Girls' Weekend

Larry has gone to Georgia for a couple of days, and Claire and I are having a "Girls' Weekend". We plan to make cookies, watch a movie, go out for breakfast, and who knows what else.

Here are a few pictures of Claire after church today. She's way into the 7 - 14 size range, and I REALLY hate the trendy styles in that range! I've been having the best time going back into the 4 - 6x department for clothes for Ruth. Now I remember why I always over-bought for Claire each season --- everything is SO CUTE!!

Anyway, I still think my baby is beautiful, even in the trendy 70's garb.

Favorite Foto Friday - Spring Has Sprung!

The FFF theme for today is Spring Has Sprung. Our neighborhood is so pretty this time of year. Here's a shot of our neighbors' dogwood and azalea.



Unfortunately, this is about all we have in our yard during Spring.


Our yard is definitely a summertime yard. I'm nuts for hydrangeas, and I've got them everywhere. Last year we had that deadly late freeze, and we didn't see any blooms until September. It was terrible. But this year promises to be a good hydrangea year.


Here are a couple of shots of Claire with her funny boots. We went to the Goodwill store looking for a dress for her to wear to an 80's birthday party, and she latched onto these. The heels are so high, it makes my feet hurt just to look at them, but she thinks they are great!



Yesterday I took the day off to do some painting and yard work. Our red barn mailbox is old and was looking more like a pink barn. I got some of that spray paint for plastic, and gave it a coat. Of course, I HAD to change it to BLUE! Hmm - now I need to paint the post. Ugh - the projects never end!

The cutest pictures ever!

A lot of times when we get update pictures from the agency, they are so-so. For some reason Ruth doesn't usually smile much for them. I can't imagine what the process must be like, taking pictures of so many children. Anyway, on top of our good news yesterday, we got more pictures, and they are the cutest ones ever!

It makes me sad to think that we got pictures of her with this same bear a year ago. This has taken much too long. . .




The price tag and writing on the balloon crack me up! I drive myself and everyone around me crazy during our "photo shoots", trying to avoid stuff like this, flipped hems and collars and background clutter --- but I guess if I was taking pictures of a whole hogar full of kids, I wouldn't pay too much attention either!


I love her scruffly little legs, and the sparkly red shoes!

I smell cake!

The other day I told Claire that when we got out of PGN, I was going to be so happy, I’d make a cake, and write “YIPPEE!” on it. She asked me on the way to school last Friday to try to trick her. I said, “Oh, did I tell you we’re out of PGN?” and she said, “Unh unh --- I didn’t smell cake”.

Well ---



That's right - today we got the word that we're OUT!

The waiting is still not over - it will probably be 8 more weeks before we can travel to pick Ruth up. But this is the last major hurdle. We'll keep you posted as we progress through the last steps. Thank you to everyone who has sent up prayers for our case. Please continue to pray for those who are still waiting.

“You have changed my sadness into a joyful dance; you have taken away my sorrow and surrounded me with joy. So I will not be silent; I will sing praise to you. Lord, you are my God; I will give you thanks forever.”
Psalm 30:11 & 12

Another week, and still no news!!!

Well, another week of expecting to get out of PGN any day has passed, and we're still not out. I shouldn't complain --- at least we are still IN, and not kicked out again, but this waiting is getting unbearable!

One year ago on April 11 we got our first call about Ruth. I thought I'd post the pictures we received of her that day. Sorry they are so small, but they were not high-resolution photos, and I cropped out her birth mother for privacy. The first two were taken the day of relinquishment. This sad little face is what we fell in love with a year ago . . .

What a difference a year makes! This is Ruth now. It's so good to know that, even though she's not home where we want her, she's happy and well cared for.

Lots of cases with the same PGN submit date as ours are getting out, so hopefully ours will be soon! Please pray for good news this week.

Not much is new.

We get asked a lot if we've heard anything. The answer is no, nothing new. I called PGN again today, and we are still with the 2nd reviewer, which is better than being kicked out, but still not the news I wanted to hear. I keep reading on the e-mail discussion groups about people who went into PGN around the same time as we re-entered getting out already, but so far not us. 2 weeks with the 2nd reviewer seems to be long enough! We'll just keep praying . . .

In the meantime, we got some more pictures that were taken this week by families down visiting and picking up (and I stole some of these off of someone's blog :-)). I just love getting new pictures of Ruth and her friends!

Sara came back to say good-bye, and pass out goodie bags. Ruth is sitting on the far right.

Aw-w, she's cute, even with crumbs on her face - this girl loves snacks!

With Jennifer (Sara's mom), and Gerson and Elviz - two brothers whose case is stuck in PGN. Please pray that it will get un-stuck so they can go home.

She seems to have a nervous habit of biting her lip - it gets scabby now and then... I can't imagine what she'd have to be nervous about... she's only been in an orphanage for OVER A YEAR and soon will fly to the United States to live with some people she doesn't know!!

A-ha! There she goes!

I don't know what time of day this was, but she looks like she has some serious bed-head going on here!

Have a good weekend, and let's pray for good news next week!

More pictures just in!

We just got some more pictures of Ruth, taken yesterday. Thanks, Jennifer and Jane!

I love this smile...

Wow, what a mess - she'll love sharing a room with Claire!