ONE, TWO, THREE....FOUR!!!

Okay, I'm starting to get a little stressed out. Apparently our local USCIS office (Immigration) in Pittsburgh has not forwarded a crucial document onto the Consulate in Guangzhou, China. IN FACT, it's the same USCIS office that two years ago said they never received our initial documentation when I actually had the signature of the person from their office that DID most certainly receive it. Grrrrr, talk about wanting to scream!! But I won't. I'll calmly wait until Monday morning to try and figure this out along with our agency.....BECAUSE THEY COULDN'T POSSIBLY HELP ME ON A FRIDAY AFTERNOON! But like I said, I'll remain cool and collected...EVEN THOUGH WE ARE LEAVING FOR CHINA ON WEDNESDAY!! But the voice of reason I'll be...EVEN THOUGH WE CAN'T BRING CIARA BACK INTO THE US WITHOUT THIS DOCUMENT!!! I do believe I'm starting to feel a little less tense...NOT!!!!

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot...

COUNT 'EM, FIVE DAYS TO GO!

With only five days until we leave on the big plane to China, I received our itinerary today! It is as follows:

August 26th - Fly out of Cleveland 10:15 AM.

August 27th - Arrive in Beijing at 2:20 PM, staying at Holiday Inn Downtown Beijing.

August 28th - Visiting Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, touring Hutong by rickshaw, Silk Factory in afternoon.

August 29th - Visiting Great Wall, look at Olympic Stadium, Acrobatic Show in evening (by now I should be stroking out from the heat, lol).

August 30th - Visiting Temple of Heaven, lunch at Hard Rock Cafe, then catch our flight to Hefei (where Ciara is) where we'll be staying at the Hefei Novotel Hotel.

August 31st - GOTCHA DAY! Will be meeting Ciara at 9:30 AM!!

September 1st - Adoption paperwork day.

September 2nd & 3rd - Sightseeing and/or shopping in Hefei, general rest and relaxation and getting to know our new daughter/granddaughter.

September 4th - Leaving Hefei at 2:30 PM arriving in Guangzhou at 4:15 PM

September 5th - Ciara's medical exam.

September 6th - Visiting Chen Family Museum, completing U.S. Consulate paperwork.

September 7th - China's Labor Day Holiday, visiting Qingping Market, and Jade & Pearl shopping.

September 8th - Sightseeing in the afternoon.

September 9th - U.S. Consulate ceremony at 3:00 PM.

September 10th - Leaving China, arriving in Cleveland around 7:00 PM

ONLY SIX LEFT!

Can you all believe it already?

THE BIG 4-5!

I'm telling you all that it's my birthday today, not to get well wishes or a big "Have a Happy Birthday" from everyone (although I've received a ton of them, thank you all again), but to show you this enormous cake my daughter and granddaughter made for me today while I was at work, lol. It is three layers of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, like Neopolitan ice cream, lol. After making my birthday supper of barbecue spare ribs, homemade fries and corn on the cob, the girls presented me with this cake, complete with not 45 candles, but enough candles to make the number 45. My mom and dad came over for the lighting of the candles on this mammoth cake, and once lit it was like a torch on top, lol. I was almost afraid to blow it out for fear I might singe my eyebrows. And who wants to go to China to meet your new daughter for the first time without any eyebrows? Not me, so I pulled my hair back, kept my distance and blew all those suckers out!

Logan May did some decorating of her own.

SEVEN AND WE'RE OFF!

EIGHT DAYS TO CHINA!

10 DAYS TO GO!

When Roger and I started this whole adoption journey in April of 2007, we never imagined that we would have to wait almost two and a half years to finally bring our daughter home. Well, we are on the home stretch and we only have...

DAYS TO GO!

NEW PHOTOS OF CIARA!

These five photos were just posted in a group that I belong to. They were posted by a family who were just in China who got to take some pictures inside the orphanage. This was an absolutely fantastic surprise as China wasn't letting people visit the orphanages as of late because of the Swine Flu scare. Isn't Ciara just adorable? Again, look at those cheeks!! She is the one in the green outfit. In fact, we sent her that outfit a couple months ago along with some others. Roger noticed that her shoes that we also sent were on the wrong feet so she's going to fit in with this family just fine! lol Only 16 more days until China and 20 days until I finally get to hold this precious little girl and kiss those puffer cheekers, lol

My new bloggy friend Jaclyn and soon-to-be mother to another Hefei girl like Ciara was actually the one who emailed me this morning and told me about these pictures. So, Jaclyn, thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I'm really hoping I get to take some pictures of her daughter while I'm there, I know her mommy is very anxious to see some updates on her little girl.

PENNSYLVANIA CHRISTIAN CAMP 2009

As promised I have finally gotten around to posting about my week at PCC. This year was kind of a different year for me. I really, really, really wanted to go to camp, but because Roger and I have been waiting for the past month and a half for our Travel Approval to China to get Ciara, which I knew would come the week of camp (AND IT DID!!!), I really, really, really wanted to get home, too! Plus, add in the fact that while at camp my Mom and I got a call from home telling us that my granddaughter and Mom's great granddaughter had contracted Lyme Disease and was starting treatment for that, it made for some very mixed feelings about wanting to stay and wanting to leave.

Camp for me has always been like a refuge for one complete week outta the year, a refuge from trying desperately to not be what the world would have me to be. It's a place of peace and quiet up in the mountains of Blue Knob, (blocking out of course the 6o + 3rd, 4th and 5th graders that attended this year, lol). I made some new hopefully lifelong friends this year (Sherrie, Kandi, Dawn, Bill and Steve) and got reacquainted with some old ones, lol.

There was a compilation made of over 550 photos taken this year by various folks, so I've just selected a few of my favorites of those that attended from our congregation up in Warren.

The group of us from Warren Church of ChristFrom Talent Night, this was a re-enactment of the parable of the Good Samaritan. Evan (right) with a new friend, Justin. Evan as a junior staff member.
My nephew Jake and Collin at the amphitheatre.My beautiful niece McKaylaMy beautiful niece McKayla (I'm sorry, did I already say that?)McKayla posing with a friend.McKayla in one of her classes with Steve.My nephew Josh ringing the PCC gong.Oh, my, look at Josh's eyes!Jake posing for this shot while his brother Josh pays attention to the speaker, lol.My nephew Jake and a friend.Sitting around the campfire.Jake helping to pack the mattresses in the truck the last day of camp.Pam and I after a rainy day.My office for the week.I dunno what I was thinking about!Mom working in the kitchen while being heckled by the pirate (Gary) to the left, lolThis is what Josh, McKayla and Jake looked like when we arrived at camp...And this is what they looked like when we left for home.

GIVEAWAY REMINDER

I know I haven't posted much lately, but I was at Pennsylvania Christian Camp way up in the mountains of Blue Knob, Pennsylvania with no internet service for one whole week and have been in sort of whirlwind mode since returning back to planet Earth. Soon, very soon I'll be posting all about PCC with lots of pictures!

(This is a repeat post from 7-2-09. I plan on posting it once a week to remind everyone about my giveaway!)

We received our TA on 7-28 and on 8-26 my mom and I leave for China to get Ciara. In light of this unbelievable blessing/gift my husband and I are about to receive from an amazingly loving God, I thought it only fitting that I have my first and hopefully not last GIVEAWAY to show my appreciation for all the love and support you all have given to me in the last two years during our adoption journey. The gift will be something that I will get in China, and of course I don't know what that is yet, lol.

Now, anyone can enter and hopefully all of you will participate (it always makes things more fun when you actually have entries, lol), and there will be several ways to enter, and hopefully you'll take advantage of all of them.

1. You'll be given one entry for just leaving a comment to this post.

2. You'll be given one entry by mentioning this giveaway on your own blog, telling me that you've done so by leaving a comment to this post.

3. You'll be given one entry by posting a link on your blog to my blog, telling me that you've done so by leaving a comment to this post.

4. You'll be given one entry for every other site you have that you mention this giveaway on, i.e., Facebook, MySpace, etc., telling me that you've done so by leaving a comment to this post.

5. (ADDENDUM) For those of you who receive these posts through your email, just leave a comment by replying to the email.

The bottom line is....YOU HAVE TO TELL ME WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO RECEIVE EACH ENTRY!!!

Entries will be taken for my very first giveaway up to the day I leave for China. And, folks, we're going to pick the winner the old fashioned way. Depending on how many times you're entered, your name will be written on slips of paper and put into something. My very new and very beautiful daughter Ciara is going to pick the winner and I'm going to videotape it and post the winner on a day to be announced sometime very soon after we get back from China!!!

GOOD LUCK, EVERYONE!