Happy Birthday Sam!!!

Seven years ago today, at just about this time, our beautiful son Sam made his way into the world. Our lives have never been the same since. I can't believe our beloved first born is seven years old!! How did this happen?? I guess it's true what they say, time flies when you're having fun. We love you so much Sam! We usually have a big kids party but decided to hold off this year due to Sam's finger injury (a little less pinky to worry about thanks to a big door with a sharp hinge - ouch!) We will have the "real" party in a few weeks when the finger is healed. Fortunately, Dan's sister and her husband came to visit all the way from Germany just in time to celebrate so we've had lots of outings to keep us busy. Here are some pictures of our weekend. (notice Sam is STILL wearing his triathalon shirt! We really do wash our clothes around here.)

Brags on My Boys

When you have children you dream about them enjoying a full beautiful life better than your own. You want them to be happier, healthier, smarter, stronger, richer in all things. But what I didn't anticipate was that they would be surpassing me so soon! At 40, I've participated in a variety of athletic events but my dream of competing in a triathlon (the shorter sprint distance, mind you!) was cut short when I started having children almost seven years ago. This weekend our oldest son, Sam, completed his first kids mini triathlon! I was so proud of his interest and enthusiasm. He had great focus and did a fantastic job!! He is following in the footsteps of his studly father who at 43 is running faster than he did when he was a teenage track star. (This year he won the masters mile with a time of 4:38!) He does triathlons himself but at this race was just the running leg (his team of course won, what can I say, the man's a physical marvel) Our youngest son, Luke, was right in there cheering on his brother and father and is all set to give it a try at next year's event. Perhaps I will be ready for my comeback then too! Here are a few pictures from our weekend.

Trudging into Month Eight!!

~Sigh~ Tomorrow we wrap up seven months of waiting for our little girl and I am sad to report that we are no further along than we were at the end of May. JOH had NO referrals for the month of June. = ( This is nothing to worry about, just par for the course in this crazy unpredictable ride called International Adoption. The wait is becoming increasingly difficult and, for me, the anxiety is mounting. I constantly wonder about our baby: Has she been born? What is her birthday? What does she look like? Does she have hair? What time of day was she born? How is her birth mother handling all of this? Was the birth easy or difficult? Where is she living? Is she sick? Is she well? Is she happy??? These are some of the questions I think about during the looooooong days of waiting. I feel like each month I say we are about number 4 on the list. This is because Taiwan doesn't REALLY have a list. One can only surmise a place from other people in the program to whom you've been speaking. So, perhaps I should just stop trying to guess when we are going to receive a referral. Some days I think I'm just dreaming all of this and it's not really even real. The group of us waiting now are among the first in this program to wait over seven months for a referral. Do I sound depressed?? Well...I am, a little. Please keep us and our baby and our baby's birth family in your thoughts. We could probably all use a little support right now. Onward to July!