New floor

Pete and I have been working on replacing the flooring in our basement family room for the past few weeks. We have had some cat "issues" which necessitated us pulling up the carpet on the fly one evening. We debated for a couple of weeks on what type of flooring to use, and we finally decided to go with something inexpensive and durable- laminate.


Here is Pete at the beginning of the project. Sadie was kind enough to help since she was, of course, the reason we were replacing it!



Below is the almost-finished product... We were able to lay all the flooring before Pete's trip to AZ, but we did not have time to do the trim.


Pete came home again on Saturday evening. I ditched him that night to see New Moon (loved it!), but we got back to work on Sunday morning. We were able to finish the trim and transition pieces Sunday.

Monday evening we cleaned up and moved the furniture back into the room. We took the opportunity to do a little rearranging for a change. I think it will work well!

Now we just need to buy a rug and decide on a paint color, and this room will be complete. Any suggestions?

Adios Amigos

Jessica and Mark hosted a wonderful celebration last weekend for the new parents, Beth and Mike. The Colombia Crew got together to celebrate B & M's trip to Bogota this week to finally be united with their son, Sam.

It was great fun to see everyone, especially to celebrate such a momentous occasion. I haven't seen Elena since spring, and it is amazing how quickly she has grown into a beautiful young lady. She was the perfect hostess, paying much attention to her best buddy Mike! I know she is as excited as we are to meet Sam.

Unfortunately Pete was in AZ so he had to miss the fiesta. Hopefully his company will wrap up this project soon so he doesn't have to travel so much. It's getting old!

Katie, Sean, Gayle, Bethany, Elena, Mike, Jessica, and Mark (after some technical difficulties with the camera timer)!

If we build it, he (or she!) will come

Pete and I put the crib together a couple weeks ago. We've actually had it since about February, but it's been in pieces under the spare bed.

The mood finally struck me, so we did it one evening. It was much easier to do than I expected, both mentally and physically! It's fun to go into the room now and then and imagine what it will be like with a little one.

The room isn't in full-on nursery mode yet- we also have the spare bed set up in there. So don't worry friends and family, there is still a place for you to sleep when you visit!

Plan B

Well, sort of. As many of you are aware, the Colombia program has been painfully slow for the past year. There are many reasons for this, all of which are out of our control. While we do have some renewed optimism after Bethany & Mike's referral, we still feel like we could be in for a very long wait.


We have decided to explore some other options domestically. We are not leaving the Colombia program, but we want to make sure we are doing everything in our power to find our baby as soon as possible, wherever he or she may be.

Introducing Sam

We have some happy news to share! Our good friends Bethany and Mike received a referral for a beautiful little boy. His name is Samuel, and he is 10 months old. They will be traveling to Colombia in November to meet him and bring him home.

We are so thrilled for the three of them!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

My sister Casey came to visit over Columbus Day weekend. We've been looking forward to this since the summer! Pete was in Arizona for work, so it ended up being a girls' weekend. It was Casey's first trip without our parents, so she was really excited to have some fun.

Casey made good friends with Sadie while she was here. Casey's new buddy followed her around and even slept in bed with her!

On Saturday, Casey and I watched the WVU/Syracuse football game on TV. Afterwards, I showed her my high school and we did a little shopping. We ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, and went to see Toy Story in 3D- very cool.

Sunday was our big trip into DC. Casey got to ride the Metro- her first real subway experience! We walked all over, and saw the White House, Monuments, and even the Air and Space Museum. We even got to see the National Equality March go through the city.

All in all, our girl party was a blast. Hopefully this will become a sisterly tradition!

Let's Go Mountaineers!

We headed back to WV for our first game of the season on September 12th. WVU hosted East Carolina University. We enjoyed our usual pre-game routine with Aunt Mary Gay and Frankie tailgating at the Mylan tent.

This season is our first year as official season ticket holders! Although our seats aren't quite as good as we're used to (I've been spoiled since a young kid)...

Here are some highlights from the pre-game show featuring The Pride of West Virginia! This was Pappaw's favorite part... the "sunburst" from Simple Gifts.

For those of you who don't recognize it, here's the state outline. A little rusty, but hey- it's only the second home game.

Game time!

WVU won 35-20. Let's Go Mountaineers!

Here we are at our traditional Sunday afternoon dinner at Mammaw's house. She always fills our bellies before we hit the long road home. She served up one of her specialties, roast & potatoes/carrots. Sorry we stole all the leftovers, Mark!