Approved for another 18 months!

Today we recieved our new I-171H form in the mail! This is, basically, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration giving us new permission to adopt an orphan from overseas. It involves getting new FBI fingerprinting, new criminal clearance letters, new physicals, new financials, new letters of employment,new reference letters(thank you to Tina and Hugh , Cheryl and Bill, and Mike and Lisa ), a new homestudy and more money! Our old I-171H expired on May 16, so our renewal came right on time! This measly, one page letter must accompany us to China, we can't adopt Kaelin without it! This approval from USCIS is good for 18 months. Hopefully, God willing, this will be the last time we have to do it again. We opened up a bottle of champagne to celebrate! Woo hoo!

Happy Memorial Day!

We will probably just spend this holiday hanging around the house and hopefully get some flowers planted. We bought a new grill yesterday, so we'll break it in this afternoon and cook some yummy Jamaican Jerk chicken. We opened up our pool a couple of weeks ago, but it's still a little too chilly to swim in, 72*, brrrrrrr! We've always got the hot tub, though!

Since there is not much to report on the adoption front, I'll give a quick rundown of what all of our kiddos have been up to.

I'll start with Justin since he is the oldest, but only by 3 minutes, sorry Marie! Justin is on the very brink of graduating from Central Michigan University. He has to take two more summer classes in order to get his degree in Assembly Engineering. We are so proud of him for sticking it out and working so hard to graduate from college. Good job, Stone (his nickname since birth)!

Marie, twin to Justin, and teacher extraordinaire! Marie graduated from MSU in 2005, and now lives in Chicago and teaches 2nd grade on the south side at Carson Elementary School. She has done an incredible job with her class. Since many of her students are below poverty level and use Spanish as their first language, it has been a real challenge for her. We can't begin to express how proud we are of her and her desire to teach in the urban setting where she can reach out to high risk children. She is truly an amazing person and we love her more than words could ever express! Gary and I will be going to see her in June and we will also get to meet her class and watch her teach, we are really looking forward too it! We miss her so much!

Adam, "Mr. Independent", is currently living on his own, which he has been for 3 yrs now! He is working for Gary's company and doing very well. He comes home a lot, especially, when he is hungry and in search of food! Adam enjoys going up to his grandpa's (Gary's dad) cabin on the Au Sable River and fly fishing. He caught a beautiful trout on Saturday, then released it back to the river.

As I have previously posted, our daughter, Sarah, just recently graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in Dietetics. She is currently a waitress in a nice Italian restaurant nearby in order to earn money for her move to Memphis. She will be moving to Memphis in August where she will begin her internship at U of Memphis and work at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. We are going to miss her so much!

Marcus, our youngest, just finished his second semester as a freshman at Oakland Community College. He is following a path in Criminal Justice, but he is also checking out other options and he is currently taking a summer course in Business. He is also a die hard Detroit Pistons Fan!

We wish we had something to report on Kaelin, but all we know right now is that she is in China, somewhere. We pray for her everyday that she is being well cared for. Hang on little one, daddy and mommy are coming to get you, soon!

Don't forget to say a prayer for all of the soldiers who have served or are currently serving in the armed forces. Especially for all the soldiers fighting in Iraq.

Have a Great Memorial Day!

It's official, Sarah is a Graduate of MSU!

Our daughter, Sarah, received her college diploma in the mail, today! So she is officially a Michigan State University alumni at the ripe old age of 21!

More Gifts from My Secret Pal!

I have the best secret pal! She sent me a "boo boo" package with all sorts of baby first aid goodies. She also sent me an adorable onsie that I can't wait to put on our sweet little Kaelin!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my (Diane's) dad's 76th bday! We celebrated last night with his favorite, german chocolate cake. He loved his new "Mantis" for his garden that we got him. Happy Birthday Dad!
I have a feeling that his birthday wish was for his granddaughter to get here, soon!

Happy 16th LID Anniversary!

It has been 16 looooooong months since we were logged in at China Center of Adoption Affairs. With the timeframes for referrals continuing to lengthen, we will probably wait even longer. In fact, families that are just now getting logged in are being told that they will have at least a three year wait! We are hoping to at least have our darling daughter's referral photo by Christmas, but who knows. We may be looking at 2008, but let's hope it is way sooner than that!

Surprise Swap Gift

I'm a little late posting this thank you to my good friend Wanda. She sent me the sweetest little lovey and matching book from Bunnies by the Bay. She also sent a little charm that says, "Things happen for a reason...just believe!" I pray this is true every day! I can't wait to snuggle up with Kaelin and read this cute little book to her while she holds her lovey.

Happy Mother's Day!

It's a great day because I got a Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag! As you can see from the picture, it is waaay cute! Now, if we only had our daughter/sister to go with it! Following tradition, we will get Chinese take out from Ming Garden for dinner, yumm! (Their lemon chicken is to die for!) I also got a very cute card from my January2006DTC Precious Panda Secret Pal.

Warm weather is finally here!

I had to show off this gorgeous tree in our backyard! It smells absolutely incredible! I love it when this tree blooms because it means warm weather for the next 5 months, yeah. Now, all we have to do is open the pool and it will officially be summer!

She did it!

We proudly watched our baby girl graduate, yesterday, from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources with a degree in Dietetics. To celebrate we had a delicious dinner at P.F. Changs. We couldn't be more proud of her accomplishment! But wait, she's not finished. She will be leaving for the University of Memphis in August to do her internship and grad school. She will also be working at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.