Adoption Update

Today marks two months of waiting since our dossier was sent to Ethiopia. These first two months have felt like they've gone by quickly! I'm sure by the time we reach the fifth, sixth and seventh months of waiting, it probably won't feel that way but for now, we're glad that the waiting time hasn't felt too 'heavy.' We've been keeping plenty busy and that's good. Lots of good things happening for us.

This past Friday evening, we were so glad to spend time with another family adopting from Ethiopia, Dan and Jana. They have a beautiful little boy and are looking forward to adding another child to their family. We really enjoyed spending the evening with the three of them. Mark cooked a delicious Ethiopian meal for us and we had a great time getting to know each other. We continue to be amazed at the number of people we're making connections with who are also adopting from Ethiopia. For example, I just heard of another family that I know through my time in Elgin, Illinois! We never imagined these kinds of connections when we started this journey but we are grateful.

Our agency posted a wonderful video on YouTube about their work in Ethiopia. Here is a link to the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGcO3DpABdA It's inspiring! They do so much more than just facilitate international adoptions. They really try to help families stay together and to provide job training and education.

Within our Lafayette Ethiopia adoption group, one family is waiting to hear that they have passed court and can travel to pick-up their son -- could be any day now! And another couple is traveling to pick up their two sons -- actually, she is in Ethiopia right now and he will travel in two weeks. I think that she is so courageous to have traveled there on her own. And two more families have their referrals -- one girl and one boy -- and are waiting to be assigned a court date. So, lots happening! While Mark and I sometimes feel discouraged and like we want things to move faster, we are learning so much from those who have gone before us.

So that's it for this month's adoption update. I hope that everyone has a good week!

Happy Birthday, Heidi!

My sister turns 36 today ... Happy Birthday, Heidi! We got to celebrate with her when we were in Pennsylvania earlier this week. She is a very busy woman. She takes great care of her husband Thinh and their three beautiful boys, Brandon, Andrew and Mason.



She is the best bargain shopper I've ever met. She can find coupons, awesome deals and those little-known places that sell things for great prices. She does craft and cooking projects with her boys. She helps in their classrooms and keeps them active and learning. (Heidi ran in a short 1k today with the boys!) She is a good neighbor and friend to all who know her. She is very thoughtful and kind and finds ways to help people. And she has a way of making things fun! She rarely gets angry and has a lot of patience.



Happy Birthday, Heidi! We hope that you have a wonderful day full of love and fun!

Weekend in Pennsylvania

Mark and I traveled to Pennsylvania to visit my family for the Memorial Day weekend. We hadn't been out to PA to visit my family since Christmas time! We were very excited to see everyone. As I'm looking at our pictures, I realize that I did a terrible job of capturing all of the fun things we did! I did, however, seem to take a lot of photos of our nephews. Go figure. They are very cute and whole lotta fun to be with! So I'll try to talk about the whole weekend and show you some of my favorite photos.

We first drove to my sister and brother-in-law's house on Thursday. They live just a little bit closer so the drive was about 10 hours vs. the 11 hours to my parent's house. We were excited that we could see Andrew (yellow) and Brandon (purple) both play soccer that night. Brandon scored three goals and Andrew scored one goal. Look out, World Cup!

While these two played soccer, we were entertained by Mason's antics. Mason will be 3 years old in June. He is a very free-spirited little boy ... he enjoyed roaming around the soccer fields, coloring, and jumping off a bench. It was fun to see each of the boys' personalities and how much they have grown since we last saw them in December.

On Friday, Brandon had to go to school. He is in the second grade and had a spelling test so he couldn't stay home to hang out with us. So Heidi, Andrew and Mason took us to see the new pump track. It's dirt track with lots of bumps and curves and the boys just love to ride their bikes there. Here is Andrew trying to catch some air on one of the hills.

After our trip to the pump track, we went to the local farmer's market. We love all of the Mennonite and Amish stands that sell awesome fresh produce and delicious baked goods. It was fun to visit and pick-up a few things for the weekend. Then we headed back to Heidi's for some lunch. Mason decided that he would like to have a left-over breakfast donut for lunch. Well, actually, he decided he wanted the icing and sprinkles on top of the left-over donut. I just love this picture of him! You can see traces of icing on his chin and the "who me? naughty?" look on his face is worth a 1000 words!

Andrew just loves his Uncle Mark. They had a good time playing 'rock-paper-scissors' together and then it turned to fake boxing. They were practicing doing it in slow motion. I thought this photo turned out so cute -- Andrew is trying to look serious but he is such a fun-loving, laid-back little guy that you can see the smile about to burst on his face. They had a good time playing together.

We left Heidi's house on Friday afternoon to head to my parent's house. Traffic was terrible but we eventually got there. My Dad was away on his annual New York state fishing trip so Mark and I went to dinner with my Mom and a family friend, June. June's husband was fishing with my Dad. We went to one of our favorite spots -- The Udder Choice -- a small, local restaurant that serves soup and sandwiches and delicious ice cream. After that, we enjoyed the rest of the evening on my parent's porch. They have a great screened-in porch along the back of their house. The weather was very warm and summer-like over the weekend and we spent the majority of our free time sitting on the back porch.

My Dad arrived home on Saturday afternoon while I was off getting a pedicure (a rare treat!) and Mark was fishing for trout. Eariler on Saturday, we visited another local farmer's market and greenhouse and did some grocery shopping with my Mom. Later that afternoon, we went to visit my Grandma. It was fun to catch-up with her and see her latest knitting project. That night, my parent's took us to a really cool new place for dinner called Beverly Hills Beach Club. It has a ton of outdoor seating that is surrounded by sand for kids to play in -- and they were! The food was so good and it was just a really relaxing spot for dinner.

On Sunday, Mark and my Dad got up early to go trout fishing. My Dad knew the right place to go -- the local sportsmen's group was stocking the creek that morning. They came home with 9 trout for us to bring back to Indiana and my Dad came home caked in mud after a slip/fall into the creek. Thankfully, he was fine. While they were fishing, my Mom and I went shopping together, one of our favorite activities. Lancaster has two sets of outlet stores and they were very busy but we found some good deals. Later that day, we went to visit my Grampy. Unfortunately, he wasn't doing very well but now seems to be doing a little bit better. That night, my Mom and Dad made another great meal for us with some of the things we had picked-up at the farmer's marke the day before. (Do you see a theme here? Lots of food? Yes, we ate too much over the weekend!)

On Monday, my sister, brother-in-law and the boys, aunts, uncles, cousins and Grandma came over for a cook-out. We had a nice time visiting and eating yet again! We also celebrated my sister Heidi's birthday and my Aunt Barbie's birthday. (My brother was away this weekend to coach volleyball.) The boys kept us entertained by running through the sprinkler, making us laugh and watching Mason bowl. (He LOVES to bowl.)

Later that afternoon, we went to the cemetary where my Grandpa and Nanny are buried to put flags at their gravesites. I hadn't been there for awhile and I was glad that my sister thought of it. Then we went to the grounds of the Ephrata Cloister so that Mark could take photos of the boys. Both Brandon and Mason have summer birthdays so she wanted new photos. It was kind of tricky to get the three of them together! Mason kept running away -- he is small enough and fast enough that he could get through the fence and just run! And then whenever Brandon and Andrew would sit near him for a photo, he would get this mischievious look on his face and quickly run away from his brothers. It was a challenge but Mark did get some really great photos of them. The one below is just my attempt.

On Tuesday morning, we said good-bye to our vacation and drove the 11 hours back to Lafayette. We had a wonderful time and are already looking forward to seeing everyone again. We were glad that we could help my parents with a few projects around the house since we don't live close enough to help on a regular basis. And look-out, Lafayette! The Quach boys are planning a visit to meet their new cousin next summer. Mark and I already have lots of plans for them -- a trip to Columbian Park Zoo, Tropicanoe Cove and a ride on the Boilermaker Special! We hope that you all had a good holiday weekend, too.

Bah-Bye, Joan Jetta

Today marked the end of an era. We returned Joan Jetta to the dealership. It's not that she wasn't a good car ... she was awesome! It's just that her lease was up and we decided to become a one car, one motorcycle family. The decision to retire ole' Joan was pretty easy. Not having a car payment will help us to save more money for our adoption expenses. And, we like that we'll be more 'green' in terms of only having one car. Plus, our area has a great public transportation system. We know that it will take more coordinating of our schedules, especially on rainy days. But I know that we're up for it. It just feels a little strange ... Joan and I have covered many miles together. Joan is actually 'Joan II' but don't tell her that. I've had a VW for nearly 16 years! (We don't like to talk about my very brief stint with Cassie Corolla.) When I graduated from seminary, I calculated the miles we drove together from North Manchester to Richmond over the (six) years it took me to complete my masters. It was significant! But this is without a doubt the right decision for our family. It's just hard to leave an old friend in the parking lot and walk away. Farewell, Joan Jetta. You will be missed.

The Weekend in Review: UPDATE

After a second shake-down of the couch, the missing remote control has been found. Yes!

Ahhh .... we can finally turn down the volume.

(Just kidding! We're not that lazy!)

Have a good week!

The Weekend in Review

On Friday night, we hosted an open house at the new Ailor Photography studio. We wanted to thank those who helped us with the move earlier this year and give the community a chance to see the new space and meet Mark's staff -- Dana and Ashley. Dana is the office manager and Ashley is the new photographer working with Mark. We had lots of food and even used the punch fountain we received as a wedding gift. (Aren't the bubbles from the 7-Up impressive?)

We especially enjoyed showing the new studio to our friends. We were honored to have many of Mark's colleagues from downtown stop by as well as some of my co-workers. Here is a photo of two of my co-workers: Debbie and Les Booth and Denise and David Buhrmester.

The prize for longest distance travelled went to our friends Chris and Sarah Ponsler who drove over from Kokomo for the open house! So nice to see them and catch-up. (Thanks for coming over!) Towards the end of the open house, a line of strong storms came through and Main Street turned into a river. The tornado sirens even sounded, though we didn't hear them. But it made for an exciting evening! On our way home from downtown, it just poured and poured -- we could barely see the road! We saw a gas station overhang that had blown over in the storm. When we got to our neighborhood, we could tell that the ponds were a lot higher than normal. And then it started raining even harder! I wish we had a rain gauge because I'm sure we must have had 4-5 inches of rain. And here's proof of why I think that:

We knew that our back patio doesn't drain well but this was unreal. The water kept rising and rising! Another 2 inches and it would have been coming in the sliding glass door. As it was, it flooded Mark's workshop, which sits at the lowest part of the house. The water was just rushing under the door and there was nothing we could do to stop it! Thankfully, nothing was ruined or lost -- just a lot of mulch, dirt and debris to clean-out once the floor dried. It ended up with over an inch of water in the workshop. We also had to put buckets under both of our skylights in the sun room. We already knew that one of them leaked and have been talking with a contractor to have it fixed. Couldn't be more timely! I've had the Jars of Clay song "Flood" in my head all weekend -- go figure! And neither of us slept well on Friday night because we kept hearing the storms and rain. It was an eventful evening.

On Saturday, I had to work in the afternoon/early evening for commencement at Purdue. We had also agreed to watch our little friend David so that his Mommy could go out to dinner to celebrate her niece's graduation. This meant that Mark was on his own with David. And they had a great time! Mark taught David how to play the harmonica. (Seriously! David played and Mark "sang the blues." Sorry I missed that!) They also went for a walk to see the geese and ducks down by the ponds. And in this photo, they are having a staring contest. David cracks us up and we love spending time with him. Thank you for letting us babysit, Denise!

Funny thing ... we haven't been able to find the remote control that works the TV volume since David's visit -- ha! And we have looked everywhere.

Today, Sunday, we tackled many chores and lots of laundry. Mark got the workshop cleaned-up. It still needs more time to dry but we are thankful that there wasn't more damage. We also have started getting ready for our vacation to Pennsylvania later this week to visit my family. Mark found his new 'mandals' for the summer and we even planted a few more flowers. Not sure I'm ready to start the work week again but at least it will be a short three days and then off on vacation. Yay! Bring it on.

Mother's Day

Mark and I spent the day with the Ailor's in Peru. We had a cook-out and spent most of the day on the deck, enjoying the sunshine and watching our great-nieces run around the backyard. It nearly wore us out watching them run laps around the yard and go up and down the stairs to the deck -- over and over again! Whew! But, and we may be biased, they are adorable! It's so fun to see their personalities developing and how they are starting to communicate with one another. In this photo, Lily (17 months old) is on the left and Braylee (21 months old)is on the right.


Both girls like to go for rides with their Papaw (Mark's Dad and their Great-Grandpa). Papaw even lets them push the buttons and beep the horn!

Robert and Geneva (Mark's parents) have this funny little frog in their yard. It's motion-activated so when you walk in front of it, the frog sings and makes noises. Braylee put her hands over her face -- she did NOT like it! Lily, however, was cracking up at the frog. Lily's belly-laugh is contagious!

Our nieces, Amber and Brittany, made this HUGE and delicious cake for today. I thought that it was very sweet of them to include my name, even though I'm not quite a mom. Hopefully next year I'll be celebrating Mother's Day as a mom! It was a fun and relaxing day -- so glad to spend time with Mark's family and to talk to my family on the phone. Happy Mother's Day!

Mellow Monday

Late on Sunday night, I made an uncharacteristic decision ... I decided to spontaneously use a personal day on Monday. The weather forecast looked great for Monday so I thought, why not take the day off and get a few fun projects done around the house?

The last two summers, Mark and I have planted a variety of herbs. But we've learned that the pots we used were too small and they didn't last as long as they should have. So this year, we got a few larger pots and are trying again. I also had the idea to have Mark build a potting table for me and we are using it to keep some of the smaller plants off the ground and hopefully away from small and large critters. (Earlier this spring, a deer ate our pansies and tulips!)

So here is our mini herb container garden! We've got basil, rosemary, two kinds of cilantro, Italian flat leaf parsley, dill, eggplant, three kinds of peppers and cucumbers. And a few potted impatiens in the plant stand. Can't wait to watch everything grow!

Early on Monday evening, I ran to Target to pick up a few groceries. On the way back, I spotted this large, dark animal across the middle pond. Huh? I almost drove into the pond! It was a very large beaver! When Mark went fishing on Sunday night, he thought that he saw an otter. Now we're fairly certain that it was this beaver. Anyway, I ran into the house, put down the groceries, and Mark and I headed back to the pond to see the beaver. Pretty wild!

After a relaxing day, we decided to enjoy our first smoothies of the season. We had some frozen blueberries left from last summer and I brought home some strawberries from the store. Can I just say, yumm-o?? Wow! Mark outdid himself with these smoothies. Makes me look forward to summer and more fresh fruit to add to our smoothies. And aren't they a beautiful color too?

All in all, Monday was great. I love it when I can see results in my work ... not always easy in my 'real' job but I really did enjoy the results of Monday -- plants that will grow and a clean garage!

Our Prom Date

As anyone who reads this blog knows....Wendi does most of the blogging and she is always praising me and making me seem larger than life. I wanted the chance to write something nice about Wendi today. The last few weeks have been CRAZY busy for Wendi and work and she still took her free time this weekend to help me out with my work. On Saturday morning we got up early and went over to Purdue to photograph 200 dancers from age 4 (or so) to adult. After that, she waiting for me to photograph an engagement sitting around campus. She then also helped out on Saturday evening from 4:45-11:00pm at a prom we photographed in Kokomo. All this on her day off!!!! I want her to know how much I appreciate her help and how nice it was for me to have her with me all day while we worked.
Check out our PROM photo! What is with my weird smile in this one? Anyway, Wendi works very hard and then is always glad to lend a hand to help someone else out on her "free" time. This evening she is making a pancake dinner for the students of Harrison Hall where she is a faculty-fellow. She is, by far, the most generous person I know. I hope I surprise her with this post.