A few pics from the week

A visit to the Griffith Observatory in L.A.

Brianna and Caroline hanging together.

Our little fish Victoria swimming with the shark.Pool time and green chlorine hair season has arrived !

Family time at the pier in Santa Barbara.

There is nothing like taking a nap with our fluffy furry friend Zorro.He makes for a very soft pillow!

Still hanging on to Hope !

Well, I will say this journey of adoption has taught me many things and continues to do so .Even when things tend to go from one disappointment to the next I continue to hang on to what we know as Hope! I do believe that someday I will look back and see the growth and faith this journey has given me. I have spoken several times to our Agency these last few weeks. They still have not received the referrals they are expecting from their region in Siberia.That being said even then we REALLY hope we will be able to accept the referral!Our documents continue to sit and "Age". I am soo tired of having to redo docs, redo notaries. authentications, fingerprints and on and on because they may expire! Things in Russia slow way down in the summer in regards to adoption so we shall see what happens. I no longer even have an estimated time frame because I just do not know! In regard to adoptions in Kyrgyzstan nothing will even be addressed until after the elections and even then it will be uncertain to say the least.I would have never thought we have two dossiers for two countries sitting at the top of the list and we still wait and wait.Really, I am not complaining but, it is just frustrating ! Again I come down to HOPE! We certainly are not getting younger and the kids are growing up .At this point we will just follow the plan according to Gods timing.

Performance by Brianna

This is Brianna ( in red skirt on right) performing in her High School Choir Finale. She is doing a duet singing Miss independence ! The title fits her soo well! It was hard to get a clear video because it was outside at night but, she was awesome! This was also the performance she was practicing for before she had the mishap with the car! Yes, the car was totalled! You will need to pause the music in my favorite music box in the left side bar at the bottom to hear the video.

Mom there is a problem!

I recieved one of those DREADED calls today where the pictures tell the story. Brianna was leaving the school parking lot after her rehearsal and within seconds the car she drives has taken on a new appearance. She was wearing her seatbelt and the airbag protected her from the frontal impact.

She is fine except for the airbag burns and seat belt bruises.We are VERY grateful for that and know it could have been a lot worse.I am obviously very glad no one else was in the car and no one else was hurt. Being a mom of two teenage drivers is a bit scary as one can see. Looks like mom will be doing some more driving around for a while! It just seemed a lot easier when the kids were small and you could put them in a carseat!

To add to the exitement of the day AS I am posting there is a rattle and a shake that rumbled through the house called as minor earthquake.

In addition to everything today 3 of my kids have the flu! OK I need calgon to take me away!