Court Date

Okay, keep us in your prayers. An AWAA representative goes to court (in Ethiopia) for our little boy on January 26th, 2009. 70% of families pass court on their first try and we are desperately hoping to be in that 70%.

If we pass, we will travelin February to bring him home!

New Years Eve

I wish everyone a safe and happy New Year's Celebration.

It's the time of year for fresh starts and new beginnings. In this coming year, our family will grow by one, we will learn to manage our money with our new pay schedules, we will train our dog to be a good member of the family, and we will endeavor to become more healthy, spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Big resolutions, I know, but needed.

We plan on doing nothing tonight except being together. We have a silly movie, Dags will take a bath, we're having crab legs and cheese sandwiches, and somewhere there's got to be ice cream...

Happy 2009, a few hours early.

Holly Jolly Christmas

Well, we made it to Christmas Eve services at church! We had the Christmas program that the kids worked so hard on and it was great! Dagny even remembered her line and said it loud enough that people heard. It was lots of fun!

I made Swedish meatballs for dinner, just like my grandmother used to make, and they turned out quite good, if I do say so myself. Last time I made them, they weren't that good. This time, I invoked my grandma's help and she must have heard me. And the twice baked potatoes, also one of her traditions, were fabulous.

After dinner, I thought we would perhaps sit down and watch a bit of television, but my father seems to have come down with Pink Eye and Marc took him to the emergency room instead. They flushed out his eye, but since no pharmacies are open in Pipestone on Christmas Eve, they ended up driving all the way to Sioux Falls (45 minutes) for the eyedrops. That's love, when your hubby takes your father on that long of a trip. They got back around midnight. Dagny was already asleep and Santa had already come and gone, leaving the presents in the stockings.

This morning, Dagny woke up about 7:15 and was quite excited about the presents. She went in to tell Daddy that Santa had been there while I took the dog outside. And while we were outside, something got ahold of me. I don't know if it was the quiet, the peace, or what, but I ran around the yard in the snow with the dog and I loved it. We're going to go outside later as a family and play.

Dagny made out like a bandit with the presents. She got clothes, books, toys, a toddler sized chair that she can haul around, and a barbie car, which seemed to be the biggest hit of the day. Marc and I each got some clothes that were much needed and we gave each other Ipods, which was fun. Even though we both knew what we were getting, it was still a nice Christmas.

This afternoon we're working on dinner: a ham, au gratin potatoes, green beans, and Marc is making a bread pudding with bourbon. Mom is also making a fruit salad because she needs something to do. Don't get me wrong, I like fruit salad, so it will be nice. She just likes to have time in the kitchen.

Dagny isn't napping this afternoon, but I suppose that's all right. She's almost at the age where she won't nap anymore anyway.

The only thing that could make this day better would be our son. He got presents under the tree this morning, something from Santa, and a chair for himself. They're in his room, waiting for him to get here so he can open them.

We love you, honey. We'll be there soon.

Church got Cancelled? Again?

So last week church got cancelled. It was snowing, a bit icy, and darn chilly, so I understood and thankfully, the choir director caught me just as I was leaving. I went over to the building anyway, since I had a present for the pastor, wanted to get a copy of the music for next week, and had a bread starter to give to someone. No big deal, except we had to postpone the Christmas program.

So this morning it's really cold again (think -35) and the snow is blowing around a bit, so I get up about 7:15 (slept in) and called pastor to see if Church was cancelled. Besides, I don't want to take a shower if there's nowhere to go! He says NO. We're having church!

So I get everybody fed, straightened up, and then I go to take a shower and as I'm getting ready, the phone rings. It's pastor. He says he's cancelling after all, because all the other churches did. Bummer...one more week to put off the Christmas program.

BUT...on the bright side, I got the house cleaned. Yesterday I got all the presents wrapped, and most of the laundry done. So I feel accomplished, but I miss services. Two weeks is a long time to go without church!

Maybe God will smile on us Christmas Eve and we'll make it to services. Cross your fingers!

Gingerbread Houses

Behold, the artistry of a three-year old.

Okay, so we bought a kit from a local fundraiser to make a gingerbread house and it contained all the parts we would need except for frosting, which I made myself (it worked fine). As you can see, the roof collapsed...must be a problem with the architect and not the contractor, right?

So we went for a NM style adobe flat-roofed home, complete with green snow, a star of Bethlehem, and a garden in the back with rich red soil, into which three magnificent pine tree pretzels were planted.

Fabulous, is it not? We're selling the property for $100,000 which is a steal in the neighborhood its located. Contact me, the agent, if interested.

When we were finished, the dog had frosting in her ears...

Three-Year Old Christmas Programs

Dagny had her first Christmas program today and it was wonderful! She was so cute in her little tinsel halo. Of course, I didn't think to dress her up fancy like all the other little girls were, but she still looked great to me!

They sang five songs and she knew all the hand motions and looked like she was singing the right words. I cried. It was so fun to see her up there.

New Jobs, New Dog...

So we started our new jobs. Marc started on November 17th, I started on December 1. They're both good. Marc is the Transit Manager for the County and, while he's got his work cut out for him, it's a good job and he says it's not too bad. He even got conned into helping plan the county Christmas party this year. Probably because he was new and couldn't say no...


I'm really enjoying the Librarian position. I've been on the job for a week and have only begun to organize, but the daily functions I've learned pretty well, like checking things out, interlibrary loan, and getting things returned and back on the shelves. Its the administrative stuff I have to learn next. And it's a bit confusing since I haven't had a full-time job since I was pregnant. How do I get everything done? GAH...for a woman with OCD, leaving things unfinished is agony, but I'm going to have to learn. I'm making weekly lists instead of daily now, since it'll just work better that way. I can fulfill the list need and still maybe get a few things done.


Like today I made cookies and I need to clean bathrooms and finish the laundry. Marc helped with laundry yesterday and said he could vaccuum later when Dagny gets up from her nap. He rocks.

No doubt some day in the future, I will be slaughtered for showing this picture publically. But I couldn't resist. Dagny needed to pee with an audience. She lined up all her dollies neatly by the bathtub and proceeded to do her business. Too funny!

And then at Thanksgiving, she got so worn out, she fell asleep on the floor in her room instead of in bed. I know the picture's sideways, forgive me. She's lying on the carpet under her playsilks, with her head on a basket of stuffed animals. She slept like that for an hour.

And I thought it was tim to finally post the dog! That's Bluebelle Hall, at a grand total of 12 pounds. She and Dagny are already best of friends and the carpet has been pooped on at least once a day for a week. Oh well, we'll survive. She's learning and finally starting to get comfortable in her crate instead of howling all night.

And now...we wait for a court date, so I can post a few OTHER pictures I know people want to see...