Skipping Christmas

Holidays have become increasingly difficult for me, and Christmas is usually the worst. This year has been very hard, particularly the last few months. I did not think I was capable of putting on a happy face and celebrating, so we decided to escape to warmer climates. We'll be leaving Sunday to go to San Juan to cruise the Southern Caribbean. At least that is the plan...


There is one heck of a storm coming to town. It is supposed to start snowing tonight (Friday) through Saturday night. The meteorologists are calling for 10-18 inches, yikes! Normally I'm all for a giant snowfall, especially when a school day is involved, but this storm has me on the verge of panic! Keep your fingers crossed that we can get out of town Sunday morning. I don't want to miss the boat!

Thanksgiving in Wisconsin

We had a great trip to Wisconsin this year for Thanksgiving! We haven't seen my (Pete's) family since the summer of 2008, so it was a good time catching up with everyone. Now that Tina and Jessica are living in Wisconsin again, we spent a lot of time with them. It's been about 3 years since we saw them last. We all went out to eat for my birthday.


Our first Thanksgiving dinner was with my mom's family and the food was delicious. After dinner we all played some games together.


Cousin Jack is 4 years old now, and getting very big! We played some video games together and had a fun time.


Our second Thanksgiving was at my Dad and Becky's. The food was delicious again, and most of the family was able to make it out to the house. We had a good time visiting and took some pictures too.


My brother Shawn graduated from college this year, but will probably go back for his Master's degree. And Lexi is growing up so fast, she's 7 yrs old already!!

Grandma and Grandpa are doing well. We got to see them a couple times, and it sounds like Grandpa is keeping busy repairing snowblowers for the upcoming winter season.

This was our first chance to meet our new nephew Anthony. He's so cute and was in a good mood all day. He seemed to like everyone he met, and obviously likes having his picture taken!

I miss everybody already. Hopefully it won't be another year until we get to see everyone again!

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!