Summer Vacay & My Little Sisters Wedding!

We just got home from 10 fun filled days of vacationing and a beautiful wedding.We started off in Vancouver after a 15 hour drive!!! and the kids had a blast back to school shopping and hanging out on Granville Island. After 3 days we were all sick of the "city life" and we hopped a ferry over to Salt Spring Island for my sisters wedding. It was a beautiful day and we had fun with only 14 guests including us in attendance! Finally we took another ferry to Vancouver Island and up to Campbell River my old stomping grounds. We had a great time hanging at the beach, fishing, going to the farmers market, and seeing the puppies my sisters dog just sired. If you ask the kids what the highlight of the trip was it was definitely the PUPPIES!!! Here are a few picts of our vacation.


Auntie Krista and Josh at Miracle Beach.




Nathan hanging on the sea taxi to Granville Island.



Riley riding on the sea taxi.

The Girls My Mom, Krista, Me, and Auntie Donna. Isn't the bride beautiful?

The happy couple Krista and Adrian.

Me and my girl Riley-roo!

As much as we had fun I am glad to be home! The kids start school on Monday and I have a tonne of supplies to label with them! Nathan will be starting Grade 5, Josh is heading into Grade 2 and Miss Riley is starting preschool 3 days a week. What will I do with myself for those few hours a week??? Oh I'm sure I'll find something to do! lol! I will certainly miss the kids once there back full time we have had such a great summer hanging out together, however I am looking forward to a constant routine again, and I think Fall is one of my favourite seasons I love the crisp air and cooking in Fall!

On the adoption front we have no news on our provincial approval. I was hoping it would show up in the mail while we were gone, but no such luck! We have been told that because of the agency that went bankrupt in Ontario it may take longer for approvals as the minister in charge of adoptions has been in many meetings trying to help the families out that are involved in that whole big mess. So we will wait patiently for approval, I have everything ready for our dossier to be sent to China besides our approved home study and Howard's passport pictures (why do they need 4?) And I know that we will get our approval at the perfect time!

Days off with Dad and mixed news!

Nathan tree climbing while picking berries.


Josh, Riley and I enjoying the farm.



Howard, Josh, Nathan and Riley prior to berry picking.

Well the last couple weeks have seen Howard finally have some days off which was wonderful for all of us we spent those 4 days picking strawberries, swimming at the lake and floating down the river. All 3 of the kids and I were sad to see him go back to 12 hour days but we know that vacation time is coming soon! As is back to school, I am one of the few Mom's who love having her kids home over the summer and I'm always sad to see them head back to school. However we have started the dreaded back to school shopping our supply list's seem to get longer every year!

We received news that the little girl we were hopping to adopt has been placed with another family. As much as I am a little heartbroken I am so happy for her that she will get her forever family much quicker! So now we are in for a LONG wait! Our agency told us that once we have our LID (log in date in China) we should receive a referral from the waiting child list 4-6 months later. I pray that they are correct but I won't hold my breath! I cling to the fact that God's timing is always perfect He's never early and never late:) We should receive our provincial approval any day now and I have everything ready to send to our agency to start the translation of our info into Chinese so hopefully by the end of October we will be logged in. That is a condensed version of what has been happening here.