Anniversary/Memorial Day Weekend

Can you believe it, we've been married for five years! Time has really flown by. Since our wedding on May 25, 2004, we have moved to a new state, started our careers, bought a townhouse, added a second cat to the family (perhaps our biggest mistake, haha), and traveled to Hawaii, the Caribbean, and lots of fun places in between. We've had our ups and downs, but we have learned to communicate well with one another. Most importantly, we have a solid partnership. We never could have made it through our family-building roller coaster without that.

So what did we do to mark the occasion? Well, not much. We did just go on a cruise, after all! Pete spent most of the weekend working hard to build a new flower bed. And I worked hard to fill it with lots of pretty things. I finished Monday evening just in time before the rain started. Unfortunately it hasn't stopped raining since. Once the sun shows it's face again, I'll take a picture so you can see the finished product.

We did manage to take a break to go out to eat on Saturday night. We went out with our friends Bethany and Mike to an Irish pub/restaurant. After dinner, we walked around Bethesda and got ice cream. It was a beautiful evening and a lot of fun!

Unfortunately Pete left for Tucson, AZ on Monday, our actual anniversary. He'll be gone for two weeks this time. They are doing rotating shifts, so he'll do 2-3 weeks in AZ, and 2-3 weeks here until they finish the project in the fall. Much better than the long-term stint he did in Las Vegas last year.

to put it in perspective, here is the view from our patio

Loraine's visit

Pete's mom, Loraine, came to visit us during the first weekend in May. She brought her great-niece, Jenessa (age 7) along for the trip. Unfortunately it rained almost the entire weekend, but we made the most of it.

we were able to sneak in a quick hike at Great Falls


Jenessa had her face painted at the Pet Fiesta at Reston Town Center

on our way to DC

in the Butterfly Pavilion (Natural History museum)

baby quilts that Loraine made for us (love those duckies!)

Great Falls

We celebrated Katie's birthday a few weeks ago at Great Falls Park (yeah, I'm way behind on my posts). The "Great Falls" are where the Potomac River falls over jagged rocks and flows through a narrow gorge. There are overlooks, hiking trails, and a picnic area. It was a gorgeous day, and we enjoyed grilling out and spending time with friends. One of the highlights was finally meeting Mark & Jessica's daughter, Elena! She was a doll; so happy and easy-going. We all had fun doting over her. Here are pictures of the falls, the group, and Elena.

from left: Bethany D, Sean S, Katie S, Mike D, Jessica R, Mark R, Gayle G, & Pete G

how CUTE is she?!?

Making the Adoption Tax Credit Permanent

The federal adoption tax credit has helped thousands of families adopting a child. It's vital that this financial support stay in place to help families offset the costs and fees associated with adoption. Unfortunately, the tax credit is set to expire in December 2010 unless Congress votes to continue it. It's time to take action!

The Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee Act of 2009, H.R. 213 , will keep the adoption tax credit from being repealed, and may make the tax relief measure permanent. It only takes a few minutes to email or call your senators and congressmen, and it's important for them to hear from families impacted by the tax credit.

Currently, there are 79 State Senators and Representatives cosponsoring H.R. 213. However, there are 16 states that currently have no sponsors of this bill, including West Virginia! H.R. 213 is currently in committee, where most bills die. It imperative that adoptive families, and all friends of children waiting for families, act now.

It only takes a few minutes to write, call, or email your representatives. Please do so today!

Email Representative: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
Email Senator: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Here is a copy of the letter I emailed my representative and senators if you'd like to adapt it:

My husband and I are your constituents in Ashburn. We request your support of H.R. 213, The Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee Act of 2009.

The adoption expense tax credit that this legislation would make permanent is very important to my family and me. We are in the process of adopting our first child, and plan to adopt at least one more child in the future. Without this significant financial help, we would find it very difficult to be able to build our family.

As you may know, adoption expenses can easily exceed $20,000, a significant sum to most families. Without the adoption expense tax credit, we possibly would not be able to adopt another child.

I truly believe that the adoption expense tax credit results in many more children without homes finding permanent, loving families like my own.

I urge you to support H.R. 213, The Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee Act of 2009. This legislation is very important to me, and I will be following its progress. Thank you in advance for your support of this legislation that truly serves children who need families.

Sincerely,

Gayle & Peter Gonzales

Mother's Day

Another Mother's Day has come and gone. This is a holiday that has become particularly difficult for me over the past few years. Well-meaning people say "Happy Mother's Day!" while we are out and about, and I just smile and then grumble something (hopefully) inaudible. This year I avoided it all by staying home and playing in the dirt. I planted flowers, and Pete began working on building a new flower bed. I'm staring to think I'm beyond the acceptable ratio of flowers-to-grass in my tiny yard, but what can I say. It was a beautiful day, and gardening usually makes me happy.


I was not in the best mood, but something did cheer me up a bit. I called my mom's house to wish her a happy mother's day, and my sister answered the phone. She said cheerfully, "Happy Future Mother's Day!" I responded with the same, since she is a future aunt, after all. Her message meant a lot to me, and gave me hope. Hope that this will be my last difficult Mother's Day, and reassurance that I WILL be a mother some day. Thanks, Sis!


In case anyone is wondering, no, there is no adoption news. We had a meeting at the agency in April, but they had nothing new to tell. No news at all. It's pretty difficult for me right now, hearing nothing but "be patient." Ugh. I hate that word.

Cruisin'

Our cruise was amazing, I'm still missing it every day. We had a very relaxing vacation, the ship was fabulous, and the ports were beautiful. We stayed in a balcony cabin for the first time and I loved it even more than I thought I would. The food was great (and plentiful!), entertainment was fun, and as always, I can't wait to plan my next cruise.

on our balcony before the second formal night

Our first stop was Labadee, Haiti. This is Royal Caribbean's private 'island.' We made a lazy day of it and lounged on the beach. We hiked around a bit in the afternoon, and enjoyed the scenery.

life is good

Our next port was Montego Bay, Jamaica. We had planned to go to the beach here as well. However, we didn't use enough sunscreen in Haiti so our backs got a little fried, and we wanted to stay out of the sun today (Sorry, Mom. I reapplied, honest!). It was still a fun day- with most of the ship's 2400 passengers ashore, we had the place to ourselves. Literally, we were the only people in the gym that afternoon!

Next stop- Cartagena, Colombia. We took a city tour at this port. We visited the old walled city, a church, naval museum, and a fort. It was amazing- the architecture and colors were beautiful. The people were very friendly. It was very moving to be in the country where our child will be from, I cannot even express it.

historic house in the walled city

the church of San Pedro Claver, human rights pioneer

street in the walled city

another colorful street scene

Portal de los Dulces (food market for sweets)

yummy fruit cart

The Clock Tower, the main gate to enter the walled city

The Dungeons (Las Bóvedas) were originally military barracks but now house souvenir shops

Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas- the largest Spanish fort in the New World

The next event was the partial transit through the Panama Canal. I'm sure Pete could describe it with more enthusiasm than I can- engineering marvel, yadda yadda yadda. But here goes, with a little help from http://www.pancanal.com/:


The Panama Canal is approximately 50 miles long between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This waterway was cut through one of narrowest saddles of the isthmus that joins North and South America. The Canal uses a system of locks -compartments with entrance and exit gates. The locks function as water lifts: they raise ships from sea level (the Pacific or the Atlantic) to the level of Gatun Lake (85 feet above sea level); ships then sail the channel through the Continental Divide.

Each set of locks bears the name of the town where it was built: Gatun (on the Atlantic side), and Pedro Miguel and Miraflores (on the Pacific side). The lock chambers are 110 feet wide by 1000 feet long, and you'd better believe the Jewel of the Seas took up most of that space.


The water used to raise and lower vessels in each set of locks comes from Gatun Lake by gravity; it comes into the locks through a system of main culverts that extend under the lock chambers from the sidewalls and the center wall.

Ships from all parts of the world transit daily through the Panama Canal. Some 14,000 vessels use the Canal every year.

After we went through the Gatun Locks, we "anchored" at Gatun Lake. I used quotes because we learned at a Captain's talk that they did not actually drop anchor, they use GPS to control the azipods and thrusters to keep the ship in one spot. Technology is crazy. Anyway, we took a tender boat ashore and went on a loooooong bus ride to an indigenous Embera Indian village. It was fun, but had I known it would take us two hours each way I might have chosen another activity!

making our entrance to the canal locks

the gates have opened to move into the next chamber

water level differences from one chamber to the next

our canoe ride to the indian village

Our final port was Puerto Limon, Costa Rica. I would love to visit again someday. The tour guide told us the entire country is the size of WV (Mountaineers represent!). It is very diverse in it's plant and animal species, and they obviously treasure this biodiversity. We took a boat ride through the Tortuguero canals in the Tortuguero National Park to view wildlife. Unfortunately, it was the middle of the day and the animals were smart enough to hide in the shade somewhere. We did get to see some monkeys, sloths, birds, and lizards, so I'm not complaining.

sloth

howler monkey

What about the sea days in between, you ask? Well, we had a pretty nice routine going. Wake up. Eat. Lay by the pool. Eat. Move to the indoor adult pool for some quiet reading time and cocktail. Eat snack. Go to gym. Hang out on balcony for sunset. Shower. Eat. Watch show or hang out in lounge. Sleep and repeat!

Pin Pals

Last weekend Pete and I got together with some of our adoption friends (Katie, Sean, Bethany, Mike, Doron, and Peter) for a night of fun. We went bowling for a couple of hours and then out for appetizers and drinks afterwards. It was nice to see everyone again and we had a blast! We enjoyed catching up with everyone, as well as commiserating about the adoption process. We especially loved the cupcakes Doron brought from her vegan bakery. Yummy! Here is a picture of the gang-

We leave for Miami this evening for our cruise tomorrow afternoon. I am super-excited, but still need to finish packing! I can't wait to tell you all about the vacation, we've been looking forward to it for a long time. We are doing a ten day cruise to the Panama Canal, with stops in Costa Rica, Jamaica, Haiti, and COLOMBIA!