan told her to go get the fax we sent and she changed her tune a bit. After she saw our copy of the NVC letter she said she would follow up a bit on our case.

I'm not working today so that I can stay home and call the NVC and the State Department again. I have also started contacting our Senator and a Representative to see if they can help. I am hoping to get through to someone that can tell the Embassy how to do their job. We have already spent a lot of time, money and energy on this and we have no results.

If you are a PAP that reads my blog and you are in the same stage we are with a letter from the NVC, please contact me.