WELL! I'm wide awake now! AND THIS IS LONG!!!

Well, now that Lisa sent me that Russian article and I read it, I'm wide awake.

I think I'll do some catching up and BLOG a little. It's been quite some time since I posted, except for some cute pictures to let you all know we are still alive.

Life has just got in the way of BLOGGING!

Gee, WHERE do I begin?

I know, let's start with that darling little ticker at the top of this BLOG. Hmmmm, What's if for? What's it mean? Well, I'm fed up and tired of being quiet. You all know that isn't me anyways. So, here goes and let the chips fall where they may! Let's back up. You all know we lost our sweet little Hannah when our Vietnam adoption fell apart Sept 25th, after Vietnam closed adoptions on Sept.1. No, that's not entirely correct, the USA closed the Vietnam adoptions. The Vietnamese Gov. wanted to continue. And MANY American families want to complete their adoptions! OOPS, Will I get myself in trouble for that statement? At this point, do I care? I will say, all this time the Dept of State ( DOS) has been trying to help us get our second referral. That's something the Vietnam Gov. permitted if you lost your referral through no fault of your own,and your agency had another child available to refer you. Miraculously, we were matched with a little girl with a heart defect within a few days of loosing Hannah, but because of all the flooding in Hanoi in Oct, ( remember I was posting pics on this BLOG of the floods) we weren't able to get our acceptance paperwork to Vietnam before the Vietnam Gov. changed their policy on OCT 30th and said no more 2nd referrals. So, with the DOS helping us, and Senator Nelson, and some agency owners too, and lots of ups and downs, we got to April 1, 2009 with no progress. YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS! Mike flew to Washington DC and met with the Vietnam Delegation which included the new VICE MINISTER OF JUSTICE and 7 other officials who came here to talk with the DOS about what was needed to reopen adoptions. Mike thanked them for allowing him to present our case to them. He told them how we loved Vietnam and the people, how we have adopted Ta Thi Tam (Paisley) and Nguyen Be Phuong (Austin) from Vietnam and how we lost our Hannah when her mommy decided to take her home. He told them how we were heartbroken to lose her but felt it was her destiny to be with her mommy, and now we had another little girl waiting for us and it was HER destiny to be with us. They knew all about us and our little girl waiting in Vietnam. They were very kind and sincere and promised to do what they could to help us complete our adoption. Since that time, we have been waiting for an answer, we have been waiting for our DOS to send a letter to the Vietnam Gov. stating the DOS approves us to be permitted our second referral. And that's what the ticker is for~~~We have been waiting 1 MONTH, 4 WEEKS & 2 DAYS for a letter to go from the DOS to Vietnam on our behalf, and on behalf of the other families waiting just like us!

Oh My Goodness, that was long, but it felt good to tell our story. Are you still with me?

Let's see, what else has been going on?

Well, school is out Thursday, YEAH! We can sleep in till 7AM WOO~HOO!

Meg & Molly are going to North Carolina next week and will be staying till the 4th of July. They'll be spending June with Tabby our 12 yr old granddaughter. All 3 girls are SOOO excited. Meg is already packed. Wendy will be more than happy to see us pulling into her driveway the weekend of the 4th, if she has her sanity that long with 3 12 yr olds.

The girls got cell phones last week. UNLIMITED TEXTING! Good thing since Meg has hundreds everyday!

You know how much Meg loves school right? And you know last year she had a summer countdown calendar up in her room by the last day of school? Well, this takes the cake! She has outdone herself~~~she informed us tonight, and mind you school isn't out yet, she has her backpack packed for 7th grade already! ( she has several new backpacks, we clearance shop).

I can't stop thinking about that Russian Article! I wonder how many other countries think the same way???

We have family and friends who work for GM/Chrysler/Ford and other car companies. This ISN'T good!

Let's see, what else has happened? Oh Baby Jack! Isn't he a DOLL? We had a great time at Tracy's house. You saw how my kids loved the chicken's and go carts! They loved getting dirty too! And camping in the back yard! Tracy taught them how to do the "crab walk" on the kitchen floor and they thought those giant TURKEY EGGS were the best thing they ever ate! Aren't they the biggest eggs you ever saw? Everyday one of the "Littles" ask when we can go back to visit Tracy? Since she's 5 hours north, it'll be a while!

Everyone here has been sick, of course not all at once, no, we had to do it ONE AT A TIME. I'm #7 and Mike will be the end of the line unless he escapes it by some miracle!

I've been sick for a week now and will miss Courtney's graduation because I can't get rid of this cough! YES! Courtney graduates from High School tonight! CONGRATULATIONS COURTNEY!

And Miss JASMINE Graduates too! Way to Go Girls!

We have 3 new baby G Pigs. Anyone want some pigs?

Oh My, It's almost 2 AM. I guess I'm off to bed. I'll try to post a little more often.