Playing tourist in our own backyard

Today was a beautiful MN day and we decided to take advantage of it with an outdoor activity. They always say in this economy we should be tourists in our own area and that's what we did today. There is a historic site only a few miles away from our house that we have never been to. It's strange because we have driven out of our way in IA and other states to go to sites like this and we have one right by our house. To make it even better the library has free passes for different places around the cities right now. So we went to the historic site which is made up of buildings constructed around the mid 1800's. We walked the mile out to the city, looking at things along the way and then we took the trolley back to the beginning at the end. We had a great day with wonderful weather and some fun education. I did feel a little old at times because there were things there that I remember from my childhood that my grandparents had in their homes.
Riding in the horse drawn "trolley". Liam had to preach when we were inside the church.

They got to build boats at one of the houses. They really did float when we got home.

Enjoying the day by the river. Liam thought the sun was too bright to look forward.

Liam had to be the "girl" it was 1st grader funny. Looking at the chickens...city kids.

Playing old fashioned playground games outside the school.

Adoption Update

So....we got news today, finally. When we called the Embassy last week they said that they were going to give ICAB the list of names at the end of the week. ICAB makes the medical/visa appointments for all of the children. We waited for a few days for our agency to call and ask when Shella May's appointment was and they finally emailed someone yesterday. Her medical appointment has been set tentatively for July 13th and her visa for July 17th. Not exactly the dates we were looking for (we wanted something sooner of course) but we are happy with just having dates now. Of course they can change, so we have to keep an open mind about it. After her visa is officially done we can travel to get her. So, now we have a new milestone to wait patiently until. Hopefully all will go well and she will have her appointment and pass it on the 13th.

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.