Our 5th Last Vacation Without Mattie

Below are some pics from vacation!
We had a good time other than these bug bites I thought I had when we left here, turned out to be poison ivy when we got to FL. So, that was a bummer but such is life eh?
We set out to take 1 week off and head to FL, and then take a few extra days when we got back working on the house...that turned into 2 weeks off for me. I am stunned at what I am finding I did when we moved into this house. We were SO busy with things unrelated to moving at the time, that I stuck this here and that there. Geeze. So, I feel like I've made little progress this last week and still have so much left to do! I'm glad I'm doing this before Mattie gets here. Otherwise it would be many more years before it was done and I'm realizing what a point of frustration this has been over the last couple of years for me! No sense in carring it into the next decade!
This is where we stayed - and right after a 2 hour storm there was a rainbow hugging the Saratoga Springs Resort! It was a perfect rainbow and easy to see - gorgeous!

Mattie's mommy and daddy!

While this is not a pretty Walt Disney World Photo - this is the beginning construction on the Animal Kingdom Villas! We are SO excited about these! More photos of the end result below...

These photos were taken from an Animal Kingdom Villa balcony! When you get up in the morning you look out and WHAHLAH! Animals roaming just outside your room!!

Look how close the Giraffes are!


We can't wait til these are done! Apparently they will also have private safari rides for those staying in the Concierge Villas.
I think Mattie's going to like the vacations Daddy takes her on...I know mommy sure does!

Sugar and Spice with Snips and Snails

We went to the Asian Festival - and look who we ran in to!

This is the sugar and spice and everything nice picture...

(Left to Right) Madalyn, Whinnie, Whinnie's nieces (front), Sharon, Me, Patti, Elisa, Lee Ann and Mesa.

The snips and snails and puppy dog tails picture #1(Left to Right) Isaac, Cobie, Ben, Adam, Denny and Alan

Picture #2 as sugar and spice want to join in, with snips and snails:

Picture #3...still trying
Picture #4, the best we can do for the fellas...

This was the first time Elisa and Mesa met each other!

Here's some pictures Mesa took....of Mesa

It's sort of like putting a puzzle together. If you glue them together just right, it's like one big picture!
Here's one Mesa took of Alan - we're enlarging it into an 18x24 and putting it above our fireplace mantel

And last, but not least - Ben and Isaac...how sweet! This may be one of my favorite photos of all time! The Asian Festival was fantastic!! We saw a bunch of our friends and didn't see hardly any of the festival!

We couldn't have had a better day!!!

What We Will Do Now

I really thought CCAA would cover at least 8 or more days this time...actually, I was thinking our worse case scenario was beginning of July.
I have been saying we're about 90 days away from our picture of Mattie since January....why? Because that's really what I thought. I thought we we would have her picture in March...then we thought April, then May, then June and now July looks dismal.
OK, I'm just going to say it flat out. We hurt.

So what I do at this point becomes a choice; it's not a feeling or a way of thinking. Denying how I feel is not honest, and trying to think differently is just fooling myself and setting us up for more disappointment. This is what it is; it makes no sense, it stinks, and it hurts. But there is that One thing that keeps me going...the same One that blesses so many things I do and has brought so many new friends into my life during this journey...and I can't imagine those people not being part of my life.
The following describes well what we've been doing these last few days...

God, my God, I cry out

Your beloved needs You now

God, be near, calm my fear

And take my doubt

Your kindness is what pulls me up

Your love is all that draws me in

I will lift my eyes to the Maker

Of the mountains I can’t climb

I will lift my eyes to the Calmer

Of the oceans raging wild

I will lift my eyes to the Healer

Of the hurt I hold inside

I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You

God, my God, let Mercy sing

Her melody over me

God, right here all I bring Is all of me...

So hold me now

I will lift my eyes to the Maker
Of the mountains I can’t climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer
Of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer
Of the hurt I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You

by Bebo Norman and Jason Ingram

The Time Line

Here's the prediction chart for our LID.

[Edit -typo below. CCAA would need to cover 11/07/05-11/17/05 for us to get our picture beginning of July. I typed 11/02. Sorry. Edit date: 6-24-07]The bottom of the below chart shows the calendar days CCAA covered for the May/June referral batch

It's Official - Nov. 7th 2005

China adoption goes by your Log In Date (LID), that is the date they receive your paper work/dossier that you want to adopt. China sends referrals once a month. We were LID 11-17-2005. So as of today, CCAA has referred everyone who has applied with them up to Nov. 7th 2005 ie this is the cut off date for this months referrals.

They covered only 6 calendar days this month. 6 days. I still am having a hard time swallowing, but it's better than I was feeling a few hours ago.
Next month CCAA will send another batch of referrals. The question is will the next batch, June/July referrals, include LID 11-17-05?

I will update the history chart and our prediction chart soon.

May Referrals!

The West Coast started receiving referrals!!!!!!!!

The cut off? It might be November 7th...but stay tuned as all the storks have not landed yet!

All the stomach nausea and anxiety is almost over - until this time next month. This is the equivalent to morning sickness I think...

More Pictures Of My Friends Daughter Annie!!

Click HERE to see

NEW pictures of Annie!!!!

Click HERE for the first photo Jami received of Annie 5/2/07

Click HERE for different pictures Jami received of Annie 5/3/07

If you did not link to Jami's blog to see Annie last month at referral time - you MUST see this precious girl! Her cheeks remind me of our friend Brooke when she was around Annie's age.

Also, this is what we expect too; one photo when referrals come and then the next day we will receive @ 2 more by FedEx. Jami is very blessed that Annie is in foster care so she has received 'extra photos' of Annie that many families do not receive! We do not know if Mattie will be in Foster Care or in an Orphanage...our prayer is she is well cared for.

Who's Jami? She lives pretty close to us, she is with our agency CCAI, and she is one of my friends who received a picture of her daughter in the last batch of referrals.