More than we could ask or imagine!!

Anniversaries, Gotcha Day, Weddings, and Births

2010-08-01T23:35:00.000-05:00

It's been a busy few weeks at our household. We're exhausted but trying to get the best out of summer.
We recently got back from John's parents 50th wedding anniversary celebration in Washington state. Not many couples make it that far anymore, healthy and happily married so kudos to Mom and Dad for that accomplishment. It coincided with the Tri-cities hydroboat races. I never knew anything like that existed until I married John, who grew up with them. It was fun to see, and now my kids have memories of the hotel as part of Nana's and Papa's house. Michael told me today I'm going to Nana's and Papa's house and the hotel tomorrow. He is so funny. His memory is also incredible, as it was brought about by looking at pictures I downloaded to my computer. He said I need to get on the plane tomorrow! Phoebe doesn't seem to remember her experiences as well, although she remembered the wedding we went to today. Funny what sticks in a girl's mind vs a boy's. I definitely have a masculine boy and a feminine girl. It's great fun to have their personalities like that!

We also celebrated Michael's 3rd Gotcha day with us. We can't believe it's been 3 years since this darling boy has changed our lives for the better. What a privilege it is to celebrate the day God entrusted him to our care. He is sweet, oh so sensitive(uncannily like his Dad, John), has a great sense of humor, and loves life and being a little boy. He got to do it twice, once at Papa and Nana's which was very special, and the other at home during his actual Gotcha Day. His favorite part was opening presents and blowing out candles. He can't get enough of that:) We went to the Waterpark of America, and he is also saying that he wants to go back. We've been going there the past few years and he recalls it as "splash mountain and big, big, slides." We took both he and Phoebe on the family raft and boy was that a hoot, they both said the yellow raft was their favorite.

Today we went to our nanny, Kim's wedding... She married her college sweetheart Jessie. It was a beautiful wedding with a beautiful bride. She loved my kids so that she made them feel very special during her celebration. Sweet Michael said, now don't leave me! That is one thing that we know deeply affected him in his adoption. He says to those he most loves, DON'T LEAVE ME, in almost desperation. He is finally putting words to feelings that he felt as a young baby. It deeply affects both John and I as parents. We reassured him that we would never leave him if we could help it. But he keeps saying that whenever he feels insecure. If only I could take away the pain he had experienced...

In the last two weeks we also welcomed a new cousin! A little boy named Thomas! My children were fascinated by him and Michael just loved holding him and of course wants to hold him all the time. Both he and Phoebe were overjoyed that my sister told them, they could be the boss of him! Oh, dear, she doesn't know what she asked for...

50th Wedding anniversary

2010-07-30T20:47:00.004-05:00

We'll see if this works. Here goes, it's the slideshow to John's parents 50th Wedding anniversary. It takes awhile to load and then you have to click through the pics. Sorry...

Catching up!

2010-07-16T19:51:00.006-05:00

Boy, how time flies when you are having fun. These last few months have been filled with the wonderful antics of my toddlers! They are getting to be so much fun, it's unbelievable what they are capable of. Mostly, they make me laugh. They say this is the terrible twos, and terrifying threes, and I see a bit of that, but for the most part, these are sweet days and they are absolutely delightful. They are home and not at preschool this summer, and for 3 more days, I have summer help. This year I don't think I'll be crying when she leaves. For me, it took at least 2 years of getting over myself, that my time isn't mine, and the most valuable and inmportant thing I have to do is to parent these 2 busy and bright children! This is the time of their lives that I'm going to have the most influence on how they turn out, and I've been convicted that I am the best one to do that. Influencing how a child reacts to new situations, how they deal with new people, and stresses in their life, it is a huge and humbling responsibility. Mom's brag time-for awhile I was worried that my kids would have something organic going on because of their unknown backgrounds with their adoption, ie developmental delays, autism or some autism spectrum disorder, processing disorders...I'm finally feeling relieved from those worries. No speech problems or delays, no echolalia-where they repeat everything you say, they have coherent, thought out speech and original thought patterns not copied from an adult or caregiver, they can sit still by themselves for extended periods of time, tell stories, they have creative independent play(I love this part and watching and listening to them), no obsessions, or unusual fears, particular ways to do things or have them done, or problems with strangers, even those not good with children, or new situations. They also at 2 & 3 are able to do 48 piece puzzles with some assistance, and 24 piece puzzles by themselves. They color within the lines, and know their letters by sight and the sounds they make. Still working on their numbers, but they can almost count to 20 by themselves. They can swim on their backs by themselves for 10 feet, and flip over and swim on their stomachs. They are currently are working on learning how to take breaths while swimming. They dive for their dive sticks, jump into the water and swim back to the edge by themselves. I always get strange looks from people because Phoebe is a peanut at 33 months wearing 18 month old clothes-she might make it to 2T by her birthday...
They say please and thank you, and they often say "I love you", freely and spontaneously!
They go on plane trips like pros probably making elite status by the end of the year...
What's funny is they know where we are going in the car and will tell me when I make a wrong turn...they also correct us, Mommy/Daddy, don't talk with your mouth full. John almost lost it the first time they did this to him, maybe they can change a habit?
Of course they have many things to work on, and their are still some issues from their adoption, but it's a good feeling after working with so many children to see my kids are absolutely normal and very bright!!!

We have had a great summer and it's going way too fast. I had a health scare but now am training for a half marathon with John...slow going! We've been to the zoo, swimming, the children's museum, and we're going to try camping in August! We just got back from the Families formed through International Adoption reunion in Virginia Beach. We are headed towards Washington state later this summer to go to Papa and Nana's 50th Wedding celebration. So now that I've written far too much, here are some pics to go along with this post.

It's been awhile...

2010-06-05T07:09:00.002-05:00

This free picture slideshow personalized with Smilebox

ep, we've been awhile. Life has been crazy busy but we are enjoying life! Here's just a clip of how the kids are coming along. My shy little boy who loves to sing, manages not to sing when put in front of a camera, but likes to with a little help!

Michael's Cast is off and utube video

2010-02-12T20:27:00.003-06:00

Above is a utube video made in hopes of bringing 65 Kyrgyz orphans home. It is very near and dear to my heart as I know some of the families waiting. Please share far and wide. Michael is a part of this video:)

Michael got his cast off on Tuesday. He did pretty well considering. However, it will be an adjustment for him as he relearns how to use his foot. His foot is stiff and feels different because of the cast and also because his heel tendon was lengthened. He is relearning how to walk. Our hope is the muscles in his calf strengthen enough so that he does not require another surgery at around age 5 where they would actually have to move an anterior tendon to bring the foot straighter. We are hoping his heel will stabilize. Right now he is favoring his foot but is moving around albeit slowly It pains me to watch him but he is very independent and insists we not carry him. What a trooper!

Cast pics and resuming activity

2010-01-23T14:03:00.004-06:00

So here are promised cast photos. It was a busy few days trying to keep Michael still(ha), the best way was to put Michael in his carseat and drive somewhere with his foot propped up. Except for the fact that it was freezing rain and drizzle I would have done more of it. So we opted for more and more of Thomas the tank, don't spill the beans, and playdoh, along with a trip to the MOA amusement park and kiddie rides. Again, I can't thank Deb enough for taking care of Phoebe! I know mothering is tough with anyone that has a 2 year old, but even with the cast issues, it was almost like vacation taking care of one. I was much more patient, able to take time with Michael, and actually enjoyed his age group without feeling the pressure of having to meet the needs of another 2 year old, let alone the no boundary squabbling between the two. That's what drives me nuts. Yes, I know they will continue to fight, but at two, there is a certain mentality that doesn't tend toward peacemaking. It's all about ME!!! Now that I have them back it is nice to know the difference and to rethink how I have been parenting. I used to think twins would be great, but now all I have is empathy towards parents of multiples.

Enough about me, it was the sweetest thing when we picked up Phoebe from preschool. Michael missed her so much he went right up to Phoebe, grabbed her hand and led her to the car, holding her hand the entire way. It warmed my heart to see him so excited and delighted to see her! Phoebe must have missed him too since she actually allowed it, she doesn't like her hand to be held by Michael usually. So separation is a good thing for them but I was blessed to see how much they loved each other. Although it was nice being alone with Michael, I sure missed that little fireball!!

Michael is now almost back to normal activity. He is walking around
enjoying the noise his cast makes. And he is jumping on his trampoline. Yikes, not sure I'll tell the ortho that...no wonder he is making Michael wear the cast longer than we originally thought, to our dismay. He keeps asking about a bath, and going swimming...I keep having to tell him later. He calls it his big OUWEE!

Club Foot revisited

2010-01-20T23:46:00.007-06:00

Whew, glad the day is over with. Can't say it was the best experience but Michael did well during the surgery. We are so thankful to the many prayers said on behalf of Michael, and especially thankful for our friend Deb, who is watching Phoebe the next few days while we work with Michael. She is Phoebe's grandma, in every sense of the word.
Michael had his hamstring(heelcord) lengthened today. We hope it's a cure, but the ortho warned us that he may have to have another surgery if the heel doesn't stabilize on it's own and let his foot dorsiflex to a normal position. I'm not sure I'm quite up to another surgery, at least not in the near future. You would think I would think nothing of it as a nurse, but I've seen things go awry(why can't you forget those), and that's in normal, healthy, routine cases. I also dislike watching kids in pain, and while tolerable but painful working with most other children, my own just throws me for a loop. It might be in part that we worked so hard to get Michael, something a nonadoptive parent would never understand, but the fear of something happening was very stressful for me. Praise God he did well and is recovering nicely.
It was an early 430 am start to get to the hospital at 615 am. But it was nice to be the first case. We love our surgeon, he's brilliant, spent a year on the Clinton medical team, and even knows what Corregidor is and what it stands for. He took time to look at the pictures from our Philippines trip that I was putting in an album after the surgery. He also looked out for us. Our anesthesiologist of the morning was quite arrogant-making our experience less than it should have been. He came into our room without having read the chart(one of my pet peeves), routinely and without compassion explained everything to us, and without knowing what the surgeon was going to do(had he read the chart he may have figured it out), suggested we do a block post surgery for pain. Thank God our surgeon overheard, the first thing he said was, that is not necessary, and said he would speak to the anesthesiologist about it. Our surgeon said if it was his son, he wouldn't do it. John felt it was revenue enhancing, since it wasn't necessary yet he was pushing it, unfortunately, there are doctors like that. I was so ticked I lost it and when the nurse anesthestitist came in and asked if we spoke to the anesthesiologist, I calmly said, you mean that arrogant bastard? Oops, not one of my finer moments, comes from years of speaking my mind as a nurse. I used to get evaluations that said, "Genelene is a very direct communicator, as well as compassionate while efficient and highly skilled." I know, I need to work on this. And it is a very rare ocassion that I swear, in fact it has been years. Good thing John was around to keep me level, I think he is one of the best doctors around! As well as Michael's surgeon. The nurses must have caught wind of this because they were very nice to us. They let us come back to the surgery recovery room-the one before the rest of the world gets to see, much earlier than a nonhealthcare worker would, and Mom was the first person Michael really woke up to.
He doesn't seem to be in a lot of pain, but the cast will be a challenge these next few weeks. Michael was really funny, he didn't want to get into his shirt. It was his way of saying, not until you take the cast off. We had to distract him with a new Thomas the Tank engine, and tell him he had a surprise waiting at home so we could leave. Once awake, he also wasn't getting back into that bed without screaming...now at home he seems to be adjusting fairly well, keeps talking about his cast, and saying he wants it removed.
I'll post pics tomorrow of him and his cast. I forgot to take any today.
Pre-op prep with a casted doll
Playdoh from the child-life specialist
Bubblegum Lipsmacker to make the mask more palatable
Michael did his own mask
615 am is waay too early! But we're glad you were happy, for a shortwhile anyway

We LOVE Winter!!

2010-01-16T21:57:00.008-06:00

Okay, not all the time but it has been absolutely beautiful here the past few days!! We took Michael out for his first cross country ski-he did fantastic! John and I were both impressed how he took to it, wasn't scared, didn't get frustrated but just wanted to do it! Skiiers were all smiles seeing him and very encouraging to him. We were able to work with Michael alone because Phoebe is trying out a new preschool to help me while Michael is in post op rehab... Today we went again and this time we took out our favorite shower present from a couple of years ago-the Chariot Carrier. We attached the skiis and away we went with 65 lbs of kiddos! It was a great, fun day and even Michael had to try it. We just love cross-country skiing and being outdoors, I couldn't believe how at 2 the kids still love that thing!

Happy and Blessed in the New Year

2010-01-07T21:56:00.010-06:00

Okay, this will probably take me awhile to finish and most likely will be a long post. I have several things to work on plus I am dealing with major jetlag. We just got back from the Philippines on tues Jan 5th and it was an amazing trip, they are 14 hours ahead of our time zone. We went to visit my Dad's new home there and the kids just LOVED it. The new experiences were incredible for them and I must say, it is one of the most gratifying and satisfying feelings to watch your children experience, learn, and enjoy life. Especially when they are 2 and are soaking it all in! I can't say how much travel was so good for them and their development. I have to brag and say they did fantastic, the hardest part about the trip was of course, the plane ride! Adults hate it, can you imagine being 2 and liking it?
I packed them backpacks with lots of their favorite coloring characters, playdoh, dvd players, snacks, mini games like connect 4, and perfection, Thomas the tank engines, Elmo, and they loved their little backpacks and carrying them around! Although, Phoebe almost tipped over and turtled, the bag was so heavy, I regret to say I didn't get pics with them on their backs!
We are glad to be home, although we had a little blizzard here today on the 7th, and we had a major delay on our trip home. Seems like there was some intelligence that led the 747 we were flying home on from Japan to be run through major security checks. They scanned us, patted us down, looked through our wallets, and all our carryons, the kids even got scanned-Michael thought the scanner was so cool and followed directions implicitly! It was so cute but of course I was not allowed to photograph it. It caused us to be 45 minutes late to our first port of entry in Detroit, then customs took forever because the 747 had tons of luggage, so we missed our flight home by an hour. They rebooked us, but we had an unplanned 7 hour layover in Detroit. So we took short snoozes, including the kids and finally got home close to midnight on the 5th!
Anyway, to back track, we had a busy Christmas season trying to fit in celebrations here and battling with illness. After Thanksgiving, we got hit with a croup like virus that wiped us out for weeks and almost caused Michael to be hospitalized. We made a trip to the Urgent Care and the next morning at 5 am John said his son had to go the ER. He was breathing at a rate at 60 breaths per minute. Way, way too fast! Phoebe had the same virus, but didn't get hit as hard, I had the virus, and felt miserable and coughed up parts of my lung during the illness. Anyway, after the treatments of steroids, nebulizers, and an antibiotic for good measure, if Michael hadn't returned to normal breathing he would have been hospitalized. Thank the Lord he did! It took us 2 weeks to get through it and then it was almost Christmas! Yikes.
So we muddled through the Christmas season here, thankful that my kids were young enough not to remember my lame celebration of Christ's birth, missing Christmas Eve service because of a blizzard on top of it! We did have a feast of prime rib and king crab legs for our family celebration on the 22nd!
So we are home now and feeling happy and blessed despite all that is going on in the world. It is a very humbling feeling.
Anyway, I'd love to post more but I think I'll wait and just share photos, I know that's the part people love anyway!

Dad's house
Makiling Volcano from Dad's frontyard
My Mom's Parents
Grandparents houseWorld War II History
Island of Corrigedor

Happy Thanksgiving 2009!!

2009-11-28T22:33:00.005-06:00

Yup, it's been awhile. I've discovered blogging just isn't my thing anymore, I'm finding that I like spending more time with my kids more than anything, as well as activities that revolve around my kids, and this is one of those things that takes my energy away from them. I ocassionally hop on and catch up on others, but right now my focus is taking care of my family, and I absolutely LOVE IT and am totally into it!!! Don't worry, I may still continue to write here at times...or maybe NOT!

Anyway, we had a super Thanksgiving at my sister's house. So nice not to have to clean up mine and have a big to do here, not that I don't love that either, it's just it was nice not to do that this year. We got some fantastic news that my sister is expecting no 5 in July, we are so excited!! My babies love babies!! We also had the traditional Thanksgiving feast and our tummies were quite happy:)

I know that it's been a hard Thanksgiving for many. I hope that those that sit and complain about things when they have absolutely nothing to complain about feel ashamed-had to say it. Many do not have jobs, and many have no family. There are many orphans out there waiting for a home, let alone enough food, warmth, and someone to give them affection. There are families waiting to bring home orphans and are at a loss of what to do. I hope that everyone realizes that each of us has a blessing, no matter how small. It absolutely irks me that people complain about the smallest things when they have it all, a house to live in, someone who loves them, enough food on the table that they have to watch their weight! Enough said.

News on the kid front. Michael is having surgery in January for his club foot. Although his foot is pretty straight now, his tendon is tight and is not allowing his foot to walk properly, or flat and not on the side of his foot. If we want him to perform athletically, we have to lengthen his tendon. Our choices were to cast him again and most likely still have to have the tendon lengthening surgery, or do the surgery. Since Michael is quite the active can't sit still boy, we opted for surgery. Not only that, I don't think he would have tolerated the casting this time around...should have seen him at the x-ray! Barely could keep the lead apron on around his privates!
Phoebe is talking a mile a minute, those two like to argue and it is never a quiet ride in the car anymore. I've been busy training, training, training. Anyway, here's what you've been waiting for, the most recent photo ops of M & P! Hope you like them!
Phoebe in time out mode!

Pool Pictures

2009-07-25T20:03:00.004-05:00

Okay, here are the kids "swimming!" You'll have to watch the sequence, my kids aren't performers of which I am very glad!!

Potty training and other milestones

2009-07-24T20:01:00.002-05:00

Okay, we haven't been really serious about it but since they've started watching the Elmo Potty Time video they are sitting on their potty all the time. Phoebe went pee the first time she sat but she isn't really there yet. Michael is still a little afraid but likes to sit on there buck naked and then pull on his pants after a few minutes without doing anything. I suppose when I get serious about it I'll pull out the potty doll one day and then try giving them food and wather the next day and see what happens. There are so many theories out there but it'll happen when it does. I can hardly wait to be free of the diapers and the time it takes as well as the cost!! I found out that my little boy definitely needs a potty with a guard, he sits down on those without the guard and I see his little pee stick straight up. He definitely knows about his bodily functions and he's told me when he is going, I saw him one day go no 2 in his diaper, sorry for the graphic, but he said Momma, ucky poop!
Both Michael and Phoebe are getting to a really fun age. They are starting to talk to me, Phoebe mostly one word communication, and Michael 2-3 words in a row. I love it that we understand their almost unintelligible words!! They are also getting to the point where I don't have to put them in the stroller but can have them hang on to my hands when we go somewhere. That's a huge time and hassle saver!!It is so bittersweet but it is getting much easier in some ways and much busier than others. I still can't leave them alone as they would get into a ton of trouble or else somehow harm themselves!!
They have also learned how to sing. Their favorite videos are Kids Favorite Songs 2, another Elmo video(he isn't the parents favorite but he sure captures the kids attention and does teach them some things. They actually sing along with them(I love this part-in intelligible vocals) and do the actions they see on the video. It is quite adorable. They also like Toddler Action Songs by Cedarmont kids. I'm relearning all the words to those nonsensical songs but love it! I didn't realize how charming this age is as they are sponges and can actually do things, although they can be quite annoying with their independent streaks and stubborn wills. They have wonderfully different personalities! Michael is very, very sweet and sensitive and Phoebe is one strong little lady who knows what she wants.
A big milestone is their learning how to swim around in the pool in their lifevests!! It is sooo cute and amazing as I am such a poor swimmer and never really learned to swim well. I hope to get a video of them doing it. They love being dunked, playing ring around the rosie in the water, and putting their faces in the water and back floating. I just love watching them learn something new and independent and the look of absolute jubilation on their faces. These are such precious days in our life as a family!! We are so, so blessed!!!
Phoebe had her year follow up at the IAC and at 21 months she is 23 lbs, 31 1/2 inches which puts her in the tenth percentile. The doc said her verbal is absolutely amazing as well as her fine motor and gross motor skills...nothing like the responsibility of being given an incredibly talented and strongwilled child, it is an honor but also a little frightening at the same time. Phoebe's favorite word is NO!!! UGH!!!
I hope to someday post some catch up photos but there are just so many things to do and enjoy in these fast paced changing days. Their schedule consists of the zoo, the pool, the children's museum, reading at the library, and toddler rhyme time at the library!! They would spend most of their days outside biking if they could...all I can say is the summer is absolutely flying by!!

Fun on the 4th!

2009-07-05T23:50:00.005-05:00

Here's the belated post, see below as to why this is late, 2 posts in one night!!!
Anyway, we had a low key day as John only had the 4th off sandwiched between workdays and my sister was off in Wisconsin Dells. The kids got up and swam for 2 hours and then took a 2 hour nap. I stayed home and caught up on the infinite laundry pile and took care of the outside plants. We told our landscaper we wanted low maintenance, ha, it's still more maintenance then I wanted. It'll be better in a few years when I don't have to constantly keep my eyes on the kids. They still do not know what will and will not hurt them, they are getting there but are still learning, just like Mom:) Michael got into his first bike accident, our driveway slopes down into the garage and he crashed into the wall, fortunately, he only suffered minor abrasions to his nose and chin, keeping all of his teeth!!
We took the kids to church, then we ate take home cheesecake factory, mmmmm, mmmm, good!! I bought enough sparklers to last until almost their teenage years, and we gave it a shot. My pyrotechnic husband(chemical engineer turned doc) said these are the things that he got injured from the most as a kid, so he was extra careful:) Of course Michael thought that they were big candles. Both he and Phoebe got a big kick out of singing Happy Birthday to America and blowing out the candles!!
The kids went to bed so we actually watched the fireworks from our house. Our little township or maybe a neighbor put on a very nice show-it wasn't choregraphed or timed perfectly but we were in out of the bugs and the humidity:)
Later that night(oh dark thirty as John calls it) we were awakened by the sound of sirens very close to our house. If you know our neighborhood, there's not that many neighbors around so we were rather curious as to what was going on. We couldn't see anything as it was quite humid and the windows to our house had condensation on them. After a few minutes we heard the helicopter. We are quite used to that sound as John was in the military and we are on the path for medevacs to bring traumas to the level one trauma center. This one took us by surprise however as the copter landed on the road right before entering our culdesac. Now most people would probably walk out and go see what is happening...not us...John said he would find out the next day at work what happened, he was exhausted from working the days before and had to get up again early in the morning and even though I was dying to find out I wasn't about to leave my comfy bed for blood and guts and possibly bad news about my neighbor. By the time the copter came it would have had enough trained people to help out whoever needed the help so it wasn't like we were shirking our duties. Turns out it was a unlighted golf cart vs 2 motor vehicles going the opposite direction. 4 sixteen year olds were operating it heading down or up from the lake. No one perished fortunately, but what were they doing on the road where cars are driving around 50 mph with no lights? Their parents were very, very lucky, we were glad all turned out well. Our kids had no clue what was going on, thankfully, I pray they never have to ride in an ambulance or a medevac!

Trying to get Phoebe to pose for a picture, the best I could get:)

Views of Vail

2009-07-02T22:39:00.009-05:00

It took me awhile to finish this post. I updated my internet explorer and now on this computer everytime I try to load pics, it won't do it. So I had to find my little key drive to move it to another computer,alss the delay...so we made it home safely after the two, 2 day car rides. I'll have to say the kids did way better than we expected after about 100 rounds of "I'm bringing home a baby bumble bee...", Elmo's Grouchland on DVD, munching on Honeysmacks, and playing with their sound doodle pads along with good 3 hour naps. It was simply a joy to leave the house full of things to do, and enjoy my husband and kids for awhile with no other stresses. We swam twice a day in the 85 degree salt water pool, went on long walks, went to Donovan park-a great playground for the kids, took a Gondola to the top of Vail and hiked around, met our old friends from Alaska who now live in Colorado, went to Vail village and Lionshead. I could do that again soon, it was a really relaxing vacation for all of us. John and I even went on a dinner date as the resort had good childcare-retired folk who lived up there and did it part-time at the resort. It was a joy for them to spend time with our active young ones and they loved it, praising them on their inquisitiveness and bundles of energy. Now it's back to the daily grind but on a refreshed note!! Here are some pics to enjoy of our time there!

On the road again!!!

2009-06-24T20:27:00.005-05:00

Just dropping in with a vacation update. On the way to Colorado for a medical conference(we drove this time) we had the privilege of staying with the Marquis' family. It helped break up the long drive and the kids survived as well as us and we didn't even need happy juice!! Here are pics of the kiddos, I'm sure Hilary has better ones, she got right down there with them, so I learned some new photo techniques!!! I didn't put any comments by the photos as I've found some better things to do while on vacation:)

80 years young!!!

2009-06-10T22:22:00.002-05:00

My Dad and step Mom were here last week celebrating Dad's 80th!! What a great week of hanging out and having my kiddos love on their grandpa! Michael especially had fun with him. It was a wonderful week had by all!

A Surprise Trip

2009-06-01T22:46:00.004-05:00

It's amazing how tomorrow you think you will be doing something and then God drops a bombshell and you are doing something you never dreamed you'd be doing. Last week that happened to us, after a surprise invitation, we were on our way to Washington, DC in less than 24 hours. Not that it hadn't already been planned by the great orchestrater, because it was amazing that we actually were able to pull it off with all the details that needed to fall into place. We were honored to meet with the Kyrgyzstan officials and nine other adoptive families and blessed to be able to share with them how well our children are doing. What a story to tell them when they grow older. It was a fun, unexpected trip that we will always have fond memories of. Hope you catch a glimpse of the fun and excitement we had!! PS Joanne, this is just a small part of where I've been, will try to catch up post later as I have summer help:)
My sweet, sweet family!!!
Waiting for the metro with my new nanny
Kyrgyz Embassy
A proud Kyrgyz AP
Phoebe at the Jefferson memorial climbing up to....
...touch a pillar!
That's really funny, Mommy!
Phoebe greeting others at the Lincoln Memorial!
It's hot out here!!!
Michael gathering geese
Michael "in front of the White House"
Kyrgyz officials with Kyrgyzstan Adoptive families

Easter preview

2009-04-12T23:22:00.003-05:00

We had a lovely day. It's John's and my favorite holiday, so we are relaxing. We hope you had a great day. Here's a sneak peak of hopefully a future post.

Phoebe's Piggies, a new do, and toddler tales

2009-04-06T21:36:00.005-05:00

At 17 months I was finally able to put Phoebe in her first pigtails! Not an easy feat, she has fine curly hair that has way too many cowlicks and it was impossible to part and hard to stay straight unless I pulled her hair WAY too tight. So here are her modelling pictures:) I don't think that will be a common do for awhile, even though her hair when wet is down past her shoulders, it sure is above them when dry. Also, those lovely curls love to get matted from her sleeping ways! She wimpers when I detangle them... I love her hair by the way:)
Then, Michael finally got his 4th haircut since we got him home. He DOES NOT keep still these days so we ventured to Kidscut who apparently see much worse. I thought he was just horrible and it would have been impossible for me to do anything with him, but they said they see much worse. So, it cost me 20 bucks to have them do it with tip...we celebrated at Famous Dave's bque after that and he thought it was a yummy treat, especially corn on the cob.
I am only able to blog tonight because my kids went to sleep early, which is 8:30 for them. They have been night owls lately...if I try to blog while they are awake this is what tends to happen.
1) Phoebe makes her way to her favorite snack of dog food.
2) Michael can now reach our counters with ease and conveniently clears all the clutter away onto the floor.
3) Michael takes the dog's water and tries to mop the floor for me, resulting in slick surfaces on our hard wood, but definitely fun for him.
4) Michael has discovered how to open the drawer locks and conveniently heads for the knives.
5) Phoebe takes every toy and book in the house and throws it on the floor.
6) Michael climbs up our counter stools and does a balancing act.
7) Phoebe pulls out all the baby wipes out of the container.
8) Michael gets tangled up in my knitting yarn after stringing it through all the furniture just like toiletpapering a yard.
9) Michael finds the toothpaste and helps himself to a treat.
10) Michael conveniently turns on all the faucets he can reach as he can now open doors.
11) They both scream at the top of their lungs just because...
12) They both can go up and down stairs and have figured out a way to just push throught the babygates. Since we have 3 floors to our house I can't contain them anymore.
13) Phoebe finds all the loose coins in the house and brings them to me...
The list is endless, so I'll stop there, there are many things I'm thankful they manage not to do since they are healthy developing toddlers, and I am desperate for warm weather so we can go outside, but needless to say, my blogging time is few and far between. Now to post adoption report photos...

A day or 2 late....

2009-04-05T23:02:00.005-05:00

April 4th, 2008 one day home!One year later!!
April 3rd, 2008
April 5th, 2009

Well, we didn't fall off the face of the earth, but just about. I am trying to dig out of the mess of the house we live in currently. Comes with 2 kids so close together in age, travelling, snow in April, and just plain ole exhaustion. I have to beg apologies from my daughter however, as I still have to put her montage together and post pics of her gotcha day. It may be awhile until we can live in a place I can better function at, meaning, I've hit my limit of chaos...
So, my dearest daughter, Phoebe, just over a year ago today you landed in the US. Little did we know what kind of country it would become. You were so blessed to have Tim Marquis meet you fresh off the plane in Mpls as we so were! We are so happy to have you as our girl and in our family. You are such a bundle of energy and wonder to us! I'll be brief so I won't be crabby tomorrow for being too tired, but these pics are in honor of you, my sweet baby girl! May you always light up a room as you have thus far. You bring much joy to Mommy and Daddy's heart, and we can't imagine life without you! God truly blessed us more than we could ask or imagine by entrusting us with your care!

Fun with Friends!!

2009-01-29T20:31:00.005-06:00

Last week our friends, Scott, Kami, and Kaleb were visiting their relatives in MN and North Dakota, yeah, you betcha-FARGO:) and they stopped and had some fun with us. Kami is a much better photographer than I, she's had much practice because little Kaleb, is lightning fast! All the pics I took of him were blurry!!! So, we got some pics the other day and I just had to post them. They are at Edinborough Park and the Cheesecake factory, boy, that was super delicious and it was so nice to have them in town! We hope they relocate soon so the boys and the girls can get together more often. They also are waiting for Kaleb's little bro to come home from K, so keep them in your prayers! It's been a long, hard road...

Happy times and miscellaneous catching up!

2009-01-26T20:37:00.008-06:00

I've had all these great ideas to post but we've been pretty ill at our house since we got back from Hawaii. We got a bug that caused tons of laundry, hours spent in the bathroom, and just downright tiredness. My babies got a cold that made them like velcro to me, and when I finally got it, I had to take tylenol and lay around most of the day, I felt sorry for them after experiencing what they went through!! So hopefully, we are done with illness for the season, one can only hope. We've also been busy trying to get things done around the house that weren't while we were ill, did some painting, more shovelling, etc, etc...the kids have been lots of fun, we met Kaleb last week at an indoor playpark, and we even went swimming on Saturday at the fitness club. They absolutely love swimming and it is so fun to hang with them. So here are some pics, I think I'm going to start a series of that was then, this is now photos in my posts, I've been finally working on their scrapbooks and I can't believe the difference! They are growing sooo fast, both John and I lamented that we don't have babies any more but toddling toddlers*sigh*We are having happy times right now and it's a good place to be in the new year! I have to post Michael's turn at the reading, he does it so quick it's hard to catch, and then sometimes I have to nudge him because he is very camera conscious, the little stinker:) Plus, I had to do it so quick that the lighting wasn't the best as it was of course, night time!

A teaching moment with Daddy!
Great shot of me but M and I were having so much fun with the camera that day!
Phoebe reads to Daddy
It's been so cold here even the dogs have to wear jackets!
This was such a good photo of Sydney I just had to post it!
yeah, I know, flattering shot of me but we all just had gotten up!
Adventure Peak, still waiting for photos from Kami:)
Michael having a blast pushing his sister around at the indoor park!
one of my favorite Phoebe shots, wearing a Christmas gift from Nana and Papa!
The infamous Tokmok outfit(3-6 months, yeah, it still fits!) I'm looking for the one where she is wearing one like it there...
Still one of our favorite Jammies, Jan 09!
July 08
Remember this, april 08?
April 08,that was then...
Oct 2008,this is then too!

Holding A Miracle

2009-01-25T20:47:00.005-06:00

Above is a video we watched today at church. It brings many emotions, joy, sorrow, pain, conflict, anger, hurt, great and miraculous love, you name it. What struck me most when I watch this video is the miracle of my own adopted children. Honestly, it affects both my husband and I to watch as an infertile couple, longing to experience what the rounded belly and loving expressions the husbands show, and feeling a little hurt and at a loss. But it also gives us the awe and hope that we have experienced as adoptive parents, that our children are truly miracles and that actually were given to us to be part of our family, given a chance to live and breath and be part of this world. We are truly honored. Especially when 80% of all abortions are performed in other countries, and our babies came from one of them. It was indeed a miracle that Michael and Phoebe became ours. And now, we are hurt and extremely sorrowful from the fact that our hard earned money now goes to pay for those abortions, without our consent, or our choice...

Phoebe's Reading!!

2009-01-10T12:16:00.004-06:00

I was putting together the kid's memorabilia boxes(these are awesome things made by creative memories that you can put things like your kid's gotcha day clothes, a newspaper from their birthday or gotcha day, favorite toys) and finally was able to snap footage of Phoebe "reading." It is soooo fun and exciting to see her interest in books. I have to sneak one of Michael doing it one day too, but since I have these, I'll share. It cracks us up for sure!! Especially when the book is upside down!!
sneaking a peek from behind...
Caught, and with inflections:)

2 degrees, windchill -10, sheets of ice, Baby, it's cold outside!!!

2009-01-04T17:16:00.004-06:00

The one thing about going to paradise in the middle of winter when you live in a very cold state....BRRRRRR!!! Both John and I decided as we get older that it is harder to come back, we're going to have to plan our winter trips closer to when it is actually over, not when you still have January and February left, the coldest months of the year!!! It is nice to go out at the beginning of winter before it gets too cold like in November but not midwinter!! Yesterday was weird weather, at 26 degrees it was raining, the colliding warm front brought rain and a sheet of ice with it, John stayed in hotel last nite as he was working at the hospital that is 50 minutes away from home. They were nice to him and gave him the hospital rate, the hospital had already put up workers that were to be there in the morning as to have staff.

I found my camera and thought I'd post the rest of paradise pictures. There is a cost to living in paradise we found. You have to be independently wealthy, inherit a lot of money, or as in most of the cultures around the world, work together and live together as a family unit(ie parents, brothers, sisters) to survive or get ahead, or else live very meagerly. My eyes almost popped out of my head at the grocery store and one lady and I were shocked and commiserated at the price of syrup, 5.99 for 10oz of syrup-generic kind. Almost everything was double. To go out to a nice restaurant in Hawaii costs a couple $100, and that is not including anything to drink, your salad, side dishes like veggies, let alone dessert or tip. So for those planning a trip to Hawaii, save you pennies, go on a diet, and make sure the place you have has a place to do food. Let alone saving for the airfare. I loved Hawaii, but I know I would get island fever in a big way and feel trapped if I had to live there. But I sure miss that weather right about now. Funny, it reminds alot of the Philippines(which is why there are so many filipinos there), especially when you get away from the resorts and to where the Hawaiians live, minus the population, fumes, pollution. And people still drive in lanes in Hawaii although they make the most dangerous left turn cut offs I've seen in the US.
It was a nice break from reality, but it sure didn't feel like Christmas. Especially since there were no grandparents around!! I feel like I lost the whole holiday this year...
One fun thing was the power went out the night before we left, I was in the middle of packing and doing laundry-bang-blackout!!(just like the philippines:) I ended up going to bed rather than using the flashlight I had found in the closet. On this trip we also got evacuated from the timeshare because one poor husband left the timeshare while he was cooking Christmas dinner-I'm sure his wife gave him an earful!
The beach was fantastic- we were not on Waikiki-which is eroding into the ocean and ubercrowded but on the quiet side of the island. There were 4 lagoons that were carved out and made safe from the rough surf so little kids could enjoy the ocean. Michael had the best time running from the waves once he figured out what was going on with the water! It was so much fun to watch him and hear him laugh:) Phoebe just liked being in the water, she doesn't have the engineer brain like her brother but is plenty precocious!! We also figured out it is much easier to raise babies in warm weather, no socks or shoes needed, what are mittens and jackets and dressing meltdowns over there?
Another thing we did was to take our kids to play with the dolphins, Phoebe was terrified and I thought she was the fearless one, Michael was fascinated but also afraid-I guess being one is too young for those fascinating creatures. Although they didn't favor being with the dolphins, they LOVED the dolphin show! It was pretty good, and so much nicer than being in a crowded stadium at Seaworld watching Shamu, not that the show isn't good, but it was definitely much more relaxed.
The best thing that happened was our friend Jo-who also leads my bible study at home, bid for our flight home to Minneapolis and surprised us at the airport! It was sooo nice to feel special and taken care of on the long journey home! Thanks Jo, we love you!!! She is an amazing woman with many stories of faith to tell! And we love the airbus 330!!! WE had a staight shot home in 8 hours overnight and I stayed up watching 2 movies...Michael slept the whole time sprawled out on 2 seats, and Phoebe slept very uncomfortably, kept waking up and crying-she missed her crib and was never a sleep in your arms girl, she did best in the ergo but then would wake up when she wanted to do a flip and couldn't...
I think I've rambled enough, I've been going stir crazy because I caught a bug somewhere and have been stuc in the house now for 3 days! Enjoy!

Honolulu airport, waiting to go home, thanks Jo!!

Welcome 2009!!!

2009-01-01T17:57:00.003-06:00

So, starting off the New Year, I can't find my camera...oops...as soon as I find it I'll post the latest cuties...as for now, just a quick new year post. I don't do resolutions like many of my blogger friends, instead I reflect on my life and think about things that I wish for the new year. On that list are
1. That I would spend more time with God, whether that be in Bible study, or personal times praying and thinking about Him.
2. Say thank you to those who have invested in my life and continue to let them know it.
3. Forgive those who have wronged me.
4. Be the best wife and mom and I can be.
5. Even though I didn't vote for Obama, I wish he would disprove my doubts and be the best US president ever.
As far as reflections go, I saw this on Lori's and Maria's blog, and it fits the new year reflections although it encompasses many years of my life. You are supposed to bold the things you've done and can provide comments on the list if you wish. It's a list of 99 things that supposedly reference how cultured you are?
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world with the Tokmok tots 2008!
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped-won't ever do that!
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea-don't want to do that either!
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child 2 of the most beautiful children I know:)
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked too many times since I married my husband:)
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort and had one collapse on me:(
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon 4 of them and 3 ski marathons
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. Visited Africa and did relief work in Rwanda 1994
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing many times as an Alaskan resident
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia-former Russia if you count Kazakhstan & Kyrgyzstan
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving-another NO WAY!!
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square and watched the ball drop!
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone and didn't even know it
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox with only 1 pox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Glimpses for the Grandparents

2008-12-26T01:02:00.006-06:00

Sorry, this is just a quick show to quickly share with the grandparents who couldn't be with us this Christmas, but also for you to see. It was the fastest but also dirty way to get a slideshow together for them(i don't like the horoscope thing and then some of my pictures weren't rotated correctly, let alone the labeling of the photos*sigh*you can see the pictures larger by clicking on view all images...I'll be better in the future, I promise:)

Mele Kalikimaka

2008-12-24T15:49:00.005-06:00

Which means Merry Christmas in Hawaiian. Our family wishes you much love, joy, and peace during this holiday season. Apparently, many have not yet received our Christmas greetings in snail mail, something to do with the weather I hear. We hope you all have wonderful celebrations spending time with those you love!

a tale of Christmas

2008-12-23T16:31:00.005-06:00

This year we decided for Christmas to go from this...

To THIS:)

After waiting in the minneapolis/st paul airport from 945 am to 415 pm, we were finally able to take off...we always seem to pick snowy days for travel, and that day started a storm that left 8 inches on the ground. Thank God that msp interntational airport is geared for this kind of weather. All the flights that originated in the airport were on time, all the flights that were coming in from the stormy parts of the country, well, that is why we were in the airport for 6 1/2 hours. The kids did great for the most part, only a little bit of fussing, and they slept for the most part on the plane. It was great to get away from the snow and cold to go and meet John's family in Oahu for Christmas. Except for one thing, his parents, didn't have such a great story. Their flight which was coming from Minneapolis, and then continuing on to Honolulu. Well, since all the flights seemed to be delayed, they thought they would try to help us out by seeing if we could switch to get on their flight so they could help us take care of the babies. Again, thanks for God's providence, it didn't work out. They spent 4 hours on the tarmac in Seattle only to be cancelled and told they couldn't take off because the runway was too slippery-there was a blizzard in Seattle that day. Northworst airlines didn't try to rebook them, didn't give them any recompense to stay in a hotel, and told them they were on their own...so we went on line here in Hawaii to try to rebook them, and got them a flight on Hawaiian airlines the next day. In the meantime, it was extremely difficult for them to retrieve their luggage, and they were only to get one, it seems, the luggage made it to Hawaii but they didn't. Well, the day came to leave and all the airlines in the Seattle airport ran out of deicing fluid...nice. Thousands of people left without a lot of options. So they cancelled them again at the last minute, and there were no flights left to get them here before or on Christmas. They had to drive home over a snowy pass. So now, instead of a nice Christmas with John's family, we are here with his brother and his wife in a nice place...just not the way it is supposed to be. Nice to be with his brother, but our babies will have to wait to see Nana and Papa...I guess we'll have to do our best to enjoy Hawaii...we'll miss you Nana and Papa!!!

First True Snow experience and getting ready...

2008-12-11T19:54:00.004-06:00

So we finally all recovered, except that John got a different version of the bug, he got a fever and the barfing but no D...oh well...
And it finally snowed a decent amount, some of the pictures you really can't tell as we live in a windy spot and we get a lot of drifts but we had a good time trying to shovel ourselves out. We are finally starting to get in the Christmas spirit, it's been tough as things are so bad for a lot of people, the families that are still waiting for the adoptions to go through, and the people that have lost jobs, the stores are a ghost town, so much different than what I am used to. Although that is not the reason for the season, it haunts me to what the future may bring. My greatest comfort is not in earthly riches but in spiritual blessings and what God has planned for us and our children. And that is why my outlook is starting to look up as we start to prepare for the celebration of our greatest gift, the birth of Jesus Christ. So we are starting the advent season slowly, finally making some cookies, celebrating at our friends house for a get together, basking in our pastors advent poems, putting up the decorations, ...hopefully I can post some pics of those before it gets too crazy and my children decide to use them as new toys:)
Enjoy the snow pics, we had a blast!! What was really fun was to watch our 1 year old Michael take to shoveling snow, he is a strong little guy, who LOVES to push things, including his sister...
What is this white stuff on my hands?
I'm not sure I like this...
First attempt at snow angels from angels themselves:)
Are you kidding me?
Everyone participated
Michael really got the hang of it
Phoebe learned to walk in boots!
Can I go in yet?

Thanksgiving, Tokmok Tots, Tummy Troubles, and terrifically TIRED!!

2008-12-03T22:07:00.010-06:00

A trio of...
Trouble!!!
Okay, I'm late in the posting. Rachel beat us all to the punch. She even got our group disney photo in, so check it out by clicking on Rachel. She has her version of the story:)
Rachel's Scarlett & Phoebe
We were privileged to have spent Thanksgiving in sunny, "warm", Florida. Of course we couldn't miss the opportunity to meet up with other Tokmok tot families. It started out with girl's nite out, like Rachel said, no Mom duties, WOW!! It was so nice to kick back with such charming ladies. I really enjoyed it. John got to babysit 4 kids, our two kyrgyz kiddos, Jackie's Nola, and my niece. He did a fine job of it, and I'm so lucky to have him for a hubby.
Tokmok Tot Mom's Nite Out!
We had to continue our fun with a trip to Disney's Animal Kingdom and then Magic Kingdom. If you want to really enjoy the parks, Rachel and Jamie are the way to go. They know what they are doing as far as when to go see things, take a fast pass or wait in line. If it weren't for them, our kids surely wouldn't have made it through the day. They have expertise in young children at big crowded parks!! Thanks so much for sharing it with us and making our time special. We are so blessed to have the common bond of adopting 4 girls from Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan. It was so fitting to end our tine with the last ride on "It's a small world..." Rachel's right, we need a big Kyrg reunion down there! Preferably in winter mind you:)
Cousins!
A Tokmok Trio...
Tokmok Tots in action:) L to R Nola 18 mo MacKenzie 16 mo Scarlett 15 mo Phoebe 13 mo
Thanksgiving was extra special as we got to celebrate Nola's Gotcha Day!! Jackie and Nola joined us for the week at our timeshare and we had the joy of getting to know them better! It's hard to believe that Nola and Jackie have been family for a year now, but none the less one of the best things ever!
Happy Gotcha Nola!
Thanksgiving feasting!
It was a great week, and we are all recovering at home. Unfortunately, almost all of us got the stomach flu. Started with Phoebe on Thanksgiving, went to Jackie, then Michael, my niece Rebecca, then Nola at home, and me at home. With lots of prayers we were able to get home on the plane without any tummy trouble disasters!! We are hoping John will miss this one.
There were days I felt like this guy!
All I can say is I'm tremendously thankful to God for my family, my friends, the Kyrgyz connections, and that I'm also terrifically TIRED!!!
Disney, a place where dreams that come true meet!
This says it all!

Trick or Treat and pretending to be someone you aren't

2008-11-02T19:31:00.008-06:00

It's been a busy week. Today it was 70 degrees out, yeah, Nov 2nd in Minnesota, and I finally got a chance to dig out my annuals, plant some more bulbs, and take a walk outside in short sleeves!

For Halloween we opted not to take our kids to the Millersburg Halloween Party-not because we didn't want to, but instead took them to "our block" of neighborhood houses. It was fueled by the fact that they DID NOT like being subjected to being in costume nor BEING SOMEONE OR SOMETHING THEY WERE NOT. The wisdom of children.

It's too bad that the democratic presidential candidate doesn't feel the same way. I am embarrassed to have called myself a democrat. It seems like we have a really good actor wooing the hearts and minds of many Americans, who do not have the desire to find out what he actually stands for or discover what he really wants to do.

On the economy, he repeatedly states this is the worst crisis since the Great Depression. How many of you are old enough to remember the early 1980's when there were 21.5% interest rates, unemployment was in the double digits compared to the 6.9% today or the last time I checked, or the 12.4% inflation rate. Do you remember that energy crisis, and the fact that we were told we could only get gas on certain days at the pump? The stock market was rock bottom and no one was making much money. Farmers were going bankrupt left and right, I knew farmers who were selling furniture to eat. People could not afford to buy houses, and they couldn't get jobs. Sound familiar, or should I say worse? What created it? The tax and spend policy of democrat Jimmy Carter. Who fixed it? Ronald Reagan, the democrat turned republican who stated, it wasn't I who left the democratic party, it was the democratic party who left me. So what did he do to solve it? He slashed taxes, lowered the capital gains tax, and deregulated. It resulted in the longest and most prosperous and peaceful time in American history. Now this democratic candidate states he is going to raise capital gains taxes, increase regulations, and give tax cuts to 95% of Americans(bribes to the 40% who don't pay taxes, including people on welfare), and fix the economy. Too good to be true, but well delivered by a charismatic actor. As a matter of fact, he keeps lowering the income of those he said he was going to tax after he started doing the math; he found the top 1% of individuals he was after will not pay for even 1% of his proposed budget. He has lowered the threshold from 250,000, to 200,000, and now 153,000 for a married couple, lower for a single person. Everyday it keeps going lower, last I heard was 120,000. He will removing the Bush tax cuts that will raise everybody's taxes to support his 4.3 trillion dollars in new spending. Does 1 + 1 equal 5 and make a surplus in the budget? Not if you do the new math. President Clinton found that by slashing the capital gains tax, government revenue went up, and did so when the economy started slowing at the end of his term, not a lesson well taken by this new democratic candidate. The wall street journal had a nice little graph of his "tax cuts." E.g., no tax relief for those that bother to work. The ants will be punished for the sake of the grasshoppers. Will history repeat itself yet once again?

He wants to spread the wealth out of marxism fairness. Sounds like a teenager's reasoning to me, since when was life fair? It has been proven psychologically that only promotes not working harder to make more money as it's only going to be taken from you and given to someone who is not working hard if at all. Hardly encouraging entrepreneurs and the workers that made this nation great to continue doing so or a way to create jobs. It has been tried in societies over the ages and it has always failed. He says he is going to build this nation from the bottom up. Since when do the bottom students in a classroom build companies to create jobs or help to contribute to the good of society. Rare and far between and not what Americans need to rely on in this time of crisis. We are now being told we are selfish for not agreeing with this plan...strange coming from the mouths of those who make 2.5 million and only give 3500 in charitable giving according to their tax return, or else the tax year before running for president suddenly give 5% to a church that he claims he no longer attends... for someone who wishes to heal the world, he cannot find help for his own family.

And what about the company he keeps, for the last 20 years? Since when do you trust a teenager who has been hanging out with the drug dealers and doers to change overnight? A terrorist, 2 liberation theologists(which means socialism, the next step to communism) who preach hate against Americans, a PLO spokesman for Arafat, and has fans like the dictators of Venuzuela and Nicaragua, along with the endorsement of the communist party USA...how many everyday Americans have friends and associates that you keep in touch with that have those associations? And how long do you sit in a church that you don't agree with what is being said? Not usually 20 years.

What about his energy policies? He likes to say, especially in front of national television, yes, I agree with the things that make things work in this country, BUT...always a qualifier, and that in truth means, no, I don't believe in that nor will I support it. We are going to be oil dependent on his proposed energy policy. Wind and solar, all great ideas, however, the scientific truth is that the technology isn't there, and the budget truth is that the energy from those sources are all government subsidized meaning it costs the tax payers money, and makes it seem cheaper when in reality it is much more expensive. It would be great if they knew how to store the energy produced from wind and solar, but they do not have that technology and are many years away from it. Ethanol costs more energy to ship and thus becomes more expensive than oil, masked again by, government subsidies. It is contributing to the famine in other countries, gotta grow corn, not food. We need a bridge to get us to that technology, and yes that means drilling our resources and nuclear power. My father-n-law is a nuclear engineer, the technology is now being used in France, a country of 80 million people and using 80% nuclear power for their energy, the technology of reprocessing nuclear waste for more energy, something opposed by the democratic candidate.

Of course there is the blame that the current administration caused all this economic uproar as well as the mortgage crisis. Can we say, the theoretical ideal that all Americans should own their own home led us down this path? And that the favorite democratic candidate received 180,000 from his associations with Christopher Dodd, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, he made the 3rd highest profit from what is costing both you and I precious tax dollars. I didn't realize they were giving out loans to those without jobs, without income, and without a way to pay. Led by the democratic Barney Frank who put pressure on the banks to make these loans or be driven out of business. Thanks to the government, and the current democratic leaders who are in charge of the lending practices. Does this want you to trust them with your healthcare? I certainly don't want the government to be in charge of my health.

What also causes me concern is the media attack on Joe the plumber. A regular kind of guy, who spoke what he thought, and got his life investigated and brought to the nation's attention. Boy, if his life can get disrupted for having freedom of speech during a campaign, I wonder what someone in power would do to those that disagreed with him. The media bias is also somewhat alarming, historically it can be seen in events leading to the holocaust, and influenced many Europeans to turn their back on what was being done, haunting, isn't it?

The big killer is this man's amazing ability to come off as a moderate and his gift of the lying tongue. "Of course I wouldn't withhold health care to babies born..." "There was already a law in place to prevent this...." Very convincing, however, a lie that is covered by rhetoric, 3 times he voted against a bill to provide care to those babies, his excuse being it didn't protect the woman's right. Had nothing to do with a women's right, Hilary Clinton, and John Kerry both voted to provide care to the live babies, you sir, did not... and now he wants us to pay for the procedures.

On trick or treating a parent was explaining the democratic candidates approach to all the hard work of Halloween night...
This man is going to make your daddy make you give half of your candy to the kids that didn't go trick or treating...that's not FAIR, Daddy!!!! But you are being selfish and that is fair, says the man behind the mask.

Something bugs me about this person pretending to be who he is not, and it makes me worry about my beloved children's future when many people are fooled by him. Thank God they like being who they are and not pretending to be someone else!!! I would sooner entrust the leadership of our nation to them than the "I have only been in Congress for 183 days and am fit to lead" and "I am for the people" masquerader. CHANGE? I say to this man who is not who he claims to be, keep the change.

Fall-n-leaves

2008-10-17T21:42:00.007-05:00

So on Phoebe's real birthday we went out to enjoy the fall colors. The kids had a blast walking thru the leaves and the noise they made, not to mention getting buried in them. This is why I love fall soooo much!!

Phoebe's Birthday Brunch

2008-10-13T12:29:00.009-05:00

Okay, since I have so many pictures I'll just post those! We had a great time, as did Miss Phoebe!

Clean bill of health!

2008-10-11T00:15:00.002-05:00

Thanks to all my blog supporters, family, and friends. Miss Phoebe got back her thyroid labs on Monday and she is 100 percent normal!!! No thyroid meds needed, no more endocrinologist, and no more blood tests, well at least for thyroid levels.
Today she had her VCUG voiding cysto urethro gram, to check if her pee was backing up her ureters into her kidneys because of her kidney infection last month and also because we don't have much medical history on her.
They had to fill her tiny bladder twice with histopaque, and neither times did back up!!! YEAH, no antibiotics!!
She has been a real trooper this week with all her medical tests.
Tomorrow, we are going to celebrate her birthday a day early with a birthday brunch. I'll have post pictrues when I get a chance, it is a packed weekend!

Out and about!

2008-10-05T17:14:00.011-05:00

We took a trip to Tracy, California this past week to visit John's 2nd cousin...it was more like going to see our aunt and uncle and the kiddo's grandma and grandpa. Our babies just loved them and warmed up to them very quickly, learning to say Grandma and Grandpa, (it was more like mommom and daddad)it was sooo cute! I had a wonderful break, and John did too as they apmpered us by helping taking care of the kids. It was a good thing because I got the kid's cold and it hit me hard, I'm still hacking at nite and feeling terrible. They sent us to our rooms to take naps, breaks from diapers, 2 extra bodies help so much with taking care of our axtive kiddos. They were amazing for their age, John said he hasn't see such spry flexible people at their age in his practice. They walk at the same clip we do(they walk everywhere, downtown, to the grocery store, they can pick up our heavy son with no difficulty! It was such a gift. I also got to see Yosemite for the first time, WOW!!!! Then we went to the pumpkin patch, I've never been to a pumpkin patch in 90 degree weather, it was different to say the least. Now we are back home in the beautiful fall weather, I know I'm weird, can't wait for the snow!

just pictures...

2008-09-25T20:28:00.006-05:00

OK, I'm slacking, I don't want to write. So just enjoy the pictures and make your own captions...rhey were taken about a month ago.

An unwanted trip...

2008-09-13T20:07:00.003-05:00

Auntie Terry helped us out by watching Phoebe so we could get some rest, she used to be a pediatric icu nurse
I feel awful!
I don't like this cage!
A wagon ride is okay though.
Michael learned how to operate the hospital bed and of course TV remote:)
I thought I'd share about our trip to the hospital. We got home after Phoebe's court hearung and she felt really, really hot. I thought I'd just check her rectal temp since earlier she was 99.5 with the forehead thermometer, and had barfed on John before the court date. She was fitful on Sunday night, I actually had to rock her back to sleep twice. She wasn't particularly warm then so we thought she was teething. We were a little shocked to find that it was 104.5. She had no respiratory symptoms whatsoever and really wasn't acting like she had the flu. Both John and I thought that merited a trip to the doctor other than himself, we bypassed the urgent care and went to John's place of work as we figured she would have to get her blood drawn and the clinic doesn't do tiny babies well we found out from previous experiences. Well, that wasn't too fun, they failed on urine catheter(a nurse, her dad, and another doc). They had to poke her twice for her blood test and then barely got enough blood. Plus, she had to get her ears cleaned out of wax so they could view her eardrum...well, her blood test showed 25000 WBC, her urine culture was positive for nitrites and bacteria...she was given a shot of rocephin and we took her home at 1030 pm. NO we didn't stay at the ER that long, we first appeared at 530 pm, but she didn't have enough urine to cath so we had to wait-we went to small group in the middle of it all...only because hubs worked there was he able to do that...
Anyway, she woke at 330 barfing and gagging and burning hot, and bit lethargic. We gave her some ibuprofen and tried to get her to settle down but John finally said she needed to go back to the hospital, get rehydrated, and admitted. The doc working didn't agree with him because after they gave her a phenergan suppository(helps her with the nausea and vomiting) she drank a bottle of milk. Well, thank God the next shift came on and agreed with John, Phoebe's white count was too high, she was barfing, and spiking temps, so she needed to be admitted before it got worse. They had to diagnose her with pyeloneprhitis(kidney infection) at this point because of her symptoms. Normal urinary infections don't give you high temps nor nausea and vomiting. I know John would have pushed for it if the doc hadn't agreed, he's seen too many cases worsen that they had to be sent to the specialty hospital which is about an hour away.
So little P got a hospital cage-I mean crib. We thought it would just be a 24 hour thing, well, the next morning her white count was still 24000, she wasn't eating anything, and her diapers were dry despite the IV. Obviously, we weren't doing it right. I was cringing, everytime they weighed her, she lost weight, 2 lbs out of 18 isn't so grand. So we had to wait for the urine culture to come back. They also had to do an ultrasound, just to make sure her kidneys were okay and didn't show any pathology as to why this would occur in one so young. Well, after too many pokes and prods, she wasn't too aimiable a girl, and that was even when she was lethargic. This is the first time she's actually let us cuddle her without being a squirmy worm.
So the urine culture comes back and they were using the wrong antibiotic. The E coli they found was hightly resistant to a lot of the antibiotics, including the one they had given her. They do a senstitivity test on the bacteria to see which antibiotic would kill it, it was very surprising to all of us that it came back this way. This is what overuse of antibiotics does, makes the bacteria resistant to them. On my soapbox, don't go begging your doc for antibiotics like your z-pak because you think it makes you feel better, 90 percent of the time you have a virus, and using antibiotics needlessly leads to things like this. We thank God for the wisdom He had given us that to not go home after her round of antibiotics, and bolus of IV fluids thinking she would get better. My take home on this? If you have a tiny tot, better to be cautious. Especially when their white count is high and they are barfing and not able to keep fluids.
Well, the next day she was feeling much better after a couple rounds of the new antibiotic. She wanted to get down out of our arms, and actually ate a few bites. She was even peeing more. The doc thought if we felt comfortable taking her home despite her lack of appetite, he'd let us go. So of course, we sprung her loose.
Michael got to have a slumber party at his cousins, I think he actually enjoyed it while Phoebe was in the hospital. Also, her timing couldn't be better, John had 5 1/2 days off while this all happened.

I'm happy to report she is doing much better, sleeping much better, eating better, but I still think she'll lose some weight because she is not up to par. Her kidney ultrasound came back normal, but we have to follow up with a bladder ureter xray at the children's hospital to make sure that the urine isn't refluxing back into her kidneys.
Thanks to all of you who have prayed for us, and sent kind words to us. It truly was a blessing in a very stressful time.

A new American Citizen

2008-09-08T15:52:00.005-05:00

Little Miss American Citizen

So this afternoon we went down to the county courthouse to make it official a second time, or at least get a US birth certificate! Phoebe R Collingham is officially a US citizen, not yet at USCIS until we apply for her certificate of citizenship, whatever happened to if your parents are US citizens and you are officially theirs, you are automatically a US citizen regardless of where you are born? Oh, of course, the government wants more money...oh well, in less than 45 minutes we were in and out of there! Glad to have that checked off. Yeah, Phoebe!!!
I thought this sign was funny for an adoption court...
don't you dare put that flower on me!
guess it isn't that bad
Even Michael had a part of it!
hmmm, this looks familiar...
Thank you, Judge Borene!

A first video clip...

2008-08-30T21:55:00.008-05:00

Okay, I think this will work. I tried to get a clip of Phoebe walking in the dress Margaret and Milana Lake got for her, and I had my camera tilted the wrong way so you'll see it sideways. The dress is still a little big but should fit her perfectly when we go to Florida and Hawaii later in the year. For now, I hope this works...

Changes...

2008-08-23T19:54:00.006-05:00

Wave petunias in the fall...
with a few surprises like snapdragons and last years "annuals"

I know, strange photos to have displayed first. My flower gardens are starting to die off. But there are still many flowers, kind of like our friends. As they age they are still beautiful, full of surprises, but you can tell not as colorful, not sprouting or as green, a little withered. That must have been like how my 92 year old friend, Lila Nieman, felt these last few years of her life. She was still very beautiful, wrote me the most incredible letters(I love those handwritten letters), and always supported our family through prayer. I know she was key in bringing home both our babies safe, and very quickly. She was such an encouragement to us during those days when family just didn't get it and often said hurtful things. She even remembered Michael's first birthday and sent him a card and 10 dollars!!! I was so incredibly touched. She passed away last Sunday...she inspired me. I met Lila as a single woman in my "frontier" days up in Alaska. She taught me how to fry up some great grayling, cook some carrot cake, and make the most tender venison ribs-I learned this while her son and my hubs were out deer hunting. We went up river on flat river boats 50 miles into the Alaskan wilderness at her spry age of 82!! She herself spent years up in Coldfoot, Alaska, as a school teacher with her husband. They built their log home in North Pole, AK, where my hubs and I met. I loved hearing her stories...I will miss her greatly, and I am sorry that my children will not ever meet her here on earth. It makes me tear up to know she had their photos up on her fridge...
I also have tears of joy however knowing without doubt that someday we shall all meet again and rejoice-celebrating together, for now so long my dearest, Lila, we will miss you!!!

I am often reminded that sorrow often is accompanied with joy. In the peace of the day, the south winds brought some fallish type weather. Not in the first picture(that was taken 3 days ago and it was 90 degrees) but in the ones that follow. We have dry conditions and a gorgeous 70 degrees! My children make me so happy during my sadness. The weather sure made Phoebe excited and Michael a very happy 18 month old!!!
our little pool
can I please pick it, Mom? my experiment with a tomato garden, I'll have to say not bad for a 1st try and no caretaking!!!
He's heading for the lake!!
fooled ya, I was going for the swings!!
on the way back
phoebe gets sidetracked
she tasted a maple leaf
mom had to get a photo
Being 18 months is exhausting!

Beautiful Summer Days...

2008-08-17T20:34:00.006-05:00

We should be outside!!

I can't believe summer is almost over. The days are shortening, my nanny went back to school(that's a tough one), but alas, there are still some beautiful days left to enjoy. On one of the last days Heather was with us(yes, she gets to come back next summer, YEAH), we went to the Minnesota Children's Museum. It was a blast, so much to explore and play with!! My kids loved it. We'll have to say that both Heather and I were exhausted after that trip, and Heather is about half my age so imagine what I feel like some days...
Nanny Heather
Love the slide
Princess Phoebe
Prince Michael
My favorite...
WATER!!!
Mom, this place rocks!!

To help with the transition, my 7 year old niece, Rebecca came a couple of days last week. Wow, I couldn't believe how much help that provided. I got to sleep in, she entertained the kids for me, helped them go down for naps:) We had a ball, and both Michael and Phoebe adore their cousin. She of course got some down time, she got a felt board that she could change all these outfits on, and a piggybank that she painted and then baked so we could put some of her "nanny" wages in it. She was a joy to have!
The cousins had matching shirts
The back of the t-shirts!
Then today, I LOVE SUNDAYS, we got to go to my girlfriends house and swim in just fantastic weather. The best thing was, we shared a common friend, Rory. Rory and her husband live in Kyrgyzstan. They went to our church here, and last year we first met them while picking up Michael. By visiting with them we found out that Rory and Kat were in the same class during family practice residency. What a hoot!!! It's such a small world!! We saw them again when we picked up Phoebe, and they came home for the summer so Rory could take her board certifications again. So we had a grill out and then all hung out at the pool. Rory and her family go back to Kyrgyzstan at the end of this month, but we hope, when our children are out of diapers, to go back and visit them with our babies. I can hardly wait I know!!! So we wish them well as they go back to work there, may we see them again soon!!
Michael(& Phoebe too) loved the pool!
The "Kyrg" Gang

And the Brilliant Bloggers are...

2008-08-08T23:36:00.006-05:00

I'm finishing my Brilliant Blogger award responsibility. Thanks again, Andrea, I often get inspiration from you! First of all I would like to bestow these fellow peeps with this award. There are many brilliant bloggers out there, but these are the ones I read most often!

1} Kami D.-unfortunately, she has a private blog, but you can email her if you want to see it. Just email me and I'll forward it to her. She has a son Kaleb who is just a week older than my son and they were orphanage mates in Bishkek, his pics have been known to show up on my blog once in awhile and I share a very special friendship with Kami.

2)Rachel-who lives in the same burb in Florida that my bro lives in, and has a daughter who was in the same orphanage as Phoebe

3)Hilary-my sweet friend that I hope to meet someday soon! Her daughter Anara was also in Tokmok but definitely did not see my little Phoebe:)

4)Jackie-she also adopted from Kyrgyzstan, and her daughter Nola was also in Tokmok-she has become a good friend of mine after meeting in Florida last February.

5)Margaret-okay another private blog, but you have to keep in touch with those Tokmok girls! You can email her at the link provided.

6)Ivy-I love her journal about picking up her son. Yup, private...but you can again try to get access at the link:)

7)Lisa-a fellow Minnesotan in line for a Kyrgyz referral!! Yeah, my children will not be the only Kyrgyz in this Northern State:)

Now ladies pay attention, not only do you get to award 7 more brilliant bloggers, you get to answer these questions A to Z!!

A. Attached or single? Attached

B. Best friend? Hubs

C. Cake or pie? Cake

D. Day of choice? Sunday

E. Essential item? Ice cream

F. Favorite color? depends on my mood, could be pink, black, green, or brown

G. Gummy bears or worms? Bears

H. Hometown? Minneapolis

I. Indulgence? One hour massage from my favorite massage therapist

J. January or July? January-I like snow, my hubs was born then, start of a new year

K. Kids? 5-my 2 Kyrgyz kiddos, my 2 dogs, and my Hubs

L. Life isn’t complete without? Family and faith

M. Marriage date? 02/28/03

N. Number of brothers & sisters? Older bro, a younger bro & sister

O. Oranges or apples? Oranges

P. Phobias? Heights

Q. Quotes? It doesn't matter where you are, it's who you are with. A journey of 1000 miles begins with 1 step.

R. Reasons to smile? my 5 crazy children

S. Season of choice? Fall

T. Tag seven peeps! (see above)

U. Unknown fact about me? It wouldn't be unknown if I told you :) Got that straight from Andrea:)

V. Vegetable? Tomato, if you think that's a fruit then asparagus

W. Worst habits? procrastination

X. X-ray or ultrasound? ultrasound

Y. Your favorite food? good spaghetti and ice cream

Z. Zodiac sign? Gemini

Now of course I have to add some pics of my babies...

Awards and the way God works...

2008-08-08T09:59:00.012-05:00

Andrea bestowed this award to me the other day. I was honored to meet her at the CWA picnic along with alot of my blogger buddies. Of course, there are many out there who do a better job than I do, and I am humbled at the thought. Thank you, Andrea, for reading my blog and thinking of me:) You made my day!! On my next post I'll hand out the award to some well deserved people but I have some other pressing news that I would like to share.

Of all the awards to be given, there is a woman who helped my blogging possible, and will surely be awarded in eternity. She pioneered and opened up the way for many families to bring home their Kyrgyz children. Her story is very inspiring. Her name is Tami Snowden and her story indeed inspires. Here is the link to the newstory, don't miss it!

Tami Snowden's story

What is even more amazing to this story is the background she wrote to let us know what it all involved. Here is a clip from the letter she wrote to the Kyrgyz Yahoo board:

Hello all,
Thank you all for your kind comments regarding me and Tabi's story. I made my first trip to K-stan in the fall of 1999, and worked in the baby orphanage in Bishkek for 6 weeks. That is when I first met Kenny (Cindy LaJoy's son). After 6 weeks, I left to come back to America--knowing I would return after I finished seminary. The one thing I started praying in 1999, was that laws would change, and that in the meantime God would really work in the hearts of the workers to love the children. If the institution was to replace a family (can't really replace a family --but you know what I mean) then I wanted children to have the best love they could..and that the workers would become their "moms."

I prayed continually for changes in laws for adoption. When I arrived early Jan 2002, I immediately began my work at the Bishkek Baby House.
Once a month, other missionaries in town would meet at my apartment and we pray for laws to change. We prayed for 2 1/2 years. My other friend and I would walk around the white house in bishkek and pray for officials to be put into place that had a heart for the children and would allow foreign adoption.

When I left Bishkek in Jan 05, I was thrilled to have my daughter with me, but also grieved leaving all the other children behind. I begged God not to forget them, and to make a way for them to be homes like Tabi.

God is Faithful!!!

In your journey with your children, don't forget to tell them about the many missionaries who lived in bishkek, and our prayer teams back in America who prayed for years for laws to change so that they could have homes.

Exodus 22:22 says, Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry.

GOD DID HEAR THEIR CRY---They are not forgotten.

For the children,
Tami Snowden

Because of Tami, and all the others who pleaded with God, we, and many other families have beautiful children in our homes. She truly deserves and award for her courage and faithfulness, not listening to others, and choosing the narrow road. It makes me bow my knees before a truly FAITHFUL God.

And the amazing thing is that our God does not always work through feel good stories. He works through tragedy. And although it is painful to say, God is faithful even when He allows this to happen. The next is a story on Steven Curtis Chapman and the loss of his adopted daughter, Maria. As Christians, we do not have all the answers, and we do not have perfect lives, our lives are broken, yet God finds a way to help us in our grief, shares in it with the sacrifice of his own son Jesus and speaks volumes about Himself. Listen to what they have to say...

Steven Curtis Chapman Interview

Bling, Bling!!

2008-08-02T15:24:00.003-05:00

Miss Phoebe got new earrings about a week ago!! She did great throughout the piercing, I felt the same as when she was getting shots but she quickly forgot about it! I had to take each ear separate to get good shots, she's got ear anatomy that likes to hide the earrings from the camera!!

"I got attitude" look...

Gotcha Day Pictures

2008-07-31T22:16:00.004-05:00

Here are pics from the big event. We treated it just like a birthday except everyone sang Happy Gotcha! M's cousins and adopted Guatemalan friends had a great time as we did too!
the spread at Chuck E Cheese
I copped out and bought a cake, Michael loves CARS
He came to the party asleep
Phoebe was up and at em
Phoebe must have ridden the merrygoround 10 times!

Phoebe says yeah!!! When is it my turn?

A Letter to our Son

2008-07-29T20:38:00.004-05:00

July 30th, 2008
Our Dearest Son,
We can hardly believe a year has gone by since we first held you in our arms. You are an amazing gift of God's grace to us and we couldn't be happier that we were chosen to be your parents. God first chose us to be apart of His family and then He chose you to be a part of ours.

It has been an incredible year for both your Daddy and I as we have watched you grow from 11.3 to 27 lbs! You have filled our life with joy unspeakable. From the way you light up a room with a smile, your truly infectious laughter, frankenstein walking, even your lying down on the floor with both fists flying and screams of dismay coming from your lips, these make us glad we are your parents. The way you call your dogs "azzie" and "adney" is so adorable. Your unstoppable curiousity, boundless energy, lack of the need for sleep, and your love of food makes our life so happy! Your concern for your sister is truly amazing, even though you often push her out of your way, you will look at us with concern when she is wailing, and when you know she is hungry you offer her food! Such a sweet little boy.

Our son. You call us Daddy and Mommy. Not because you came from us but because God created you to be a beautiful boy and placed you into our hearts and arms. Many people prayed for you to come home safely to us. We are humbled by the mystery of it all. We were meant to be family. It is an awesome thing to have been adopted and even better to be privileged to be your Mommy and Daddy. We have many hopes and dreams for you and us together as a family. Our biggest hope is that we will all walk together with Jesus, not only because He saves us from the power of death, but as our friend, someone to model our lives for as servants to others, and someone to lean on in times of trouble. He kept us going in the uncertainty of waiting for you to come home to us. We also dream to someday travel to your birth country together, and if you wish, make contact with your birth mother if God wills it. We will be here to help you with your dreams, dear one.

We want you to know as you grow up, that you are a very, very special boy, and you are so very, very loved. You are much more than we could ask or imagine!!!

We love you, Michael, more than you could ever know.
Happy 1st Gotcha Day, baby!!!
Daddy and Mommy

ps if you haven't already don't forget to see Michael's Gotcha Day video montage below

Michael's Gotcha Day Video Montage

2008-07-29T17:18:00.002-05:00

I finally did it. Just in time for Michael's first gotcha day, July 30th, 2007!!!
I hope it works...I'm going to try it as soon as I get it posted. If not, let me know please!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

CWA Picnic

2008-07-14T20:55:00.008-05:00

Greetings from North Carolina! I finally figured out how to get on the internet in my hotel room so now I can post some of those CWA Kyrgyzstan faces! I had a wonderful time meeting the families that I met in cyberspace and have emailed. Like someone else said, it's like you know these people personally! I wish I could have spent more one on one time, getting to know the children and the families, but time was short, M wasn't feeling the best, and it was hot!! So we all hope to see you again next time! We were joined by some of the embassy officials and some visitors from Kyrgyzstan. This will be short. I want to get some rest, we've been out and about touring the NC area, what a great place to visit! Way too much to do! For now enjoy some of the pics I took, if any of the picnicers have some great shots, please, please share!
CWA Kyrgyzstan families, I would say half of them there didn't get to the photo spot on time:(
Jamie and McKenzie
Z and Phoebe
Z, M, P, C and AP
Kaleb & Michael they were born a week apart and were in the same baby house
Lori, Shea and Beckett
Esther, Aliya, and her brother
P and Aliya
Jerret and JJ
the Stephanie and Mark and AJ with CWA president
Clare,Jimmy, Ann, & Maggi
Andrea and AP

Ta Da!!!

2008-07-09T06:33:00.003-05:00

I was able to get shots of Phoebe going into her stand position. She looks like she is concentrating so hard and then she gets into her SO BIG position. It cracks us up and we bust up laughing. On the medical front we were able to get her into see the pediatric endocrinologist(no easy feat, those guys are booked 3 months ahead)yesterday. Her TSH level was coming in slightly high(the hormone that tells the brain to make the thyroid work) although her T4 level(her actual thyroid) was well into the normal range. TSH was high at arrival and still high a month later-but it was in the gray zone, not high enough to merit medication. She also was low on her iron-those levels have come into normal range with the help of iron supplements. Anyway, we are to get her thyroid levels again in 2 months to decide if she needs supplementation. Why is this so important? It not only helps with growth but is very important in brain development. If they continue to be off, she could lose IQ points if not corrected. So far we don't see a difference and we are hoping she will normalize in the next few months with good nutrition and lots of love:) She sits at the 10th percentile for weight at 17 1/2 lbs, 5-10th percentile for height at 26 1/4 inches, and 50th percentile for head circumference:) She's still our little peanut!!!
I think I can...
SOOOO BIG!!!
A view from the top, or should I say bottom?

Fourth of July

2008-07-06T19:53:00.008-05:00

Good Morning, Michael!
Good Morning, Phoebe!

Fourth of July was special this year! Having our kiddos home meant alot to us. One very important part means that my kids are free from a life of poverty or uncertainty had they remained in the orphanage. Now they have tremendous opportunities availed to them. We thank God that He chose them to be with us. The uncanny things are that both Michael and Phoebe have markings that are identical to ones I have on my body, a mole on the same shoulder, and a birthmark in the sameplace!
I never really realized how much I love America and how much freedom means to me. I myself was born in a 3rd world country, and had my parents not immigrated to the US, my life would have been totally different. Here in America, if you work hard enough, you can make something of your life, and there are tremendous opportunities for those who choose to take the challenge. What saddens me is that the majority of 8th graders in this country do not even know what the Declaration of Independence was, and what it stands for(from the Bradley scholars). There are many Americans who do not like America. There is also an increasing population of entitlement, I deserve this for free, I need this, and I need it now. No longer is there a hard work ethic in many of our population. People think Europe is so much better with all the goodies they get, never mind that they have to wait for things(although that would be a great lesson for many Americans), ie an adoption homestudy there takes 2-3 years, and yes, the government decides what type of healthcare you will receive at the government's pace. How would you like to pay 45-55 percent of your salary in taxes? I'd love to see all Americans write their own tax checks instead of having it withdrawn from their paychecks, I'm sure it would cause a riot! Also, Europeans do not have the space we have to live here and the beautiful huge parks to enjoy, and the many freedoms we have here because we are so privileged to live in America. I wonder how many of the patriotic songs children even know the words to! All that fourth of July to them is fireworks and a day off of work-may my children never feel this way! So we set out to make it a special day, playing our American songs, putting flags up, and making a specially decorated cake!
We had the all American 4th dinner, barbequed, and in abundance! Our founding forefathers brought many blessings to this country, because they chose to sever themselves from a stifling, religious killing, overbearing government!
Fourscore and seven years ago...
Phoebe in her 4th dress from Aunt Jackie!
Boy, we are Patriotic!
Fourth of July greetings from the Collingham clan!
Kiddos with their Aunt and Uncle in the courtship chair!
I love corn!!
Fourth of July dessert!!!

attempts at catching shots of walking & standing

2008-06-29T22:02:00.003-05:00

So besides having my friend Roxi who is a dental hygenist inform us that Phoebe now has 2 bottom teeth, we had an exciting week. Phoebe decided to crawl up to my leg and stand up. She hasn't figured out quite what to do once there, but I'm sure she is watching her brother. Michael decided to take the plunge and started walking, but he hasn't quite abandoned the crawling yet. He's always been cautious...
So here are my poor attempts at catching them in the act, stay tuned for better ones...
I'm so big!!
I'm walking!!

Summer Daze, Smiley Babes, and first haircut!

2008-06-23T17:05:00.007-05:00

We are full into summer and enjoying it! Heather was out helping me finish a table for Phoebe and Michael, and the weather is perfect! Mid 70's low humidity, Yeah!!!
I had to share some of our mommy-son and daddy-daughter pictures, and also my smiling babies after a nap:) Now if they could only be that way all the time! The last thing to share is the big haircut! For his 16th month birthday, we took Michael to Kid's Hair. He did fantastic, both Heather and I were amazed at how welll he did-it was like he enjoyed it. I was also glad to have her along while getting it cut, otherwise I would have pulled out my hair, no need to get it cut.
This is short, summer is too short to be inside. Hope you like the photos!
the red white and blue?
I still fit 0-3 months!
You're it!
I'm awake!
So am I!
pre haircut
i'm not sure about this

Stylin' dude
Your turn next time!

A visit to the hospital

2008-06-16T20:16:00.008-05:00

So Michael had the controversial procedure done today. Rather than defend my position, which I would normally but don't want to start a debate, you can check out one of the more recent articles by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Not trying to change anyones mind but it is not cruel to do this to your child. It also had some interesting statements in it and links to the supporting literature. Also, being a doc and nurse you see what the consequences are of not doing it and it is not very pretty.
Plus, I wanted to share what a brave little guy our son was. Poor little guy, he couldn't have his normal enormous breakfast, so we fed him his favorite spaghetti last night, got him up at midnite to give him yogurt and milk, after keeping him up as late as possible, and then woke at 5 to give him some apple juice. It was a good thing we did, the procedure before us took longer than they thought and Michael was giving me all the sign language that he was very, very hungry. By the time it was his turn, he had fallen asleep for his morning nap. The anesthesiologist thought they had it made, but not so. I think they were being cautious and didn't give him the normal amount of nitrous oxide as he was already sleeping, and he woke up for their IV sticks. My poor son was a pin cushion. I think I counted 20 on his hands and feet...His adequate nutrition and his stress provided very little access for those poor docs and nurses, I have been on the other side and I know how horrible it feels. But he was a trooper! He made it through the procedure with no problems and was placed in my arms in about 1 1/2 hours after we left him in the induction room. The 1/2 was the time it took to get an IV in him..He needed his bottle right away and he just gulped that down in no time at all. He wasn't awake when we were discharged so we strolled to my favorite Italian restaurant in St Paul! He must have been just about ready to get up and smelled the fabulous food, his reward was a few of his favorite noodles! We thought he would be down for the rest of the day, no going...as soon as we got home he was groggy, but he saw the dogs and was instantly awake and back to his old self. He has been cruising all day on his little walker. He's just about ready to walk, stands for 15 seconds by himself, has actually taken a few steps to us, but hasn't tried it yet by himself. He can take his time, I'm excited for him to walk but know that means a lot more work!! Then Phoebe will be right behind him as she is monkey see monkey do!
I put pics up of my new do in with Mikey...however, let me say it is definitely more work than my long hair and it's not even how it should look! Also, I told my stylist when she asked how much time I would spend I said zero(she laughed at me and said better go for long layers so it won't look like a bad cut), so it definitely doesn't look anything like it did the first day. My hubby actually really likes it and I think it would be perfect, if I spent more time on it....oh well, it's definitely less weight to wear it around!
Waiting room at the Day Surgery Center St Paul Childrens
Sporting my hospital pj's
Fell asleep waiting for my turn
Induction room getting laughing gas
Waking up in Mommy's arms
On a lighter note, Phoebe went to her first birthday party at our neighbors house. They got to go down the big water slide and Michael tried out the jumping castle. Boy, do we love summer!
I think I like my bathtub better
I really like my bathtub better
The jumping castle
Daddy helps me out!

Losing a foot and a brace

2008-06-14T21:52:00.003-05:00

We now kind of play together...
8 months old and a jelly belly:
Yeah, we're done! Except for orthopedic appointments about every 6 months until adulthood or maybe less as Michael get's older. We finally do not have to put on that brace anymore. Michael stopped sleeping about the time Phoebe got home with that brace on...He would kick it off, or fuss until we took the bar off. Then he would cry until we took the shoes off...so on his orthopedic appointment on Tuesday, June 10th, we told the ortho that he was not tolerationg it anymore. I thought he would try to convince us that we needed to keep it on, instead, he looked at his foot and said. Okay. No big deal...I was ready to put up a fight to keep it off...guess he's used to it. He checked his foot out, no need for an afo or ankle foot orthotic either, unless it starts to regress...which is why the follow up checks every six months until???? So we lose the brace!!!!! NO PROBLEM!!! Agree with me Terry? It was a big PITB!!! WOOOOHOOOOOO!!! So I thought I'd give you a parting shot of the casts and brace we've had to deal with since August 07 to fix Michael's clubfoot. We are so thankful that surgery was not needed. Thanks for all your prayers my dear friends!
5 little cast were hiding in a bag...
Along came a brace that made Mom make a face!

As far as the losing a foot...I lost about 12 inches of hair on Friday the 13th! Do I feel good!! Like a great weight has been lifted off!! After many years of long, long hair I finally went to tell my hairstylist to lop it off, she just about hit the floor! She kept asking me if I were sure! Yup, my kids finally did me in. I could deal with Michael getting at it, but the 2 together got to me. Plus, I was tired of having my hair brush my arms, and looking like it had no lift. So with one big snip, it came off. I now have a mom cut, and I'm okay with it:) Now I get to work on the rest of me and getting back into shape. Losing a foot is a good start, I wondered how much that weighted?
1 foot missing...

Lazy Days

2008-06-09T19:34:00.004-05:00

So, I finally have time to take breaks! My nanny, Heather, comes and does a wonderful job taking care of my babies, or helping me clean, letting me take a nap or allows me to do some grocery shopping by myself or even take a break. I now also can plan on doing some of those house projects. My laundry pile is now at zero and my floor is sometimes clean enough to eat off of:) Well, maybe not. Poor Phoebe had a taste of doggie poo because our little puppy had an accident. John had to take care of it, as well as a major blowout. It happened on his watch. I just laughed...
Heather is an early childhood major at Northwestern college in St Paul and my babies just love her! She is great, a Godsend. We get along great, and I'm so blessed to have her. She makes our babies laugh which makes both John and I very happy and comfortable. We can both catch up on some sleep this week as John is home on a home vacation! I'm so glad. We might go to a drive-in date with the kids this week too!
We are being lazy and that includes posting...but I just had to share some of my cute kids enjoying themselves...

Modeling the dress from Aunt Jackie
I like it!
Heather and Michael trying out the new slide
Hmmm, not sure this works right...

Updates

2008-06-03T06:56:00.000-05:00

This speaks for itself!
Okay, it's been a busy week! Phoebe is now finally cured of her rash. It was fungal, and had the markings to prove it as it was healing. No more washing sheets everyday! She is starting to eat more solids, that is if you let her eat it off the floor. For instance, yesterday we gave her some pieces of avocado, she spit it out after having it in her mouth for a bit. Later, she finds some of it on the floor and guess what, she eats it, and thinks it's just fine. Guess we'll have to start feeding her solids off the floor. She finally ate her rice cereal, that is if you give it to her before her bottle, so she is so hungry she doesn't care...she's growing but it is still that petite little girl:)
My friend Andria threw us a shower last Saturday! It was so fun! She had fabulous food and cake and company. It was so nice to celebrate Phoebe's arrival into our lives, she is such a spitfire and showed some of that off to the guests!
The kitty found a new home. He or she went to an adoptive family with 14 children, and will definitely get much more attention than we had time to give. Also, it is nice not to have John sneezing all the time or me itching after feeding her. The babies do not seem to miss it, it was like a toy to them, poor kitty. She looked so much better by the time she went to them. Gorgeous little blue eyes! We are glad for her and the chance she was given to live!
I included photos of Miss Phoebe's 7th month photo shoot. This time we made sure she was fed a bottle at the "right" temperature before hand so she wasn't screaming for them. This time she was crawling all over the place so the photographer had to be quick!
Last but not least, my birthday surprise from my husband was super fantastic! Not only did I get 2 bouquets of roses, one delivered to our home the other given to me by him, I got a delicious dinner at Felicitaions without our babies, and a part time nanny for the summer! I'm so spoiled, and our nanny is great. I'll tell you more about her later in the next post.
On the move again!
Baby toes!
He loves me, he loves me not...
He loves me!
Because I say so!
Flowers from my Lover!
Friends at the shower, Andria is in the middle.
Phoebe's cake!
Kids with attitude!

Happy Birthday to ME!

2008-05-27T11:33:00.000-05:00

Early celebration on Memorial Day
Now to Him who is able to do far more than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever, and ever. AMEN Ephesians 3:20 ESV

That is the core of my title for my blog. And today is my birthday! I did not know a year ago that I would be Mom to some of the most beautiful children in the world! I have tears in my eyes thinking of all that was given to me in a year, truly more than we could ask or imagine, and definitely more than I deserve.

In our adoption journey, we have met some of the most beautiful people God has created, not just the children, but the parents, and the caregivers, and the workers that have enabled us to have our family. It has been some of the most inspiring journeys in my life and one for which I am truly thankful. We travelled halfway around the world for such a privilege to bring our babies home. Our family is much larger than our immediate or biological family because of this.

It'll be a quiet day, although I did find out that my husband has a surprise dinner date for just him and I-guess it's not so much of a surprise:) We are going to go get some tomato plants and other garden veggies, even though it is a bit cool!

For this day I am quieted in spirit, truly happy, knowing the forgiveness of a Great God for all my shortcomings and wrongdoings, truly and definitely in a place I don't deserve-where it is more than I can ask or imagine!

Day to Day and Orphans...

2008-05-24T19:57:00.000-05:00

I'm having a hard time posting lately, been caught up in the day to day things-trying to keep up with 2 little ones, finally breaking down over the mess of the house I have. John had just finished working 7 days in a row, then the next day I find out because he was doing an extra shift just doing stress tests that he goes in hour early(even on the days he works at the ER) to have breakfast by himself in peace-I find this out because the HUC calls and tells me that his first stress test is cancelled, so I went to meet him for a breakfast date with the kids. He tells me, oh, I already had breakfast-and the waiter said, "back for the second round?" Now, I was pretty cool about it, why not-it would be great to have some time for yourself. Later, I fumed about it-wouldn't it be nice if, oh, I'm just going to take off so I can get time to myself-leave the kids to themselves and take care of them. We had already had this discussion as we have both worked for many years that it easier to go to work than to stay home and parent fulltime-why? because you are not on all the time, even at the busiest days at work, you have freedom to take down time, and you work at your pace and not at the pace of your childrens. This was not what I wanted to hear after a hard 7 straight days of parenting, picking up after company, and just overwhelmed with what I wished life would be. Organized, everything in it's proper place, dinner at the table at the right time, all my housework and outside work done, get my decorating ideas accomplished...yeah, an impossibility with two needing diapers, needing to be fed, and just played with, and a husband who is gone from either 7am-9pm or 4pm-8am on the days he works. Thank God, my husband told me his priority was not that our house was a palace, but a place where his kids and I were happy. That's why I love him soooo much. I had to help him swallow that, yes, picking up after himself would help help make me happy...so it's back to normal happy self, and letting go of the idols of surface things that I think would make me happy. It's good to know that the people I know with these well kept homes are often some of the most discontent people I know, and the happiest ones are those that just go with the flow. I have to find the right balance for myself and make sure my family is doing well, and that I feel like I can function optimally. Right now, the messy house is doing me in...day by day to meet my goals... maybe some quality sleep sometime...and a chance to eat breakfast, go the bathroom, and take a bath by myself:)
spring at last!
outfit from aunt Jackie
I like this green stuff!
yup, puppies go poopy too!
Let's get this show on the road!

I did find my camera however and can share the 1st outside spring pictures-the ones where my babies brought in the ticks. We also got a little surprise the other day. A kitty-who John almost ran over at the end of our driveway one night...he came in, then went to leave a bowl of milk for the little one. Well, that little one snuck into our garage, John went to open the door to the garage the next am, and I hear this loud meowing...he came in looking sheepish...the kitty must have snuck in as I found the bowl of milk today while sweeping out the garage...I went to look at this noisy thing and there was this teeny weeny ball of fur...the first thing I notice is that it has something wrong with it's eye, of course I felt so sorry for it that I immediately came in and said I'm taking her to the vet. So off I went. John and I decided it would be an outside cat...only to find out later that this poor little thing was only 2 1/2 weeks old, too young to be away from it's mother, we couldn't even tell if it was a boy or a girl, and I would have to stimulate it to help it pee and poop, and it should almost be bottle fed...so we are in a quandary...she can't be outside since we need to keep it warm, it still gets down to the 40's at night...we have to give her tlc or she'll pass away...so we have asked some of our cat loving friends if they might adopt this poor orphan...meanwhile we haven't named it...and of course are trying not to get attached...we are just softies I know it-we really aren't cat people and it doesn't help for my goal of a cleaner house...
Poor orphan kitty with conjunctivits
Phoebe meets kitty
please don't make me sneeze!
Michael says, are you kidding me?
We didn't teach her this, she did it herself and the kitty thought it was great...natural mommy...

Reality, rashes, and Woodticks

2008-05-15T21:41:00.000-05:00

Our special guy!!
Yup, it's woodtick season. Last night I awoke to this creepy crawly sensation on my leg!!! Yieiieeeeee!!!! I hate them, abhor, them, itch for hours after, and then I could't sleep till the wee hours of the morning. I wanted to strip the bed, vacuum, but I couldn't do it to my poor hubby who had to get up at 4 am...so I flushed that little bugger down the toilet and got about 2 hours sleep....where did it come from? Me or the dogs(yes, our furbabies sleep with us), it's finally outside weather here in Minnesota...or maybe from the clothes my dad in law brought into the house...(sorry Dad, I also found ticks in the office)...but after I changed the sheets I found another crawling on the bed, UGH!!!! Why do I feel like I'm camping inside the house? Anyway, everyone gets checked before getting into bed tonight!!!!

I also wanted to share the joys of parenting 2 under 14 months:) Yes, I love my babies, estatically delirously joyful about it and I'm so very glad it worked out this way-Irish twins-but I am very, very tired. They just don't quit those two. From taking each other's toys, screaming for attention, wanting to be held at the same time, double diaper blowouts, Mikey pounding his sister with "his" toys, I feel like my day is just feeding, picking up after them, and changing their diapers. So needless to say, not a lot gets done-sometimes I get to blog and read others, my little break from reality. I just basically try my best to play with them, love them, and make sure they appear reasonably clean...can't say my house is:) But we are such happy folk. Even when the brand new van gets a ding in the wheel well because some driver doesn't seem to know his own cars depth and decides to leave you a dent for a present in the parking lot. And yes, even having to forgive myself for leaving the van door open and driving into the garage-this is what sleep deprivation does), taking out a piece of the garage and putting a dent in the molding as well as scratches on my van...thank God our builder left some moulding and my hubby and Dad where able to fix it!! So just in case you thought having two beautiful kids was all fun and games(I know you didn't) I just wanted to share our very little trials. It pales in comparison to what others are going through, on the way to visit John today, I saw my neighbors house was burned. The garage looked demolished, the roof was gone, but part of the house still stands. I hope their dogs are okay as the kennels were part of the garage-those were still standing. I see this and I think, I have nothing to gripe about-I saw them weeping looking at it with the insurance adjustor...I have everything to be thankful for, even the ticks and my babies buggery noses. I hope to go help them somehow this weekend...

As for Phoebe & Michael, we got their lab results back from the IA doc. Michael passed with flying colors! A little sensitivity to the ppd he got(to be expected-he had the BCG and a ppd just 6 months ago) but otherwise he is good to go!!
Phoebe was negative for all the scary ones, HIV, Syphilis,Hep B, Hep C,no giardia or parasites, or TB!! Yeah! However, she is a little anemic and her iron studies showed she doesn't have much. So now she's on an iron supplement. Her TSH is high-it correlates with her low iron levels, and her thyroid is normal so that is good. We'll have to get her rechecked in about 4-6 weeks. She is positive for Helicobactor Pylori-the bacteria that causes ulcers and linked to gastric cancer-but since she is so young and asymptomatic, we'll just watch her rather than treat her. That is not surprising knowing that she came from an orphanage. The one thing that we really are working on however is her rash. We noticed when we got her she had these little bumps on her little diaper pee area. Both John and I were perplexed. It certainly didn't look like scabies which was the first thing John wanted me to look for when I was changing her at the orphanage. It remained pretty dormant until we got home. We though maybe it looked a little like the herpes simplex virus but it wasn't painful nor did it bother her so we weren't quite ready to give her that diagnosis. Our pediatrician looked at it and he thought it looked like bug bites. So we tried a little hydrocortisone, it didn't get any better. Then one day it decided to get a little more red..we had an appt with the IA doc and he said, not scabies, but maybe contact dermatitis or fungal. So he recommended some zinc oxide, new diapers(we already did that) and then try the antifungal. Well, after the zinc oxide, it decided to go full blown little bumps and red all over!! Trip to the dermatologist...well, keep the hydrocortisone creme and add another more broadspectrum antifungal than the OTC stuff we were using. Result? Not getting any worse now and so we wait and see. We have also let her go au natural for bedtime. I am washing her little waterproof pad and little shirt every day now just like cloth diapers to see if we can't stop this thing. I can believe that it is fungal-it was so warm in the baby house and there were so many clothes on her. So now we wait and see, I'll keep you posted, hopefully it'll go away...like those woodticks....oh great, it seems like I've misplaced my camera, I'll have to wait to post the outdoor photos till it reappears...
We'd snap a pic and then they would crawl off!

Baby Dedication, Mom's Day and Papa & Nana come to town

2008-05-12T23:34:00.000-05:00

Phoebe modeling her new outfit!
I love my new outfit!
This might be a long one so sit down, have a drink, and relax...
First I have to say that I have had a huge scare today. My first child(who is really my furbaby) Tazzie, decided to have an adventure of his own. I had just dropped off Papa and Nana at the airport and decided to go see my sister. Her kids had just been outside playing and came running to greet us. I usually bring my furbabies and kids to visit. We were in my sister's house and my little 4 lb dog Sydney came up to me with a funny look. For some reason it made me go check the back sliding door, it is often left open with her kids going inside and out. It was wide open...my heart started to race as my Tazzie is not car smart and they live by a busy road and some bad drivers like to tear down their road at 45 mph...I started sobbing as I became frantic looking and yelling his name..it took a few minutes of my yelling his name, my sister coming out with her kids holding my sobbing boy and helping me look. Luckily she wasn't hysterical and was able to see him down the street across the road...we were so blessed, a school bus had just raced by me and he was on the sidewalk not too far...but it made me thankful that he was not hurt and still my first furbaby...my little Sydney was a Lassie and came and told me something was amiss...I couldn't imagine life without my Taz nor the thought of him getting run over...he has been through so much with me...I also scalded my thigh, Miss P still likes her formula warm so we bring a thermos of hot water with us and I spilled it on my lap pouring it onto her bottle...what a day, I made it home safe at least...
Now for the title matter:)
My first Mom's Day was a hit! I could do that again many times!! My little babies gave me the gift of sleeping through Mother's Day brunch and we could sit and eat in peace! I have great, thoughtful children:) I didn't have to cook, my husband gave me the perfect card, and 2 begonia plants for my porch plantars as well as a reed diffuser! I just love him!! My sister also surprised me with a shawl and new water bottle, too much fun!! I got a nice soft robe from my inlaws and Michael likes it too! I do have to admit though that as a Mom, you are kind of too busy to really enjoy the day as I thought I would. It is much easier to dream about it from the other side:) I did think of my babies birth mothers however, and even though they don't celebrate in Kyrgyzstan, it still was a huge gift from them to me, and I prayed for them that day as well as cried a little.
I'm a Mom!!!
Then little Phoebe had her baby dedication. I love the way they do Baby Dedication so much at our church. So much so that I am going to share what they do.
The parents line up with their children to be dedicated and we stand in front of the congregation. The pastor does a little explanation of what we are doing and how much children mean to us, and then we answer this series of questions:
1) Do you recognize these children as the gifts of God and give heartfelt thanks for God's blessing?
2) Do you now dedicate your children to the Lord who gave them to you all, surrendering all worldly claims upon their lives in the hope that they will belong wholly to God?
3) Do you pledge as parnets that, with God's fatherly help, you will bring up your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, making every reasonable effort, with patience and love, to build the word of God, the character of Christ and the joy of the Lord into their lives?
4) Do you promise to provide, through God's blessing, for the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual needs of your children, looking ot your own Heavenly Father for the wisdom, love and strength to serve them and not use them?
5) Do you promise, God helping you, tomake it your regular prayer that by God's grace your children will come to trust in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of their sins and for the fulfillment of all his promises to them, even eternal life, and in this faith follow Jesus as Lord and obey his teachings?
Our congregation also says AMEN to these with us as we believe that as a children are not only cared for by their parents but by the fellowship of believers.
After these questions the pastor comes and gives our babies a blessing, we get a rose and certificate, and the pastor prays for us after each child's individual blessing. I put Michael's pictures also as he was dedicated last fall. It made for the icing on the cake for Mother's Day!
There were 8 babies dedicated during our service and 45 total in our church that day
Phoebe Rachel, together with your parents who love you dearly and this people who care about the outcome of your faith, I dedicate you to God, surrendering together with them all worldly claim upon your life in the hope that you will belong wholly to the Lord, forever. And all the people said, "AMEN!"
Phoebe's Dedication Family
Trying to keep Michael quiet!
Michael's dedication-Sept 07
Michael Ermek, together with your parents who love you dearly and these people who care about the outcome of your faith, I dedicate you to God, surrendering together with them all worldly claim upon your life in the hope that you will belong wholly to the Lord, forever. And all the people said, "AMEN!"
Michael's Dedication Family
I also included glimpses of Papa and Nana's visit, we were so lucky to have them here for Phoebe's special day and Mom's Day! WE love you!!!
The Collinghams minus me
We love Papa!
Phoebe loved this!
Papa rubbed her on his head and she giggled-a rare thing for our little girl!
Happy Birthday Nana!

And the winner is...

2008-05-07T20:31:00.000-05:00

The flower hat!
yes, we can play nice!!

So the results are in, the flower hat wins! There was a vote for every hat but the bucket hat which is actually my favorite!!! Oh well. Oops, and Michael's hat didn't get any either. Thought I'd share with you the agony of getting that picture of that favored hat. It's a good thing I figured out the burst feature of our camera, in order to salvage the squirmy worms face.

Today we brought the kids in for their international adoption clinic appointments. Dr Dana Johnson said both the kids looked fantastic. He was impressed by the gains Michael made in his growth. He is now 30 3/4 inches and 26 1/2 lbs at 14 months. He told us that he has found that the smartest kids were the ones who grew the most in the 1st six months homes, guess we better start saving for college...when he came to us at 5 months he was only 11.3 lbs and 23 inches! We're so proud of him. He said Phoebe was more developed than birth children, she wowed everyone. The only thing is surprise, surprise, she has a rash in her diaper area. He didn't think it was scabies, and he said it some type of contact rash, so back to zinc oxide...possibly some type of fungal so we'll just watch it...as far as measurements, she is now 15 lbs 4 oz and 25 1/4 inches. She was 12 1/2 lbs and 25 inches at the sos clinic in March. The OT called her the overachiever!

As far as the homefront we had a slight emergency last nite. But how thankful we are that we were home and I was right there when it happened. We built this house and moved in fall 2006 and the plumber didn't glue our hot water line to the master bath which is on the 2nd floor! Only by God's provision did this not happen while we out travelling the world but when I happened to be there. I heard and saw water coming out of our whirlpool tub face and couldn't believe it. There was a minor flood but we were able to wet vac the water, dry the floors, put fans up on the 1st and second floor so maybe we won't have to rip anything out, we pray so but are so humbled by a God who looks out for us. Even John was home! Right now would not be a good time to have construction with 2 little babies cruising around. Yeah, God!

The many hats of Phoebe

2008-05-04T21:33:00.000-05:00

So one day when it was freezing cold outside last week, they said we were supposed to have snow yesterday but thank God we didn't, I got a wild hair and thought I'd try to get Phoebe to model her hats for me...I'll have to post how many shots it took to get the last one but that'll have to be later...
Anyway, take your vote and let me know which is your favorite. I think that maybe I like the hats more than Phoebe does but she is a good sport and generally wears them for me. She is such a sweet baby when she isn't vocalizing her dismay at things!
On the more serious side however, I've been thinking about Mother's Day. It took me 43 years to realize my dream of motherhood. Of course the first 3 didn't really count but 40 is alot of years. It made me think of all the women who have longed to be a mother for a very long time and either because of infertility, miscarriage, wanting to be married, or because they are stuck in the process of adopting, it still hasn't happened. This makes Mother's Day very, very painful, and very, very, lonely. As I look forward to celebrating my first real Mother's day- I can't really count last year even though I knew about Michael but he wasn't legally ours, and anything could have happened to prevent that-I want to say to those waiting who have visited my blog that I remember you, think of you, and pray for you! My heart has felt many of the emotions that you are feeling this week, and also more. I lost my biological Mom 8 years ago now and that along with the pain of being without a child in my arms was some of the most painful & solitary times of my life. I weep with you and anticipate with you. I trust in a God who knows what's best for you and that is the hope that kept me going during those days. May you be blessed with a lovely day, celebrating all the things you have in your life, and do not be discouraged, though the tears may flow at night, joy does come in the morning, however long it takes that morning to get there. May your cup be half full, and may you wear a smile on your face that day which beams with thankfulness that you have had a Mom to love you! Happy Mother's Day to you!!
Bucket hat
Kyrgyz Hat
Michael's hat
Kyrgyz beret(it has a matching purse and vest for when she gets bigger)
Stocking Hat
Sun hat
Matching Hat
Crocheted Hat
Flower Hat

Trouble in Paradise

2008-04-26T12:20:00.000-05:00

So today Mr M got into the toilet...it's a good thing that they say that the toilet bowl has less germs than a dirty dishrag but the thought makes me gag...last week he got into the toilet paper, now that was fun, don't ask me why it bugs me so much that my rolls aren't perfectly rolled anymore:)
The sibs are also noticing each other way more, like, since your playing with that toy, it's now my favorite toy and guess who's going to get it from you. Unfortunately, for poor Phoebe, since M is more coordinated with his muscles, he often leaves Phoebe in tears...
So while it is snowing outside today on April 26th, we've been cooped up in the house. Mr M discovered his old jump-n-go, it was the cutest thing, he took it out on the floor and then tried to get into in...he started crying in frustration that it wasn't working until I put it up on the door again and away he went! Best 29.99 we've spent in toys. I'm going to try to get some of these pictures in action , but if I don't, you'll hopefully like the ones I posted. Thanks to Andrea, I've found a new tool to play with!! And even though my kids get into trouble, it's paradise to have them!!!
My favorite position...practicing to be a model..hope not says mom!
Love my jump n go!
By the way, Mom, I can sit up now all by myself...
These photos were taken for a fundraiser...
if you think I do this all the time I don't, it's Terry's fault anyway:)
It's mine...
B=No, it's mine!!
See, I told you it was mine!

Family Foto FUN!!

2008-04-22T09:10:00.000-05:00

My car got loaded suddenly!
Lolo and Phoebe
Don't like rice cereal part 1
Being a Grandma is a joy!
Rebecca, my sis, and P
It's actually warm out!
At Nickelodean Indoor Theme Park MOA
Are you sure this ride won't make me sick?
Phoebe and her Lola
Happy 3rd Birthday Alex!!
So, it's been a busy week with family here and birthday celebrations and taxes, and still being sick, can you believe it? This Tokmok crud was hard to shake, John and I finally got rid of the hacking cough, and now poor Michael has it. Keeps him up at nite as well as me...poor baby, first missing his momma, then the canker sores, and now this croupy cough...we can't wait until we all get reasonably healthy again. It was nice to have my folks here to help hold these babies just while coordinating life and trying to get back to some sort of schedule...maybe in a few months? Oh well, enjoy these pics. We went to the mall one day as it was a cold rainy day...

Why you shouldn't get pics when you are sick...

2008-04-14T21:06:00.000-05:00

Ask me how I really feel about this...

We had our appointment, and John was home so we thought we would go ahead and try...
It was disasterous!! Today we are laughing because absolutely none of the photos they took had us all looking somewhat decent. Someone was always having a tough time or funny look. It would only work if we cropped parts out and pieced them together, but that doesn't make for a good family photo. So I cropped out some great shots of some of us from the whole photo and only put one of poor sick Phoebe up in her real state of affairs-there were absolutely no good ones in a family shot. If I put some of those up they might not let us adopt again...needless to say, we might have to go back when Phoebe feels better and when her eyes don't get puffed up from crying...I'd have to say she cried almost the whole time we were there no matter what we tried, bottle, kisses, silly faces, dog licks, even Michael went and gave her a big kiss and a pat on the back(where was the photographer when THAT happened?).
At least someone's laughing!
Mikey and Mom, uncanny similarities...

They are starting their own language and are starting to interact with each other, yeah!! That's one good thing coming out of being sick together.
As far as the photos go at least the photographer was really nice and understanding, John said that was wasted hours he'd never get back again...although we are getting a good laugh out of the photo CD:)
Sydney gave up exhausted,one of the better pics but still ungivable albeit realistic...
pep talk from Daddy...
P's best shot of the day-it'll have to do for her 6 month pic...

We're Still Sick & Sleep deprived!

2008-04-12T23:14:00.000-05:00

So our little peanut got a fever tonight...I picked her up after picking up the photos from the camera we left at the orphanage, thanks Jamie(oops the check is in the mail) and she felt hot. We have one of those cute talking thermometers you put on the forehead of your kid, Michael loves it! His read normal at 97.3 -YEAH and Phoebe's read 99.6! So just to check, good old nurse I used to be I whip out the rectal thermometer. Uh oh!!! 103.0 degrees! Tylenol and to bed she gets. Of course now I'm worried.
I hate having just a little knowledge and thinking of all the things that could go wrong but most likely won't...she's restless tonight and so is Momma. We're all supposed to get our family pics taken and her 6 months photos tomorrow...we shall see...

Life with 2 and one being sick!

2008-04-11T09:54:00.000-05:00

Feeding time!!
Okay, just when I thought I was getting it down pretty well, both napping staggered so I could get them bathed at different times, fed at the same time(kind of but just for the picture), my poor M gets the coxsackie A virus(remember those canker sores you used to get) and has not slept nor ate very much for the last 2 days!!! Ouch!!! I knew something was up, he wasn't sleeping his usual 11-12 hours, and everytime he ate or wanted his bottle he just lost it!!! (What a great time to wean him off his bottle though, we didn't before because we knew we would be leaving for Phoebe) The big hint was giving him some oranges which he just loves(wrong, wrong thing to give a person with canker sores) and he wailed and I saw those nasty little white bumps in his mouth:( Poor baby. He might be teething & getting his first year molars also, we can only hope.
The great thing about having a doctor daddy was he got some medicine to help him, of course, he wouldn't just believe me but was able to see with a flashlight when our poor baby was wailing the white bumps on his tonsils-double ouch!!! The bad news is he said 5-7 days. Don't know if I can handle the lack of sleep, of course I am still jetlagged, getting up at 330 am, but I think my sleep deprivation will cure it.
on my walker!
I can go zoom, zooom!!
M showing Phoebe the ropes...
Happy in my corner!
So, being a mommy of 2 has not been the most pleasant experience thus far. Especially when one feels really nasty and the other needs your attention because she is so new. I have had help, yeah(from Kathy, Ruth, and Deb), meals coming our way(, and my parents arrive on Monday, whew!! What a blessing it is however to have a baby who is pretty independent, and very advanced for her age. We are hoping that Phoebe was the carrier so we don't need to repeat this next week, but God has provided for that just in case:)
Crawling at home...
Kathy & Phoebe

Life at home and Jetlag

2008-04-05T22:35:00.000-05:00

Okay, day 2, I crashed at 330 pm after a morning of grocery shopping and going to Costco. We have hardly any food in the house and I didn't have much to make supper quickly so we divided and conquered. I took the lightweight girl shopping with me, M had Daddy time and John was wonderful enough to let me sleep and try to get rid of my cold. Poor baby, now he has the Tokmok crud:( I just woke up at 830 pm to put my Michael to bed and relieved John of his shift duties...I'm going to put up a few picks of our babies, add the photos to the Home Sweet Home post, wake up Phoebes and hopefully we can go down for the night...
Phoebe & her Big "sister" cousin
Bath Beauties, M loves it, P screams through the whole thing!
I know I'm supposed to fit in 3-6 months but it's still a little big!
Waiting for my photo shoot I'm going to race my big brother!
Tazzie loves Phoebe, she's not so sure!
Michael forgave me, it's wonderful. We went to dinner with our Stahl family last night and he went to Mommy without a fuss!! Yeah!!!

HOME SWEET HOME!

2008-04-04T02:53:00.000-05:00

We are happy to say that all went well and we arrived home safely at 330 pm CST!!! We were able to get the baby bassinet both legs of our journey, even though KLM couldn't tell us that for some reason, but it was great!! I'll be posting pictures later on today(hopefully-guess who's camera battery died again)so check later for updates to this post:)They're here:)

I'm up at 3 am CST because my little boy woke screaming at about 1245 am and proceeded to wake up Phoebe who decided she wanted to stay up for a bit. John got up and gave her a bottle, I comforted Mikey who went back to sleep, and then brought Phoebe downstairs. The boys are snoozing:) at the right time schedule. I was able to get her to go back to sleep in the bassinet downstairs and proceeded to get on the computer. Now I'm the only one up...

Anyway, we sat next to a Kazakhstan adoptive family and they were bringing home Lincoln who is 11 1/2 months. They were in Kazakhstan 62 days!!! Yikes!!! Although they did say the region they were in was much cheaper and better to breath in than Almaty. The poor little guy developed the "runs" 3 times they ran to the bathroom as it was coming out his pants, onto his legs, onto their clothes, it was tough going for them....they were running out of clean clothes, diapers, and still had an 8 hour flight left to Boston after a 7 hour layover in Amsterdam. Phoebe was great, her bowels are the peanut butter consistency, the healthy formula kind!!! We loved the enfamil formula, it set our kids right!! The great thing is that Amsterdam Schipshol airport has a wonderful Baby Lounge!! It's free and one of the formula companies sponsored it. It had these wonderful circular cubbies that had curtains around them, soft lighting, and a baby crib to boot!! It was really comfortable and nonsmoky, and Phoebe got to play and roll around & crawl in the safe crib while I had a Big Mac and John had a cappaccino. It was really comforting to us. The other family was also able to regroup, clean up their mess, and found diapers for sale at the drugstore!! Love the Dutch people. I'll have to say that they were the most gracious about our babies, there had to be 8 babies on that flight and not once did they put up a fuss for us, they loved our children and were sooo willing to help. It is huge contrast to Northwest airlines where we felt very unwelcome and a bother to the flight attendants. Sorry Jo, we know you are not that way but unfortunately the coworkers we ran into were...we were appalled and saddened by their unfriendliness!
KLM Bassinet
Dutch Flight Attendant
Amsterdam Baby Lounge Crib
Relaxing in the baby lounge
NWA Bassinet, a cardboard box!
Are we there yet?
We cleared US customs without a hitch, with a bit of a mystery. The official there told us that Phoebe was a new American citizen, which we understood was not the case because we only did one trip, and certainly Michael was not upon landing. However, we weren't going to argue so we'll see what happens in the next 6 weeks! Hopefully they changed the law in 2008?
We said goodbye to our travelling buddies the Hallaways, and hugged them all goodbye... made me sad... but then we were pleasantly surprised by a waiting friend, Tim, dad of Anara from Hilary's Blog! Tim does work based in Mpls and he was flying home, it was sooo wonderful to see him and we were sooo greatful! Phoebe had to greet him with a Hello and I need to touch your face:) He got to fly home with the Hallaways:)
My sister and 3 of her kids picked us up at the airport, they were so cute, the youngest daugther Emma said, I get to be a big sister!! And her older sister of course corrected her with "we get to be Big Cousins" It was sooo sweet. They loved our little Peanut and kept staring at her. They drove us to the Honda dealer where we picked up our new van, what a fun deal!
Oooh, Aaaah!
We got home to a quiet, clean, home complete with flood free basement(we were worried because they got 5-6 inches of snow on Monday and it melted within 24 hours-our water table is really high and we are built in clay soil)!!! Thanks to Melany our housesitter who took care of it for us!! A crockpot meal was cooking and good welcome home notes!! The Stahl's called while I was in the shower and said they were at the Dundas Exit(1 1/2 away from home)- I flew out of the shower to go greet my little boy and pups!! I had tears running down my eyes as I went to hug him-reaction was one I was prepared for, he looked at Terry and started to fuss. John came and he smiled a big smile for his Daddy!!! It was so wonderful. The dogs were happy clams. Michael is a little mad at me for leaving him for so long, do I blame him? But it still hurts a little. He warmed up to me during our shared meal. When it came time to leave, he fussed a little at Terry leaving but stayed within my arms and I kissed him into a big smile. He went to bed without a fuss and I went to bed with him at 8 pm.

Brother and Sister!

First Family photo minus furbabies
So now I'm up doing our Kyrgyzstan registration thing-copying the needed documents while I write! All done, just need to pop it in the post today. I am so thankful to God for the gift of our baby girl Phoebe, taking care of our son during our time away, all of our friends who prayed for us and read our blog during our travels, it meant so much to us!! Thanks again to our wonderful agency who took care of us in country, getting our daughter to us in 4 1/2 months from time of referral, that is simply amazing, you guys are the best!!! We will miss our travelling friends, it is such a great experience to go in a group!
Getting to know you...

I'll keep posting on the at home antics of having 2 under 2!! It's going to be crazy for awhile.
Don't tell me what to do:)

We have our visas and we are heading home!!!

2008-04-02T09:29:00.000-05:00

In front of the conuslate with our Visas!
Woohoo! All went well at the consulate and little Phoebe is now a US permanent resident. Just one question, how old was she? Other than that is was sign 3 forms and pay for our visa and get instructions on the packet we had. Someday I would like to know why it takes the family 2 trips for the child to be a US citizen immediately upon landing, do you think we would change our minds once we had her in the states after all we’ve gone through? How blessed we are to have our child in hand however and to enfold her into our loving arms. It is the most wonderful feeling to have a new baby in the family, it makes us want to go back for more!! There were a ton of adoptive parents there both from Kyrgyz but mostly from Kazak, after hearing how long the Kaz adoptions had to stay I can’t say much about how long we were here.
We had wanted to catch a glimpse of the Olympic torch but it conflicted with our appointment at the Embassy. As we were picking up our visas we saw some of the consulate workers peeking out the window to see the entourage.
China Olympic torch bearer
Excited for the Parade
Parade Route
We were able to move the Hallaway family into our hotel, I now understand why they couldn’t put them up the other nite. All the fuss over the Olympics and I think most of them stayed at our hotel. What we don’t understand is why the Kazzhol, even though they had reservations through the 3rd of April this week, told them they no longer had reservations the night of the 2nd. That is not good PR. Thank God they were able to get in here but it took a bit of fuss.
Altogether at the Intercontinental
Tomorrow am we have to get up at 4 am, take the hotel shuttle to the airport and leave Kaz Lord willing at 720 am. I can hardly wait. I’ll have to say it was harder the second time around, all we really wanted to do was go home after we had her. There wasn’t anything that new that was worth staying around for. And our hearts aches for our son whom we’ve missed tremendously not to mention our puppies. For now we are headed to down to the Asian Café for a celebratory dinner! Don't forget to scroll down for a post I just published before the short story that you may have missed!
Phoebe too excited to go home!
Can't I ride in the plane?
WE need to rescue our son:)

Short story

2008-04-01T09:43:00.000-05:00

Ouch, I have a pounding headache, the battery in my camera died, and I have a bad cold. So I won't post much today. I have one that has pictures in it but I'm going to wait until tomorrow after our visa appt. Phoebe is well, silly girl that she is moving her little rump every which way and getting stuck. Sleeps well, up to 30 oz a day of enfamil lipil with iron, responds to her name with a social smile. Napped for an hour while we walked to the green bazaar in her pikkolo carrier and enjoyed facing frontwards for a bit. Unfortunately she was a little traumatized from a nail clipping that missed. Ouch. Tito Greg where are you when we need you? It's a big day for us tomorrow, visa appointment at 3 pm. I made our reservations for a shuttle to the airport, and confirmed our flight reservations. Still hoping for a bassinet on the way from Almaty to Amsterdam, they have our request and I got it for going from Amsterdam to Minneapolis but not confirmed out of here. This hotel got suddenly crowded tonight, and more smoky. Good thing we have nonsmoking room. Looking forward to going home!

We're not in Kansas anymore!

2008-04-01T05:46:00.000-05:00

on the road again..

So we(Chip Reid, John, Phoebe and I) took a mile and 1/2 walk to the Green Bazaar. We met the Halloways there and had lunch with them at their hotel. It is a beautiful day, and great to get out of the hotel. There is heightened security here because of the Olympic torch run going through on Wednesday. There are Chinese dignitaries here as well as olympic athletes. A guard is on every floor watching our every move. Have we not our embassy appt that day, we would be more able to enjoy it. However, we just want to go, get the visa, and hightail it out of here!! We miss our family a ton. This is definitely a very long time to stay here, we feel like we have been waiting around doing nothing. We all feel rather confined, even though we get out and walk places during the day. Every afternoon we just say one more day. Glad that we have the internet to keep in touch and a nice workout area. We've read our books. It would be nice if were actually doing something to do with the adoption but it has been waiting for time to pass in a foreign, hard to breath in city, where we feel like we are not very well liked. I also have the Tokmok crud which I got from kissing my Phoebe. Every germ was worth it. Although I have a very runny nose and bad cough, John isn't sick this time around.
entrance to the bazaar
dried fruit anyone?
wonderful selection of veggies
colorful produce
Where's the beef?
delicacy
Fresh pork.
Window shopping
Olympics 2008
We love having this petite little girl in our family and she is well worth our efforts in getting her. She is sooooo feisty and I think she will be one of those who will push the limit on everything. She knows feeding time, she hates being restrained and arches her back like crazy, and loves to babble. We only got a few giggles from her, John says she's a little too young to have a belly laugh like our Mikey. I'm going to be chasing those 2 around for sure!!

Kok-Tobe or Blue Mountain

2008-03-31T08:28:00.000-05:00

Today we took a real taxi to Kok-Tobe or Blue Mountain. What I mean by real taxi is that they have a sign on it that says it's a taxi service. Otherwise it is a private taxi where you stick out your hand, a car stops and they ask where you are going, if they agree to take you, a price is negotiated. Last time we took private taxi's and this trip we are taking taxi services. Of course you can guess which is the least expensive. We have a guide who is an international relations major and she is a very petite cute thing. Last summer she was an exchange student in North Carolina. She can speak many languages. It is amazing to us.
We had wanted to go to Medeu, where they have a speed skating rink(it is the size of 2 football fields) and where they someday hope to host the Olympics but there is an olympic torch parade on Wednesday and all the roads are closed. Bummer. They are painting everything to make it look nice. I saw them painting a light pole with a rag with paint and they wrap it around just like they are shimmying up a tree but they are in a truck lift. Quite ingenious actually. Messy for the painter I would think.
So we got a ride to halfway up Kok-Tobe and walked the rest up. I only made it halfway with Phoebe and had to hand her over to John. They had strollers you could rent for 2.50 an hour so we took one of those. There are a few animals up there, souvenir shops, and restaurants.
Roof of a yurt.
Decorations!
Phoebe was a wiggle worm so I took a picture of Julia instead.
The flushable turkish toilet.
We got to eat in one that looked like a yurt inside. It was quite fun. Thanks Rachel for telling us about it, our guide knew exactly what we wanted. We had quite the meal, their traditional bread here is fantastic, especially when it is hot, John ordered scones but they were not quite what he pictured and creme tea. Chip Reid had a noodle dish and it was quite tasty. I had some fried eggplant and it was delicious.
Blue Cable Car
An upscale Almaty neighborhood.
Chip on a razor!
The wishing well.
Proud peacock.
Look what we've been breathing...
View of the hill & dry luge, you can ride it for about 8 dollars
Here we go down the mountain!
Crossing Cars
We have 2 days lefts after this(like we're counting) and hopefully tomorrow we'll make it to a traditional bazaar. At least the weather is holding out.
Catch me if you can!
I'll play on the chair but won't sit on it!