Couch to 5k is over for now......

WHY  is there a picture of an x-ray on my blog, you ask?  Well, that happens to be my lovely leg with 3 breaks in my left tibia.  A lovely little fall down my stairs today, with my arms full of laundry, caused this lovely accident.  I have a really bad habit of placing things on my stairs that belong upstairs and need to be put away.  Well, today, it was abox of Cheerios that I had bought for our trip.  I didn't know it had fallen over sideways, so when I came down with my laundry, and couldn't see where my feet were stepping,  well, you get the picture.  A loud pop was heard and many tears were shed, not because of pain (well, some because of pain), but because I was so freaked out that I wouldn't get to go to China.  Dr. says go to China, but it will be on crutches with a lovely boot on my leg. 
I'm trying not to think about all the things that need to be done right now.  Maybe by the time we go, the pain will be less and I will be able to move around.  Right now, it's couch time.

Yeah, we work out.....

Having a little workout in the home gym today (aka the garage).  I started the Couch to 5k program this week, and just completed day 2!!!  Yay, me!  Really  hoping to accomplish this program!  I'm gonna need some serious energy to keep up with 4 kids!

So here's some pics of our workout today, and NO, you will not see a single picture of me!  There's a reason for that!

You didn't know the latest work out styles are jammies and boots, did you?

Three weeks and we will be in China, baby!!!

Ella....

So, it looks like one of the names the orphanage has given our girl is Ella.  LOVE, seriously LOVE this name!  We've called her Gracie for so long, though, that I really don't think we can change it to Ella.  Time will tell, Ella Grace has a nice ring to it, too!  Our agency forwarded this picture to us tonight, and is going to translate and send us the update tomorrow!  Current measurements and developmental updates are included!  It will be fun to see, and I can finally start packing for our girl!
(we know that this picture is from Feb. 2010, but it's a picture we didn't already have, so I posted it!)

I just can't get over how beautiful she is!

Happy Birthday!!!

Today is a very special day!  My wonderful hubby is the BIG 40 today!  I have been blessed in this life with a man who loves and follows God above all else!  He gives his all for our family, and I couldn't be more thankful for him!  Happy Birthday, honey!  Since I was so nice to you on your 40th, I hope you will do the same for me when I turn 40 (in about 15 years)!

28 days until we hold our sweet girl!

Details....

We found out at 11:00 last night (yes, our case worker is amazing, calling us so late, after we promised her it didn't matter how late it was) that our Consulate Appointment is March 1st. We were hoping for a February appointment, but we will take it! It's actually been a blessing that we were able to purchase our tickets a month ahead! We have been saving up our mileage points on our credit card for years, seriously YEARS! Today, we zeroed out our points account and are sitting pretty with flights booked and not much out of our pockets! We got 2 roundtrip tickets from Seattle to Hong Kong, 1 ONE way ticket from Hong Kong to US(that would be for Miss Gracie), 2 nights hotel in Hong Kong, and 2 tickets from Hong Kong to Nanchang with trip insurance, all for less than $1,000, total! The rest of our hotel nights and one additional flight are booked through our agency, and will be covered by the grants that we received in November!

So, we are leaving Seattle on Friday, February 18th. Gracie's gotcha day will be on Monday, Feb. 21st. Our consulate appointment is on March 1st, and we will be home on Friday, March 4th! We had talked earlier in the week about me NOT traveling, as I was really struggling with leaving the 3 kids behind. Once the call came, I knew there was no way I could stay home! The kids reactions today, to me going, have reassured me that they will be fine. Grandma's are coming, and they are all excited! My mom will be here for week 1, and Brad's parents are coming from Texas for week 2, and will be here for a few days after we get home to get to know their new sweet grandaughter!

Thank you all for all of your encouraging words through this whole entire process! We have felt your prayers for our family, and we have seen God provide in huge ways to bring us to this point. We are excited for you to follow along! The countdown is on..... 30 days and counting!

CAN'T WAIT!!!

At Last!

TA is finally here and we are doing the happy dance around here!  We should be able to confirm travel dates in the next couple of days, and when we know more, I will post more!

In the  mean time, I want to introduce you to my friend, Sally, who I met through bloggy land.  She is in China right now adopting HER beautiful Gracie!  I can't begin to share how amazing our God is, but if you want a glimpse, go visit her blog for a few minutes!  And grab some kleenex before you go!

http://graciemaemakes10.blogspot.com/

More Cuteness, still no TA!!

While we didn't hear word of our Travel Approval again today, we DID get some beautiful pictures of Gracie! 

Septebmer 2009

October 2009

November 2009

  I know I will be bringing piggy tail holders to China!  She's rockin' the piggies!

March 2010

April 2010

August 2010

We are so relieved to see that she looks happy!

And on the TA note, still nothin'...... grrrr.  We have plenty of time, now, but it would be nice to have it here and travel arrangements started!  We'll keep you posted!

Next Best Thing.....

would be pictures of Gracie!!!  We posted her info. on a yahoo group for her orphanage, and someone who has been sponsoring Gracie responded!

Here is her response:

Oh! Goodness!!

I'm so happy! I've never thought she was going to be adopted. She's my sweet sponsored girl. I' ve got many photos of her, but now i'm not at home so untill I arrive there on sunday I will not be able to send you those .I' m really happy to share  them with you.

Congratulations

She looks like she's a sweet, kind and happy girl.

That smile just lights up our world right now! 

I got nothin'.....

So, we REALLY thought we would have TA by now, as everyone else on our timeline has gotten! To say that it has been a disappointing week, is an understatement, but we both woke up today feeling much better about the situation, realizing that even though we aren't traveling in January, our travel is only pushed about a month past what we hoped for. A month is not that long to wait, but it took us a couple of days to come to the point of being okay with that! I had "leaky" eyes for about two days, but can now talk about it without dissolving into tears! I joked with the boys that every time I cried, I would run to the Oreo package and have another. Tonight we were talking about Gracie's orphanage, and I got teary eyed again, and the boys said, "better go get the Oreo's, Mom's crying again".... what can I say? :o)

Adoption is a long process with lots of ups and downs! You get your heart set on something, and when it doesn't go our way, it's frustrating! But we know, that in all things, we continue to rely on God's timing in everything, and sometimes OUR plans aren't His plans! We are okay with that, and only want to go when the time is right! Our TA should be arriving any day, and the next available Consulate Appointment dates look to be Feb. 23rd, so we will aim for that date as soon as our official TA comes through. In the mean time, we have asked for another update on our girl. The orphanages don't always respond to update requests, but we are hoping for just one more picture and some definite mesurements on our girl, so we can start packing for her! Thanks for checking in, and to all the awesome families who ARE going next week.... we are disappointed that we won't get to spend the week with you all, but you all will be in our prayers as you add your little blessings to your families! We're comin' in right behind ya!!!

I'm off to grab another Oreo......

BOOMER SOONER!!!

We live in the Pacific NW, but our Sooner Spirit is strong!  So proud of our team!!  And we have the cutest fans at our house!