Since our travel was postponed 2 weeks, we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Bells. I love Thanksgiving with the Bells. Why? The turkey is injected with Cajun seasoning and then deep fried - MMM - and the best dressing (stuffing) on the planet is my mother-in-law’s. Actually, it’s the only dressing I eat. Sorry Hall family... it's not Stove Top!
Oh yeah - the family is great too. ;-) Small crowd this year as 3 of my sisters-in-law were not in town. California, Florida and Tennessee. 2 of them texted or called to let us know it was 85 and sunny. GRRRR - so jealous! We had a ball with B, Chip and the gang though - always great hosts!
My Mother-in-Law aka Queen of the Dressing!
Here's a new one for you!
This weekend Chris and I escaped parenthood for a great weekend in Vegas. We actually couldn’t remember the last time we traveled alone without another couple. While all our couple trips have been a blast, it was nice to be just the two of us. We wandered up and down the strip, in and out of hotels, shopped, gambled, ATE, ATE, and ATE some more and had a blast. Of course, we had plenty of time to talk (FINALLY) about all things in life, which was nice too. I think we might be closer to narrowing down the middle name for Mia but we still haven’t decided. LOL
Funny Story - Passing through security Chris’ backpack was getting the thorough inspection and the “What is that?” look from 2 inspectors. Chris finally asked, “What is it?” They said with a chuckle, “Do you have a pair of handcuffs in there?” Chris busted out laughing and said, “No! But I wonder what you are seeing, my keys maybe.” They all laughed and never checked the bag. After I boarded (we fly separate – another story), he started looking through his backpack and low and behold, found a pair of handcuffs!!! A small, metal, kid-sized pair of handcuffs. He turned red and laughed out loud as he thought, “DARN KIDS”!!! Mental note - check all pockets before boarding for Thailand!
On the way home, after we reached the altitude above the clouds, I looked out the window and thought wow – I could see all the way to Thailand. For once, I actually felt close to Mia and yet, so far away. It is October and we know that some time between now and December we’ll find out travel dates. The “life in limbo feeling” will be gone.
Yep - Me, Chris, George and Brad - we all stood in the same spot - unfortunately, not at the same time! A girl's dream - those three! ;)
This is the World's Largest Chocolate Fountain! Woah! Love it!
The waterfall at the Mirage - could stand there all morning!
What a couple of days! First off - I have to say I've been following 3 blogs intensely over the last 2 weeks - 3 of my blogger, adopting friends have traveled to Thailand and have all had an amazing experience and I'm so excited for them. They are great people and in this internet blogging adopting network world, I think we all do a good job keeping each other sane through the crazy times! And it was great for us to live vicariously through great people knowing we all get our turn. They will be reading our blog in a few months holding back tears (or maybe letting them go) as they remember what their journey was like. Safe travels home friends.
Little M's Package
We sent Little M a package yesterday. Sending a package that is light (< 1 inch), silent (what fun is that!), flat (1 inch) package is a struggle for me. We went with a fruit outfit because the foster family runs a fruit farm, a touchy feely book (yep - it's English), an oh what fun toy that lights up but doesn't make noise LOL, the softest, flat, pink elephant you've EVER seen. I also included a disposable camera not really knowing if they use it or not. They can't use it if I don't send it though.
My new nephew!
My nephew was born this week and he is "so friggin cute". Ellis Andrew was 7 pounds, 9 ounces and 21 inches. This is the first for my sis-in-law and brother-in-law and they are doing amazing. They are so proud of him and just on cloud 9. I forget how small new babies are. Matt and Mark got to see him. They were so nervous walking into the hospital. Got a glimpse of how they will be with their sister and it made my day. I now have 11 nephews, 5 nieces and 1 great nephew. If I count my three kiddos, our families have 20 kids in 22 years. They are - 22, 21, 21, 20, 18, 18, 18, 17, 16, 14, 12, 10, 10, 8, 8, 6, 6, 2, 9 mo and new baby. In birth order - Dezarrae, Austin, Jessica, Tiff, Nick, Nate, Donavon, Matt, Kel, Sam, Stephen, Brooks, Matt, Mark, Zack, Jax, Lucy, Landon, Mia and Ellis. WOAH! No wonder Christmas is a zoo.Filed my I-600 this week - hand delivered it. I-600 is the application to classify an orphan as an immediate relative. Well that sounds like something we should have done a long time ago if you ask me. I asked the "adoption lady" (their label, not mine) at the immigration office how long it would take to process this form. She casually replied, "One Month" and then saw my reaction which was, "Ooooh, oh, ok, well, that's ok. Yeah that's fine! Ok then! Thank you." Fake smile - fake peppy pitch toward the end. Mentally telling myself - SHUT UP GIRL... Realizing I was in fact a little insane - she said, "Well that's what I'm supposed to tell you but it won't take anywhere near that long. These are processing VERY fast right now." That earned a real smile and a genuine thank you. Still I don't know what that means. This approval goes to the Visa office in Bangkok so it needs to get there before we do but I don't know if it needs to get there before we are approved to travel. I'm thinking not. Anyone know?
Summer Fun - Summarized!
Kicked off Summer with a too quick Cali trip for a nephew's graduation. 3 nephews graduated this year and are all off to college this fall!
Sold the House!
The Champions!
Our Beautiful Little M
Pictured here 3 Months
Referral 6/22/09
Hope to Travel 12/09
15 Years of Wedded Bliss
Mark at Summer Camp
Matt at Daytona Beach
Mark at Daytona Beach
Nana & Papa at Daytona Beach
A wonderful Baby Shower for my sis-in-law! We can't wait for Baby Ellis to arrive in Sept!
Chillin' with the Bells - Cali Sis-in-Law Lori in town and Memaw and Pops
One last round of mini-golf
Surfin' Do
Shaggy Do
School Do
Father-son Wiffle Ball Game
Father-son dual
Summer is over -
An empty mound
Battered gear will get a break from the daily grind!
We hate to see it end every year but the kids are looking forward to spending time with all their friends albeit while school is in session... Mom is looking forward to a free hour or so for a mani/pedi. Dad, well, he still gets to work like a dog everyday.
And of course, we are all counting down to our Thailand Trip, to meeting our Little M, to completing our family!
THE BALL
THE STORY - Well, this is a little late but I thought Mia and Matt deserved their own posts. Matt's older so he gets the shaft...Sorry bud - My eldest brother would say Get used to it Matt!!!
Matt's baseball team was the #1 team in the league so they received the #1 seed in the tournament. Lucky for Matt since they received a buy in the first round, his foot healed completely before his team played the first game of the tournament.
Long story short - The game was very tight throughout. As we entered the last inning down 7-4 it was not looking good for our Braves but even though the parents were succumbing to the fact that we might lose, the Braves did not. They fought back to 7-6. With 2 outs, 1 runner on 2nd base, Matt is up to bat with 2 balls, 2 strikes. Matt smashes the next pitch over the left-center field fence. His walk-off home run won the game & the tournament. No video but I did manage to click some shots of him coming off the field. As he rounded 1st and realized it cleared the fence he was running with his hands in the air, screaming in celebration. The announcer yelled into the microphone Matt Bell's walk-off home run wins the tournament! Congratulations Braves! Meanwhile, Matt is rounding the bases and Dad is trying to not run onto the field (he's coaching so he was on the field). I was banging on the fence cheering for him as he rounded third with a huge smile! I then remembered the camera...
Everyone at the ball park will be talking about this for a while. Matt is such a good kid, never trash talks, works hard, cheers for everyone else, he is just mature beyond his years on the ball field and all the parents and coaches and kids appreciate that and love him.
The Braves Tournament and League Champions
