Hello Costco, my old friend

Yesterday was quite the enjoyable day. We went to see National Treasure and did some errands. The movie was great. It is hard to find a good adventure/action movie that is PG. This fit the bill. We enjoyed the first movie and the sequel was enjoyable too. We don’t go to the movies often, so this was a nice holiday treat.

We also went to Costco. Yes, that’s right my friend, we signed up for a membership yesterday. We had a membership a few years ago and with the prices of diapers and formula it only seems fitting that Costco is our new best friend. My buddy told me Costco is worth it even if the only things you buy there are diapers.

So, there we were in the warehouse style store with towering boxes and I a find myself saying things like, "Dave, will you eat 60 granola bars?" and "Should I get the 25 pound bag or the 50 pound bag?" Ahh, the joys of buying in bulk. It is great to feel like you are getting a deal! We also found a coupon online that gave us a Costco gift card for signing up. I think we will be making some regular trips there in the future. But not too regular, after all how long will it take us to eat 80 fruit snacks?

Holiday Traditions

We had a wonderful Christmas celebration. We were able to keep some holiday traditions and have some fun. I made the famous “Grandma Wakley” rolls, a secret family recipe that is from Dave’s Great-grandma (Spencer’s Great-Great grandma.) It was so secret that she took it with when we went to the other side. . . so her daughter and granddaughter pieced together the recipe and now it has been saved for the next generation.


My family always opens presents on Christmas Eve. It is a Scandinavian tradition. So that is something that Dave and I have adopted as our family tradition and since this was the first year it was just us for Christmas it was fun. Spencer made a haul! He wasn’t here to open all the goodies, but let’s just say the boy is well-loved.

On Christmas morning we also had our traditional monkey bread and citrus fruit. Dave’s family always has citrus fruit on Christmas morning and his dad has a special way of preparing grapefruit. Dave has picked up the technique and we have been enjoying grapefruit all week.


We also have been known to play a game or two around here. We indulged in a little monopoly. We have a special edition Star Wars Monopoly game that is so fun to play. . . Dave is always Han Solo. Unfortunately we couldn’t find it. . . it must be in the garage somewhere. So we played the regular kind. . . but with a fun new dice that makes it a pretty fast-paced game.

We also watched “It’s a Wonderful.” I LOVE that movie it is hands down the best movie ever made. I sobbed all the way through it. It is just the perfect movie. Ah, George Bailey, the richest man in town.

Sleeping is also a fun Holiday pass-time. . .It is a wonderful life.

Doing the math. . .

Well, here are the latest numbers. This is from the bits of information I can get out there about how long other parents have been waiting, what some “sources” are saying, and the buzz on blogs & discussion boards. . .

The average wait times for clearance on the new I-600 process is 4-5 weeks. Tomorrow marks 4 weeks for us. So, we are right in the ball park, (I hope.) The best guess from when we get the clearance to traveling is 5-14 days. So the numbers stack up like this. . .

Best case: We get our clearance tomorrow and travel within 5 days. We could be in Vietnam as soon as Jan. 7. : )

Worse case: It could take up to 8 week for our clearance. If we get the clearance Jan. 25 and if we travel 2 weeks later that puts the date as February 8. : (

Jan. 7 is probably just as likely was Feb. 8. The major concern for us is Tet*. Tet is the Vietnamese New Year celebration. Basically the country shuts down for a week plus. Imagine a celebration that is like Christmas, New Year’s and everyone’s birthday. That is Tet. So if we do not get to Vietnam before Tet starts (February 7) we will have to wait until mid-late February before we will travel.

Those are the numbers. . .we are still holding our breath in anticipation and asking the eternal question, “Are we there yet?”

*Tet is a wonderful holiday! Last year we had a Tet celebration and plan to make the celebration part of our family traditions. It would be great to be celebrating this year with Spencer. Last year we didn’t even know we were having a boy!

Christmas Surprise

The best Christmas present did not arrive, (our travel clearance from the US government to go to Vietnam and bring home Spencer.) BUT this is pretty darn awesome and I can’t image a better gift. We got pictures of Spencer this morning.

Our agency told us that we could send a little gift to Spencer. It had to be small and we had to get it to the coordinator rather quickly, so he could bring it with him to Vietnam on his next trip. We were so excited to have this additional connection with Spencer, to find him a wee Christmas gift and play Santa.

We hopped in the car and headed to Target. We knew we could find something there to fit the bill. We were gazing at all the infant toys; rattles, blocks, teething rings, stuffed animals. . . There were lots of choices. We finally settled on a fun rattle, shaped like a frog. It had lots of textured rings and it opened up to a shinny mirror like fabric center.

I was thinking about all the future Christmases we will have, looking for things that Spencer will like. This year was easy. . . I am sure when he is a teenager he will take after his dad and want all the technology toys : ) So I will enjoy the moment.

This morning we got updated pictures of Spencer. He is playing with the toy we gave him. Just awhile ago, that toy was in our hands and now in his. Just like soon, he will be in our arms. Our agency is so wonderful to coordinate this. They have really been a wonderful support and have gone the extra mile. We are very blessed.


If you would like to see the pictures, drop me an email.

: )

Joyeux Noel

Last night Dave and I watched a new Christmas movie that I have heard good things about but had never seen. It is a French film, “Joyeux Noel” (Merry Christmas). It takes place during the Christmas of 1914 during World War I, in the trenches. For a brief time the soliders from Scotland, France and Germany all put aside their weapons on the frontline and celebrate Christmas. I must admit I got goose bumps (it has bagpipes. . . what do you expect?) I also had a wee lump in my throat. It was quite touching. If you have Netflix or see it on the programming guide. (I think it was on the Starz movie channel.) This one is worth watching.

Still no news on Spencer. . .

Call a spade a spade

Dave and I were chatting yesterday and I was feeling pretty down that, here we are a few days away from Christmas and no news on Spencer. Nothing. I really thought that Spencer would be with us, or at the very least we would have our travel date. I have tired to “have my happy face on” but I just couldn’t be chipper thinking about our little boy so far away from us and knowing absolutely nothing about when we can be with him. So that’s when Dave said it, “Call a spade a spade, this is hard and we don’t have to pretend it is easy. It stinks to wait and feel that we have no control. You don’t have to have your game face on all the time.”

I surely love that man of mine. It was good advice. So here’s to not having my game face on and knowing it is okay to feel completely sad and aching to be with our son. He will be in our arms soon, but it is okay to miss him and it is okay to feel sad about this messy situation that USCIS has put so many families in.

Don’t worry feelings of excitement and happiness are around the corner. . .

2008 Election

There are some coo-coo campaign ads out there. . . Dave posted a ridiculous Mike Huckabee ad. (The man is two sandwiches short of a picnic.) Anyway I found this parody ad and thought I would share. It is good. . . I needed a laugh this morning.

Numbers Game. . .

At this stage of the adoption process it feels like a numbers game. I find myself looking at blogs, website and all the statistical analysis I can get my hands on to figure out when we can travel to be with Spencer.

We got our receipt from USCIS (United States Customs and Immigration Services) on November 30, which is when they "officially" received our I-600 requesting a visa for Spencer to enter the U.S. The letter said it could take as long as 60 days for them to "process" the request. So, anytime between Nov. 30 –Jan. 30. . . I thought, "I can live with that."

We have been waiting 19 days. On the Vietnam adoption discussion boards, one family that received their USCIS receipt on Nov. 19 (a mere 11 days before us) received their visa clearance on Dec. 10! So doing some quick calculations. . . it took 21 days. So we should be right around the corner. . . Oh the joy!

Then I read another Vietnam adoption blog that I follow. . .They got their receipt on Nov. 19 too. . . and they have not heard a thing. . . nothing. . . nada. . . zero. . .

So where does that put us? 60 days – 21 days + the will of the paper gods of USCIS = no clue.

I guess since I don’t have a choice . . . I can wait a little longer : )

More Projects. . .

It is the end of the year. . . and it seems a time to reminisce about 2007 and all that has happened. As I was making the annual scrapbook pages for my parents, I thought it would be great to do a scrapbook for the past year for our family. When I was a kid I really enjoyed looking at the pictures from vacations and basically all the fun memories we had as family.

I decided to make a digital scrapbook from the last year. It has been fun to look back and see all that has happened. It is such a good idea. . . I am going to go back and organize all the photos from the first three years of our marriage and put together some scrapbooks. I really like the online convenience of photo books. I hope the finished products look good. I think it will. . . It will be good to have all of our memories together and not scattered all over the computer in various folders.

Two sites I like are:

Shutterfly.com & Lulu.com

Woman of Leisure

Yesterday was the last day for my classes. Final grades are submitted and I am officially a Woman of Leisure (until Jan. 3rd when classes start again). . . . So what does a woman of leisure do?

Create a “Simpsons” family picture : )

www.simpsonizeme.com

Holiday Goodie Line-up

Here are some fun Holiday goodies. The Holidays are a great time to share recipes and here are a few that we love.

Appetizers:
Spinach dip (posted by request!)
Bacon Wrapped Chestnuts
Fruit dip
Creamy Shrimp Bagel Sandwiches
Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

Bread:
Money Bread*
Bruschetta


* Monkey Bread is favorite around here. It is sooo easy. It is great for company or even just to have on a Saturday morning. I hope you enjoy . . .

Surprises Galore

What a great day yesterday! It was my birthday and I had some great surprises. My cute husband surprised me first thing in the morning with a gift. . . it was a gift card to the Four Seasons Hotel Day Spa. I was so shocked! I didn’t even know Austin had a Four Seasons. I can’t wait to go, Day Spas are very much a luxury and I will enjoy every second of it. It's quite lovely. . . It looks like it came out of the pages of Architectural Digest!


I got some emails from old and dear friends from college. I also got to talk to my sister-in-law, sisters and parents. It was GREAT! But the biggest surprise was that I got a call from my best friend in high school. We haven’t had a chance to chat on the phone or face to face for many years. I was so pleased to get a call from her. I can’t believe how much things have changed since we hung out in high school. . . I met her 20 years ago. . . wait. . . Is it possible I can be old enough to say that?

Another surprise was my friend Rae called and she brought me lunch from a delicious little deli. We had some little sweets too! She also gave me an embroidered blanket for Spencer. It is so beautiful.


But the surprises didn’t stop there. . . Dave took me to sushi for dinner and it was quite good. I also decided to try a new recipe, instead of a birthday cake. It was a peach pudding and it was delicious! I am going to include the recipe here: Peach Pudding. I think I am going to add it to the Holiday-Goodie line up! Anyway, I didn’t know if the pudding would turn out. . . it bubbled over the sides and made a mess and I thought it was ruined, but it was quite good. Next time I will use a bigger pan.

So, here’s to a day of surprises and happy thoughts. The only surprise I would have liked, but didn’t get would be our travel clearance to be with Spencer. . . but I can hang on a bit longer : )

The final baby items

Today we got the final big item on our list for Spencer. We needed a car seat. As we were looking at car seats and tiring to figure out how much he will weigh and what would work best for him we found. . . . The Travel System.

At first I thought the “The Travel System” is a marketing ploy to make you buy more stuff, (and it probably is) but I was mesmerized by visions in my head of this “system” working beautifully to make taking Spencer places a breeze.

The system is a car seat/baby carrier that fits into a stroller. . . Totally cool, I know! Then when he gets too big (22+ pounds) for the carrier he can go in the stroller. The stroller is also gender neutral so any little siblings can also use it.

So, we have the travel system and are only waiting for our little one to travel in it. . .

90 minutes & five 8-year olds

My primary class has been “working” for a party since August. Every Sunday after class they put a sticker on the chart, last month they put the last sticker on the chart. So, the kids finally earned a class party.

Yesterday was the big day. I don’t know who was more excited about it me or them. We planned the party as class. I had a list of things we could do, they picked decorating gingerbread houses. Thursday night Dave and I stayed up a little later then usual to make the all the houses. (We did them out of graham crackers.) By Friday morning, they were all as hard as a rock and ready to decorate.

We had gobs of candy for the kids and each person had their own icing bag. We had white, green, red and yellow icing. When the kids arrived, they were tentative and well behaved. As the time went on, they got more relaxed and were laughing a lot. As the kids were decorating the houses, it seemed one piece of candy would go on the house and the next in their mouth. . . and they seemed to follow this pattern quite faithfully.


Once the full effect of the sugar rush hit the kids were bouncing off the walls. They were having a good time and so was I. We also played a game called, “Pass the Parcel.” You start out with a wrapped box with a gift for each child in it, then you put it in a larger box and wrap it, then you put that in a larger box and wrap it. . . and so on, until there are enough “layers” of boxes to for each person to open. I started with a shoe box sized box and wrapped it 6 times. The final box was HUGE, 24x18x18. The kids noticed it as soon as they walked in to the room. The kids passed the present in circle while music was playing, when the music stopped whoever was holding the box would get to open it. It was fun to watch the kids linger in holding the gift before passing it on. I got every one a set of card games (Crazy 8, Go fish, Old Maid. . .)

As time was winding down, I only had about 15 minutes left before parents would start coming by. I had one more game, but not enough time to play it. So, I had my old reliable standby, animal balloons. All the kids got to pick a color and made swords and dogs. I had a great time and I think the kids did too. Other then the fact that our whole house was “sticky,” I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Nursery Complete

The nursery is complete and we are anxiously waiting “The Call.” The USCIS will contact us when we are allowed to travel. We are hopeful to go to Vietnam this month, but nothing is in place. Actually it reminds me of a quote from my sister Sandy, “You never know, until you know, and even then you might not be sure.” Ahh the joys of adoption : ) We will be so happy to have our little guy home, whenever it happens.



I finally got Spencer’s bedding complete! I thought I would post photos.



You will notice the awesome diaper bag on the changing table. That is an early birthday present from my mother-in-law. I love the styling. I can’t wait to break it in!



We got this white romper on Saturday. Spencer will look like a little angel in it.

Busy-Busy-Busy

It had been an amazingly busy week. With my class down on Monday it made Tuesday twice as busy. On Wednesday I went to the family history library with my friend Rae to get names ready to take to the temple. Then, that evening Dave and I judged “reflections” at our local middle school. It is a contest where students submit all types of entries from writing, dancing, music, video. . . It is a national PTA program. We were there for about 3 hours.

On Thursday we spent all day on adoption stuff, picking up documents, getting things state certified, making copies, Fed-Exing. .. Then we got a second set of travel shots. We were at the immunization clinic from about 5-6:30 PM.

Dawn to dusk, Friday was 100% work for me. My classes submitted final projects and I was really impressed. A lot of work goes into them and I love reading their research and some of the slides shows were pretty impressive. Finally on Friday evening, it seemed the busy week was over. We relaxed and spent some time with Jack (Jack Bauer from 24: season 3). It was nice to do nothing.

Saturday was an early start. We went to the Temple in San Antonio. We went with Rae, this was her first trip to the temple. We did baptism for her family names. It was such a special day. The spirit was peaceful and strong. She watched as Dave and I were the proxies. The sister missionaries who taught her got special permission to be there too. It was a full day, we finally got home about 5 yesterday evening. We grabbed a quick nap and then headed off to the Saturday evening session of stake conference. The speakers were wonderful. We heard from the San Antonio mission president and his wife. Her talk was hands down *best* member missionary talk I have ever heard, including general conference.

We finally got to bed at 11 PM, happy to see such a busy week gone. I am looking forward to working on some sewing, listening to the speakers at stake conference and perhaps catching a nap today : )

Christmas has arrived

Our Front Door with Holiday Cheer



Our Living Room



I love nativity scenes. I got this in 2003.



Our Fireplace



This beautiful crèche is German. Janelle gave it to us for Christmas in 2004, the detail is so beautiful. I love displaying it every year.