Family

Family

Monday, August 25, 2008

Back from Europe and Back to School!

Well,I have jumped back from being a Swiss girl ( as still so many call me) to being a California mom very quickly.One day I am by the Glacier with the goats in Switzerland and the next I am busy buying school supplies,shoes,clothes,picking up schedules.changing schedules,figuring out lockers, and trying to get my kids to get to bed earlier!

It is going to be a busy year.I have four different schools this year.Reece is a Senior and Brianna is a Junior this year.Caroline is in middle school and is going to be very busy because she is in the GATE program this year.Bryce and Victoria are both in elementary but at different schools. Our suburban pretty much knows the way by itself.The trick is always to get everyone to school by 8am all over town and to four different schools! The joys of having children.There is still plenty of room however in the boat (my car) for one more little person we hope to join us soon.

In adoption news,our Dossier is still being translated as of Friday.Our case manager said this takes two to three weeks so it may be done in a week or so.I am not putting specific time frames on anything though. I am still just enjoying getting that Dossier OUT OF MY HANDS!That was the biggest project we have ever had to get together.I am sure it will be worth it though.

When the kids are in school I will post some pictures.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

A Few Of My FavoriteThings

Now that I can relax a bit I have been thinking of some of my Favorite things to do. 1. To teach the youth in our church .Every Sunday I have the opportunity to prepare a specific topic to teach my 14-16 year olds, so they can be examples to the world.It is so hard to be a teenager these days and resist the temptations of the world. I have been able to see and witness how loving guidance ,support and love can help them withstand many worldly obstacles and pressures.It is truly a joy to see. On Wednesdays we also get together and serve someone in need or learn a new skill .It is such a blessing to be part of their lives.I am also happy that my daughters Brianna and Caroline and son Reece are part of the youth organization.I know it makes such a difference in their lives. 2.I love to lay down with my two youngest before they go to sleep. I often find out such interesting Things!In the past few days I found out the missing broccoli was flushed down the toilet for fear that I might make it for dinner.I also found out who and why our 21 pound cat Zorro was given chocolate milk. No wonder he is a heavy weight!And last my little one said she thought blue toothpaste would just make a very pretty picture on the bathroom mirror!Yes ,it was pretty just a PAIN to clean. I have come to see that it is not so important who did it as to what they were thinking and feeling at the time. 3.I love to go back and read my old journals to read about my thoughts and look at photos from the past to see how we have all changed. Wow how we all change! The other night my girls and I looked at their baby albums.They sure had a few good laughs about the big hair days .To funny ! 4.My very favorite place to go is to the alps in Switzerland.One of my favorite villages is Lauterbrunnen where I just love to walk and hike and enjoy the incredible beauty.I am looking forward to spending time there these next couple weeks.I love the US but, sometimes I really miss my homeland too.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Out Of Our Hands!

Yesterday morning we recieved our Certified and Authenticated documents back from the Secretary of State and the following six hours were spent making copies, more copies and more copies then putting everything together in the right order.What a job that was!! At 4 in the afternoon I finally had our Dossier all ready to go. I made a trip to my FEDEX friends one more time!Our Certified and Authenticated Dossier arrived at our agency this morning at 9 am. I hope A will get back to me and give me a O.K. before I leave for Switzerland in a few days. Once I know everything is fine with all our paperwork I will allow myself to start having some fun and relax!

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Update

So,I have been out of the loop for a couple weeks on the adoption front. Several of you have asked me to update you so ,I will start by saying ,it has been a couple of very stressful weeks.First,we had a family emergency with our son who had a serious reaction to a medication he had never had.I guess this is why they have to put caution or possible side effects on the label .It is just scary when the side effects do happen and its your child! He is fine now with just a few lingering effects.Second, at the same time my sister was in the hospital in Pasadena an hour from here so I was going back and forth trying to take care of things on all fronts.She is fine now too but, as you can imagine my attention has been rightfully elsewhere.I was so busy with taking care of our little emergencies that I had to put my dossier a side for a week or so. Well, as I was triple checking our dossier docs I find a very small but,significant problem on our 1-171 form.Instead of putting Sr. at the back of my dear husbands name they put Jr.It turns out that this one letter mistake is a huge problem because my son is the Jr. and already 18 .Obviously, I am not married to my son and we dont want any confusion about who is who.Seriously I just wanted to cry.Actually,I did cry. AfterI finally got a hold of a live person they told me they would send a corrected one out and I should recieve it in about 2 weeks!I just about flipped and said I need it NOW so I will just have to drive down to Los Angelas and get it myself.That is exactly what I did.On the way back from getting my corrected form I got it notarized and sent it up to Sacramento for Authentification on Friday along with a few last docs.It takes 8 hours to drive to Sacramento to the Secretary of State so we are using a fast walking notary person.She should have it back to us by Tuesday.In the meantime ,I also had to postpone my trip to back to Switzerland a week because of all the stuff going on.I am going to visit my parents in my homeland to celebrate my parents 50th anniversary. I am praying I can get this dossier in before I leave next weekend. If no other problems arise I should have it in my mid week.I realize however,that this whole adoption journey is in Heavenly Fathers Hands.I strongly believe God has already chosen our child and will unite us when the time is right.His timing may not always be the timing we desire but,we must have faith and know that Heavenly Father knows us and knows what is best for us.We will take this journey as it comes even with all the frustrations . In the meanwhile I will enjoy mothering my other children,and continue to build a strong eternal family .