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.

Feeling Antsy!?!

I feel like I am suppose to be doing something, however I am not sure what that is! We are patiently waiting for provincal approval for our adoption however I just want to submit our LOI (letter of intention) for the little girl we have heard about and know she will be available to adopt very shortly, we are waiting to submit our LOI based on our agencies advice to get approval from our province first. She is in my constant thoughts and prayers. I would love any information on her recovery and health........ So instead of that the kids and I have immersed ourselves in "lake days" "pool days" "park days" and decorating Addison's bedroom! What fun the latter has been so far! We just ordered this beautiful bedding set for her crib pictured above and I just got her crib/daybed/toddler bed/ double bed in and have started to assemble it. I will take some pictures and post them when we finish decorating. Also while we were in Disneyland one of the boys had a great idea of having a piece of artwork done for Addison in princesses, spelling out Addi's name for her bedroom, that way she would know we were thinking of her and wishing she was with us on holidays! How sweet those boys can be! The picture came out beautifully and I need to matte and frame it for her room as well.

Nathan, Josh and Riley have been keeping me ever so busy and yet we have had alot of time just to lay back and enjoy the summer! We will start preparing for our vacation down to Vancouver Island and my lil sisters wedding in August. Its odd for us to vacation so late in the summer but we couldn't miss my sisters wedding and who knows maybe we will enjoy vacationing later in the summer! Well its time to feed the troops (again!!! lol)

Joshy's 8th Birthday!

Here is the birthday boy with his breakfast request of eggs benedict!

Joyful

Ostentatious

Servants Heart

Helpful

That acronym correctly describes our Joshua he is now eight I can hardly believe how time has flown! He is our "wild man" and has the biggest heart! He would give you the shirt off of his back and we are so blessed to have him in our lives. Even when he makes me want to pull out my hair I still can't help but think of what a blessing he is! Happy Birthday our wild and wonderful boy!

Adoption Agency in Ontario goes bankrupt!

We were so sad to hear of this agency going bankrupt, we pray for those who are involved in this mess and have money tied up with this agency and refferals of beautiful children waiting for them! I pray that this won't affect those families adoptions!

I am trying to post using our email account as I have heard that China blocks blogger so this way I will still be able to post and everyone will see what we are up to when we are in China! Hope you have a fabulous rest of your day!

6 to 8 Week Wait for Provincal Approval!!!!

I guess the title says it all. Our homestudy was sent out for provincal approval, and the wait time on approval is 6 to 8 weeks! Oh well nothing we can do about that! I pray that it will be less time but trust that it will happen when its meant to happen! I feel blessed to have 3 wonderful children home with me to keep me busy this summer! I just hope the weather improves so we can do some lake days!

Blessings,

Kim

Disneyland and the End of School Busyness!

Well things have been crazy busy in the last month and a half. We decided to take the kids on a much deserved trip to Disneyland, we all had a blast and we were refreshed and reconnected as a family by the end of the trip! We also had the end of the year festivities at school right after we returned from California, and a early birthday party for Josh as he usually gets ripped off because all his friends are gone in mid July for holidays.

We have finished our homestudy for our adoption and now it is waiting approval by our provine and then off to China it goes! Woohoo! Finally! Everything takes way longer than I expected! Not much else to post so I will leave this and update again once we have approval!