tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12701576002032532312011-07-30T18:12:12.141-04:00The ongoing antics of the Lange family as they attempt to live on the Maple Hill farm, adopt from Liberia and settle in after moving to Florida all while learning patience!Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.comBlogger1001100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-3249542979607310982010-08-10T17:48:00.003-04:002010-08-10T17:50:52.018-04:00

We have heard from the US Embassy that Abraham is now ready to move into the visa application process. That means they are ready for us to come over for an appointment with them. But before we do that we are double and triple checking that everything else is in order. The Liberian exit clearance letter lady needs to know that we're coming and taking Abraham home so we don't get stuck at the

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-1502543902551687412009-10-23T19:42:00.005-04:002010-03-02T21:52:30.221-05:00

This is our one year anniversary of leaving to get the kids from Liberia. It also is the day that we heard from the USCIS office in Accra, Ghana, about Abraham's case. The last we'd heard was in June that the file had been sent from Washington, D.C., USCIS office to either Rome or Accra.Ruth Lincoln from the Office of Children's Issues has been a great help tracking down the case and reported

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-21391037099048725882009-08-04T16:49:00.002-04:002009-08-04T16:57:22.045-04:00

After nine months of waiting for word from our government about why Abraham was denied his visa so that we could start the appeal process we have started the process to refile the I-600 document.A summary of what happened is that the US Embassy denied Abraham's visa claiming him to be too old. We came home with his sisters and without him on November 1. Mid-December we had a tracking number

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-21694108373742925282009-04-28T21:37:00.002-04:002009-04-28T21:54:07.075-04:00

Long time, no post. We have had a difficult time with personalities meshing for a few weeks but seem to have worked everything out now. That plus getting schoolwork done and having Erik in another play always ties up things around here. Regarding my title, we still have had no word from the US government regarding Abraham's I-600. We've been searching for it since December when we know it

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-659529404831406302009-02-08T10:54:00.003-05:002009-02-08T11:05:40.219-05:00

I haven't been very faithful in providing updates these last few weeks. We've been working hard at getting back into our schoolwork and regular routine. We've also been pestering the Liberian doctor to give us his conclusions after he reviewed Abraham's x-rays from the Mercy ship. I finally spoke with him this week and I think he accidentally told me more than he wanted to. He said that

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-34887138391748878792009-01-28T16:52:00.003-05:002009-01-28T17:02:47.572-05:00

Well, I spent the morning trying to get the girls' SSN but found out I didn't have all the paperwork in order. Actually, I didn't have the processes done in order to get the SSN. To get the SSN, they have to have their American birth certificates with our names as their parents. Since we don't have that yet, we have to get ATIN, or Adoptive Tax Identification Numbers. Yeah.... lots of fun

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-63802584291059939862009-01-14T12:17:00.010-05:002009-01-14T13:16:03.571-05:00

Well, the girls survived Wisconsin's cold and snow, although the weather was not as cold as it is now! We went to WI to spend Christmas with the whole family. Our first stop was at my dad's house for a couple of days. Diamond made her first snow angel with Karl there and shoveled Grandpa Jerry's sidewalk.Then we went to visit Jessica, Brianna and Emma for the day. Diamond and Kindness went

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-11438903430489576382008-12-17T08:08:00.002-05:002008-12-17T08:17:43.346-05:00

For all those who've been waiting for an update on our efforts to bring Abraham home, this is what we know so far.... not much.We have had no success with having our congressmen contact the Consulate in Liberia or trying to get the Consular to review her decision. We know that Abraham's paperwork is back in the US now because the Office of Children's Issues in the State Dept. notified us. A

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-42471248029778866712008-12-10T07:23:00.003-05:002008-12-10T07:40:42.357-05:00

Our friends, the Felders, came over on Sunday afternoon to teach us how to take care of African hair. We learned about vaseline mixed with Blue Magic, how often to shampoo and condition, which products would work for the girls' type of hair, and how to plat and braid. Here are some pictures of the afternoon, including the dads working on hair.

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-61036051188177622472008-12-03T06:32:00.005-05:002008-12-03T06:59:11.026-05:00

Here is a picture of my dad with the girls the first week back.Plenty chicken is what Diamond called the turkey we had for Thanksgiving. She was all excited that it was so big. I showed her a picture with a turkey and a chicken together so she could see the size comparison. After that she would call the turkey a churkey. Thanksgiving went well but they weren't that fond of the traditional

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-61628427374987057482008-11-25T09:06:00.003-05:002008-11-25T09:13:15.947-05:00

Well we successfully washed hair again yesterday. This time there we managed to avoid the tears and hollers. I've found the trick is one of those hand held shower hoses that you attach to the tub spout. Today we're putting the girls' hair in some kind of hairdo. Diamond has soft hair that is easy to handle but Kindness' hair is very coarse. I found some YouTube videos showing how to

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-72065472574233972892008-11-24T06:37:00.002-05:002008-11-24T06:50:59.506-05:00

I've read on other families blogs that the kids eat tons of food when they get home. It is very true! The girls could eat more than me at mealtime and throughout the day. We bought a rice cooker and 20 pounds of rice to keep up with the demand. I know they were being fed at the orphanage but I guess not as much as they wanted! I've heard this from most adoptive parents, too. Anyway, I think

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-90750497651201004752008-11-10T07:22:00.004-05:002008-11-10T07:36:20.607-05:00

We made it to church yesterday for the first time. The girls did really well. Erin has the little kids Sunday School class so Diamond went with her and Kindness sat on our laps during Bible study. After church there was a dinner which we stayed for. Thankfully there was chicken and rice there so our girls had something to eat. Diamond played with another little girl that was adopted from

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-12601536881177735492008-11-04T09:21:00.007-05:002008-11-04T09:48:59.138-05:00

Many of you have heard that we were unable to bring Abraham home with us. We had gotten clearance from the US Consulate's office prior to making travel arrangements that everything was ready to go with the kids. However, when we got to our appointment on Tuesday morning, Consular Gurski told us that Abraham would not be granted a visa because the age determination test which she had ordered

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-46857330812203422272008-10-23T09:34:00.002-04:002008-10-23T09:45:54.735-04:00

Tomorrow is travel day. I can't believe it is here already. We've waited so long that it became permanent - kids in Liberia, our family here. Now we're on the brink of another big change. We leave tomorrow at noon from Tampa, go to JFK in New York, arrive in Brussels on Saturday morning. We're staying in Brussels overnight to get a good night's sleep (I hope) and to celebrate my birthday (my

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-74733405351037519562008-10-15T07:48:00.002-04:002008-10-15T07:55:32.679-04:00

Today the task is to get the travel medications ordered, the airline tickets paid for, and the household affairs written up. The travel medications we need are anti-malaria medicine and Cipro. As much as I don't like to take meds, I've heard getting malaria is worse and Cipro can help you if you get one of those tropical nasties. The airline tickets are a special rate so they need to be paid

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-73477232730538060692008-10-14T06:38:00.003-04:002008-10-14T06:46:06.056-04:00

Erin has talked about being a nurse for a year or so now. She and I went to an orientation given by a community college in the neighboring county a few weeks ago to get the scoop on prerequistes, classes, degrees earned, and the like. Since then Erin has been very determined to finish her senior year strong. She had been talking about being a nurse with Erik who has since decided he is

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-43153918467352158512008-10-13T08:22:00.003-04:002008-10-13T08:38:31.088-04:00

I have submitted our request for Liberian visas (to be able to enter the country), almost completed getting our tickets and booked tickets for my dad. Dad is going to supervise our kids here while we go pick up our three Liberians. He hasn't visited before so he is looking forward to it. Thankfully the last week of the month usually isn't too booked with activities so he won't have to be

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-20184886533585296212008-10-06T18:02:00.003-04:002008-10-06T18:29:53.070-04:00

I'm filling out all the paperwork for the final stages of the adoption process. We need three years worth of tax data, three different immigration forms, birth, death, marriage, divorce certificates for the documentation PER CHILD! Whew! That doesn't count the documents to get the Visa for us to travel to Liberia. I've put all my to-do's and my travel checklist in an Excel spreadsheet. That

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-30770546836455650832008-10-01T06:35:00.003-04:002008-10-01T06:57:09.353-04:00

Rachel from AOH called last night to tell us the Embassy had given us the go-ahead to set an appointment with them in Liberia. This means we can travel to pick up the kids. I don't think reality will set in until we're in the air. In fact, Rachel probably wondered why I didn't sound excited when she called but I'll be excited when we meet with Alma at the Embassy to get the paper saying the

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-54880186699669921572008-09-30T13:36:00.006-04:002008-09-30T13:55:58.086-04:00

Karl has been lonesome for all his animals we left in Wisconsin when we moved. It was a tough decision but we didn't know how things would be here so we didn't bring any animals along with us. This weekend we were able to get a kitty from a friend for Karl. Karl is very happy and as he told me, " Ahhh, Now I remember what fur feels like!". Maybe he'll be a vet?I took Karl's picture and he

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-18590074018282437032008-09-26T07:44:00.003-04:002008-09-26T07:52:26.180-04:00

I haven't posted much about the adoption since we didn't have much to share. However, this week we got a surprise. Acres of Hope contacted us that the Embassy in Liberia had contacted them. I haven't been able to find out what specifically the Embassy told AOH, but I'm working on that. However, we still don't have clearance to travel and we were advised NOT to make any travel arrangements

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-90918874051060202582008-09-23T07:11:00.002-04:002008-09-23T07:17:52.223-04:00

I took the teens bowling on Saturday afternoon for the first time in YEARS! Whew! I think I'll be able to walk normal today. I always get sore the second day after exertion so at least I didn't look ridiculous at church on Sunday. However, yesterday all the lactic acid in my muscles attacked. I felt like I needed a walker. I actually limped! My loving spouse said he laughed (to himself)

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-33751545075203529022008-09-15T08:10:00.004-04:002008-09-15T08:26:55.806-04:00

Do boys have sweet sixteen birthdays? Probably not, but we like to tease in our family and Erik is the perfect target since he turned sixteen on Saturday. Yep, that's right he was born on the 13th AND a Friday! If I were superstitious, which I'm not, I'd say that's why he's so silly but I know it is just the family traits coming through.Seriously, Happy Birthday, Erik, to my first-born

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-17272588711572265452008-09-15T08:07:00.002-04:002008-09-15T08:09:59.898-04:00

We found out on Friday that Abraham's age test has been completed. We don't have anymore information beyond that, though, about whether everything is a 'go' or if there is more to do or how old he supposedly is. I say supposedly because age testing as I understand is still a guess. Maybe a more educated guess, but a guess regardless. I'll post more when we hear more.

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-6011657468763057442008-09-13T22:13:00.003-04:002008-09-13T22:32:36.513-04:00

Hi this is Erin, mom asked me to put a picture of Craig after he got his braces. So that is what I'm doing. Craig got his braces on Tuesday morning and his teeth had started shifting by Wednesday already. But not to worry, Craig was popping the ibuprofen. Here he is! Isn't he so cute with his braces.

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-71634080548551744742008-09-11T08:06:00.002-04:002008-09-11T08:15:17.690-04:00

Now that we live in Florida, we are acutely aware of the hurricanes and tropical storms of our southern state. Tropical storm Fay brought us a lot of rain but we were spared since we were always west of the storm. A homeschool group we belong to alerted us to the troubles of a missionary and a bunch of orphans he is helping in Haiti due to all the flooding through the hurricane season. They

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-31182368955210264042008-09-08T10:15:00.004-04:002008-09-08T10:24:48.670-04:00

I love to check out freebies and share them with others that I know would like them, too. One freebie that I've found and am thoroughly pleased with is for homeschoolers, although anybody with kids would find these things useful. It is called Homeschool Resource of the Day. The Erskine family searches the web for neat downloadables that they can offer free for the day. The free resources

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-78665453453614203252008-09-04T08:11:00.002-04:002008-09-04T08:18:33.071-04:00

I have to apologize to Craig for missing his birthday announcement. He became our newest teenager on Saturday. We took Nancy and Megan and the family to see alligators, manatees and other Florida critters so he didn't have his usual birthday supper. Our family tradition is the birthday person gets to pick what they want for supper. Since we were out we had sandwiches and stopped at Sonic for

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-85827136139960063522008-08-31T18:54:00.003-04:002008-08-31T19:19:03.329-04:00

Megan and Nancy have headed to Wisconsin this morning. Megan sent a number of boxes and requested that we send the remaining boxes that wouldn't fit in her car. We were watching the weather reports for hurricane Gustav and thankfully, they will be through the Gulf region and into Tennessee before the bad weather comes ashore. They finished loading and after prayers, hugs, and tears, the girls

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-11590137295619006862008-08-22T09:17:00.003-04:002008-08-22T09:27:13.090-04:00

For all our family 'up nort' who have been wondering how we're doing... it has been raining all night. I haven't checked our rain guage but I'm sure we have a couple of inches. Thankfully we are on high ground and although our driveway slopes INTO our garage ???, it hasn't been heavy rain so it isn't flooding our garage. The center of the storm is about 15 miles away to our northeast.

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-79087063832197015952008-08-21T07:28:00.003-04:002008-08-21T07:40:27.627-04:00

Well it looks like we'll have put all the kids in braces before we're done. Although we're crossing our fingers about Abraham. His teeth look so straight! Anyway, this time it was Erin and Craig's turn to be evaluated. Actually we had Erin evaluated about 18 months ago when we had Erik checked. However, it was pricey to put both of them in at the same time so Erik got them first. This is

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-68936483682037949322008-08-20T08:20:00.003-04:002008-08-20T08:30:56.201-04:00

When we had to update our fingerprints in May I thought we would be done traveling before it was time to renew our adoption forms with the government, I-600A. However we haven't traveled and the deadline is approaching so yesterday I mailed our updated homestudy in to renew our I-600A. This is an important document issued by our government giving us permission to adopt. The form is good for 18

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-87132913537184448052008-08-15T09:27:00.003-04:002008-08-15T09:38:30.430-04:00

We haven't heard anything back about Abraham's age testing but we're getting close to being done. I've checked out a few travel agencies and am working on which gives us the better deal. Also, I'm working on what to bring. We've got some donations to bring over and then we pack what the kids will need because they leave the orphanage with the clothes on their back and that's about it.It looks

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-37265135877741672442008-08-07T07:11:00.002-04:002008-08-07T07:14:06.935-04:00

My friend, Bev, sent me a list of puns today which made me laugh. They were all good but I picked the one I liked best to share with you. Thanks, Bev! Enjoy! Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail and with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-89666031319156178822008-08-06T14:21:00.007-04:002008-08-06T14:50:59.884-04:00

I need a new camera! I've been shopping since February when I went to see my granddaughters in WI. I diligently took a bunch of cute pictures for my family since I went alone. When I got back I found out that all my action photos of the girls were blurs. For the people that know me, half the time I forget to bring the camera, let alone actually use it! Now, I was snapping photos to actually

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-75859381475224307262008-08-04T07:52:00.003-04:002008-08-04T07:57:10.862-04:00

I stumbled onto a great blog about adoption called ADOPTION TALK. The blog is chock full of great information about adoption in all flavors. She talks about domestic adoption through foster care, international, transracial, single parent, and more. If you are considering adoption, this is a great place to start.

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-10011896521845575872008-08-03T17:42:00.002-04:002008-08-03T18:03:26.317-04:00

I figured the title was accurate regarding the next installment of this crazy journey to adopt some kids from Liberia!!! What I mean is that it appears that Alma is open to letting us proceed with the adoption of Kindness despite the fact that she is not the daughter of the same dad as Diamond and Abraham. HOWEVER, Alma has ordered Abraham to undergo age testing. This isn't really a surprise

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-69564664764634752008-07-30T09:00:00.002-04:002008-07-30T09:04:54.121-04:00

Well, we have the results of the DNA test with the children and the dad. Abraham and Diamond are the dad's kids. However, Kindness is not his child. We don't know what that means now. The orphanage and the Embassy are working to resolve Kindness's case. I'll post more as we learn more. Happy Birthday, Diamond! Diamond turned 5 on Friday. Please say a quick prayer for her as a birthday

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-23044729892701527322008-07-24T09:06:00.002-04:002008-07-24T09:09:32.312-04:00

Well, the DNA made it to the lab on Monday. We were told it takes 48 hours to process, so if they started processing on Tuesday, the 48 hours is up. Hopefully, we'll get an email from AOH today about the results. The official paper has to return to the US embassy in Liberia but we should be able to get the news before then. We're getting closer....

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-62515175009535427462008-07-18T08:48:00.006-04:002008-07-18T08:54:17.995-04:00

Pray for Issac. He just had major surgery to repair his spine and the doctors need to go back in to replace a screw. You can read about it here. Another boy that needs prayers is Emmanuel. He just had heart surgery the same day that Issac did only it was on the other side of the US. You can read about Emmanuel here. Both boys were adopted from Liberia last year. Please take a moment and

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-69463457674835997842008-07-18T08:11:00.000-04:002008-07-18T08:21:19.258-04:00

Rachel, the AOH adoption consultant, confirmed the DNA swabs were taken and should be leaving the US Embassy in Liberia by now. We have two Rachels we talk about all the time... "Rachel, our daughter" and "Rachel, from AOH". So that is their new names. A family from Tampa just returned with their three girls from AOH, another family from Iowa leaves Sunday to pickup Abraham's friend Enoch,

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-51265944017028466212008-07-17T08:08:00.003-04:002008-07-17T08:16:52.051-04:00

Julie asked me how to change the layout of the blog. Just go to Customize, then Layout tab, then choose Pick New Template. The stretch layouts utilize the whole space. Have fun!Karl is becoming a good actor. He reacts to what is happening onstage and remembers to face the audience. Now he needs to project his voice ..... hard to believe, I know.... and S-L-O-W down. We've been gone a lot in

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-15156497919492784832008-07-11T10:41:00.005-04:002008-07-11T10:51:19.792-04:00

I thought I'd try a new layout. The old one only uses the center of the screen. If you have a preference for the look of the wider layout vs the narrow, brown layout, leave me a comment.Wednesday we went to the Atlantic ocean to visit Del's cousins. Becky and her family were down from WI for a visit to Connie and her family in FL. Del and Karl went swimming in the ocean while Erin and I

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-9988947016557935212008-07-08T08:05:00.002-04:002008-07-08T08:13:05.206-04:00

Del's sister and her family are visiting for a bit. They came on the 4th so that was our celebration. The kids were so excited to see their cousins we didn't even hear about going to see fireworks! Of course, some neighbors were kind enough to shoot some nice fireworks off so we could share with them. We went to the Gulf coast and saw the sights of what was a town bigger than New Orleans (back

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-7430446433742460132008-07-01T07:44:00.003-04:002008-07-01T07:53:15.160-04:00

Craig and Erin have an evaluation for braces scheduled today. We're pretty sure Erin's wisdom teeth need to be removed soon, too. So we should have an interesting morning. Then we get to decide if we can afford Erik's current orthodontist or if I have to do some more searching. It appears that all our kids will have or have had braces. I'm trying to steer someone into orthodontia or

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-61565289351436343922008-06-26T14:56:00.003-04:002008-06-26T15:04:17.465-04:00

I've written a lot about the boys but not as much about the girls. In an effort to give equal coverage of a sort, I'll update you a little about Megan and Erin. First of all, Erin has her adult driver's license now. When we first moved here she was able to drive without us but hadn't held her license for a whole year so those priviledges were recinded when we moved until it was a whole year

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-2947676266922725952008-06-20T21:55:00.002-04:002008-06-20T22:06:24.135-04:00

Yes, you read it right. The kids have been finalized this past week. So we are now their parents and family according to the courts in Liberia. They already have their passports from Liberia. And, they have had their birthparent interview yesterday with the American embassy. The American consulate meets with the birth parents and the kids to determine that the parents are really who they say

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-36655278523824150982008-06-19T09:26:00.002-04:002008-06-19T09:31:42.017-04:00

Our friends from church have a bunch of blueberry bushes with a bunch of blueberries on them. They invited us over to help them pick berries last night. So we got three big plastic containers full of blueberries in an hour. The price of blueberries are $2.99 a pint in the store and I am guessing we picked at least 25 pints. Our friends said we could have all we wanted for FREE. Yummy!

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-91012123692858113212008-06-18T09:27:00.004-04:002008-06-18T09:59:46.825-04:00

I've added a link to a great site that allows kids to help other kids. KidsLAKE usually has monthly projects where they raise money to donate to a cause. Recently they raised money to drill a well in Africa, support a school in Kenya and this month they are raising money to buy mosquito nets in Liberia. KidsLAKE also has an educational section on their site for the places they are raising

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-39677930003043330592008-06-17T10:13:00.003-04:002008-06-17T10:25:08.857-04:00

We haven't heard anything for a couple of weeks now about the adoption. Other families in our "group" that received referrals a year ago are moving forward in the process. We are pleased to see things progressing in Liberia again and hope to hear that our case is also moving forward. As soon as we hear something, we'll definitely share.In the mean time, Romeo and Juliet has finished! Yay!

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-66114641994843819382008-06-05T19:22:00.002-04:002008-06-05T19:36:04.802-04:00

Nothing yet from AOH about finalization although two friends of Abraham's have moved through finalization and onto the next step. That's good news that adoptions have resumed and we should be hearing something soon. I plan to send a card with one of the families that should be traveling soon to let the kids know we haven't forgotten them in the year since we got their referral. Karl auditioned

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-40015922794587146482008-05-31T19:17:00.002-04:002008-12-09T13:21:23.590-05:00

This was taken by a family that recently traveled to pick up their kids. Abraham is well known in the orphanage for his dancing. Another performer?????

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-29521263915107058412008-05-31T19:00:00.003-04:002008-05-31T19:13:13.508-04:00

We're back home after attending Grandma's funeral last week. Thank you for the prayers and cards. Everything went well and we were blessed with nice weather and a wonderful message from the pastors. The adoption seems to be moving forward again. We have letters granting permission to get our fingerprints renewed and the big meetings in Liberia have been positive. There was another meeting

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-15169548781415801942008-05-20T18:12:00.002-04:002008-05-20T18:18:39.829-04:00

My cousin's wife announced Grandma Bahr's passing in a great way. She said that it was with great joy and much sadness that Grandma died last night. I think that's a wonderful way to phrase death for a Christian. We are confident where she has gone and we look forward to being reunited with her later. We're heading out for the funeral tomorrow. I spoke with our social worker friend about

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-82961755903664164522008-05-19T06:52:00.003-04:002008-05-19T07:06:16.581-04:00

This has been a challenging week for lots of reasons. Grandma is finishing her final walk here on earth before she goes to live with the Lord, Megan is still deciding if she wants to move back to WI this summer, we're waiting to receive our updated homestudy, we're waiting for the directive to go to Jacksonville for our fingerprints updates this week and we are still waiting on finalization for

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-66660396129905073392008-05-14T08:25:00.005-04:002008-12-09T13:21:23.853-05:00

Erik has been learning fencing for his role in Romeo and Juliet. He is pretty good but he said he is hesitant because he's afraid he might hurt someone. I guess I'll have to call him my reformed daredevil now. Anyway, he fell wrong on Monday night at practice and was stiff and sore. Then, Tuesday night I got a call that he'd gotten stabbed in the lip but was okay! He said he didn't even

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-37815652545490445602008-05-13T08:44:00.003-04:002008-05-13T09:00:55.592-04:00

We had a wonderful visit with Del's parents this past week. It was really nice to have company and we all needed the boost of seeing family. Also, my children were wonderful for remembering me with flowers, gifts and wonderful cards on Mother's day. However, we're saddened to hear that Grandma Bahr is failing. I've posted before that she is our family matriarch who will turn 96 in less

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-52241410944028600832008-05-07T07:59:00.004-04:002008-05-07T08:12:14.978-04:00

Still not much to report about the progress of the adoption. Our case is in front of a Liberian judge to have the adoption decree signed. However, there is some confusion if we will be considered a new case since AOH found the additional birth mom or if we will be considered an old case since we've been in process for so long. Since last fall when the new US consulate arrived adoption has been

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-47832417839703042162008-04-28T06:47:00.003-04:002008-04-28T07:03:18.016-04:00

Last week the kids and I went to a butterfly farm on a fieldtrip. If you get Country Woman magazine, this farm was featured a little bit ago. It was a neat visit. We got to see lots of butterflies and really pretty moths. We had a little tour and saw where the butterflies emerge from their chrysalises. This farm ships live butterflies for release at weddings and funerals and ships huge

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-66220831030596841792008-04-26T06:13:00.002-04:002008-04-26T06:52:09.274-04:00

I can't believe it is Saturday already! Time is really going by fast. One example is when my doctors start looking as old as my oldest children! Uff da! I went to the chiropractor yesterday for a much needed adjustment and this young fella comes in saying he's the doctor. I mean, I'm not old but he looks young! It is confirmed now, though, I have a stiff neck. I've lost the curvature in my

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-80324646234896369082008-04-22T12:12:00.002-04:002008-04-22T12:51:35.838-04:00

Well, my intention of posting more frequently quickly went by the wayside. We had a busy weekend and being on the 'puter got pushed to the bottom of the list. We finally got bunk beds for the boys, a blue set and a red set. They do have to learn to sleep in them, though. Craig complained that Karl makes them squeak and that he rolled in one side and out the other. Hmmmm, I think Craig is

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-40580210815573872462008-04-17T08:16:00.006-04:002008-04-17T08:31:17.329-04:00

Karl had a rough day yesterday. His brothers have become really good friends and he is feeling left out. Craig's growth spurt has put him in the 'teen' group rather than the younger age group so Karl is feeling lonely. We went to see the manatees yesterday since Megan had a half day and hadn't seen them. Megan and Erin were chums, Erik and Craig were chums and Karl was trying soooo hard to

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-30517470253909823582008-04-16T09:24:00.004-04:002008-04-16T09:45:05.554-04:00

I'm trying to write more frequently so that I don't have huge posts when I do write. Rachel and Steve are my inspiration. :-) Anyway, with every move it is challenging to find new friends and this move has been no exception. The youngest four and I have been attending different homeschool groups and are slowing getting to know people through those. Karl was bummed though, when his friend

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-48931942741785682322008-04-15T06:08:00.002-04:002008-04-15T06:55:11.392-04:00

It is Tax Day already! Where has all the time gone???? I've always done our taxes, some years I get them in early, some not. This year I started them in January only to have Del's company make a mistake on the W-2 form. After two tries, the corrected W-2 is correct and taxes are done. They go in the mail today. Another yearly milestone completed. Thankfully we get a refund which will help

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-49166045957875585472008-04-07T07:52:00.003-04:002008-04-07T08:13:36.240-04:00

I was talking with the yahoo group about the progress with the adoption and was reminded that we should renew our fingerprints. Fingerprints are good for 15 months and ours expire the end of May. Since time is getting close and it takes some time to get appointments to have it done, I guess we'll go ahead and renew our fingerprints before they expire (a BIG no-no). We're also waiting on our

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-80610023102075013542008-04-03T07:14:00.002-04:002008-04-03T07:29:17.710-04:00

Adoption has been compared to being pregnant and I will agree with that. You wait for what seems like forever, and then, all of a sudden you are holding a baby. With being 'paper pregnant', as I've heard adoption described, you wait for a long time and then all of a sudden, things start moving. This week has been an instance of things starting to move. Normally the finalization has to take

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-21486624316594483052008-04-01T14:10:00.004-04:002008-04-01T14:15:26.637-04:00

Just a quick update, the birthmom came into the orphanage and signed the relinquishment papers! Now the adoption case goes before the judge. Rachel at AOH thought the finalization would be done by the end of this month. Then we wait for the Liberian passports for the kids. And then we should be close to traveling. We can breathe a little easier now.

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-89370910978743128062008-04-01T06:45:00.005-04:002008-04-01T07:25:36.407-04:00

We now know that Abraham's mom was the one that died and that the girls are full-siblings. Their mom is the one that is still alive and on whom we're waiting for her relinquishment signature. Time is different in Liberia. Some families that have traveled this adoption road before have said that 'right now' is in about 45 minutes in Liberia. So I'm not surprised that 'any day' has been drawn

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-56095865926568401452008-03-20T08:34:00.003-04:002008-03-20T08:44:39.480-04:00

Like I mentioned before, Abraham, Diamond and Kindness are half-siblings. Rachel at AOH is trying to find out who is half-sibs to whom. I called her to find out if we needed to be concerned that the surviving birthmom would want the kids back only to find out that the birthmom is supposed to come to the orphanage this week to sign the relinquishment papers. Hopefully she will do that but she

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-73113968301336152182008-03-14T07:01:00.005-04:002008-03-14T07:26:26.972-04:00

Well I can't say they didn't warn us..... We went to the travel clinic (which was a county clinic, government owned) for our yellow fever vaccine yesterday. We were warned that the appointment would be an hour and a half to two hours and NOT to be late. After waiting a half an hour to be seen, we endured a two-hour spiel by a zealous nurse about what diseases we could get while traveling and

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-80895123617162327322008-03-13T06:54:00.002-04:002008-03-13T07:09:25.886-04:00

I spoke with Rachel at AOH last night to get an update on the status of the kids' finalizations since we'd heard more were issued. Come to find out the children are half-siblings with the same dad. I'm waiting to hear which child's mother died. I'm guessing it is Kindness, the one-year old. We (AOH) have the death certificate so we're good on that front. However, this makes things a

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-68743125796472144782008-03-13T06:39:00.003-04:002008-03-13T06:52:13.539-04:00

Theresa visited from WI this weekend. We picked her up from the airport and took her for a picnic lunch. We had hoped to see alligators but we didn't get a very good view. There were wild horses, though. Then we went to an quaint old town to see a flavor of old Florida. It was fun, lots of antique shops and book shops to see. Tuesday we went to a state park and were rewarded with seeing

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-11301553805264741052008-03-05T08:57:00.002-05:002008-03-13T06:53:12.958-04:00

We still haven't gotten the call saying the adoption is finalized. However, of the 14 cases of children waiting to be finalized, I've heard of 8 of them being done. So our odds are going up very quickly! In the mean time, here is a snapshot of the part of our lives trying to get settled in a new country. I know FL is still part of the USA but being from WI, it might as well be a different

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-31037073799275676572008-02-27T14:56:00.003-05:002008-02-28T06:29:42.932-05:00

Early this morning I had read on our yahoo support group that five kids were finalized. Congratulations to the two families that received word that their children are now officially theirs. They get to move into the next stage of waiting for the children's Liberian passports and the US visas. I was a little disappointed that we weren't one of these families but I am very thankful that we are

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-21486490463257202352008-02-27T08:19:00.002-05:002008-02-27T08:25:01.133-05:00

I finished the paperwork for updating our homestudy and mailed it off yesterday. I did get the taxes printed off, thankfully, and was able to get them sent off. Now we have to get our yellow fever shots and our Liberian passports so we can travel. The shots are needed to get back into the USA not to enter Liberia. We are in a group of families waiting to hear about the finalization of 15 kids.

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-35710184790651084942008-02-22T07:07:00.004-05:002008-02-22T07:15:01.018-05:00

You probably all have some tax frustration you can relate to. I currently have two issues with taxes.... first, to get the homestudy updated I needed a copy of our most recent taxes. Second, I need to do this year's taxes. I've been thwarted with both. Since we've moved, yep, you guessed it, I can't find last year's taxes. Oh, I have them in a data format which this year's software can't

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-36526398841892336142008-02-17T17:16:00.002-05:002008-02-17T17:23:33.369-05:00

It is a good thing we had to update our homestudy for FL because when I was copying all official documents, I learned that our certified copy of our marriage certificate was missing. Since we'll need this when we travel, I have ordered new ones. They should be arriving here this week and then we'll have our portion of the paperwork done for the updated homestudy. Then we can sit and wait some

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-75763077801381065942008-01-29T14:44:00.000-05:002008-01-29T15:07:52.295-05:00

It has been almost a month since we've moved in. Isn't it surprising how fast time goes and yet, it seems like we just got here. Anyway, most of the boxes are emptied and legal things done to move in. Now we start on updating our homestudy and getting all the addresses changed on the necessary adoption forms. The group of families from AOH that received referrals about the same time as we did

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-52499403358055244582008-01-05T15:01:00.000-05:002008-01-05T15:03:27.522-05:00

Well we made it to the south. We are waiting for phone and internet service so this is a quick update from the local library. We are all experiencing culture and weather shock. We left Wisconsin in a snowstorm that dumped 6-8 inches the last day we were loading the moving van. It has been 75 here in Florida except for a couple of days when the high was only 45. I'll write more as soon as I

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-83963898892107674792007-12-08T21:46:00.000-05:002007-12-08T21:58:59.105-05:00

We finally have an accepted offer on a nice home in Florida. It is only a year old. The previous owners had a job transfer also and had only lived in the home for six months. He was a general manager for Lowe's so the house has lots of upgrades. The kitchen is awesome! I'm looking forward to working in that area with all the kids. However, we're all going through the realization that we are

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-77083024661686015342007-12-02T22:22:00.001-05:002007-12-02T22:47:08.793-05:00

Del and I are in sunny Florida now (have been for a week) looking at houses around Gainesville. Although it is beautiful weather, I'm having a hard time turning on the car AC in December!!! for pete's sake. We spoke with the kids today and they had about 6 inches of snow last night and then rain this morning that is turning to ice. We've put in an offer on one house that was rejected last

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-20531819226585815762007-11-22T08:08:00.000-05:002007-11-22T08:19:36.314-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. A few things I'm thankful for are our wonderful bio kids and their families, our three Liberians waiting for us, our health and the health of our extended family and our farm buyer. We signed the papers to sell our farm yesterday and will travel Sunday to go househunting. The move date is set for after Christmas so the countdown has begun.The adoption has been

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-27165529989450730122007-11-07T16:04:00.000-05:002007-11-07T16:11:47.145-05:00

We finally sold our farm!! Our renter that has been using our farmland came to us with an offer that we couldn't refuse. The closing date is set for November 26. After that Del and I travel to Florida to find a new home. We are full of mixed emotions for leaving behind our family. Yet we know that we will be visiting often. I have lots of respect for missionaries!

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-20952861855823870252007-10-24T19:01:00.000-04:002007-10-24T19:10:23.353-04:00

My 95 yo Grandma fell last Wednesday night. Thankfully she didn't break any bones but she did have a slight fracture to her spine. It was so slight that the doctors aren't doing anything for it. However, she did move to a nursing home on Monday. Grandma never wanted to go to a nursing home but she decided that she would since it would be a temporary rehabilitation. :-) The nursing home is

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-50878894361167346942007-10-18T16:17:00.000-04:002007-10-18T16:30:07.875-04:00

So here's the latest..... After hearing from 'The Buyers' on Monday, we gave them three options which included not buying our farm. They were supposed to respond by Tuesday evening which they did not. Wednesday morning my DH told our realtors to tell 'The Buyers' to "please go away" if they happened to call back because we were done dealing with them. That afternoon our realtor told us that

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-21011265109516622552007-10-15T21:31:00.001-04:002007-10-15T21:37:26.157-04:00

Well I now know for certain God has a sense of humor! After Friday night we thought we were done with our buyers. So this morning I went to our homeschool group and told everyone the deal fell through. When I got home I found out the buyers had come back to the bargaining table. Oh well, more fodder for the blog.

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-23182758627024235842007-10-14T16:54:00.001-04:002008-12-09T13:21:25.120-05:00

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-79094929036935152802007-10-14T16:16:00.000-04:002008-12-09T13:21:25.349-05:00

Well, I guess God thinks we haven't learned our lessons in patience this summer because we are having more lessons. In case you're wondering what I am talking about..... the farm sale deal fell through over the weekend. We were disappointed and had to quickly cancel airplane reservations we'd made to go househunting. However, we feel relieved that we're no longer struggling to close that

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-49486585852430483342007-10-02T16:52:00.000-04:002008-12-09T13:21:25.594-05:00

Well, we have an accepted offer for our farm. Although, we're not going to celebrate until all the buyer's inspections are done and we find out the results. If the buyer isn't pleased, they can cancel the offer. We're a little concerned because the house is over 100 yrs old and the barn is also old. We've been restoring the farm but there is still much to be done. The buyer seems to want to

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-30050360020756382202007-09-27T13:23:00.000-04:002007-10-14T16:43:42.158-04:00

This has been a busy week. The family is scattered across states for work and visiting. We got our oldest at-home daughter's passport as a backup in case we get the call to pickup the kids when we're trying to move. AND we got an offer on the farm last night. I wish I could say 'whoo-hoo' about the offer. It isn't what we were hoping for but then, does anyone get what they want in today's real

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-13685719979632085352007-09-14T19:25:00.000-04:002007-10-02T17:21:47.177-04:00

Yesterday was Erik's birthday. It is hard to believe he is 15 already. Erik chose to make his own birthday dinner of roast duck with portobella mushrooms and Pinot Noir sauce over barley, carrots with butter and brown sugar, and potatoes and onions cooked with Pinot Noir. Craig and I made a yellow cake to put candles on and served it with ice cream. The meal was delicious. Erik was a

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-32971622016859628972007-09-14T19:17:00.001-04:002008-12-09T13:21:26.285-05:00

These pictures are about two weeks old.

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-44429149881160260952007-09-14T19:09:00.000-04:002008-12-09T13:21:26.866-05:00

These pictures are from June and July.

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-1415326270075953142007-09-14T18:26:00.000-04:002008-12-09T13:21:27.853-05:00

Abraham is the next Fred Astaire according to Donna.

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-1498784955466627062007-09-05T22:35:00.000-04:002008-12-09T13:21:28.203-05:00

These are pictures of Kindness taken in June.

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-10597294786385165452007-09-05T21:21:00.001-04:002007-09-05T22:00:55.602-04:00

Today is Kindness's first birthday. We look forward to celebrating more birthdays with her and the rest of the kids. We also celebrated Craig and Erik's birthday on Sunday with all our kids. My dad and sister and my inlaws were able to be here as well. It was a lot of fun. We had 18 for lunch. I had planned leftovers so we had plenty of food! Our oldest daughters are saving our

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-91377545881343508432007-08-31T22:12:00.000-04:002007-08-31T22:40:00.886-04:00

Today we went to the used book stores to try to find books off the kids' reading list for schooling. The first store yielded a few books after much searching. The second store had TONs of books on my lists however, they were all in the vintage books pricing scheme. I love old books but I couldn't bring myself to buy them at those prices knowing that they would never last through the kids

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-38379903368317750292007-08-30T16:04:00.000-04:002007-08-30T16:16:31.437-04:00

This is the first picture we received of Abraham, Diamond and Kindness when we got our referral. They are siblings. From what we know, their father brought them to the orphanage a few months after their mother died. He has other children and can't provide for the basic needs of these younger kids. Donna wrote a recent blog called 'Unconditional Love' about witnessing a mother bringing her

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270157600203253231.post-62982731285418555792007-08-27T13:04:00.001-04:002007-08-27T13:05:21.023-04:00

Hello! Our site is under construction. Please be patient as I get it ready to view.Thanks,Carolyn

Carolynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16407546271220638133noreply@blogger.com0