Happy Thanksgiving!

We have so very much to be thankful for this year!
Evan is doing wonderful! Today he turns 16 months old. He is just shy of 25 pounds and is 33 inches tall. We are finally starting to hear some words out of him, he says momma, dadda, and buh-bye. He is all boy and loves anything with wheels!
Our social worker is coming over today for her 3 month visit. Wow! It's hard to believe he has been home for ONLY 3 months. Dave and I say all the time that it seems like he has been with us for much longer than that.
Please keep us in your prayers as we will be going through a big transition on Monday when I go back to work. I really am not looking forward to it at all :( But I keep telling myself that it's only 3 1/2 weeks until Christmas break!

We wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

One Month

Evan has now been home a month. Boy has life changed!!!

I have found that it's hard to update a blog with a one year old. So please forgive me if I don't write very often. I haven't found my "groove" yet. :)

He is a very happy and active 14 month old little guy. He loves anything with wheels and that makes noise. He is running around everywhere and loves to play outside. He loves to snuggle and hug. We are truly blessed!!!

We are still working on sleeping. He is teething a lot right now and so we have a few good nights in a row and then BAM- no sleep. When he does sleep he loves to snuggle with his blankie and have his pacifier. And he is usually knees under him and butt up in the air.

Oh, gotta go, someone just woke from his nap! ;)

EVAN IS COMING HOME!!!

I am a couple days behind updating this, but I did post it on Facebook on Monday.

Our baby boy is finally coming home!!!

Monday I had a meeting at school with a teacher and parent. I pulled into the parking lot at 8:30 and decided before I went into the building I would give DC a quick call to see if Evan had his Visa Interview scheduled yet. Well, the very nice man on the phone said "I'm sorry ma'am there is no new update on this case." I was bummed casue VI is the last step before travel. Well, DC is not always up to date cause at 10 my phone rang at it was the Grand Rapids office calling to let us know Evan is coming home!

He will be flying into Chicago O'Hare on Monday night, Labor Day. How fitting. :o)

I have been a crazy woman for the last two days. Not to mention I had to report back to school. The staff at school threw a beautiful shower luncheon today and Dave's co-workers threw him a suprise shower today too. So we both came home with two big boxes of left over cake.

So now let the house cleaning and packing begin. Hopefully I can get some sleep tonight!

Why Haven't I Been Here Before?

So I've gone the whole summer without going to a race. I have been going through withdrawal! So my friend Amy, her daughter Meagan, and I hit up the local track in Birch Run on Friday night. Why have I never been to Dixie Motor Speedway before? We had a blast! Definitely planning to go again!

Every race has a "fly over" after the National Anthem, this was ours tonight.

The Sprint Cup was at MIS this weekend, so driver Kenny Schrader came up to race at Dixie. We got pics and autographs before the race.

Becca Kasten (remember that name!) dominated all night. She (that's right boys "she") was lapping those boys big time. She was the car to beat until she ran out of fuel on the last lap. :(

Winner was Chase Elliott (son of Bill Elliott). Yes, he does have a baby face, he's only 15 and has already been signed by Hendrick Motorsports! A new "young gun" for NASCAR! :)

2 to 4 Weeks

That's how long our social worker estimated before Evan gets to come home. We got a phone call at 9 this morning from her letting us know that Evan was approved yesterday for his Emigration Permit (EP) and on top of that, he had his Visa Physical on August 4th.
So all that's left is paperwork has to be sent back to the US (Packet 3), they have to schedule his Visa Interview, and make arrangements for his escort.

The past two months of delayed good news have been horrible! All the horrible got wiped away in a minutes notice. Now it's on to "hurry up and get the rest ready!"

We want to thank everyone for the prayers over this long wait! We truly felt God's (and yours) strength and peace during the past few weeks.

August 9, 2003

I still remember the day like it was just yesterday!

I remember not getting any sleep the night before because of my allergies.
I remember falling asleep at the salon after hair and make-up were done.
I remember Dave couldn't find his ring before the ceremony and after the ceremony we found it in the glove box of my car.
I remember crying before the ceremony because I was so happy and my dad thought I was crying because I didn't want to go through with it.
I remember the photographer continuing to tell Dave to smile a real smile. :)
I remember my mom grabbing Dave's butt during pictures to get him to smile (a real smile).
I remember my mother-in-law dancing to "Baby Got Back" at the reception.
I remember being just drunk enough that I couldn't feel Dave yanking pins out of my hair up-do after the reception.

Most of all, I remember looking into Dave's eyes when I said "I do" and knowing that God had blessed me with the greatest guy in the world!

A Wonderful Weekend!

This past weekend we went camping up at Higgins Lake with our neighbors, Sal & Lydia. We have delayed making any definite camping plans with waiting on Evan. But once we heard that our wait would be longer than expected, it was time to get out of town and have some fun!

We had perfect weather, wonderful fellowship, and lots of fun! Here are a few pictures:

Before the big 4-wheeler adventure!
The red one is our new Polaris. Dave sold his Harley and bought this new toy!

Just a word of warning, don't drive an ATV on this road or you will be stopped by the DNR!

A stop by the AuSable River. Wow, I think I see a smile on Dave's face!

Friends of our neighbor's have a cabin on Houghton Lake, so Saturday we spent a day on the lake. Here's Samson's first time swimming in a lake!

I think he liked hanging out on the boat much better!