On New Year's Eve, I went to the mailbox looking...but not really expecting....to see if our NVC (National Visa Center) approval had come. (We were told it would be about 2 weeks from our immigration approval) Much to my surprise, it was here!
Woohoo!! What a great way to finish out the year!
That's step THREE our of five completed in order to go get our little peanut. Now it all gets sent to the embassy in China and we get issued an article 5. This can take about 2-4 weeks. After getting our article 5, we are 2-4 weeks away from getting our TA (travel approval).
Ya hear that....TRAVEL approval.
oooohhhh....it's right around the corner.
We're coming Livi.
2011 is going to be a great year!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Cookie makin'
Every year we make sugar cookie cutouts and decorate them. We usually do it before Christmas, but this year just got away from us and we did it the day after instead. I kinda cheat my way through some of it cuz I get premade cookie dough at the grocery store.
I am good about making my famous homeade frosting though. YUM!
The nice thing about having the boys get older is that I don't have to do much past the baking part.
They can decorate them without any help....and they love it.
Works for me.
Each one tries to out-style the other....
....including dad.
I am good about making my famous homeade frosting though. YUM!
The nice thing about having the boys get older is that I don't have to do much past the baking part.
They can decorate them without any help....and they love it.
Works for me.
Each one tries to out-style the other....
....including dad.
Christmas Part 2
On Monday, Jay's mom, grandma, and aunt came over to celebrate a belated Christmas. We were supposed to get together Christmas Day, but since we were sick that didn't happen.
About 20 minutes after they arrived, there was a knock at the door.
It was a special guest.
He had a treat for each of the boys
And some jokes to make them laugh
He told them he was glad they were feeling better
And that he wanted them to be good to their new little sister.
Even great-grandma got in on the action..
What a fun surprise.
About 20 minutes after they arrived, there was a knock at the door.
It was a special guest.
He had a treat for each of the boys
And some jokes to make them laugh
He told them he was glad they were feeling better
And that he wanted them to be good to their new little sister.
Even great-grandma got in on the action..
What a fun surprise.
Merry sick Christmas
When you think of Christmas you think of presents and lights and trees and family. What you don't think of is fevers and puking and germs and headaches.
Well this year, we got the latter.
By Thursday night, we were droppin' like flies. Myself and 2 of the boys weren't feeling well. By midnight, we were a wreck.
Down for the count were me and Tanner. We were up all during the night. So was Jay as he was the one taking care of us.
I spent the whole day in bed on Christmas Eve. All plans were cancelled and we just stayed home.
By Christmas morning, we were feeling a little better and able to do presents by about 11am.
Santa was good to us this year and we appreciate him braving our sick home.
My favorite part of Christmas is seeing the boys open their gifts and get so excited. I love to see their faces when they get something they've been asking for.....and especially if they get something they never thought they'd see.
Tanner was so excited about his remote control 4 wheeler....
And Tony loved his new Guitar Hero game for Wii.
The older boys loved their new shirts....yep, we've reached that age where your kids actually want clothes.
Trae was so crazy for his Fujigi ball that I couldn't
hardly get
a clear shot.
More clothes for Timmy.....
and a shared gift for the 2 middle boys.
They gave presents to eachother and it looks like Tanner was happy with what he got from Tyler.
Tony's big gift was a guitar. If you saw this kid move his fingers on Guitar Hero, you'd see why we thought this might be a good idea for him.
You can see by Timmy's face, he was a bit surprised by his brothers good fortune.
But Santa made up for it with some fun Wii stuff.
Even with the sickness, it was a great Christmas. We are all better now and very grateful.
Well this year, we got the latter.
By Thursday night, we were droppin' like flies. Myself and 2 of the boys weren't feeling well. By midnight, we were a wreck.
Down for the count were me and Tanner. We were up all during the night. So was Jay as he was the one taking care of us.
I spent the whole day in bed on Christmas Eve. All plans were cancelled and we just stayed home.
By Christmas morning, we were feeling a little better and able to do presents by about 11am.
Santa was good to us this year and we appreciate him braving our sick home.
My favorite part of Christmas is seeing the boys open their gifts and get so excited. I love to see their faces when they get something they've been asking for.....and especially if they get something they never thought they'd see.
Tanner was so excited about his remote control 4 wheeler....
And Tony loved his new Guitar Hero game for Wii.
The older boys loved their new shirts....yep, we've reached that age where your kids actually want clothes.
Trae was so crazy for his Fujigi ball that I couldn't
hardly get
a clear shot.
More clothes for Timmy.....
and a shared gift for the 2 middle boys.
They gave presents to eachother and it looks like Tanner was happy with what he got from Tyler.
Tony's big gift was a guitar. If you saw this kid move his fingers on Guitar Hero, you'd see why we thought this might be a good idea for him.
You can see by Timmy's face, he was a bit surprised by his brothers good fortune.
But Santa made up for it with some fun Wii stuff.
Even with the sickness, it was a great Christmas. We are all better now and very grateful.
massage time
Who can turn away a free massage.
And who cares what their motives are.
I'll take it.
I am one spoiled mom.
And who cares what their motives are.
I'll take it.
I am one spoiled mom.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
InCinC Christmas
InCinC is the name of our Couples in Christ group we are in through church and Saturday we had our 2nd annual Christmas party.
Rather than do our marriage lesson for the month, we get together on a Saturday evening and just have some fun.
Joy and Matt hosted and I got there a bit early to help set up because we did fondue and no one else had ever done it before.
It was such a good meal and fun to see everyone enjoy it so much. I think we may have started a tradition for our Christmas party.
We have gotten to really love these guys. They are so amazing and we feel very blessed to have met them.
When we were done eating.....almost 2 hours later.....the word full doesn't quite do it justice.
The guys passed out from the overeating...
The girls pretended to listen to Joy explain all her family's ornaments while trying not to pass out with the boys.
**hehe....just kidding, Joy**
After playing some board games for a while, we decided to brave some dessert.
No one was hungry for it, but let's face it....if it smells good and it's got butter in it.....we were gonna eat it.
We did a butter run fondue dip with fruit and pound cake. Greg had bought enough fruit to feed a hungry Army.....not a stuffed group of 8. We put a dent in it though.
Just enough to drool over the taste and then unbutton our jeans.
Tis the season to overeat I guess.
All in all it was a perfect night
We had great food with great friends.....what could be better than that.
Merry Christmas InCinC!!!!
Rather than do our marriage lesson for the month, we get together on a Saturday evening and just have some fun.
Joy and Matt hosted and I got there a bit early to help set up because we did fondue and no one else had ever done it before.
It was such a good meal and fun to see everyone enjoy it so much. I think we may have started a tradition for our Christmas party.
We have gotten to really love these guys. They are so amazing and we feel very blessed to have met them.
When we were done eating.....almost 2 hours later.....the word full doesn't quite do it justice.
The guys passed out from the overeating...
The girls pretended to listen to Joy explain all her family's ornaments while trying not to pass out with the boys.
**hehe....just kidding, Joy**
After playing some board games for a while, we decided to brave some dessert.
No one was hungry for it, but let's face it....if it smells good and it's got butter in it.....we were gonna eat it.
We did a butter run fondue dip with fruit and pound cake. Greg had bought enough fruit to feed a hungry Army.....not a stuffed group of 8. We put a dent in it though.
Just enough to drool over the taste and then unbutton our jeans.
Tis the season to overeat I guess.
All in all it was a perfect night
We had great food with great friends.....what could be better than that.
Merry Christmas InCinC!!!!
Hard core Minnesotan
Tanner was told on Sunday to go get dressed for Church.
This is what he came downstairs wearing.
Um.....it's about 12' outside, but okay.
Hey, at least it was coordinated.
This is what he came downstairs wearing.
Um.....it's about 12' outside, but okay.
Hey, at least it was coordinated.
Gingerbread houses
Today, for the 4th time, I headed to school by 8am to decorate a gingerbread house with my 1st grader. This year was Tony's turn.
It's actually a lot of fun and the boys always have loved having mom there with them at school for their Christmas project.
I think it turned out pretty good....and pretty yummy looking.
It's actually a lot of fun and the boys always have loved having mom there with them at school for their Christmas project.
I think it turned out pretty good....and pretty yummy looking.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Bring on the I-800!!!!....even though it's wrong....
Okay, so I was totally stoked when I got home and found a treasure in the mail. Our I-800 (this is the immigration approval for Livi and it's step 2 of 5 that we have to get through in order to go get her) arrived about 2 weeks ahead of schedule! Awesome, right!
Well, almost.
Right in the midst of my celebration, I hear a heavy "You've got to be kidding...." coming from the kitchen.
It was my hubby.
The form said JACOB and Jennifer instead of JASON and Jennifer.
Um....who the heck is Jacob and why does he want our Livi?...
I had to go back and check our receipt certificate they sent us a couple weeks ago that had all of the info on it. It said to check it over and let them know asap if there were any mistakes.
All I could think was that I had missed the error and it was all my fault.
Well, that wasn't the case. It said Jason which means the misprint was just a total human error on someones part.
Someone in the Dept. of Homeland Security, no less.
Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy at night doesn't it, knowing that these are the same people that are there to protect us.
I realize that people can make mistakes, okay. But really?? This isn't just a simple form. This is a certified document allowing the immigration of someone. Probably need to get those things right.
Sooo.....I have to call tomorrow and let them know. They'll have to send out another one. It won't get here before Thurs. I'm sure. So, this will put another week on our time.
Ugh.....oh well, we're still close. Talk about stealing our thunder though.
Well, almost.
Right in the midst of my celebration, I hear a heavy "You've got to be kidding...." coming from the kitchen.
It was my hubby.
The form said JACOB and Jennifer instead of JASON and Jennifer.
Um....who the heck is Jacob and why does he want our Livi?...
I had to go back and check our receipt certificate they sent us a couple weeks ago that had all of the info on it. It said to check it over and let them know asap if there were any mistakes.
All I could think was that I had missed the error and it was all my fault.
Well, that wasn't the case. It said Jason which means the misprint was just a total human error on someones part.
Someone in the Dept. of Homeland Security, no less.
Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy at night doesn't it, knowing that these are the same people that are there to protect us.
I realize that people can make mistakes, okay. But really?? This isn't just a simple form. This is a certified document allowing the immigration of someone. Probably need to get those things right.
Sooo.....I have to call tomorrow and let them know. They'll have to send out another one. It won't get here before Thurs. I'm sure. So, this will put another week on our time.
Ugh.....oh well, we're still close. Talk about stealing our thunder though.
Monday, December 13, 2010
2010 Blizzard
It was official on this past Saturday. They say it was one of the 5 worst snow storms in recent history. I believe it. I don't think I've ever driven in worse conditions than I did on Saturday morning.
Of course, what looks to most adults like a miserable, cold, windy, stay inside, sort of day is to a bunch of boys just a wholelottafun waiting to happen.
So, with as many layers as they could muster, the headed outside.
And they actually had a blast.
I had fun too.....watching from inside my heated home.
Of course, what looks to most adults like a miserable, cold, windy, stay inside, sort of day is to a bunch of boys just a wholelottafun waiting to happen.
So, with as many layers as they could muster, the headed outside.
And they actually had a blast.
I had fun too.....watching from inside my heated home.
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