A Change of Seasons

Summer has come and gone.

In June, Austin turned 21. He's a full-fledged adult now.

We went on a big family vacation.
We flew to FL, spent a day at Sea World and then got on a cruise ship to Mexico.
(He spent his actual birthday at Sea World - probably not the place and with who most people spend their 21st birthday, but that's ok.)

We went to Cozumel and Grand Cayman.

In Grand Cayman, the guys (David, Austin and Darrell) went scuba diving, and the girls (Lois, Linda and Leila) went on a tour of the island, on a semi-sub and to a turtle farm.


Once we got to Cozumel, we all went together and swam with the dolphins. I think that was definitely the highlight of the trip.


Darrell left shortly after we came home for 3 weeks.
He was selected to attend the WV Governor's Honors Academy in Fairmont.
We missed him (especially Leila), but it was a great honor and an amazing opportunity for him.

July brought a family wedding.
Leila was the flower girl.
She absolutely LOVED dressing up and being in the middle of everything.
She can't wait for someone else to get married now, so can do it again!


July was also another minor surgery.
This was a lip revision. It was outpatient, so it wasn't too bad.
(Allie the bear was also very brave.)


School started the middle of August.
Leila is in first grade, and Darrell is a senior!

School of course brings sports.
For Darrell that meant cross country.
This was his 6th (and final year).
He was co-captain, and a little sad when it was all said and done.

We let Leila do 2 things at the same time this year - cheer leading and soccer.
It made for an extremely busy and hectic 2 months, but we figured if it was only 2 months - surely we could handle it.


October brought Homecoming, Halloween and Birthdays.
Leila turned 7, and Darrell turned 18. (Now he's a 'legal' adult too!)





Rather than having a party to celebrate the kids' birthdays this year, we took a short weekend trip to Great Wolf Lodge.
(I guess if Austin spent his 21st with us on a family vacation, then Darrell should have to spend his 18th on a trip with us as well!)
We went with 2 other families and had a blast.
We would definitely like to go back - it's the perfect winter get-away.


Now, cross-country is over - swimming has started.
Soccer and cheer leading are over - we're back in ballet.
Fall is over - winter is upon us.
I guess - ALL the seasons have changed.

Spring 2014

Wow! I cannot believe I haven't done an update since Nov.

Let's see ... during the fall semester I went back to teaching (sort of).
I did the paperwork and put myself back on the list to substitute teach. In all honesty, it wasn't actually as bad as I was anticipating. And the money is really good. Never knowing where I was going to be each day and worrying about whether or not someone was going to be here to get Leila to and from school was a constant source of stress for me though.

Dec was Christmas and all the crazy busy wonderful that always goes with that.





Darrell also got a new car (Jeep Liberty) in Dec. His little car just wasn't doing that good. It seemed that every time we turned around, there was something else going wrong with it. With him going away to school in a year, we really wanted him to have something reliable and safe.


Winter always brings winter sports.
For Darrell, it's swimming. This was his 2nd year, and he still loves it.
Since Leila liked cheering so much in the fall, we signed her up for Upward Cheerleading this winter. Upward is a fantastic program. It teaches the basics of the sport and combines it with Bible lessons.
Plus, since it's church and Christian oriented - there's none of the petty, immature drama that sometimes goes on with other kid's sports programs.


Winter was brutal this year. The kids missed so many days of school, that they can't even get them all made up. They've changed the school calendar for next year as a precaution so it won't happen again.


In Jan, I put my 'teaching' back on hold and started babysitting.
I started keeping a 2 month old little boy. His mommy is a teacher at Leila's school, so when she drops him off - she picks her up. And when she picks him up - she drops her off. Very convenient - just not as lucrative.

March was a busy month as well.
David and Darrell both got baptized.
Since our church doesn't have a baptismal, we made plans to use one at a nearby church. However, they forgot to fill it ahead of time. We ended up filling it right beforehand - with a garden hose from outside. The water was COLD! (Definitely memorable though.)


Austin decided to trade his Jeep Wrangler in for something a little sportier. I questioned that after the winter we just had - but he's a grown-up now, and it was his decision.
It is cute though.


March was also Mom's 70th birthday.
We had her a surprise party. We actually pulled off a SURPRISE too! We had over 70 people come. It was great.


With the exception of Easter - we'll call April, 'Darrell's month'.
He was 'tapped' for National Honor Society, National Technical Honor Society and was selected to attend the WV Governor's Honors Academy this summer.
He also decided to give tennis a try this year.
He's never played it before, but thought it would be a good thing to learn, since it's a 'life-long' sport. He DID learn and enjoy the game itself, and if his coach hadn't been such a total jerk - it would have been a great experience.
Oh yeah, and throw prom into the middle of all that too.



Easter started out bright and EARLY this year.
Our Sunday school class cooked the sunrise breakfast for our church.
We had a good turn-out. (I had no idea that many people got up and out that early!)


Now, it's already the end of May. School's almost out - we're into the last few crazy weeks and summer will officially be here.

Fall 2013

Another whole season has come and gone.

Darrell has finished another cross country season.


He took a weekend off to go to Colorado and go hiking in the Rocky Mountains with my cousin, Donna and her friend Matt.
I'm so very thankful she gave him such an amazing opportunity. He had the best time.


Our town did something new this year. We had Dragon Boat races.
David and Austin got to compete on one of the teams.
It was so much fun.
Weather was perfect.
They came in 3rd, but already have big plans for next year.


Leila finished up her cheerleading in Oct. She absolutely loved it. I think she liked it better than anything she's tried so far - including ballet or gymnastics.


The end of October brought birthdays - Darrell turned 17 and Leila turned 6.

We went to Chuck-e-Cheese to celebrate. I really think the 'big' kids had as more (or more) fun than Leila did.

Leila dressed up as a '50's girl' for Halloween this year.


November brought a mini trip to NYC for a weekend.
We did the 'normal' stuff - the 'Today' show, Times Square, China Town, etc., but we found a new place to eat - Ellen's Stardust Diner. It was VERY cool. Definitely a 'must see' from now on.
We also saw the Rockette's Christmas show this time, which was pretty spectacular.
It was fun, but there's just never enough time or money when we go.


Now, we're already at Thanksgiving and the Christmas season is gearing up. Oh my - how time does fly!

End of Summer

Summer is over.
It's hard to believe. It flew past so quickly. It feels like it just started.

David's mom turned 70 this summer.
We hosted a surprise birthday party for her in July.
We had 29 of her family come - from GA, VA, MD, and CA.
I think she was surprised. (If not, she's a better actress than I think.)



Our annual China reunion got cancelled this year.
Everyone stays so busy, and unexpected things pop up.
It's hard with busy, growing families to get together.
We did get the opportunity to visit with one of our 'travel families' though.
The Kovach's were passing through on their way from NC to OH to visit family and made time to stop and see us on their way.
We got to visit with them for a few hours.
It was a LONG overdue visit and one that I very, very much enjoyed.
They're a great family, and one that I so wish we could see more.
They've added a new daughter to their family since we last saw them, and she's a very sweet girl.
Leila and Anna played together like best friends.
I hated for them to leave, but I know their OH family was anxiously awaiting their arrival as well.

Hopefully we'll get to see everyone else next year.

July ended Darrell's summer swim season, but August brought a new school year, as well as, a new sports season.

Darrell is a junior this year.
He has a brutal school schedule (with all his classes either being AP or honors) and cross country practice every night and meets on weekends.
He's already had his 1st meet of the season. (He got his best time ever!)

This was his 1st day of school this year.


Leila is in kindergarten now, and loving it! (Where has time gone?)
And she's off and running.
She's a cheer leader. (Who can believe they have kindergarten cheer leaders?!)
She'll be cheering at the flag football games this year.
She rode on a float and threw candy in the fair parade in August - sort of as a kick-off to the season.
She's even been to a school dance already. (The cheer leaders were hosting it, so she had to go.)
In spite of Austin's dire warning not to dance with any boys, because boys have 'cooties', she had a great time running around and playing with her friends.

1st day of kindergarten


Looks like it's going to be a busy fall!

Nov 6???

I just found out that the CCAA issued referrals for log-in dates of Nov 6, 2006.
Why is this significant?
Well, our Dossier was logged into China on Nov 6, 2006.

Way back then, the wait from log-in to referral was 10-12 months.
But many things changed and that wait began to grow and grow and grow.

Let me explain some basics.
10-12 months was the wait time for a "perfect" healthy baby.

China has the 'healthy' list and then they have the 'waiting child' list.
A 'waiting child' is one that may have something 'wrong' with them.
It could be something so very minor - like a birthmark, or it could be something a little more serious - like missing limbs.
Children are often also put on the 'waiting child' list because they're 3 or 4 years old or older - most people want babies. Their only 'problem' could be that they're not a baby.

Our agency, America World, is a Christian agency and one that works with China in placing these 'special' children.

On the 'healthy' list, your name moves methodically along until you get to the top. At that point, China matches your name with your child.

If someone opts into the 'waiting child' list, then you fill out a (another) form.
This form is about various needs that you feel your family is open to and would be equipped for.
That form is submitted to your agency only - not to China.
When China releases a new list of 'waiting children' to the agency, the agency checks to see if they think any of the children on that list would be a good match for your family.
If they find one they think will fit into your family, they call you.
If that's YOUR child, then the agency contacts China.
China pulls your paperwork out of the massive stack of people waiting for a 'healthy' baby.
Now, you can start the next step on your journey to your new family - traveling to get her.

As the time started to lengthen, we decided we didn't want to wait and wait and wait.
As realistic parents of 2 biological boys, we already knew that NO child is ever PERFECT.
(We also knew that we weren't getting any younger.)
After about a year on the 'regular' list, we decided (okay, felt led) to go with the 'waiting child' list.
David and I discussed it and filled out the form.
We tried to be logical about it.
For instance, we don't have eye insurance, so we marked 'no' on vision problems. We have good dental insurance, so we marked 'yes' on things like that.
Anyway, once we were done, we took our list to the boys and discussed it with them.
Made a few tweaks here and there, and submitted it.

It wasn't long at all until we had our LEILA.
She was on the list because of cleft lip / palate.
Her lip was already fixed when we got her - due, I believe to the generous organization called Smile Train.
We had her palate fixed after coming home.
Totally fixable 'problem'. Not a problem. Perfect in fact.

We've never once regretted that.
It's been 5 years now since we got 'OUR call'.
5 years that we've had and loved our perfect healthy baby rather than sitting around waiting for her.

IF, we were to ever go back and do this again - we would go 'waiting child' immediately.
We wouldn't even fool with the other.

But back to today.
IF we had waited it out - we would have gotten 'our call' today.
I'm sure we would have been over the moon thrilled.
But we have missed the last 5 years.

Summer is Flying By

Summer is more than 1/2 over, and I feel like it just started!

The end of May was busy with end of the school year stuff.
Leila 'graduated' from preschool.

She's a big 'kindergartener' now.

We had our Bible School that same week.
Lots of fun, but busy busy busy.
We all had jobs this time.
Darrell taught a class, I was the photographer, and David helped with music.
As always, the week ended with a program, food and a water slide.
Darrell decided to 'surf' the slide, rather than slide the slide. Hence, a trip to the ER and a concussion later ensued.

The beginning of June brought Austin's 20th birthday.

Leila had her 1st Dance Recital that same night.
I'm sure a dance recital was NOT how he had originally planned to spend his birthday, but he went and was good about it.
And I LOVED it.
She did SO good, and was just so darn cute doing it.

The end of June, Darrell went to CA.
This was a trip with FBLA.
To get the money to go, he had to do fund-raising - which he did everything they offered for the last several months.
Then he worked on his own, to make up the difference. (He really wanted to go.)
He has been mowing (our yard and the church), teaching swimming lessons, house-sitting, and whatever odd jobs came his way.
It all paid off though, because he got to spend almost a week in CA.
He competed at FLBA Nationals, went to Disneyland, took a tour of Hollywood, and went to Huntington Beach.

In addition to teaching swimming lessons to little kids, he's been swimming in a summer league (which is also almost over).

He leaves on Sunday for Camp Electric - a Christian music camp.
This is his 4th year to go. (And probably his last.)

He's such a good kid. I'm very proud of him.

On July 1, Leila had her Pharyngeal Flap (p-flap) surgery in Columbus.
I was really dreading it, but she did amazing.
She was SO brave going into surgery.
We were there from Monday - Thursday.
She has recovered from this so much better than I anticipated.
Although this surgery is supposed to be so much more difficult - she actually did better with this one than she did with her tonsils back in Nov.

Austin and Casey have been dating over a year now, so last week they went to Kings Island for the day - and he proposed.
Of course, she said yes.
They say they're going to have a 'long' engagement.
I asked what 'long' means.
Welllll, that's anywhere from 1-3 years.
We'll see.