April 20-26, 2008

This was a busy week! We spent this week on the paper chase; updating those last few documents for our dossier submission. It really wasn’t bad 5 documents total: two documents we had in our possession (luckily) so off they went to the Secretary of State in Texas for apostilling; two went to our agency and they sent them off for apostilling in Washington, D.C. and the third was our marriage certificate which had an old “printed” date on it. I called to inquire about a newly printed one and the lady on the other end was just so pleasant and friendly, it was like talking to an old acquaintance. She printed a new one and hand delivered it for a “real” signature vs. the standard printed one and then she mailed it off to my parent’s home. From there, it was a matter of a call to my sister, a couple of FEDEX forms filled out, and it was all taken care of. On Monday, all documents should be with our agency and all set for DHL service to Ukraine – an entire 2 weeks to spare!

More preparing for the packers – I believe I am a bit anal retentive when it comes to this. I have logged all the DVD’s – all 597 of them! I separated them into kid suitable and supervision obligatory. Each book (there are 8 of them) has a chronological listing of the DVD’s plus, a master list alphabetized for fast reference. I began organizing the VHS tapes – some of them are 15 years old! Several can be copied into DVD format and discarded while others we will still retain until the VHS no longer exists.

Other stuff….my girlfriend and her kids came over on Friday night and we prepared empanadas, drank tinto verano, and watched SURVIVOR while the kids played outside and then watched a movie. Thanks for hanging out with us Lopez family, we had a nice time just relaxing and enjoying your company. On Saturday, the kids and I couldn’t hang in the house for one more day – it was time to get out. We headed to Xandu our mall and packed in a little shopping, a little lunch, and the boys played in the playland for a smidgen. Following our 5 hour mall venture we headed off to the “skate park” where the boys can roller blade and skateboard. It was a bit crowded but we hung out for a good while enjoying the sun and fun. Today, while I was away attending a baby shower, the boys finished up their homework, washed some laundry, cleaned up the kitchen, and washed my car!

Happy Birthday Message

Happy Birthday Paul!

Today is the first day of another 365 day journey though life. May they be filled with love, laughter, family, and friends.

With love,

James & Lisa

Patrick, Christian & Carson

A Week In Review

Another week has flown by…sometimes these weeks fly by and others just seem to drag out. Why is that? Is it the pace of ones life that particular week – busy or lazy; or perhaps the anticipation of something which makes the difference; or the weather; maybe a combination?
At any rate this week was a GREAT week here!

Sunday: We sorted and separated, prepared and purged the entire lower level of our house (commonly called a basement in the U.S.). It amazes me how much stuff one can store in the nooks and crannies! It’s gone now – everything from furniture, costumes, and toys, saws, drills, and fish aquariums to hedgers, tiki torches, a grill, and electrical equipment. DONE!

Monday: Boys were off to school and Jim was off to work. I stayed home and tidied up the house – no sense in “cleaning” as there are boxes and piles of “stuff” everywhere. I divided up spices into baggies to keep for the next few months and to make easier to discard when we leave, washed laundry, and tucked my beloved Kitchen Aid mixer and food processor into their original boxes. A normal day I suppose with a little bit of progress in preparation for the movers. No PCS (Permanent Change of Station) orders yet – which translates into no wine shipment appt, no household moving appt, no car shipping appt, and no loaner furniture appt!

Tuesday: Off to work and school again for the “men” of the house. I hung around today and waited until Naydar – my so loved domestic helper arrived. Then, I jetted out the door for a few errands and to attend a meeting. After the meeting, there was time to grab a cup of coffee with my friend before we had to head home to scoop the kids off the bus. Guess what?!? No PSC orders today – but we got our submission date today! Our dossier will be submitted on
May 13, 2008 – Ukrainian Mother’s Day! We received notification by our agency at 2019 – everyone was jumping up and down and running through the yard; and yes, I did to!

Wednesday: Today, only the boys headed out. Jim stayed home today (the rest of the week) to work on taking things off the walls and taking the frames of the beds apart. We ran a few errands – with a check list so we would stay on track and then we grabbed a quick late lunch before we headed back home to accomplish more moving preparations. Notified today there are 2 documents we need to update for our dossier – luckily one of them arrived last week and the other is a simple request. No PCS orders today!

Thursday: The standard, the boys out the door for school, coffee, laundry and preparing for the movers. Today, I washed and photographed the costumes and packaged them individually in hopes of selling them cheaply to someone for their child(ren) to have as much joy playing dress up as my boys have. We also received an email from our Harley rep today regarding that Harley I won some months back – the money we owed for adding a couple of “extras” to the bike – we no longer owed! Doesn’t that rock! Had dossier documents notarized today and arranged for FEDEX pick-up for tomorrow.
NO PSC Orders! Now, it’s getting tight. We’ve been told we will have them tomorrow. We’ll see.

Friday: Again, the normal – school, coffee and a load of laundry! Jim did some prepacking for another upcoming TDY (Temporary Duty). Naydar (my loved domestic help) arrived at 10:00 and after explaining to her in my best Spanish lingo, what to do with the FEDEX envelope; Jim and I took a quick trip to Toledo (45 min to 1 hour away) for a suite of armor and a couple of gifts. This was our last trip to our favorite little city in Spain! We made a pit stop on the way home to stock up (19 more bottles) on some more of our favorite wines (for that wine shipment) before the packers come. FEDEX came – dossier update documents on their way! We received the PSC orders today – a little too late to make any appointments. Guess we know what’s on Monday’s agenda!

It’s the weekend now and we are just hanging out doing more of the same, The weather has been really yucky (April showers bring May Flowers) and we have been inside catching up on movies, homework, laundry, reading and just being together.

That was our week for the most part.

Did They Make The Grade?

Report cards were sent home today and these kids rock! Okay, maybe we are a little partial? Great job boys! We are proud of your academic achievements.

And the date is...

Today, our agency notified us we have a submission date of MAY 13, 2008 - Ukrainian Mother's Day!

This is the date our dossier (a.k.a official adoption packet) will be handed into the SDA (State Department on Adoption) for review/verification of our documents are in proper order. Once the SDA accepts our petition to adopt (approximately 20 days) they will send us an appointment date for travel to Ukraine.

As you can imagine we are thrilled! Please pray for us and for Ella - that she will be safe and well cared for until her forever family finds her.

Month of the Military Child

April is designated as the Month of the Military Child. The intent is to highlight the important role military children and their families play in the armed forces communities. It is a time to recognize and appreciate the sacrifices military children and their families continue to make for our country. Please take a moment to say thank you to a service member and/or their family for the sacrifices they make.

Visit one of the following links to read about our military families, their challenges and the sacrifices they make.

http://www.monthofthemilitarychild.com/

http://www.americasupportsyou.mil/americasupportsyou/military_child.html

http://www.militarychild.org/newsletter/index_april07.html

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Skye! We are so sorry we cannot be there to celebrate your birthday with you. We are thinking of you and hoping you have a wonderful day!

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Thank you!

This is a special thank you to B.C. and the wonderful staff at the State of Texas Bureau Crime Records Service for their diligence and service. Thank you for doing what you do!

March 30 - April 5, 2008

Finally, we have recovered (for the most part) from that terrible cold/bronchitis we picked up at the end of spring break.

It was an uneventful week. Jim arrived home from the off-site in San Antonio and then he worked the rest of the week, kids went to school - Tuesday was a field trip day to Faunia http://www.faunia.es/ to study the animals. Both classrooms have an endangered species project at school; each child has selected an endangered animal to study - Christian is raising awareness of the Bengal Tiger and Carson is highlighting the Black Panther. They have done a tremendous amount of research and will draw and make buttons to raise money for endangered animals at the end of the project. I finally made it back into the gym and began the purging process of all the "why in the world are we still holding on to this" items. I did make progess as all the ski & winter coats, gloves, scarfs, & hats are now washed and packed (4 large plastic containers full!) and ready for the movers.

Our RFO (Request For Orders) arrived and the process has been initiated for orders so we can begin making appointments for moving our household goods and cars, making arrangements for temporary furniture, lodging, and airline tickets...so much depends on those orders! Thanks to the NSE (Navy Support Element) for working it for us ~ you guys are great!

We received a call from our agency on Thursday - we hope to post later this week that we have a date for submission or have been submitted. We are waiting word from our facilitator (V) to verify information. We will send out an email to check our blog when this occurs. Thank you to (C) for calling!

Okay, that's it for us for now.

April Fool's Day!

The history of April Fool's Day, also called All Fool's Day, remains clouded but is said to have occured with the reform of the Gregorian calendar in the late sixteenth-century. It is speculated that France was the first country to switch from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian in 1582 which was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced the Gregorian calendar to the Christian world....the significance of the switch in calendars moved the beginning of the year from April 1st to January 1st.

Congratulations Taylor Family

Congratulations to our friends Rick & Barbara Taylor who just delivered Isla's sister into the world!

We can't wait to meet your new bundle of joy!

March 23-29, 2008

I have been really sick this past week so I haven't posted. I am not a frequent visitor of the hospital or doctors (those of you who know me really well - you know I must be REALLY sick to go to the doctor or this guy must be treating me!). So with all the coughing, sneezing, aching, and difficulty breathing the boys and I were off to be evaluated. Everyone except Carson ended up on medication and inhalers...yuck. Now, we are all feeling much better, gaining strength, and catching up on what we let slide last week.

Jim was attending the "off-site" this week with the wonderful people from our new unit. Thanks for the invitation and our apologies we could not have all been there with you. We are excited about our new journey and looking forward to meeting all of you this summer.

No news from our agency this week with reference to our submission. Thank you for the prayers, words of encouragement, and new friends we have made so far on this journey.

This week we will begin the process of purging those items we are not taking with us back to the United States and begin placing those things we don't foresee using before we leave back into their orginial boxes.

I love moving - it gives you the chance purge, clean, and begin anew!

Happy Easter

May the glory
and promise
of this joyous time of year
Bring peace
and happiness to you
and those you hold most dear,

And may Christ,
Our Risen Saviour,
always be there by your side
To bless you
most abundantly
and be your loving guide.

Waiting & Wishing

Many of you have asked if there are any updates with our journey to bring Ella home. We're sorry to report no additional news. It's out of our hands and all we can do is have faith that we will be guided to Ukraine when the timing is right. We appreciate all of your support, prayers, love, and words of encouragement.

Spring Break 15-24 March 2008, Garmisch, Germany

We are having a great Spring Break!

Now, when many of you think Spring Break, you may think of sand, sun, bikini's....not us. We packed our parkas, hats, and gloves and made a run for the mountains of Garmsich, Germany - COLD and SNOWY but SNUGGLY!

Although we have had a few coughs, mild fevers, runny noses - our true friend Triaminic Flu relieved those symptoms - for 8 hours anyway.

We have enjoyed taking a horse and carriage ride around this cozy, snowy, beautiful town of Garmisch; taking a winding mountain road to Wattens, Austria the home of Swarovski Crystal (Jim took the boys out to play and I shopped and shopped and shopped - you getting the picture here?); a trip to Ettal to visit the Monastery and Basilica (we purchased beer made by the Monk's and wood carvings at a local shop); then on to Neuschwanstein Castle (sometimes referred to as "The Disney Castle") where we stood patiently (cough, cough) in line (inticed by ice cream) for 45minutes for a horse and carriage ride to the top of the mountain - it was NOT light hiking to the top as the brochure suggested! We wondered around at the top enjoying the view and some gluevine; we finally got some sledding in while Patrick took 6 hours of skiing lessons...go Patrick!

While we are 3/5ths still sick,

the day was beautiful, snowy, and P-E-R-F-E-C-T!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Grandpa Payne! We miss you and love you!

St. Patrick's Day History

Saint Patrick's Day (Irish: Lá 'le Pádraig or Lá Fhéile Pádraig), colloquially is the feast day which annually celebrates Saint Patrick (386-493), the patron saint of Ireland, on March 17. It is a national holiday in the Republic of Ireland (a bank holiday in Northern Ireland).

Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated worldwide by Irish people and increasingly by many of non-Irish descent. Celebrations are generally themed around all things green and Irish; both Christians and non-Christians celebrate the secular version of the holiday by wearing green, eating Irish food, imbibing Irish drink, and attending parades. The St. Patrick's Day parade in Dublin, Ireland is part of a five day festival, with over 500,000 people attending the 2006 parade. The largest St. Patrick's Day parade is held in New York City and it is watched by 2 million spectators. The St. Patrick's day parade was first held in New York City on 17 March, 1756 when Irish soldiers marched through the city. Parades also take place in other Irish towns and villages. Other large parades include those in Belfast, Manchester, Birmingham, London, Coatbridge, Montreal, Boston, Chicago, Kansas City, Savannah, Pittsburgh, Denver, Sacramento, Scranton and Toronto. Large parades also take place in other places throughout Europe and the Americas, as well as Australia and Asia.

As well as being a celebration of Irish culture, Saint Patrick's Day is a Christian festival celebrated in the Catholic Church, the Church of Ireland (among other churches in the Anglican Communion) and some other denominations. The day always falls in the season of Lent. In church calendars (though rarely in secular ones) Saint Patrick's Day is moved to the following Monday when it falls on a Sunday. It is traditional for those observing a lenten fast to break it for the duration of Saint Patrick's Day whenever March 17 falls on a Friday.

In many parts of North America, Britain, and Australia, expatriate Irish, those of Irish descent, and ever-growing crowds of people with no Irish connections but who may proclaim themselves "Irish for a day" also celebrate St. Patrick's Day, usually by drinking alcoholic beverages (lager dyed green, Irish beer and stout, such as Murphys, Smithwicks, Harp or Guinness, or Irish whiskey, Irish Cider, Irish Coffee or Baileys Irish Cream) and by wearing at least one article of green-colored clothing.

News

We spoke with our agency today trying to figure out a tenative time line - we are still waiting to be submitted. This has got to be the hardest part - waiting.

If you haven't heard, we are moving this summer back to Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas. We will continue our journey to bring Ella home during our move while balancing purging of unwanted and unmoveable items, sorting household goods from whole baggage, packing out, moving to a hotel and school ending. Of course, there will be a few TDY's thrown in there with a dash of spring break and a pinch of summer fun.

We promise to keep you posted as events unfold. Pray for our submission and a smooth transition for our family.

Bryan & Rachel Arrived!

Today, Bryan & Rachel arrived from NY. After landing at the airport and gathering up the suitcases, we headed to OTAN for a cafe con leche and to meet up with Jim. Then, we headed off to the banco Santander to exchange American money into Euro and to grab a few groceries. We headed home to meet up with the little people, cook some dinner, drink vino, and catch up before the sleepies set in! Great job staying up guys! From there, the next days were filled with visiting the heart of Madrid, where we happened upon the Changing of the Guard at the Royal Palace and strolled around the city seeing the sights and enjoying a cafe con leche...or two. At our visit to Osborne Winery - Amanda showed us around the winery and let us sample some vino - BEFORE we made our purchases - hmmm...is that the trick? We managed to fit in a trip to Valderrama Olive Oils, Toledo, Segovia & Avila. It was a busy week but we had a GREAT time with our wonderful friends! Thank you for coming to Spain to visit us and for the wonderful time we had while you were here!

Our Five Day Adventure In Rome, Naples, Pompeii, Venice, Burano, Murano & Torcello Italy