A Weekend of Celebrations

I had a great weekend full of celebration. It began Friday night when Tony and I hosted our small group for a kick off potluck dinner. We have a terrific time catching up with our small group friends and planning our upcoming study.  We will be reading and discussing "Thinking. Loving. Doing.: A Call to Glorify God with Heart and Mind," edited by John Piper. We joined this group of Christian friends a few years ago and they are such a blessing. It was a perfect beginning to the weekend!

Saturday was a busy day as well and included celebrating a good friend of mine at her baby shower. She's a generous, caring and loving person and it was so nice to have a chance to celebrate her and rejoice over the soon-to-be family of 3. There was also a bit of birthday celebrating going on, including a breakfast specially made by Tony and a fun dinner out later in the day. It's official, I'm now 35! I was reflecting a bit on birthdays and celebrations and remember Tony and I celebrating my 21st birthday. I know that there were several years after that birthday where we did not celebrate together, but it was a reminder of how fast time flies. I can't believe that Tony and I have known each other for so long. :)

Sunday was day #3 of the celebrating. We hosted Tony's family for a birthday dinner -- celebrating my Father-in-Law's birthday as well as my own. As many of you know, I love making desserts. I asked my Father-in-Law what type of desserts he especially liked. I didn't know this before, but he really likes fruit pies! Unfortunately, I'm not a huge fruit pie fan (don't get me wrong...it's a dessert. I will eat it and enjoy it. Especially with ice cream! But I didn't really want to make one). Instead, I took the fruit pie idea....added a bit of gumption...and decided to try the traditional Tarte Tatin. It's a french apple tart that involves caramelizing the apples in a skillet on the stove, topping it with a puff pastry (that's what I used), pie or tart dough and baking it in the oven. This is one of the recipes in Dorie Greenspan's "Baking from My Home to Yours." This cookbook is chock full of delicious recipes and fantastic tips. My favorite tip for making the Tarte Tatin is that you must "quickly and confidently" flip the skillet onto a serving dish, keeping your tart intact. Not only did I manage to keep it all in once piece, but it was also delicious! For more on Dorie Greenspan, check out her blog (and please please please try one of her recipes. They are amazing!): 
http://doriegreenspan.com

Beyond the celebrating, yesterday afternoon also found me switching our house over to fall. Flannel sheets are now on the bed (Tony could hardly contain his happiness at that change), the fall table cloth is on the dining room table, fall dishtowels are hanging on the stove and the fall scented candles are beginning to replace the summer ones. Maybe this weekend I'll whip up the first batch of chili!  

14 Month Photos

Each time we get an email from the Korea Country Specialist, I get butterflies in my tummy. When I open it and the photos come up, a huge grin spreads across my face as tears well in my eyes. I am one happy mommy.

This time was no different -- though I was out in public and those around me probably thought I looked a little goofy! Oliver is officially 14 months (as of September 7th) and we just received an update earlier today. Click over to the Oliver page to see all three.

You'll note a few things about these pictures:

1. He's opening the most recent package we sent, which includes gifts from his Oma & Opa as well his Nana & Pawpaw. He's getting spoiled already!
2. He must be walking around pretty well now (see the photo with the truck)
3. He looks very happy in the laughing photo.
4. As with most of the photos we get, they are blurry. I just call them candids.

Monday Morning's Weekend Recap

This past weekend ended up being a 3-day one for Tony and I as we spent time in Wisconsin Thursday and Friday to mourn the unexpected death of his young and active 66-year old Uncle, Dennis. The family and friends who gathered spent time remembering what an amazing, loving and fun man he was. The eulogies given by his three sons were some of the most heartfelt -- and heart wrenching -- words I've ever heard sons say about their father. At Dennis' request, everyone strived to use the time together to celebrate a life well live and to share stories and pictures...and a lot of food. A few bottles of booze even made their way around the campfire at the end of the evening as his closest friends shared hunting and fishing trip tales. All in all it was an excellent way to remember someone who left this world too early. Thankfully he had a strong faith in God and is rejoicing in heaven today.

Our time in Wisconsin also gave Tony an opportunity to serve as my Knight in a Black Ford Truck. After asking the men sitting around outside if the rain was coming or going, they assured me it was over and the sun was headed our way. My mother-in-law graciously agreed to go for a walk with me (in her skirt and nice sandals), so we headed up the road and into the countryside. It was beautiful! Until it started to sprinkle. Then rain. We turned back to head for the house but the rain intensified and we eventually made our way under a tree. Seconds later Tony pulled up on the side of the road to rescue us! We didn't even realize he saw us leave. What a wonderful son and husband.

-------

On Saturday we celebrated a 1st birthday and enjoyed catching up with our Small Group. What a great group we have! After that we got busy painting. I am very proud of Tony for buckling down and working with me to get both coats on the walls Saturday, even though he really just wanted a nap. I'm pleased to report that we have now painted both bedrooms, the hallway and the family room in the lower level! Still plenty of work to do, but it feels nice to have one more item checked off the list (bathroom to be painted after the tile is installed).

------

And finally, a very big (and belated) HAPPY GRANDPARENT'S DAY to Oliver's grandparents. He is blessed to have your love and encouragement, and to be able to see you as role models. I'm sorry I missed it on Sunday, but perhaps it will help to know that he should be here to celebrate it in person next year! Love you all!

The Final Word on 2012 Submissions

This morning our agency provided those of us adopting from Korea the following update. Before reading the below update, it might be helpful to know this:

• Group 7 for 2012 will not include all of the families who accepted referrals in 2011. It will likely only include those who accepted referrals through early or mid December, 2011.
• Tony and I will not know our specific Group until our paperwork is submitted to the Ministry. The date of our referral acceptance is February 17, 2012. Based on how the groups fell in 2013, we will likely be in Group 3 but we could fall in Group 2 or 4. 
• The groupings are 100% arbitrary. It is literally a matter of how many files the ESWS folks grab to bring to the Ministry at once. They do go in order of date accepted, but beyond that we simply will not know until we know!
• It is important to note that the Anticipations for 2013 Submissions says they will begin in January, but this past year they did not begin until mid-March. So please do not expect an update on timing right away in 2013!

Status of Next Emigration Permission Request Submission for 2012:  The next group of emigration permission requests  (Group 7 for 2012) has not yet been submitted to the Ministry. This is expected to happen in the next few weeks. Group 7 will be the last group submitted in 2012.  This group will be the FIRST to proceed through the new added step of Court Review that is being implemented as part of the New Special Adoption Law that went into effect on August 5, 2012.  As was indicated in the August 20 update from the Korea Program, it is unknown, at this point, how long this added step will take. The step takes place between the issuance of the emigration permission and the visa interview at the Embassy.  ESWS and Children's Home are working proactively to prepare all documents that the court might request ahead of time to ensure that this part of the process proceeds as smoothly and quickly as possible. We will continue to keep you updated.    

Anticipations for 2013 Submissions:  ESWS anticipates that the Group 1 for 2013 will be submitted to the Ministry in January of next year unless the Ministry indicates otherwise.  We will continue to keep you updated.

We know everyone is anxious to have Oliver home. We are too! 

It's really difficult for us to focus on that, though. We need to remain positive but also prepared for a long wait so we can keep our expectations reasonable and our emotions happy. We aren't keeping information from anyone; we honestly don't know more beyond what is shared above.

We hope to have an update on travel sometime in early 2013, but as noted above we won't have any more travel updates this year. We should, however, continue to receive photos of Oliver and will share those as soon as they come in (those also come in intermittently, so we don't know when the next set will arrive).

We appreciate the prayers and encouragement we receive -- keep it coming!